Dante’s Inferno and Walter Benjamin’s Cities:Considerations of Place, Experience, and Media

When Walter Benjamin wrote his main texts, the theme of the city as hell was extremely popular. Some of his German contemporaries, such as Brecht or Döblin, also used it. Benjamin was aware of these examples, as well as of examples outside Germany, including Joyce’s Ulysses and Baudelaire’s poetry. And he was — at least in some way — familiar with Dante’s Inferno and used it, and in particular Dante’s conception of hell, for his own purposes. Benjamin’s appropriation of the topos of the Inferno has been seen as a critique of capitalism and as a general critique of modernism by means of allegory. In the following analysis, I would like to take a slightly different approach and, despite Benjamin’s status as an expert on allegory, consider hell in its literal sense as a place and examine the issues of emplacement that might follow from this standpoint

Ecologia de sementes de Pithecolobium racemosum Ducke. ()

Observations on fruiting, fruit predation and seed germination, taking into account light intensity and quality, possible allelopathy and initial growth of Pithecolobium racemosum are here presented. Crop size shows a bienniality, with seed predation by parrots (Aratinga sp.) being from moderate to large in crop years, to extremely severe in counter-crop years. The high percentage of seed germination within closed fruits (still attached to the trees) as well as the rapid synchronous production of seedlings once the seeds reach the ground may be explained as adaptations to avoid seed predation on the forest floor. All of these steps eventually have a strong reflection on the dynamics of the seedling population of P. racemosum. No evidence was found to indicate any sort of allelopathic effects of adults with seedlings on between seedlings. Quantity or quality of light does not affect germination, but may play an important role in seedling growth.Observações da frutificação, predação e germinação de sementes, levando em consideração a luminosidade e a alelopatia, bem como o crescimento inicial de Pithecolobium racemosum Ducke, são aqui expostos. A produção de frutos mostra um padrão bienal, com predação de sementes por "periquito" (Aratinga sp.) variando de moderada a grande nos anos de safra, a severa nos anos de contra-safra. A alta percentagem de germinação de sementes dentro dos frutos quando estes se encontram ainda na árvore assim como a produção rápida e sincrônica de plântulas podem ser explicados como adaptações para evitar predação de sementes no chão da floresta. Todos estes passos têm eventualmente uma forte influência na dinâmica da população de plântulas de P. racemosum. Não foi encontrada evidência de efeitos aleopáticos em P. racemosum, seja de adultos sobre as plântulas, seja de plântulas entre si. Qualidade e quantidade de luz não afetam a germinação, podendo, porém, ter um papel importante no crescimento das plântulas

Relação solo/plântula de Pithecellobium racemosum Ducke (Angelim rajado) ()

The presence or absence of seedlings of Pithecollobium racemosum with the amaunts of macro andmicro-nutrients of soils collected in areas with varying degrees of perturbation and at vary ing distance from the adults are here correlated. For macronutrients, it was found that PO4, Ca and Mg have lower concentrations in those areas that have seedlings. With respect to micronutrients, Mn was lower in areas with seedlings than in areas without seedlings, while the reverse was true for CI. The concentration of Al was quite high in all of the areas studied, and independent of presence or absence of seedlings. It was high when compared with other tropical soils.Fêz-se correlação entre a ocorrência de plântulas de Pithecellobium racemosum e a quantidade de macro e micronutrientes de solos coletados em áreas com diferentes graus de perturbação em locais próximos e afastados dos adultos desta espécie, em locais com e sem plântulas. Quanto aos macronutrientes, encontrou-se correlação entre a menor quantidade de PO4, Ca e Mg nos locais com plântulas e o inverso para locais sem plântulas. Para os micronutrientes, Mn e Cl comportaram-se de forma inversa para locais com plântulas (Mn em menor quantidade que Cl) e para locais sem plântulas (Mn em maior quantidade que Cl). A taxa de Al trocável foi elevada para todas as áreas de estudo e independente dos parâmetros de comparação com plântulas e elevada também quando comparada com outras áreas de regiões tropicais

Relação Solo/Plântula - Pithecolobium racemosum Ducke (Angelim rajado)

The presence or absence of seedlings of Pithecolobium racemosum with the amounts of macro and micronutrients of soils collected in areas with varying degrees of perturbation and at varying distance from the adults are here correlated. For macronutrients, it was found that PO 4 . Ca and Mg have lower concentrations in those areas that have seedlings. With respect to micronutrientes, Mn was lower in areas with seedlings than in areas without seedlings, while the reverse was true for CI. The concentration of AI was quite high in all of the areas studied, and independant of presence or absence of seedlings. It was high when compared with other tropical soils.Fez-se correlação entre a ocorrência de plântulas de Pithecolobium racemosum e a quantidade de macro e micronutrientes de solos coletados em áreas com diferentes graus de perturbação em locais próximos e afastados dos adultos desta espécie, em locais com e sem plântulas. Quanto aos macronutrientes, encontrou-se correlação entre a menor quantidade de PO 4 , Ca e Mg nos locais com plântulas e o inverso para locais sem plântulas. Para os micronutrientes, Mn e Cl comportaram-se de forma inversa para locais com plântulas (Mn em menor quantidade que Cl) e para locais sem plântulas (Mn em maior quantidade que Cl). A taxa de Al trocável foi elevada para todas as áreas de estudo e independente dos parâmetros de comparação com plântulas e elevada também quando comparada com outras áreas de regiões tropicais

Ecologia de plântulas de Pithecolobium racemosum Ducke. 1 - Número de distribuição dos individuos

Seedlings of Pithecolobium racemosum are found in different quantities in areas with different degrees of disturbance. In the more disturbed areas the tendency is for an increase in the number of seedlings, and intensity. In all of the types of areas studied, the seedlings are agregated with the type or agregation varying with the amount of disturbance. Populationwise, however, the seedlings have the some behavior with all degrees of disturbance with higher number of seedlings under the parent trees with little or no variation in population size when comparing the two yaers of observations. Thus, it is concluded that P. racemosum behaves as a shade-intolerant species or a forest-clearing colonier.As plântulas de Pithecolobium racemosum ocorrem em quantidades diferentes de acordo com o grau de perturbação das áreas. Nas áreas mais perturbadas, a tendência é o aumento do número de plântulas, o que, por sua vez, está associado à maior luminosidade. Outro fato notório nesta espécie é a agregação das plântulas em todas as áreas raleadas ou densas, variando o tipo de agregação segundo o raleamento. Populacionalmente, entretanto, as plântulas de P. racemosum apresentam o mesmo comportamento em todos os graus de perturbação, isto é. ocorrem em maior quantidade sob as copas das árvores matrizes, além da distribuição em agregação e da pouca ou nenhuma variação no número de indivíduos comparados em dois anos. Ressalta-se ainda o domínio dos adultos parentais sobre os seus regenerantes, fato este de importância estrutural para o manejo florestal. Por fim, pode-se dizer que P. racemosum tem comportamento de espécie não tolerante à sombra ou de espécie de mata colonizadora de clareiras

Ecologia de plântulas de Pithecolobium racemosum Ducke. 2 - O Comportamento populacional de plântulas

It was found that population growth of seedlings of Pithecolobium racemosum followed an atypical inverted J distribution. This was explained on basis of the bienal crop size pattern and on the rapid initial growth of the seedlings. Population growth behaviour was found to be similar to that described for the majority of forest tree species. It was also shown that in primary forest conditions adults and seedlings are scarce or occasional, with high increases in frequency depending on the degree of disturbance. Seedlings growth seems to be highly correlated with light intensity, with different behaviour in the different areas amount of disturbance of the primary forest. Thus, the species can be considered as shade intolerante. The influence of different degrees of clearing on seedling survival was shown, as well as the influence of parental trees on the significant differences were found when comparing frequency, natality or mortality in areas with different degrees of disturbance. Thus it can be postulated that the behaviour of the species is independente, to a certain degree of external factors. P. racemosum is here suggested as an enrichment species for terra firme forests where the removal of trees induces formation of gaps or clearings.Foi observado que o crescimento populacional de plântulas de Pithecolobium racemosum ocorria segundo uma curva em forma de J reverso, atípica, a qual foi explicada com bases na bienalidade da espécie e no rápido crescimento inicial das plântulas. Verificou-se também um comportamento de crescimento populacional semelhante ao da maioria das espécies de árvores da floresta tropical, além de constatar-se uma ocorrência rara ou ocasional de adultos e plântulas na floresta primária e um acentuado incremento populacional, segundo as diferentes intensidades de perturbação. 0 crescimento individual das plântulas confirma a dependência desta espécie pela luz, colocando-a na categoria de "não tolerante". Também foi constatada a influência do raleamento na sobrevivência dos regenerantes e a influência dos adultos parentais (árvores-matrizes) sobre os mesmos. As áreas perturbadas mostram um comportamento populacional (comportamento extrínseco) semelhante quanto à freqüência de indivíduos, natalidade e baixo crescimento individual das plântulas. Entretanto, pode dizer-se que o comportamento da espécie em si (comportamento intrínseco) foi semelhante para todas as áreas, independente dos graus de raleamento. em que a maioria das plântulas crescia abaixo da média e somente algumas plântulas cresciam acima desta. Neste estudo P. racemosum foi sugerida como espécie de enriquecimento de áreas de mata de terra firme, onde a retirada de determinadas espécies de interesse induz à formação de clareiras e possibilita o desenvolvimento das plântulas de P. racemosum

Diet, Physical Activity and Gestational Weight Gain Patterns among Pregnant Women Living with Obesity in the North East of England: The GLOWING Pilot Trial

Maternal diet, physical activity (PA) behaviours, and gestational weight gain (GWG) are important for optimum health of women and their babies. This secondary analysis of the GLOWING pilot cluster trial explored these among women living with obesity in high deprivation. Pregnant women completed food frequency, PA and psychosocial questionnaires. Weights were retrieved from medical records and measured during routine appointments with midwives. Descriptive and regression analyses were stratified by obesity class. A total of 163 women were recruited; 54.0% had class 1 obesity, 25.8% class 2, 20.2% class 3, and 76.1% lived in the two most deprived quintiles. Women had suboptimal dietary intake, particularly for oily fish, fruit and vegetables. PA was predominantly light intensity, from household, care and occupational activities. Most women gained weight outside of Institute of Medicine (IOM) guideline recommendations (87.8%); women in class 3 obesity were most likely to have inadequate GWG below IOM recommendations (58.3%, p 0.01) and reduced odds of excessive GWG compared with class 1 (AOR 0.13, 95% 0.04–0.45). Deprived women with obesity have a double inequality as both increase pregnancy risks. This population requires support to meet guideline recommendations for diet, PA and GWG. Further research exploring obesity classes would inform policies and care to achieve the best pregnancy outcomes

Near-Real-Time Acoustic Monitoring of Beaked Whales and Other Cetaceans Using a Seaglider™

In most areas, estimating the presence and distribution of cryptic marine mammal species, such as beaked whales, is extremely difficult using traditional observational techniques such as ship-based visual line transect surveys. Because acoustic methods permit detection of animals underwater, at night, and in poor weather conditions, passive acoustic observation has been used increasingly often over the last decade to study marine mammal distribution, abundance, and movements, as well as for mitigation of potentially harmful anthropogenic effects. However, there is demand for new, cost-effective tools that allow scientists to monitor areas of interest autonomously with high temporal and spatial resolution in near-real time. Here we describe an autonomous underwater vehicle – a glider – equipped with an acoustic sensor and onboard data processing capabilities to passively scan an area for marine mammals in near-real time. The glider was tested extensively off the west coast of the Island of Hawai'i, USA. The instrument covered approximately 390 km during three weeks at sea and collected a total of 194 h of acoustic data. Detections of beaked whales were successfully reported to shore in near-real time. Manual analysis of the recorded data revealed a high number of vocalizations of delphinids and sperm whales. Furthermore, the glider collected vocalizations of unknown origin very similar to those made by known species of beaked whales. The instrument developed here can be used to cost-effectively screen areas of interest for marine mammals for several months at a time. The near-real-time detection and reporting capabilities of the glider can help to protect marine mammals during potentially harmful anthropogenic activities such as seismic exploration for sub-sea fossil fuels or naval sonar exercises. Furthermore, the glider is capable of under-ice operation, allowing investigation of otherwise inaccessible polar environments that are critical habitats for many endangered marine mammal species