La función artística en Henry James a través de “The Middle Years”, “The Death of the Lion”, “The Lesson of the Master” y “The Figure in the Carpet.

La pretensión central de este artículo consiste en el análisis de la concepción estética de Henry James a través de cuatro de sus relatos más significativos: “The Middle Years ”, “The Death of the Lion ”, “The Lesson of the Master ” y “The Figure in the Carpet ”. Al final del mismo se pondrá de relieve la analogía existente entre las ideas del escritor americano con las de Stéphane Mallarmé, figura señera del movimiento Simbolista francés, y con las del filósofo alemán Friedrich Nietzsche

Immunological Relevance of the Coevolution of IDO1 and AHR

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor initially identified because of its role in controlling the cellular response to environmental molecules. More recently, AHR has been shown to play a crucial role in controlling innate and adaptive immune responses through several mechanisms, one of which is the regulation of tryptophan metabolism. Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) are considered rate-limiting enzymes in the tryptophan catabolism and play important roles in the regulation of the immunity. Moreover, AHR and IDO/TDO are closely interconnected: AHR regulates IDO and TDO expression, and kynurenine produced by IDO/TDO is an AHR agonist. In this review, we propose to examine the relationship between AHR and IDO/TDO and its relevance for the regulation of the immune response in health and disease

The rider behavior questionnaire to explore associations of motorcycle taxi crashes in Cartagena (Colombia)

Objective: This study aimed to identify the association between behavioral factors and crashes of motorcycle taxi riders using the Motorcycle Rider Behavior Questionnaire (MRBQ). Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey of motorcycle taxi riders in Cartagena. The MRBQ was adapted to the socio-cultural context and contained 45 items. The survey was conducted between February 2019 and May 2019. The items of the MRBQ were processed using factor analysis. Four logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between behavioral factors and aspects of demographics, operating conditions, and experiencing nearcrashes, crashes, traffic tickets, and at-fault crashes. Results: Four hundred and thirty-eight motorcyclists participated. The exploratory factor analysis extracted five elements: stunts, speed violations, traffic errors, control errors, and safety, explaining 42% of the variance. The increase in riding per week showed significant differences with stunts, speed violations, and traffic errors. Riding experiences, traffic errors, control errors, and safety were significantly associated with crashes and near-crashes. Stunts were the strongest factors related to traffic tickets. Speed violations were the strongest factors associated with at-fault accidents. Conclusions: The study showed recent results considering behavioral, exposure, and operational conditions in a group of motorcycle taxi riders. The study recommends some practical implications for the well-being of motorcyclists and road safety

Blur-specific image quality assessment of microscopic hyperspectral images

Hyperspectral (HS) imaging (HSI) expands the number of channels captured within the electromagnetic spectrum with respect to regular imaging. Thus, microscopic HSI can improve cancer diagnosis by automatic classification of cells. However, homogeneous focus is difficult to achieve in such images, being the aim of this work to automatically quantify their focus for further image correction. A HS image database for focus assessment was captured. Subjective scores of image focus were obtained from 24 subjects and then correlated to state-of-the-art methods. Maximum Local Variation, Fast Image Sharpness block-based Method and Local Phase Coherence algorithms provided the best correlation results. With respect to execution time, LPC was the fastestBlur-specific image quality assessment of microscopic hyperspectral imagespublishedVersio

Bibliometric analysis in motorcycle accident research: a global overview

770 million motorcycles are estimated on the roads. Motorcyclists represent more than 380,000 annual deaths worldwide. 28% of the global fatalities in the roads in 2016. With the increase of the accident rate, studies have been developed within the scientific literature. Bibliometric analysis is applied in the field of motorcycle safety in order to identify relevant publications on risk factors of road crashes and their implications. The information in this research was extracted from Web of Science and Scopus databases between 1947 and May 31, 2018. The study identified the key bibliometric indicators such as publications, authors, journals, countries, institutions, citation and co-citation analysis, subject categories, and co-occurrence of terms. EndNote, Microsoft Excel, Statgraphics Centurion and VOS-viewer software were used for the analysis. In total, 1813 articles were considered. The publications from 2000 to 2017 exhibits an average growth of 9%. The journal “Accident Analysis and Prevention” was the key issue in the publication and citation. The top institutions were the University of California, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Monash University. The average citation of the top 10 articles was 134. A network visualization map showed that ‘vehicle’, ‘model’, ‘system’, ‘road’, ‘safety’, and ‘behavior’ were the most commons key terms. Bibliometric analysis demonstrates a high collaboration between authors and institutions. Two growing trends were identified. First, studies on the protection of the motorcyclist and the safe design considering the performance. Second, studies in analysis, characterization, and prevention of accidents. These studies are more related to the generation of strategies for the protection of road safety for motorcyclists

Laser transmission welding of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) using a tailored high power diode-laser optical fiber coupled system

Laser transmission welding (LTW) of polymers is a direct bonding technique which is already used in different industrial applications sectors such as automobile, microfluidic, electronic and biomedicine. This technique offers several advantages over conventional methods, especially when a local deposition of energy and minimum thermal distortions are required. In LTW one of the polymeric materials needs to be transparent to the laser wavelength and the second part needs to be designed to be absorbed in IR spectrum. This report presents a study of laser weldability of ABS (acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene) filled with two different concentrations of carbon nanotubes (0.01% and 0.05% CNTs). These additives are used as infrared absorbing components in the laser welding process, affecting the thermal and optical properties of the material and, hence, the final quality of the weld seam. A tailored laser system has been designed to obtain high quality weld seams with widths between 0.4 and 1.0mm. It consists of two diode laser bars (50W per bar) coupled into an optical fiber using a non-imaging solution: equalization of the beam quality factor (M2 ) in the slow and fast axes by a pair of micro step-mirrors. The beam quality factor has been analyzed at different laser powers with the aim to guarantee a coupling efficiency to the multimode optical fiber. The power scaling is carried out by means of multiplexing polarization technique. The analysis of energy balance and beam quality is performed in two linked steps: first by means ray tracing simulations (ZEMAX® ) and second, by validation. Quality of the weld seams is analyzed in terms of the process parameters (welding speed, laser power and clamping pressure) by visual and optical microscope inspections. The optimum laser power range for three different welding speeds is determinate meanwhile the clamping pressure is held constant. Additionally, the corresponding mechanical shear tests were carried out to analyze the mechanical properties of the weld seams. This work provides a detailed study concerning the effect of the material microstructure and laser beam quality on the final weld formation and surface integrity

La literatura como medio para la integración sociocultural

El fenómeno de la integración sociocultural no es un asunto nuevo, pero se ha puesto de relieve en la actualidad, sobre todo en nuestro país a partir de los últimos años, con la llegada masiva de inmigrantes venidos de diversas partes del mundo, sobre todo de África y Latinoamérica. En este artículo se plantea el concepto de la integración sociocultural no como un problema, sino como una situación compleja que hay que abordar de forma positiva, puesto que consideramos que el mestizaje cultural ha enriquecido la sociedad insular canaria. Para ejemplificarlo, la literatura se convierte en un eficaz medio educativo

Fragmentos urbanos de Guerra Fría en el “tercer mundo”

En 1949, en el discurso inaugural para su segundo período presidencial, Harry S. Truman proclamó una agenda de colaboración entre los Estados Unidos y las áreas subdesarrolladas del mundo, con el objetivo de reducir la pobreza a través de un desarrollo impulsado por los conocimientos y avances tecnológicos de su país. En 1973, Robert McNamara, presidente del Banco Mundial, instaba a erradicar la pobreza absoluta promoviendo estrategias que lograsen una distribución más equitativa de los beneficios del crecimiento económico. En ambas agendas internacionales se incluyeron políticas habitacionales para alcanzar sus objetivos. El artículo explora el rol que cumplieron la arquitectura y el diseño urbano en estos programas, a través de la revisión de conjuntos de vivienda construidos en ciudades y paisajes de América Latina, África y Asia, en el contexto de la Guerra Fría. En ambos momentos históricos se utilizó la estrategia de autoconstrucción asistida para llegar a la población con menos recursos económicos. Por una parte, entre las múltiples críticas que recibieron estas operaciones, estuvo la segregación social que producirían. Por otra, veremos cómo estos conjuntos se articularían como fragmentos urbanos que, a través de su diseño y equipamiento comunitario, apoyarían el desarrollo social de los pobladores. El primer momento que revisaremos corresponde a los inicios de la promoción internacional de políticas de autoconstrucción por parte de instituciones estadounidenses; el segundo, es el instante en que el Banco Mundial expande esta agenda globalmente incorporando, por primera vez, el problema habitacional urbano entre sus proyectos. En estos dos períodos la vivienda fue incluida para promover un crecimiento económico, así como para extender las fronteras geopolíticas del primer mundo –liderado por Estados Unidos– hacia los países del tercer mundo.In 1949, in the inaugural speech for his second presidential term, Harry S. Truman proclaimed an agenda of collaboration between the United States and the underdeveloped areas of the world, aiming to reduce poverty through development driven by U.S. knowledge and technological advances. In 1973, Robert McNamara, president of the World Bank, called for the eradication of absolute poverty, promoting strategies that would achieve a more equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth. Both international agendas included housing policies to achieve their objectives. This article explores the role of architecture and urban design in these programs by reviewing housing developments built in cities and landscapes in Latin America, Africa and Asia in the context of the Cold War. In both historical moments, assisted self-construction was used to reach populations with low economic resources. On one side, among the many criticisms made to these operations was the social segregation they would generate. On the other side, we will see how these developments would articulate urban fragments that, through their design and community equipment, would support the social growth of the inhabitants. The first reviewed moment corresponds to the beginning of the international promotion of self-construction policies by U.S. institutions; the second is the moment when the World Bank expanded this program globally incorporating, for the first time, the urban housing problem into its agenda. In these two periods, housing was included to promote economic development, as well as to extend the geopolitical frontiers of the first world –led by the United States– towards third world countries.Em 1949, no discurso inaugural do seu segundo mandato como presidente, com o objetivo de reduzir a pobreza através do desenvolvimento impulsionado pelo conhecimento e avanços tecnológicos dos EUA, Harry S. Truman proclamou uma agenda de colaboração entre os Estados Unidos e as áreas subdesenvolvidas do mundo. Em 1973, Robert McNamara, presidente do Banco Mundial, apelou à erradicação da pobreza absoluta, promovendo estratégias que permitissem uma distribuição mais equitativa dos benefícios do crescimento econômico. Ambas as agendas internacionais incluíam políticas de habitação para alcançar os seus objetivos. Este artigo explora o papel desempenhado pela arquitetura e pelo urban design nestes programas, revisando conjuntos habitacionais construídos em cidades e paisagens da América Latina, África e Ásia, no contexto da Guerra Fria. Em ambos os momentos históricos, a estratégia de auto-construção assistida foi utilizada para alcançar a população com menos recursos econômicos. Por um lado, entre as muitas críticas a estas operações estava a segregação social que elas produziriam; por outro, veremos como estes conjuntos habitacionais articulariam fragmentos urbanos que, por meio da concepção e implementação de equipamentos comunitários, apoiariam o desenvolvimento social dos habitantes. O primeiro momento que iremos rever corresponde ao início da promoção internacional de políticas de auto-construção por instituições norte-americanas; o segundo, é o momento em que o Banco Mundial expandiu esta agenda a nível global, incorporando, pela primeira vez, o problema da habitação urbana em sua agenda. Nestes dois períodos, a habitação foi incluída para promover o crescimento econômico, assim como para alargar as fronteiras geopolíticas do primeiro mundo –lideradas pelos Estados Unidos– para países do terceiro mundo

Rock-magnetic properties of topsoils and urban dust from Morelia (>800,000 inhabitants), Mexico: Implications for anthropogenic pollution monitoring in Mexico’s medium size cities

En el presente trabajo, investigamos la correlación entre algunos parámetros magnéticos y el nivel de contaminación por metales pesados en suelos urbanos de la ciudad de Morelia, en el occidente de México. El estudio magnético fue llevado a cabo en 98 muestras urbanas provenientes de diferentes tipos de uso de suelo. La mayoría de las muestras contienen minerales ferrimagnéticos como responsables de la magnetización, pertenecientes probablemente a las soluciones sólidas de las titanomagnetitas/ titanomaghemitas. Esto es inferido a partir de las mediciones de susceptibilidad en función de la temperatura y de los experimentos de magnetización remanente isotérmica (MRI). Estas mediciones indican además, que la mayoría de las muestras se saturan casi completamente antes de los 300 mT. Adicionalmente, los valores S-200 (S-200 = IRM-200/SIRM, donde IRM-200= magnetización a campo inverso de 200 mT después de la saturación magnética) se encuentran entre 0.7 y 1.0, característicos de minerales de baja coercitividad magnética. Las curvas promedio de magnetización remanente isotérmica de saturación (SIRM) pueden ser usadas como un indicador del nivel de contaminación, ya que estas curvas muestran diferentes valores de saturación de acuerdo al nivel de contaminación por metales pesados: Cu, Ni, Cr y Sr. Estas asociaciones de (titano)magnetitas con metales pesados fueron observadas bajo el Microscopio Electrónico de Barrido, revelando algunos agregados complejos en lugar de las esférulas detectadas comúnmente.In this work, we investigate the correlation between some magnetic parameters and the level of contamination by heavy metals in urban soils from Morelia city, western Mexico. The magnetic study was carried out on 98 urban soils samples belonging to distinct land uses. Most of analyzed samples contain ferrimagnetic minerals as the responsible for magnetization, most probably corresponding to the titanomagnetites/titanomaghemites solid solutions. This is inferred from the susceptibility vs. temperature measurements and the isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) experiments. These measurements also indicate that most of samples are almost completely saturated before 300 mT. Additionally, the S-200 values (S-200 = IRM-200/ SIRM, where IRM-200= Back-field of 200 mT after magnetic saturation) are between 0.7 and 1.0, characteristic of low coercivity magnetic minerals. The averaged saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) curves can be used as an indicator of pollution level, as these curves show different saturation values according to the level of contamination by heavy metals: Cu, Ni, Cr and Sr. These associations of (titano)magnetite with heavy metals were observed by Scanning Electron Microscope revealing some complex aggregates rather than commonly detected spherules.Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México through the projects CONACYT 118971 and PAPIIT IN 22311