Gorbatshovin Neuvostoliitosta Gorbatschowin Venäjäksi : miten imperiumi hajotetaan

Summary: From Gorbachev's Soviet to Gorbatschow's Russia : the art of unwinding an empire

Judehat som antisionism. Svensk debatt och Israel från Bernadotte 1948 till Libanon 1982

In this review article, the author discusses the dissertation of Henrik Bachner, The return. Antisemitism in Sweden after 1945 (1999)

Data for the co-expression and purification of human recombinant CaMKK2 in complex with calmodulin in Escherichia coli

AbstractCalcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2) has been implicated in a range of conditions and pathologies from prostate to hepatic cancer. Here, we describe the expression in Escherichia coli and the purification protocol for the following constructs: full-length CaMKK2 in complex with CaM, CaMKK2 ‘apo’, CaMKK2 (165-501) in complex with CaM, and the CaMKK2 F267G mutant. The protocols described have been optimized for maximum yield and purity with minimal purification steps required and the proteins subsequently used to develop a fluorescence-based assay for drug binding to the kinase, “Using the fluorescent properties of STO-609 as a tool to assist structure-function analyses of recombinant CaMKK2” [1]

Using the fluorescent properties of STO-609 as a tool to assist structure-function analyses of recombinant CaMKK2

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase kinase 2 (CaMKK2) has been implicated in the regulation of metabolic activity in cancer and immune cells, and affects whole-body metabolism by regulating ghrelinsignalling in the hypothalamus. This has led to efforts to develop specific CaMKK2 inhibitors, and STO- 609 is the standardly used CaMKK2 inhibitor to date. We have developed a novel fluorescence-based assay by exploiting the intrinsic fluorescence properties of STO-609. Here, we report an in vitro binding constant of KD ~17 nM between STO-609 and purified CaMKK2 or CaMKK2:Calmodulin complex. Whereas high concentrations of ATP were able to displace STO-609 from the kinase, GTP was unable to achieve this confirming the specificity of this association. Recent structural studies on the kinase domain of CaMKK2 had implicated a number of amino acids involved in the binding of STO-609. Our fluorescent assay enabled us to confirm that Phe267 is critically important for this association since mutation of this residue to a glycine abolished the binding of STO-609. An ATP replacement assay, as well as the mutation of the ‘gatekeeper’ amino acid Phe267Gly, confirmed the specificity of the assay and once more confirmed the strong binding of STO-609 to the kinase. In further characterising the purified kinase and kinasecalmodulin complex we identified a number of phosphorylation sites some of which corroborated previously reported CaMKK2 phosphorylation and some of which, particularly in the activation segment, were novel phosphorylation events. In conclusion, the intrinsic fluorescent properties of STO-609 provide a great opportunity to utilise this drug to label the ATP-binding pocket and probe the impact of mutations and other regulatory modifications and interactions on the pocket. It is however clear that the number of phosphorylation sites on CaMKK2 will pose a challenge in studying the impact of phosphorylation on the pocket unless the field can develop approaches to control the spectrum of modifications that occur during recombinant protein expression in Escherichia coli.</p

Döden som katharsis. Nordiska perspektiv på dödens kultur och mentalitetshistoria

Döden är ett evigt tema. Men diskursen runt döden i dess mångskiftande former är underkastad ständig förändring. Döden kan ses som ett hot och ett gissel men också som en befrielse, ett straff eller som ett redskap för att befria samhället från oönskade individer. I samtliga fall kan man tala om döden som en reningsprocess – som katharsis. Det är denna föränderliga diskurs som tas upp i denna bok. I centrum står frågan om hur man hanterat dödsproblematiken under olika tider och hur man använt sig av döden som ett redskap i samhällets tjänst. Vidare diskuteras hur döden relaterats till individ och samhälle och vilken funktion samhällets religiöst eller ideologiskt motiverade värdegrund haft i detta sammanhang. Bokens åtta artiklar belyser synen på döden i Västerlandet i ett historiskt perspektiv

The strategic calculus of terrorism: Substitution and competition in the Israel—Palestine conflict

Previous work on the dynamics of conflicts where we see terrorism has tended to focus on whether we see shifts in attack mode following government countermeasures. We contend that many factors other than counterinsurgency can influence whether groups resort to terrorism, including competition between groups, as well as their relationship to public opinion and other political events. Hence, understanding terrorist tactics in prolonged conflicts with multiple actors requires us to consider a more general framework of innovation, imitation, competition and dependence between actors. We use disaggregated data on terrorist attacks, counterterrorism and public opinion in the Israel—Palestine conflict to jointly evaluate predictions derived from several conventional theories of strategic behaviour. We find that the strategic calculus of Palestinian groups is complex and cannot be treated as time invariant. Our results suggest that factors such as the degree of public support, inter-group competition, the anticipation of countermeasures and non-trivial non-violent payoffs have an observable effect on the strategic behaviour of the Palestinian groups, and that structural relationships are often far from constant over time. </jats:p

Economic Ideas and Institutional Change: Evidence from Soviet Economic Discourse 1987-1991

In recent years, institutional and evolutionary economists have become increasingly aware that ideas play an important role in economic development. In the current literature, the problem is usually elaborated upon in purely theoretical terms. In the present paper it is argued that ideas are always also shaped by historical and cultural factors. Due to this historical and cultural specificity theoretical research must be supplemented by historical case studies. The paper analyses the shift in ideas that took place in Soviet economic thought between 1987 and 1991. This case study, it is argued, may contribute to our understanding of the links between ideas and institutions. More specifically, it sheds new light on the issue of whether the evolution of economic ideas is pathdependent, so that they change only incrementally, or whether their development takes place in a discontinuous way that can best be compared with revolutions

Länderna mellan Europa och Asien - att konstruera stater, folk och nationer

Vitryssland, Ukraina och Moldova började genom den politiska utvecklingen senhösten 2004 och vintern 2005 att skrivas in i ett europeiskt sammanhang. Det är inte omöjligt att det är fråga om en stor historisk förändring. Ukraina kom genom Jusjtjenkos seger i presidentvalet att tydligt orienteras närmare EU och bort från Ryssland. Praktiskt taget hela det politiska spektret i Moldova signalerade i samband med och efter de allmänna valen i mars 2005 att man ville följa Ukrainas väg. Vitryssland under Lukasjenka höll fast vi sin antieuropeiska linje, men den politiska gravitationskraften från Ukraina och Moldova kan på ganska kort sikt åstadkomma en förskjutning av de politiska kraftlinjerna även i den republiken. Ryssland kan bli ensamt om att vårda det sovjetiska arvet. Om alla de tre postsovjetiska staterna Moldova, Ukraina och Vitryssland till sist hamnar i EU är det inte resultatet av någon historisk determinism. Det blir i så fall resultatet av attraktionskraften i politisk demokrati i förening med att föreställningen om en europeisk identitet fungerar som en självuppfyllande historisk myt