Since most of the functions in cells are mediated by multimeric protein complexes, the determination of protein–protein interactions is an important step in the study of cellular mechanisms. Traditionally, after screening for possible target interactors by means of a yeast two‐hybrid screen, several methods are used to validate the initial result before carrying out functional experiments. Nowadays, non‐invasive fluorescence‐based methods like Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) are widely used in the study of protein–protein interactions (...) in living cells. In the present review, we address the individual strengths and weaknesses of both RET approaches, providing information on their possible future use in the study of G protein‐coupled receptor oligomerization. BioEssays 30:82–89, 2008. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Evolutionary studies have provided several explanations about how pain and suffering can be fitted into that framework, which tries to make sense of every biological and human feature in terms of evolution, survival, and fitness. These explanations point usually to how such apparently negative aspects become useful and contribute to an evolution that after all has delivered good outcomes. Such an approach might eventually render the theodicy question less sharp and critical for believers who are trying to cope with the (...) scandal of so great suffering in our world and history. Theologically we can welcome such new insights, less noticed in former tradition, but at the same time we need to be cautious before a development which could render less clear the message of Christian salvation. In any case, the new data and knowledge clearly invite to revise and reformulate the Christian salvific message, to better answer before the mystery of evil and suffering. (shrink)

Las teorías clásicas de estratificación social se bao basado en la familia como unidad de estratificación, utilizándose la ocupación del hombre como medida de clase social. Estas teorías fueron criticadas sobre todo desde el feminismo, reclamando la visualización de las mujeres en el análisis de la estratificación social. Este artículo describe el concepto de clase social, debate sobre la medida de la clase social en las mujeres y revisa el impacto de las distintas medidas en las desigualdades en salud según (...) clase social en las mujeres. (shrink)

A simple complete axiomatic system is presented for the many-valued propositional logic based on the conjunction interpreted as product, the coresponding implication (Goguen's implication) and the corresponding negation (Gödel's negation). Algebraic proof methods are used. The meaning for fuzzy logic (in the narrow sense) is shortly discussed.

As a discourse genre, statements of purpose are characterized by their occluded status in the academy and by their hybrid nature. Statements of purpose are required in applications for a place in a postgraduate course, and they are requested to obtain information about the academic and professional background and skills of each applicant. A study of the genre’s linguistic and textual features is needed in Spanish to discover and understand writers’ and readers’ perception of this genre. A corpus of 50 (...) motivation letters in Spanish is analyzed here. We study the distinguishing macro- and microtextual features of this particular genre and co-occurrences between both kinds of features. At the macrotextual level, statements of purpose display prototypical rhetorical moves, which can be classified as writers’ moves and readers’ moves. On the microtextual level, modalization resources and discourse markers are discussed. This multiple perspectives analysis of the corpus shows evidence of significant co-occurrences among modalization, discourse markers, and rhetorical moves. Writers’ ideal representations of this discourse genre, which spans the academic and professional fields, can also be deduced. (shrink)

En este artículo trabajamos dentro del campo de la música tradicional, vinculándola con la perspectiva de género a través del análisis de los roles establecidos tanto en la tradición como en la actualidad. Para ello establecemos una metodología basada en la realización de entrevistas como medio para suplir la falta de referencias bibliográficas. Nuestros resultados se centran en la continuidad de los roles de género y su distribución a través de relaciones de poder, independientemente de los cambios de contexto acaecidos (...) entre la tradición y la actualidad. Por último reflejaremos el interés actual y las posibilidades didácticas sobre el tema. (shrink)

En este artículo tratamos el “romance do Comandante Moreno” como parte de la música de tradición oral gallega y de la memoria histórica en relación a la Guerra Civil española. Metodológicamente trabajamos con análisis de corte etnomusicológico que se centran en parámetros musicales, literarios y de contexto, además de trabajar con referencias bibliográficas y audiovisuales. Así, nos encontramos con características propias de la música de tradición gallega y una descripción concisa de los hechos, siendo este romance un testigo fidedigno de (...) los asesinatos ocurridos en 1937 y, por ello, un elemento con oportunidades didácticas para la creación de proyectos interdisciplinares. (shrink)

Republican theorists have paid little attention to the normative problems of secession conflicts. So far, there is no such thing as a democratic republican theory of right of secession ; nor any comprehensive analysis of current TRS has ever been undertaken from a democratic republican point of view. This article tries to fill this second gap as a first step in order to fill that first one. In doing so, it shows how secession conflicts pose threats for two core democratic (...) republican values: freedom and inclusion. The threats are, concretely, those of exclusion, blackmailing minorities, arbitrary permanent majorities, and instability. The article also shows how, due to their respective pro-unionist or pro-secessionist biases, no current TRS seems to be able to handle those threats; and briefly outlines how a democratic republican TRS, based on a non-unilateralist logic, could be developed. (shrink)

Es bien conocida la primera filosofía de Ortega y Gasset en torno al "raciovitalismo" y al liberalismo. En cambio, su segunda navegación, en expresión suya, no ha alcanzado aún perfiles precisos ante el público interesado. Nada mejor para ello que revisitar la obra póstuma que mejor representa tal vez la tarea filosófica del último Ortega: "La idea de principio en Leibniz y la evolución de la teoría deductiva". En este libro, por un lado se examinan las raíces alemanas con especial (...) atención a Fichte y a Heidegger y la teoría del conocimiento que Ortega va diseñando. Por otro, se analiza la estructura textual del libro mientras se profundiza en algunos de los logros más generales de la "segunda navegación" de Ortega, como el tema de "ideas y creencias", el constructivismo cognitivo y la teoría de la historia. En una tercera parte, se incide en diversas consecuencias de la obra de Ortega, en la hermenéutica y en el pensamiento cívico sobre España, así como en la crítica filosófica. (shrink)

Joint attention is a social-cognitive phenomenon in which two or more agents direct their attention together towards the same object. Definitions range from this rather broad conception to more specific definitions which require that, in addition, attention be directed to the same aspect of that object and that agents need to be mutually aware of their jointly attending. Joint attention is an important coordination mechanism in joint action. The capacity for engaging in joint attention, in particular in the sense of (...) this narrower definition, is frequently taken to indicate the presence of theory of mind in the participating agents, and is also implicated in the development of theory of mind. However, the prominence of sensorimotor components in establishing and sustaining episodes of joint attention — e.g., eye and head movements, pointing and vocalizations — suggests that sensorimotor approaches to social interaction may be well-placed to account for important parts of joint attention without invoking theory-of-mind abilities, and may therefore provide a valuable alternative to approaches emphasizing theory of mind. In particular, sensorimotor accounts may explain aspects of joint attention through the dynamics and regularities in the sensorimotor processes that coordinate the activities of the agents. (shrink)

Convencida de que con un deseo profundo de verdad y una atención sin límites se puede alcanzar la verdad, Simone Weil emprende un camino interior de búsqueda de la verdad, que tiene a la realidad como principal referente. La atención a lo real en su experiencia de trabajo como obrera, en su participación en los dramas de la guerra de España y la Segunda guerra mundial, durante el trabajo como profesora de filosofía, y a lo largo de tantos acontecimientos y (...) encuentros, supusieron para la filósofa un camino personal de hallazgo de lo sobrenatural, que generó una orientación metafísica en su concepción del mundo. Sin embargo, aunque tanto vital como intelectualmente Simone Weil atravesó varios umbrales, en su pensamiento permanece un mismo hilo conductor; esto puede comprobarse leyendo algunos escritos de juventud. El presente trabajo muestra etapas significativas de la vida y el pensamiento de Simone Weil, y considera igualmente vivencias de carácter místico al final de su vida, fruto de la irrupción en ella de lo sobrenatural como una dimensión de lo real. (shrink)

This article deals with the form and use of reformulation markers in research papers written in English, Spanish and Catalan. Considering the form and frequency of the markers, English papers tend to prefer simple fixed markers and include fewer reformulators than Spanish and Catalan. On the contrary, formal Catalan and Spanish papers include more markers, some of which are complex and allow for some structural variability. As for use, reformulation markers establish dynamic relationships between portions of discourse which can be (...) identified in our corpus with expansion, reduction and permutation. The analysis of the corpus shows that English authors usually reformulate to add more information to the concept, whereas Catalan and Spanish authors reduce the contents or the implicatures of the previous formulation more frequently than English. (shrink)

This paper proposes an hermeneutic interpretation of the fragmentary discourse of one of the authors of reference of the critical theory. The analysis develops from the theory of the incomplete translation of Benjamin. The Benjamin style of writing and its thesis in constant review process can be understood as precursors of the deconstruction. Our hypothesis is that this special Benjamin position is not developed by chance, but it is the result of a specific way of understanding the construction of the (...) critical theory. (shrink)

Podríamos definir el autoconcepto como el proceso a través del cual se va adquiriendo una imagen que acaba condicionando nuestra conducta. Las prostitutas inmigrantes viven en una situación de especial vulnerabilidad, este aspecto puede inferir en la configuración de su autoconcepto dificultando su bienestar social.//////////We could define self concept as the process through which we acquire our self image that ends up conditioning our conduct. Immigrant prostitutes live in a situation of special vulnerability, this aspect can interfere in the process (...) of building their self concept, making their social well-being difficult. (shrink)

This article deals with interactions between citizenship and political ecology by examining the ‘pulp mills conflict’ in Gualeguaychú, Argentina. The conflict burst in 2003 when the Uruguayan authorities announced the construction of a cellulose plant on the shore of the Uruguay River. The citizens of Gualeguaychú, a city right across the border, initiated a movement of protest that soon transcended the local dimension. I argue that this protest was a battle over sovereignty and an environmental conflict between different conceptions of (...) development and diverse views of the use of a common resource, the river. The notion of ecological citizenship formed in this process is assessed by examining how this concept was constructed by local stakeholders and by unveiling the motivations informing citizens’ engagement. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The term fuzzy logic has two different meanings -broad and narrow. In Zadeh's opinion, fuzzy logic is an extension of many- valued logic but having a different agenda—as generalized modus ponens, max-min inference, linguistic quantifiers etc. The question we address in this paper is whether there is something in Zadeh's specific agenda which cannot be grasped by “classiceli”, “traditional” mathematical logic. We show that much of fuzzy logic can be understood as classical deduction in a many-sorted many-valued Pavelka- Lukasiewicz (...) style rational quantification logic. This means that, besides the linguistic or approximation aspects, the logical aspect is present too and can be made explicit. (shrink)