La percolación cultural o cómo el mercado se institucionaliza en el tercer sector

Proponemos el concepto de percolación cultural para describir y estudiar el fenómeno de la introducción en el tercer sector de los valores propios de las organizaciones del mercado. Para ello, se describe un marco teórico que incluye teorías sobre la cultura organizacional, el nuevo institucionalismo y la teoría relacional de la sociedad como mejor herramienta para conocer el tercer sector. Se explicitan las hipótesis que han guiado la investigación y la metodología que la hizo posible y se refieren los principales hallazgos. En el nivel macro, se observa la percolación a través de dos tipos de comportamiento organizacional diferenciado; en el plano micro, se atiende a los factores ideológicos que dificultan la percolación; en el meso, se relaciona la percolación cultural con factores de naturaleza material. El análisis se realizó a partir de datos secundarios de 87 ONGD, 28 entrevistas semiestructuradas y una encuesta realizada al personal de 24 organizaciones.In this article the concept of cultural percolation is used to describe and study the introduction of values of for-profit organizations in the Third Sector. We propose a theoretical frame that includes theories on organizacional culture, the relational theory of society and the new institutionalism. This article specifies several hypotheses and the methodology to verify them, and presents the results of the research carried out at three levels: First, at macro level, the cultural percolation is observed in two types of organizational behavior; second, at micro level, ideological factors which obstruct the cultural percolation are described; and third, at meso level, the cultural percolation are influenced by material factors. The analysis is based on secundary data of 87 Developmental Non Governmental Organizations and primary analysis of data from 28 semiestructurated intervews and a survey to the personnel of 24 organziations

Intellectual disability and ageing: a new challenge for the twenty-first century

[Resumen] OBJETIVO: Mediante el presente trabajo se pretende conocer las características de la población con retraso mental que ha supera- do la edad de 45 años. MÉTODO: Estudio descriptivo de carácter transversal, entre una muestra representativa de 189 personas mayores de 45 años, con certificado de minusvalía que acredite la discapacidad psíquica, seleccionadas aleatoriamente entre las institucionalizadas en los centros de la comunidad autónoma gallega. La herramienta para recoger la información ha sido un cuestionario de elaboración propia, debidamente contrastado. RESULTADOS: El 60% de los entrevistados reside con sus familias, con las que mantienen una relación calificada como buena en el 49,7% de los casos. El 48,7% presenta un coeficiente intelectual con un retraso moderado, y profundo en el 36,5%; no se conoce el origen del retraso mental en el 42,85% de los casos. CONCLUSIONES: Las necesidades detectadas en la calidad asistencial llevan a concluir la urgencia de actuar sobre los recursos, equipamientos y el grado de especialización de los profesionales implicados, sin obviar a las familias, que constituyen el verdadero soporte asistencial.[Abstract] OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of adults with intellectual disability who survive for more than45 years. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional, descriptive study of a representative sample of 189 individuals aged more than 45 years with certified intellectual disability. The subjects were randomly selected from individuals attending centres of the Autonomous Community of Galicia in Spain. The instrument used to gather information was a specifically-designed and validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Sixty percent of subjects lived with their families, with whom 49.7% reported a good relationship. The degree of intellectual disability was moderate in 49.7% and severe in 36.5%. Aetiology was unknown in 42.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Shortfalls detected in the quality of care indicate that urgent action should be taken to improve resources and the degree of specialisation among staff, as well as to aid families, who provide the main support to individuals with mental disability

Ciberdemocracia y cibercampaña: ¿Un matrimonio difícil? El caso de las Elecciones Generales en España en 2008

The article examines the applicability of the concept of “cyber-campaign” in southern Europe, in the light of data from two specific surveys devised by the authors on the use of digital devices and political information consumption during the 2008 General Election. The first survey addressed general Internet users, and the second users go online more often, referred to here as “intensive Internet users”. Our survey results are compared with patterns of political Internet use by the public in Spain and abroad. Our findings show only limited use of the political resources available online (independent from the slower degree of Internet adoption), along with multi-media consumption of political information (with inherited inertias from traditional mass media consumption) in which the most interactive devices have the least importance. These characteristics are explained by the imbalance between citizens’ demand for online political action during elections and the kind of technological devices and content offered on the Internet by political actors. We detected the existence of a qualitatively important, highly active minority of Internet users that justifies the use of the Net for electoral purposes. Nevertheless, the limitations of the Internet are revealed by the fact that intensive Internet users do not show a higher degree of interest or increased participation in cyber-campaigns than general Internet users.Este artículo matiza la aplicación del concepto de “cibercampaña” en el Sur de Europa a partir de dos encuestas sobre el uso de las herramientas digitales y el consumo de información política en Internet durante la campaña electoral de 2008 en España. La primera encuesta fue dirigida a los internautas en general y la segunda a quienes se conectaron con una alta frecuencia y llamamos internautas intensivos. Comparamos estos resultados con los de la población española y del extranjero. Entre los hallazgos destacan: el bajo uso de los recursos disponibles en la Red (no atribuible al grado de implantación de las nuevas tecnologías), el policonsumo de información política a partir de múltiples medios, con inercias heredadas del consumo mediático tradicional y la escasa importancia de los dispositivos más interactivos. Estos rasgos son imputables a ciertos desequilibrios entre la demanda ciudadana y la oferta de las herramientas tecnológicas y los contenidos que los actores políticos vehiculan en Internet durante las elecciones. También constatamos la existencia de una minoría de cibernautas muy activa que resulta importante en términos cualitativos y que justifica el empleo electoral de la Red. Sin embargo, los internautas más intensivos apenas muestran más interés ni mayor participación telemática en la cibercampaña, evidenciando así sus limitaciones

Angiotensin type-1-receptor antagonists reduce 6-hydroxydopamine toxicity for dopaminergic neurons

Angiotensin II activates (via type 1 receptors) NAD(P)H-dependent oxidases, which are a major source of superoxide, and is relevant in the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular diseases and certain degenerative changes associated with ageing. Given that there is a brain renin–angiotensin system and that oxidative stress is a key contributor to Parkinson's disease, we investigated the effects of angiotensin II and angiotensin type 1 (AT1) receptor antagonists in the 6-hydroxydopamine model of Parkinson's disease. Rats subjected to intraventricular injection of 6-hydroxydopamine showed bilateral reduction in the number of dopaminergic neurons and terminals. Injection of angiotensin alone did not induce any significant effect. However, angiotensin increased the toxic effect of 6-hydroxydopamine. Rats treated with the AT1 receptor antagonist ZD 7155 and then 6-hydroxydopamine (with or without exogenous administration of angiotensin) showed a significant reduction in 6-hydroxydopamine-induced oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation) and dopaminergic degeneration. Dopaminergic degeneration was also reduced by the NAD(P)H inhibitor apocynin. Angiotensin may play a pivotal role, via AT1 receptors, in increasing the oxidative damage of dopaminergic cells, and treatment with AT1 antagonists may reduce the progression of Parkinson's disease.S

What level of native beetle diversity can be supported by forestry plantations? A global synthesis

Forestry plantations have been established globally to meet timber demands, often leading to the conversion of natural to artificial forests. Forestry plantations may support natural elements of forest biodiversity, but understanding their role in the maintenance of biodiversity is a crucial question. We performed a meta-analysis of 48 studies to determine how forestry plantations relative to natural forests influence the species richness and abundance of three important coleopteran groups (i.e., ground beetles, rove beetles, and dung beetles), given their essential role in ecosystem functioning. We assessed whether beetle responses depended on taxonomic group, geographical location, native or exotic character of the planted tree species, and associated management characteristics (i.e., composition, size, age, and connectivity of the plantations). We found that forestry plantations negatively affected coleopteran species richness and abundance compared to natural forests. The negative impact was most severe in plantations with exotic tree species and located in tropical biomes. Species richness and abundance of beetles significantly increased with plantation age in native plantations but decreased in exotic ones. Also, small plantations close to native forest had higher beetle species richness and abundance than ones located far away from native forest. Stopping the conversion of natural forests to plantations, promoting the use of native tree species, and lengthening rotations are critical for allowing biodiversity recovery in forestry plantations, combined with a robust conservation strategy to protect threatened biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.Hungarian Basic Research FundRemedinalNatural Environment Research CouncilMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovació

Effects of amphetamine on development of oral candidiasis in rats

[Abstract] Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of amphetamine (0.4 mg/kg of body weight/day) on the development of oral candidiasis in Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were submitted to surgical hyposalivation in order to facilitate the establishment and persistence of Candida albicans infection. Treatment with drugs (placebo or amphetamine) was initiated 7 days before C. albicans inoculation and lasted until the end of the experiments, day 15 postinoculation. Establishment of C. albicans infection was evaluated by swabbing the inoculated oral cavity with a sterile cotton applicator on days 2 and 15 after inoculation, followed by plating on YEPD (yeast extract-peptone-dextrose) agar. Tissue injury was determined by the quantification of the number and type (normal or abnormal) of papillae on the dorsal tongue per microscopic field. A semiquan- titative scale was devised to assess the degree of colonization of the epithelium by fungal hyphae. Our results show that amphetamine exacerbates C. albicans infection of the tongues of rats. Significant increases in Candida counts, the percentage of the tongue’s surface covered with clinical lesions, the percentage of abnormal papillae, and the colonization of the epithelium by fungal hyphae were found in amphetamine-treated rats compared to those found in the rats injected with a placebo. The last two parameters increased in rats treated with the placebo compared to the parameters of the untreated control rats

Nuclear receptor NR5A2 and bone: gene expression and association with bone mineral density

ObjectiveThere is growing evidence for a link between energy and bone metabolism. The nuclear receptor subfamily 5 member A2 (NR5A2) is involved in lipid metabolism and modulates the expression of estrogen-related genes in some tissues. The objective of this study was to explore the influence of NR5A2 on bone cells and to determine whether its allelic variations are associated with bone mineral density (BMD).DesignAnalyses of gene expression by quantitative PCR and inhibition of NR5A2 expression by siRNAs were used to explore the effects of NR5A2 in osteoblasts. Femoral neck BMD and 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were first analyzed in 935 postmenopausal women and the association of NR5A2 genetic variants with BMD was explored in other 1284 women in replication cohorts.ResultsNR5A2 was highly expressed in bone. The inhibition of NR5A2 confirmed that it modulates the expression of osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin, and podoplanin in osteoblasts. Two SNPs were associated with BMD in the Spanish discovery cohort (rs6663479, P=0.0014, and rs2816948, P=0.0012). A similar trend was observed in another Spanish cohort, with statistically significant differences across genotypes in the combined analysis (P=0.03). However, the association in a cohort from the United States was rather weak. Electrophoretic mobility assays and studies with luciferase reporter vectors confirmed the existence of differences in the binding of nuclear proteins and the transcriptional activity of rs2816948 alleles.ConclusionsNR5A2 modulates gene expression in osteoblasts and some allelic variants are associated with bone mass in Spanish postmenopausal women

A rain and scintillation Ka-band channel simulator

This paper describes the implementation of a Ka-band satellite channel simulator with emphasis on the synthesis of scintillation processes. The problem becomes one of generating a given probability density function, the Moulsley-Vilar distribution, with a specified power spectral density using aWiener model based on orthogonal Hermite polynomials for the nonlinearity. A numerical procedure is devised to calculate the filter and non-linearity coefficients of the Wiener model. The generation of rain processes conforms to the Maseng-Bakken model.Postprint (published version

How much do adolescents cybergossip?: Scale development in validation in Spain and Colombia

Cybergossip is the act of two or more people making evaluative comments via digital devices about somebody who is not present. This cyberbehavior affects the social group in which it occurs and can either promote or hinder peer relationships. Scientific studies that assess the nature of this emerging and interactive behavior in the virtual world are limited. Some research on traditional gossip has identified it as an inherent and defining element of indirect relational aggression. This paper adopts and argues for a wider definition of gossip that includes positive comments and motivations. This work also suggests that cybergossip has to be measured independently from traditional gossip due to key differences when it occurs through ICT. This paper presents the Colombian and Spanish validation of the Cybergossip Questionnaire for Adolescents (CGQ-A), involving 3,747 high school students (M = 13.98 years old, SD = 1.69; 48.5% male), of which 1,931 were Colombian and 1,816 were Spanish. Test models derived from item response theory, confirmatory factor analysis, content validation, and multi-group analysis were run on the full sample and subsamples for each country and both genders. The obtained optimal fit and psychometric properties confirm the robustness and suitability of a one-dimensional structure for the cybergossip instrument. The multi-group analysis shows that the cybergossip construct is understood similarly in both countries and between girls and boys. The composite reliability ratifies convergent and divergent validity of the scale. Descriptive results show that Colombian adolescents gossip less than their Spanish counterparts and that boys and girls use cybergossip to the same extent. As a conclusion, this study confirmes the relationship between cybergossip and cyberbullying, but it also supports a focus on positive cybergossip in psychoeducational interventions to build positive virtual relationships and prevent risky cyberbehaviors