Socialism and Legal History

This book focuses on the way in which legal historians and legal scientists used the past to legitimize, challenge, explain and familiarize the socialist legal orders, which were backed by dictatorial governments. The volume studies legal historians and legal histories written in Eastern European countries during the socialist era after the Second World War. The book investigates whether there was a unified form of socialist legal historiography, and if so, what can be said of its common features. The individual chapters of this volume concentrate on the regimes that situate between the Russian, and later Soviet, legal culture and the area covered by the German Civil Code. Hence, the geographical focus of the book is on East Germany, Russia, the Baltic states, Poland and Hungary. The approach is transnational, focusing on the interaction and intertwinement of the then hegemonic communist ideology and the ideas of law and justice, as they appeared in the writings of legal historians of the socialist legal orders. Such an angle enables concentration on the dynamics between politics and law as well as identities and legal history. Studying the socialist interpretations of legal history reveals the ways in which the 20th century legal scholars, situated between legal renewal and political guidance gave legitimacy to, struggled to come to terms with, and sketched the future of the socialist legal orders. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal History, Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law and European Studies

Spectral Interferometry with Frequency Combs

In this review paper, we provide an overview of the state of the art in linear interferometric techniques using laser frequency comb sources. Diverse techniques including Fourier transform spectroscopy, linear spectral interferometry and swept-wavelength interferometry are covered in detail. The unique features brought by laser frequency comb sources are shown, and specific applications highlighted in molecular spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography and the characterization of photonic integrated devices and components. Finally, the possibilities enabled by advances in chip scale swept sources and frequency combs are discussed

Socialism and Legal History

This book focuses on the way in which legal historians and legal scientists used the past to legitimize, challenge, explain and familiarize the socialist legal orders, which were backed by dictatorial governments. The volume studies legal historians and legal histories written in Eastern European countries during the socialist era after the Second World War. The book investigates whether there was a unified form of socialist legal historiography, and if so, what can be said of its common features. The individual chapters of this volume concentrate on the regimes that situate between the Russian, and later Soviet, legal culture and the area covered by the German Civil Code. Hence, the geographical focus of the book is on East Germany, Russia, the Baltic states, Poland and Hungary. The approach is transnational, focusing on the interaction and intertwinement of the then hegemonic communist ideology and the ideas of law and justice, as they appeared in the writings of legal historians of the socialist legal orders. Such an angle enables concentration on the dynamics between politics and law as well as identities and legal history. Studying the socialist interpretations of legal history reveals the ways in which the 20th century legal scholars, situated between legal renewal and political guidance gave legitimacy to, struggled to come to terms with, and sketched the future of the socialist legal orders. The book will be a valuable resource for academics and researchers working in the areas of Legal History, Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law and European Studies

The path to circularity: A literature review of its application in Latin America

Present and future generations have a great concern about environmental issues such as the increase of contamination of natural resources and the loss of plant and animal life on earth due to excessive waste and its poor management, poor production practices and consumption habits. As a result of this concern, the main purpose of this research was to present the strategies and the framework that constitute the circular economy (CE) and to consider its application in Latin America. The methodology included a literature review using Scopus and Dialnet databases, applying the key terms “Circular Economy” and “Latin America”, the selection criteria were based on language, number of citations and publication date, which resulted in a statistical sample of 62 articles and reports. After completing the literature review of CE principal concepts, implementation strategies throughout different economic levels, opportunities and disadvantages for use, the researcher was able to see the potential for a global change in the economic system. Because there are clear differences in the application of a circular economy in different regions, the researcher found that an investigation into the socio-economic conditions of any particular region would be necessary before implementing a circular business model. The researcher found that in Latin America a circular economy with a focus on regenerative agriculture and a waste management sector with a waste-to-energy focus provided a high potential for success.Present and future generations have a great concern about environmental issues such as the increase of contamination of natural resources and the loss of plant and animal life on earth due to excessive waste and its poor management, poor production practices and consumption habits. As a result of this concern, the main purpose of this research was to present the strategies and the framework that constitute the circular economy (CE) and to consider its application in Latin America. The methodology included a literature review using Scopus and Dialnet databases, applying the key terms “Circular Economy” and “Latin America”, the selection criteria were based on language, number of citations and publication date, which resulted in a statistical sample of 62 articles and reports. After completing the literature review of CE principal concepts, implementation strategies throughout different economic levels, opportunities and disadvantages for use, the researcher was able to see the potential for a global change in the economic system. Because there are clear differences in the application of a circular economy in different regions, the researcher found that an investigation into the socio-economic conditions of any particular region would be necessary before implementing a circular business model. The researcher found that in Latin America a circular economy with a focus on regenerative agriculture and a waste management sector with a waste-to-energy focus provided a high potential for success

The unfolded protein response and its relevance to connective tissue diseases

The unfolded protein response (UPR) has evolved to counter the stresses that occur in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) as a result of misfolded proteins. This sophisticated quality control system attempts to restore homeostasis through the action of a number of different pathways that are coordinated in the first instance by the ER stress-senor proteins IRE1, ATF6 and PERK. However, prolonged ER-stress-related UPR can have detrimental effects on cell function and, in the longer term, may induce apoptosis. Connective tissue cells such as fibroblasts, osteoblasts and chondrocytes synthesise and secrete large quantities of proteins and mutations in many of these gene products give rise to heritable disorders of connective tissues. Until recently, these mutant gene products were thought to exert their effect through the assembly of a defective extracellular matrix that ultimately disrupted tissue structure and function. However, it is now becoming clear that ER stress and UPR, because of the expression of a mutant gene product, is not only a feature of, but may be a key mediator in the initiation and progression of a whole range of different connective tissue diseases. This review focuses on ER stress and the UPR that characterises an increasing number of connective tissue diseases and highlights novel therapeutic opportunities that may arise

Changing attitudes toward redistribution: The role of perceived economic inequality in everyday life and intolerance of inequality

Modern societies are characterized by economic inequality. Redistributive policies are one of the means to reduce it. We argue that perceived economic inequality in everyday life and intolerance of it are central factors to enhance positive attitudes toward redistribution. To test it, we conducted a four-wave longitudinal panel study in Chile with a sample of 1221 college students (at T1 – baseline, 960 at T2, 926 at T3, and 787 at T4; Mage = 18.89). As expected, a cross-lagged longitudinal analysis controlled by household income confirmed a positive relationship between perceived economic inequality in everyday life and intolerance of inequality, which in turn was positively associated with support for redistributive policies. These results were stable and consistent over time, supporting the idea that perceived economic inequality in everyday life enhances positive attitudes toward redistribution by increasing intolerance of it. Results highlight the important role played by perceived inequality in everyday life.Chilean National Foundation for Scientific and Technological Development/[#1161371]/FONDECYT/ChileCenter for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies/[ANID/FONDAP #15130009]/COES/ChileCenter for Intercultural and Indigenous Research/[ANID/FONDAP #15110006]/CIIR/ChileMinistry of Economy and Competitiveness/[PSI2016-78839-P]/MINECO/EspañaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[OAICE-006-2017]/UCR/Costa RicaUCR::Sedes Regionales::Sede de Occident

Frequency combs on chip for interferometry applications

Optical frequency combs have revolutionized the field of laser spectroscopy. A frequency comb is a type of laser that generates an array of equally spaced coherent laser lines. Indeed, the \ua0outstanding performance of frequency combs in terms of bandwidth and stability is readily attainable in bench-top systems. Integrated photonics offers a platform for the implementation of frequency combs relying on nonlinear optics processes.\ua0 This thesis explores the generation of chip-scale frequency combs based on supercontinuum and microcomb generation and its potential use for interferometry. This investigation covers the capabilities offered by supercontinuum generation in the normal dispersion regime. The spectral broadening is realized by pumping a straight waveguide with a short duration pulse meaning that the pump is a comb itself. Therefore, its performance in terms of coherence and the transferring of noise to the broadened spectra have been investigated. Microcombs can be generated\ua0 on a microresonator starting from a continuous wave laser. In this work, we study microcomb generation in the normal dispersion regime using a novel dual-cavity architecture.\ua0The appended papers describe the nonlinear processes involved in the microcomb generation. We have studied its capabilities in terms of spectral flatness and symmetry, together with the coherence attained on these combs. It is found that these capabilities make microcombs a suitable spectral sources for spectroscopy. Furthermore, the capabilities of different interferometry techniques are analyzed in terms of resolution, sensitivity and measurement time in order to perform on-chip dual-comb spectroscopy

The Fixed Vertex Property for Graphs

Analogous to the fixed point property for ordered sets, a graph has the fixed vertex property if each of its endomorphisms has a fixed vertex. The fixed point theory for ordered sets can be embedded into the fixed vertex theory for graphs. Therefore, the potential for cross-fertilization should be explored

REGULATION OF HEPATIC ER STRESS BY THE E3 UBIQUITIN LIGASE GP78 IN ZEBRAFISH

Mammalian gp78 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that is anchored at the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). It regulates protein homeostasis by polyubiquitinating and targeting proteins for proteasomal degradation under both physiologic and stress conditions. To further test its role in vivo, we analyzed the gross embryonic morphology of zebrafish embryos in which gp78 was knocked down using morpholinos and in transgenic fish overexpressing wild-type gp78 or dominant-negative gp78. We show that gp78 is highly conserved among vertebrates. Zebrafish gp78, similar to human gp78, can colocalize with mouse MmUBC7 in HeLa cells. In vitro ubiquitination assays confirmed that zebrafish gp78 is indeed an E3 ubiquitin ligase. Although gp78 was maternally and constitutively expressed during embryonic development, with relatively high expression levels in several tissues, such as liver and brain, the knockdown of endogenous gp78 or overexpression of wild-type or dominant-negative gp78 did not result in developmental defects, suggesting compensation by other E3 ubiquitin ligases during embryonic development. ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) activity by the unfolded protein response (UPR) represents one of the mechanisms for restoring ER homeostasis. However, the significance of gp78 in the regulation of hepatic ER stress in vivo remains elusive. Here we report that zebrafish gp78 plays a key role in the regulation of hepatic ER stress under tunicamycin-induced stress, but not under physiologic conditions. Tunicamycin treatment induced ER stress and upregulated the expression of several key components of the gp78-mediated ERAD complex in the liver. Moreover, hepatic-specific overexpression of the dominant-negative form of gp78 (gp78-R2M) rendered livers more sensitive to tunicamycin-induced ER stress, suggesting a role for gp78-mediated ERAD in the regulation of hepatic protein homeostasis. Moreover, the overexpression of gp78-R2M enhanced the expression of sterol response element binding protein (Srebp) target genes in response to ER stress, while this was not observed in fish overexpressing wild-type gp78. Together, these data indicate that gp78 plays a critical role in the regulation of hepatic ER stress and lipid metabolism