El ‘Secreto Mortal’ de la profecía: lenguaje performativo y parabólico en The Fishermen, de Chigozie Obioma

In Chigozie Obioma’s novel, The Fishermen (2015), we witness the tragic events triggered by a prophecy delivered to four Nigerian brothers. My main aim in this essay is, following J. Hillis Miller’s analysis of speech acts in literature, and also ideas by Jacques Derrida and Derek Attridge, to develop an argument about this prophecy as a performative use of words that makes things happen in the world by way of its listeners and believers. The prophecy is presented as a speech act characterised by secrecy, obscurity and ambiguity, given the impossibility of subjecting its words to true and false verification and its undecidability in relation to the literal and the figurative uses of language. It is a speech act that requires an addressee that literally and naively believes in it, with Ikenna–the oldest brother–emerging as such a believer, who in this sense is just like his siblings, repeatedly presented as taking language at face value, unable to recognize its duplicitous and ambivalent nature. Because of this inability to perceive the parabolic or indirect dimension of language, the children establish a continuity between language and action, which leads them to act on reality led by words, in all cases with fatal consequences.En The Fishermen (2015), de Chigozie Obioma, contemplamos los trágicos acontecimientos provocados por una profecía de la que son testigos cuatro hermanos nigerianos. En este artículo mi objetivo principal es, siguiendo el análisis de J. Hillis Miller de los actos de habla en la literatura, y también ideas de Jacques Derrida y Derek Attidge, desarrollar un argumento sobre esta profecía como un uso performativo de las palabras que hace que algo suceda en el mundo a través de las personas que la escuchan y creen en ella. Es un acto de habla caracterizado por el secretismo, la oscuridad y la ambigüedad, dada la imposibilidad de verificar sus palabras como verdaderas o falsas y su indecidibilidad en relación con el uso literal y figurativo del lenguaje. Un acto de habla de este tipo necesita un destinatario que crea en él de un modo ingenuo y literal. Ikenna, el hermano mayor, resulta ser ese destinatario, ya que, al igual que sus hermanos, interpreta el lenguaje al pie de la letra, incapaz de reconocer su carácter parabólico y engañoso. Ello les lleva a actuar en la realidad dirigidos por las palabras, en todos los casos con fatales consecuencias. A través de su dimensión performativa, y haciendo un paralelismo entre esa tragedia familiar y la trágica evolución de la nación nigeriana debido a los efectos de la colonización y de los acontecimientos políticos de los años 90, The Fishermen representa el poder de las palabras para determinar y transformar las creencias personales y colectivas y la realidad misma

Elucidating mysteries of phase-segregated membranes: Mobile-lipid recruitment facilitates pores' passage to the fluid phase

Phase segregation of multicomponent lipid bilayers leads to, under phase-coexistence conditions, domain formation, featuring delimitation by essentially one-dimensional borders. (Micro-)phase segregation of bilayers is proposed to influence the physiological behaviour of cell membranes and provides the driving force for lipid-raft formation. Experiments show a maximum in the electrical-conductivity of membranes at the phase-transition point, which has been conjectured to arise from border-nucleated transmembrane-conducting defects or pores. However, recent electroporation experiments on phase-segregated bilayers demonstrate electro-pore detection in the liquid disordered phase (Ld), wherein they diffuse over macroscopic periods without absorption into the liquid ordered phase (Lo). Here, we scrutinise transmembrane-pore formation via molecular dynamics simulations on a multicomponent phase-segregated bilayer. We find that pores created in Lo domains always migrate spontaneously to the Ld phase, via 'recruitment' of unsaturated lipids to the pore's rim to transport the pore to the fluid phase under a large stress-field driving force. Once in Ld domains, pores migrate towards their centre, never returning or pinning to Lo. These findings are explained by thermodynamics. By comparing the free-energy cost for creating pores in the bulk of Ld and Lo membranes, and in the phase-segregated system, we show that it is always more energetically tractable to create pores in Ld domains, independent of the pore size.Fil: López Martí, Jesús María. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: English, Niall J.. University College Dublin; IrlandaFil: del Popolo, Mario Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentin

Working Environment in Nursing: Needs Improvement?

Background: Knowing the quality of life of professionals is important because it is related to job performance, better results, and greater productivity, which results in better patient care. Objective: To know the Professional Quality of Life perceived by the nurses at the Geriatric Hospital of Toledo (Spain). Method: A descriptive cross-section study was employed to measure the Professional Quality of Life of all healthcare nurses (69 in total) at the Geriatric Hospital of Toledo. The questionnaire used as a measuring instrument was the Professional Quality of Life - 35. The data obtained was analyzed by means of: descriptive statistics, single-factor ANOVA variance analysis, T Student tests, and simple and multiple regression analysis. The study was approved by both the research commission and the ethics commission at the Hospital Complex of Toledo. Participation in the study on behalf of the nursing staff was voluntary. Results: In total, 45 responses were obtained (65.2%). The overall mean score measured the perceived Professional Quality of Life to be low. In relation to the three dimensions evaluated in the study, the highest average found was in “intrinsic motivation,” followed by “workload”, and then “management support.” In the multivariate analysis, “management support” was shown as the most influential factor in the Professional Quality of Life with a 23% influence (P<0.001), followed by workload with 9% (P = 0.01). Conclusions: The professionals at the participating center perceive their workplace as having an elevated degree of responsibility, a large quantity of work, a high occurrence of rushes and fatigue, and all this with little support on behalf of management. Promotions are scarce or the policies for receiving a promotion are inadequate. The perception of Professional Quality of Life in nursing is low. The obtained results indicate a need for an organizing cultural change based on participation, motivation, and increased management support

Dissecting the role of NtrC and RpoN in the expression of assimilatory nitrate and nitrite reductases in Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens

Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, a nitrogen- fixing endosymbiont of soybeans, is a model strain for studying rhizobial denitrification. This bacterium can also use nitrate as the sole nitrogen (N) source during aerobic growth by inducing an assimilatory nitrate reductase encoded by nasC located within the narK-bjgb-flp-nasC operon along with a nitrite reductase encoded by nirA at a different chromosomal locus. The global nitrogen two-component regulatory system NtrBC has been reported to coordinate the expression of key enzymes in nitrogen metabolism in several bacteria. In this study, we demonstrate that disruption of ntrC caused a growth defect in B. diazoefficiens cells in the presence of nitrate or nitrite as the sole N source and a decreased activity of the nitrate and nitrite reductase enzymes. Furthermore, the expression of narK-lacZor nirA-lacZ transcriptional fusions was significantly reduced in the ntrC mutant after incubation under nitrate assimilation conditions. AB. diazoefficiens rpoN 1/2 mutant, lacking both copies of the gene encoding the alternative sigma factor σ54, was also defective in aerobic growth with nitrate as the N source as well as in nitrate and nitrite reductase expression. These results demonstrate that the NtrC regulator is required for expression of the B. diazoefficiens nasC and nirA genes and that the sigma factor RpoN is also involved in this regulation.Instituto de Biotecnologia y Biologia Molecula

Forest Ecosystem Services: An Analysis of Worldwide Research

The relevance of forests to sustain human well-being and the serious threats they face have led to a notable increase of research works on forest ecosystem services during the last few years. This paper analyses the worldwide research dynamics on forest ecosystem services in the period from 1998 to 2017. A bibliometric analysis of 4284 articles was conducted. The results showed that the number of published research articles has especially increased during the last five years. In total, 68.63% of the articles were published in this period. This research line experiences a growing trend superior to the general publishing trend on forest research. In spite of this increase, its relative significance within the forest research is still limited. The most productive subject areas corresponded to Environmental Science, Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Social Sciences Economic topics are understudied. The scientific production is published in a wide range of journals. The three first publishing countries are United States, China and the United Kingdom. The most productive authors are attached to diverse research centres and their contributions are relatively recent. A high level of international cooperation has been observed between countries, institutions and authors. The findings of this study are useful for researchers since they give them an overview of the worldwide research trends on forest ecosystem services

Using hydrogeomorphological interpretation to improve runoff-threshold estimation in mediterranean ephemeral streams (ramblas)

The runoff threshold (P0) is one of the key parameters in the study of catchment hydrological response. It is fundamental in the analysis of rainfall-runoff conversion processes, for estimating water budgets and for describing the genesis of hortonian overland flow, as it provides information on the precipitation losses within the fluvial systems, from the start of the episode until runoff is produced. There are several methods for estimating this parameter. In the case of small semiarid and Mediterranean basins, complex models are not suitable due to the specific conditions of these environments as well as the quantity of data required for the models. In these environments, empirical methods have demonstrated to be more effective. One of the most used models in Spain is that developed by the US Soil Conservation Service (SCS) in 1972, and modified by Témez (1978, 1991). This is a simple, easy to apply model, which uses slope values, vegetation, land use and soil hydrological group data. In spite of the generalized application of the model and its multiple adaptations, there are still many uncertainties, mainly related to the soil hydrological groups which, together with land use, are the most sensitive variables in runoff threshold estimation. These uncertainties are especially important in small semiarid basins and Mediterranean ephemeral streams where soils are generally very heterogeneous, not well developed, highly dependent on underlying rock and have been heavily exploited. In order to improve runoff threshold estimation in semiarid environments, some authors have included detailed information about soils in the model but without improving the results significantly. Others have assigned the soil hydrological group directly from lithology, without considering soil type. This paper proposes some modifications to the SCS method related to the assignation of the soil hydrological group in order to improve runoff threshold estimation in Mediterranean basins. In these environments, hydrological behavior is highly determined by the strong interaction between geomorphological structure, lithology and edaphology. These three variables are combined at basin scale, in order to assign the soil hydrological group with the aim of using hidrogeomorphological interpretation to improve runoff threshold estimation. The method has been applied, using GIS, to several small basins located in the Mediterranean Spanish region. Although the estimation of runoff threshold using a GIS is a process which can be easily automated, the proposed modification requires the expert geomorphological knowledge of the catchment. Runoff thresholds obtained with this method are presented here. Although the results have to be checked with runoff threshold data obtained by water budget, so far they are consistent with the expected values for the study area from literature references

The Sustainable Management of Metals: An Analysis of Global Research

The objective of this study was to analyze research trends in the field of sustainable management of metals on a global level between 1993 and 2017. To do so, a bibliometric analysis was carried out on a total of 6967 articles. The results revealed the growing interest in this research field, particularly over the last five year-period during which 63% of all articles were published. The three journals in which most articles had been published were the Journal of Cleaner Production, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, and Chemsuschem. The countries that published the most articles were China, the United States, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. A sizeable network of collaboration has been established between countries for the joint publication of studies. The main lines of research have been focused on metal decontamination in water and soil, waste management oriented towards reuse and recycling, and the innovation of processes for cleaner and more efficient production. The results revealed the need for comprehensive studies that integrate different disciplines within the same analytical framework, and to promote research that contributes to the different dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social)