Freedom and Formlessness: Ben Lerner’s \u3cem\u3e10:04\u3c/em\u3e and the Affective Historical Present

This essay argues, via Henri Bergson and Gilles Deleuze, that in distinction to a neoliberal notion of time that overlooks the present moment and past experience, Ben Lerner’s 10:04 posits the existence, in both its form and content, of a kind of freedom not imminent to or beyond the endless presentism and debt-mortgaged non-future of neoliberal time but one that is immanent to and within it. The novel does so by stressing the way in which the actual, lived present, if properly attended to, gives rise to a virtual future containing multiple potentialities that have yet to be realized. What emerges is a deep sense of contemporaneity or affective time that heralds the potential of a nascent collective. 10:04 performs this notion in its very metafictional form(lessness) that calls attention to the fragility of both narrative and time that, particularly during moments of disruption, allow the subject to experience affectively an actual present carrying a virtual past into a future teeming with potentialities that a neoliberal temporality, in which the future is tamed by a drop down menu of preselected options, must deny. Thus, 10:04 reveals that we can experience a freedom to come within even the presentism of neoliberal temporality so that freedom after neoliberalism, as the novel’s Benjaminian influenced refrain suggests, will be “the same but a little different.

The End of Postmodernism

Appearing at the start of the millennium, Percival Everett\u27s Erasure (2001) features Monk Ellison, a writer who is questioning his one-time embrace of postmodern aesthetics and who raises the ire of innovative writer and fellow member of the Nouveau Roman Society after delivering a conference paper, F/V, part parody of and part homage to Roland Barthes\u27s S/Z. Becoming belligerent, the writer proclaims to Ellison that postmodernists did not have time to finish what we set out to accomplish because any art which opposes or rejects established systems of creation ... has to remain unfinished. His unsuccessful attempt to punch Ellison lands him in an azalea bush. Suffice it to say that the blow delivered at the 1991 Stuttgart conference on The End of Postmodernism, which included such literary luminaries as John Barth, William Gass, and Raymond Federman, was of a different variety. That such a conference dared to ask its esteemed speakers whether postmodernism was over and done with, thereby suggesting it was, encompassed a telling moment - one in which, as Erasure has it, literary postmodernism appeared to have reached an end that by its own theoretical premise it could never reach. Added to this was a new generation of writers who were consciously trying to break with the literary postmodernism they had been raised on, often critiquing its supposed aesthetic and philosophical weaknesses, as David Foster Wallace did in his 1993 essay E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction, in which he claimed that postmodern metafiction had run its critical course and been co-opted by mainstream media and the market. Literary critics, following suit, began to distinguish these younger writers from the former generation by asking what might be emerging after postmodernism. For many, literary postmodernism had indeed reached an end point

Wallaceward the American Literature Survey Course Takes Its Way

Finding a comfortable fit for David Foster Wallace\u27s work in the American literature survey is a challenge that raises a host of questions regarding Wallace and American literature itself. Wallace criticism has tended to situate his oeuvre in relation to postmodernism in general and, more specifically, to postmodern metafiction. This is an important critical task, to be sure. Like many, I have taught Wallace\u27s stories, essays, and novels in an array of courses, including twentieth-century American literature, postmodernist literature, and the single author course, all formats in which I had a luxurious amount of time to get students acquainted with Wallace\u27s complex on-again, off-again relationship with that often exciting, if sometimes terrifying, thing called postmodernism. But what happens when Wallace is not the focal point of a course, or when a course reaches back before the twentieth century, or when students read only one of Wallace\u27s shorter pieces at the tail end of a course packed with numerous writers and poets, some of whose works seemingly have nothing in common with Wallace\u27s? What gets inevitably overlooked in the limited, though nuanced, context of twentieth-century or theme-based courses that feature Wallace is his work\u27s relation to the American literary tradition as a whole, as well as questions about the ways in which we can understand Wallace\u27s place in the ever-evolving American canon. Teaching Wallace in the survey course provides a prime opportunity to address such pressing concerns

Key relationships between non-invasive functional neuroimaging and the underlying neuronal activity

Functional neuroimaging using MRI relies on measurements of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals from which inferences are made about the underlying neuronal activity. This is possible because neuronal activity elicits increases in blood flow via neurovascular coupling, which gives rise to the BOLD signal. Hence, an accurate interpretation of what BOLD signals mean in terms of neural activity depends on a full understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the measured signal, including neurovascular and neurometabolic coupling, the contribution of different cell types to local signalling, and regional differences in these mechanisms. Furthermore, the contributions of systemic functions to cerebral blood flow may vary with ageing, disease and arousal states, with regard to both neuronal and vascular function. In addition, recent developments in non-invasive imaging technology, such as high-field fMRI, and comparative inter-species analysis, allow connections between non-invasive data and mechanistic knowledge gained from invasive cellular-level studies. Considered together, these factors have immense potential to improve BOLD signal interpretation and bring us closer to the ultimate purpose of decoding the mechanisms of human cognition. This theme issue covers a range of recent advances in these topics, providing a multidisciplinary scientific and technical framework for future work in the neurovascular and cognitive sciences

A simplified space-vector modulation algorithm for four-leg NPC converters

To interface generation sources and loads to four-wire distribution networks is important to use power converters and modulation methods which provide high performance, flexi¬bility and reliability. To achieve these goals, this paper proposes a simple and efficient Space Vector Modulation (SVM) algorithm in α3-y coordinates for Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) converters. The proposed SVM method reduces a three-dimensional (α3-y) search of the modulating vectors into a simple two-dimensional (α3) problem. Moreover, the algorithm provides full utilisation of the dc-link voltage, full utilisation of the redundant vectors and it can be applied to any other four-leg converter topology. The proposed SVM has been successfully validated using a 6kW three-level four-leg NPC converter, achieving control over the voltages of the dc-link capacitors and simple definition of switching pattern for shaping frequency spectrum

The Alternate Arm Converter (AAC) - "short-overlap" mode operation - analysis and design parameter selection

This paper presents converter operation principles and theoretical analyses for “short-overlap” mode operation of the Alternate Arm Converter (AAC), which is a type of modular multilevel Voltage Source Converter (VSC) that has been proposed for HVDC transmission applications. Fourier series expressions for the ideal arm current and reference voltage are derived, for the first time, in order to develop an expression for the sub-module capacitance required to give a selected peak-peak voltage ripple of the summed sub-module capacitor voltages in an arm. The DC converter current contains non-negligible low order even harmonics; this is verified by deriving, for the first time, a Fourier series expression for this current. As the DC converter current needs to be filtered to form a smooth DC grid current, a novel DC filter arrangement is proposed, which uses the characteristics of a simplified DC cable model, as well as the capacitance of the DC link and additional DC link damping resistance, in order to form a passive low pass filter. Results obtained from a simulation model, which is based on an industrial HVDC demonstrator, are used in order to verify the presented converter operation principles and theoretical analyses

A new space-vector-modulation algorithm for a three-level four-leg NPC inverter

For power conversion systems interfaced to 4-wire supplies, four-leg converters have become a standard solution. A four-leg converter allows good compensation of zero-sequence harmonics and full utilization of the dc-link voltage. These are very important features when unbalanced and/or non-linear loads are connected to the system. This paper proposes a 3D-SVM algorithm and provides a comprehensive analysis of the algorithm implemented on a three-level, four-leg NPC converter. The algorithm allows a simple definition of the different switching patterns and enables balancing of the dc-link capacitor voltages using the redundancies of the converter states. A resonant controller is selected as the control strategy to validate the proposed SVM algorithm in a 6kW experimental rig

Masculinity and HIV: Dimensions of Masculine Norms that Contribute to Men’s HIV-Related Sexual Behaviors

Numerous studies have documented a relationship between masculine norms and men’s HIV-related sexual behaviors, but intervening upon this relationship requires a nuanced understanding of the specific aspects of masculine norms that shape men’s sexual behaviors. We integrate theories on masculinities with empirical HIV research to identify specific dimensions of masculine norms that influence men’s HIV-related sexual behaviors. We identify three major dimensions of masculine norms that shape men’s sexual behavior: 1) uncontrollable male sex drive, 2) capacity to perform sexually, and 3) power over others. While the existing literature does help explain the relationship between masculine norms and men’s sexual behaviors several gaps remain including: a recognition of context-specific masculinities, an interrogation of the positive influences of masculinity, adoption of an intersectional approach, assessment of changes in norms and behaviors over time, and rigorous evaluations of gender-transformative approaches. Addressing these gaps in future research may optimize prevention efforts

The Alternate Arm Converter (AAC) "Extended-Overlap" Mode: AC Faults

This paper presents AC fault ride-through strategies for the "extended-overlap" operating mode of the Alternate Arm Converter (AAC), which is a type of modular multilevel Voltage Source Converter (VSC) that has been proposed for HVDC transmission applications. The AAC offers several benefits over the Half-Bridge (HB) Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC), such as requiring fewer Sub-Modules (SMs) with a smaller capacitance and providing DC fault ride-through capability. Novel symmetrical and asymmetrical AC fault ride-through strategies are described and these strategies are experimentally validated by using a Small Scale Prototype (SSP)

Inducible ablation of mouse Langerhans cells diminishes but fails to abrogate contact hypersensitivity

Langerhans cells (LC) form a unique subset of dendritic cells (DC) in the epidermis but so far their in vivo functions in skin immunity and tolerance could not be determined, in particular in relation to dermal DC (dDC). Here, we exploit a novel diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor (DTR)/DT-based system to achieve inducible ablation of LC without affecting the skin environment. Within 24 h after intra-peritoneal injection of DT into Langerin-DTR mice LC are completely depleted from the epidermis and only begin to return 4 wk later. LC deletion occurs by apoptosis in the absence of inflammation and, in particular, the dDC compartment is not affected. In LC-depleted mice contact hypersensitivity (CHS) responses are significantly decreased, although ear swelling still occurs indicating that dDC can mediate CHS when necessary. Our results establish Langerin-DTR mice as a unique tool to study LC function in the steady state and to explore their relative importance compared with dDC in orchestrating skin immunity and tolerance