Turisme accessible i enoturisme: Una proposta d’introducció de l’accessibilitat al Museu de les Cultures del Vi de Catalunya

El present treball està estructurat al voltant de dos marcs teòrics: l’enoturisme i el turisme accessible, els quals es fusionen en una proposta d’introducció de l’accessibilitat al Museu de les Cultures del Vi de Catalunya. Estudi de les iniciatives d’enoturisme a Catalunya, la idoneïtat de la DO Penedès per a desenvolupar un producte d’aquest tipus i el cas d’estudi de desenvolupament local a les regions franceses d’Alsàcia i Borgonya. El turisme accessible, a partir de la discapacitat, l’accessibilitat, el disseny universal i les xifres relatives. El projecte d’enoturisme al Penedès. Els agents implicats. El cas pràctic d’accessibilitat al Museu

Developmental expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein and glutamine synthetase in serum-free aggregating cell cultures of fetal rat telencephalon.

Serum-free aggregating cell cultures of fetal rat telencephalon were examined by a combined biochemical and double-labeling immunocytochemical study for the developmental expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and glutamine synthetase (GS). It was found that these two astroglial markers are co-expressed at different developmental stages in vitro. During the phase of cellular maturation (i.e. between days 14 and 34), GFAP levels and GS activity increase rapidly and in parallel. At the same time, the number of immunoreactive cells increase while the long and thick processes staining in early cultures gradually disappear. The present results demonstrate that in this particular cell culture system only one type of astrocytes develops which expresses both GFAP and GS and which attains a relatively high degree of maturation.

Demyelination in brain cell aggregate cultures, induced by a monoclonal antibody against the myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG).

Previous work has shown that aggregate cultures prepared from fetal rat telencephalon and grown in a chemically defined medium offer a useful model to study developmental processes such as myelin synthesis. Since compact myelin is formed in these cultures, we investigated the possibility to use this culture system to study demyelinating mechanisms. In particular, we examined the effect of a monoclonal antibody (8-18C5) directed against the myelin/oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). We found that addition of anti-MOG antibodies and complement to aggregate cultures led to a highly significant decrease in myelin basic protein (MBP) content and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase (CNP) specific activity. These results indicate that, in our culture system, anti-MOG antibodies have a strong demyelinating effect.

Rapid detection by transmission electron microscopy of mycoplasma contamination in sera and cell cultures

Transmission electon microscopy has been employed for the rapid detection of mycoplasma in sera and cell cultures. High speed centrifugation of sera or low speed centrifugation of cell debris, followed by negative staining of the resuspended pellet, detected mycoplasma contamination more frequently than a culture method followed by direct fluorescence (DAPI), which was used as a control procedure. The appearance of the mycoplasma cell border and content gives some information about particle viability.

Aggregating Brain Cell Cultures as a Model to Study Ischaemia-induced Neurodegeneration.

Rotation-mediated aggregating brain cell cultures at two different maturational stages (DIV 11 and DIV 20) were subjected for 1 or 2 hours to ischaemic conditions by transient immobilization (arrest of media circulation). During recovery, cell damage was evaluated by measuring changes in cell type-specific enzyme activities and total protein content. It was found that in immature cultures (DIV 11), immobilization for 1 or 2 hours did not affect the parameters measured. By contrast, at DIV 20, ischaemic conditions for 1 hour caused a pronounced decrease in the activities of glutamic acid decarboxylase and choline acetyltransferase. A significant decrease in these neuron-specific enzyme activities was found at post-ischaemic days 1-14, indicating immediate and irreversible neuronal damage. The activity of the astrocyte-specific enzyme, glutamine synthetase, was significantly increased at 4 days post-treatment; equal to control values at 6 days; and significantly decreased at 14 days after the ischaemic insult. Immobilization of DIV 20 cultures for 2 hours caused a drastic reduction in all the parameters measured at post-ischaemic day 6. Generally, the ischaemic conditions appeared to be more detrimental to neurons than to astrocytes, and GABAergic neurons were more affected than cholinergic neurons.

Aprenentatge de llengües i coneixement de cultures a través d'un web poètic

El projecte “Aprenentatge de llengües i coneixement de cultures a través d’un web poètic” s’ha centrat en la continuació del treball realitzat en aules d'acollida i en classes amb diverses cultures presents a l'aula i en la verificació de l’aprenentatge de llengües mitjançant la poesia contemporània.

Tyrosine phosphorylation is an early and specific event involved in primary keratinocyte differentiation.

Very little is known about early molecular events triggering epithelial cell differentiation. We have examined the possible role of tyrosine phosphorylation in this process, as observed in cultures of primary mouse keratinocytes after exposure to calcium or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Immunoblotting with phosphotyrosine-specific antibodies as well as direct phosphoamino acid analysis revealed that induction of tyrosine phosphorylation occurs as a very early and specific event in keratinocyte differentiation. Very little or no induction of tyrosine phosphorylation was observed in a keratinocyte cell line resistant to the differentiating effects of calcium. Treatment of cells with tyrosine kinase inhibitors prevented induction of tyrosine phosphorylation by calcium and TPA and interfered with the differentiative effects of these agents. These results suggest that specific activation of tyrosine kinase(s) may play an important regulatory role in keratinocyte differentiation.

Brazilian dengue virus type 1 replication in mosquito cell cultures

The development of dengue viruses type 1 obtained from accute human sera and inoculated into mosquito cell cultures, was observed by standard transmission electron microscopy and cytochemical staining. It follows the trans-type mechanism already estabilished of other dengue types. Directed passage of single virus particles across the cell membrane seems to be a pathway of entry and exit in dengue-1 infected cells. The nature of numerous electron translucent vesicles and tubules, produced simmultaneously during virus replication inside the rough endoplasmic reticulum, was analyzed by cytochemical tests. The largest amount of virus particles was produced inside cell syncytia.

An optimized method for establishing high purity murine CD8+ T cell cultures.

Establishing CD8(+) T cell cultures has been empirical and the published methods have been largely individual laboratory based. In this study, we optimized culturing conditions and show that IL-2 concentration is the most critical factor for the success of establishing CD8(+) T cell cultures. High IL-2 concentration encouraged T cells to non-specifically proliferate, express a B cell marker, B220, and undergo apoptosis. These cells also lose typical irregular T cell morphology and are incapable of sustaining long-term cultures. Using tetramer and intracellular cytokine assessments, we further demonstrated that many antigen-specific T cells have been rendered nonfunctional when expanded under high IL-2 concentration. When IL-2 is used in the correct range, B220-mediated cell depletion greatly enhanced the success rate of such T cell cultures.