'Work and Emancipatory Practice: Towards a Recovery of Human Beings' Productive Capacities,'

This article argues that productive work represents a mode of human flourishing unfortunately neglected in much current political theorizing. Focusing on Habermasian critical theory, I contend that Habermas’s dualist theory of society, on account of the communicative versus instrumental reason binary which underpins it, excludes work and the economy from ethical reflection. To avoid this uncritical turn, we need a concept of work that retains a core emancipatory referent. This, I claim, is provided by Alasdair MacIntyre’s notion of ‘practice’. The notion of ‘practice’ is significant in suggesting an alternative conception of human productivity that is neither purely instrumental nor purely communicative, but rather both simultaneously, a form of activity which issues in material products and yet presumes a community of workers engaged in intersubjective self-transformation. However, we can endorse MacIntyre’s notion of ‘practice’ only if we reject his totalizing anti-modernism and insist on the emancipatory potentialities of modern institutions.

Langerhans cells--revisiting the paradigm using genetically engineered mice.

Langerhans cells (LCs) are prominent dendritic cells (DCs) in epithelia, but their role in immunity and tolerance is poorly defined. 'Knockin' mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under the control of the langerin (CD207) gene were recently developed in order to discriminate epidermal LCs from other DC subsets and at the same time to track their dynamics under steady-state or inflammatory conditions in vivo. Additional knockin mice expressing a diphtheria toxin receptor fused to EGFP were used to conditionally ablate LCs and assess their role in triggering hapten-specific T cell effectors through skin immunization. We review the insights that have been provided by these various knockin mice and discuss gaps in our knowledge of LCs that need to be filled.

Cooperativism, entrepreneurship and economic development: a linking theoretical model

Cooperatives, as a kind of firms, are considered by many scholars as an remarkable alternative for overcoming the economic crisis started in 2008. Besides, there are other scholars which pointed out the important role that these firms play in the regional economic development. Nevertheless, when one examines the economic literature on cooperatives, it is detected that this kind of firms is mainly studied starting from the point of view of their own characteristics and particularities of participation and solidarity. In this sense, following a different analysis framework, this article proposes a theoretical model in order to explain the behavior of cooperatives based on the entrepreneurship theory with the aim of increasing the knowledge about this kind of firms and, more specifically, their contribution to regional economic development.

An optimized method for the generation of AFLP markers in a stingless bee (Melipona quadrifasciata) reveals a high degree of intracolonial genetic polymorphism

This study describes an optimized protocol for the generation of Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers in a stingless bee. Essential modifications to standard protocols are a restriction enzyme digestion (EcoRI and Tru1I) in a two-step procedure, combined with a touchdown program in the selective PCR amplification step and product labelling by incorporation of alpha[P-33]dATP. In an analysis of 75 workers collected from three colonies of Melipona quadrifasciata we obtained 719 markers. Analysis of genetic variability revealed that on average 32% of the markers were polymorphic within a colony. Compared to the overall percentage of polymorphism (44% of the markers detected in our bee samples), the observed rates of within-colony polymorphism are remarkably high, considering that the workers of each colony were all of spring of a singly mated queen.

Environmental Value Added - Ein neues Maß zur Messung der Öko-Effizienz. (Environmental Value Added. A new measure for the measurement of eco-efficiency)

To increase eco-efficiency environmental information needs to be integrated into corporate decision making. For decision makers the interpretation of eco-efficiency as a ratio can however be quite difficult in practice. One of the reasons for this is, that eco-efficiency as a ratio is measured in a unit, that is difficult to interpret. This article therefore suggests an alternative measure for eco-efficiency. The Environmental Value Added, the measure proposed in this paper, reflects the excess economic benefit, resulting from the difference between the eco-efficiency under consideration and a benchmark eco-efficiency. It is measured in a purely monetary unit and is thus easier to interpret and integrate than eco-efficiency as a ratio.