In this article, Latin American identity is analyzed from an anthropological and holistic perspective. Dynamic contradictions are offered as a contribution towards understanding the process of construction-deconstruction of our identity, within the global historical context of its emergence an..

Aim: The presence of noise in urban environments is rarely considered a factor that causes damage to the environment. The primary generating source is transportation means, with vehicles being the ones that affect cities the most. Traffic noise has a particular influence on the quality of life of those who are exposed to it and can cause health alterations ranging from annoyance to cardiovascular diseases. This study aims to describe the relationship between the traffic noise level and the perceived annoyance (...) in the inhabitants of a city on the Northern Border of Mexico. The work carried out in a city represents the vulnerability characteristics: economic, social, and migratory of its sizable portion of the inhabitants. Due to that, it is impossible to identify precisely the number of residents as the number of vehicles in circulation.Methods: The streets and avenues with an annual average daily traffic of more than 1,000 vehicles were considered for the measurement of traffic noise. The equipment used was a vehicle gauge with non-invasive speed radar; type I integrating sound level meters, with their respective gauges and tripods. A questionnaire was applied to people living within 250 m of the streets and avenues in which the noise was measured.Results: The noise measurement found a parameter of LAeq estimated for 12 h during the day, exceeding 70 dBA. The data received from the questionnaire were statistically tested by using Pearson's correlation tests. A total number of 2,350 people were participated, of whom 1,378 were women and 972 were men. The age of participants is ranged from 18 to 75 years. The overall perception of traffic noise annoyance identified that 1,131 participants responded “Yes” as they considered the noise annoying. Participants who responded “No” as well as those who responded “Do not know” resulted in a total of 1,219 people.Conclusion: The results show that the population is desensitized to traffic noise and does not perceive it as an annoyance. The flow of vehicles and the type of vehicles are the significant factors for the propagation and increase in the traffic noise levels. Women present a considerable appreciation of traffic noise perception instead of younger people who demonstrate a higher tolerance to high-level exposure. This reflects the lack of information of the population around the noise problem and its effects. (shrink)

Em um de seus últimos artigos publicados na Folha de S. Paulo, Ferreira Gullar defendeu a necessidade de se reinventar uma nova utopia para o tempo presente: “por isso mesmo, o fim do regime comunista provocou um vazio ideológico, que necessita ser preenchido, uma vez que a sociedade humana, sem utopia, torna-se inviável”. Trata-se da última dentre tantas reviravoltas em sua saudosa trajetória intelectual. Diante disso, discutimos aqui uma das principais contribuições para esse debate, presente Em um rabo de foguete: (...) trauma e cultura política em Ferreira Gullar, de Marcus Vinícius Furtado da Silva Oliveira. Neste livro, o autor procurou identificar e interpretar várias dessas reviravoltas presentes na vida intelectual do poeta e crítico literário maranhense. Notoriamente, algo que poderia enfraquecer o argumento de uma de suas teses centrais - no caso, o cancelamento das utopias em Ferreira Gullar – ao contrário, acabou por trazer ainda mais relevância para o trabalho, coincidentemente publicado no mesmo ano do texto de Gullar. (shrink)

Das hier angezeigte Buch stellt sich dar als eine repräsentative Studie zur byzantinischen Buchkunst über einen Zeitraum von mehr als anderthalb Jahrtausenden. In einem knappen Vorwort reiht Peter Schreiner es in eine bedeutende Forschungstradition ein und zugleich in die Abfolge einer „unübersehbar gewordenen Literatur“. Dabei wird zu Recht hervorgehoben, daß im Unterschied zu vielen anderen Veröffentlichungen des Faches die Buchkunst aus dem slawisch-orthodoxen Bereich voll einbezogen wird, an dessen Erforschung die Verf. mit zahlreichen Arbeiten beteiligt ist. Sie stellt in ihrer (...) eigenen Einleitung dem Leser das vorwiegend liturgische Buch als wesentliches Fundament der byzantinischen Kultur vor Augen. Skizzenhaft erläutert sie seine religiös bestimmte Würde, aus der sich zugleich seine Zierate und Illustrationen rechtfertigen. Es ist einer der Vorzüge der Darstellung, daß dem politischen und kulturellen Zentrum des Reiches Provinzen und Nachbarländer mit vollem Gewicht an die Seite treten: – Syrien, das koptische Ägypten und Äthiopien, Armenien und Georgien, Bulgarien, Rumänien, die Walachei und nicht zuletzt Rußland. (shrink)

Stone and Dung, Oil and Spit: Jewish Daily Life in the Time of Jesus. By Jodi Magness. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Pp. xv + 335, illus. $25.

Experimental Essays on Zhuangzi is a classic in the field. Originally published in 1983, this edition makes it available again in an expanded version, with four additional contributions, and in an updated format, with pinyin transcription, Chinese characters embedded in the text, and reference style notes. The work is a well respected textbook and essential reader in Daoist thought. It continues to constitute an essential contribution to the study of Daoism and Chinese philosophy.

Chicks reared in the absence of light and rat pups reared without extra stimulation fail to exhibit behavioral laterality, implying that a threshold amount of environmental stimulation is necessary for the brain to follow an asymmetry pathway. Reverse asymmetry has been reported in the chick, but not the rat, though a sex difference resembling reverse asymmetry has been found in the rat.