This article uses Philip Roth’s final novel Nemesis to explore and challenge long-held assumptions about the incommensurability of the Bakhtinian concept of the “dialogic” and didactic storytelling. ...Many critics have traditionally dismissed didacticism as an unproductive “monologic” or “univocal” discourse in which one voice—the author’s—is dominant. In this dismissal, critics contend that didacticism silences all other perspectives and restricts interpretive possibilities to craft a single moral truth. But this dismissal fails to account for the complexity and ambiguity of Bakhtin’s idea of dialogism and for works like Roth’s, in which the ultimate moral commitments in fact arise out of, rather in spite of, layered dialogic exchanges. Roth’s narrative of a polio outbreak in 1940s New Jersey therefore not only functions effectively on its own terms but also opens up new possibilities for understanding didacticism and the unexplored formal variety of dialogism.
Disappearing Acts Ferraro, Antonio J.
The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association,
04/2023, Letnik:
56, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The increasing popularity of academic "quit lit" has energized discussions of the affective difficulties of academia, with much of the focus on the topic of grief. This essay asks whether our ...conversations about the emotional labor of higher education might benefit from a shift away from understanding this grief as unique to the profession. What new pathways for collective action and care might open up if we understood our work in academia, particularly our teaching, as sharing many qualities with the work performed by others? I argue that if we understand teaching as a performance, and ask what it therefore shares with the performances, labor, and work of others, we can gain an expanded and more productive understanding not just of the affective dimensions of our profession but of our grief as well.
The control of amplitude, losses and deflection of light with elements of an optical array is of paramount importance for realizing dynamic beam steering for light detection and ranging applications ...(LIDAR). In this paper, we propose an optical beam steering device, operating at a wavelength of 1550 nm, based on high index material as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) where the direction of the light is actively controlled by means of liquid crystal. The metasurface have been designed by a deep machine learning algorithm jointed with an optimizer in order to obtain univocal optical responses. The achieved numerical results represent a promising way for the realization of novel LIDAR for future applications with increase control and precision.
A new class of frequency-selective surface filters (FSS) for terahertz (THz) applications is proposed and investigated both numerically and experimentally. A periodic FSS array of cross-shaped ...apertures is patterned on aluminum, deposited on thin foils of the low-loss cyclo-olefin polymer Zeonor. Apart from the fundamental filtering response of the FSS elements, we also observe very narrow-linewidth peaks with high transmittance, associated with guided-mode resonances in the dielectric substrate. The effect of the filter's geometrical parameters on its performance is systematically studied via finite-element method simulation and confirmed by time-domain spectroscopy characterization of the fabricated samples. Finally, thanks to the flexibility of the employed substrates, THz-FSS filters are also characterized in bent configuration, revealing a robust response in terms of the fundamental FSS passband filter and a high sensitivity of the GMR peaks. These features can be exploited in the design of novel THz filters or sensors.
Ever since the advent of microwave technology, tunable devices, such as phase shifters, resonators, and antennas, have been indispensable in applications requiring radiofrequency signal filtering, ...beam shaping, or steering. This necessity becomes even more relevant in view of a new era in high‐bandwidth wireless communications in 5G networks, satellite links, and advanced radars for sensing and safety. As the operating frequency is pushed toward the millimeter‐wave range or beyond, the performance of traditional microwave tunable elements, such as PIN diodes, micro‐electromechanical system switches, ferrites, or ferroelectric films, degrades, while their fabrication complexity and cost increases. In this respect, liquid crystals present a promising solution, as they provide continuous tuning, low dielectric constants, moderate losses, low dispersion, and potentially low cost. Here, a comprehensive overview of the available microwave liquid crystal materials is provided, including their key application‐relevant properties, and the techniques employed for their characterization, focusing on the spectrum above 1 GHz. Their performance metrics in terms of dielectric constant tunability, response speed, insertion losses are discussed and guidelines for their selection in different microwave applications are provided. Moreover, the differences observed in the experimental data regarding their characterization are highlighted and possible sources of the observed discrepancies are discussed.
Liquid crystals, a special class of anisotropic, electro‐optically controlled materials, are rapidly infiltrating the microwave technology, boosting components, and systems with advanced functionalities. The state‐of‐the‐art on the synthesis and characterization of liquid crystals for microwave applications is reviewed, highlighting both the technological challenges and the advantages of using these smart tunable materials.
Recent studies of fictionality within narrative theory have emphasized the permeability between global fictions and nonfictions. That is, global nonfictions often deploy elements of local ...fictionality without compromising their global commitments. This paper seeks to contribute to this ongoing exploration by arguing that nonfictional illness narratives deploy fictionality to enrich their referential content. I examine Brian Fies' graphic memoir Mom's Cancer, emphasizing how the text utilizes fictionality to address the complicated question of how to narrate the illness experience of others. I also move beyond the particulars of Mom's Cancer to consider (a) how the graphic medium lends itself to the inventions of fictionality, (b) why authors of illness narrative often turn to the indirections of fictionality to come to terms with the actual experiences of illness, and c) how a rhetorical understanding of fictionality can help answer recent challenges to the role of narrative studies in the medical humanities.
We demonstrate the effectiveness of frequency selective surface filters in wireless communications at low terahertz (THz) frequencies. Full-wave simulations of pass-band filters designed at 270 GHz ...and 330 GHz are compared with measurements over 220-360 GHz, showing remarkable agreement. The filter spectral response is used to analytically model a THz filter-based wireless channel for modulated signals. In particular, numerical results and measurements for an OOK modulated signal are in good agreement for both free-space and filtered transmission at 14 Gb/s. In both cases, bit error rates (BER) as low as 10-10 are measured. This result demonstrates that the filters marginally affect the BER with respect to free-space, interference-free transmission, whereas interfering signals are strongly rejected. This result is demonstrated through a systematic evaluation of the BER in presence of an interfering signal with different carriers and amplitudes. Results confirm a strong filter rejection to interference carriers close to the filter central frequency. Conversely, without the filters the BER performance is fully compromised. Finally, we demonstrate numerically and experimentally that the constellation diagram for 104 Gb/s QAM-16 communication is not significantly affected by the filter. The investigated filters may provide a robust approach towards efficient spectrum management for future 6G wireless applications.
The Caronia area is located in the Tyrrhenian north-eastern sector of Sicily (Italy). Starting in 2010, attention focused on the study of landslides phenomena that occurred in this area, which caused ...significant economic damage to buildings and infrastructures and loss of productive activities. The site is characterized by geotechnical, geological and morphological heterogeneity, and for this reason the site is particularly prone to seismic topographic amplification effects. In this paper, the authors carried out numerical studies focused on the topographic seismic effect evaluation concerning the slope affected by the landslide phenomena. For this site, geotechnical characterization was available concerning both in-situ and laboratory tests; boreholes, piezometers, down-hole tests, multichannel analysis of surface waves tests, seismic tomographies and inclinometer measurements were carried out. Furthermore, 1-D and 2-D local seismic response analyses were carried out by using different synthetic seismograms related to the earthquake of Messina and Reggio Calabria on 28 December 1908. The results of the numerical analyses are presented in terms of response seismograms and response spectra at the surface.
Familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by severe hypertriglyceridemia, posing a heightened risk of acute pancreatitis. Recently, Volanesorsen, an APOC3 ...antisense oligonucleotide, gained approval for FCS treatment in the UK. Caution is advised during pregnancy due to limited safety data, although animal studies show no toxicity/teratogenicity. Two case scenarios are presented: In the first case, a patient with FCS continued Volanesorsen injections without having thrombocytopenia during an unplanned pregnancy until third trimester, maintaining triglyceride control. Upon discovering the pregnancy at 38 weeks, Volanesorsen was ceased, and a low‐fat diet reinstated. Despite a heightened risk of pancreatitis, no episodes of pancreatitis occurred during the pregnancy. In the second case, stopping Volanesorsen before conception led to elevated triglycerides, and an episode of acute pancreatitis at 22 weeks, despite strict very low‐fat diet and fibrate therapy from 14 weeks. At 23 weeks, Volanesorsen was reintroduced concurrently with regular therapeutic plasma exchange. No further episodes of pancreatitis occurred. In both case, fetal health was maintained throughout pregnancy, fetal scans revealed no anomalies, and planned C‐sections delivered healthy babies without congenital issues. Both babies are well and developing normally at 24 and 19 months.
Abstract
Animal activities threaten levee stability, especially during flood events, increasing levee failure risk. Indeed, while dens alter hydraulically‐induced failure mechanisms, it is difficult ...to locate them and to know in advance if critical conditions may be reached. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to perform nondestructive surveys to assess the risk of burrow animal activities in levee systems using a ground penetrating radar (GPR) for effective levee structure control, being GPR a nondestructive, expeditious, and cost‐effective geophysical technique. Here, a flood‐prone area in Sicily, where traditional hydraulic phenomena did not justify past levee failure events, is considered a case study. Through a visual inspection survey, several animal holes were recovered. GPR measurements allowed us to explore the levee interior and to detect the presence, distribution, and configuration of dens inside them. It was found that a complex burrow system crosses the entire embankment. Porcupine was recognized as a builder of such cavities. Although, previous studies established the porcupine presence in semi‐humid environments, for the first time, here we provide evidence of the development, articulation, and extension of porcupine burrows inside the levee system.
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