«Mare liberum»: Hugo Grocio, entre la defensa del colonialismo y los derechos de ‘otros’

Els arguments d’Hugo Groci en Mare liberum en defensa de la llibertat dels mars i, en particular, del dret natural al comerç, que tant afavoria els interessos mercantils neerlandesos, han estat interpretats per alguns historiadors com a legitimació de l’expansió imperialista europea de l’època. En front d’aquesta opinió, i com a resultat de l’estudi a fons de l’obra grociana per a l’edició crítica que prepara sobre el seu De iure belli ac pacis, l’autor argumenta que, en realitat, la defensa del dret natural a l’autoconservació —que tenia arrels en autors espanyols de la Segona Escolàstica— abastava també als no europeus i que facultava uns i altres a desplaçar-se en cerca de refugi o d’una vida millor. Com a corolari, l’autor troba en la doctrina de Groci un renovat interès avui en dia, sobre el fenòmen de la immigració que viuen les nostres societat

Підручник зі слов’янського фольклору в Канаді

Рецензія на підручник: Kononenko N. Slavic Folklore: a Handbook. - Westport (Connecticut); London: Greenwood Press, 2007. - 209 pp

Industrial pilot-scale anaerobic biodigestion of semisolid wastes of lemon processing

Lemon is processed to obtain essential oil, concentrated juice and dehydrated peel and this generates different kinds of wastewater. From this wastewater, it is possible to separate a semisolid residue with high humidity through filters or primary treatment. This paper analyzes the anaerobic digestion of these semisolid residues, organic load reduction and biogas production using a complete mix tank.La industrialización del limón para obtener aceite esencial, jugos concentrados y cáscara deshidratada, genera diferentes tipos de efluentes. A partir de estos efluentes es posible separar, mediante tamizado o tratamiento primario, un desecho semisólido de alto contenido de humedad. El propósito del presente trabajo fue estudiar la digestión anaeróbica de este desecho, el grado de abatimiento de la carga orgánica y la producción de biogás, empleando un reactor de mezcla completa.Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevide

Retinotopic Mapping of Categorical and Coordinate Spatial Relation Processing in Early Visual Cortex

Spatial relations are commonly divided in two global classes. Categorical relations concern abstract relations which define areas of spatial equivalence, whereas coordinate relations are metric and concern exact distances. Categorical and coordinate relation processing are thought to rely on at least partially separate neurocognitive mechanisms, as reflected by differential lateralization patterns, in particular in the parietal cortex. In this study we address this textbook principle from a new angle. We studied retinotopic activation in early visual cortex, as a reflection of attentional distribution, in a spatial working memory task with either a categorical or a coordinate instruction. Participants were asked to memorize a dot position, with regard to a central cross, and to indicate whether a subsequent dot position matched the first dot position, either categorically (opposite quadrant of the cross) or coordinately (same distance to the centre of the cross). BOLD responses across the retinotopic maps of V1, V2, and V3 indicate that the spatial distribution of cortical activity was different for categorical and coordinate instructions throughout the retention interval; a more local focus was found during categorical processing, whereas focus was more global for coordinate processing. This effect was strongest for V3, approached significance in V2 and was absent in V1. Furthermore, during stimulus presentation the two instructions led to different levels of activation in V3 during stimulus encoding; a stronger increase in activity was found for categorical processing. Together this is the first demonstration that instructions for specific types of spatial relations may yield distinct attentional patterns which are already reflected in activity early in the visual cortex

AMNIOTE PHYLOGENY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FOSSILS

Several prominent cladists have questioned the importance of fossils in phylogenctic inference, and it is becoming increasingly popular to simply fit extinct forms, if they are considered at all, to a cladogram of Recent taxa. Gardiner's (1982) and LØvtrup's (1985) study of amniote phylogeny exemplifies this differential treatment, and we focused on that group of organisms to test the proposition that fossils cannot overturn a theory of relationships based only on the Recent biota. Our parsimony analysis of amniote phylogeny, special knowledge contributed by fossils being scrupulously avoided, led to the following best fitting classification, which is similar to the novel hypothesis Gardiner published: (lepidosaurs (turtles (mammals (birds, crocodiles)))). However, adding fossils resulted in a markedly different most parsimonious cladogram of the extant taxa: (mammals (turtles (lepidosaurs (birds, crocodiles)))). That classification is like the traditional hypothesis, and it provides a better fit to the stratigraphic record. To isolate the extinct taxa responsible for the latter classification, the data were successively partitioned with each phylogenetic analysis, and we concluded that: (1) the ingroup, not the outgroup, fossils were important; (2) synapsid, not reptile, fossils were pivotal; (3) certain synapsid fossils, not the earliest or latest, were responsible. The critical nature of the synapsid fossils seemed to lie in the particular combination of primitive and derived character slates they exhibited. Classifying those fossils, along with mammals, as the sister group to the lineage consisting of birds and crocodiles resulted in a relatively poor fit to data; one involving a 2—4 fold increase in evolutionary reversals! Thus, the importance of the critical fossils, collectively or individually, seems to reside in their relative primitive-ness, and the simplest explanation for their more conservative nature is that they have had less time to evolve. While fossils may be important in phylogenetic inference only under certain conditions, there is no compelling reason to prejudge their contribution. We urge systematists to evaluate fairly all of the available evidence.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73857/1/j.1096-0031.1988.tb00514.x.pd

Factors influencing participation in controlled human infection models : a pooled analysis from six enteric fever studies [under peer review]

Background: Enteric fever is an acute febrile-illness caused by infection with the human-restricted Salmonella serovars Typhi and Paratyphi. Controlled human infection models (CHIM) of S. Typhi and Paratyphi infection are used to accelerate vaccine development and to better understand host-pathogen interactions. The primary motivations for participants to take part in these studies are unknown. We studied participant motivations, attitudes and the factors influencing CHIM study participation. Methods: Participant surveys were nested in six enteric fever CHIM studies conducted at a single centre in Oxford, UK, between 2011 and 2017. All eligible participants received one invitation to complete an anonymous, self-administered paper or online survey on either day 28 or 60 after challenge. A descriptive analysis was performed on these pooled data. All studies were included, to minimize selection bias. Results: Survey response rates varied from 33.0%-86.1%, yielding 201 participants. In the cohort, 113/198(57.0%) were educated to bachelor’s level, 61.6% were employed, 30.3% were students and 4.6% were unemployed. The most commonly cited motivations for CHIM study participation were a desire to contribute to the progression of medicine (170/201; 84.6%); the prospect of financial reimbursement (166/201; 82.6%) and curiosity about clinical trials (117/201; 57.2%). The majority of respondents (139/197; 70.6%) reported that most people advised them against participation. Conclusion: Motivation to participate in a CHIM study was multi-factorial and heavily influenced by internal drivers beyond monetary reimbursement alone. High educational attainment and employment may be protective factors against financial inducement; however, further research is needed, particularly with CHIM studies expanding to low-income and middle-income countries

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PARACOCCIDIOIDOMYCOSIS

SUMMARYThe epidemiological characteristics of paracoccidioidomycosis were reviewed and updated. The new endemic areas in Brazil were discussed in the section regarding the geographic distribution of the mycosis. Subclinical infection with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was discussed on the basis of skin test surveys with antigens of the fungus, seroepidemiological studies, and disease cases outside Latin America. Large case series permitted a comparison of the prevalence of the mycosis in different regions, its estimated incidence and risk factors for the development of the disease. Aspects modulating the expression of the clinical forms of paracoccidioidomycosis are also presented. This review also deals with diseases associated with the mycosis, opportunistic paracoccidioidomycosis, lethality, mortality and infection and disease in animals