bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor–Associated Factor 2 Mediates Mitochondrial Autophagy
Authors: Yang Kai-Chun , Ma Xiucui , Liu Haiyan , Murphy John , Barger Philip M. , Mann Douglas L. , Diwan Abhinav
Published: October 2014

Background—

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling protects against ischemia/reperfusion–induced cardiomyocyte death, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. TNF-receptor–associated factor 2 (TRAF2), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, coordinates cytoprotective signaling downstream of both TNF receptors, via unclear mechanisms. Noting that TRAF2 is recruited to mitochondria, and that autophagic removal of ubiquitin-tagged damaged mitochondria is cytoprotective, we tested the hypothesis that TRAF2 mediates mitochondrial autophagy.

Methods and Results—

TRAF2 localizes to the mitochondria in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes, and TNF treatment transcriptionally upregulates TRAF2 abundance in the mitochondrial subfraction. TRAF2 colocalizes with ubiquitin, p62 adaptor protein, and mitochondria within LC3-bound autophagosomes; and exogenous TRAF2 enhances autophagic removal of mitochondria. TRAF2 knockdown with adenoviral shRNA transduction induces accumulation of depolarized mitochondria in resting neonatal rat cardiac myocytes, as well as in those treated with TNF or uncoupling agent carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone, suggesting an essential role for TRAF2 in homeostatic and stress-induced mitochondrial autophagy. TRAF2 also colocalizes and interacts with PARKIN, a previously described E3 ubiquitin ligase and mitophagy effector, on depolarized mitochondria in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes. Exogenous expression of TRAF2, but not its E3 ligase-deficient mutants, is sufficient to partially restore mitophagy in the setting of PARKIN knockdown, suggesting redundancy in their ubiquitin ligase roles. TRAF2 abundance increases in the mitochondrial subfraction of ischemia/reperfusion–modeled hearts; and exogenous TRAF2, but not its E3 ligase-deficient mutants, reduces depolarized mitochondria and rescues cell death in neonatal rat cardiac myocytes subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation.

Conclusions—

Taken together, these data indicate an essential role for TRAF2 in concert with PARKIN as a mitophagy effector, which contributes to TRAF2-induced cytoprotective signaling.
The census continues: Two new montane species of Mimosa (Leguminosae Mimosoideae) from Southeastern Brazil
Authors: Borges Leonardo Maurici , Simon Marcelo F. , Pirani José Rubens
Published: October 2014

Many species and infraspecific taxa in Mimosa are narrow endemics. Following the same pattern, two new Brazilian species of the genus, M. perplicata and M. serpensetosa are described, both from the Southern Espinhaço Range (one from Serra do Cabral, the other from Serra de Capanema and Serra do Cipó), in Minas Gerais state, a region known as a key area for Mimosa diversity. The description of more species sharing affinities with M. setosa var. paludosa indicates that the latter may be acting as a species pump.
Foa yamba, a new species of cardinalfish (Percomorpha: Apogonidae: Apogonichthyini) from the tidal region of the Clarence River, Australia and redescriptions of the West Pacific Foa longimana and Foa hyalina
Authors: FRASER THOMAS H.
Published: October 2014

Foa yamba, a new species is described from an eastern Australian tidal estuary. This species differs from other West Pacific Foa by having many small spots on the body. Foa longimana, known only from the holotype, is presently an unidentifiable larval stage from Indonesia and is redescribed, but not allocated to a different genus. Foa hyalina, a West Pacific species is reviewed and its known distribution expanded. It is distinguished by five reddish or brownish-red bars on the body from nape to the level of middle portion of the second dorsal fin and lacks markings on caudal fin.
Description of Dirrhagofarsus ernae n. sp. with a key to the known Dirrhagofarsus species (Coleoptera: Eucnemidae)
Authors: OTTO ROBERT L. , MUONA JYRKI , MCCLARIN JIM
Published: October 2014

The adult and the larva of Dirrhagofarsus ernae n. sp. are described from the Eastern United States. The genus Dirrhagofarsus is diagnosed and a key to all known species of the genus is provided.
Transition from Suppressed to Active Convection Modulated by a Weak Temperature Gradient–Derived Large-Scale Circulation
Authors: Daleu C. L. , Woolnough S. J. , Plant R. S.
Published: October 2014

Numerical simulations are performed to assess the influence of the large-scale circulation on the transition from suppressed to active convection. As a model tool, the authors used a coupled-column model. It consists of two cloud-resolving models that are fully coupled via a large-scale circulation that is derived from the requirement that the instantaneous domain-mean potential temperature profiles of the two columns remain close to each other. This is known as the weak temperature gradient approach.

The simulations of the transition are initialized from coupled-column simulations over nonuniform surface forcing, and the transition is forced in the dry column by changing the local and/or remote surface forcings to uniform surface forcing across the columns. As the strength of the circulation is reduced to zero, moisture is recharged into the dry column and a transition to active convection occurs once the column is sufficiently moistened to sustain deep convection. Direct effects of changing surface forcing occur over the first few days only. Afterward, it is the evolution of the large-scale circulation that systematically modulates the transition. Its contributions are approximately equally divided between the heating and moistening effects.

A transition time is defined to summarize the evolution from suppressed to active convection. It is the time when the rain rate in the dry column is halfway to the mean value obtained at equilibrium over uniform surface forcing. The transition time is around twice as long for a transition that is forced remotely compared to a transition that is forced locally. Simulations in which both local and remote surface forcings are changed produce intermediate transition times.
Monitoring Greek Seas Using Passive Underwater Acoustics
Authors: Nystuen Jeffrey A. , Anagnostou Marios N. , Anagnostou Emmanouil N. , Papadopoulos Anastasios
Published: October 2014

The Hellenic Center for Marine Research POSEIDON ocean monitoring and forecasting system has included passive underwater acoustic measurements as part of its real-time operations. Specifically, low-duty-cycle long-term passive acoustic listeners (PALs) are deployed on two operational buoys, one off Pylos in the Ionian Sea and the second off Athos in the northern Aegean Sea. The first step toward the quantitative use of passive ambient sound is the classification of the geophysical sources—for example, wind speed and rain rate—from the noise of shipping, from other anthropogenic activities, and from the natural sounds of marine animals. After classification, quantitative measurements of wind speed and precipitation are applied to the ambient sound data. Comparisons of acoustic quantitative measurements of wind speed with in situ buoy anemometer measurements were shown to be within 0.5 m s−1. The rainfall detection and quantification was also confirmed with collocated measurements of precipitation from a nearby coastal rain gauge and operational weather radar rainfall observations. The complicated condition of high sea states, including the influence of ambient bubble clouds, rain, and sea spray under high winds, was sorted acoustically, and shows promise for identifying and quantifying such conditions from underwater sound measurements. Long-term data were used in this study to derive sound budgets showing the percent occurrence of dominant sound sources (ships, marine mammals, wind, and rain), their relative intensity as a function of frequency, and statistical summaries of the retrieved rainfall amounts and wind speeds at the two buoy locations in the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
Probabilistic Voxel-Fe model for single cell motility in 3D
Authors: Borau Carlos , Polacheck William J , Kamm Roger D , García-Aznar José Manuel
Published: October 2014

Background

Cells respond to a variety of external stimuli regulated by the environment conditions. Mechanical, chemical and biological factors are of great interest and have been deeply studied. Furthermore, mathematical and computational models have been rapidly growing over the past few years, permitting researches to run complex scenarios saving time and resources. Usually these models focus on specific features of cell migration, making them only suitable to study restricted phenomena.

Methods

Here we present a versatile finite element (FE) cell-scale 3D migration model based on probabilities depending in turn on ECM mechanical properties, chemical, fluid and boundary conditions.

Results

With this approach we are able to capture important outcomes of cell migration such as: velocities, trajectories, cell shape and aspect ratio, cell stress or ECM displacements.

Conclusions

The modular form of the model will allow us to constantly update and redefine it as advancements are made in clarifying how cellular events take place.
Multi-scale symbolic entropy analysis provides prognostic prediction in patients receiving extracorporeal life support
Authors: Lin Yen-Hung , Huang Hui-Chun , Chang Yi-Chung , Lin Chen , Lo Men-Tzung , Liu Li-Yu Daisy , Tsai Pi-Ru , Chen Yih-Sharng , Ko Wen-Je , Ho Yi-Lwun , Chen Ming-Fong , Peng Chung-Kang , Buchman Timothy G
Published: October 2014

Introduction

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) can temporarily support cardiopulmonary function, and is occasionally used in resuscitation. Multi-scale entropy (MSE) derived from heart rate variability (HRV) is a powerful tool in outcome prediction of patients with cardiovascular diseases. Multi-scale symbolic entropy analysis (MSsE), a new method derived from MSE, mitigates the effect of arrhythmia on analysis. The objective is to evaluate the prognostic value of MSsE in patients receiving ECLS. The primary outcome is death or urgent transplantation during the index admission.

Methods

Fifty-seven patients receiving ECLS less than 24 hours and 23 control subjects were enrolled. Digital 24-hour Holter electrocardiograms were recorded and three MSsE parameters (slope 5, Area 6–20, Area 6–40) associated with the multiscale correlation and complexity of heart beat fluctuation were calculated.

Results

Patients receiving ECLS had significantly lower value of slope 5, area 6 to 20, and area 6 to 40 than control subjects. During the follow-up period, 29 patients met primary outcome. Age, slope 5, Area 6 to 20, Area 6 to 40, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II score, multiple organ dysfunction score (MODS), logistic organ dysfunction score (LODS), and myocardial infarction history were significantly associated with primary outcome. Slope 5 showed the greatest discriminatory power. In a net reclassification improvement model, slope 5 significantly improved the predictive power of LODS; Area 6 to 20 and Area 6 to 40 significantly improved the predictive power in MODS. In an integrated discrimination improvement model, slope 5 added significantly to the prediction power of each clinical parameter. Area 6 to 20 and Area 6 to 40 significantly improved the predictive power in sequential organ failure assessment.

Conclusions

MSsE provides additional prognostic information in patients receiving ECLS.
Year in review 2013: Critical Care- metabolism
Authors: Lheureux Olivier , Preiser Jean-Charles
Published: October 2014

Novel insights into the metabolic alterations of critical illness, including new findings on association between blood glucose at admission and poor outcome, were published in Critical Care in 2013. The role of diabetic status in the relation of the three domains of glycemic control (hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and glycemic variability) was clarified: the association between mean glucose, high glucose variability, and ICU mortality was stronger in the non-diabetic than in diabetic patients. Improvements in the understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of stress hyperglycemia were presented. Novel developments for the management of glucose control included automated closed-loop algorithms based on subcutaneous glucose measurements and microdialysis techniques. In the field of obesity, some new hypotheses that could explain the `obesity paradox’ were released, and a role of adipose tissue in the response to stress was suggested by the time course of adipocyte fatty-acid binding protein concentrations. In the field of nutrition, beneficial immunological effects have been associated with early enteral nutrition. Early enteral nutrition was significantly associated with potential beneficial effects on the phenotype of lymphocytes. Uncertainties regarding the potential benefits of small intestine feeding compared with gastric feeding were further investigated. No significant differences were observed between the nasogastric and nasojejunal feeding groups in the incidence of mortality, tracheal aspiration, or exacerbation of pain. The major risk factors to develop diarrhea in the ICU were described. Finally, the understanding of disorders associated with trauma and potential benefits of blood acidification was improved by new experimental findings.
Year in review 2013: critical care - respiratory infections
Authors: Nair Girish B , Niederman Michael S
Published: October 2014

Infectious complications, particularly in the respiratory tract of critically ill patients, are related to increased mortality. Severe infection is part of a multiple system illness and female patients with severe sepsis have a worse prognosis compared to males. Kallistatin is a protective hormokine released during monocyte activation and low levels in the setting of septic shock can predict adverse outcomes. Presepsin is another biomarker that was recently evaluated and is elevated in patients with severe sepsis patients at risk of dying. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has introduced new definitions for identifying patients at risk of ventilator-associated complications (VACs), but several other conditions, such as pulmonary edema and acute respiratory distress syndrome, may cause VACs, and not all patients with VACs may have ventilator-associated pneumonia. New studies have suggested strategies to identify patients at risk for resistant pathogen infection and therapies that optimize efficacy, without the overuse of broad-spectrum therapy in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia. Innovative strategies using optimized dosing of antimicrobials, maximizing the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of drugs in critically ill patients, and newer routes of drug delivery are being explored to combat drug-resistant pathogens. We summarize the major clinical studies on respiratory infections in critically ill patients published in 2013.
Transducin (β)-like 1 X-linked receptor 1 promotes proliferation and tumorigenicity in human breast cancer via activation of beta-catenin signaling
Authors: Li Xinghua , Liang Weijiang , Liu Junling , Lin Chuyong , Wu Shu , Song Libing , Yuan Zhongyu
Published: October 2014

Introduction

Transducin (β)-like 1 X-linked receptor 1(TBLR1) is an F-box-like and WD repeat-containing protein which functions as a switch in transcriptional activation, However, the clinical significance and biological role of TBLR1 in breast cancer remains largely unknown.

Methods

Western blotting, immunocytochemistry and real-time PCR were used to evaluate TBLR1 expression in normal breast epithelial cells and breast cancer cell lines, clinical tissue samples and adjacent nontumor tissues, and in 214 paraffin-embedded specimens. Statistical analyses were used to test for the prognostic and diagnostic associations. The biological role of TBLR1 -induced proliferation and tumorigenicity in breast cancer cells was explored in vitro and in vivo. The effect of TBLR1 on the expression of cyclin D1 and β-catenin signaling was examined by Western blotting, luciferase reporter assay and by several immunoprecipitation techniques.

Results

TBLR1 was significantly upregulated in breast cancer cells and tissues compared to normal control samples. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed high expression of TBLR1 in 113 of 214 (52.8%) paraffin-embedded archival breast cancer. The overall expression level of TBLR1 was significantly correlated with clinical stage (P <0.001), the tumor classification (P <0.001), node classification (P =0.024), and metastasis classification (P = 0.004), histological grade (P = 0.044), as well as with the expression level of c-erbB2 (P = 0.036) and Ki-67 (P <0.001). Patients with higher TBLR1 expression had shorter overall survival time, whereas patients with lower TBLR1 expression had better survival. Multivariate analysis suggested that TBLR1 expression might be an independent prognostic indicator for the survival of breast cancer patients. TBLR1 overexpression promoted, whereas TBLR1 silencing inhibited, proliferation and tumorigenicity in breast cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. We found that TBLR1 expression was implicated in the upregulation of cyclin D1, phosphorylation of cell-cycle control protein Rb (pRb) and activation of β-catenin signaling in breast cancer.

Conclusions

TBLR1 plays a key role in the development and progression of breast cancer cells via cyclin D1-transactivation and activation of the β-catenin signaling pathway. TBLR1 may be a novel prognostic marker and a potential therapeutic target in the treatment human breast cancer.
Down-regulating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1beta alleviates the proinflammatory effect of rheumatoid arthritis fibroblast-like synoviocytes through inhibiting extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p38 and nuclear factor-kappaB activation
Authors: Zhou Jing-Jing , Ma Jian-Da , Mo Ying-Qian , Zheng Dong-Hui , Chen Le-Feng , Wei Xiu-Ning , Dai Lie
Published: October 2014

Introduction

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease leading to joint destruction and disability. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1beta (PGC-1β) is a transcriptional coactivator that plays important roles in regulating multiple aspects of energy metabolism and cytokine signaling pathways. PGC-1β overexpression leads to the attenuation of macrophage-mediated inflammation. In this study, we aimed to determine the expression of PGC-1β in RA synovium and fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS), and explore the mechanisms of PGC-1β on both the proinflammatory effects and apoptosis in RA-FLS.

Methods

Synovium was obtained from 31 patients with active RA, as well as 13 osteoarthritis (OA) and 10 orthopedic arthropathies (Orth.A) as "less inflamed" disease controls. FLS were then isolated and cultured. Synovial PGC-1β expression was determined by immunohistochemistry staining, while FLS PGC-1β expression was detected by immunofluorescence staining, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assay and western blot. PGC-1β was depleted by lentivirus sh-RNA, and up-regulated by pcDNA3.1- PGC-1β. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases and receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappaB ligand was analyzed by qPCR, cytometric bead array and western blot. The expression of mitogen-activated protein kinases and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) was determined by qPCR and western blot. Besides, cell apoptosis was examined using flow cytometry. The interaction between PGC-1β and NF-κB was performed by dual-luciferase reporter gene assays.

Results

(A) Synovial PGC-1β was over-expressed in RA patients compared with OA or Orth.A patients. (B) PGC-1β expression significantly increased in RA-FLS compared with OA-FLS. (C) PGC-1β mediated the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and apoptosis through extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), p38 and NF-κB in RA-FLS. (D) PGC-1β mediated NF-κB transcription in RA-FLS, but did not affect ERK and p38.

Conclusion

The results indicate that PGC-1β may play important roles in the proinflammatory effects and apoptosis of RA-FLS.
“I Am 64 and Paul McCartney Doesn't Care”
Authors: Lewis Abram J.
Published: October 2014

This essay centers the material imprints of post-Stonewall transsexual and transvestite activism as an opportunity for reflection on larger problematics of queer historical theorizing. Although queer archives are frequently understood as being marked by erasure, invisibility, or absence, the essay argues that the variegated and intractable presences of the transgender archive direct historians to interpretive challenges that have been displaced by scholarship's focus on problems of evidentiary repression. Drawing from theorists of spectrality and from critiques of history in postcolonial studies, the essay suggests that the transgender archive is haunted by historical excesses: knowledges and experiences that are disavowed by history's dominant epistemes. The essay turns to recurrent episodes of madness, unverifiable and implausible truths, supernatural and nonhuman agents, and a variety of other peculiar phenomena not only to counter the model of the “silent” archive but also to suggest that this archive's queer presences may never be incorporable within historical explanation.
Presenting the Queer Past
Authors: Romesburg Don
Published: October 2014

The GLBT History Museum's 2011 opening in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood was the culmination of over a quarter century of collecting, preserving, and interpreting the Bay Area's queer history. The museum is a project of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) Historical Society, home to one of the world's largest and most accessible community-based queer archives. This article proposes that the museum is vital to the evolution of the organization's mission. The archive matters to the way the GLBT History Museum does public history, which, in turn, grows the archive. The GLBT Historical Society engages in three approaches linking queer museum and archive: coordinating communities, demonstrating queer belonging, and making power plain. This article combines interpretation of how archive and exhibition correspond, analyses of museum media coverage and visitors, exploration of how exhibitions from 2011–13 reflect emergent practices in queer museum studies, and scrutiny of site-specific opportunities and challenges.
Archiving Peripheral Taiwan
Authors: Chiang Howard
Published: October 2014

This article extends debates on the place of Taiwan on our scholarly canvas by highlighting the region's unique status at the intersections of various margins—geopolitical, sociocultural, and historiographical. Using press reports of renyao (“human prodigy,” a Chinese category of transgenderism) in the post–World War II period as the foci of analysis, this article supersedes existing readings that tend to emphasize the lifting of martial law in 1987 as the turning point that enabled the flourishing of queer cultures and politics in late-capitalist Taiwan. The media attention showered on Zeng Qiuhuang, arguably the most famous renyao in the 1950s, reveals and captures a reciprocal chimera effect whereby the margins of sexuality and the periphery of “China” and “Chineseness” converge into the mimetic recalcitrant traces of the past. The prodigy of the human—renyao—configures the basis of archival imagination on which the prodigy of historical na(rra)tion—Taiwan—emerges with distinctive tempos and visibility from the seemingly authentic repertoire of empirical retrieval, recovery, and access.
Information and Communication: to the Question about the Formation of Meaning
Authors: Решетников  , Reshetnikov Sergey
Published: October 2014

The article continues the series of publications of the author, which take up

the conclusions, following from a very general definition of communication

as interaction. In this case we are talking about the problems of the sense

creation and scientific truths, which are considered from the point of view of

dualism logics of the cognizing subject: the logic of immobility, under which

the author refers to the thinking and the logic of motion, i.e. tacit knowledge,

a prerequisite for successful (appropriate) the use of which is to stop thinking.

The presented position allows you to take the issues raised in aporia

Zeno (the tasks they recognize insoluble) and a new angle of vision to see

the dichotomy of analysis and synthesis, rationality and irrationality, similarity

and hierarchy, as well as other concepts.
Possibilities of E-Learning for Teaching Masters at the Course of «Human Resources Management»
Authors: Липатова  , Lipatova S.
Published: October 2014

Тhe article analyzes the problem of mass introduction of open e-learning into Institutes of Humanities, determines the place of e-learning in the modern system of students’ professional education, in particular, teaching Masters at the course of «Human Resources Management», assesses advantages and disadvantages of e-learning, establishes primary consumers of this form of education, describes the structure and requirements for creation of the education course. The author of the article suggests ideas for organization of practical lessons with the use of peer assessment, specifi es main kinds of the teacher’s interaction with students, as well as forms of electronic pedagogy, in particular, the term of «pedagogic scenario» is introduced and technological stages of its development are enumerated. The article analyzes conditions of introduction of mass open education in higher education institutes.
Errors of Russian Entrepreneurs in Staff Incentive
Authors: Кряжова  , Kryazhova S.
Published: October 2014

This article discusses the problem of motivating staff in Russia. Many entrepreneurs make mistakes in staff incentive: one does not understand the importance of human resource, another pays attention only to external motivation, someone forgets about the importance of non-monetary factors. Nevertheless, all these errors signifi cantly reduce effi ciency and increase staff turnover, which leads to lower profi ts of the business and increase of costs. This article highlights the major errors of modern Russian entrepreneurs in the fi eld of staff incentive, and proposes measures to improve the incentive system to retain and increase the effi ciency of the staff . Focusing on the Western experience the article also provides new and innovative forms of stimulation, which can be implemented by any company; little cost is associated with implementation of recommendations proposed. Social basis within Russian organizations forms simultaneously with the introduction of new forms of motivation.
Current Problems of Economic Methodology
Authors: Басовский  , Basovskiy Leonid , Басовская  , Basovskaya Elena
Published: October 2014

The paper attempts to identify methodological fallacies in the works of Russian economists, published during the 2004–2014 period. Produced are econometric assessments of how wide-spread these fallacies are. Among these fallacies is the erroneous interpretation of the subject and method of the economic science. Also highlighted are the excessiveness of new economic concepts and categories coined recently, and overuse of mathematical and econometric models. It is emphasized also, that many economists consider the "Normative Economics" to be a science in its own right. The number of scholarly works containing methodological errors is growing at an increasingly rapid pace. Presented are the widely acknowledged fundamental principles of the Positive economics methodology.
How Small Business Enterprises of Russia Attract Investments: Practices and Problems
Authors: Фомичева  , Fomicheva Irina
Published: October 2014

Considered are possible sources of real investments for small businesses. It is

shown how foreign investments in Russia make shifts towards securities

market. Dynamics and structure of domestic sources of debt funds for fixed

capital financing are examined. Considerable growth rates of the volume of

investments is emphasized as well as growing number of sources of financing

with substantial share of budgetary funds in the total amount of investment.

Factors conducive to investment activities are outlined. Dynamics of mortgage

lending, as the author shows, is not actually impacted neither by the dynamics

of interest rates, nor by exchange rates ratio and inflation rates in Russia, while

underuse of budgetary funds allocated for programs of small and medium

business support proves that public policy in this sphere is inefficient.
Hungarian nonprofit sector twenty years after: the situation of the third sector and impact of the economic crisis
Authors: Kákai László
Published: October 2014

In my paper, I try to review the situation of the Hungarian civil sector after the regime change. I present its structure, the systemic characteristics and the time‑series changes. The study undertakes the modelling of the Hungarian nonprofit sector by surveying previous attempts at modelling the non‑profit sector. I’d like to emphasize especially the effects of the economic crisis (influenced Hungary in 2008) and the impact of structural and territorial effects of the sector.
The Visegrád Group – a model to follow?
Authors: Rošteková Maria , Roulet Gilles
Published: October 2014

The Visegrád Group, based in particular to support the “return to Europe” of Central European countries, has resulted in a flexible framework for the implementation of cooperation at various levels. This framework was effective in the negotiation of the accession to the European Union. The group was maintained after the 2004 accession and the activities have evolved. Now, the V4 is an active regional group allowing the four countries to speak with one voice, both internally and externally. This raises the question of the structure of the European Union, specific confederation of 28 member states with complex governance, not always satisfactory. Two issues need to be explored: on the one hand, an extension of such regional alliances which could perhaps improve this governance, and, on the other hand, the establishment of regional alliances including some candidate countries (official and/or potential) could also make it possible to overcome the opposition between enlargement and deepening, and, secondly, to support the negotiations of countries while establishing a necessary environment of good neighbourliness.
Japonia i Unia Europejska w obliczu nowej fali liberalizacji handlu światowego
Authors: Stępień Sebastian
Published: October 2014

The EU‑ Japan relations and a new wave of international trade liberalization

The European Union and Japan have clearly been the heavyweights of international trade for decades. They are the first and the fourth largest economies in the world, respectively. Together they account for nearly one third of the global GDP and almost a quarter of all international trade. And yet their bilateral trade has been underperforming in recent years. Trade in goods actually declined since 2000 – both in relative and absolute terms – and trade in services, as well as foreign direct investment, clearly do not reflect the clout of these two advanced economies. However, since 2010 there have been serious attempts from the Japanese government and the European Commission at finding a way to revive and foster the EU‑Japan bilateral trade and economic relationship. In March 2013 they decided to launch negotiations in order to establish a comprehensive free trade area, or FTA. This article describes developments leading up to that point and presents an analysis of problems affecting the EU‑Japan trade. It does so in the context of a recent surge of international activity as regards trade liberalization through FTA negotiations following the effective failure of global trade talks in the World Trade Organization forum.
Polityka społeczna w myśli politycznej Narodowego Odrodzenia Polski, Polskiej Wspólnoty Narodowej-Polskiego Stronnictwa Narodowego i Obozu Narodowo-Radykalnego
Authors: Dawidowicz Aneta
Published: October 2014

Social policy in the political thought of national extremist groups in Poland after 1989, The National Rebirth of Poland, The Polish National Community‑Polish National Party, The National Radical Camp

The following organisations can be considered representatives of national extremism in Poland after 1989: a) The National Rebirth of Poland, b) The Polish National Community‑Polish National Party, c) The National Radical Camp. They have been categorised as being national extremist as they meet the following criteria: 1) the rejection of democracy and the concept of civil society, 2) the negation of the political system transformation model implemented after 1989, 3) the approval of violence as a means to the alternation of power, 4) the pursuit of a new political order which is treated as a model to which there is no alternative, 5) the presence in political thought of countercultural and nativistic elements, 6) the acceptance of integral Catholicism, 7) the use of a distinctive and individual vocabulary, 8) the use of original symbols. In the case of national extremist groups we can only talk about a social policy that is postulated and in the concept phase where there are no possibilities of implementing its objectives.
Polityka i wartości w działaniach Jana Pawła II na arenie międzynarodowej
Authors: Mazurkiewicz Piotr
Published: October 2014

The policy and values in John Paul II’s activity in the field of international politicsJohn Paul II’s role in international politics and the political situation in the world at the time when Cardinal Karol Wojtyła assumed the position of the head of the Holy See. A preferential option for culture – this has to do with John Paul II’s statement about the primacy of culture and moral life (conscience) over the “means of physical power”. In his deliberations on this subject the Pope made frequent reference to personal experiences and the history of his nation. The silent triumph of human conscience – this part characterizes the communist system and its foundations: violence, falsehood and a life devoid of God. John Paul II’s reluctance toward violence which reluctance is supposed to be closely associated with his belief about the inherent power of truth. John Paul II claims that being faithful to the truth “disarmed the enemy because violence always has to resort to a justification by falsehood, it always has to assume false pretences of defending some right or of an answer to some danger”. Moral grammar – the international policy of persuasion – John Paul II was frequently referred to as “the pope of human dignity” or “the pope of human rights”. He recognized the fact that nowadays the truth about man is sufficiently well expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. However, what he had in mind was not merely a list of rights collected in one document, but he meant also that the universal moral right, inscribed into the heart of every man, is a sort of “grammar” which is necessary for the world. The knowledge of the “grammar” of natural law is the gateway to the policy of moral persuasion. Respecting human rights as the condition of true peace – John Paul II emphasized the fact that respecting human rights is not only the question of showing respect to human dignity, but it is also the fundamental question of maintaining just peace in the world. Therefore since the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations the Catholic Church frequently emphasized the necessity of introducing certain additions to this important document. John Paul II’s words: Forgive, and you will be at peace! Despite his belief in the power of the truth and the final triumph of human conscience, the Blessed John Paul II was not a utopian. Despite his opposition to the “logic of violence”, he was not a pacifist. He was profoundly aware that a completely pacifistic society is an illusion and that brutal and systematic violence sometimes has to be opposed with military means.
Jan Paweł II i obecność Stolicy Apostolskiej na Czarnym Lądzie
Authors: Hoser Henryk
Published: October 2014

John Paul II and the presence of the Holy See on the Black Continent

I. Africa – discovering an unknown land. Africa – the poorest continent, tormented by numerous plagues, malnutrition, diseases, persistent conflicts. The land of neocolonial expansion of great powers where evangelization brought a marked leap in civilization. II. John Paul II – the missionary of Africa. John Paul II made 14 pilgrimages to Africa, he visited 42 out of the existing 54 countries. He frequently made reference to the history and culture of all of the countries that he visited, he encouraged the development of the native African family culture, he brought hope and made appeals for justice. III. The content of his message, the peculiarity of its recipients. The legacy of John Paul II – numerous speeches and addresses directed to the societies and the faithful of the African continent. The statements concerned the problems of the great regions of the continent. IV. Apostolic Nuntiatures. The Vatican maintains diplomatic relations with the majority of the countries of Africa – there are ca. 40 Apostolic Nuntiatures. The Nuntiatures are a reliable source of information and appreciation of the situation because they receive data from the most remote parts of parishes and missionary stations. V. The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The dioceses of young Churches are within the missionary jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. This applies to the overwhelming majority of the African countries. VI. The Papal Missionary Works. They were established by Pope Pius XI in 1922. The Papal Works provide all spiritual and material assistance acquired in countries of greater possibilities and prior evangelization to missionary countries, including the countries of Africa. VII. From Ecclesia in Africa to Africae Munus. Ecclesia in Africa is the final document of the Apostolic Adhortation which was proclaimed on 14 September 1995, whereas Africae Munus is the final document of the II Special Assembly for Africa – prepared by John Paul II and called by Benedict XVI. The document was proclaimed on 11 November 2011.
Jan Paweł II wobec zmian w Polsce w związku z wejściem do Unii Europejskiej
Authors: Suchocka Hanna
Published: October 2014

John Paul II’s position toward the changes in Poland associated with joining the European Union

As regards the approach to political problems, John Paul II’s pontificate was different from previous pontificates. Nowadays, due to the media phenomenon of Pope Francis, one tends to forget about the shock, in the positive sense of the word, which was associated with the nomination of Karol Wojtyła to become the pope and his famous words: “Do not be afraid”. These words were as political as they could be. They were addressed mainly to Poland, but not only to that country. John Paul II calmly paved the way for the future unification of Europe. He used the means that were accessible to the Holy See and one of this decisions was to proclaim St. Cyril and St. Methodius as the patrons of Europe. The problem of the European Constitution was doubtlessly a painful area for John Paul II. The document lacked a reference to Christianity. The Polish Pope frequently and explicitly stated that European civilization grew from Christian roots. During the course of this pontificate John Paul II persistently struggled for respecting human rights and for freedom. As far as this area is concerned, Europe seems to pursue a different course than the one which John Paul II tried to define. In other words, Europe set out upon a course which was so much feared by John Paul II and this is the reason that since the very beginning the latter made appeals to establish the European continent in the domain of values. During his visit in 1991 he also warned the Polish people against revelling in their recently regained freedom. Despite his concerns about the course that Europe pursued, John Paul II never became discouraged by the “European project”. He always claimed that Poland belongs in Europe. And that is why, on the eve of Poland joining the European Union, that he addressed the following words directly to the Polish people: Poland needs Europe and Europe needs Poland; our involvement in European structures is a challenge. The Pope appreciated the concerns entertained by eurosceptics, but he emphasized the point that today Poland, which was always a part of Poland, may not divorce itself from this Community.
Jan Paweł II i ekumenizm
Authors: Ptasznik Paweł
Published: October 2014

John Paul II and ecumenism

A turning point for the approach of the Catholic Church to the question of the unity of Christians was brought by the Second Vatican Council which began in 1962. Observers from Churches and separate communities were invited to participate in the Council. The events which illustrate John Paul II’s engagement toward the reconciliation of Christians i.e. the Encyclical Slavorum Apostoli (2.06.1985), The apostolic Letter Orientale lumen (2.05.1995), The Encyclical Ut unum sint (25.05.1995), The Declaration Dominus Jesus (6.08.2000). The inauguration of the Anniversary Year of 2000 in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls and the “Ecumenical Remembrance of the Witnesses of Faith of the 20th Century” as crucial events in the field of the reconciliation of Christians. The ecumenical contacts with the Orthodox Church. The first of such contacts was John Paul II’s visit to Istanbul in 1979 and the meeting with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Dimitrios. Further meetings with the representatives of the Orthodox Church took place: in 1987 in the Vatican; in 1991 during the Synod of the Bishops of Europe; in 1994 the solemnities of the Station of the Cross on Good Friday were attended by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I; in 1999 John Paul II visited Romania. The contacts with the Russian Orthodox Church, which sometimes was not satisfied with John Paul II’s contacts with e.g. Georgia in 1999, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan in 2001. The pope never made a visit to Russia due to the lack of consent on the part of the Orthodox Church. The history of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and the Society of of Pius X. With the establishment of the Society Lefebvre started to openly oppose the decisions of the Second Vatican Council. When he began to illegally confer Holy Orders in 1976, Pope Paul VI divested him from the authority of executing episcopal duties. John Paul II is presented as an indefatigable champion of ecumenism. He was a remarkable guide in this journey, he never lost sight of his goals and he set out directions of action. His appreciation of the current situation was also accurate.
Jan Paweł II wobec wartości kultury
Authors: Moskwa Jacek
Published: October 2014

John Paul II position toward the values of culture

Karol Wojtyła was not the first pope to direct a message to the people of art. John Paul II also was not the first pope of modern times to write poems. We will not fall into error by saying that as the first contemporary pope he was an artist and that he remained one also as the head of the Holy See. It is a known fact that he performed as an actor on the stage in theatrical school productions and that he was an actor of Mieczysław Kolarczyk’s underground Rhapsodic Theatre in Kraków during the Nazi occupation. He never ceased to be a poet. He wrote poems and dramatic works during his years as a student, seminarian and priest, as a bishop and cardinal. In his Letter to the artists John Paul II addresses the artists as a peer addressing his peers by setting art on a pedestal and by comparing the toil of the artist to the work of God himself. The pope calls the people of art to dialogue by reminding them that the most important works of art were inspired by religion. One can hardly overlook the fact that this postulate is contrary to the trends of contemporary culture. The sphere of sacrum is frequently in a state of withdrawal. Every artist, especially if he is a writer, knows that evil is frequently more spectacular than good. Dante’s Inferno is more interesting than the Paradiso. It is Satan who is the protagonist of Milton’s Paradise Lost. However, in the works of the past, evil and ugliness were supposed to be in contrast with goodness and beauty and they were used to demonstrate God’s presence. Whereas in modern art, the void caused by the decline of its transcendent dimension is programmatically filled with such values that are marked with the sign of negation. The dawn of beauty and goodness is no longer to be seen on the horizon. It is the absence of the personal God that is particularly felt – of God who is the maker and measure of both values. When we apply the statement about beauty which is the shape of love to these works we notice that there is neither beauty nor love in them. There is neither compassion toward another human being in these works as well. What is even worse, there is even no form in these works. In this sense not only the Letter to the artists, but also John Paul II’s entire body of teaching is a firm expression of opposition toward that which is happening with modern culture.
Działalność Ambasady RP przy Stolicy Apostolskiej w okresie II wojny światowej
Authors: Fokciński Hieronim
Published: October 2014

Activities of the Polish Embassy to the Holy See during World War II

The basic aim of the article is to shed light on the section of the Polish diplomatic history during the Second World War, namely the activity of the Polish Embassy to the Holy See. The author remembers the person of the Polish Ambassador Kazimierz Papée and the difficult political circumstances accompanying his tenure. The research on this part of Polish‑Vatican history is hindered by the fact of destruction of the documents or still inaccessible archives from that period of time.
Ocena konkordatu w dwadzieścia lat po jego podpisaniu
Authors: Suchocka Hanna
Published: October 2014

The article aims to evaluate the Polish concordat twenty years after its enactment. Author reconsiders the fact that at the same time two important discussions were held in Poland – one devoted to concordat and another to the constitution – and claims that they influenced each other. It is important to remember that the legal solutions adopted in the concordat (ratified only in 1998) contributed towards the final shape of the constitutional relations between state and the Church. Therefore the proper assessment of the Polish concordat should be conducted in light of the current constitution.
Kontrowersje wokół polskiego konkordatu
Authors: Węgrzyn Robert
Published: October 2014

Controversies about the Polish concordat

This article concerns discussion over controversy which accompanied preparations to signing of such specific international agreement as concordat is, between Polish State and the Holy See. After the period of annexation the Polish State signed in 1925 with the Holy See agreement that lost its binding force after the communists seized power in Poland in 1945. The Provisional Government of National Unity referred then to infringement of one of the concordat’s regulations by The Holy See and terminated the agreement. Many times in following years communist authorities tried to enter into diplomatic relations with the Catholic Church on their own conditions but every time the talks ended in failure. After gaining the independence in 1989 the Polish State faced the need not only to write and enact new constitution but also a new agreement with the Holy See which should have empowerment in this new constitution. Government of Hanna Suchocka brought into effect the signing of new concordat with the Holy See exposing by this themselves to many charges of legal and constitutional nature.