Killing Me Softly with her Fangs: The Role of Female Victimage and Cannibalism in "The Voyage Out"

A woman of a special sensitivity, Virginia Woolf was particularly concerned with the unequal opportunities for women in post-Victorian society. Profoundly aware of the heavy burden women had to bear under patriarchal law, Woolf was no less combative with men as with those females who even contributed to perpetuate the status quo by confining themselves and other women within the narrow premises of patriarchal dictates. In this essay, I will discuss how the presence of images connected with acts of female devouring and cannibalization in Woolf's The Voyage Out respond to the narrator's intention of presenting a bizarre panorama of anachronism and incongruous norms in which the inadequacy of a patriarchal system stands out more than ever. Under the optics of these grotesque images, a claim for subversion and active involvement of the whole society of her time is voiced.Dotada de una especial sensibilidad, Virginia Woolf era especialmente consciente de la desigualdad de oportunidades para las mujeres en la sociedad post-victoriana. Profundamente conocedora de la pesada carga que las mujeres tenían que soportar bajo la ley patriarcal, W oolf no sería tan combativa con los hombres como con aquellas mujeres que contribuían incluso a la perpetuación de esta situación confinándose a sí mismas y a otras mujeres a los restrictivos dominios de los dictados patriarcales. En este artículo se analiza cómo la presencia de imágenes conectadas con actos de canibalismo y consumición por parte de mujeres en la novela de Woolf The Voyage Out responden a la intención de la narradora de presentar un panorama absurdo, presidido por el anacronismo y las normas ilógicas, donde la incongruencia de un sistema centrado en el patriarcado es aún más evidente. Bajo la óptica de estas imágenes grotescas, se apela en especial a la subversión y la participación activa de la sociedad, al mismo tiempo que sale a la luz una ya distorsionada e ilógica realidad socio-cultural

‘(B)ut How Grow Flowers […] if One Kept Hens?’: The Transgressing Role of Bird Imagery in Virginia Woolf’s The Years

[Abstract] In the atmosphere of growing oppression in the 1930s Britain, where the rapid raise of Fascism threatens to impose its hegemony over the whole of socio-political structures, the imminence of a new outburst of international combat comes to aggravate the forlorn landscape of post-Victorian society. This hopeless panorama of tyrannical dominance over the individual is completed with the oppression from patriarchal dictatorship which, supported by the inheritance of Victorian precepts, emerges as an accurate replica of its political referent. Profoundly contempt with this scenario, wherein mass manipulation has become the vehicle for central leaders, in their attempt to create an easily controllable monolithic block, Virginia Woolf envisions the principles and aesthetics of the grotesque as the most effective vehicle to accomplish the destruction of the corrupt pillars of this ideological and socio-cultural edifice. Hence, as this paper aims to demonstrate, it is through the subversion and decentralization inherent to the politics of carnival and the grotesque parameters upon which it rests that the final demolition of the rotten scaffolding of this system can be effected. Indeed, through a reality of dualities and hybrid identities in The Years, the narrator vindicates for the transgression of the constraints and monadism imposed by hegemonic forces, at the same time as she clamours for an unrestrained order. Accordingly, by focusing on Woolf’s resort to the fowl-like hybridisation of some of her characters in the novel, this analysis will attempt to shed light on the potential of these carnivalesque and grotesque principles ruling over the narrative as a powerful weapon for definitely shaking the socio-political foundations of her time, now exposed in their purest degradation and ridiculous truth. On the verge of an international conflict, i

On Holy Boughs and Sacred Fools: Virginia Woolf Under the Shadow of Jane Harrison

Insofar as the influence of myths and ritualistic practices on Modernist artists becomes evident, this paper explores the still underestimated degree of convergence between Harrison.’s theories, as a direct inheritor of Frazer.’s major postulates, and some of Virginia Woolf.’s fictional works. Indeed, whereas some descriptive outlines of such connection have been carried out, the present analysis aims to reach further by examining the narrator.’s particular form of appropriation .—occasionally through sheer mockery and subversion.— of such traditions, which will undoubtedly shed light on Woolf.’s actual apprehension of the society of her time. En tanto que la influencia de los mitos y prácticas de índole ritual en los artistas del Modernismo resulta innegable, el presente artículo explora el aún infravalorado grado de convergencia entre las teorías de Jane Harrison, directa heredera de los postulados de Frazer, y algunas de las principales obras narrativas de Virginia Woolf. En efecto, mientras que se han llevado a cabo algunos estudios descriptivos, este artículo pretende ir más allá a través del análisis de la particular forma de adopción de dichas tradiciones por parte de la narradora .– incluyendo la patente mofa y subversión de dichas tradiciones, lo que, sin duda, contribuirá a arrojar luz sobre la auténtica noción de Woolf con respecto a la sociedad de su tiempo

Learning science through argumentative synthesis writing and deliberative dialogues: a comprehensive and effective methodology in secondary education

Scientific literacy can be promoted through oral and written argumentative practice. Collaborative discourse has proven effective in fostering conceptual understanding, especially when discussions are developed under deliberative goals. Likewise, writing tasks as argumentative syntheses stand out for its epistemic value and its contribution to constructive learning processes. However, there are no known educational interventions that have combined these two didactic activities to teach science. The objective of this research was to compare the impact of four intervention programs, based on deliberative dialogues and argumentative synthesis writing activities, on the learning of socio-scientific content. The four programs resulted from the combination of two instructional components (Explicit Instruction; Guide), while deliberative dialogues and argumentative syntheses were constant elements. We conducted a pre-post quasi-experimental study in which participated 151 Spanish third grade secondary school students. Socio-scientific learning was evaluated through a content test made up of open questions. The results showed all students progressed in their socio-scientific knowledge. Instructional practices did not have a direct effect on content learning. However, we observed an indirect effect of explicit instruction on learning socio-scientific content, through learning of argumentative synthesis writing. Besides, we found a positive relation between progression in synthesis writing and knowledge acquisitionOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. The present study was supported by the Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional (Spain) under Grant for the Formación de Personal Investigador (FPU16/01454), and by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innnovación State program oriented to the challenges of society (I + D + I) (PID2019-105250RB-I00

Improving Written Argumentative Synthesis by Teaching the Integration of Conflicting Information from Multiple Sources

The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of 2 different types of intervention aimed at improving written argumentative synthesis by integrating conflicting information from different sources. Both interventions combined the use of a guide with collaborative practice, but one of them also included explicit strategy instruction. Only students who received additional explicit instruction showed an improved ability to integrate conflicting information and increased the number of arguments they selected from the sources.Acknowledgements: This research project was funded under the National Program for Basic Research Projects 2014-2016 by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (EDU2013-46606-C2-1)

Learning through reading and writing tasks in higher education: what do students use, paper or screen?

The objective of this study was to identify and characterize the reading and writing tasks that university students perform to learn, taking into account the discipline (sciences vs humanities) and the support used (printed vs digital). Four hundred and four students completed an online questionnaire that included 13 tasks which involved reading-writing to learn the contents of the subject. The tasks varied according to their level of complexity, the number and type of sources needed, the level of composition required and the degree to which the information from the sources was processed. Students indicated performing, with higher frequency, tasks that promoted more superficial learning. Humanities students mentioned carrying out tasks that promoted deeper processing. Regarding the format of the materials used, science students reported using the digital format more frequently. However, printed support seemed to be more commonly used when students performed tasks to learn in a relatively superficial way the contents of the subjects. By contrast, students used the digital format to perform complex reading and writing tasksThis work was supported by the Institute of Educational Sciences (Universitat de Barcelona) under Grant REDICE14-1348. / Este trabajo ha recibido financiación del Institut de Ciències de l’Educació de la Universitat de Barcelona a través del programa REDICE14-134

Efecto del precondicionamiento hipóxico en la respuesta a un insulto hiperóxico en el sistema nervioso central de ratones recién nacidos

Mammal fetal life elapses in a low oxygen environment relative to the extra uterine. Interestingly, in the human being partial pressure of oxygen increases from fetal 3.3 kPa (25–30 mmHg) to 10.5 kPa (75–85 mmHg) in the first minutes after birth in the newly born infant. This rapid and brisk increase in oxygen availability to tissue generates a physiologic oxidative stress. However, both the lungs and the antioxidant defense system do not mature until late in gestation. Therefore, preterm infants often need respiratory support and oxygen supplementation in the delivery room to achieve postnatal stabilization. The use of supplementary oxygen will cause oxidative stress and damage. In experimental studies in newborn sheep it has been shown that brief resuscitation maneuvers performed in the first minutes after birth produce lung damage and oxidative stress that can have long-lasting consequences. In human newborn infants the use of 100% oxygen instead of air for resuscitation enhances oxidative stress and increases mortality. Furthermore, the use of high oxygen inspired fractions in very preterm infants increased specific morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We hypothesized that delaying oxygenation after birth would preserve reducing equivalents, enhance redox adaptation, and protect the brain against oxygen derived free radicals produced by a hyperoxic insult. The objectives of the study were to determine oxidative stress and damage biomarkers in brain of mice pups during fetal-to-neonatal transition in a breathing atmosphere of FiO2 of 0.14 vs. 0.21. We also studied the consequences of a hyperoxic insult with a FiO2 of 1.0 after postnatal stabilization either with FiO2 of 0.14 or 0.21. Moreover, we analyzed the expression of genes involved in the antioxidant defense system, activation of the expression HIF-1a, inflammation, and the expression of different receptors involved in neurotransmission. Finally, we performed a histological study of different layers of the cerebral cortex to determine morphological changes, apoptosis, and inflammatory changes. Furthermore, we opted to study the effects of perinatal hypoxic preconditioning on mitochondrial morphometry. To proof our hypothesis valid, we designed an experimental model in which we placed pregnant mice in an oxy-cage either with a reduced FiO2 (0.14) or room air (FiO2=0.21) at G18 (8 hours before delivery). 8 hours after birth, both groups were switched to room air (Hx14/21/21 and Nx21/21/21 groups) or subjected to a hyperoxic insult (FiO2=1.0) (Hx14/100/21 and Nx21/100/21) and reset to FiO2=0.21 after 1 hour. Pups were further evaluated either at P1 or kept in the oxy-cage with FiO2=0.21 oxygen until 1 week post-partum (P7). The brains were snap-frozen and kept at -80°C until analysis. We determined the following oxidative stress biomarkers: GSH/GSSG, cysteine/cystine, homocysteine/homocystine ratios, and metabolites of oxidative damage and inflammation such as m-tyr/Phe, o-tyr/Phe, 3NO2-tyr/p-tyr, 3Cl-tyr/p-tyr and 8-OHdG/2dG ratios by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). In addition, we assessed the expression of antioxidant defense genes, response to HIF-1α, and changes in neurotransmitter receptors by qPCR (both at P1 and P7). Finally, we determined morphology, apoptosis, and inflammation of the different layers of the brain cortex by immunohistochemistry. The mitochondrial morphometry was performed using electron microscopy at P1 mice. In general, we found less oxidative stress and damage to proteins and DNA in the preconditioned hypoxic group. A period of hypoxia after birth seemed to better favor the maintenance of a reducing environment thus protecting them against the switch to a hyperoxic environment. The results obtained in this group were still maintained one week thereafter. In the Hx14/100/21, we found downregulation of antioxidant defense enzymes when compared to the Nx21/100/21 at P1 and P7. Besides, we also observed an upregulation of the HIF-1α targets in mice born under hypoxic conditions. At a histological level, we found higher damage, increased apoptosis and a marked tendency towards inflammation in the cortex of the Nx21/100/21 group when compared to the Hx14/100/21 group. Mitochondria showed better morphology and characteristics during adaptation to re-oxygenation when birth occurred in a hypoxic atmosphere (Hx14/100/21) as opposed to normoxic conditions (Nx21/100/21). We conclude that in mice pups performing fetal-to-neonatal transition under hypoxic conditions (hypoxic preconditioning) and smoothly transitioning to normoxia seemed to better withstand a hyperoxic insult after birth as reflected by less oxidative stress, less damage and less inflammation in brain tissue.Mammal fetal life elapses in a low oxygen environment relative to the extra uterine. Interestingly, in the human being partial pressure of oxygen increases from fetal 3.3 kPa (25–30 mmHg) to 10.5 kPa (75–85 mmHg) in the first minutes after birth in the newly born infant. This rapid and brisk increase in oxygen availability to tissue generates a physiologic oxidative stress. However, both the lungs and the antioxidant defense system do not mature until late in gestation. Therefore, preterm infants often need respiratory support and oxygen supplementation in the delivery room to achieve postnatal stabilization. The use of supplementary oxygen will cause oxidative stress and damage. In experimental studies in newborn sheep it has been shown that brief resuscitation maneuvers performed in the first minutes after birth produce lung damage and oxidative stress that can have long-lasting consequences. In human newborn infants the use of 100% oxygen instead of air for resuscitation enhances oxidative stress and increases mortality. Furthermore, the use of high oxygen inspired fractions in very preterm infants increased specific morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. We hypothesized that delaying oxygenation after birth would preserve reducing equivalents, enhance redox adaptation, and protect the brain against oxygen derived free radicals produced by a hyperoxic insult. The objectives of the study were to determine oxidative stress and damage biomarkers in brain of mice pups during fetal-to-neonatal transition in a breathing atmosphere of FiO2 of 0.14 vs. 0.21. We also studied the consequences of a hyperoxic insult with a FiO2 of 1.0 after postnatal stabilization either with FiO2 of 0.14 or 0.21. Moreover, we analyzed the expression of genes involved in the antioxidant defense system, activation of the expression HIF-1a, inflammation, and the expression of different receptors involved in neurotransmission. Finally, we performed a histological study of different layers of the cerebral cortex to determine morphological changes, apoptosis, and inflammatory changes. Furthermore, we opted to study the effects of perinatal hypoxic preconditioning on mitochondrial morphometry. To proof our hypothesis valid, we designed an experimental model in which we placed pregnant mice in an oxy-cage either with a reduced FiO2 (0.14) or room air (FiO2=0.21) at G18 (8 hours before delivery). 8 hours after birth, both groups were switched to room air (Hx14/21/21 and Nx21/21/21 groups) or subjected to a hyperoxic insult (FiO2=1.0) (Hx14/100/21 and Nx21/100/21) and reset to FiO2=0.21 after 1 hour. Pups were further evaluated either at P1 or kept in the oxy-cage with FiO2=0.21 oxygen until 1 week post-partum (P7). The brains were snap-frozen and kept at -80°C until analysis. We determined the following oxidative stress biomarkers: GSH/GSSG, cysteine/cystine, homocysteine/homocystine ratios, and metabolites of oxidative damage and inflammation such as m-tyr/Phe, o-tyr/Phe, 3NO2-tyr/p-tyr, 3Cl-tyr/p-tyr and 8-OHdG/2dG ratios by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). In addition, we assessed the expression of antioxidant defense genes, response to HIF-1α, and changes in neurotransmitter receptors by qPCR (both at P1 and P7). Finally, we determined morphology, apoptosis, and inflammation of the different layers of the brain cortex by immunohistochemistry. The mitochondrial morphometry was performed using electron microscopy at P1 mice. In general, we found less oxidative stress and damage to proteins and DNA in the preconditioned hypoxic group. A period of hypoxia after birth seemed to better favor the maintenance of a reducing environment thus protecting them against the switch to a hyperoxic environment. The results obtained in this group were still maintained one week thereafter. In the Hx14/100/21, we found downregulation of antioxidant defense enzymes when compared to the Nx21/100/21 at P1 and P7. Besides, we also observed an upregulation of the HIF-1α targets in mice born under hypoxic conditions. At a histological level, we found higher damage, increased apoptosis and a marked tendency towards inflammation in the cortex of the Nx21/100/21 group when compared to the Hx14/100/21 group. Mitochondria showed better morphology and characteristics during adaptation to re-oxygenation when birth occurred in a hypoxic atmosphere (Hx14/100/21) as opposed to normoxic conditions (Nx21/100/21). We conclude that in mice pups performing fetal-to-neonatal transition under hypoxic conditions (hypoxic preconditioning) and smoothly transitioning to normoxia seemed to better withstand a hyperoxic insult after birth as reflected by less oxidative stress, less damage and less inflammation in brain tissue

ALCANCES Y LIMITACIONES DE LA COOPERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL PARA EL DESARROLLO. EL CASO DE PROYECTOS PARA LA GESTIÓN Y SUMINISTRO DE AGUA EN EL ALTIPLANO OCCIDENTAL DE GUATEMALA

La Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (CID) se ha erigido a partir de distintos enfoques; entre ellos, el histórico y el teórico. Desde el primer enfoque, la CID adquirió relevancia debido a los acontecimientos ocurridos en el siglo XX, a saber, las guerras mundiales, el origen del tercermundismo y la polaridad del sistema internacional, principalmente. Por su parte, el enfoque teórico deviene de corrientes realistas y liberales que enfatizan en el poder y en la preeminencia institucional. Desde sus inicios, la ayuda externa se planteó a partir de dinámicas económicas, políticas y sociales, entre las que la cooperación se consolidó como un puente de intereses geopolíticos, y sobre la base del crecimiento económico como la razón principal del desarrollo. De esta manera, una vez terminada la II Guerra Mundial y con la firma de la Carta de las Naciones Unidas en 1945, se presentan los primeros intentos de cooperación internacional. Como primera acción, se declaró el Plan Marshall. Fue la iniciativa de los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica (EUA) para coadyuvar con la reconstrucción económica de los países europeos devastados tras la guerra. El texto del Plan Marshall, originalmente conocido como Programa de Recuperación Europea1, estipuló como objetivo central impulsar la recuperación económica de Europa para facilitar la adquisición de productos ofertados por Estados Unidos, y así, mantener la balanza comercial estadounidense en un estado favorable. En primera instancia, se buscó la recuperación de la producción agrícola elevándola a los niveles que se tenían en 1938.2 Asimismo, se definieron estrategias para impulsar la cooperación entre los países participantes en el ámbito de la producción, del desarrollo de recursos para el comercio, el transporte y el flujo de diásporas (Álvarez, 2017)

Repercusiones laborales en usuarios de pantallas de visualización de datos tras cirugía refractiva.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Evaluar la influencia en la calidad percibida de visión y en el ámbito laboral de los trabajadores usuarios de pantallas de visualización de datos que se asocia a la mejora de la función visual tras queratomileusis in situ con láser excimer (LASIK). Métodos: Estudio observacional y longitudinal en una población de 96 pacientes intervenidos de cirugía refractiva con láser excimer según técnica LASIK mediante aplicación de un cuestionario construido al efecto aplicado antes y después de cirugía por un observador independiente. Las edades de los pacientes variaban entre los 21 y los 60 años. Entre ellos hay 54 mujeres y 42 hombres. Y poseían errores refractivos entre 1 y 10 D de miopía, + 3 y + 6 D de hipermetropía y astigmatismo miópico o hipermetrópico mayor o igual a 2.5 D. Resultados: Se obtiene que la calidad de visión con corrección es mejor tras LASIK (significativa p < 0.05). Antes de la cirugía esta calidad es percibida por el paciente como buena o excelente en el 61.42 % mientras que tras la cirugía es buena o excelente en el 78.87 %. La calidad de visión sin corrección también es mejor tras LASIK (p < 0.05). Antes de operarse esta calidad se percibe por el paciente como pésima en el 61.46 % mientras que tras la cirugía es aceptable o buena en el 63.54 %. El 65.62 % de pacientes consideran que su calidad percibida de visión ha mejorado, sobre todo los miopes. Están satisfechos con el resultado obtenido el 79.17 % de pacientes, siendo este porcentaje mayor en los astígmatas donde hay un 81.3 % de satisfechos. Volverían a intervenirse y recomendarían este procedimiento quirúrgico a otros pacientes el 84.38 % de pacientes. El 45.8 % de trabajadores consideran que su agudeza visual tras cirugía es mejor, y el 36.5 % mucho mejor. Agudeza visual y refracción ocular han mejorado tras LASIK, siendo el índice de eficacia de 1.1. La sensibilidad al contraste tras cirugía mejora en todas las frecuencias (6 c/g, 3 c/g y 1 c/g) en el ojo derecho. Mientras que en el ojo izquierdo no hay diferencias significativas. Algunos síntomas como quemazón ocular, problemas durante la lectura, distorsión en la visión de los detalles y la cefalea son menos frecuentes tras LASIK. En cambio es más habitual la existencia de halos nocturnos (75 % pacientes) y deslumbramiento (68.75 % pacientes) después de operarse. Respecto a las condiciones de trabajo asociadas al uso de pantallas de visualización de datos la frecuencia de descansos en el trabajo que necesitan por fatiga visual es de 3 veces/día en el 16.67 % de trabajadores, y de 1 vez/día en el 11.46 % de trabajadores antes de operarse mientras que tras cirugía necesitan 1 vez/día en el 21.88 % y 3 veces/día en el 8.33 % de trabajadores. Tras cirugía estos pacientes necesitan descansar menos en el trabajo por fatiga visual. Por otro lado existe una mayor participación en el trabajo después de la cirugía para el 47.9 % de trabajadores. El resto de condiciones no se han visto perturbadas tras la cirugía y, según refieren los trabajadores de este estudio, se puede afirmar que se cumplen los requisitos ergonómicos de los aspectos evaluados según la reglamentación vigente38. Exceptuando la duración de las pausas (17-18 minutos de media) que no es la adecuada y la luminosidad del entorno que es mayor que la de la pantalla encendida en el 56.25 % de trabajadores. Ambos aspectos no se han visto influidos por la cirugía refractiva. Conclusiones: Los resultados muestran que el LASIK mejora la función visual de estos pacientes, mejorando su calidad percibida de visión y su trabajo habitual con pantallas de visualización de datos. __________________________________________________________________________________________________Purpose: To evaluate the influence in perceived quality of vision and in labour environment of video display terminal (VDT) users related to improvement of visual functions following excimer laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Methods: Longitudinal and observational study in a population of 96 patients that underwent LASIK using a questionnaire made for that, applied before and after surgery by an independent observer. Patients between the ages of 21 and 60 years old, 54 women and 42 men. With refractive errors between 1 and 10 of myopia, +3 and +6 D of hyperopia and an associated astigmatism with myopia or with hyperopia larger or equal to 2.5 D. Results: Quality of vision showed to be better after LASIK (p<0.05). Before surgery vision quality was perceived by 61.42 % of patients like good or excellent, while after surgery it was 78.87 %. Quality of vision without correction is also better after LASIK (p < 0.05). Before surgery quality of vision was perceived by 61.46 % of patients as unacceptable, while 63.54 % of patiens say is acceptable or good. 79.17 % patients were satisfied with the obtained results. Visual acuity and ocular refraction have improved after LASIK, being the efficiency index 1.1. Contrast sensitivity postoperative improved at all spatial frequencies in the right eye (6 c/g, 3 c/g and 1 c/g). While in the left eye there were no significant differences. Some symptoms like ocular burning, reading problems, distorsion in details vision and headache were less frequent after LASIK. However, halos (75 % of patients) and glare (68.75 % of patients) after surgery were frequently reported. With regard to work conditions associated with video display terminals (VDT), after surgery patients need to rest less frequently at work for asthenopia. On the other hand, after surgery, 47.9 % of workers were more participative at work. The length of pauses were not appropiate and environment luminosity is bigger than the screen luminosity for 56.25 % of workers. Conclusions: The results show that LASIK improves visual function of patients, quality of perceived vision and comfort at work with VDTs