"The Alien Within":translation into German during the Nazi regime

In a regime obsessed with purity, what place could there be for a literary practice that epitomises hybridity — translation? Examining the discourse on translation in Nazi literary journals, this study shows how foreign literature was viewed through the prism of national identity formation, in terms of the threats or benefits to nationhood which translation might offer. The fortunes of translation under the strictures of censorship are traced with an analysis of official policies and publication patterns, complemented by two detailed case studies of translations from English.

New contributions to the native and alien flora in riparian habitats of the Cantabrian watershed (Northern Spain)

As a result of a floristic survey carried out in riparian habitats of northern Spain, new chorological data are provided for 9 alien and 6 native plant species. Some species are reported for the first time at regional scale, such as Carex strigosa, Helianthus x laetiflorus and Persicaria pensylvanica in Cantabria. Also noteworthy is the finding of naturalised populations of the North American grass Muhlenbergia schreberi at the Urumea river basin, which represents the second reference for the Iberian Peninsula.

Strangers in a strange land: do life history traits differ for alien and native colonisers of novel environments?

Do alien invasive species exhibit life history characteristics that are similar to those of native species that have become pests in their continent of origin? We compared eucalypt specialists that have become pests in Australian plantations (natives) to those that have established overseas (aliens) using 13 life history traits and found that although traits that support rapid population build-up were shared, overall, aliens and native colonisers differed significantly. Distance from source (New Zealand vs. other) had no significant effect, but species that established more than 50 years ago exhibited different life history traits from those that established within the last 50 years, possibly because of more effective quarantine. Native and alien eucalypt insect invaders differed predominantly in traits that facilitate long-distance movement (pathway traits), compared to traits that facilitate establishment and spread. Aliens had longer adult flight seasons, were smaller and more closely host-associated (cryptic eggs and larvae), had lower incidence of diapause (i.e. were more seasonally plastic) and more generations per year than natives. Thus, studies of species invasive within their country of origin can shed light on alien invasions.

Homesick for the unheimlich: back to the uncanny future in Alien: Isolation

In 2014 Sega released Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation, a video game sequel to the 1979 film Alien. As an attempt to create both an authentic homage to the Alien franchise and a credible successor to Ridley Scott’s original film, Alien: Isolation was received as both a work of remediated nostalgia and as a deeply uncanny survival horror. This article discusses Alien: Isolation framed by theories of the uncanny (the unhomely) and of nostalgia (the homely), with the aim of revealing how the production design of the game reconciled these seemingly contradictory but nonetheless overlapping aesthetic qualities. By drawing on examples from Alien: Isolation’s visual and level design, this article discusses how the integration of nostalgic and uncanny qualities could be of value to horror and sci-fi game design, in particular to the development of sequels within existing franchises, and to remediations, remakes and reboots.

O uso de dicas especificas como estrategia de atenção seletiva em portadores da Sindrome de Down

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

Colonization and extinction of land planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida) in a Brazilian Atlantic Forest regrowth remnant

Long-term assessments of species assemblages are valuable tools for detecting species ecological preferences and their dispersal tracks, as well as for assessing the possible effects of alien species on native communities. Here we report a 50-year-long study on population dynamics of the four species of land flatworms (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Terricola) that have colonized or become extinct in a 70-year-old Atlantic Forest regrowth remnant through the period 1955-2006. On the one hand, the two initially most abundant species, which are native to the study site, Notogynaphallia ernesti and Geoplana multicolor have declined over decades and at present do not exist in the forest remnant. The extinction of these species is most likely related with their preference for open vegetation areas, which presently do not exist in the forest remnant. On the other hand, the neotropical Geoplaninae 1 and the exotic Endeavouria septemlineata were detected in the forest only very recently. The long-term study allowed us to conclude that Geoplaninae 1 was introduced into the study area, although it is only known from the study site. Endeavouria septemlineata, an active predator of the exotic giant African snail, is originally known from Hawaii. This land flatworm species was observed repeatedly in Brazilian anthropogenic areas, and this is the first report of the species in relatively well preserved native forest, which may be evidence of an ongoing adaptive process. Monitoring of its geographic spread and its ecological role would be a good practice for preventing potential damaging effects, since it also feeds on native mollusk fauna, as we observed in lab conditions.

Bimanual co-ordination in Parkinson's disease

The basal ganglia may be involved in bimanual co-ordination. Parkinson's disease (which impairs basal ganglia output) is clinically reported to cause difficulties in the performance of co-ordinated bimanual movements. Nevertheless, any bimanual co-ordination difficulties may be task specific, as experimental observations are equivocal. To infer the role of the basal ganglia in co-ordinating the two arms, this study investigated the bimanual co-ordination of patients with Parkinson's disease. Sixteen Parkinson's disease patients and matched control subjects performed a bimanual cranking task, at different speeds (1 and 2 Hz) and phase relationships. All subjects performed the required bimanual in-phase movement on a pair of cranks, at fast (2 Hz) and slow (1 Hz) speeds. However the Parkinson's disease patients were unable to perform the asymmetrical anti-phase movement, in which rotation of the cranks differed by 180 degrees, at either speed; but instead reverted to the in-phase symmetrical movement. For Parkinson's disease patients, performance of the in-phase movement was more accurate and stable when an external timing cue was used; however for anti-phase movement, the external cue accentuated the tendency for patients to revert to more symmetrical, in-phase movements.

Bimanual coordination in chronic schizophrenia

Anomalies of movement are observed both clinically and experimentally in schizophrenia. While the basal ganglia have been implicated in its pathogenesis, the nature of such involvement is equivocal. The basal ganglia may be involved in bimanual coordination through their input to the supplementary motor area (SMA). While a neglected area of study in schizophrenia. a bimanual movement task may provide a means of assessing the functional integrity of the motor circuit. Twelve patients with chronic schizophrenia and 12 matched control participants performed a bimanual movement task on a set of vertically mounted cranks at different speeds (1 and 2 Hz) and phase relationships. Participants performed in-phase movements (hands separated by 0 degrees) and out-of-phase movements (hands separated by 180 degrees) at both speeds with an external cue on or off. All participants performed the in-phase movements well. irrespective of speed or cueing conditions. Patients with schizophrenia were unable to perform the out-of-phase movements, particularly at the faster speed, reverting instead to the in-phase movement. There was no effect of external cueing on any of the movement conditions. These results suggest a specific problem of bimanual coordination indicative of SMA dysfunction per se and/or faulty callosal integration. A disturbance in the ability to switch attention during the out-of-phase task may also be involved. (C) 2001 Academic Press.

Effects of Prepartum Ingestion of Ipomoea carnea on Postpartum Maternal and Neonate Behavior in Goats

Ipomoea carnea is a toxic plant that grows in tropical areas, and is readily consumed by grazing goats. The plant contains the alkaloids swainsonine and calystegines, which inhibit cellular enzymes and cause systematic cell death. This study evaluated the behavioral effects on dams and kids of prenatal ingestion of this plant. Freshly harvested leaves of I. carnea (10 g/kg body weight) were fed daily to nine pregnant goats from the fifth to the 16th week of gestation; five pregnant goats were controls. Dam and kid behavior were evaluated during 2-hr postpartum. Further evaluation of the offspring was performed using various tests after birth: (1) reaching and discriminating their dam from an alien doe (two tests at 12-hr postpartum), and (2) navigating a progressive maze (2, 4, and 6 days postpartum). Postnatal (n=2) and fetal (n=2) mortality were observed in the treated group. Intoxicated kids had difficulty in standing at birth, and only one was able to suckle within 2 hr of birth. Treated kids were slower than controls to arrive at their dam in the discrimination test; treated kids often (seven of nine completed tests) incorrectly chose the alien dam (controls: 0/10 tests). During some runs on days 2, 4, and 6 postpartum, treated kids were slower to leave the starting point of the maze, and were slower to arrive at the dam on all test days. This study suggests that the offspring of pregnant goats given I. carnea during gestation have significant behavioral alterations and developmental delays. Birth Defects Res (Part B) 92:131-138, 2011. (C) 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Study of wet porous filtration

A growing demand for efficient air quality management calls for the development of technologies capable of meeting the stringent requirements now being applied in areas of chemical, biological and medical activities. Currently, filtration is the most effective process available for removal of fine particles from carrier gases. Purification of gaseous pollutants is associated with adsorption, absorption and incineration. In this paper we discuss a new technique for highly efficient simultaneous purification of gaseous and particulate pollutants from carrier gases, and investigate the utilization of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) imaging for the study of the dynamic processes associated with gas-liquid flow in porous media. Our technique involves the passage of contaminated carrier gases through a porous medium submerged into a liquid, leading to the formation of narrow and tortuous pathways through the medium. The wet walls of these pathways result in outstanding purification of gaseous, liquid and solid alien additives. NMR imaging was successfully used to map the gas pathways inside the porous medium submerged into the liquid layer. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Forest resources in Graciosa Island (Azores) : biomass availability for sustainable energetic use

Dissertação de Mestrado em Ambiente, Saúde e Segurança.

Actividades biológicas e metabolitos secundários de espécies marinhas exóticas dos Açores

Dissertação de Mestrado, Ciências Biomédicas, 23 de Janeiro de 2015, Universidade dos Açores.