La disyuntiva de Cuba: capitalismo o nuevo socialismo

¿Por qué del retraso o casi nulo avance de las ciencias sociales al interior del mundo de los socialismos históricos? Ésta es la pregunta que se hace el autor al abordar el caso de Cuba. De su texto se desprende que la respuesta debiera buscarse no tanto en el ejercicio propio de estas disciplinas, sino en el nivel más profundo de los supuestos teóricos que las sostienen. El modelo de acumulación del socialismo real estaba en crisis ya desde fines de los años 60, y sin embargo los países del bloque se empeñaron en continuar con su aplicación, confundiendo -una vez más- los intereses de los sectores populares con aquellos del Estado y de quienes lo controlan. Cuba no sería sino el último representante de un modelo caduco de socialismo del siglo XX que niega la evidencia histórica.Comment expliquer le retard ou le progrès presque nul des sciences sociales au cœur des socialismes historiques? L’auteur cherche à répondre à cette question à travers l’exemple de Cuba. La réponse devrait moins être recherchée dans l’exercice propre de ces disciplines que dans le niveau plus profond des supposés théoriques qui les fondent. Le modèle d’accumulation du socialisme réel est en crise depuis la fin des années 60, néanmoins les pays du bloc se sont obstinés à continuer de l’appliquer, confondant – une fois de plus – les intérêts des secteurs populaires avec ceux de l’Etat et de ceux qui le contrôlent. Cuba ne serait autre que le dernier représentant d’un modèle obsolète de socialisme du 20ème siècle  niant l’évidence historique.Why is the reason for the delay or the barely inexistent advancement of social sciences within the world of ‘historical socialisms’?, is the question the author asks himself when confronting the Cuban case. Out of his text, it can be understood that the answer should be search not within the exercise of the discipline itself, but in a deeper level of it’s theoretical assumptions that lye beyond them. The acumulative model of real socialism was already in crisis by the end of the sixties, yet the countries under this regime pursuing its aplication, mixing up –once again- the interests of the popular classes with that of the State and those who control it. Cuba isn’t but the last representative of a worn out model of XXth century’s socialism, that denies historical evidence

Was bedeutet "Spiritualität" im Jugendalter? Erkenntnisse zu Aspekten subjektiver Anthropologie und Theologie von Jugendlichen aus religionspsychologischer Perspektive

Streib H. Was bedeutet "Spiritualität" im Jugendalter? Erkenntnisse zu Aspekten subjektiver Anthropologie und Theologie von Jugendlichen aus religionspsychologischer Perspektive. In: Dieterich V-J, Rothgangel M, Schlag T, eds. "Dann müsste ja in uns allen ein Stück Paradies stecken" : Anthropologie und Jugendtheologie. Jahrbuch für Jugendtheologie. Vol 3. Calw: Calwer Verlag; 2014: 82-91

Pathophysiological Changes in the Enteric Nervous System of Rotenone-Exposed Mice as Early Radiological Markers for Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is known to involve the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the enteric nervous system (ENS). Functional changes in PNS and ENS appear early in the course of the disease and are responsible for some of the non-motor symptoms observed in PD patients like constipation, that can precede the appearance of motor symptoms by years. Here we analyzed the effect of the pesticide rotenone, a mitochondrial Complex I inhibitor, on the function and neuronal composition of the ENS by measuring intestinal contractility in a tissue bath and by analyzing related protein expression. Our results show that rotenone changes the normal physiological response of the intestine to carbachol, dopamine and electric field stimulation (EFS). Changes in the reaction to EFS seem to be related to the reduction in the cholinergic input but also related to the noradrenergic input, as suggested by the non-adrenergic non-cholinergic (NANC) reaction to the EFS in rotenone-exposed mice. The magnitude and direction of these alterations varies between intestinal regions and exposure times and is associated with an early up-regulation of dopaminergic, cholinergic and adrenergic receptors and an irregular reduction in the amount of enteric neurons in rotenone-exposed mice. The early appearance of these alterations, that start occurring before the substantia nigra is affected in this mouse model, suggests that these alterations could be also observed in patients before the onset of motor symptoms and makes them ideal potential candidates to be used as radiological markers for the detection of Parkinson's disease in its early stages

Organotypical tissue cultures from adult murine colon as an in vitro model of intestinal mucosa

Together with animal experiments, organotypical cell cultures are important models for analyzing cellular interactions of the mucosal epithelium and pathogenic mechanisms in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we introduce a three-dimensional culture model from the adult mouse colon for cell biological investigations in an in vivo-like environment. These explant cultures were cultured for up to 2 weeks and maintained typical characteristics of the intestinal mucosa, including a high-prismatic epithelium with specific epithelial cell-to-cell connections, a basal lamina and various connective tissue cell types, as analyzed with immunohistological and electron microscopic methods. The function of the epithelium was tested by treating the cultures with dexamethasone, which resulted in a strong upregulation of the serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 similar to that found in vivo. The culture system was investigated in infection experiments with the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Wildtype but not Δcph1/Δefg1-knockout Candida adhered to, penetrated and infiltrated the epithelial barrier. The results demonstrate the potential usefulness of this intestinal in vitro model for studying epithelial cell-cell interactions, cellular signaling and microbiological infections in a three-dimensional cell arrangement

Caldendrin–Jacob: A Protein Liaison That Couples NMDA Receptor Signalling to the Nucleus

NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors and calcium can exert multiple and very divergent effects within neuronal cells, thereby impacting opposing occurrences such as synaptic plasticity and neuronal degeneration. The neuronal Ca2+ sensor Caldendrin is a postsynaptic density component with high similarity to calmodulin. Jacob, a recently identified Caldendrin binding partner, is a novel protein abundantly expressed in limbic brain and cerebral cortex. Strictly depending upon activation of NMDA-type glutamate receptors, Jacob is recruited to neuronal nuclei, resulting in a rapid stripping of synaptic contacts and in a drastically altered morphology of the dendritic tree. Jacob's nuclear trafficking from distal dendrites crucially requires the classical Importin pathway. Caldendrin binds to Jacob's nuclear localization signal in a Ca2+-dependent manner, thereby controlling Jacob's extranuclear localization by competing with the binding of Importin-α to Jacob's nuclear localization signal. This competition requires sustained synapto-dendritic Ca2+ levels, which presumably cannot be achieved by activation of extrasynaptic NMDA receptors, but are confined to Ca2+ microdomains such as postsynaptic spines. Extrasynaptic NMDA receptors, as opposed to their synaptic counterparts, trigger the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) shut-off pathway, and cell death. We found that nuclear knockdown of Jacob prevents CREB shut-off after extrasynaptic NMDA receptor activation, whereas its nuclear overexpression induces CREB shut-off without NMDA receptor stimulation. Importantly, nuclear knockdown of Jacob attenuates NMDA-induced loss of synaptic contacts, and neuronal degeneration. This defines a novel mechanism of synapse-to-nucleus communication via a synaptic Ca2+-sensor protein, which links the activity of NMDA receptors to nuclear signalling events involved in modelling synapto-dendritic input and NMDA receptor–induced cellular degeneration

La Perspectiva ecoómica: crisis capitalista en la aldea global

Peer Reviewe

La disyuntiva de Cuba: capitalismo o nuevo socialismo

¿Por qué del retraso o casi nulo avance de las ciencias sociales al interior del mundo de los socialismos históricos? Ésta es la pregunta que se hace el autor al abordar el caso de Cuba. De su texto se desprende que la respuesta debiera buscarse no tanto en el ejercicio propio de estas disciplinas, sino en el nivel más profundo de los supuestos teóricos que las sostienen. El modelo de acumulación del socialismo real estaba en crisis ya desde fines de los años 60, y sin embargo los países del bloque se empeñaron en continuar con su aplicación, confundiendo -una vez más- los intereses de los sectores populares con aquellos del Estado y de quienes lo controlan. Cuba no sería sino el último representante de un modelo caduco de socialismo del siglo XX que niega la evidencia históric

La disyuntiva de Cuba: capitalismo o nuevo socialismo

¿Por qué del retraso o casi nulo avance de las ciencias sociales al interior del mundo de los socialismos históricos? Ésta es la pregunta que se hace el autor al abordar el caso de Cuba. De su texto se desprende que la respuesta debiera buscarse no tanto en el ejercicio propio de estas disciplinas, sino en el nivel más profundo de los supuestos teóricos que las sostienen. El modelo de acumulación del socialismo real estaba en crisis ya desde fines de los años 60, y sin embargo los países del bloque se empeñaron en continuar con su aplicación, confundiendo -una vez más- los intereses de los sectores populares con aquellos del Estado y de quienes lo controlan. Cuba no sería sino el último representante de un modelo caduco de socialismo del siglo XX que niega la evidencia históric

Globalización y educación: la ideología

This article, which forms part of a wider study, analyzes the relation ships between the process of globalization of production and trade and changes in the educational system. In particular, it makes a critique of human capital theory and of the theses of the World Bank, demonstrating that some elements that may have validity in the deve loped countries are converted into mere rationalizations for inequality in the developing countries.El presente artículo, que forma parte de un estudio más amplio, analiza las relaciones entrre el proceso de globalización de la producción y la comercialización con los cambios en el sistema educativo. En particular, hace una crítica del capital humano y de las tesis del Banco Mundial, mostrando que algunos elementos que pueden tener validez en los países desarrollados se convierten en meras racionalizaciones de la desigualdad en los países en desarrollo