Identidad sexual y Derecho. Estudio interdisciplinario del transexualismo. [Reseña]

Reseña de: Marina CAMPS MERLO, Identidad sexual y Derecho. Estudio interdisciplinario del transexualismo, Eunsa, Pamplona, 2007, 535 pp

Educación en valores. Ideología y religión en la escuela pública. [Reseña]

Reseña de: Antonio LÓPEZ CASTILLO (ed.). Educación en valores. Ideología y religión en la escuela pública. Estudio introductorío de José Alvarez Junco, Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, Cuademos y Debates, n. 176, Madríd, 2007, 316 pp

¿“Dictadura” de las nuevas libertades? Relativismo ético y absolutización de lo útil en la Europa contemporánea

El objeto de este trabajo consiste en poner de manifiesto cómo el relativismo esconde y convierte en absoluto el utilitarismo dominante en las sociedades contemporáneas. Los peligros que este fenómeno entraña para el respeto a la libertad, singularmente a la libertad de conciencia, también son analizados en las páginas que siguen, desde la óptica de la teoría fenomenológica sobre el valor

The Lambeosaurine Dinosaur Magnapaulia laticaudus from the Late Cretaceous of Baja California, Northwestern Mexico

The taxonomy, osteology, phylogenetic position, and historical biogeography of the lambeosaurine hadrosaurid Magnapaulia laticaudus (new combination) are revised. The diagnosis of this species is amended on the basis on two autapomorphies (i.e., longest haemal arches of proximal caudal vertebrae being at least four times longer than the height of their respective centra; base of prezygapophyses in caudal vertebrae merging to form a bowl-shaped surface) and a unique combination of characters (i.e., downturned cranioventral process of the maxilla; tear-shaped external naris with length/width ratio between 1.85 and 2.85; neural spines of dorsal, sacral, and proximal caudal vertebrae being at least four times the height of their respective centra). A maximum parsimony analysis supports a sister taxon relationship between M. laticaudus and Velafrons coahuilensis. Both taxa constitute a clade of southern North American lambeosaurines, which forms a sister relationship with the diverse clade of helmet-crested lambeosaurines from northern North America that includes well-known genera like Corythosaurus, Lambeosaurus, and Hypacrosaurus. According to the results of a Dispersal-Vicariance analysis, southern North American lambeosaurines split from the northern forms via vicariance from a common ancestor that lived in both the northern and southern regions of the continent

Posthumanismo, inteligencia artificial y Derecho

The article is concerned with analyzing the contribution of strong artificial intelligence to post-humanist dystopia, detecting the essential assumptions of the thesis that places the future of humanity in the fusion of the human with an artificial super-intelligence. Finally, these fundamental ideas of post-humanism are extrapolated to the field of legal culture, pointing out some risks that derive from them for our understanding of law.El artículo se ocupa de analizar la contribución de la inteligencia artificial fuerte a la distopía posthumanista, detectando los presupuestos esenciales de la tesis que sitúa el futuro de la humanidad en la fusión de lo humano con una superinteligencia artificial. Finalmente, se extrapolan esas ideas fundamentales del posthumanismo al ámbito de la cultura jurídica, señalando algunos riesgos que de ellas se derivan para nuestra comprensión del derecho

Convicciones religiosas y elecciones personales: derecho a la objeción de conciencia y autodeterminación individual en la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos

El artículo tiene por objeto mostrar la diversa consideración que jurídicamente merecen, en nuestras sociedades, las decisiones individuales basadas en convicciones religiosas y las basadas en preferencias personales conformadoras de un proyecto vital autónomo, sobre todo cuando esas decisiones implican la desobediencia al derecho y, por tanto, reclaman el reconocimiento del derecho a la objeción. Tras un análisis de la reciente sentencia en el caso Osmanoğlu y Kocabaş vs. Suiza y de otras anteriores, la autora propone una mayor protección jurídica para las decisiones basadas en convicciones religiosas y la consideración de la autodeterminación como una libertad más que como un derecho en sentido estricto.The aim of the paper is to show the different legal consideration of decisions based upon religious convictions and those based upon personal preferences according to a vital autonomous project, specially, when these decisions means disobedience to law and a right to conscientious objection is claimed. After an analysis of Osmanoğlu y Kocabaş vs. Switzerland and other case laws, the author suggests a stronger legal protection of decisions based upon religious convictions and the consideration of autodetermination as a liberty more than as a right in the strict sense

Defined neuronal populations drive fatal phenotype in a mouse model of leigh syndrome

Altres ajuts: Seattle Children's Research Institute: Seed Funds;NINDS: R01 NIH/NS 102796; University of Washington Neurological Surgery Department: Ellenbogen Neurological Surgery Research Funds; University of Washington: The Ryan J. Murphy SUDEP Research Funds; Mitochondrial Research Guild: Seed FundsMitochondrial deficits in energy production cause untreatable and fatal pathologies known as mitochondrial disease (MD). Central nervous system affectation is critical in Leigh Syndrome (LS), a common MD presentation, leading to motor and respiratory deficits, seizures and premature death. However, only specific neuronal populations are affected. Furthermore, their molecular identity and their contribution to the disease remains unknown. Here, using a mouse model of LS lacking the mitochondrial complex I subunit Ndufs4, we dissect the critical role of genetically-defined neuronal populations in LS progression. Ndufs4 inactivation in Vglut2expressing glutamatergic neurons leads to decreased neuronal firing, brainstem inflammation, motor and respiratory deficits, and early death. In contrast, Ndufs4 deletion in GABAergic neurons causes basal ganglia inflammation without motor or respiratory involvement, but accompanied by hypothermia and severe epileptic seizures preceding death. These results provide novel insight in the cell type-specific contribution to the pathology, dissecting the underlying cellular mechanisms of MD

Malignancy following heart transplantation: differences in incidence and prognosis between sexes – a multicenter cohort study

[Abstract] Male patients are at increased risk for developing malignancy postheart transplantation (HT); however, real incidence and prognosis in both genders remain unknown. The aim of this study was to assess differences in incidence and mortality related to malignancy between genders in a large cohort of HT patients. Incidence and mortality rates were calculated for all tumors, skin cancers (SCs), lymphoma, and nonskin solid cancers (NSSCs) as well as survival since first diagnosis of neoplasia. 5865 patients (81.6% male) were included. Total incidence rates for all tumors, SCs, and NSSCs were lower in females [all tumors: 25.7 vs. 44.8 per 1000 person‐years; rate ratio (RR) 0.68, (0.60–0.78), P < 0.001]. Mortality rates were also lower in females for all tumors [94.0 (77.3–114.3) vs. 129.6 (120.9–138.9) per 1000 person‐years; RR 0.76, (0.62–0.94), P = 0.01] and for NSSCs [125.0 (95.2–164.0) vs 234.7 (214.0–257.5) per 1000 person‐years; RR 0.60 (0.44–0.80), P = 0.001], albeit not for SCs or lymphoma. Female sex was associated with a better survival after diagnosis of malignancy [log‐rank p test = 0.0037; HR 0.74 (0.60–0.91), P = 0.004]. In conclusion, incidence of malignancies post‐HT is higher in males than in females, especially for SCs and NSSCs. Prognosis after cancer diagnosis is also worse in males