La disolución de la sociedad civil: sobre los ideales y las vaguedades en la esfera de las asociaciones de voluntariado

The thinking about civil society has always been characterized by the double reference to existing social relations and to societal ideals. The basic hypothesis of much civil society research is that a flourishing sphere with this name is the carrier of the ideal of more civilized society. This article starts with a brief discussion of the historical background and public debates about civil society, and continues with a more analytic approach of the concept as designation of an associational social order and a sphere of society dominated by voluntary associations. We further focus on this sphere, describe its national patterns in Europe and analyze claims of its civilizing benefits: the formation of social capital and public discourse. We find very limited evidence for the claims and look deeper into developments of modern western society, which have made voluntary associations less important and other spheres of society, in particular the broader margins of civil society, more important for the development of a more civilized society.El pensamiento sobre la sociedad civil siempre ha estado caracterizado por una doble referencia hacia las relaciones sociales existentes y hacia los ideales sociales. La principal hipótesis de numerosas investigaciones sobre la sociedad civil es que una floreciente esfera que lleva este nombre es el portador del ideal de una sociedad más civilizada. Este artículo empieza con una pequeña discusión sobre el trasfondo histórico y los debates públicos en torno a la sociedad civil, y continúa con un planteamiento más analítico del concepto como designación de un orden social asociacional y una esfera de la sociedad dominada por las asociaciones voluntarias. Más adelante nos centramos en esta esfera describiendo sus caracteres nacionales en Europa y analizando las reivindicaciones de sus beneficios civilizadores: la formación de capital social y de discurso público. Encontramos muy pocas evidencias para tales reivindicaciones y por ello profundizamos en el desarrollo de la sociedad moderna occidental, una sociedad en la que las asociaciones voluntarias se han convertido en menos relevantes, mientras que otras esferas de la sociedad, en particular los ensanchados márgenes de la sociedad civil, son más importantes para el desarrollo de una sociedad más civilizad

Activism and Civil Society: Broadening Participation and Deepening Democracy.

In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of political activism through an irruption of citizen movements – 5M or Occupy–, the birth of new political platforms –5 Stelle, Zyrisa, Podemos– and the rise of new direct action groups, such as Anonymous, Stop-Evictions Movements, cooperatives, to name just a few. In some countries this activism has not just placed substantial pressure on traditional actors of representative democracy and governments, but has also opened up opportunities for structural changes in the policymaking context and procedures (García Marzá, 2012).En los últimos años, hemos sido testigos de la aparición de activismo político a través de una irrupción de los movimientos ciudadanos - 15M o Occupy-, el nacimiento de nuevas plataformas políticas -5 Stelle, Syriza, Podemos- y el surgimiento de nuevos grupos de acción directa, como Anonymous , stop-Desahucio, cooperativas, por nombrar sólo unos pocos. En algunos países este activismo no sólo ha ejercido una presión considerable sobre los actores tradicionales de la democracia representativa y los gobiernos, pero también ha abierto nuevas oportunidades para los cambios estructurales en el contexto y los procedimientos de la formulación de políticas. (García Marzá, 2012

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Inflammation and premature aging in advanced chronic kidney disease

Systemic inflammation in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is an established risk factor for mortality and a catalyst for other complications which are related to a premature aging phenotype, including muscle wasting, vascular calcification and other forms of premature vascular disease, depression, osteoporosis and frailty. Uremic inflammation is also mechanistically related to mechanisms involved in the aging process, such as telomere shortening, mitochondrial dysfunction, and altered nutrient sensing, which can have direct effect on cellular and tissue function. In addition to uremia-specific causes such as abnormalities in the phosphate- Klotho axis, there are remarkable similarities between the pathophysiology of uremic inflammation and so-called "inflammaging" in the general population. Potentially relevant, but still somewhat unexplored in this respect are abnormal or misplaced protein structures as well as abnormalities in tissue homeostasis, which evoke danger signals through damage associated molecular patters (DAMPS) as well as the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Systemic inflammation, in combination with the loss of kidney function, can impair the resilience of the body to external and internal stressors by reduced functional and structural tissue reserve, and by impairing normal organ crosstalk, thus providing an explanation for the greatly increased risk of homeostatic breakdown in this population. In this review, the relation between uremic inflammation and a premature aging phenotype, as well as potential causes and consequences are discussed

The sulfhydryl content of -threonine dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli K-12: relation to catalytic activity and Mn2+ activation

When oxidized to cysteic acid by performic acid or converted to carboxymethylcysteine by alkylation of the reduced enzyme with iodoacetate, a total of six half-cystine residues/subunit are found in -threonine dehydrogenase (-threonine:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.103; -threonine + NAD+--> 2-amino-3-oxobutyrate + NADH) from Escherichia coli K-12. Of this total, two exist in disulfide linkage, whereas four are titratable under denaturing conditions by dithiodipyridine, 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid), or p-mercuribenzoate. The kinetics of enzyme inactivation and of modification by the latter two reagents indicate that threonine dehydrogenase has no free thiols that selectively react with bulky compounds. While incubation of the enzyme with a large excess of iodoacetamide causes less than 10% loss of activity, the native dehydrogenase is uniquely reactive with and completely inactivated by iodoacetate. The rate of carboxymethylation by iodoacetate of one -SH group/subunit is identical with the rate of inactivation and the carboxymethylated enzyme is no longer able to bind Mn2+. NADH (0.5 mM) provides 40% protection against this inactivation; 60 to 70% protection is seen in the presence of saturating levels of NADH plus -threonine. Such results coupled with an analysis of the kinetics of inactivation caused by iodoacetate are interpreted as indicating the inhibitor first forms a reversible complex with a positively charged moiety in or near the microenvironment of a reactive -SH group in the enzyme before irreversible alkylation occurs. Specific alkylation of one -SH group/enzyme subunit apparently causes protein conformational changes that entail a loss of catalytic activity and the ability to bind Mn2+.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28754/1/0000584.pd

Cd2+ activation of -threonine dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli K-12

Homogeneous preparations of -threonine dehydrogenase (-threonine: NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.103) from Escherichia coli K-12, after having been dialyzed against buffers containing Chelex-100 resin, have a basal level of activity of 10-20 units/mg. Added Cd2+ stimulates dehydrogenase activity approx. 10-fold; this activation is concentration-dependent and is saturable with an activation Kd = 0.9 [mu]M. Full activation by Cd2+ is obtained in the absence of added thiols. The pH-activity profile of the Cd2+-activated enzyme conforms to a theoretical curve for one-proton ionization with a pKa = 7.85. Mn2+, the only other activating metal ion, competes with Cd2+ for the same binding site. Km values for -threonine and NAD+ as well as the Vmax for `demetallized', Cd2+-activated, and Mn2+-activated threonine dehydrogenase were determined and compared.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27060/1/0000050.pd

移動音像のシミュレーションに関する研究

博士（工学）神戸大