What Price Social and Health Care? Commodities, Competition and Consumers

In this paper we explore some important disputes and problems surrounding the legal status and social purpose of Health

Brief Report: How Adolescents with ASD Process Social Information in Complex Scenes. Combining Evidence from Eye Movements and Verbal Descriptions

We investigated attention, encoding and processing of social aspects of complex photographic scenes. Twenty-four high-functioning adolescents (aged 11–16) with ASD and 24 typically developing matched control participants viewed and then described a series of scenes, each containing a person. Analyses of eye movements and verbal descriptions provided converging evidence that both groups displayed general interest in the person in each scene but the salience of the person was reduced for the ASD participants. Nevertheless, the verbal descriptions revealed that participants with ASD frequently processed the observed person’s emotion or mental state without prompting. They also often mentioned eye-gaze direction, and there was evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions that gaze was followed accurately. The combination of evidence from eye movements and verbal descriptions provides a rich insight into the way stimuli are processed overall. The merits of using these methods within the same paradigm are discussed.

Functional proteomics and biochemsitry: working together to unravel mitochondrial phenomena of African trypansomes

Eukaryotic cells are compartmentalized into membrane-bound organelles in order to provide sheltered reaction rooms for various specific processes. Organelles are not randomly distributed in a cell or operate isolated from each other. At the contrary — some organelles are closely linked and their functions are tightly orchestrated. The most well-known example of two such organelles acting in concert are the ER and the mitochondrion that work together in order to coordinate cellular lipid biosynthesis, maintain Ca2+-homeostasis, regulate mitochondrial division and control mitochondrial/ER shape as well as to synchronize the movement of these organelles within a cell. To study the mitochondrion and its interface to the ER requires a simplified mitochondrial system. African trypanosomes represent such a system. The unicellular parasite that causes devastating diseases in humans and animals has only one large mitochondrion that does not undergo fission/fusion events except for the context of cell division. Moreover, mitochondrial functions and morphology are highly regulated throughout the life cycle of the protozoan. Central to the understanding of how mitochondria control their morphology, communicate with their surroundings and manage exchange of metabolites and transport of biopolymers (proteins, RNAs) is the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM), as the MOM defines the boundary of the organelle. Recently, we have purified the MOM of T. brucei and characterized its proteome using label-free quantitative mass spectrometry for protein abundance profiling in combination with statistical analysis. Our results show that the trypanosomal MOM proteome consists of 82 proteins, two thirds of which have never been associated with mitochondria before. Among these, we identified novel factors required to regulate mitochondrial morphology and the long-elusive protein import machinery of T. brucei. A comparison with the MOM proteome of yeast defines a set of 17 common proteins that are likely present in the mitochondrial outer membrane of all eukaryotes. One of these is the Miro-GTPase Gem1. In yeast, this Ca2+-EF-Hand containing polypeptide is thought to be involved in a protein complex that physically tethers the mitochondrion to the ER. Interestingly, a putative tethering complex in mammalian cells was linked to the mitochondrial fusion/fission machinery. Thus, the concept of a protein complex-mediated connection seems to be a general and conserved feature. We are currently investigating, if such a protein complex exists in T. brucei and if the trypanosomal Gem1 protein is involved. This ER-subdomain associated with mitochondria has been termed mitochondria-associated ER-membranes or MAM. The MAM has recently been implicated to play a key role in Alzheimer’s disease. It is therefore of broad and general interest to establish other eukaryotic model systems in order to investigate the MAM-MOM connection in more detail.

Functional proteomics and biochemistry: working together to unravel mitochondrial phenomena of African trypanosomes

Eukaryotic cells are compartmentalized into membrane-bound organelles in order to provide sheltered reaction rooms for various specific processes. Organelles are not randomly distributed in a cell or operate isolated from each other. At the contrary — some organelles are closely linked and their functions are tightly orchestrated. The most well-known example of two such organelles acting in concert are the ER and the mitochondrion that work together in order to coordinate cellular lipid biosynthesis, maintain Ca2+-homeostasis, regulate mitochondrial division and control mitochondrial/ER shape as well as to synchronize the movement of these organelles within a cell. To study the mitochondrion and its interface to the ER requires a simplified mitochondrial system. African trypanosomes represent such a system. The unicellular parasite that causes devastating diseases in humans and animals has only one large mitochondrion that does not undergo fission/fusion events except for the context of cell division. Moreover, mitochondrial functions and morphology are highly regulated throughout the life cycle of the protozoan. Central to the understanding of how mitochondria control their morphology, communicate with their surroundings and manage exchange of metabolites and transport of biopolymers (proteins, RNAs) is the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM), as the MOM defines the boundary of the organelle. Recently, we have purified the MOM of T. brucei and characterized its proteome using label-free quantitative mass spectrometry for protein abundance profiling in combination with statistical analysis. Our results show that the trypanosomal MOM proteome consists of 82 proteins, two thirds of which have never been associated with mitochondria before. Among these, we identified novel factors required to regulate mitochondrial morphology and the long-elusive protein import machinery of T. brucei. A comparison with the MOM proteome of yeast defines a set of 17 common proteins that are likely present in the mitochondrial outer membrane of all eukaryotes. One of these is the Miro-GTPase Gem1. In yeast, this Ca2+-EF-Hand containing polypeptide is thought to be involved in a protein complex that physically tethers the mitochondrion to the ER. Interestingly, a putative tethering complex in mammalian cells was linked to the mitochondrial fusion/fission machinery. Thus, the concept of a protein complex-mediated connection seems to be a general and conserved feature. We are currently investigating, if such a protein complex exists in T. brucei and if the trypanosomal Gem1 protein is involved. This ER-subdomain associated with mitochondria has been termed mitochondria-associated ER-membranes or MAM. The MAM has recently been implicated to play a key role in Alzheimer’s disease. It is therefore of broad and general interest to establish other eukaryotic model systems in order to investigate the MAM-MOM connection in more detail.

Participación ciudadana y reforma del estado

Este trabajo responde al propósito de reflexionar acerca del verdadero sentido de la participación ciudadana en la gestión de «lo público»; de las formas y modos que toma la intervención activa de los ciudadanos en los asuntos de interés general; de los obstáculos que se oponen a la participación y de los beneficios y riesgos que de ella derivan. Pretendemos también, analizar los procesos de reforma del Estado encarados por nuestro país desde 1989, para detectar qué espacios de intervención han sido reconocidos a nuestros ciudadanos, mediante qué mecanismos y resortes se asegura la participación, qué se ha hecho y qué falta por hacer. Abordamos el tema de la participación ciudadana o social como asignatura pendiente de la reforma del Estado, en tanto creemos que los procesos de reforma encarados a nivel nacional, provincial y municipal -con diferencia de matices- adolecen de la misma falla: asegurar una mayor y más efectiva intervención de la ciudadanía en la toma de decisiones y control de la gestión pública.

Visibilidad de los archivos universitarios hispanoamericanos a través de Internet

Este trabajo busca detectar la presencia en Internet de archivos universitarios existentes en países del continente americano cuyo idioma oficial sea la lengua española, y analizar sus sitios web prestando especial atención a los contenidos difundidos en ellos. Se relevaron a junio de 2013 un total de 56 sitios web. Como conclusiones principales pueden señalarse las siguientes: a) se observa un lento incremento en la cantidad de sitios web, pasando de 42 en 2005 a 56 en 2013; b) 52 por ciento corresponden a la fase histórica; c) México es el país con mayor cantidad de archivos; d) 64 por ciento posee sitio web propio; e) 80 por ciento incluye misión del archivo; f) cerca de un 20 por ciento no incluye datos de contacto; g) 74 por ciento señala los servicios ofrecidos; h) 53 por ciento disponen información descriptiva general sobre los fondos custodiados; i) 21 por ciento ofrece la posibilidad de hojear documentos a texto completo; j) 28 por ciento difunde su reglamento y procedimientos de trabajo; k) poco más del 45 por ciento incluye información sobre pautas para el acceso, consulta y reproducción de documentos; l) un bajo porcentaje incluye informaciones adicionales, predominando noticias (39 por ciento) y fotos (18 por ciento), así como legislación archivística (20 por ciento) y recursos archivísticos de interés (27 por ciento); m) en cuanto a las herramientas de la Web 2.0, 18 por ciento posee blog, 16 por ciento canales de RSS, 27 por ciento Facebook y 23 por ciento Twitter

Visibilidad de los archivos universitarios hispanoamericanos a través de Internet

Este trabajo busca detectar la presencia en Internet de archivos universitarios existentes en países del continente americano cuyo idioma oficial sea la lengua española, y analizar sus sitios web prestando especial atención a los contenidos difundidos en ellos. Se relevaron a junio de 2013 un total de 56 sitios web. Como conclusiones principales pueden señalarse las siguientes: a) se observa un lento incremento en la cantidad de sitios web, pasando de 42 en 2005 a 56 en 2013; b) 52 por ciento corresponden a la fase histórica; c) México es el país con mayor cantidad de archivos; d) 64 por ciento posee sitio web propio; e) 80 por ciento incluye misión del archivo; f) cerca de un 20 por ciento no incluye datos de contacto; g) 74 por ciento señala los servicios ofrecidos; h) 53 por ciento disponen información descriptiva general sobre los fondos custodiados; i) 21 por ciento ofrece la posibilidad de hojear documentos a texto completo; j) 28 por ciento difunde su reglamento y procedimientos de trabajo; k) poco más del 45 por ciento incluye información sobre pautas para el acceso, consulta y reproducción de documentos; l) un bajo porcentaje incluye informaciones adicionales, predominando noticias (39 por ciento) y fotos (18 por ciento), así como legislación archivística (20 por ciento) y recursos archivísticos de interés (27 por ciento); m) en cuanto a las herramientas de la Web 2.0, 18 por ciento posee blog, 16 por ciento canales de RSS, 27 por ciento Facebook y 23 por ciento Twitter

Visibilidad de los archivos universitarios hispanoamericanos a través de Internet

Este trabajo busca detectar la presencia en Internet de archivos universitarios existentes en países del continente americano cuyo idioma oficial sea la lengua española, y analizar sus sitios web prestando especial atención a los contenidos difundidos en ellos. Se relevaron a junio de 2013 un total de 56 sitios web. Como conclusiones principales pueden señalarse las siguientes: a) se observa un lento incremento en la cantidad de sitios web, pasando de 42 en 2005 a 56 en 2013; b) 52 por ciento corresponden a la fase histórica; c) México es el país con mayor cantidad de archivos; d) 64 por ciento posee sitio web propio; e) 80 por ciento incluye misión del archivo; f) cerca de un 20 por ciento no incluye datos de contacto; g) 74 por ciento señala los servicios ofrecidos; h) 53 por ciento disponen información descriptiva general sobre los fondos custodiados; i) 21 por ciento ofrece la posibilidad de hojear documentos a texto completo; j) 28 por ciento difunde su reglamento y procedimientos de trabajo; k) poco más del 45 por ciento incluye información sobre pautas para el acceso, consulta y reproducción de documentos; l) un bajo porcentaje incluye informaciones adicionales, predominando noticias (39 por ciento) y fotos (18 por ciento), así como legislación archivística (20 por ciento) y recursos archivísticos de interés (27 por ciento); m) en cuanto a las herramientas de la Web 2.0, 18 por ciento posee blog, 16 por ciento canales de RSS, 27 por ciento Facebook y 23 por ciento Twitter

Aerosol concentrations measured along the track of METEOR cruise M16

During the third part of the Atlantic Expedition 1969 from 10° S to 60° N along 30° W, measurements of the complete size distribution of atmospheric aeosols over the whole size range from about 10**-7 to 10**-2 cm radius were made. This was possibe by the simultaneous operation of different methods which are critically discussed. The results obtained are the first of its kind and are of general interest despite some methodical shortcomings. North of the equator the ship passed through air masses of west African origin and the influence of Sahara dust on the Marine aerosols could be documented in a unique way. The Sahara dust component was restricted to the size range of 10**-5 to 10**-3 radius. Throughout the voyage particles up to 10**-2 radius were always found to be present, similar to findings over continents. Of special interest is the observation that the size distribution extends to very small particles, suggesting continuous aerosol production over the ocean.

Revisiting labour and gender issues in Export Processing Zones : the cases of South Korea, Bangladesh and India

The establishment of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) is a strategy for economic development that was introduced almost fifty years ago and is nowadays employed in a large number of countries. While the number of EPZs including several variants such as Special Economic Zone (SEZs) has increased continuously, general interest in EPZs has declined over the years in contrast to earlier heated debates regarding the efficacy of the strategy and its welfare effects especially on women workers. This article re-evaluates the historical trajectories and outstanding labour and gender issues of EPZs on the basis of the experiences of South Korea, Bangladesh and India. The findings suggest the necessity of enlarging our analytical scope with regard to EPZs, which are inextricably connected with external employment structures, whether outside the EPZ but within the same country, or outside the EPZ and its host country altogether.

An autonomous folding unit mediates the assembly of two-stranded coiled coils

Subunit oligomerization of many proteins is mediated by coiled-coil domains. Although the basic features contributing to the thermodynamic stability of coiled coils are well understood, the mechanistic details of their assembly have not yet been dissected. Here we report a 13-residue sequence pattern that occurs with limited sequence variations in many two-stranded coiled coils and that is absolutely required for the assembly of the Dictyostelium discoideum actin-bundling protein cortexillin I and the yeast transcriptional activator GCN4. The functional relationship between coiled-coil “trigger” sequences was manifested by replacing the intrinsic trigger motif of GCN4 with the related sequence from cortexillin I. We demonstrate that these trigger sequences represent autonomous helical folding units that, in contrast to arbitrarily chosen heptad repeats, can mediate coiled-coil formation. Aside from being of general interest for protein folding, trigger motifs should be of particular importance in the protein de novo design.

A Millennial Myosin Census

The past decade has seen a remarkable explosion in our knowledge of the size and diversity of the myosin superfamily. Since these actin-based motors are candidates to provide the molecular basis for many cellular movements, it is essential that motility researchers be aware of the complete set of myosins in a given organism. The availability of cDNA and/or draft genomic sequences from humans, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis thaliana, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, and Dictyostelium discoideum has allowed us to tentatively define and compare the sets of myosin genes in these organisms. This analysis has also led to the identification of several putative myosin genes that may be of general interest. In humans, for example, we find a total of 40 known or predicted myosin genes including two new myosins-I, three new class II (conventional) myosins, a second member of the class III/ninaC myosins, a gene similar to the class XV deafness myosin, and a novel myosin sharing at most 33% identity with other members of the superfamily. These myosins are in addition to the recently discovered class XVI myosin with N-terminal ankyrin repeats and two human genes with similarity to the class XVIII PDZ-myosin from mouse. We briefly describe these newly recognized myosins and extend our previous phylogenetic analysis of the myosin superfamily to include a comparison of the complete or nearly complete inventories of myosin genes from several experimentally important organisms.

Evaluación participativa de los impactos sociales del turismo residencial y meta-análisis de resultados: un caso de estudio en Pipa (Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil)

Este artículo presenta una propuesta metodológica para la evaluación participativa de impactos sociales. Se ejemplifica mediante la descripción del proceso y resultados de una investigación realizada en la comunidad turística de Pipa (Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil) en la que se desarrolló un proceso de participación orientado a discutir el modelo de turismo residencial implantado en este territorio mediante el identificación y evaluación de sus impactos sociales. La novedad de esta propuesta reside en que se añade, a los beneficios y utilidades de la evaluación participativa de impactos sociales, un meta-análisis realizado sobre los resultados del proceso de participación. Este meta-análisis hace uso de las herramientas informáticas propias del Análisis de Redes Sociales aplicadas al estudio de los mapas causa-efecto elaborados por los participantes. Los resultados de este análisis cuantitativo se completan e interpretan con la información obtenida a través de entrevistas en profundidad y revisión documental, permitiendo: 1) identificar las causas últimas de los impactos sociales derivados del turismo residencial a escala local y 2) una mejor comprensión de la complejidad causal de estos impactos. El meta-análisis ha identificado que la primacía de los intereses de las empresas inmobiliarias internacionales sobre el interés general local se sustenta sobre su capacidad ilusoria de controlar la demanda mediante agresivas campañas de marketing. Esta información permite la deconstrucción del discurso desarrollista del turismo y posibilita la demarcación de nuevas áreas de acción estratégica orientadas a la maximización del beneficio colectivo.

The concept of 'economic activity' in the EU treaty: from ideological dead-ends to workable judicial concepts. Research Paper in Law 06/2011

[From the Introduction]. The economic rules, or put more ambitiously, the economic constitution of the Treaty,1 only apply to economic activities. This general principle remains valid, even if some authors strive to demonstrate that certain Treaty rules also apply in the absence of an economic activity,2 and despite the fact that non-economic (horizontal) Treaty provisions (e.g. principle of nondiscrimination, rules on citizenship) are also applicable in the absence of any economic activity.3 Indeed, the exercise of some economic activity transcends the concepts of ‘goods’ (having positive or negative market value),4 workers (even if admitted in an extensive manner),5 and services (offered for remuneration).6 It is also economic activity or ‘the activity of offering goods and services into the market’7 that characterises an ‘undertaking’ thus making the competition rules applicable. Further, it is for regulating economic activity that Article 115 TFEU, Article 106(3) TFEU and most other legal bases in the TFEU provide harmonisation powers in favour of the EU. Last but not least, Article 14 TFEU on the distinction between services of general economic interest (SGEIs) and non-economic services of general interest (NESGIs), as well as Protocol n. 26 on Services of General Interest (SGIs) confirm the constitutional significance of the distinction between economic and non-economic: a means of dividing competences between the EU and the member states. The distinction between economic and non-economic activities is fraught with legal and technical intricacies – the latter being generated by dynamic technological advances and regulatory experimentation. More importantly, however, the distinction is overcharged with political and ideological significations and misunderstandings and, even, terminological confusions.8

Access to environmental information in an Open European Society - Directive 2003/4. Research Paper in Law 5/2003

[From the Introduction]. Information gives knowledge and knowledge gives power. Though in all EC Member States, the task to protect the environment is given to the administration, it is obvious that the administration is not the owner of the environment. The environment is everybody's. It is for this reason that administrative decisions which affect the environment must be transparent, open and must strike a balance between the general interest to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the environment on the one hand, the satisfying of specific private or public interests on the other hand. In order to allow at least a certain control of whether the administration strikes the right balance between the need to protect the environment and other legitimate or less legitimate needs, it appears normal and self-evident that information on the environment which is in the hands of public authorities, be also made available to the public and to citizens.