An Ecocritical Analysis of Wide Sargasso Sea

Traballo Fin de Grao en Lingua e Literatura Inglesas. Curso 2018-2019The main purpose of this study is to analyze, from an ecocritical point of view, how the different ecocultures of Antoinette and her husband, the main characters of Jean Rhys’ 1996 novel ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’, affect their relationship. An ecocritical approach, specifically an ecofeminist one, will help us dig deeper into the relationship of power presented in the story, not only between man and woman, but also between the colony and the metropolis. For this purpose, it is necessary to consider also the post-colonial factors relevant in the novel that will be presented in the introduction and analyzed later on. This work will be organized in three parts. First, a brief approximation of the ecocritic theory, most importantly, the ecofeminism branch, in relation to the post-colonial aspect will be provided due to its relevance for understanding ‘Wide Sargasso Sea’. Second, the connection between body and land in the story, as well as the embodiment of the different ecocultures in the characters and how does this relate to the colonization of women’s bodies will be discussed. For this aim, issues of economical subjugation of both the colony and the women and the subversion of both in order to achieve freedom need to be taken into consideration. Third the idea of belonging in connection to “the Other” and otherness, both in terms of gender and nature, will be further analyzed in the descriptions of the environment from different points of view, including trauma and the use of nature to heal the psyche. An ecocritical approach to this canonical novel, as the one offered here, will help the readers see the relevance of aspects that have gone unnoticed so far. Furthermore, the analysis will provide further and new information for future ecofeminist readings of this or other post-colonial novels in order to understand more about the context and the power relatioship

Perceived facilitating and hindering factors to exclusive breastfeeding among Latin American immigrant women living in Colmenar Viejo (Community of Madrid, Spain)

The way in which an infant is breastfed by a migrant woman reflects her bio-psycho-social circumstances and her process of cultural transformation and adaptation to the host country. Exploring facilitating and hindering factors to exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) of immigrant mothers in Spain is essential for the development of guidelines that protect EBF. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the factors perceived as facilitating or hindering EBF during the first six months of the baby's life by Latin American women living in Colmenar Viejo, a city in the Community of Madrid (Spain). We carried out in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews between December 2018 and February 2019 with 11 Latin American mothers who were recruited through key informants and snowball sampling. We audio-recorded the interviews, transcribed them, and performed content analysis to examine the data. EBF was facilitated by the mother and her family having information about its benefits, lower economic expenses, family and healthcare system support, certain popular and spiritual beliefs, and the mother's acculturation process in Spanish society. The hindering factors identified were the perception of EBF as a sacrifice, incompatible with working life, with unsightly and painful consequences for the mother, insufficient to nourish the baby and ineffective after some months, poorly supported by the broader social environment and the healthcare system. EBF was restricted by certain popular beliefs, associated with a stigma if abandoned, and linked to less economically favored social classes. Some of these hindering or facilitating factors are similar to those present in the original Latin American society or the receiving Spanish society. EBF is a complex process, with satisfactory and suffering stages, regulated by beliefs and experiences. EBF must be promoted intersectorally by governmental, health and societal actors considering the biological, psychological, social, and cultural characteristics of the mother and her communitySpanish Ministry of Education and Professional Training Collaboration Grant, number 18CO1/003827 (2000 € for the development of a collaboration project endorsed and evaluated by the Nursing Department of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Primeros estudios arqueobotánicos en Península de Valdés (Patagonia Argentina): el sitio San Pablo 6

El análisis del material recuperado en el sitio San Pablo 6 representa el inicio de los estudios arqueobotánicos en Península Valdés (prov. Chubut, Argentina) ya que hasta la actualidad no se han llevado a cabo estudios de estas características en esta zona de la Patagonia. En este trabajo se presentan los primeros datos sobre el uso de los recursos leñosos por sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras que habitaron un sector de la costa del Golfo Nuevo de la Península Valdés. Las cuatro especies representadas en el diagrama antracológico de San Pablo 6 -Atriplex lampa, Suaeda divaricata, Chuquiraga avellanedae y Schinus johnstonii- sugieren que la obtención del material leñoso podría haberse dado en formaciones vegetales de tipo estepario, similares a las que actualmente caracterizan el ambiente donde se localiza el sitio. Los resultados alcanzados evidencian un uso heterogéneo y local del material leñoso destinado a la combustión.The analysis of the recovered material of the San Pablo 6 site represents the beginning of the archaeobotanical studies in Península Valdés (Chubut province, Argentina). There has no any other study of these characteristics in Patagonia until now. This paper shows the first data of the use of wood resources by the hunter-gatherer societies that inhabit a coastal fringe of the Golfo Nuevo of Península Valdés. The four species represented in the anthracological diagram of San Pablo 6 -Atriplex lampa, Suaeda divaricata, Chuquiraga avellanedae and Schinus johnstonii- suggest that the woody material obtaining would have develop in steppe formation, similar to those that characterize nowadays the site ́s environment. The results show a heterogeneous and local use of the wood material destined to combustion.Fil: Caruso, Laura Lihue. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina. Istituto Per La Valorizzazione Del Legno E Delle Specie Arboree; ItaliaFil: Gomez Otero, Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto de Diversidad y Evolución Austral; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia; Argentin

Creeping and structural effects in Faradaic artificial muscles

Reliable polymeric motors are required for the construction of rising accurate robots for surgeon assistance. Artificial muscles based on the electrochemistry of conducting polymers fulfil most of the required characteristics, except the presence of creeping effects during actuation. To avoid it, or to control it, a deeper knowledge of its physicochemical origin is required. With this aim here bending bilayer tape/PPy-DBSH (Polypyrrole-dodecylbenzylsulphonic acid) full polymeric artificial muscles were cycled between −2.5 and 1 V in aqueous solutions with parallel video recording of the described angular movement. Coulo-voltammetric (charge-potential, QE), dynamo-voltammetric (angle-potential, αE), and coulo-dynamic (charge-angle, Qα) muscular responses corroborate that 10 % of the charge is consumed by irreversible reactions overlapping the polymer reduction at the most cathodic potentials. In parallel, the range of the bending angular movement (145°) shifts by 15° per cycle (creeping effect) pointing to the irreversible charge as possible origin of the irreversible swelling of the PPy-DBS film. Different slopes in the closed loop part of the QE identify the different reaction driven structural processes in the film: oxidation-shrinking, oxidation compaction, reduction-relaxation, reduction-swelling, and reduction-vesicle’s formation. Despite the irreversible charge fraction, the muscle motor keeps a Faradaic behaviour: described angles are linear functions of the consumed charge in the full potential range

¿Es el #MeToo un movimiento? Una revisión sobre el concepto “movimiento social” y su relación con las redes sociales

El hashtag #MeToo apareció en Twitter el 15 de octubre de 2017 en un tuit de la actriz Alyssa Milano que invitaba a compartir públicamente experiencias de acoso. El detonante estalló diez días antes con la publicación de un reportaje del New York Times que señalaba que Harvey Weinstein, productor de Hollywood, llevaba años acosando y abusando sexualmente de mujeres trabajadoras de la industria. Tras haberse cumplido su primer aniversario, cabe preguntarse si es posible referirse a él como un “movimiento” —denominación que una amplia cantidad de medios le han atribuido— y, en la medida de lo posible, describir su impacto y sus logros; siendo ésta una forma de reflexionar acerca de la relación entre los movimientos sociales —concretamente el feminista— y las redes sociales. Esta investigación se propone una única pregunta: “¿Es el #MeToo un movimiento?” y se marca como objetivos definir los términos “movimientos sociales” y “nuevos movimientos sociales”, para después determinar las características concretas de este fenómeno y confrontar ambas conceptualizaciones. El Análisis del Discurso (AD) es el método empleado para explorar el reportaje que la revista TIME dedicó a las “SilenceBreakers” —las mujeres que alzaron la voz contra el acoso en relación con el #MeToo— con el fin de caracterizar el #MeToo

Self-supported polypyrrole/polyvinylsulfate films: electrochemical synthesis, characterization, and sensing properties of their redox reactions

Thick films of polypyrrole/polyvinylsulfate (PPy/PVS) blends were electrogenerated on stainless‐steel electrodes under potentiostatic conditions from aqueous solution. The best electropolymerization potential window was determined by cyclic voltammetry. After removing the film from the back metal, self‐supported electrodes were obtained. Voltammetric, coulovoltammetric, and chronoamperometric responses from a LiClO4 aqueous solution indicated the formation of an energetically stable structure beyond a reduction threshold of the material. Its subsequent oxidation required higher anodic voltammetric overpotentials or longer chronoamperometric oxidation times. This structure was attributed to the formation of lamellar or vacuolar structures. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the films under different oxidations states revealed that the electrochemical reactions drive the reversible exchange of cations between the film and the electrolyte. The electrical energy and the charge consumed by the reversible reaction of the film under voltammetric conditions between the constant potential limits are a function of the potential scan rate, that is, they sense the working electrochemical conditions.This project was supported by the Marie‐Sklodowska‐Curie Innovative Training Network MICACT‐H2020‐MSCA‐ITN‐2014 and by the Séneca Foundation project 19253/PI/14

Aproximaciones filosóficas y metodológicas para una ingeniería sostenible

Recientes aportes surgidos de los estudios sobre ciencia, tecnología y sociedad subrayan la importancia de reflexionar sobre la relación existente entre la ingeniería y el medioambiente durante la etapa inicial de diseño de productos y procesos tecnológicos. Desde estas miradas, el medioambiente no existe como una esfera separada de las acciones humanas, sus ambiciones y necesidades, sino que, siendo el lugar donde se desarrolla la vida, está intrínsecamente relacionado con el desarrollo social y cultural de los pueblos.

Structural Electrochemistry from Freestanding Polypyrrole Films: Full Hydrogen Inhibition from Aqueous Solutions

Free-standing polypyrrole films, being the metal–polymer contact located several millimeters outside the electrolyte, give stationary closed coulovoltammetric (charge/potential) loop responses to consecutive potential sweeps from –2.50 V to 0.65 V in aqueous solutions. The continuous and closed charge evolution corroborates the presence of reversible film reactions (electroactivity), together high electronic and ionic conductivities in the full potential range. The closed charge loop demonstrates that the irreversible hydrogen evolution is fully inhibited from aqueous solutions of different salts up to –2.5 V vs Ag/AgCl. The morphology of the closed charge loops shows abrupt slope changes corresponding to the four basic components of the structural electrochemistry for a 3D electroactive gel: reduction-shrinking, reduction-compaction, oxidation-relaxation, and oxidation-swelling. Freestanding films of conducting polymers behave as 3D gel electrodes (reactors) at the chain level, where reversible electrochemical reactions drive structural conformational and macroscopic (volume variation) changes. Very slow hydrogen evolution is revealed by coulovoltammetric responses at more cathodic potentials than –1.1 V from strong acid solutions, or in neutral salts self-supported blend films of polypyrrole with large organic acids. Conducting polymers overcome graphite, mercury, lead, diamond, or carbon electrodes as hydrogen inhibitors, and can compete with them for some electro-analytical and electrochemical applications in aqueous solutions

Can the wrf model characterize atmospheric stability for wind energy purposes?

To foster energy transition, renewable energies need to achieve their full potential. One phenomena greatly impacting power production in wind energy is the wake production behind each wind turbine or entire farms. These wake regions are strongly modulated by low-layer atmospheric stability. In this work, the capability of the WRF mesoscale model to characterize the stability in the Rawson Wind Farm location is addressed. Through a dynamical downscaling from ERA5 data, the WRF outcomes are used to estimate the stability parameter RiB, which is compared to the one computed from measurements. A great similarity emerges from the analysis, in statistical terms, between the stability conditions estimated from the observations and those resulting from the simulations. These results encourage the use of mesoscale models to obtain a more detailed description of the low-layer flow and therefore reduce the uncertainties linked to the environmental conditions that affect a wind farm.Fil: Mayol, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos; ArgentinaFil: Saulo, Andrea Celeste. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Secretaria de Planeamiento. Servicio Meteorológico Nacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Otero, Alejandro Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Simulación Computacional para Aplicaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaXIV Congreso Argentino de MeteorologíaBuenos AiresArgentinaCentro Argentino de Meteorólogo

LATIN AMERICAN TRADITIONAL PARTIES: THE IMPACT OF PARTIES' INTERNAL FEATURES ON THEIR ELECTORAL PERFORMANCE, 1978-2006

Why do some parties suffer more than others under similar contextual conditions? Or why are some parties able to weather difficult external environments while others fail? The aim of this dissertation is to answer these questions. My argument claims that the internal organization of parties matters, because it affects their capacity to react and survive, especially in contexts of environmental changes. Specifically, parties that rely on vertical structures, where few leaders at the central level concentrate power and control the party's direction, are more likely to lose their political power in changing contexts than parties that rely on structures that are less hierarchical, where power is distributed among different leaders, and where leadership mobility is more likely to occur. Similarly, parties that lack democratic procedures for selecting their candidates suffer more in challenging environments than parties that have them. In non-democratic parties central leaders decide whom to nominate for public office, and party members and voters do not enjoy the possibility of participating in this process. The impossibility of voting for politicians that the electorate and party members prefer might lead them to withdraw their support for the organization. This is of particular relevance in times of crisis.This argument is developed through the observation of Latin America's traditional parties. These parties dominated the political arena in the region during the last decades of the twentieth century. They played a significant role in the legitimation of democratic politics in particular when countries transited from authoritarian regimes, and in policy- making processes. However, during the early years of the 21st Century (2000-2005), many of them faded, and political outsiders with antiestablishment discourses and new parties and political movements flourished. Other traditional parties survived and were able to respond successfully to contextual challenges successfully. The findings of the study indicate that the internal characteristics of parties matter. Empirical tests show that party characteristics mediate the responses that their leaders undertake as well as the resulting electoral outcomes. This finding adds to studies that focus attention on political parties as units of analyses