The populist rhetoric as a threat to human rights in Europe: stance of the supranational institutions

The populist rhetoric that is taking place since not many years ago in some countries around the world, has only accentuate the social divisions and self-segregation of certain minority groups that have seen their rights violated as a consequence of a new concept of security. This debate, as a undeniable sign of the rising concern for both national and international security, does not justify the restriction of their fundamental rights. The groups that are being victims of this situation, in the case of European countries, are mainly foreigners and minorities, which are perceive as a threat to social cohesion and social order, a perception which has been radicalised through out the content of the media and social networks. This situation is part of a backdrop of growing tensions, religious extremism and violent radicalism which, in many cases, is used by the government's own elite to support legislative changes or to justify arbitrary interventions; thus allowing the restriction of fundamental rights in a legitimate way and dehumanizing certain categories of persons believed to be less equal, in order to promote some actions based on hatred and violence. However, this situation is not only happening in Europe, but there are also some other countries that have suffering similar situations. The Philippines example could be used to illustrate the above: During President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against drugs, the own government was the main character who promoted hatred and violence since it was urging the police and citizens to kill drug dealers and drug users as a way to preserve the national security.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase promotes axonal growth of hippocampal neurons

Axonal growth is essential for establishing neuronal circuits during brain development and for regenerative processes in the adult brain. Unfortunately, the extracellular signals controlling axonal growth are poorly understood. Here we report that a reduction in extracellular ATP levels by tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) is essential for the development of neuritic processes by cultured hippocampal neurons. Selective blockade of TNAP activity with levamisole or specific TNAP knockdown with short hairpin RNA interference inhibited the growth and branching of principal axons, whereas addition of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) promoted axonal growth. Neither activation nor inhibition of adenosine receptors affected the axonal growth, excluding the contribution of extracellular adenosine as a potential hydrolysis product of extracellular ATP to the TNAP-mediated effects. TNAP was colocalized at axonal growth cones with ionotropic ATP receptors (P2X7 receptor), whose activation inhibited axonal growth. Additional analyses suggested a close functional interrelation of TNAP and P2X7 receptors whereby TNAP prevents P2X7 receptor activation by hydrolyzing ATP in the immediate environment of the receptor. Furthermore inhibition of P2X7 receptor reduced TNAP expression, whereas addition of ALP enhanced P2X7 receptor expression. Our results demonstrate that TNAP, regulating both ligand availability and protein expression of P2X7 receptor, is essential for axonal development

A Broadband Bow-Tie Cavity-Backed Slot for Traveling-Wave Arrays in the Millimeter-Wave Band

The use of bow-tie geometries to enhance the characteristics of a radiating element previously proposed by the authors is presented. The previous element consisted of a broadband cavity-backed slot in transmission configuration. The bow-tie shape of the cavity improves the bandwidth of the element and the bow-tie slot keeps constant the amount of power radiated. The structure is designed for the millimeterwave band. The enhancement of the element performance is shown through simulation results. A fractional bandwidth of more than 100% is achieved in the 70 GHz band, and the radiated power remains almost constant throughout 30 GHz of the bandwidth. These results show a great improvement over the original radiating element. The radiating structure has the ideal characteristics for building series-fed reconfigurable arrays for wide-band applications in the millimeter-wave band.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work was supported in part by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 706334, in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Educaci´on, Cultura y Deporte (Programa para la Formaci´on del Profesorado Universitario) under Grant FPU15/06457 and in other part by the Spanish Ministerio de Econom´ıa y Competitividad, under the project ADDMATE TEC2016-76070-CR3-3-R

Reseñas

El LABORATORIO de España. La Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (1907-1939). Catálogo de la Exposición (MC/MEC/ Fundación Giner de los Ríos

Tres décadas de educación superior en España: universidades e investigación

Desde los últimos años del franquismo hasta hoy, la universidad española se ha ido haciendo progresivamente cargo de una tarea clásica en las universidades contemporáneas, la investigación. La forma y las circunstancias en que esa trayectoria se ha ido cumpliendo son aquí valoradas por la autora, que destaca los factores históricos de su limitación así como las realizaciones actuales y sus perspectivas críticas. Se defiende además en el texto la necesidad de fomentar la investigación vinculada a los estudios superiores universitarios, como objetivo prioritario de política científica.From the last years of General Francos regime until today, progressively the Spanish universities have been taking over a classic task of contemporary institutions of higher education: researching. The author assesses how and under what circumstances that progression has taken place, emphasizing the historical elements of its limitations as well as present achievements and the corresponding criticisms. She propounds, as a main objective for the scientific policy, a need to encourage researching directly linked to higher education studies

La figura del Defensor del universitario: Pretexto para charlar de docencia

Elena Escudero Hernández: Profesora Titular de Fisiología Animal en la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. En el año 1977 realizó una estancia posdoctoral en el Departamento de Aminas Biógenas de la Academia de Ciencias de Polonia. En el año 1983 fué Vicedecana de Estudiantes y de Cultura de la Facultad de Ciencias. Ha sido investigadora invitada en el Centro de Biología Molecular (CSIC-UAM), y Coordinadora del Proyectos en la Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Prospectiva. Desde 1990 a 1994 ha sido Vocal Asesora en la Secretaría de Estado de Universidades e Investigación. Su experiencia investigadora está centrada en el campo de la Neurobiología, al que ha contribuído con algunas de sus publicaciones. Desde Abril del año 1999 es Defensora del Universitario de la Universidad Autónoma de Madri

El TEDH frente al discurso populista extremo: Movimientos migratorios y protección de derechos fundamentales.

La globalización es un fenómeno que, a pesar de la resistencia de algunos estados, no deja indiferente a nadie. Prueba de ello es el impacto que la guerra de Siria o los atentados del 11-S han tenido y siguen teniendo sobre la Unión Europea. En este contexto de movimientos migratorios a niveles históricos y de percepción de inseguridad asociada al auge del terrorismo transnacional, está resurgiendo un movimiento populista asociado al nacionalismo radical que, por un lado, denuncia la pérdida de soberanía nacional en beneficio de organismos supraestatales y por otro, manifiesta defender una identidad que peligra debido a la presencia de etnias o culturas foráneas y que además proyecta, a través del discurso del odio, la figura de un nuevo enemigo al que hacer frente: el extranjero invasor. Esta situación no solamente vulnera derechos fundamentales, sino que además erosiona los principios básicos de la UE.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech