Reconciling human rights and the environment: a proposal to integrate the right to food with sustainable development in the 2030 development agenda

This article examines the utility of the human rights-based approach (HRBA) in tackling environmental challenges that face achievement of the right to food in coming decades. So far, such approach has been quite useful in the consideration of equity, discrimination and accountability issues. Nevertheless, the HRBA’s utility to tackle the effects of environmental degradation, natural resources depletion and climate change on food security is not that clear, as human rights law and practice has evolved in parallel with environmental concerns until recently. Therefore, this article poses the following question: is the human rights-based approach to food security sufficient to address the environmental problems and constraints that infringe directly on the right to food implementation? And, how can we integrate the needs of future generations in current human rights-based policies and deal with the tradeoffs between present and future needs? This article examines how last years’ international legal literature has portrayed the linkages between the environment and human rights, principally in relation to the right to food. Moreover, it also intends to explore possible avenues of convergence, pinpointing opportunities to connect the right to food and sustainable development in the context of the 2030 Agenda. In more concrete terms, it suggests that a greater integration between the right to food and a set of principles of sustainable development law may open new avenues for research and advocacy on the right to food.Keywords: Human Rights, Environment, Right to Food, Human Rights- Based Approach, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development La

Overcoming Resistance to Climate Action in the Global North: The Potential of Using Human Rights as a New Paradigm for Climate Communication

This paper aims to explore the role that human rights can play not only as legal instruments to achieve climate justice, but also as practical tools to improve communication of the climate emergency. We do this by explaining how different narratives, values and emotions affect the public’s perception of this vital issue. Finally, we propose effective strategies to improve climate communication according to human rights principles and values

Multi-level governance in quality assurance in Spain: the case of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA)

[EN] This paper aims to examine the case of quality assurance in Spain, disentangling the evolution of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA), that made its way towards consolidation in a context characterized by deep policy transformations and by multiple actors involved. The case of ANECA and the Spanish context is particularly interesting because of the previous existence of several regional agencies before ANECA was created. These multilevel dynamics in quality assurance evolved over the years towards significant levels of coordination, but were not exempt of multiple conflicts. This case may contribute to assessing a gap in the literature: clarifying the role of quality agencies in implementing contested policy changes originated at the European level, identifying at the same time the complexities of multi-level governance.García Juanatey, A.; Jordana, J.; Sancho, D. (2019). Multi-level governance in quality assurance in Spain: the case of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA). En HEAD'19. 5th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1217-1224. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD19.2019.9285OCS1217122

Anti-TNF-alpha-adalimumab therapy is associated with persistent improvement of endothelial function without progression of carotid intima-media wall thickness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis refractory to conventional therapy

To determine whether treatment with the anti-TNF-alpha blocker adalimumab yields persistent improvement of endothelial function and prevents from morphological progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) refractory to conventional therapy, a series of 34 consecutive RA patients, attending hospital outpatient clinics and who were switched from disease modifying antirheumatic drug therapy to anti-TNF-alpha-adalimumab treatment because of severe disease, were assessed by ultrasonography techniques before the onset of adalimumab therapy (at day 0) and then at day 14 and at month 12. Values of flow-mediated endothelium-dependent vasodilatation at day 14 and at month 12 were significantly higher (mean ± standard deviation (SD): 6.1 ± 3.9%; median: 5.7% at day 14, and mean ± SD: 7.4 ± 2.8%; median: 6.9% at month 12) than those obtained at day 0 (mean: 4.5 ± 4.0%; median: 3.6%; P = 0.03 and P < 0.001, resp.). Endothelium-independent vasodilatation results did not significantly change compared with those obtained at day 0. No significant differences were observed when carotid artery intima-media wall thickness values obtained at month 12 (mean ± SD: 0.69 ± 0.21 mm) were compared with those found at day 0 (0.65 ± 0.16 mm) (P = 0.3). In conclusion, anti-TNF-alpha-adalimumab therapy has beneficial effects on the development of the subclinical atherosclerosis disease in RA

Increased expression of fatty-acid and calcium metabolism genes in failing human heart

Background: Heart failure (HF) involves alterations in metabolism, but little is known about cardiomyopathy-(CM)-specific or diabetes-independent alterations in gene expression of proteins involved in fatty-acid (FA) uptake and oxidation or in calcium-(Ca(2+))-handling in the human heart. Methods: RT-qPCR was used to quantify mRNA expression and immunoblotting to confirm protein expression in left-ventricular myocardium from patients with HF (n = 36) without diabetes mellitus of ischaemic (ICM, n = 16) or dilated (DCM, n = 20) cardiomyopathy aetiology, and non-diseased donors (CTL, n = 6). Results: Significant increases in mRNA of genes regulating FA uptake (CD36) and intracellular transport (Heart-FA-Binding Protein (HFABP)) were observed in HF patients vs CTL. Significance was maintained in DCM and confirmed at protein level, but not in ICM. mRNA was higher in DCM than ICM for peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor-alpha (PPARA), PPAR-gamma coactivator-1-alpha (PGC1A) and CD36, and confirmed at the protein level for PPARA and CD36. Transcript and protein expression of Ca(2+)-handling genes (Two-Pore-Channel 1 (TPCN1), Two-Pore-Channel 2 (TPCN2), and Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate Receptor type-1 (IP3R1)) increased in HF patients relative to CTL. Increases remained significant for TPCN2 in all groups but for TPCN1 only in DCM. There were correlations between FA metabolism and Ca(2+)-handling genes expression. In ICM there were six correlations, all distinct from those found in CTL. In DCM there were also six (all also different from those found in CTL): three were common to and three distinct from ICM. Conclusion: DCM-specific increases were found in expression of several genes that regulate FA metabolism, which might help in the design of aetiology-specific metabolic therapies in HF. Ca(2+)-handling genes TPCN1 and TPCN2 also showed increased expression in HF, while HF- and CM-specific positive correlations were found among several FA and Ca(2+)-handling genes

#BCN vs. odi

Podeu consultar la versió en català a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/11454

#BCN vs. odi

Podeu consultar la versió en castellà a: http://hdl.handle.net/11703/11454

CARD8 rs2043211 (p.C10X) polymorphism is not associated with disease susceptibility or cardiovascular events in Spanish rheumatoid arthritis patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a complex polygenic inflammatory disease associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, which is the main cause of increased cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality in RA patients. CARD8 is a constituent of inflammasome, which regulates interleukin 1-beta production, and has been associated with a worse disease course in early RA. One thousand six hundred twenty-one patients fulfilling the 1987 ACR classification criteria for RA and 1300 matched controls, were genotyped for the CARD8 rs2043211 (30T > A, p.C10X) single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) using predesigned TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. The genotyping success rate in our study was greater than 94%. We assessed CARD8 rs2043211 gene polymorphism results in 1530 Spanish RA patients in whom information on CV disease and CV risk factors was available at the time of the study. Also, a subgroup of patients with no history of CV events (n = 276) was assessed for the potential influence of the rs2043211 variant in the development of subclinical atherosclerosis, by measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and presence of carotid plaques. No statistically significant differences in allele or genotype frequencies for the rs2043211 CARD8 gene variant between patients with RA and controls were seen. Similarly, CARD8 rs2043211 (30T > A, p.C10X) SNP did not influence the development of CV events or the risk of CV events throughout the time. Likewise, no significant association between this gene variant and carotid IMT or the presence of plaques was found. In summary, our results do not support a role of the CARD8 rs2043211 gene variant in susceptibility to RA or in the development of CV disease in patients with RA