1,315 research outputs found

    Caracterización de diferentes homologaciones axiológicas vigentes en los dibujos animados para televisión

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    Los dibujos animados norteamericanos, sigilosamente, han ido ocupando un lugar cada vez más relevante en la industria cultural. Tanto es así, que hoy se pueden discriminar canales específicamente destinados a la animación y, a su vez, series de animaciones producidas para diversos públicos: niños, adolescentes y adultos. Frente a esta gran cantidad y diversidad de textos llama especialmente mi atención la convivencia de contrapuestos sistemas de valor. Numerosas tiras de dibujos animados, dirigidos especialmente a los niños, ayudan a conformar el gusto infantil contemporáneo (en el sentido de Calabrese) que no responde a un único sistema unificador de valores. Es decir, lo feo o lindo, lo malo o bueno, lo conforme o informe, lo disfórico o eufórico no está dictaminado hoy por un solo discurso axiológico imperante. En este escrito pretendo describir, desde una perspectiva semiótica, las particularidades que resultan de la coexistencia de morfologías, éticas y tímicas distintas. Para ello, me detendré en un grupo de cartoons que se presentan como las antípodas de los tradicionales y conocidos textos audiovisuales de Disney y de las clásicas y exitosas series animadas de la Warner Bross o la Metro Goldywn Mayer. Estas creaciones buscaron exhibir, desde su nacimiento, estabilidad en las formas, armonía cromática y uniformidad de comportamientos. Contrariamente, los mundos posibles que hoy también integran el universo de dibujos animados, evidencian lo que Calabrese denomina el placer de lo impreciso, lo indefinido, lo vago y lo ambiguo. Estas representaciones sincréticas exaltan notorias diferencias en sus homologaciones axiológicas liberándose de las pretensiones de perfección, tanto de sus escenarios como de sus actores figurativos: seres híbridos, animales aversivos, niños nefastos, criaturas deformes y escenarios difusos son algunas de las características que definen a los últimas producciones animadas para televisión.American cartoons have been stealthily takihg a place niore and more relevant in the culture industry. So much so, that channels specifically targeted at animation and, at the same time, animation series produced to suit varied audiences ¾ children, adolescents, and adults 3/4 can be distinguished today. Together with this great diversity and amount of texts, the coexistence of opposed value systems specially attracts attention. Several cartoon strips, targeted specially at children, help to build the present child taste (following Calabrese) that does not respond to just a single unifying value system. That is to say, the pretty or the ugly, the good or the bad, the shaped or the shapeless, the dysphoric ot the euphoric are not determined today by just one regnant axiological discourse. The purpose of this work is to describe, from a semiotic perspective, the special features that result from the coexistence of different ethical and thymic morphologies. In order to do so, I will dwell on a group of cartoons that are pictured to us as the antipodes of the traditional and well-known Disney audiovisual texts and the classic and successful animated series of the Warner Bross or the Metro Goldw}'n Aíayer. Since the very beginning, these creations attempt to show stability in the style, chromatic harmony, and behavioral evenness. Contrarily, the possible worlds that also shape today's universe of cartoons evidence what Calabrese calls the pleasure of the imprecise, the undefined, the vague, and the ambiguous. These sincretic representations exalt notorious differences in their axiological standardizations, freeing themselves from aspiring to perfection, both in their sceneries, and in their figurative actors? hybrid beings, aversive animals, accursed children, disfigured creatures, and diffuse sceneries are some of the characteristics that define the most recent animated productions made for television.Fil: De Amici, Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociale

    Spillover and diffraction sidelobe contamination in a double-shielded experiment for mapping Galactic synchrotron emission

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    We have analyzed observations from a radioastronomical experiment to survey the sky at decimetric wavelengths along with feed pattern measurements in order to account for the level of ground contamination entering the sidelobes. A major asset of the experiment is the use of a wire mesh fence around the rim-halo shielded antenna with the purpose of levelling out and reducing this source of stray radiation for zenith-centered 1-rpm circular scans. We investigate the shielding performance of the experiment by means of a geometric diffraction model in order to predict the level of the spillover and diffraction sidelobes in the direction of the ground. Using 408 MHz and 1465 MHz feed measurements, the model shows how a weakly-diffracting and unshielded antenna configuration becomes strongly-diffracting and double-shielded as far-field diffraction effects give way to near-field ones. Due to the asymmetric response of the feeds, the orientation of their radiation fields with respect to the secondary must be known a priori before comparing model predictions with observational data. By adjusting the attenuation coefficient of the wire mesh the model is able to reproduce the amount of differential ground pick-up observed during test measurements at 1465 MHz.Comment: 14 pages, 17 eps + 1 gif figures and 4 Tables. Accepted for publication in A&AS. Fig.7 available at full resolution from http://www.das.inpe.br/~tello/publications.ht

    Immunoglobulin Production Pattern in Allergic and Non-Allergic Subjects:

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    Allergic rhinitis (AR) is characterized by Th2 polarized immune response, such as increased IL-4 and reduced IFN-γ production, and by a functional defect of T regulatory cells. This impaired immune response profile influences the pattern of immunoglobulin (Ig) production in allergic patients. However, no studies have compared the pattern of inhalant allergen-specific Ig classes between allergic patients and normal subjects. The aim of this study is to therefore investigate the allergen-specific IgE, IgG, IgG4, and IgA serum level pattern in a group of patients with pollen allergy and in non-allergic healthy subjects. One hundred and two allergic patients (evaluated both out of and in the pollen season) were enrolled. In addition, 50 healthy non-allergic subjects were recruited during the whole year. Serum allergen-specific IgE, IgG, IgG4, and IgA for Parietaria, grasses, and birch were quantitatively determined by the ImmunoCAP System method. Allergen-specific IgE, IgG, IgG4, and IgA serum levels were significantly different for each tested allergen (p=0.0001 for each class) among groups. Allergic patients, mainly during pollen season, showed the highest IgG, IgG4, and IgA levels. The present study therefore provides the preliminary evidence that Ig production pattern toward inhalant allergens may depend on the specificity of the allergenic response both in non-allergic subjects and allergic patients Allergic patients do not show a defect of IgG and IgA classes. In addition, this study is the first that quantitatively evaluates the Ig classes. However, further studies should include non-allergic subjects evaluated both during and out of the pollen season

    SWIRP (Submm-Wave and Long Wave InfraRed Polarimeter); Development and Characterization of a Sub-Mm Polarimeter for Ice Cloud Investigations

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    A major source of uncertainty in climate models is the presence, shape and distribution of ice particles in the uppermost layers of the clouds. The effects of this component are poorly constrained, turning ice particles into an almost-free variable in many climate models.NASA-GSFC is developing a new instrument aimed at measuring the size and shape of ice particles. The instrument consists of two sub-mm polarimeters (at 220 and 670 GHz) coupled with a long-wave infrared polarimeter at 10 micron. Each polarimeter has identical V-pol and H-pol channels; the axes of polarization are defined geometrically by the orientation of the waveguide elements, and the purity has been measured in the lab. The instrument is configured as a conical scanner, suitable for deployment as a payload on a small satellite or on a high-altitude sub-orbital platform. From a 400 km orbit, the instrument has a 3dB spatial resolution of 20 (10) km at 220 (670) GHz and a swath of 600 km over 180 degrees of view.The BAPTA (Bearing And Power Transfer Assembly) carries heritage from the SSMIS design, now in its 22nd year of on-orbit operation, but with a much reduced SWaP (Size Weight and Power) footprint, suitable for a small satellite.The main components of the instrument have been fabricated and are undergoing final testing prior to their integration as a single unit. The sub-mm channels have dedicated secondary reflectors which illuminate a shared primary reflector. The receiving units are placed behind the focal point of the optical arrangement, so that all beams equally illuminate the primary reflector and are almost co-located on the ground (within a single 220 GHz footprint). Primary and secondary beam patterns have been measured and verified to match the as-designed expectations. A Zytex (TM) window is deployed to protect the secondary reflectors and the feed horns from debris and other contaminants, and to reduce the heat load from the active (hot) IR calibration unit. The insertion loss of Zytex has been measured and is accounted in the calibration equation of the sub-mm channels.The radiometric performance of the sub-mm receivers has been characterized in the lab and under operational conditions of temperature and pressure.This paper discusses the design constraints on the sub-mm components, details of the scientific goals and their flowdown, and describes the characterization of the polarimeters. Options to optimize the layout and distribution of the masses within the assembly, with the goal of making the instrument even more compact and fully-compatible with cubesat-class satellites will be presented

    Enabling Big Science in a Small Satellite - The Global L-band Observatory for Water Cycle Studies (GLOWS) Mission

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    The SMOS and SMAP radiometers have demonstrated the ability to monitor soil moisture and sea surface salinity. It is important to maintain data continuity for these science measurements. The proposed instrument concept (Global L-band active/passive Observatory for Water cycle Studies - GLOWS) will enable low-cost L-band data continuity (that includes both L-band radar and radiometer measurements). The objective of this project is to develop key instrument technology to enable L-band observations using an Earth Venture class satellite. Specifically, a new deployable meta-lens antenna is being developed that will enable a smaller EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Grande-class satellite mission to continue the L-band observations at SMAP and SMOS resolution and accuracy at substantially lower cost, size, and weight. The key to maintaining the scientific value of the observations is the retention of the full 6-meter antenna aperture, while packaging that aperture on a small ESPA Grande satellite platform. The meta-lens antenna is lightweight, has a simplified flat deployed surface geometry, and stows in a compact form factor. This dramatic aperture packaging reduction enables the GLOWS sensor to fit on an Earth Venture class satellite

    Novel Bifunctional Compounds Targeting Nicotine and Dopamine Receptor Subtypes: Synthesis and Pharmacological Investigation

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    Future therapies for diseases associated with altered dopaminergic signaling, including Parkinson\u2019s disease, schizophrenia and drug addiction or drug dependence, may be substantially built on the existence of intramembrane receptor-receptor interactions within receptor mosaics where it is believed that the D2 receptor may operate as the \u201chub receptor\u201d [1]. In particular, it has been proposed that striatal dopaminergic neurotransmission could be under the control of receptor heteromers containing D2 autoreceptors and non-alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine heteroreceptors [2]. In an attempt to investigate the biochemical and functional interactions between dopaminergic autoreceptors and nAChRs containing the beta2 subunit, we designed and prepared a group of potential bifunctional derivatives incorporating a D2/D3 agonist moiety and a nicotinic alpha4beta2 antagonist fragment, linked by polymethylene spacers of different length. The new compounds have been biologically characterized for their affinity/specificity/functional profile at the target nACh and D2 receptor subtypes. The synthesis of the designed derivatives and the results of their pharmacological investigation will be presented and discussed. [1] K.Fuxe, D.Marcellino, A.Rivera, Z.Diaz-Cabiale, M.Filip, B.Gago, D.C.S.Roberts, U.Langel, S.Genedani, L.Ferraro, A.de la Calle, J.Narvaez, S.Tanganelli, A.Woods, L.F.Agnati, Brain Res.Rev., 58, 2008, 415-452. [2] D.Quarta, F.Ciruela, K.Patkar, J.Borycz, M.Solinas, C.Lluis, R.Franco, R.A.Wise, S.R.Goldberg, B.T.Hope, A.Woods, S.Ferr\ue9, Neuropsychopharmacol., 32, 2007, 35-42

    Vascular endothelial growth factor promoted endothelial progenitor cell mobilization into the peripheral blood of a patient with POEMS syndrome

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    We assessed the percentage of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in the peripheral blood of a patient with POEMS with elevated VEGF plasma levels. High VEGF plasma levels were associated with increased EPC concentration and treatment with an anti-VEGF antibody induced a consensual decrease of both parameters. In vitro cultures of the patient BM cells suggested that the stromal compartment could be responsible for VEGF overproduction
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