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Productivitat i demografia: dos dilemes de política económica amb efectes sobre la política social
No full textMultimodalities in didactic audiovisual translation: a teachers' perspective
No full textIn the last two decades, the use of audiovisual translation (AVT) in the foreign language classroom has been consolidated as an extremely useful tool for improving communication, mediation, intercultural and ICT skills. Research has shown that it is highly motivating for students (Lertola & Talaván, 2020; Talaván, 2019). However, previous studies on teachers' perceptions of the validity of didactic AVT (Alonso-Pérez & Sánchez Requena, 2018; Sokoli et al., 2011) highlighted areas in need of improvement in the field. With this in mind, the article explores the integration of five AVT modalities (subtitling, voiceover, dubbing, audio description and subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing) in one autonomous learning sequence of 15 lesson plans, as designed by members of the research project TRADILEX, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. This paper analyses the results of a questionnaire completed by teachers (N=30) who supervised the implementation of this learning sequence in B1 and B2 proficiency level courses from higher education language centres.
The main aim of this article is to determine to what extent this new approach addresses the weaknesses observed by teachers in previous studies. The analysis of the gathered data led to conclude that teacher training in didactic AVT significantly improves the implementation of the methodology. Besides that, the comprehensive approach of the TRADILEX sequence, including the five AVT modalities, allowed teachers to identity which modality is better suited for their teaching practice. On the other hand, high dependence on technology and motivation were two of the main concerns shown by teachers which require further research.Spanish Government, Science, and Innovation Ministry / Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019107362GA-I00)
Basal association of a transcription factor favors early gene expression
No full textResponses to extracellular signals via Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathways control complex transcriptional programs where hundreds of genes are induced at a desired level with a specific timing. Gene expression regulation is largely encoded in the promoter of the gene, which harbors numerous transcription factor binding sites. In the mating MAPK pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one major transcription factor, Ste12, controls the chronology of gene expression necessary for the fusion of two haploid cells. Because endogenous promoters encode a large diversity of Ste12 binding sites (PRE), we engineered synthetic promoters to decipher the rules that dictate mating gene induction. Conformations of PRE dimers that allow efficient gene expression were identified. The strength of binding of Ste12 to the PRE and the distance of the binding sites to the core promoter modulate the level of induction. The speed of activation is ensured by favoring a basal association of Ste12 by using a strong dimer of PRE located in a nucleosome depleted region.Work in the Pelet lab is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, 31003A_182431 and 320030-231544) and the University of Lausanne. This work in FP’s lab was founded by PID2021-124723NB-C21 from MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and ERDF/EU and from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the Centres of Excellence Severo Ochoa Award. FP is a recipient of an ICREA Acadèmia award (Government of Catalonia, 2024 ICREA 00084). The Ramon y Cajal Program (Spanish Ministry of Science, RYC2021-033520-I) awarded to MNR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
Plasma phospho-tau217 for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in primary and secondary care using a fully automated platform
No full textGlobal implementation of blood tests for Alzheimer's disease (AD) would be facilitated by easily scalable, cost-effective and accurate tests. In the present study, we evaluated plasma phospho-tau217 (p-tau217) using predefined biomarker cutoffs. The study included 1,767 participants with cognitive symptoms from 4 independent secondary care cohorts in Malmö (Sweden, n = 337), Gothenburg (Sweden, n = 165), Barcelona (Spain, n = 487) and Brescia (Italy, n = 230), and a primary care cohort in Sweden (n = 548). Plasma p-tau217 was primarily measured using the fully automated, commercially available, Lumipulse immunoassay. The primary outcome was AD pathology defined as abnormal cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42:p-tau181. Plasma p-tau217 detected AD pathology with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.93-0.96. In secondary care, the accuracies were 89-91%, the positive predictive values 89-95% and the negative predictive values 77-90%. In primary care, the accuracy was 85%, the positive predictive values 82% and the negative predictive values 88%. Accuracy was lower in participants aged ≥80 years (83%), but was unaffected by chronic kidney disease, diabetes, sex, APOE genotype or cognitive stage. Using a two-cutoff approach, accuracies increased to 92-94% in secondary and primary care, excluding 12-17% with intermediate results. Using the plasma p-tau217:Aβ42 ratio did not improve accuracy but reduced intermediate test results (≤10%). Compared with a high-performing mass-spectrometry-based assay for percentage p-tau217, accuracies were comparable in secondary care. However, percentage p-tau217 had higher accuracy in primary care and was unaffected by age. In conclusion, this fully automated p-tau217 test demonstrates high accuracy for identifying AD pathology. A two-cutoff approach might be necessary to optimize performance across diverse settings and subpopulations.We would like to express our gratitude to the participants, and relatives, in all studies, without whom this research would have not been possible. In addition, we thank B. Arslan for analyzing plasma Aβ in the Gothenburg cohort. The BioFINDER group was supported by the National Institute of Aging (grant no. R01AG083740 to O.H., S.P., R.O. and S.J.), Alzheimer’s Association (grant nos. SG-23-1061717 and ZEN24-1069572 to O.H.), GHR Foundation (O.H. and S.P.), European Research Council (ERC, grant no. ADG-101096455 to O.H.), Swedish Research Council (grant nos. 2023-00356 to O.H., 2021-02219 to N.M.-C. and 2018-02052 to S.P.), ERA PerMed (grant no. ERAPERMED2021-184 to O.H.), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant no. 2022-0231 to O.H.), the European Union’s (EU’s) Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 101053962 (to O.H.), the Strategic Research Area MultiPark (Multidisciplinary Research in Parkinson’s disease) at Lund University (to O.H.), the Swedish Alzheimer Foundation (grant nos. AF-1011949 and AF-994075 to S.P., AF-994229 to N.M.-C. and AF-981132 to S.P.), the Swedish Brain Foundation (grant nos. FO2023-0163 to N.M.-C., FO2024-0284 and FO2022-0204 to S.P. and FO2021-0293 to O.H.), the family Rönström’s Foundation (grant nos. FRS-0003 to N.M.-C. and FRS-0004 and FRS-0011 to S.P.), the Berg Family Foundation (O.H.), the Parkinson Foundation of Sweden (grant no. 1412/22 to O.H.), the Cure Alzheimer’s fund (O.H.), the Konung Gustaf V:s och Drottning Victorias Frimurarestiftelse (O.H.), the Skåne University Hospital Foundation (grant no. 2020-O000028 to S.P.), EU Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Diseases (grant no. 2019-03401 to N.M.-C.), WASP and DDLS Joint call for research projects (grant no. WASP/DDLS22-066 to N.M.-C.), Regionalt Forskningsstöd (grant no. 2022-1346 to S.P.) and the Swedish Federal Government under the ALF-agreement (grant nos. 2022-Projekt0107 to N.M.-C., 2022-Projekt0080 to O.H. and 2018-Projekt0226 to S.P.). The precursor of [18F]flutemetamol was sponsored by GE Healthcare. For the Gothenburg group, S.K. was financed by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, the ALF-agreement (nos. ALFGBG-1005471, ALFGBG-965923, ALFGBG-81392 and ALFGBG-771071), the Alzheimerfonden (grant nos. AF-842471, AF-737641, AF-929959 and AF-939825), the Swedish Research Council (grant nos. 2019-02075 and 2019-02075_15), Stiftelsen Psykiatriska Forskningsfonden and the Swedish Brain Foundation (grant no. FO2024-0097). A.D. was financed by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, the ALF-agreement (grant no. ALFGBG-984092). H.Z. is a Wallenberg Scholar and a distinguished professor at the Swedish Research Council. K.B. is supported by the Swedish Research Council (grant nos. 2017-00915 and 2022-00732), the Swedish Alzheimer Foundation (grant nos. AF-930351, AF-939721, AF-968270 and AF-994551), Hjärnfonden, Sweden (grant nos. ALZ2022-0006, FO2024-0048-TK-130 and FO2024-0048-HK-24), the Swedish state under the agreement between the Swedish government and the county councils, the ALF-agreement (grant nos. ALFGBG-965240 and ALFGBG-1006418), the Alzheimer’s Association 2022–2025 (grant no. SG-23-1038904 QC), the Kirsten and Freddy Johansen Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark, Familjen Rönströms Stiftelse, Stockholm, Sweden and an anonymous philanthropist and donor. The Barcelona group thanks P. Ortiz-Romero, M. de Diego, E. Jiménez, J. Torres and M. del Campo for technical support. F.A. received funding from grant no. JDC2022-049347-I, funded by the MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the EU NextGeneration EU/PRTR. M.S.-C. received funding from the ERC under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant no. 948677); ERA PerMed-ERA NET and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Departament de Salut) through project no. SLD077/21/000001; project PI19/00155 and PI22/00456, funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and co-funded by the EU; and from a fellowship from ‘la Caixa’ Foundation (ID 100010434) and the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant no. 847648 (LCF/BQ/PR21/11840004)). For the Brescia group, A. Pilotto has beensupported by grants of Airalzh Foundation AGYR2021) Life-BIO grant, the LIMPE-DISMOV Foundation Segala Grant 2021, the Italian Ministry of University and Research PRIN COCOON (2017MYJ5TH) and PRIN 2021 RePlast (20202THZAW), the H2020 IMI IDEA-FAST (ID853981) and the Italian Ministry of Health, grant/award nos. RF-2018-12366209 and PNRR-Health PNRR-MAD-2022-12376110. V.Q. was supported by the H2020 IMI IDEA-FAST (grant no. ID853981). C.T. was supported by the PRIN 2021 RePlast (grant no. 20202THZAW). A. Padovani has been supported by grants of the Italian Ministry of University and Research PRIN COCOON (2017MYJ5TH) and PRIN 2021 RePlast (20202THZAW), the H2020 IMI IDEA-FAST (ID853981) and the Italian Ministry of Health, grant/award nos. RF-2018-12366209, RF-2019 RF-2019-12369272 and PNRR-Health PNRR-MAD-2022-12376110. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study, collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data, preparation, review or approval of the paper and decision to submit the paper for publication
HLA-specific memory B cells in kidney transplantation: A novel approach to humoral alloreactivity assessment
No full textL'estratificació del risc immunològic dels pacients és un punt crític per accedir al trasplantament renal. Avui dia, en la pràctica clínica només es tenen en compte els anticossos HLA detectats en sèrum, mentre que l’estudi de la memòria humoral es deixa de banda. Això pot suposar un risc per la supervivència de l’empelt, ja que pot haver-hi anticossos en el receptor dirigits contra els antígens HLA del donant que no han sigut detectats mitjançant tècniques serològiques convencionals. La no detecció de la memòria humoral pot desencadenar conseqüències com l’elecció incorrecta de la inducció d’immunosupressió o bé rebuig mediat per anticossos a llarg termini. Això ha fet que hi hagi un creixent interès en la seva investigació i les cèl·lules B de memòria HLA específiques implicades. En aquesta tesi explorem l’ús d’una nova aproximació per l’estudi d’aquestes cèl·lules i analitzem si el seu estudi serveix per estratificar millor el risc immunològic dels nostres pacients.The immunological risk stratification of transplant candidates is a critical issue in accessing kidney transplantation. Currently, in clinical practice, only circulating HLA antibodies detected in serum are considered, with the study of humoral memory being neglected. This may pose a significant risk to graft survival when alloantibodies in the recipient directed against the HLA molecules of the donor are not detected with conventional serological tests. Failure to detect the humoral memory, that is the existence of memory B cells able to switch and produce these antibodies, can trigger several consequences, including incorrect choice of immunosuppression induction and possible long-term antibody-mediated rejection. This has led to a surge in research interest in humoral memory and HLA-specific memory B cells. In this thesis, we use a novel approach to study these cells and explore the potential of humoral memory as a stratification tool for assessing the immunological risk of renal transplant candidates.Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Doctorat en Biomedicin
Mood alternation in argument clauses: On the interrelation between commitments and verbal mood in Romance
No full textAquesta tesi investiga l’alternança del mode verbal entre l'indicatiu i subjuntiu en les llengües romàniques, amb un enfocament particular en el català i l’espanyol. L’alternança del mode fa referència a entorns sintàctics en què l’única variable que canvia és el mode verbal, la qual cosa dona lloc a diferències interpretatives. Tot i que aquest fenomen abasta una àmplia gamma de contextos gramaticals, incloent-hi oracions subordinades, principals i relatives, aquest treball acota la seva anàlisi a les oracions subordinades sota verbs no factius (p. ex., `dir', `creure' sota negació) i verbs de resposta/reacció (response stance verbs, p. ex., `negar', `admetre'). La tesi defensa una perspectiva innovadora que interpreta el mode indicatiu no com un marcador d’actitud cognitiva, sinó com un senyal de compromís normatiu, mentre que el subjuntiu n’indica l’absència. Així es qüestiona la preeminència dels enfocaments cognitius sobre el mode verbal. Aquesta reconceptualització es modela formalment mitjançant el marc teòric del Commitment Space, i és la primera aplicació d’aquest model al fenomen gramatical del mode verbal en les llengües romàniques. La discussió i aplicació d’un enfocament basat en el compromís com a concepte normatiu aporta una nova llum sobre com l’alternança modal estructura el flux informatiu en el discurs, i contribueix, més generalment, als debats oberts sobre el significat i la funció del mode verbal en les llengües romàniques.Esta tesis investiga la alternancia del modo verbal entre el indicativo y subjuntivo en las lenguas románicas, con un enfoque particular en el catalán y el español. La alternancia modal se refiere a contextos sintácticos en los que la única variable que varía es el modo verbal, lo que da lugar a diferencias interpretativas. Aunque este fenómeno abarca una amplia gama de contextos gramaticales, incluyendo oraciones subordinadas, principales y relativas, este trabajo limita su análisis a las oraciones subordinadas bajo verbos no factivos (p. ej., `decir', `creer' bajo negación) y verbos de respuesta/reacción (response stance verbs, p. ej., `negar', `admitir'). La tesis defiende una perspectiva innovadora, interpretando el modo indicativo no como un marcador de actitud cognitiva, sino como una señal de compromiso normativo, mientras que el subjuntivo indica su ausencia. Así se cuestiona la preeminencia de los enfoques cognitivos sobre el modo verbal. Esta reconceptualización se modela formalmente mediante el marco teórico del Commitment Space, siendo la primera aplicación de este modelo al fenómeno gramatical del modo verbal en las lenguas románicas en un contexto normativo. La discusión y aplicación de un enfoque basado en el compromiso aporta una nueva luz sobre cómo la alternancia modal estructura el flujo informativo en el discurso, y contribuye, más generalmente, a los debates abiertos sobre el significado y la función del modo verbal en las lenguas románicas.This thesis investigates verbal mood alternation between the indicative and the subjunctive in Romance languages, with a particular focus on Catalan and Spanish. Mood alternation refers to syntactic environments in which the sole alternating variable is verbal mood, yielding interpretive differences. While this phenomenon spans a wide range of grammatical contexts — including argument, root, and relative clauses — this work narrows its focus to argument clauses under non-factive verbs (e.g., `say', `believe' under negation) and response-stance verbs (e.g. `deny', `admit'). This thesis advances a novel perspective, interpreting the indicative mood not as a marker of cognitive attitude but rather as a signal of normative commitment, with the subjunctive indicating its absence — thus challenging the dominance of cognitive approaches to verbal mood. This reconceptualization is formally modeled through the Commitment Space framework, marking the first application of this model to the grammatical phenomenon of verbal mood in Romance languages. The discussion and application of a commitment-based account sheds new light on how mood alternation shapes the informational flow of discourse in particular, and contributes to ongoing debates about the meaning and function of verbal mood in Romance languages more broadly.Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Doctorat en Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatg
Mini cases design and implementation for the learning and teaching of business english
No full textThis doctoral thesis focuses on the analysis of Mini Cases, assignments that include tasks
for intermediate level students which are based on simulated real-life professional
situations. The main goals of this research are: 1. Explain theoretically the key concepts
(English for specific purposes, Business English, Case Studies and tasks); 2. Design the
Mini Cases and the questionnaire; and 3. Analyze the Mini Cases and the questionnaire.
Both gather participants’ opinions, relevant for this research. Mini Cases have been
applied in the subjects of English for Business and English for Social Sciences from the
University of Barcelona. The research method used in this doctoral thesis is a combination
of quantitative and qualitative analysis: the questions of the questionnaire have been
analyzed quantitatively and the Mini Cases qualitatively. From the results of the
implementation of the Mini Cases, we have been able to determine their advantages and
disadvantages, and we have also proposed some recommendations. We have come to the
conclusion that the Mini Cases are an effective way to learn and teach Business English.Esta tesis doctoral se centra en el análisis de los Mini Casos, trabajos que incluyen tareas
para alumnos de nivel intermedio que están basados en situaciones simuladas de la vida
real profesional. Los objetivos principales de esta investigación son: 1. Explicar
teóricamente los conceptos clave (inglés para fines específicos, inglés de negocios,
Estudios de Caso y tareas); 2. Diseñar los Mini Casos y el cuestionario; y 3. Analizar los
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Mini Casos y el cuestionario. Los dos reúnen las opiniones de los participantes, relevantes
para esta investigación. Los Mini Casos se han aplicado en las asignaturas de Inglés para
los negocios e Inglés para las ciencias sociales de la Universidad de Barcelona. El
método de investigación utilizado en esta tesis doctoral es una combinación de los análisis
cuantitativo y cualitativo: las preguntas del cuestionario han sido analizadas
cuantitativamente y los Mini Casos cualitativamente. A partir de los resultados de la
implementación de los Mini Casos, hemos podido determinar sus ventajas e
inconvenientes, y también hemos propuesto unas recomendaciones. Hemos llegado a la
conclusión que los Mini Casos son una forma efectiva de aprender y enseñar el inglés de
negocios.Aquesta tesi doctoral es centra en l’anàlisi dels Mini Casos, treballs que inclouen tasques
per estudiants de nivell intermedi que estan basats en situations simuladores de la vida
real professional. Els objectius principals d’aquesta recerca són: 1. Explicar teòricament
els conceptes claus (anglès per a fins específics, anglès de negocis, Estudis de Cas i
tasques); 2. Dissenyar els Mini Casos i el qüestionari; i 3. Analitzar els Mini Casos i el
qüestionari. Ambdós reuneixen les opinions dels participants, rellevants per aquesta
recerca. Els Mini Casos s’han aplicat a les assignatures d’Anglès per als negocis i
d’Anglès per a les ciències socials de la Universitat de Barcelona. El mètode de recerca
utilizat en aquesta tesi doctoral és una combinació dels anàlisis quantitatiu i qualitatiu: les
preguntes del qüestionari han estat analitzades quantitativament i els Mini Casos
qualitativament. A partir dels resultats de la implementació dels Mini Casos, hem pogut
determinar els seus avantatges i inconvenients, i també hem proposat unes
recomanacions. Hem arribat a la conclusió que els Mini Casos són una forma efectiva
d’aprenentatge i ensenyament de l’anglès de negocis.Programa de Doctorat en Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatg
Access to justice: a literature review on labour courts in Europe and Latin America
No full textThis paper is aimed at offering an overview of the bibliographical discussion on Labour Courts in Europe
and Latin America, stating what specific topics academics have shown interest in. The period under
review runs from 2000 to the summer of 2019 in order to incorporate the latest reforms and legislative changes in this area. The material scope is limited to procedural aspects of labour courts, including access to the courts (representation), existence of different procedures, resources and instances.
For this reason, the structure followed in this report takes into account the logical sequence of the legal institutions that comprise procedural law, offering some proposals to further research in this area
On the implied volatility of Inverse options under stochastic volatility models
No full textData de publicació electrònica: 13-05-2025In this paper, we study the short-time behavior of at-the-money implied volatility for inverse European options with a fixed strike price. The asset price is assumed to follow a general stochastic volatility process. Using techniques from Malliavin calculus, such as the anticipating Itô's formula, we first compute the implied volatility of the option as its maturity approaches zero. Next, we derive a short-maturity asymptotic formula for the skew of the implied volatility, which depends on the roughness of the volatility model. We also demonstrate that our results can be easily extended to Quanto-Inverse options. We apply our general findings to the SABR and fractional Bergomi models and provide numerical simulations that confirm the accuracy of the asymptotic formula for the skew. Finally, we present an empirical application using Bitcoin options traded on Deribit, showing how our theoretical formulas can be applied to model real market data for such options.EN acknowledges support from the Spanish MINECO grant PID2022-138268NB-100 and Ayudas Fundacion BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica 2021
Surface-based and mass spectrometric approaches to deciphering sugar-protein interactions in a galactose-specific agglutinin
No full textOver the last decades, sugar-protein interactions have been acknowledged as key players in numerous biological recognition processes, such as those occurring during pathogen-host adhesion or fertilization. Consequently, interest in finding powerful and nanosized tools to study glycan-protein interactions in detail has increased significantly in recent years. Here, two complementary approaches are applied to characterize glycan-protein interactions with high sensitivity, low sample consumption, and without the need for sample labelling: surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and an approach that combines limited proteolysis and mass spectrometry. Combination of these two approaches to investigate glycan-protein interactions allows (1) to characterize interactions through kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, (2) to capture efficiently the carbohydrate-binding protein, and (3) to identify the interacted protein and its carbohydrate binding site by mass spectrometry. As a proof of principle, the interaction of the galactosespecific legume lectin Erythrina cristagalli agglutinin with several sugars has been characterized indepth by means of these two approaches.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (projects BIO2008-04487-CO3-02 and HA2007-0021 to D.A. and BIO2009-08983 to R.G.G., and predoctoral fellowship BES-2006-12879 to C.J.C.), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project SAF2011-24899 to D.A.), and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PR-175/14-1) and the EU (MSLife)