¿Unfillo de Gómez Chariño? : Álvaro Pais; traxectoria e promoción ao episcopado. '¿Un hijo de Gómez Chariño? : Álvaro Pais; trayectoria y promoción en el episcopado'.

Resumen tomado de la revista

Calderón de la Barca, visto desde Alemania.

Exposición de la admiración que el ilustre dramaturgo Calderón de la Barca provoca en Alemania, siendo muchas las traducciones que se han hecho de sus obras al alemán, y muchos los estudios que se han hecho sobre su repertorio en este país.

Nueva evocación sentimental de los castillos.

Relato del proceso autodestructivo en el que se sumergió el rey Luis II de Baviera por su obsesión con la construcción de castillos y palacios, narrado por su descendiente Adalberto de Baviera a través de la correspondencia que el rey mantenía con sus padres y de los hechos que el propio Adalberto recuerda. De entre todos los castillos el de Neuschwanstein era el favorito del Luis II y uno de los más acabados, junto con el de Linderhof. Allí se recluyó en los últimos tiempos de su reinado, obsesionado, intentando terminar las obras, mientras en la corte, en Munich, se urdía su despojo del trono por considerarle mentalmente inestable. Se le declaró incapacitado para reinar, se nombró regente a su tío, el Príncipe Luitpold, y se ordenó el traslado de Luis II al castillo de Berg. El rey destronado intentó resistirse al traslado de su castillo de Neuschwanstein, pero finalmente no lo consiguió y fue trasladado a Berg, donde murió en extrañas circunstancias ahogado en el lago junto con su médico, formándose la leyenda del Rey soñador.

El Grial y sus castillos dentro y fuera de España.

Análisis de las diversas leyendas existentes sobre el Grial y su castillo, el Montsalvatsch, fundadas en la poesía épica medieval, y la evolución del mito hasta nuestros días. De los diferentes orígenes etimológicos posibles, la versión más extendida apoya la forma del vaso sagrado, resultando así tradiciones como la del Sacro Catino de la Catedral de Génova que se remonta al siglo XII, la de la escudilla de esmeralda de Almería del siglo XIII referenciado por Rodrigo de Toledo en su Historia gótica, la versión del Grial de Valencia de Ricardo Wagner presente en sus obras Parsifal y Lohengrin, o una más reciente de Angel del Castillo que sitúa la sagrada forma en Cerebro, provincia de Lugo y lugar de paso de la peregrinación a Santiago de Compostela. En lo concerniente al Castillo del Grial, también existen diferentes fábulas, desde su localización en San Juan de la Peña, a su ubicación en Montserrat, por la semejanza de los vocablos Montsalvatsch y Montsalvat utilizados en el Perceval del francés Chretien de Troyes y en el Parzival del alemán Wolfram von Eschenbach, otro mito más reciente es el de Montségur-Montsalvatsch de Otto Rahn en sus libros La cruzada contra el Grial y Los criados de corte de Lucifer, pero existen otras teorías que lo ubican en Monte Saint-Michel, o en Odenwald, Baviera. Todas estas versiones, sin pruebas científicas, ayudan a acrecentar la leyenda del Grial, que no puede concretar en realidad hasta la fecha.

La enseñanza media por televisión.

Se analiza un proyecto de enseñanza oficial por medio de la televisión, llevado a cabo en Baviera, y denominado Telekolleg. Los medios de comunicación de masas parecen estar llamados a tener un papel protagonista en la educación. Así ha ocurrido con la radio, que ha permitido vencer numerosas dificultades, suplir deficiencias de material y de personal de enseñanza. El Telekolleg es una de las primeras experiencias que se ensayan para aportar soluciones cabales en materia de enseñanza directa en televisión. Se señalan algunas de las particularidades de este proyecto: se realiza en función de las necesidades de formación del país, por lo que fundamentalmente trata contenidos relativos a Compatibilidad Comercial, Gestión de Empresas, Dietética y Gestión de Explotaciones Agrícolas, por otro lado también han incluido una serie de materias generales, denominadas ÷conocimientos útiles', que son: Historia, Educación Cívica, Sociología, Algebra y Geometría, Física, Química, Biología y Geografía. En definitiva se analiza la estructura del plan de estudios del Telekolleg, y las distintas fases que ha atravesado en su realización, desde la fase inicial de comprobación y experimentación, hasta, su implementación final.

Ley de formaci??n del profesorado de 8 de agosto de 1974

La Ley de Baviera reflejaba la atenci??n que merec??a la mejora cient??fica y pedag??gica de los profesores, sin descuidar el perfeccionamiento de los mismos en un esfuerzo porque ??sta reforma no defraudara. Constaba de seis secciones: generalidades, estudios, perfeccionamiento del profesorado, ejercicio de la actividad docente referido a los grados, normas especiales, disposiciones transitorias y finales. Comprend??a veintis??is art??culos en total m??s catorce disposiciones adicionales.

Hacia un nuevo sindicalismo?

Resumen basado en el de la publicación

Cissus sicyoides (princess vine) in the long-term treatment of streptozotocin-diabetic rats

Leaf decoctions of Cissus sicyoides (princess vine) are taken widely as a popular remedy for diabetes mellitus in Brazil, where its common name is 'vegetal insulin'. However, there have been practically no attempts so far to determine scientifically whether it has antidiabetic effects and we decided to administer leaf decoctions, over extended periods, to normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rats, and investigate the effects of this treatment on the physiological and metabolic parameters that are altered in diabetic animals. The experimental model adopted was shown to be appropriate by running a parallel treatment with insulin, which led to expected improvements in several abnormal parameter values. The decoction treatment significantly reduced the intake of both food and fluid and the volume of urine excreted, as well as the levels of blood glucose, urinary glucose and urinary urea, in comparison with controls. Lipid metabolism was not affected by the treatment; nor was the level of hepatic glycogen in diabetic animals, which indicated that the mechanism responsible for the improvement in carbohydrate metabolism, observed in animals treated with the decoction, could not involve inhibition of glycogenolysis and/or stimulation of glycogenesis. The fact that normal animals treated with C. sicyoides exhibited no changes in any of the measured parameters suggests that its mode of action in diabetic animals does not resemble those of sulphonylurea or insulin. It may, however, act in a similar way to biguanide, via inhibition of gluconeogenesis.

Anti-diabetic activity of Bauhinia forficata decoction in streptozotocin-diabetic rats

The effects of using Bauhinia forficata leaf decoction (150 g leaf/l water; 35.2+/-7.8 ml/100 g body weight mean daily dose) as a drinking-water substitute for about I month on streptozotocin-diabetes (STZ-diabetes) in male Wistar rats were investigated. The physico-metabolic parameters measured were: body weight, food and liquid intake, urinary volume, hepatic glycogen, serum triglycerides and cholesterol, plasma glucose, urinary glucose and urea, and the weight of epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissue and soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles. The STZ-diabetic rats treated with decoction showed a significant reduction in serum and urinary glucose and urinary urea as compared to the STZ-diabetic control, no difference being seen between decoction-treated and -untreated non-diabetic rats. The other physico-metabolic factors showed no changes in treated STZ-diabetic rats. The improvement in carbohydrate metabolism seen in the rats treated with Bauhinia forficata decoction does not appear to be linked to the inhibition of glycogenolysis or the stimulation of glycogenesis nor does it appear to act in a way similar to insulin or the sulfonylureas, although it may act by the inhibition of neoglycogenesis in a manner similar to that of the biguanides. (C) 2002 Elsevier B.V. Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fruit of the jambolan tree (Eugenia jambolana Lam.) and experimental diabetes

The fruit of Indian Eugenia jambolana have been shown to have therapeutic properties, but because the therapeutic potential of a plant is related to the geographic region in which the plant was grown and to the part of the plant used, we investigated Brazilian Eugenia jambolana fruit using the same preparation and experimental methods as have been used in India. The well-established metabolic cage model was used to evaluate the physiological and metabolic parameters associated with streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats (n = 10) which had been administered, by gavage, 50 mg per day of lyophilised Eugenia jambolana fruit-pulp extract for 41 days. We found that, compared to untreated controls, rats treated with the lyophilised fruit-pulp showed no observable difference in body weight, food or water intake, urine volume, glycaemia, urinary urea and glucose, hepatic glycogen, or on serum levels of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or triglycerides. No change was observed in the masses of epididymal or retroperitoneal adipose tissue or of soleus or extensor digitorum longus muscles. This lack of any apparent effect on the diabetes may be attributable to the regional ecosystem where the fruit was collected and/or to the severity of the induced diabetes. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V.. All rights reserved.

Sloterdijk e o lugar do homem no humanismo pós-metafísico

This work starts from the principle that the word humanism has been currently used to advocate certain behaviors or ways of acting which had been constituted for more than 2500 years, mainly in what refers to the most basic human values, which are clearly validated without any questioning. Humanism has been seen continually as a stone of civility touch. Thus, in 1999, the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk presented a conference in Baviera entitled Rules for the Human Zoo, whose subtitle was clear that it dealt with an answer to Martin Heidegger s text Letter on Humanism, basically showing that civility is necessarily bound to human domestication. So, the present work is split in three chapters. The first one aims to set the cultural and metaphysical bases of humanism. The second one will adopt an approach about what we will call epistolary humanism and its corollaries. Besides, in the third chapter, we will compose theoretical statements to the Heideggerian criticism against humanism and the post humanist contemporary proposition, as well as about the anthropotechnics. We can state that these two elements are considered as anthropological fundamentals of humanism and post humanism, and by understanding their mentioned historical relationship from their biological and ontological assumptions. Therefore, this work, which has been presented here, when it tries to map humanism under the theoretical influence of Sloterdijk, it distinguishes itself precisely by realizing the coherence with which he aims at diagnosing the directions of the contemporary humanism

Temporal response pattern of biochemical analytes in experimental diabetes

The activities of the enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), creatine kinase (CK), amylase (AMS) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) have been used to assess the toxic effects of xenobiotics that have hypoglycaemic action in hepatic, pancreatic, renal and muscle tissue. Using a validated experimental model of diabetes mellitus in rats, we ascertained whether this syndrome itself affected the serum activities of these enzymes over a 53-day period. Levels of hepatic enzymes AST, ALT and ALP were higher in the streptozotocin (STZ)diabetic rats (group D), but were controlled by insulin therapy (group DI). AMS was reduced in group D and unchanged in group DI rats. Proteinuria was detected 1 day after STZ administation and partially controlled by insulin (group DI); its early presence in group D rats, and the lack of any change in serum ACE in this group, indicates that proteinuria is the better marker for microangiopathy. Microscopic examination of liver, kidney, heart and skeletal muscles (soleus and extensor digitorum longus) revealed various alterations in group D rat tissues, which were less pronounced in group DI. The liver, pancreas and kidney tissue-damage was consistent with the altered serum levels of AST, ALT, ALP and AMS and proteinuria. We conclude that: (i) rigorous control is required when these serum-enzyme levels are used as indicators of tissue toxicity in experimental diabetes, and (ii) LD, CK and bilirubin serum levels, which are unaffected by diabetes, can be used when testing effects of xenobiotics on tissues.

Community structure of aquatic insects (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera) in Cerrado streams of Paraguay, Paraná, and São Francisco river basins

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Evaluation of toxicity after one-months treatment with Bauhinia forficata decoction in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Background: Previous experiments have shown that a decoction of Bauhinia forficata leaves reduces the changes in carbohydrate and protein metabolism that occur in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. In the present investigation, the serum activities of enzymes known to be reliable toxicity markers were monitored in normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rats to discover whether the use of B. forficata decoction has toxic effects on liver, muscle or pancreas tissue or on renal microcirculation. Methods: An experimental group of normal and streptozotocin-diabetic rats received an aqueous decoction of fresh B. forficata leaves (150 g/L) by mouth for 33 days while a control group of normal and diabetic rats received water for the same length of time. The serum activity of the toxicity markers lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, amylase, angiotensin-converting enzyme and bilirubin were assayed before receiving B. forficata decoction and on day 19 and 33 of treatment. Results: The toxicity markers in normal and diabetic rats were not altered by the diabetes itself nor by treatment with decoction. Whether or not they received B. forficata decoction the normal rats showed a significant increase in serum amylase activity during the experimental period while there was a tendency for the diabetic rats, both treated and untreated with decoction, to have lower serum amylase activities than the normal rats. Conclusions: Administration of an aqueous decoction of B. forficata is a potential treatment for diabetes and does not produce toxic effects measurable with the enzyme markers used in our study. © 2004 Pepato et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Insulin Suppresses Atrophy- and Autophagy-related Genes in Heart Tissue and Cardiomyocytes Through AKT/FOXO Signaling

Insulin is an important regulator of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and of lysosomal proteolysis in cardiac muscle. However, the role of insulin in the regulation of the muscle atrophy-related Ub-ligases atrogin-1 and MuRF1 as well as in autophagy, a major adaptive response to nutritional stress, in the heart has not been characterized. We report here that acute insulin deficiency in the cardiac muscle of rats induced by streptozotocin increased the expression of atrogin-1 and MuRF1 as well as LC3 and Gabarapl1, 2 autophagy-related genes. These effects were associated with decreased phosphorylation levels of Akt and its downstream target Foxo3a; this phenomenon is a well-known effect that permits the maintenance of Foxo in the nucleus to activate protein degradation by proteasomal and autophagic processes. The administration of insulin increased Akt and Foxo3a phosphorylation and suppressed the diabetes-induced expression of Ub-ligases and autophagy-related genes. In cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, nutritional stress induced by serum/glucose deprivation strongly increased the expression of Ub-ligases and autophagy-related genes; this effect was inhibited by insulin. Furthermore, the addition of insulin in vitro prevented the decrease in Akt/Foxo signaling induced by nutritional stress. These findings demonstrate that insulin suppresses atrophy- and autophagy-related genes in heart tissue and cardiomyocytes, most likely through the phosphorylation of Akt and the inactivation of Foxo3a. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG.