Private (Brown) Eyes: Ethnicity, Genre and Gender in Crime Fiction in the Gloria Damasco novels and the Chicanos Comic Series

The representation of women in crime fiction has traditionally been a complicated one. Consistently forced into secondary characters (assistants, girlfriends, or damsels in distress) the most active role a female character could aspire to was that of the femme fatale, a pit of perdition, an unwelcome distraction for a man looking for truth and justice. This traditional approach to the genre has been challenged in the last decades by women acting as detectives, trusted with solving their cases in a hostile male world. Similarly, the traditional white male protagonist has been contested by fictions where ethnic minorities are not just consigned to the criminal world, but where detectives are members of ethnic groups, and can use their knowledge of the community to solve the case. This essay focuses on the crossroads of ethnic and women’s detective fiction, specifically the Gloria Damasco series by Chicana writer Lucha Corpi and the graphic novel Chicanos (Trillo and Risso, 1996). Both protagonists (Gloria Damasco, a Chicana clairvoyant detective, and “poor, ugly, and a detective” Alejandrina Yolanda Jalisco) must face both the dangers of investigating criminal cases and discrimination in their professional surroundings due to their gender and ethnicity. By contrasting these texts, the essay elucidates the importance of specific cultural products, their connection to (and defiance of) canonical forms of the genre, and their rejection of generic and gender expectations.

Far field of binary phase gratings with errors in the height of the strips

Diffraction gratings are not always ideal but, due to the fabrication process, several errors can be produced. In this work we show that when the strips of a binary phase diffraction grating present certain randomness in their height, the intensity of the diffraction orders varies with respect to that obtained with a perfect grating. To show this, we perform an analysis of the mutual coherence function and then, the intensity distribution at the far field is obtained. In addition to the far field diffraction orders, a "halo" that surrounds the diffraction order is found, which is due to the randomness of the strips height.

Binary gratings with random heights

We analyze the far-field intensity distribution of binary phase gratings whose strips present certain randomness in their height. A statistical analysis based on the mutual coherence function is done in the plane just after the grating. Then, the mutual coherence function is propagated to the far field and the intensity distribution is obtained. Generally, the intensity of the diffraction orders decreases in comparison to that of the ideal perfect grating. Several important limit cases, such as low- and high-randomness perturbed gratings, are analyzed. In the high-randomness limit, the phase grating is equivalent to an amplitude grating plus a “halo.” Although these structures are not purely periodic, they behave approximately as a diffraction grating.

De la muerte del autor al colapso de la industria. Prácticas y discursos en la música digital

La reciente aprobación de la ley Sinde en medio de un profundo y profuso debate público ha puesto de manifiesto que las ambiciones de las industrias de la cultura no están en sintonía con las de consumidores y ciudadanos. Se ha discutido la necesidad de reformular las leyes de propiedad intelectual, contraponiendo el derecho de los creadores a rentabilizar su trabajo con los derechos de los ciudadanos a la circulación de la cultura. Se hace necesario analizar los términos de este debate, además de los elementos ausentes en la discusión. La participación de los ciudadanos parece limitarse meramente a circular materiales culturales fuera de los cauces comerciales, pero no aparecen tematizadas las prácticas creativas, cada vez más comunes, que también infringen las leyes de propiedad intelectual. Los blogs mantenidos por fans sobre personajes de comic, las versiones dobladas de trailers de películas, el uso de samplers o mashups en la música popular, etc… Prácticas que implican la reelaboración creativa de textos preexistentes que cuestionan la centralidad del autor en su acepción clásica (la protegida por la legislación de derechos de autor). Proponemos contrastar los discursos en torno al derecho de los ciudadanos a la cultura que entienden este ejercicio como mero intercambio de archivos con las citadas prácticas intertextuales que suponen una forma de empoderamiento de las ciudadanos que discuten los límites de la creatividad y la originalidad. El análisis pretende dar algunas pistas para entender dos cuestiones: a) el alcance los derechos culturales de la ciudadanía democrática en la sociedad de la información y b) la necesidad de reelaborar las leyes de propiedad intelectual para dar cabida a las nuevas prácticas de la cultura digital.

Diadenosine Polyphosphates in Tears of Sjögren Syndrome Patients

Purpose.: To analyze the levels of diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) and diadenosine pentaphosphate (Ap5A) in tears of subjects with Sjögren syndrome and to compare them with those in a control group. Methods.: Twelve subjects with a diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome and 20 healthy control subjects were invited to participate in the present study. Schirmer strips were used to measure tear secretion (Schirmer I test) and to collect tears. Ap4A and Ap5A were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), and a dry eye questionnaire (DEQ) was used to evaluate dry eye symptomatology. Results.: The mean concentrations of Ap4A and Ap5A in the Sjögren syndrome group were 2.54 ± 1.02 and 26.13 ± 6.95 μM, respectively. This group of patients was divided in two subgroups: four patients with normal tear production and eight patients with low tear production. Concentrations of Ap4A, and Ap5A in patients with normal tear production (Schirmer test result, 12.3 ± 1.2 mm) were 0.47 ± 0.20 and 8.03 ± 3.27 μM, respectively. In the patients with low tear production (Schirmer test result, 1.0 ± 0.3 mm), the concentrations were 4.09 ± 1.36 and 39.51 ± 8.46 μM, respectively and in the control group, 0.13 ± 0.03 and 0.04 ± 0.02 μM, respectively. Conclusions.: Patients with Sjögren syndrome have abnormally elevated concentrations of diadenosine polyphosphates, indicating that these compounds could be used in the diagnosis of this disease.

In vitro and in vivo delivery of the secretagogue diadenosine tetraphosphate from conventional and silicone hydrogel soft contact lenses

Purpose To evaluate the possible use of soft contact lenses (CL) to improve the secretagogue role of diadenosine tetraphosphate (Ap4A) promoting tear secretion. Methods Two conventional hydrogel CL (Omafilcon A and Ocufilcon D) and two silicone hydrogel (SiH) CL (Comfilcon A and Balafilcon A) were used. Ap4A was loaded into the lenses by soaking in a 1 mM Ap4A solution during 12 h. In vitro experiments were performed by placing the lenses in multi-wells during 2 h containing 1 ml of ultrapure water. 100 μl aliquots were taken at time zero and every minute for the first 10 min, and then every 15 min. In vivo experiments were performed in New Zealand rabbits and both the dinucleotide release from SiH and tear secretion were measured by means of Schirmer strips and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. Results Ap4A in vitro release experiments in hydrogel CL presented a release time 50 (RT50) of 3.9 ± 0.2 min and 3.1 ± 0.1 min for the non-ionic and the ionic CL, respectively. SiH CL released also Ap4A with RT50 values of 5.1 ± 0.1 min for the non-ionic and 2.7 ± 0.1 min for the ionic CL. In vivo experiments with SiH CL showed RT50 values of 9.3 ± 0.2 min and 8.5 ± 0.2 min for the non-ionic and the ionic respectively. The non-ionic lens Ap4A release was able to induce tear secretion above baseline tear levels for almost 360 min. Conclusion The delivery of Ap4A is slower and the effect lasts longer with non-ionic lenses than ionic lenses.

El teatro cómico de Enrique García Álvarez

Enrique García Álvarez (Madrid, 1883-1931) belonged to the group of writers who stood out in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth in what was known as “género chico”, label used to oppose this kind of theater to the dramaturgy considered serious. It was composed of brief and comic works whose intention was to generate a fun time for the spectators. Our author was one of the leading representatives and his numerous creations appeared profusely in the posters of the theaters per hour. In the twentieth century, he adapted to the new forms imposed on the scene. Despite his enormous fame at the time, nowadays Enrique García Álvarez remains completely unknown, not only in the eyes of the general public but also to the more knowledgeable circles of our literature. Studies of his dramatic work are almost nonexistent and basically limited to their collaborations with other authors who had more luck as Arniches or Muñoz Seca. The purpose of this thesis is, therefore, to complete a thorough study of the figure and production of Enrique García Álvarez, as well as its impact on the literature. The opening chapter is a reconstruction of the life and work of the author. In the following chapters, we proceeded to the analysis of structural features such as theme, time, space, and characters of his dramatic world. At the end of these pages, we have included a photographic appendix that illustrates some moments of his personal and professional career. We have also developed appendices to classify his librettos chronologically, by collaborator and by genre...