Princess Carlota Joaquina and the Monarchist Alternative in Spanish American Independence

This paper focuses on the curious episode in Iberian American history when Princess Carlota Joaquina, daughter of Carlos IV, brother of Fernando VII of Spain, and wife of Dom João, Prince Regent of Portugal and later King João VI of Portugal, tried to assert sovereignty over the Spanish monarchy, in whole or in part, during 1808-10. Although Carlota‟s pretensions were unsuccessful, they are nonetheless worthy of discussion for a number of reasons. Not least of these is the light that Carlota‟s proposal throws on the crisis of monarchy in the Spanish world immediately after 1808, and the context it provides for assessing the resilience of both monarchy and monarchism in Spanish America during the couple of decades that followed

Los ejércitos coloniales y la crisis del imperio español, 1808-1810

Para los historiadores resulta cada vez más claro que la transformación de las colonias hispanoamericanas en Estados independientes se originó en la inesperada caída de la monarquía borbónica de España en 1808, y no en movimientos protonacionalistas de larga data alimentados por conflictos sociales y económicos en de las colonias. Como resultado de este cambio de perspectiva, ha resurgido el interés por lo contingente y se ha otorgado una renovada importancia a la política de la crisis.1 Sin embargo, un tema ha permanecido relativamente olvidado: la actitud y el comportamiento de las fuerzas militares españolas durante los años críticos de 1808 a 1810, cuando la monarquía española se vio envuelta en una crisis generalizada.2 Quizás este olvido sea comprensible por la profundidad y las múltiples dimensiones de la crisis española en esos años, y por el hecho de que España fue incapaz de proyectar su poder militar a través del Atlántico. Derrotada su flota en Trafalgar a manos de los británicos en 1805 , y su ejército en su propio territorio a manos de los franceses en 1809, España no estaba en condiciones de enviar refuerzos a cruzar el Atlántico y reprimir los desacatos contra sus gobiernos coloniales en América. Esta debilidad contrasta marcadamente con la posición de los británicos ante la declaración de independencia de los colonos norteamericanos en 1776. En ese entonces, Gran Bretaña se hallaba en el apogeo de su poder y contaba con grandes ejércitos listos para reprimir la rebelión colonial y respaldados por sólidas líneas de abastecimiento marítimo para la metrópoli; España, por el contrario, se hallaba en decadencia y su autoridad se vio cada vez más amenazada conforme la crisis en la Península se extendía a América durante el período de 1808 a 1810. Ocupada por los ejércitos franceses y con un gobierno interino de dudosa autoridad que se oponía a las fuerzas invasoras, España tuvo que dejar que sus gobiernos coloniales defendieran sus propios puestos con los recursos que tuvieran a la mano, incluidos por supuesto los soldados profesionales y los hombres de milicia que estaban bajo su mando

ACTH: The Uninhibitable (or is it)?

Adrenal corticotropic hormone, or ACTH, is a peptide hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. The full-length peptide is 39 amino acids long. ACTH signals through a G-protein linked receptor in humans, using the adenylyl cyclase pathway. Potassium and chloride channels have also been implicated in human ACTH signaling. Tetrahymena thermophila are free-living, ciliated ptotozoans. These organisms exhibit avoidance behavior toward many polycationic peptides, which serve as chemorepellents. The reason for this is unknown; however, it is hypothesized that natural predators of T. thermophila secrete polycationic peptides, and that polycation avoidance allows T. thermophila to escape predation. We obtained a number of peptides derived from ACTH, including ACTH 1-39, ACTH 1-24, ACTH 11-24, ACTH 6-24, and ACTH 1-14. We hypothesized that the more highly charged peptide derivatives would be the most effective chemorepellents. This hypothesis was proven correct, with the most highly charged ACTH derivative, ACTH 6-24, demonstrated as the most effective chemorepellent. The least charged form of ACTH, ACTH 1-39, was least effective at causing avoidance. We hypothesized that ACTH signaling in T. thermophila would use similar signaling pathways to those previously identified in humans. This, however, has not proven to be the case. We have tested G-protein inhibitors, adenylyl cyclase inhibitors, potassium channel blockers, and chloride channel blockers in T. thermphila. None of these drugs had any measurable effect on ACTH signaling. In addition, we have chelated extracellular calcium (using EGTA) and depleted ER calcium stores (using thapsigargin). Neither of these interventions inhibited ACTH signaling in this organism. Calcium channel blockers also failed to affect avoidance. This is highly unexpected, since all known chemorepellent pathways discovered in Tetrahymena to date are calcium-dependent. It is possible that ACTH is using a novel signaling pathway in T. thermophila. We hope that further testing will enable us to discover more about this signaling mechanism

Comerciantes y monopolio en la nueva granada: ei consulado de cartagena de indias

En la época en que el comercio entre la Nueva Granada y España se hacia a través de convoyes periódicos que navegaban entre Cádiz y el Continente Americano, lo usual era que los comerciantes españoles viajaran en los galeones y vendieran la mercancía, en las ferias de Cartagena y Portobelo. Al tener noticia de que los galeones habían salido de la Península, los comerciantes del Perú, Quito y la Nueva Granada viajaban por esos puertos, llevando los artículos que esperaban cambiar por mercancías europeas. Los comerciantes del Perú navegaban a lo largo de la Costa Pacifico, desde Lima a Panamá, en sus propios convoyes, que esperaban en el Istmo hasta que terminaran las transacciones en la feria de Portobelo.  En cambio los galeones, antes de llegar a este puerto, se detenían en Cartagena de Indias, donde la venta de los "primeros frutos" de la flota atraía a comerciantes de toda la Nueva Granada, incluyendo los de la lejana ciudad de Quito, (1) a la "pequeña feria" de Cartagena

Identity, enlightenment and political dissent in late colonial Spanish America

During the long crisis of the Spanish empire between 1810 and 1825, the Creole leaders of Spanish American independence asserted a new identity for the citizens of the states which they sought to establish, calling them 'Americanos'. This general title was paralleled and often supplanted by other political neologisms, as movements for independence and new polities took shape in the various territories of Spanish America. In New Spain, the insurgents who fought against royalist government during the decade after 181 o tried to rally fellow 'Mexicans' to a common cause; at independence in 1821, die Creole political leadership created a 'Mexican empire', the title of which, with its reference to the Aztec empire which had preceded Spain's conquest, was designed to evoke a 'national' history shared by all members of Mexican society. In South America, die leaders of the new republics also sought to promote patriotic feelings for territories which had been converted from administrative units of Spanish government into independent states. Thus, San Martin and O'Higgins convoked 'Chileans' to the cause of independence in the old Captaincy-General of Chile; shortly afterwards and with notably less success, San Martin called upon 'Peruvians' to throw off Spanish rule. Bolivar was, likewise, to call 'Colombians' to his banner in die erstwhile Viceroyalty of New Granada, before advancing south to liberate Peru in die name of 'Peruvians', and Upper Peru in die name of 'Bolivians', where die Republic which his military feats and political vision made possible was named after him

Individual winter movement strategies in two species of Murre (Uria spp.) in the Northwest Atlantic

Individual wintering strategies and patterns of winter site fidelity in successive years are highly variable among seabird species. Yet, an understanding of consistency in timing of movements and the degree of site fidelity is essential for assessing how seabird populations might be influenced by, and respond to, changing conditions on wintering grounds. To explore annual variation in migratory movements and wintering areas, we applied bird-borne geolocators on Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia, n = 19) and Common Murres (U. aalge, n = 20) from 5 colonies in the Northwest Atlantic for 2–4 consecutive years. Thick-billed Murres ranged widely and among-individual wintering strategies were highly variable, whereas most Common Murres wintered relatively near their colonies, with among-individual variation represented more by the relative use of inshore vs. offshore habitat. Within individuals, some aspects of the wintering strategy were more repeatable than others: colony arrival and departure dates were more consistent by individual Common than Thick-billed Murres, while the sizes of home ranges (95% utilization distributions) and distances travelled to wintering area were more repeatable for both species. In consecutive years, individual home ranges overlapped from 0–64% (Thick-billed Murres) and 0–95% (Common Murres); and the winter centroids were just 239 km and 169 km apart (respectively). Over the 3–4 year timescale of our study, individuals employed either fixed or flexible wintering strategies; although most birds showed high winter site fidelity, some shifted core ranges after 2 or 3 years. The capacity among seabird species for a combination of fidelity and flexibility, in which individuals may choose from a range of alternative strategies, deserves further, longer term attention

Phenylnaphthalene as a Heat Transfer Fluid for Concentrating Solar Power: High-Temperature Static Experiments

Concentrating solar power (CSP) may be an alternative to generating electricity from fossil fuels; however, greater thermodynamic efficiency is needed to improve the economics of CSP operation. One way of achieving improved efficiency is to operate the CSP loop at higher temperatures than the current maximum of about 400 C. ORNL has been investigating a synthetic polyaromatic oil for use in a trough type CSP collector, to temperatures up to 500 C. The oil was chosen because of its thermal stability and calculated low vapor and critical pressures. The oil has been synthesized using a Suzuki coupling mechanism and has been tested in static heating experiments. Analysis has been conducted on the oil after heating and suggests that there may be some isomerization taking place at 450 C, but the fluid appears to remain stable above that temperature. Tests were conducted over one week and further tests are planned to investigate stabilities after heating for months and in flow configurations. Thermochemical data and thermophysical predictions indicate that substituted polyaromatic hydrocarbons may be useful for applications that run at higher temperatures than possible with commercial fluids such as Therminol-VP1

Myoblast models of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and atrophy

Purpose of review: To highlight recent breakthroughs and controversies in the use of myoblast models to uncover cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle hypertrophy and atrophy. Recent findings: Myoblast cultures provide key mechanistic models of the signalling and molecular pathways potentially employed by skeletal muscle in-vivo to regulate hypertrophy and atrophy. Recently the controversy as to whether insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I is important in hypertrophy following mechanical stimuli vs. alternative pathways has been hotly debated and is discussed. The role of myostatin in myoblast models of atrophy and interactions between protein synthetic pathways including Akt/mTOR and the ‘atrogenes’ are explored. Summary: Targeted in-vivo experimentation directed by skeletal muscle cell culture and bioengineering (three-dimensional skeletal muscle cell culture models) will provide key biomimetic and mechanistic data regarding hypertrophy and atrophy and thus enable the development of important strategies for tackling muscle wasting associated with ageing and disease processes

Hypertension Management in the High Cardiovascular Risk Population

The incidence of hypertension is increasing every year. Blood pressure (BP) control is an important therapeutic goal for the slowing of progression as well as for the prevention of Cardiovascular disease. The management of hypertension in the high cardiovascular risk population remains a real challenge as the population continues to age, the incidence of diabetes increases, and more and more people survive acute myocardial infarction. We will review hypertension management in the high cardiovascular risk population: patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart failure (HF) as well as in diabetic patients