Prostaglandin G and H synthases, or cyclooxygenases (COXs), catalyze the formation of prostaglandins (PGs). Whereas COX-1 is diffusely expressed in lymphoid cells in embryonic day 15.5 thymus, COX-2 expression is sparse, apparently limited to stromal cells. By contrast, COX-2 is predominant in a subset of medullary stromal cells in three- to five-week-old mice. The isozymes also differ in their contributions to lymphocyte development. Thus, experiments with selective COX-1 inhibitors in thymic lobes from normal and recombinase-activating gene-1 knockout mice support a role for this isoform in the transition from CD4–CD8– double-negative (DN) to CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP). Concordant data were obtained in COX-1 knockouts. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic deletion of COX-2, by contrast, support its role during early thymocyte proliferation and differentiation and, later, during maturation of the CD4 helper T-cell lineage. PGE2, but not other PGs, can rescue the effects of inhibition of either isoform, although it acts through distinct EP receptor subtypes. COX-dependent PG generation may represent a mechanism of thymic stromal support for T-cell development.

The TLX1/HOX11 homeobox gene is frequently activated in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) by the t(10;14)(q24;q11) and t(7;10)(q35;q24) chromosomal translocations or by as yet unknown transcriptional mechanisms in the absence of 10q24 cytogenetic abnormalities. Almost all TLX1+ T-ALLs exhibit a CD4+CD8+ double-positive (DP) phenotype. To investigate the role of TLX1 as an initiating oncogene in T-ALL pathogenesis, we assessed the consequences of retroviral vector-directed TLX1 expression during the differentiation of murine and human thymocytes in fetal thymic organ cultures. Interestingly, enforced expression of TLX1 disrupted the differentiation of murine fetal liver precursors and human cord blood CD34+ stem/progenitor cells prior to the DP thymocyte stage. Although differentiation arrest was associated with an increased percentage of apoptotic thymocytes, it could only be partially bypassed by coexpression of transgenic BCL2. Mutation of the invariant asparagine residue at position 51 of the homeodomain – which is required for efficient DNA binding – released the block, consistent with the notion that TLX1 inhibits thymocyte differentiation and promotes T-cell oncogenesis by functioning as a transcription factor. The relevance of these findings is discussed in the context of activating NOTCH1 mutations and the other genetic lesions implicated in the multistep transformation process of TLX1+ T-ALL.

This paper focuses on the changes in farm e±ciency as a tool for policy analysis. The methodology is applied to the introduction of direct payments (DP) and the price sup- port reduction a®ecting large samples of individual farms with joint animal and vegetal production (comparing before and after CAP'92). The case study is justi¯ed for their relevance for Mediterranean forest and grazing land preservation in Spain. Using a non parametric method (DEA) we do not specify the production function of the farms, and can explain the impact of the direct payments on environmental adaptation and e±ciency for animal orientated farms before and after the (DP) introduction in 1992 (CAP'92 reform). Even though the direct payments increased sharply after the CAP'92 reform, in general, the new direct payment system turns out to be insu±cient to o®- set the fact that less environmentally friendly farms remain much more \e±cient," i.e. pro¯table for the farmer. The paper also studies the relationship of e±ciency with other policy relevant factors such as economic size. The results show that after the CAP'92 reform, the subsidy schedule was even more correlated with farm size than before, which we ¯nd to be counterproductive.1

This paper focuses on the changes in farm e±ciency as a tool for policy analysis. The methodology is applied to the introduction of direct payments (DP) and the price sup- port reduction a®ecting large samples of individual farms with joint animal and vegetal production (comparing before and after CAP'92). The case study is justi¯ed for their relevance for Mediterranean forest and grazing land preservation in Spain. Using a non parametric method (DEA) we do not specify the production function of the farms, and can explain the impact of the direct payments on environmental adaptation and e±ciency for animal orientated farms before and after the (DP) introduction in 1992 (CAP'92 reform). Even though the direct payments increased sharply after the CAP'92 reform, in general, the new direct payment system turns out to be insu±cient to o®- set the fact that less environmentally friendly farms remain much more \e±cient," i.e. pro¯table for the farmer. The paper also studies the relationship of e±ciency with other policy relevant factors such as economic size. The results show that after the CAP'92 reform, the subsidy schedule was even more correlated with farm size than before, which we ¯nd to be counterproductive.

OBJETIVO: Analisar a qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde de pacientes com osteoporose e compará-la com a população geral. MÉTODOS: Foi realizado um estudo descritivo transversal com 60 pacientes do sexo feminino no serviço de reumatologia de um hospital universitário na Espanha, de abril a outubro de 2003. Foi aplicado o questionário Short Form-36, abordando dados demográficos, características clínicas e dados sobre estilos de vida relacionados à saúde. As pacientes foram classificadas em grupos etários. Foram utilizados os seguintes testes estatísticos: qui-quadrado, modelo linear geral, t de Student. RESULTADOS: As entrevistadas tinham idade média de 65,57 (DP: ±9,7 anos), e tempo de diagnóstico médio de 3,4±2,84 anos. As melhores pontuações foram obtidas nas dimensões aspectos sociais (89), aspectos emocionais (72,2) e saúde mental (63). As mais baixas foram em estado geral de saúde (45,1), capacidade funcional (47,7), dor (52,3) e aspectos físicos (59,9). As pontuações médias dos pacientes resultaram inferiores às pontuações conhecidas da população geral espanhola nas dimensões capacidade funcional, aspectos físicos, dor e estado geral de saúde. As máximas diferenças entre as pontuações médias do SF-36 dos pacientes e os valores populacionais espanhóis correspondem ao grupo de idade de 55 a 64 anos. Nas demais dimensões do SF-36...

Spanish land reform, involving the break-up of the large southern estates, was a central issue during the first decades of the twentieth century. This paper uses new provincial data on landless workers, land prices and agrarian wages to consider if government intervention was needed because of the failure of the free action of markets to redistribute land. Our evidence shows that the relative number of landless workers decreased significantly from 1860 to 1930 before the approval of the 1932 Land Reform. This was due to two interrelated market forces: the falling ratio between land prices and rural wages, which made land cheaper for landless workers to rent and buy land plots, and structural change that drained rural population from the countryside. Given that rural markets did not restrict access to land, the government-initiated land redistribution had no clear-cut economic justification.

The Hitler/Franco encounter at Hendaye in October 1940 was a central myth of Francoist propaganda. Allegedly, faced with threats and blandishments to force Spain into war on the Axis side, Franco coolly stood his ground and thereby secured Spanish neutrality. However, there is little evidence that Hitler did threaten Franco. His purpose in traveling to Hendaye, and to Montoire where he met Laval and Pétain, was to compare the relative cost of closer relationships with Spain and Vichy France. Far from cleverly holding off Hitler, Franco was disappointed that the meeting foundered. Germany's need to maintain good relations with Vichy ensured that Hitler could not meet Franco's price for belligerence, the dismemberment of the French North African empire.

Considered the epidemic of the 21st century, obesity is a worldwide problem, affecting 260 million adults and 12 million children in the European Union (EU) alone. In Spain, adult and child obesity rates are increasing, in particular for women. Income-related inequalities in adult obesity in Spain also have increased over time, especially for women aged over 45. Although some regulatory initiatives have been approved to tackle child obesity, an evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative measures in other countries, such as “fat taxes” and improving education and availability of information for the population, would provide a better understanding of their application in the Spanish context.

Despite the universality of health care in Spain for virtually all of the population, irrespective of nationality or country of origin, there is substantial evidence that the level of health and especially the use of health services differs in important ways between immigrants and the Spanish-born population. Differences in pharmaceutical use on the basis of immigrant status have, however, received much less attention. This study reviews the limited evidence in Spain on this issue, finding a lower consumption of medicines by some immigrant groups relative to Spaniards.

Did Portuguese and Spanish authoritarian governments use different combinations of tools to maintain the military subordinated? Why such choices diverged or converged?

The extent to which equality in accessing and financing health care reduces inequalities in health is a key policy question for health-care reform. Cross-country studies, when they exist, suffer from marked comparability limitations due to data heterogeneity and differences between organisational and financing systems. The Spanish devolved national health system offers a “unique field” for exploring these issues, and also for testing the effects of institutional reform, in the context of political decentralisation. This study uses data from 2001, the last year before decentralisation was extended to all regional governments or Autonomous Communities (ACs) in Spain. This Working Paper contributes to the literature by examining two questions. First, we evaluate the heterogeneity within regional inequalities in health, health-care access and health financing and examine whether these are associated with the political decentralisation of health care responsibilities. Second, we explore whether inequalities in health care between regional health services can be explained by inequalities in health-care use and health-care financing, using cross-correlation analysis along with other relevant variables. The results of the study suggest that inequalities in health are not associated with the regional uptake of health-care responsibilities. Instead they appear to be driven by income inequalities and regional health care capacity whilst the influence of inequalities in health-care use depends on quality of life adjustments.

This paper revises the traditional view of Spain as a predatory colonial state that extracted revenue from natural resources and populations in the Americas while offering little in return. Using 18th century Spanish American treasury accounts we show that local elites not only exerted important control over revenue collection as argued by (Irigoin/Grafe 2006) but also over expenditure allocation. Mirroring Elliot’s characterization of the English empire as a ‘stakeholder empire’ we contend that the Spanish colonial state developed into a stakeholder model, in which local interests were deeply invested in the survival and expansion of empire. The means of co-optation were intra-colonial transfers, as well as credit relations between the state and colonial individuals and corporations, which guaranteed that much of colonial revenue was immediately fed back into the local economy, while minimizing enforcements costs. By allowing stakeholder control of both revenue and expenditure Spain managed to avoid the problems faced by France where royal control of expenditure clashed with at least partial elite control of revenue raising (Velde/Weir 1992, Hoffman/Rosenthal 1997).

"Diversity Management in Spain: New Dimensions, New Challenges." Ricard Zapata-Barrero. Manchester University Press. July 2013. --- In Diversity Management in Spain, Ricard Zapata-Barrero argues that Spain represents a context of “multiple diversity”, where two frameworks interact: an old, unresolved one, arising from democratic transition, and a new one due to immigration in the twenty-first century. This book reminds us that historical languages and identities also need to be addressed in debates about integration and diversity management, writes Verena Wisthaler.

Increasing health care expenditures is a matter of concern in many countries, particularly in relation to the underlying drivers of such escalation which include ageing, medical innovation, and changes in the burden of disease e.g. prevalence of chronic diseases. Most health care systems in developed countries have been designed to ‘cure’ acute episodes, rather than to ‘manage’ chronic conditions, and thereby they are not adequately and efficiently organized to respond to the changing needs and preferences of consumers. New models of chronic care provision have been developed to respond to the changing burden of disease and there are already practical experiences in different countries showing their advantages but also the difficulties in their implementation. In this paper, we focus on the Spanish experience in terms of policy changes and pilot studies directed at testing the viability of transiting towards chronic care models. In particular, we utilize a framework that identifies and analyses the 10 key pre-conditions of high performing chronic-care based healthcare systems and apply it to the current Spanish NHS. We find that the design of the Spanish National Health System already meets some of those pre-conditions. However...

The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572) and the Sack of Antwerp (1576), two of the most notorious massacres of the 1570s, were of international consequence in a confessionally-divided Europe. This thesis offers a comparative analysis of the Elizabethan political and print responses to both atrocities, evaluating to what extent and in what ways each shaped the increasingly Protestant political character of the period. It compares strands of argument aired by Elizabethan councillors, courtiers, military commanders and clerics, in contrast with the content of contemporary news pamphlets, to establish whether there was any overlap between the parameters of political debate and topical print. It investigates whether, and on what occasions, statesmen or figures associated with the court may have sought to confessionalise public opinion via the production of printed news. Analysing often overlooked printed sources, the thesis focuses on aspects of content and contexts of production. It considers the kinds of comment expressed on the massacres per se and in relation to: the nature of the wars in France and the Low Countries; Elizabeth’s foreign and domestic agendas; the compound significance of her gender, the unresolved succession and her realm's vulnerability to foreign invasion; and providential discourses concerning God’s favour and protection. These lines of enquiry throw up some insights into changing English attitudes towards the Catholic crowns of France and Spain and key figures abroad. Finally...

This thesis advances our understanding of the effects of foreign aid programmes in the Spanish economy during the 1950s. It does so by concentrating on three aspects. First, it considers the contribution to economic growth of aid-financed goods by relieving input bottlenecks. Results from an input-output analysis downplay the alleged importance of aid in increasing Spanish output by providing raw materials and other inputs. Second, it discusses the extent to which foreign donors influenced Spanish economic policy-making. Based on original archival sources from both recipient and donors, it is argued here that the United States was particularly ineffective at imposing its economic policy agenda. Surprisingly, the best way to increase the likelihood of the adoption of economic policy reform was not to exercise outright leverage but to provide further unconditional aid disbursements. The analysis of the involvement of the International Monetary Fund and Organisation for European Economic Co-operation to underwrite the 1959 Spanish Stabilisation Plan suggests that the multilateral organisations were acutely aware of the overriding importance of a true commitment to the reforms by the local policy-makers. Rather than relying on formal conditionality...

This thesis explores, from a cultural perspective, the organisational change process resulting from a string of take-overs within Blazehard, a tyre manufacturing company in Spain. It looks at the effects of these changes in the way people reconstruct the organisation and their role as its employees through the stories they share. The first part of the thesis elaborates on the uses of culture as a conceptual tool for observing organisations and, especially, on the need to account for the complementary processes of continuity and change in social experience. The thesis proposes historical recollections, as cultural manifestations, as a vehicle that reproduces and challenges a cultural order through their reproduction and generation within that order. They articulate a space where the new and the uncertain can be made safe through their integration into the traditional and the known, thereby providing possibilities for permanence and security as well as for innovation. The research combines different methods of data gathering - interviews, documents and group discussions - and of analysis - narratives and discourses to facilitate the exploration of both the commonalties and the diverse interests and perspectives existing among Blazehard employees. The exploration of the stories shows how they compose a collectively reproduced narrative that guides -and therefore constrains- employees' historical recollections. This referential narrative is the vehicle through which people reproduce but also challenge their cultural order in the organisation. As such...

This thesis deconstructs the bases of enduring Francoist myth that General Queipo de Llano heroically conquered Seville with a handful of soldiers. Having established the full ramifications of that conquest, it goes on to assess the political, social, economic and cultural implications of the Spanish Civil War in Seville, the largest urban centre to fall to the military rebels at the beginning of the conflict. Chapter I examines the nature and infrastructure of the military conspiracy against the democratic Republic developed in response to the Popular Front electoral victory of February 1936. Chapter II scrutinises the career of General Queipo, in particular his metamorphosis from a marginal figure in the conspiracy into a rebel secular saint. Chapter III dismantles the legend that Queipo directed a small group of soldiers that miraculously conquered Seville and examines how the myth was exploited to legitimise political repression. Chapter IV demonstrates how the bloody pacification of Seville by nearer to 6,000 men exemplified the conspirators’ determination to eliminate the Republic by extreme violence. It shows how the use of the most brutal methods of colonial war was employed against civilians all over rebel-controlled territory. Chapter V analyses the painful transition from insurrection to civil war from a novel perspective: fundraising campaigns. It quantifies the devastating consequences of Nationalist economic repression. Finally...