| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Gallardo Fernández, Gloria L., 1953-, et al.
(författare)
-
Monetary stabilisation policies and militarisation : The effects on social and class structure in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (1950-1985)
- 2012
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper analyses the origins of neoliberalism in the Southern Cone; a process that has its origin in the period 1955-65 with the implementation of monetary stabilization policies, followed later by the structural adjustment programs. Both the monetary stabilization and the structural adjustment policies were global macroeconomic mechanisms to restructure the dynamic of capital accumulation and economic power relations. By promoting a freer flow of capital, the economic stabilisation policies facilitated the entry of foreign capital into the economies of the Southern Cone, predisposing the economies of the Southern Cone to the process of internationalisation of production and financial capital, which began to take shape after World War II more rigorously.This process can be understood within a double transformation of capital as 1) the destruction of the domestic bourgeoisie; a process of relative concentration of capital; and 2) the internationalization of finance capital; a process of absolute concentration or centralization of capital. Military rule was a necessary conditions for the project and process of ‘peripheral privatization’ through which capital was accumulated, but not mainly through the productive circuit of capital (M-C-M+). This process thus took place within a global transformation in the process of concentration of capital characterised by a shift in the domain that provided the productive sphere towards the financial and commercial spheres as mean to secure the valorization of capital, requiring the liberalization of international credits and financial markets, thus setting the bases for the expansion of neoliberalism as an accumulation regime, globally and within Latin America. Therefore neoliberalism and globalization found their grounds in Latin America’s ephemeral ‘national developmentalism’ promoted by ECLAC (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean).
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Bonanni, Valentina, et al.
(författare)
-
First order reversal curve analysis of graded anisotropy FePtCu films
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Applied Physics Letters. - : AIP Publishing. - 0003-6951 .- 1077-3118. ; 97:20
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The reversal mechanisms of graded anisotropy FePtCu films have been investigated by alternating gradient magnetometer (AGM) and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) measurements with first-order reversal curve (FORC) techniques. The AGM-FORC analysis, which clearly shows the presence of soft and hard components, is unable to resolve how these phases are distributed throughout the film thickness. MOKE-FORC measurements, which preferentially probe the surface of the film, reveal that the soft components are indeed located toward the top surface. Combining AGM-FORC with the inherent surface sensitivity of MOKE-FORC analysis allows for a comprehensive analysis of heterogeneous systems such as graded materials.
|
|
| 7. |
- Kim, Hyun-Jin
(författare)
-
LXR and aromatase knock-out mice : animal models providing insight into human diseases
- 2009
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In our characterization of mouse strains carrying mutations in nuclear receptor and aromatase genes we have found phenotypes which resemble four human diseases: benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), Sjögren s syndrome (SS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. The work in this thesis was designed to understand the roles of LXRalpha, LXRbeta and aromatase in development of these diseases and to investigate whether these animal models help us (1) to understand the etiology of the corresponding human diseases and (2) to develop new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of these diseases. Paper I: Male LXRbeta-/- mice develop motor neuron disease with age. Because the LXR ligand, beta-sitosterol, has been implicated in ALS, we examined the possibility that LXRbeta-/- mice were more susceptible than their wild type (WT) littermates to the toxic effects of beta-sitosterol. Three weeks of beta-sitosterol treatment of 8-month-old LXRbeta-/- male mice resulted in ALS-Parkinson s like syndrome, characterized by death of the tyrosine hydroxylase-positive dopaminergic neurons in the brain and death of large motor neurons in the spinal cord. WT mice were not affected by beta-sitosterol. In LXRbeta-/- mice, there was activation of microglia and accumulation of intracellular protein aggregates in motor neurons, abnormalities which have been observed in ALS patients. The level of 24-hydroxycholesterol, the main excretory metabolite of cholesterol synthesized in the brain, was increased upon beta-sitosterol treatment in mutant but not in WT mice. Thus loss of LXRbeta renders mice more susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of beta-sitosterol and we suggest that, in human populations where the incidence of ALS is unusually high, there may be genetic alterations in LXRbeta gene signaling pathways. Paper II: In this study we found that as LXRalpha-/- mice age, they develop smooth-muscle actin-positive stromal overgrowth around the ducts of the ventral prostate (VP) and numerous fibrous nodules growing into the ducts and causing obstruction and extreme dilatation of the ducts. We investigated whether the stromal hyperplasia in LXRalpha-/-mice could help in understanding the etiology of human BPH. We found proliferation in the epithelial cells but not in the accumulated stromal cells in the VP of LXRalpha-/- mice. Expression of the transcription repressor of E-cadherin, Snail and the intracellular mediator of TGF-beta, Smad 2/3, was increased. We postulate that loss of LXRalpha from the prostatic epithelium results in increased epithelial proliferation and epithelial to mesenchymal transition, resulting in excessive stromal accumulation. These findings suggest that LXRalpha-/- mice may be a useful model to study prostatic stromal hyperplasia. Paper III: LXRbeta-/-mice are resistant to developing obesity on a high fat diet. As they age, these mice develop pancreatic exocrine insufficiency. By electron microscopy, abnormalities in the pancreatic ducts as well as in the pancreatic secretion were found. Particularly interesting was the presence within the ducts of lamellar structures similar to those seen in cystic fibrosis. With a specific antibody we demonstrated the presence of LXRbeta in the nuclei of epithelial cells lining the pancreatic ducts. We therefore searched for LXR-regulated genes that might influence the density of pancreatic secretion. We found that aquaporin-1 is an LXR-regulated gene highly expressed in the pancreatic ductal epithelium of wild type mice but not LXRbeta-/- mice. Thus LXRbeta plays an important role in controlling pancreatic juice secretion through the regulation of water transport, and the observed resistance to a high fat diet in these LXRbeta-/-mice appears to be due to fat malabsorption secondary to pancreatic insufficiency. Paper IV: As they age, mice which cannot synthesize estrogen (aromatase knock-out mice, ArKO mice), develop severe autoimmune exocrinopathy resembling Sjögren s syndrome (SS), which is not observed in ERalpha-/- or ERbeta-/-mice. Many characteristics typical of human SS were found in these mice: There is B cell hyperplasia in the hematopoietic organs with severe immune cell infiltration in the salivary glands and kidneys, proteolytic fragments of alpha-fodrin in the salivary glands and anti-alpha-fodrin antibodies in the serum. When mice were raised on a phytoestrogen-free diet, there was a mild but significant incidence of infiltration of B lymphocytes in WT mice and severe destructive autoimmune lesions in ArKO mice. In age-matched WT mice fed a diet containing normal levels of phytoestrogen, there were no autoimmune lesions. These findings suggest that estrogen deficiency results in a lympho-proliferative autoimmune disease resembling SS and suggest that estrogen might have clinical value in the prevention or treatment of this disease.
|
|
| 8. |
- Kodandaramaiah, Ullasa, et al.
(författare)
-
Phylogenetics of Coenonymphina (Nymphalidae Satyrinae) and the problem of rooting rapid radiations
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 54:2, s. 386-394
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report a rapid radiation of a group of butterflies within the family Nymphalidae and examine some aspects of popular analytical methods in dealing with rapid radiations. We attempted to infer the phylogeny of butterflies belonging to the subtribe Coenonymphina sensu lato using five genes (4398bp) with Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Initial analyses suggested that the group has undergone rapid speciation within Australasia. We further analyzed the dataset with different outgroup combinations the choice of which had a profound effect on relationships within the ingroup. Modelling methods recovered Coenonymphina as a monophyletic group to the exclusion of Zipaetis and Orsotriaena, irrespective of outgroup combination. Maximum Parsimony occasionally returned a polyphyletic Coenonymphina, with Argyronympha grouping with outgroups, but this was strongly dependent on the outgroups used. We analyzed the ingroup without any outgroups and found that the relationships inferred among taxa were different from those inferred when either of the outgroup combinations was used, and this was true for all methods. We also tested whether a hard polytomy is a better hypothesis to explain our dataset, but could not find conclusive evidence. We therefore conclude that the major lineages within Coenonymphina form a near-hard polytomy with regard to each other. The study highlights the importance of testing different outgroups rather than using results from a single outgroup combination of a few taxa, particularly in difficult cases where basal nodes appear to receive low support. We provide a revised classification of Coenonymphina; Zipaetis and Orsotriaena are transferred to the tribe Eritina.
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
- Epstein, Yaffa
(författare)
-
The Big Bad EU? Species Protection and European Federalism : A Case Study of Wolf Conservation and Contestation in Sweden
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation examines how eco-knowledge intersects with the changes to EU legal cultures and practices known as eurolegalism. This conjunction has created a mechanism for the extension of EU law in the Member States even in the face of a weakened EU.Through a portfolio of six articles, controversies over the protection of wolves in Sweden are used to illustrate and explicate the changing roles and responsibilities of various actors in protecting species, and the centralization of competence for environmental protection in Europe at the EU level. In doing so, some substantive requirements of the Habitats Directive are also analyzed. The first article maps the movement of competence to determine conservation policy towards the EU level and away from international and Member State actors. The second article examines what the EU requires of its Member States by analyzing the Habitats Directive’s key concept, favourable conservation status. It also makes normative arguments for how contested aspects of this concept should be interpreted to best achieve the Directive’s conservation goals. The third article deepens this analysis by applying these arguments to the Swedish wolf population. The fourth article is a case commentary illustrating the enforcement of the Habitats Directive through public interest litigation to stop the hunting of Swedish wolves. The fifth argues that the greater availability of public interest standing in the US than in the EU has led to the greater implementation of federal law. The sixth argues that greater availability of public interest litigation in Sweden than previously is also leading to the greater enforcement of “federal” EU law. Each of these articles demonstrates or explains factors that lead to the hollowing out of state power in favor of the EU and interest groups.
|
|
