"C'est incroyable" : Goethe et la gravure satirique du Directoire ou La comparaison infinie

En passant par Francfort, sa ville natale, le 23 août 1797, Goethe fait la découverte d'"environ deux cents gravures satiriques françaises" comme il l'écrit le lendemain à Schiller. Il s'agit de gravures faites il y a deux ou trois ans à Paris, la dernière au mois de mars 1797. [...] De toute façon Goethe choisit 55 de ces gravures, les "schématise" (ibid.), comme il dit lui-même, et en donne une brève description. Résultat: le manuscrit "Recension einer Anzahl französischer satyrischer Kupferstiche" que son secrétaire du nom de Geist recopie sous la dictée de son maître

Carl Einstein und der Mythos

Der von Nietzsche ausgerufene Tod Gottes zeitigt im Werk Carl Einsteins mehrere Reaktionen. In den Dilettanten des Wunders und in G.F.R.G. überwiegt die Skepsis hinsichtlich eines Ersatzmythos, den er gleichzeitig mit Nachdruck fordert. Der Begriff der Gemeinschaft spielt dabei eine zentrale Rolle, erst in kommunistischer, dann anarchistisch-syndikalistischer Gestalt. Unter dem Einfluss der Negerplastik sucht Einstein aber auch eine ästhetische Lösung des transzendentalen Problems, die um 1930 in der direkten Forderung nach einem neuen Mythos gipfelt. Während er die fremdkulturelle Primitive „ethnologisiert“, glaubt Einstein nun über surrealistische Verfahren das kollektive Unbewusste erreichen zu können. 1933 wird diese Hoffnung durch einen anderen Mythos, den des Dritten Reiches, zerschmettert – „jude ohne gott“, erwacht Einstein aus seinen utopischen Träumen im Exil: In der Fabrikation der Fiktionen wendet er nunmehr seine „Ethnologie du Blanc“ zur radikalen Ideologiekritik, in die er sich selber mit einschließt. Ideell und auch wirtschaftlich ruiniert, engagiert er sich in Spanien im antifaschistischen Kampf und erlebt wiederum Gemeinschaft auf Seiten des legendären Buonaventura Durutti.La mort de Dieu, proclamée par Nietzsche, provoque tout un complexe de réactions dans l’œuvre de Carl Einstein. Dans les Dilettantes du miracle et dans G.F.R.G., son scepticisme l’emporte sur l’espoir d’un Ersatz mythique qu’il revendique en même temps avec la plus grande insistance. Dans ce contexte, l’idée de communauté joue un rôle central, d’abord sous la forme du communisme, plus tard sous la forme anarcho-syndicaliste. Pourtant, sous l’influence de la Sculpture nègre, Einstein cherche aussi une solution esthétique au problème transcendantal, recherche qui parvient à son apogée avec la création postulée d’un mythe nouveau. Soumettant les cultures primitives à une analyse ethnologique, il croit pouvoir atteindre l’inconscient collectif de son public à l’aide de procédés surréalistes. En 1933, cet espoir est anéanti par un autre mythe, celui du Troisième Reich – « juif sans dieu », Einstein se réveille de ses rêves utopiques en exil. Dans Fabrication des fictions, il transforme son « Ethnologie du Blanc » en une critique idéologique radicale, incluant aussi sa propre position. Devant l’échec de sa quête spirituelle, et économiquement ruiné, Einstein s’engage dans la lutte antifasciste en Espagne, où il vit une nouvelle expérience communautaire aux côtés du légendaire Buonaventura Durutti.In Carl Einstein’s work, the death of God, as proclaimed by Nietzsche, provokes several responses. In the Dilettantes of Miracle or in G.F.R.G., his scepticism prevails over the desire of a mythical Ersatz which Einstein nevertheless postulates vigorously. In this context, the concept of community plays a central role, first in form of communism, then in form of anarcho-syndicalism. But under the influence of Negro Sculpture, Einstein looks out for an aesthetic solution of the transcendental problem which around 1930 culminates in the demand to create a new myth following surrealist procedures. In 1933 this hope is annihilated by another myth, the myth of the Third Reich – “jew without god”, Einstein wakes up from his utopian dreams in exile. In his Fabrication of Fictions, he transforms his “Ethnologie du Blanc” into a radical ideological critique which includes his own position. Ruined intellectually and economically, Einstein engages in the antifascist fight in Spain, and he lives again a mythical community on the side of the legendary Buonaventura Durutti

Ga substitution as an effective variation of Mn-Tb coupling in multiferroic TbMnO3

Ga for Mn substitution in multiferroic TbMnO$_{3}$ has been performed in order to study the influence of Mn-magnetic ordering on the Tb-magnetic sublattice. Complete characterization of TbMn$_{1-x}$Ga$_x$O$_{3}$ ($x$ = 0, 0.04, 0.1) samples, including magnetization, impedance spectroscopy, and x-ray resonant scattering and neutron diffraction on powder and single crystals has been carried out. We found that keeping the same crystal structure for all compositions, Ga for Mn substitution leads to the linear decrease of $T_{\rm N}^{\rm Mn}$ and $\tau^{\rm Mn}$, reflecting the reduction of the exchange interactions strength $J_{\rm Mn-Mn}$ and the change of the Mn-O-Mn bond angles. At the same time, a strong suppression of both the induced and the separate Tb-magnetic ordering has been observed. This behavior unambiguously prove that the exchange fields $J_{\rm Mn-Tb}$ have a strong influence on the Tb-magnetic ordering in the full temperature range below $T_{\rm N}^{\rm Mn}$ and actually stabilize the Tb-magnetic ground state.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Emotion and memory: Event-related potential indices predictive for subsequent successful memory depend on the emotional mood state.

The present research investigated the influencesof emotional mood states on cognitive processes and neural circuits during long-term memory encoding using event-related potentials (ERPs). We assessed whether the subsequent memory effect (SME), an electrophysiological index of successful memory encoding, varies as a function of participants’ current mood state. ERPs were recorded while participants in good or bad mood states were presented with words that had to be memorized for subsequent recall. In contrast to participants in bad mood, participants in good mood most frequently applied elaborative encoding styles. At the neurophysiological level, ERP analyses showed that potentials to subsequently recalled words were more positive than to forgotten words at central electrodes in the time interval of 500-650 ms after stimulus onset (SME). At fronto-central electrodes, a polarity-reversed SME was obtained. The strongest modulations of the SME by participants’ mood state were obtained at fronto-temporal electrodes. These differences in the scalp topography of the SME suggest that successful recall relies on partially separable neural circuits for good and bad mood states. The results are consistent with theoretical accounts of the interface between emotion and cognition that propose mood-dependent cognitive styles

The SPARC water vapour assessment II: comparison of annual, semi-annual and quasi-biennial variations in stratospheric and lower mesospheric water vapour observed from satellites

In the framework of the second SPARC (Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate) water vapour assessment (WAVAS-II), the amplitudes and phases of the annual, semi-annual and quasi-biennial variation in stratospheric and lower mesospheric water were compared using 30 data sets from 13 different satellite instruments. These comparisons aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the typical uncertainties in the observational database which can be considered in subsequent observational and modelling studies. For the amplitudes, a good agreement of their latitude and altitude distribution was found. Quantitatively there were differences in particular at high latitudes, close to the tropopause and in the lower mesosphere. In these regions, the standard deviation over all data sets typically exceeded 0.2 ppmv for the annual variation and 0.1 ppmv for the semi-annual and quasi-biennial variation. For the phase, larger differences between the data sets were found in the lower mesosphere. Generally the smallest phase uncertainties can be observed in regions where the amplitude of the variability is large. The standard deviations of the phases for all data sets were typically smaller than a month for the annual and semi-annual variation and smaller than 5 months for the quasi-biennial variation. The amplitude and phase differences among the data sets are caused by a combination of factors. In general, differences in the temporal variation of systematic errors and in the observational sampling play a dominant role. In addition, differences in the vertical resolution of the data, the considered time periods and influences of clouds, aerosols as well as non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) effects cause differences between the individual data sets

The SPARC water vapour assessment II: biases and drifts of water vapour satellite data records with respect to frost point hygrometer records

Satellite data records of stratospheric water vapour have been compared to balloon-borne frost point hygrometer (FP) profiles that are coincident in space and time. The satellite data records of 15 different instruments cover water vapour data available from January 2000 through December 2016. The hygrometer data are from 27 stations all over the world in the same period. For the comparison, real or constructed averaging kernels have been applied to the hygrometer profiles to adjust them to the measurement characteristics of the satellite instruments. For bias evaluation, we have compared satellite profiles averaged over the available temporal coverage to the means of coincident FP profiles for individual stations. For drift determinations, we analysed time series of relative differences between spatiotemporally coincident satellite and hygrometer profiles at individual stations. In a synopsis we have also calculated the mean biases and drifts (and their respective uncertainties) for each satellite record over all applicable hygrometer stations in three altitude ranges (10–30 hPa, 30–100 hPa, and 100 hPa to tropopause). Most of the satellite data have biases <10 % and average drifts <1 % yr−1 in at least one of the respective altitude ranges. Virtually all biases are significant in the sense that their uncertainty range in terms of twice the standard error of the mean does not include zero. Statistically significant drifts (95 % confidence) are detected for 35 % of the ≈ 1200 time series of relative differences between satellites and hygrometers

Regulation of GDF-15, a distant TGF-β superfamily member, in a mouse model of cerebral ischemia

GDF-15 is a novel distant member of the TGF-β superfamily and is widely distributed in the brain and peripheral nervous system. We have previously reported that GDF-15 is a potent neurotrophic factor for lesioned dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, and that GDF-15-deficient mice show progressive postnatal losses of motor and sensory neurons. We have now investigated the regulation of GDF-15 mRNA and immunoreactivity in the murine hippocampal formation and selected cortical areas following an ischemic lesion by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO). MCAO prominently upregulates GDF-15 mRNA in the hippocampus and parietal cortex at 3 h and 24 h after lesion. GDF-15 immunoreactivity, which is hardly detectable in the unlesioned brain, is drastically upregulated in neurons identified by double-staining with NeuN. NeuN staining reveals that most, if not all, neurons in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus and pyramidal layers of the cornu ammonis become GDF-15-immunoreactive. Moderate induction of GDF-15 immunoreactivity has been observed in a small number of microglial cells identified by labeling with tomato lectin, whereas astroglial cells remain GDF-15-negative after MCAO. Comparative analysis of the size of the infarcted area after MCAO in GDF-15 wild-type and knockout mice has failed to reveal significant differences. Together, our data substantiate the notion that GDF-15 is prominently upregulated in the lesioned brain and might be involved in orchestrating post-lesional responses other than the trophic support of neurons

The First Post-Kepler Brightness Dips of KIC 8462852

We present a photometric detection of the first brightness dips of the unique variable star KIC 8462852 since the end of the Kepler space mission in 2013 May. Our regular photometric surveillance started in October 2015, and a sequence of dipping began in 2017 May continuing on through the end of 2017, when the star was no longer visible from Earth. We distinguish four main 1-2.5% dips, named "Elsie," "Celeste," "Skara Brae," and "Angkor", which persist on timescales from several days to weeks. Our main results so far are: (i) there are no apparent changes of the stellar spectrum or polarization during the dips; (ii) the multiband photometry of the dips shows differential reddening favoring non-grey extinction. Therefore, our data are inconsistent with dip models that invoke optically thick material, but rather they are in-line with predictions for an occulter consisting primarily of ordinary dust, where much of the material must be optically thin with a size scale <<1um, and may also be consistent with models invoking variations intrinsic to the stellar photosphere. Notably, our data do not place constraints on the color of the longer-term "secular" dimming, which may be caused by independent processes, or probe different regimes of a single process