La enseñanza de la sociología con la serie "Treme"

La comunicación se compone de tres partes. En la primera, se comentan las transformaciones recientes del ámbito cinematográfico, con la irrupción de una nueva ola de series televisivas de alta calidad. Estas realizaciones innovadoras, del estilo de las producidas por HBO (como “The Wire” y otras), responden a lo que podemos denominar el nuevo canon de película de 60 horas de duración. Se explica cómo las exigencias de la producción y, sobre todo, de la distribución de estos productos alentaron una vuelta a un cierto “neorrealismo” estético. En la segunda parte de la comunicación se expone y pondera una experiencia de enseñanza de la sociología desarrollada durante los dos últimos cursos en la Universidad de Valencia por los autores de la comunicación, utilizando la primera temporada de la serie “Treme”. La acción comienza tres meses después de la catástrofe del huracán Katrina. Los diez episodios de la primera temporada narran las consecuencias sociales y personales de la reconstrucción de los barrios afectados de Nueva Orleans, como el de Treme. Una galería de personajes van cruzando sus experiencias, siguiendo generalmente el hilo conductor de la música. El nexo entre reconstrucción y relaciones sociales permite repasar tanto los elementos de un curso clásico de sociología (estructura social, movilidad, subsistemas sociales, etc.), como otros relacionados con debates más actuales (riesgo, reconocimiento, etc.). En la tercera parte de la conferencia se pretende ubicar esta experiencia en un marco sociológico firme, revisando las teorías de Kracauer a la luz de recientes relecturas de sus aportaciones a la comprensión de las relaciones entre cine y sociedad. Kracauer fue pionero en una hermenéutica social del cine, con su obra “De Caligari a Hitler”. Intentó equilibrar un cierto determismo de esta obra con su también emblemática “Teoría del film”, criticada por acercarse al realismo ingenuo de Bazin y otros. Proponemos reinterpretar estos textos a partir de su libro póstumo sobre la historiografía y, sobre todo, con una revisión de sus textos de su primera etapa, del período de Weimar, y de la biografía de Offenbach, pieza clave, a nuestro entender, que permite pergeñar una teoría de los espectáculos populares (opereta, radio, cine, televisión) como lugartenientes de una realidad social deficiente y, por tanto, expresión de una pugna por el reconocimiento, en el sentido de A. Honneth. Siguiendo a Kracauer, por tanto, una experiencia hermenéutica, o incluso meramente didáctica, se convierte también en ocasión de teorización sociológica.This paper consists of three parts. In the first, we discussed recent changes in the film industry, with the emergence of a new wave of high quality television serials. These innovative productions, the style of those made by HBO (like "The Wire" and others), respond to what we call the new film canon 60 hours. It explains how the requirements of production and especially distribution of these products encouraged a return to a "neo-realism" aesthetic. In the second part of the communication is exposed and ponders an experience teaching sociology developed during the last two years at the University of Valencia by the authors of the communication, using the first season of "Treme". The action begins three months after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. The ten episodes of first season narrate the social and personal implications of the reconstruction of the affected neighborhoods of New Orleans, like Treme. A gallery of characters are crossing their experiences, usually following the thread of music. The link between reconstruction and social relations can review both classic elements of a sociology course (social structure , mobility, social subsystems, etc.) and other related with current debates (risk, recognition, etc.). In the third part of the paper is to locate this experience in a sociological framework, reviewing Kracauer 's theories in the light of recent re-readings of his contributions to the understanding of the relationship between cinema and society. Kracauer pioneered social hermeneutics of film with his "From Caligari to Hitler". He tried to balance some determinism of this work with its “Theory of film”, criticized by to be a naïve approach as realism of Bazin and others. We propose to reinterpret these texts from his posthumous book on historiography and, above all , with a review of the texts of the first phase of the Weimar period , and the biography of Offenbach, a key in our view, that allows to stablish a theory of popular shows (operetta, radio, cinema, television) as lieutenants of poor social reality and therefore expression of a struggle for recognition, in the sense of A. Honneth. Following Kracauer, an hermeneutic, or even merely learning experience, becomes an opportunity for sociological theorizing

Reprogrammable 4D printed liquid crystal elastomer photoactuators by means of light-reversible perylene diimide radicals

Reconfigurable soft actuators can be programmed to morph into different 3D shapes under the same stimulus exhibiting great potential for adaptive robotic functionalities. Liquid crystalline crosslinked materials programmed and controlled by light have demonstrated great potential in this area, however, their implementation is mainly based on azobenzene chromophores, using ultraviolet light that can potentially damage the device and its surroundings, especially if living cells are present. Here, an ink is presented, containing a green‐absorbing perylene diimide chromophore, to prepare light active liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) actuators via direct ink writing. Green light irradiation of the LCE elements leads to photothermal actuation, but also to new absorption bands in the far‐red and near‐infrared, ascribed to the formation of radical species. Far‐red irradiation results in mechanical actuation and, advantageously, a recovery of the original absorption spectrum. This reversible transformation enables spatial reconfigurability of the actuator's response to far‐red light. The reconfigurable system gives access to complex deformation modes by simply exciting the element with homogeneous far‐red light, without the need for any structural modification of the actuator. This material strategy, using green and far‐red light, less harmful than ultraviolet, shows significant promise for future development of reconfigurable actuators for biomedical applications

Disentangling the formation of contrasting tree line physiognomies combining model selection and Bayesian parameterization for simulation models.

Alpine tree-line ecotones are characterized by marked changes at small spatial scales that may result in a variety of physiognomies. A set of alternative individual-based models was tested with data from four contrasting Pinus uncinata ecotones in the central Spanish Pyrenees to reveal the minimal subset of processes required for tree-line formation. A Bayesian approach combined with Markov chain Monte Carlo methods was employed to obtain the posterior distribution of model parameters, allowing the use of model selection procedures. The main features of real tree lines emerged only in models considering nonlinear responses in individual rates of growth or mortality with respect to the altitudinal gradient. Variation in tree-line physiognomy reflected mainly changes in the relative importance of these nonlinear responses, while other processes, such as dispersal limitation and facilitation, played a secondary role. Different nonlinear responses also determined the presence or absence of krummholz, in agreement with recent findings highlighting a different response of diffuse and abrupt or krummholz tree lines to climate change. The method presented here can be widely applied in individual-based simulation models and will turn model selection and evaluation in this type of models into a more transparent, effective, and efficient exercise

Temperature-independent quantum logic for molecular spectroscopy

We propose a fast and non-destructive spectroscopic method for single molecular ions that implements quantum logic schemes between an atomic ion and the molecular ion of interest. Our proposal relies on a hybrid coherent manipulation of the two-ion system, using optical or magnetic forces depending on the types of molecular levels to be addressed (Zeeman, rotational, vibrational or electronic degrees of freedom). The method is especially suited for the non-destructive precision spectroscopy of single molecular ions, and sets a starting point for new hybrid quantum computation schemes that combine molecular and atomic ions, covering the measurement and entangling steps.Comment: v3. Substantially enlarged manuscript with details of derivations and calculations in two appendices. To appear in PR

Effect of microalgae incorporation on physicochemical and textural properties in wheat bread formulation

[EN] The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of different microalgae on physicochemical and textural properties of bread. Four species of microalgae Isochrysis galbana, Tetraselmissuecica, Scenedesmus almeriensis, and Nannochloropsis gaditana were used in this study. Properties such as water activity, pH, microbiological counts, viscosity, and color were analyzed to determine the effect of microalgae addition on sourdough. The technological quality of breads was analyzed in terms of physicochemical properties, color, texture profile, and porosity. The main effect of microalgae addition was changes in bread color, crust, and crumb that implies an increase of browning and an evolution to more green-yellow tonalities. The textural parameters of breads such as hardness, chewiness, and resilience are not modified by microalgae addition.García-Segovia, P.; Pagán Moreno, MJ.; Lara, IF.; Martínez Monzó, J. (2017). Effect of microalgae incorporation on physicochemical and textural properties in wheat bread formulation. Food Science and Technology International. 23(5):437-447. doi:10.1177/1082013217700259S43744723