The Health Impacts of Severe Climate Shocks in Colombia

This paper studies the link between severe weather shocks in Colombia and municipality-level incidence of dengue and malaria. The unexpectedly high variability of the 2010 rainfalls relative to previous periods and their regional heterogeneity are exploited as an identification strategy. A differences-indifferences DD) strategy is thereby implemented where the period 2007-2009 is defined as the pre-treatment period and 2010-2011 as the post-treatment period. The treatment group is all municipalities that experienced higher intra-year rain variability in 2010 than in 2007-2009. The results from the different specifications confirm that the relationship between climate events and vector-borne diseases is intricate. The 2010 weather shocks are associated with not only an increase in the number of dengue cases, in the case of high variability (but not extreme) yearly rain, but also a decrease in its incidence, in particular in the presence of extreme rain events. Floods seem to have decreased the number of dengue cases

Locating the Self in Autobiographical Memories: A New Approach to Analysis

Systematic cross-cultural variation in autobiographical memory has been reported in numerous previous research. Variations have often been interpreted as mirroring differences in culturally diverging self-conceptions, implying that content characteristics of autobiographical memories can be used as indirect measures of self. However, a majority of these characteristics rest on the traditional independence vs. interdependence dimension, and might only be suitable for typically Western and Eastern populations. Other content characteristics could be more instrumental for “locating” the self in autobiographical memories, such as the incidence of actions, mental states and reflections. We therefore propose a new approach to content analysis of autobiographical memories. The approach is theoretically grounded in Kagitcibasi’s (2005) model of autonomy and relatedness and Bruner’s (1987) distinction between landscape of action and landscape of consciousness. Operationalizing these concepts and building on empirical work of Qi Wang (e.g. Wang, 2001), we present a four-step coding system for content analysis of autobiographical memories. In the first step, memories are divided into separate units of analysis. In the next three steps, these units are placed within a number of different categories, and that with regards to who the units’ subjects are, what these subjects are doing or experiencing, and whether they are thereby showing any signs of agency and/or relatedness. Ultimately, the proposed coding system aims to capture how the self is present, and presented, in autobiographical memory in a more nuanced way, compared with previous research. Hence, the system could be applicable for use in studies with a variety of culturally diverse populations

[Invitaciones a diversas investiduras de licenciado en la facultad de Jurisprudencia]

Título facticio proporcionado por el centro catalogadorVicente de la Fuente fue catedrático de derecho en Salamanca entre 1852 y 1858En la 3ª consta: Imprenta de José Atienz

Apoptotic microtubules delimit an active caspase free area in the cellular cortex during the execution phase of apoptosis

Apoptotic microtubule network (AMN) is organized during apoptosis, forming a cortical structure beneath plasma membrane, which has an important role in preserving cell morphology and plasma membrane permeability. The aim of this study was to examine the role of AMN in maintaining plasma membrane integrity during the execution phase of apoptosis. We demonstrated in camptothecin-induced apoptosis in H460 cells that AMN delimits an active caspase free area beneath plasma membrane that permits the preservation of cellular cortex and transmembrane proteins. AMN depolymerization in apoptotic cells by a short exposure to colchicine allowed active caspases to reach the cellular cortex and cleave many key proteins involved in plasma membrane structural support, cell adhesion and ionic homeostasis. Cleavage of cellular cortex and plasma membrane proteins, such as a-spectrin, paxilin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), E-cadherin and integrin subunit b4 was associated with cell collapse and cell detachment. Otherwise, cleavage-mediated inactivation of calcium ATPase pump (PMCA-4) and Naþ/Ca2þ exchanger (NCX) involved in cell calcium extrusion resulted in calcium overload. Furthermore, cleavage of Naþ/Kþ pump subunit b was associated with altered sodium homeostasis. Cleavage of cell cortex and plasma membrane proteins in apoptotic cells after AMN depolymerization increased plasma permeability, ionic imbalance and bioenergetic collapse, leading apoptotic cells to secondary necrosis. The essential role of caspase-mediated cleavage in this process was demonstrated because the concomitant addition of colchicine that induces AMN depolymerization and the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD avoided the cleavage of cortical and plasma membrane proteins and prevented apoptotic cells to undergo secondary necrosis. Furthermore, the presence of AMN was also critical for proper phosphatidylserine externalization and apoptotic cell clearance by macrophages. These results indicate that AMN is essential to preserve an active caspase free area in the cellular cortex of apoptotic cells that allows plasma membrane integrity during the execution phase of apoptosis