Eclipsed Autonomy: Celestial Images and the Free Will Debate in Antonio Mira de Amescua’s Álvaro de Luna Plays
Antonio Mira de Amescua’s two-part Próspera fortuna and Adversa fortuna de don Álvaro de Luna chronicles the rise and fall of Spain’s most iconic privado, Álvaro de Luna. Suspected by medieval chroniclers of controlling Juan II with magic, Luna’s appearance on stage speaks to growing concerns in seventeenth-century Spain over the king’s ability to resist manipulation by powerful courtiers. Rather than using the plays as political commentary, however, Mira frames the institution of privanza within contemporary debates regarding free will, and, in doing so, offers a dramatic rendering of the nature of human autonomy and spiritual bondage.
"Mi vida/anda de un hilo pendiente": Precarity and Power in the Dramatic Works of Juan Pérez de Montalbán
Le drame espagnol du Siecle d’Or aborde tres frequemment le theme de l’ascension et de la chute du privado, ou favori du roi : c’est le cas pour de nombreuses pieces de Juan Perez de Montalban. La presente etude se propose d’explorer la representation de la precarite du favori dans l’œuvre du dramaturge, en portant une attention particuliere aux apariencias emblematiques.
Human exposure to methylmercury from crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) in China
Methylmercury (MeHg) accumulation in aquatic food raises global concerns about human exposure to MeHg. Crayfish is the world’s third largest farmed crustacean species and a favorite aquatic food in many countries. However, human health hazard due to MeHg exposure via crayfish consumption is unclear, partly because appropriate survey data are lacking. We report on mercury concentrations and speciation in edible tail muscle of crayfish collected from restaurants in 23 Chinese cities. On average, MeHg constituted 99.1 % of mercury in tail muscle, and MeHg concentrations were comparable with those reported for fish in China. Variation in MeHg concentrations was not attributable to broad geographic region (i.e., provinces) or tail length. For different populations, potential health risk (characterized by hazard quotient or HQ) of MeHg exposure through crayfish consumption depended largely on crayfish consumption rates. In particular, a health hazard (HQ > 1) was found for high-rate consumers (i.e., 95 %ile or higher) in some cities in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), during the peak consumption season. Our results suggest that more attention should be paid to dietary MeHg intake via crayfish consumption in China, particularly for communities with high consumption in MLYR.