Juan de Castelví y Coloma, miembro desconocido del Parnaso español (fines del siglo XVII)

A pesar de su importancia en el panorama literario y cultural de la época conocida como el “tiempo de los novatores” (1675-1725), la poesía ha sido, hasta la actualidad, casi totalmente desatendida en virtud de prejuicios seculares. A lo que responde, en consecuencia, un ya lugar común de las Historias de la literatura española: aludir a la poesía del periodo no es otra cosa que hablar de decadencia, de degeneración y de agotamiento, floreciendo los adjetivos de “ultrabarroco” o de “posbarroco”. Calificativos, todos ellos, reveladores de la mirada retrospectiva de quienes los emplean pero que traducen, no obstante, la dificultad de aprehender la escritura polifacética del momento. De tal modo que no pocos poetas de este periodo bisagra permanecen sepultados bajo el peso del olvido, a pesar de que algunos gozaron de gran fama y estimación por parte de sus contemporáneos. Así, como indicamos, a la altura de los Argensolas, de un Góngora o de un Quevedo llegó en su día a situarse a José Pérez de Montoro (Bègue, 2009: 105-106). Y es que, sea cual sea el valor que se les quiera hoy atribuir a estos poetas, no se puede olvidar la importancia funcional que tienen sus producciones en la definición y la estabilización de los géneros. Del mismo modo, en una historia de la literatura española que pretenda ofrecer los aspectos más diversos y variados del discurso poético, con el fin de comprenderlo, tampoco podemos silenciar sus voces

Diagnosing a strong topological insulator by quantum oscillations

We show how quantum oscillation measurements of surface states in an insulator may allow to diagnose a strong topological insulator and distinguish it from its weak or topologically trivial counterpart. The criterion is defined by the parity of the number of fundamental frequencies in the surface-state quantum oscillation spectrum: an even number of frequencies implies a weak or a topologically trivial insulator, whereas an odd number points to a strong topological insulator. We also discuss various aspects and issues related to applying this criterion in practice.Comment: 5.5 pages, 2 figure

A lightning climatology of the South-West Indian Ocean

The World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) data have been used to perform a lightning climatology in the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region from 2005 to 2011. Maxima of lightning activity were found in the Maritime Continent and southwest of Sri Lanka (>50 fl km<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>) but also over Madagascar and above the Great Lakes of East Africa (>10–20 fl km<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup>). Lightning flashes within tropical storms and tropical cyclones represent 50 % to 100 % of the total lightning activity in some oceanic areas of the SWIO (between 10° S and 20° S). <br><br> The SWIO is characterized by a wet season (November to April) and a dry season (May to October). As one could expect, lightning activity is more intense during the wet season as the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is present over all the basin. Flash density is higher over land in November–December–January with values reaching 3–4 fl km<sup>−2</sup> yr<sup>−1</sup> over Madagascar. During the dry season, lightning activity is quite rare between 10° S and 25° S. The Mascarene anticyclone has more influence on the SWIO resulting in shallower convection. Lightning activity is concentrated over ocean, east of South Africa and Madagascar. <br><br> A statistical analysis has shown that El Niño–Southern Oscillation mainly modulates the lightning activity up to 56.8% in the SWIO. The Indian Ocean Dipole has a significant contribution since ~49% of the variability is explained by this forcing in some regions. The Madden–Julian Oscillation did not show significative impact on the lightning activity in our study

Personality Predicts Obedience in a Milgram Paradigm

Enquête sur les personnes qui ont désobéi (leur personnalité, leur vote politique, leur consommation de TV...) dans la retranscription de l'expérience de Milgram sur un plateau de télévision (émission TV "le jeu de la mort" diffusée sur France 2 en mars 2010)International audienceThis study investigates how obedience in a Milgram-like experiment is predicted by interindividual differences. Participants were 35 males and 31 females aged 26–54 from the general population who were contacted by phone 8 months after their participation in a study transposing Milgram's obedience paradigm to the context of a fake television game show. Interviews were presented as opinion polls with no stated ties to the earlier experiment. Personality was assessed by the Big Five Mini-Markers questionnaire (Saucier, 1994). Political orientation and social activism were also measured. Results confirmed hypotheses that Conscientiousness and Agreeableness would be associated with willingness to administer higher-intensity electric shocks to a victim. Political orientation and social activism were also related to obedience. Our results provide empirical evidence suggesting that individual differences in personality and political variables matter in the explanation of obedience to authority. Stanley Milgram carried out the " Eichmann experiment " to determine whether Nazi war criminals such as Adolf Eichmann, whose trial had begun a couple of months earlier in Jerusalem, could have committed the heinous acts of the Holocaust merely because of a misplaced obedience to authority (Milgram, 1974). The German philosopher Hanna Arendt, a reporter during the trial of Eichmann, coined the phrase " the banality of evil " to describe him, seeing behind the architect of the Holocaust a thoroughly normal person. Going further, Arendt also mentioned that Eichmann's attitude toward his family and friends was " not only normal but most desirable " (Arendt, 1977, p. 25). Whatever the accuracy and truth of such an analysis (see Cesarani, 2007, for an alternative view of Eichmann), the issue of individual dispositions related to obedience was also included in Milgram's thinking as he wrote, " I am certain that there is a complex personality basis to obedience and disobedience , but I know we have not found it " (Milgram, 1974, p. 205). Somewhat paradoxically, the social psychologist consensually credited for having accelerated the shift away from internal explanations of behavior toward environmental and situational factors considered personality as a relevant source of variation in obedient behavior (Benjamin & Simpson, 2009). In the present study, we shed a new light on how personality factors predicted obedience and rebellion in a Milgram-like study recently carried out in the context of a television game show (Beauvois, Courbet, & Oberlé, 2012). We hypothesize

Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 and Transforming Growth Factor-β Stimulate Cystine/Glutamate Exchange Activity in Dental Pulp Cells

Introduction The growth factors insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) are protective to dental pulp cells in culture against the toxicity of the composite materials Durafill VS and Flow Line (Henry Schein Inc, New York, NY). Because the toxicity of these materials is mediated by oxidative stress, it seemed possible that the protective effects of IGF-1 and TGF-β were through the enhancement of an endogenous antioxidant mechanism. Methods We used cultured dental pulp cells to determine the mechanism of the protective effects of IGF-1 and TGF-β, focusing on the glutathione system and the role of cystine/glutamate exchange (system xc-). Results We found that the toxicity of Durafill VS and Flow Line was attenuated by the addition of glutathione monoethylester, suggesting a specific role for the cellular antioxidant glutathione. Supporting this hypothesis, we found that IGF-1 and TGF-β were protective against the toxicity of the glutathione synthesis inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine. Because levels of cellular cystine are the limiting factor in the production of glutathione, we tested the effects of IGF-1 and TGF-β on cystine uptake. Both growth factors stimulated system xc–mediated cystine uptake. Furthermore, they attenuated the glutathione depletion induced by Durafill VS and Flow Line. Conclusions The results suggest that IGF-1 and TGF-β are protective through the stimulation of system xc–mediated cystine uptake, leading to maintenance of cellular glutathione. This novel action of growth factors on dental pulp cells has implications not only for preventing toxicity of dental materials but also for the general function of these cells

Alcohol-induced retrograde facilitation renders witnesses of crime less suggestible to misinformation

RATIONALE: Research has shown that alcohol can have both detrimental and facilitating effects on memory: intoxication can lead to poor memory for information encoded after alcohol consumption (anterograde amnesia) and may improve memory for information encoded before consumption (retrograde facilitation). This study examined whether alcohol consumed after witnessing a crime can render individuals less vulnerable to misleading post-event information (misinformation). METHOD: Participants watched a simulated crime video. Thereafter, one third of participants expected and received alcohol (alcohol group), one third did not expect but received alcohol (reverse placebo), and one third did not expect nor receive alcohol (control). After alcohol consumption, participants were exposed to misinformation embedded in a written narrative about the crime. The following day, participants completed a cued-recall questionnaire about the event. RESULTS: Control participants were more likely to report misinformation compared to the alcohol and reverse placebo group. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that we may oversimplify the effect alcohol has on suggestibility and that sometimes alcohol can have beneficial effects on eyewitness memory by protecting against misleading post-event information

A discrete duality finite volume discretization of the vorticity-velocity-pressure formulation of the 2D Stokes problem on almost arbitrary two-dimensional grids

International audienceWe present an application of the discrete duality finite volume method to the numerical approximation of the vorticity-velocity-pressure formulation of the 2D Stokes equations, associated to various non-standard boundary conditions. The finite volume method is based on the use of discrete differential operators obeying some discrete duality principles. The scheme may be seen as an extension of the classical MAC scheme to almost arbitrary meshes, thanks to an appropriate choice of degrees of freedom. The efficiency of the scheme is illustrated by numerical examples over unstructured triangular and locally refined non-conforming meshes, which confirm the theoretical convergence analysis led in the article

How risk signaling influences binge drinking impression formation: An evolutionary experimental approach

Background. Evolutionary theory-driven alcohol prevention programs for adolescents are lacking. This study introduced a binge drinking impression formation paradigm to test whether emphasizing sexual dysfunction induced by alcohol abuse lowers positive attitudes and expectancies related to binge drinking when compared with cognitive or long-term health consequences. Method. In a between-subjects experiment, 269 French high school students (age, M = 15.94, SD = 0.93, 63.20% women) watched professional-quality videos emphasizing sexual impotence (n = 60), cognitive impairment (n = 72), or long-term effects (cancer, cardiovascular disease, n = 68) induced by alcohol and then had to evaluate a drinking scene. We predicted that the video on impotence would be the most impactful when compared with the other videos. Results. Results showed that women evaluated the target as less attractive after viewing the cognitive video compared with the video on impotence. Men were more willing to play sports against the target after viewing the cognitive video, compared with the video on impotence. Conclusions. These results showed that evolutionary meaning might shape impressions formed by participants depending on the context. This study calls for further replications using the same design and materials

Moisés Silva Fernandes, Macau na Política Externa Chinesa, 1949-1979

Si Talleyrand affirmait que les convictions n’existaient pas en politique et que tout était affaire de circonstances, le livre de Moisés Fernandes vient confirmer à merveille ce tranchant diagnostique en retraçant l’étrange soutien du régime communiste révolutionnaire de Mao au colonialisme portugais dans son enclave de Macao, à l’heure de la révolution culturelle et de ses purges « anti-impérialistes ». Historien spécialiste de ce dernier territoire (ainsi que de Timor) sous l’Estado Novo, F..