Aesthetics and literature : a problematic relation?

The paper argues that there is a proper place for literature within aesthetics but that care must be taken in identifying just what the relation is. In characterising aesthetic pleasure associated with literature it is all too easy to fall into reductive accounts, for example, of literature as merely "fine writing". Belleslettrist or formalistic accounts of literature are rejected, as are two other kinds of reduction, to pure meaning properties and to a kind of narrative realism. The idea is developed that literature-both poetry and prose fiction-invites its own distinctive kind of aesthetic appreciation which far from being at odds with critical practice, in fact chimes well with it

Couplings in parametrically excited inclined cables systems

Cables in stayed bridges are subjected to important dynamic solicitations for which dynamic model are now well established. Due to their design, such structures highlight resonance phenomena and instabilities frequently observed. Nevertheless, some structures exhibit important vibration amplitudes that can not be explained simply. Measurement recently performed on a bridge point a coupling of the cable with the deck or the pillar. The present paper suggests to consider the deck flexibility coupled to the nonlinear dynamic of the inclined cable. Results of previous study are used. The retained nonlinear model of the cable include two degrees of freedom for the in-plane motion. Considering the bridge mass and deck rigidity adds one DOF, assumed linear in a first approach. The excitation is created on the deck, which produce an external force(such as the wind or the car traffic for example). An experimental set-up uses a specific device in order to highlight expected coupling phenomena on the parametric instabilities. It is composed of a flexible blade which represents the deck, and an inclined cable. Both elements are linked to a mass forced to move vertically, and which represent the anchor point and the equivalent mass of a section of the deck. Therefore, the cable has a given initial static tension. An electrodynamic shaker applies a force close to blade clumping. The transmitted force from the shaker to the structure is measured thanks to a piezo-electric sensor. The instantaneous cable tension is measured via a Shape force sensor. And a high resolution laser sensor captures without contact the in-plane motion of the cable. Analytically, the multiple scales method is applied to solve the nonlinear equations of motion. In-plane vibration of the cable and stability in the vicinity of the primary resonance w1 and sub-harmonic resonance 2w1 are computed. The competition between the behaviour at 2w1 and w2 are of particular interest, as it is observed experimentally

Nitrogen deposition onto the United States and Western Europe: A synthesis of observations and models.

The documented acceleration of NH3 and NOx (NO + NO2) emissions over the last 150 years has accelerated N deposition, compromising air and water quality and altering the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems worldwide. To construct continental-scale N budgets, we produced maps of N deposition fluxes from site-network observations for the United States and Western Europe. Increases in the rates of N cycling for these two regions of the world are large, and they have undergone profound modification of biospheric–atmospheric N exchanges, and ecosystem function. The maps are necessarily restricted to the network measured quantities and consist of statistically interpolated fields of aqueous NO3− and NH4+, gaseous HNO3 and NO2 (in Europe), and particulate NO3− and NH4+. There remain a number of gaps in the budgets, including organic N and NH3 deposition. The interpolated spatially continuous fields allow estimation of regionally integrated budget terms. Dry-deposition fluxes were the most problematic because of low station density and uncertainties associated with exchange mechanisms. We estimated dry N deposition fluxes by multiplying interpolated surface-air concentrations for each chemical species by model-calculated, spatially explicit deposition velocities. Deposition of the oxidized N species, by-products of fossil-fuel combustion, dominate the U.S. N deposition budget with 2.5 Tg of NOy-N out of a total of 3.7–4.5 Tg of N deposited annually onto the conterminous United States. Deposition of the reduced species, which are by-products of farming and animal husbandry, dominate the Western European N-deposition budget with a total of 4.3–6.3 Tg N deposited each year out of a total of 8.4–10.8 Tg N. Western Europe receives five times more N in precipitation than does the conterminous United States. Estimated N emissions exceed measured deposition in the United States by 5.3– 7.81 Tg N, suggesting significant N export or under-sampling of urban influence. In Europe, estimated emissions better balance measured deposition, with an imbalance of between −0.63 and 2.88 Tg N, suggesting that much of the N emitted in Europe is deposited there, with possible N import from the United States. The sampling network in Europe includes urban influences because of the greater population density of Western Europe. Our analysis of N deposition for both regions was limited by sampling density. The framework we present for quantification of patterns of N deposition provides a constraint on our understanding of continental biospheric–atmospheric N cycles. These spatially explicit wet and dry N fluxes also provide a tool for verifying regional and global models of atmospheric chemistry and transport, and they represent critical inputs into terrestrial models of biogeochemistry

Prevención de la obesidad infantil: aportes desde las ciencias sociales para la intervención

La programación e implementación de políticas de salud para la prevención del sobrepeso y la obesidad se han centrado, clásicamente, en la difusión de mensajes concretos, que identifican los alimentos saludables y resaltan la importancia de la actividad física. A pesar de los esfuerzos recurrentes, las prevalencias en la población adulta e infantil continúan en ascenso. La configuración de las propuestas preventivas parece dejar de lado la perspectiva más compleja del fenómeno alimentario, cuya naturaleza va más allá de su base biológica. Detrás de la presencia de sobrepeso u obesidad, existen factores que exceden las conductas individuales, que se constituyen como elementos de orden social. Esta premisa se sustenta en los aportes realizados desde diversos campos, como la antropología, la sociología y la epidemiología social, sobre todo, durante los últimos treinta años. Este trabajo propone analizar los modelos tradicionales de intervención institucional y visibilizar la importancia de una perspectiva orientada a lo social, que tenga en cuenta el análisis del contexto y de la red de vínculos para el abordaje de la problemática del sobrepeso y la obesidad infantil, con eje en el componente alimentario