4,489 research outputs found
Art-Mimesis and Political Reality in Juan Carlos TabĂoâs El elefante y la bicicleta and Fernando PĂ©rezâs Suite Habana
This article uses the concept of art-mimesis to examine the reflections of two films, Juan Carlos TabĂoâs El elefante y la bicicleta and Fernando PĂ©rezâs Suite Habana, on the capacity of film to impact upon social reality in the context of the economic and political crises of the 1990s and early 2000s in Cuba. With reference to debates regarding the function of mimesis in the Cuban critical text The Viewerâs Dialectic by TomĂĄs GutiĂ©rrez Alea, I argue that El elefante y la bicicleta retreats into fantasy, cutting itself off in a self-referential loop, and thus reflects the film industryâs turmoil of the mid-1990s. Suite Habana, on the other hand, represents an adaptation to crisis in the form of cheaper production techniques, and a return of revolutionary ideals in the presentation of a scenario, whereby the division between art and labor could be eradicated
Writing as 'Compearance' in DiĂĄrio da Queda by Michel Laub
DiĂĄrio da Queda (2011) by Michel Laub has been described as autoficção (autofiction), the Brazilian translation of the concept coined by Serge Doubrovsky to describe the narrative workingâthrough of trauma through fictional autobiography. This article reâexamines the definition of âautofictionâ and argues that Laub's narrative process more closely resembles JeanâLuc Nancy's notion of a singular voice âcompearingâ experiences in a process of âsharingâ that, when combined with touch and affection can â according to the novel â more successfully help to overcome trauma. At stake are questions regarding the inheritance of Holocaust memory, as well as its politicised deployment in contemporary conflicts
Profiling unauthorized natural resource users for better targeting of conservation interventions
Unauthorized use of natural resources is a key threat to many protected areas. Approaches to reducing this threat include law enforcement and integrated conservation and development (ICD) projects, but for such ICDs to be targeted effectively, it is important to understand who is illegally using which natural resources and why. The nature of unauthorized behavior makes it difficult to ascertain this information through direct questioning. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, has many ICD projects, including authorizing some local people to use certain nontimber forest resources from the park. However, despite over 25 years of ICD, unauthorized resource use continues. We used household surveys, indirect questioning (unmatched count technique), and focus group discussions to generate profiles of authorized and unauthorized resource users and to explore motivations for unauthorized activity. Overall, unauthorized resource use was most common among people from poor households who lived closest to the park boundary and farthest from roads and trading centers. Other motivations for unauthorized resource use included crop raiding by wild animals, inequity of revenue sharing, and lack of employment, factors that created resentment among the poorest communities. In some communities, benefits obtained from ICD were reported to be the greatest deterrents against unauthorized activity, although law enforcement ranked highest overall. Despite the sensitive nature of exploring unauthorized resource use, managementârelevant insights into the profiles and motivations of unauthorized resource users can be gained from a combination of survey techniques, as adopted here. To reduce unauthorized activity at Bwindi, we suggest ICD benefit the poorest people living in remote areas and near the park boundary by providing affordable alternative sources of forest products and addressing crop raiding. To prevent resentment from driving further unauthorized activity, ICDs should be managed transparently and equitably
Azumaya Objects in Triangulated Bicategories
We introduce the notion of Azumaya object in general homotopy-theoretic
settings. We give a self-contained account of Azumaya objects and Brauer groups
in bicategorical contexts, generalizing the Brauer group of a commutative ring.
We go on to describe triangulated bicategories and prove a characterization
theorem for Azumaya objects therein. This theory applies to give a homotopical
Brauer group for derived categories of rings and ring spectra. We show that the
homotopical Brauer group of an Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectrum is isomorphic to the
homotopical Brauer group of its underlying commutative ring. We also discuss
tilting theory as an application of invertibility in triangulated bicategories.Comment: 23 pages; final version; to appear in Journal of Homotopy and Related
Structure
The International Mass Loading Service
The International Mass Loading Service computes four loadings: a) atmospheric
pressure loading; b) land water storage loading; c) oceanic tidal loading; and
d) non-tidal oceanic loading. The service provides to users the mass loading
time series in three forms: 1) pre-computed time series for a list of 849 space
geodesy stations; 2) pre-computed time series on the global 1deg x 1deg grid;
and 3) on-demand Internet service for a list of stations and a time range
specified by the user. The loading displacements are provided for the time
period from 1979.01.01 through present, updated on an hourly basis, and have
latencies 8-20 hours.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the Reference
Frames for Applications in Geosciences Simposium, held in Luxemboug in
October 201
A Selberg integral for the Lie algebra A_n
A new q-binomial theorem for Macdonald polynomials is employed to prove an
A_n analogue of the celebrated Selberg integral. This confirms the g=A_n case
of a conjecture by Mukhin and Varchenko concerning the existence of a Selberg
integral for every simple Lie algebra g.Comment: 32 page
Understanding the Random Displacement Model: From Ground-State Properties to Localization
We give a detailed survey of results obtained in the most recent half decade
which led to a deeper understanding of the random displacement model, a model
of a random Schr\"odinger operator which describes the quantum mechanics of an
electron in a structurally disordered medium. These results started by
identifying configurations which characterize minimal energy, then led to
Lifshitz tail bounds on the integrated density of states as well as a Wegner
estimate near the spectral minimum, which ultimately resulted in a proof of
spectral and dynamical localization at low energy for the multi-dimensional
random displacement model.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures, final version, to appear in Proceedings of
"Spectral Days 2010", Santiago, Chile, September 20-24, 201
Cardiovascular changes after administration of aerosolized salbutamol in horses: five cases
Prevention and treatment of intraoperative hypoxemia in horses is difficult and both efficacy and safety of therapeutic maneuvers have to be taken into account. Inhaled salbutamol has been suggested as treatment of hypoxia in horses during general anesthesia, due to safety and ease of the technique. The present report describes the occurrence of clinically relevant unwanted cardiovascular effects (i.e. tachycardia and blood pressure modifications) in 5 horses undergoing general anesthesia in dorsal recumbency after salbutamol inhalation. Balanced anesthesia based on inhalation of isoflurane in oxygen or oxygen and air and continuous rate infusion (CRI) of lidocaine, romifidine, or combination of lidocaine and guaifenesine and ketamine was provided. Supportive measures were necessary to restore normal cardiovascular function in all horses but no long-term adverse effects were noticed in any of the cases
Knee complaints vary with age and gender in the adult population. Population-based reference data for the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)
BACKGROUND: Self-reported knee complaints may vary with age and gender. Reference data from the adult population would help to better interpret the outcome of interventions due to knee complaints. The objectives of the present study were to describe the variation of self-reported knee pain, function and quality of life with age and gender in the adult population and to establish population-based reference data for the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). METHODS: Population-based cohort retrieved from the national population register. The knee-specific Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was mailed to 840 subjects aged 18â84 yrs. RESULTS: 68% response rate. Women in the age group 55â74 reported more knee-related complaints in all the KOOS subscales than age-matched men. The differences were significant for the subscales Pain (p = 0.027), Symptoms (p = 0.003) and ADL function (p = 0.046). In men, worse ADL and Sport and Recreation function was seen in the oldest age group 75â84 years compared to the younger age groups (p < 0.030). In women, worse Pain (p < 0.007), ADL (p < 0.030), Sport and Recreation (p < 0.001) and QOL (p < 0.002) were seen already in the age group 55â74 compared to the younger age groups. CONCLUSION: We found pain and other symptoms, physical function, and knee-related quality of life to vary with age and gender implying the use of age- and gender matched reference values for improved understanding of the outcome after interventions due to knee injury and knee OA
Gait profile score and movement analysis profile in patients with Parkinson's disease during concurrent cognitive load
Background: Gait disorders are common in individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD) and the concurrent performance of motor and cognitive tasks can have marked effects on gait. The Gait Profile Score (GPS) and the Movement Analysis Profile (MAP) were developed in order to summarize the data of kinematics and facilitate understanding of the results of gait analysis. Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of the GPS and MAP in the quantification of changes in gait during a concurrent cognitive load while walking in adults with and without PD. Method: Fourteen patients with idiopathic PD and nine healthy subjects participated in the study. All subjects performed single and dual walking tasks. The GPS/MAP was computed from three-dimensional gait analysis data. Results: Differences were found between tasks for GPS (P<0.05) and Gait Variable Score (GVS) (pelvic rotation, knee flexion-extension and ankle dorsiflexion-plantarflexion) (P<0.05) in the PD group. An interaction between task and group was observed for GPS (P<0.01) for the right side (Cohen's d=0.99), left side (Cohen's d=0.91), and overall (Cohen's d=0.88). No interaction was observed only for hip internal-external rotation and foot internal-external progression GVS variables in the PD group. Conclusions: The results showed gait impairment during the dual task and suggest that GPS/MAP may be used to evaluate the effects of concurrent cognitive load while walking in patients with PD
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