Grounding: concepto y usos en danza movimiento terapia (DMT)

¿Qué significa exactamente el concepto anglosajón de Grounding? ¿Qué técnicas podemos utilizar para ayudar a las personas a estar más conectadas con su cuerpo y enraizadas en su realidad? Esta tesina analiza este concepto clave en Danza Movimiento Terapia (DMT) basado en la psicoterapia corporal de la bioenergética, fundada por Alexander Lowen, en Estados Unidos, en 1954. Revisaremos el concepto según Lowen y la bioenergética actual y lo analizaremos bajo la perspectiva de la DMT. En la segunda parte, se abordan los usos y aplicaciones del concepto con diversos ejercicios corporales de grounding o enraizamiento de tipo físico, sensorial, emocional y relacional, realizados en sesiones de DMT (años 2010-12), con dos poblaciones específicas (gente mayor con demencia y adultos con discapacidad psíquica). Las aplicaciones y usos del concepto de grounding son muy diversos y pueden beneficiar a todo tipo de personas, en el ámbito personal y/o laboral y no sólo a las personas consideradas “enfermas”.

The L-type voltage-gated calcium channel modulates microglial pro-inflammatory activity

Under pathological conditions, microglia, the resident CNS immune cells, become reactive and release pro-inflammatory cytokines and neurotoxic factors. We investigated whether this phenotypic switch includes changes in the expression of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) in a rat model of N-methyl-d-aspartate-induced hippocampal neurodegeneration. Double immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy evidenced that activated microglia express the L-type VGCC. We then analyzed whether BV2 microglia express functional L-type VGCC, and investigated the latter's role in microglial cytokine release and phagocytic capacity. Activated BV2 microglia express the CaV1.2 and CaV1.3 subunits of the L-type VGCC determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, Western blot and immunocytochemistry. Depolarization with KCl induced a Ca2+ entry facilitated by Bay k8644 and partially blocked with nifedipine, which also reduced TNF-α and NO release by 40%. However, no nifedipine effect on BV2 microglia viability or phagocytic capacity was observed. Our results suggest that in CNS inflammatory processes, the L-type VGCC plays a specific role in the control of microglial secretory activity.

Consumer valuation of energy-saving features of residential air conditioners with hedonic and choice models

The promotion of energy-efficient appliances is necessary to reduce the energetic and environmental burden of the household sector. However, many studies have reported that a typical consumer underestimates the benefits of energy-saving investment on the purchase of household electric appliances. To analyze this energy-efficiency gap problem, many scholars have estimated implicit discount rates that consumers use for energy-consuming durables. Although both hedonic and choice models have been used in previous studies, a comparison between two models has not yet been done. This study uses point of sale data about Japanese residential air conditioners and estimates implicit discounts rates with both hedonic and choice models. Both models demonstrate that a typical consumer underinvests in energy efficiency. Although choice models estimate a lower implicit discount rate than hedonic models, the latter models estimate the values of other product characteristics more consistently than choice models.

Effects of institutional environment and technology development on payment choice

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the combination of institutional factors and technology advances as determinants of payment systems choice. The theoretical set up suggests that countries entering into a new institutional environment approach accepting group attitudes towards payment choices as a consequence of institutional pressure and technology development. We apply the results of the model to 2004 European Union enlargement process. Results confirm the relevance of both institutional environment and technology development in retail payment system decisions of newly acceded countries.