Green megawatts for Germany: Geographical experiments in electrification and the political ecology of thermodynamics

Der Übergang vom fossilen Zeitalter hin zu einer kohlenstoffarmen Zukunft mit erneuerbaren Energien erfordert eine tiefgreifende Transformation, Reorganisation und Neukonfiguration des sozio-ökologischen Stoffwechsels, der insbesondere eine tiefgreifende raumzeitliche und politische Veränderung darstellt. Diese Arbeit analysiert diesen Wandel, indem sie die Rolle thermodynamischer Narrative untersucht, die im Zusammenhang mit der Elektrifizierung des Kapitalismus im Deutschland des endenden 19. Jahrhunderts aufgekommen sind. Sie geht der Frage nach, welche Bedeutung diese thermodynamischen Narrative für die lokale Umstrukturierung der Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehung in der kohlenstoffarmen Energiewende weiterhin haben. Anhand eines neuartigen Analyserahmens, genannt ‚kritische Thermodynamik‘, der diese miteinander verbundenen Beziehungen in einem historisch-materialistischen Kontext analysiert, werden drei Hauptargumente vorgebracht. Erstens führt eine thermodynamische Narration mit ihren materiellen Implikationen das menschliche Streben nach "grüner" Energie in einen gegenwärtigen Zustand, auf dem die wissenschaftlichen und politischen Einzelheiten eines zukünftigen Natur-Energie-Beziehung aufbauen. Zweitens, in der gegenwärtigen Phase der Energiewende produziert das Kapital aufgrund des Fokus auf die effiziente Verteilung erneuerbarer Energien neue ökonomische Formationen in Prozessen der ökologischen Modernisierung. Dabei wird die Energieflexibilität als zentrales Terrain für die Aufrechterhaltung eines Status Quos als Ausgleich infrastruktureller Defizite herausgearbeitet. Drittens steuert der Staat die Energiewende durch experimentelle Ansätze, die dem Kapital einen technokratischen Raum für seine notwendigen socio-ecological fixes bieten sollen.The transition from the fossil fuel era to a low-carbon future of renewable energy requires profound transformation, reorganisation, and reconfiguration of the socio-ecological metabolism. Since this metabolism was initially built upon centralised thermal power plants, the move to a future system that predominantly lives of ‘green megawatts’ from decentralised renewable energy sources represents a major spatiotemporal and political shift. This thesis analyses such a shift by investigating the role of thermodynamic narratives, which emerged in the context of electrification of capitalism in Germany at the end of the 19th century. It addresses the question of how these thermodynamic narratives continue to matter for the localised restructuring of the human-environmental relationship in the low-carbon energy transition. Through a novel framework of ‘critical thermodynamics’, which analyses these interconnected relations through a historical materialist framework, the thesis makes three main arguments. First, a thermodynamic narrativity along with its material implications guides the human quest for abundant ‘green’ energy into the contemporary conjuncture on which the scientific and political specificities of the future nature-energy relationship are built. Second, because of a focus on the efficient distribution of renewable energy in the current phase of the energy transition, capital produces new economic formations in wider processes of ecological modernisation. Here, energy flexibility is exposed as a central terrain for maintaining a status quo despite infrastructural shortcomings. Third, the state guides the energy transition through experimental approaches, intended to provide a technocratic space for capital to perform its necessary socio-ecological fixes

Forward inclusive dijet production and azimuthal correlations in pA collisions

We derive forward inclusive dijet production in the scattering of a dilute hadron off an arbitrary dense target, whose partons with small fraction of momentum x are described by a Color Glass Condensate. Both multiple scattering and non-linear QCD evolution at small-x are included. This is of relevance for measurements of two-particle correlations in the proton direction of proton-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. The azimuthal angle distribution is peaked back to back and broadens as the momenta of the measured particles gets closer to the saturation scale.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, references added, version to appear in NP

Lens and Retina Formation Require Expression of Pitx3 in Xenopus Pre-lens Ectoderm

Pitx3 is expressed in tissues fated to contribute to eye development, namely, neurula stage ectoderm and prechordal mesoderm, then presumptive lens ectoderm, placode, and finally lens. Pitx3 overexpression alters lens, optic cup, optic nerve, and diencephalon development. Many of the induced anomalies are attributable to midline deficits; however, as assessed by molecular markers, ectopic Pitx3 appears to temporarily enlarge the lens field. These changes are usually insufficient to generate either ectopic lenses to enlarge the eye that eventually differentiates. Conversely, use of a repressor chimera or of antisense morpholinos alters early expression of marker genes, and later inhibits lens development, thereby abrogating retinal induction. Reciprocal grafting experiments using wild-type and morpholino-treated tissues demonstrate that Pitx3 expression in the presumptive lens ectoderm is required for lens formation. Contradictory to recent assertions that retina can form in the absence of a lens, the expression of Pitx3 in the presumptive lens ectoderm. is critical for retina development

Antropología y envejecimiento: aproximaciones teóricas y ejemplos etnográficos

La ponencia se propone realizar algunas consideraciones sobre la aproximación antropológica al estudio de los procesos de envejecimiento. La misma comprenderá el estudio de un conjunto de textos seleccionados y analizados en los últimos años en el marco de los contenidos del curso de Etnografía II, asignatura obligatoria para todos los estudiantes que cursan la Carrera de Antropología de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo (UNLP). Partiendo de la consideración de que las cuestiones vinculadas al género y la edad se instalan como preocupación disciplinar en la segunda parte del siglo XX, nos proponemos rescatar los principales aportes que las fuentes etnográficas nos ofrecen, especialmente sobre los procesos de envejecimiento y la variabilidad de experiencias del envejecer. Rescataremos el valor del criterio etario como un principio de organización presente en distintas sociedades, sobre la base del cual las mismas establecen un parámetro para ubicar a los individuos más o menos contemporáneos en el marco de sus relaciones con el resto de conjunto social. En tal sentido, destacaremos el valor central del concepto de edad social para entender diversas estrategias culturales asignadas al colectivo “viejos”. Finalmente, señalaremos el modo en que el estudio de los procesos de envejecimiento en las sociedades etnográficas puede contribuir a la reflexión acerca del fenómeno en las sociedades modernas. Basados en la variabilidad intra e intercultural que nos ofrece la aproximación antropológica, reflexionaremos sobre los aportes que el trabajo disciplinar e interdisciplinar puede proporcionar para una mejor comprensión del problema del envejecimiento y las políticas adecuadas para el tránsito por esta última etapa del trayecto vital.Facultad de Trabajo Socia

Bryan Kies

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Exited Prostitution Survivor Policy Platform

Survivors of prostitution propose a policy reform platform including three main pillars of priority: criminal justice reforms, fair employment, and standards of care. The sexual exploitation of prostituted individuals has lasting effects which can carry over into many aspects of life. In order to remedy these effects and give survivors the opportunity to live a full and free life, we must use a survivor-centered approach to each of these pillars to create change. First, reform is necessary in the criminal justice system to recognize survivors as victims of crime and not perpetrators, while holding those who exploited them fully responsible. Second, reform is necessary to assist survivors in finding fair employment by offering vocational training, financial counseling, and educational scholarships, as well as offering employment opportunities that utilize survivors’ vast array of skills and interests. Finally, standards of care for survivors exiting prostitution should focus on supporting survivors in our journeys and support short- and long-term resources that empower us. These systemic changes are necessary to recognize survivors as the valuable human beings we are and to support survivors in fulfilling our vast potential

On multiple scatterings of mesons in hot and cold QCD matter

We study the propagation of a color singlet q\bar{q} pair undergoing multiple scatterings in hot and cold QCD matter. The interaction of the dipole with the nucleus or plasma is described with the McLerran-Venugopalan and Gyulassy-Wang models respectively. We find identical results when expressed in terms of the saturation momentum of either the nucleus or the plasma. We compare two kinds of multiple scatterings, elastic and inelastic with respect to the target. When allowing the target to scatter inelastically, the difference with the elastic case is suppressed by a 1/N^2_c factor. We also discuss some implications of our results in the following situations: the survival probability of quarkonia in a hot medium, the production of high-p_T heavy mesons in nucleus-nucleus collisions, and the production of vector mesons in deep inelastic scattering off nuclei.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, discussions improved, references added, to be published in NP