José María Blanco White: de la ortodoxia a la disidencia. Historia de una conciencia

José María Blanco White (Sevilla, 11 de julio de 1775-Liverpool, 20 de mayo de 1841), de nombre real José María Blanco Crespo, fue un escritor, pensador, polemista religioso, periodista y sacerdote católico español, de ascendencia irlandesa. Ordenado sacerdote en diciembre de 1799, pronto perdió la fe, y abandonó su ministerio sacerdotal, buscando futuro en la Corte, en Madrid. Allí comienza su aproximación a la política de la mano de Manuel José Quintana. Años de vida frívola. Vuelve a su Sevilla natal empujado por el avance de las tropas napoleónicas. Se autoexilia a Inglaterra a principios de 1810. Desde su nuevo país verterá numerosas críticas hacia la clase dirigente española, las instituciones religiosas, y el modo de tratar el asunto de las colonias españolas de ultramar, de manera especial a través del periódico El Español. Es admitido como ministro en la Iglesia anglicana. Profesor en Oriel college, Oxford, como premio por su lucha anticatólica. Destaca su amistad con John Henry Newman. Sus obras más conocidas en Inglaterra son poéticas, costumbristas y, sobre todo, de crítica hacia la Iglesia Católica. Su pensamiento apunta a una deriva hacia el deísmo. Abandonará la confesión anglicana y acabará sus días como miembro de una comunidad de unitarios en Liverpool. En España, desde la década de los 70 del pasado siglo, es presentado como adalid de progresismo y mártir de la lucha por la tolerancia y la libertad de conciencia.Writer, philosopher, religious scholar, journalist and Spanish Catholic priest of Irish ancestry, José María Blanco White, was born José María Blanco Crespo in Seville on July 11th, 1775, and died in Liverpool on May 20th, 1841). He was ordained priest in December 1799, but he soon lost his faith and dropped out of priesthood, seeking his fortune in the Court, in Madrid. Thats when it began his approach to politics guided by Manuel José Quintana. For some years, he had a very sligth life. Then he returned to his native Seville, forced by the advance of the Napoleonic troops. At the beginning of 1870, he decided to exile in England. From his new country he made many accusations against the Spanish ruling class, against the Spanish religious institutions and against the way Spanish managed the overseas territories, and he voiced his opinions particularly through the newspaper El Español. As a reward for his fight against the Catholic Church, he was admitted as a minister of the Anglican Church, and as a fellow at Oriel College in Oxford. His friendship with John Henry Newman deserves special mention. His poetry works are well known in England as well as his works about local customs and manners but above all his works criticising the Catholic Church. His thought indicates a trend towards the deism. He dropped out of English Church and he ended his days as a member of an Unitarian community in Liverpool. In Spain, since the seventies of the last century, he is considered, as the leader of the progressivism and as a martyr of the fight for toleration and freedom of conscience

Liposomes for Targeted Delivery of Active Agents against Neurodegenerative Diseases (Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease)

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease represent a huge unmet medical need. The prevalence of both diseases is increasing, but the efficacy of treatment is still very limited due to various factors including the blood brain barrier (BBB). Drug delivery to the brain remains the major challenge for the treatment of all neurodegenerative diseases because of the numerous protective barriers surrounding the central nervous system. New therapeutic drugs that cross the BBB are critically needed for treatment of many brain diseases. One of the significant factors on neurotherapeutics is the constraint of the blood brain barrier and the drug release kinetics that cause peripheral serious side effects. Contrary to common belief, neurodegenerative and neurological diseases may be multisystemic in nature, and this presents numerous difficulties for their potential treatment. Overall, the aim of this paper is to summarize the last findings and news related to liposome technology in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and demonstrate the potential of this technology for the development of novel therapeutics and the possible applications of liposomes in the two most widespread neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease

Gelsolin Restores Aβ-Induced Alterations in Choroid Plexus Epithelium

Histologically, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by senile plaques and cerebrovascular amyloid deposits. In previous studies we demonstrated that in AD patients, amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide also accumulates in choroid plexus, and that this process is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and epithelial cell death. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Aβ accumulation at the choroid plexus epithelium remain unclear. Aβ clearance, from the brain to the blood, involves Aβ carrier proteins that bind to megalin, including gelsolin, a protein produced specifically by the choroid plexus epithelial cells. In this study, we show that treatment with gelsolin reduces Aβ-induced cytoskeletal disruption of blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier at the choroid plexus. Additionally, our results demonstrate that gelsolin plays an important role in decreasing Aβ-induced cytotoxicity by inhibiting nitric oxide production and apoptotic mitochondrial changes. Taken together, these findings make gelsolin an appealing tool for the prophylactic treatment of AD

The Process of Becoming a 'Grammatizator': An Account

Review: Ellis, R. (1990) Instructed Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 230 pp. [ISBN 978-0631162025

Current Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching: Strengths and Weaknesses

Review: Bowers, R. And Brumfit C. (eds.) (1991) Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching. Modern English Publications and The British Council. London: Macmillan: 131 pp

Cognitive and Linguistic Abilities of Bilingual Children Revisited

Review: Ellen Bialystok (ed.) (1991) Language Processing in Bilingual Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 238 pp