Germans and German Brazilians: Discourses of Authenticity in Blumenau

Between 1820 and 1940, more than 200,000 German-speaking Europeans emigrated to Brazil. One of the most famous German settlements to this day is Blumenau in the state of Santa Catarina. This thesis examines how and why the Germanness of the German Brazilians in Blumenau has been changing since the city’s foundation in 1850. Methodologically, this is undertaken by combining the findings of preexisting historical science research with the analysis of primary sources from the Blumenau region, specifically of newspaper articles and theatre plays. Three examined factors are ethnic Germanness, the usage of the German language as well as events and practices perceived to be German. These are deconstructed in the context of Jan Blommaert’s enoughness theory. Blommaert sees authenticity in an increasingly diverse world as a mere judgment based on a sum of alleged characteristics that can change in the course of time. The results of this research show that the Germanness of Blumenau has been challenged rather by the increasing heterogeneity of inhabitants with German descent themselves than by non-Germans who moved to the city in exceeding rates. Internal quarrels about German culture, with new German arrivals and National Socialism being major arguments, in addition to the opposed Brazilianization campaign of President Getúlio Vargas during the 1930’s and 1940’s, have decisively led to the attrition of the German language. Today, the Blumenau Germanness is mostly seen as the cause of the economic success of the city which has always been a major part of the city’s self-perception. The contemporary Oktoberfest as a playful homage to the German roots of Blumenau is just another indicator of this

Signature Homology and Symmertic L-theory

Zunächst beweisen wir die Existenz einer Assemblyabbildung für das ganzahlige Novikov Problem aus [Min04]. Um dies zu erreichen zeigen wir, das Sig- naturhomology ein direkter Summand von Ranickis symmetrischer L-Theorie ist. Nun können wir die Assemblyabbildung für symmetrische L-Theorie benutzen. Weiterhin konstruieren wir eine Abbildung von der Bordismustheorie von PL-Pseudomannigfaltigkeiten, für die es eine Poincare Dualität in ganzzahliger Schnitthomologie gibt, in die symmetrische L-Theorie. Wir zeigen, dass die Homotopiekofaser dieser Abbildung durch den Eilenberg-MacLane Raum K(Z/2, 1) gegeben ist. Auf diese Weise erhalten wir eine Beschreibung von symmetrischer L-Theorie als geometrischen Bordismus

Effects and moderators of the Olweus bullying prevention program (OBPP) in Germany

Bullying is a common and significant risk factor for mental and physical health problems. The aim of the outlined study was to evaluate the German version of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) and to investigate potential moderators of its effectiveness. 23 schools started with the implementation and all students were invited to complete the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire annually. For our analyses, the data from grades 5 to 9 were used (t0: n = 5759; t1: n = 5416; t2: n = 4894). 16 out of the 23 schools completed the 18-months implementation period. The effectiveness of the program statistically depended on its complete implementation (χ2(2) = 7.62, p = 0.022). In the group of non-completers, the prevalence of victimization did not change during the observation period of 2 years (χ2(2) = 4.64, p = 0.099). In the group of the completer schools, a significant decrease in bullying between t0 and t1 was found for victims (t0: 9.14%; t1: 6.87%; OR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.62-0.88; p = 0.001) and perpetrators (t0: 6.16%; t1: 4.42%; OR = 0.70; 95% CI 0.55-0.89; p = 0.004). After 24 months (t2), this decrease could be retained (victims: t2: 6.83%; OR = 0.73; 95%CI = 0.61-0.88; p = 0.001; perpetrators: t2: 4.63%; OR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.57-0.92; p = 0.009). Furthermore, we found the following moderators of program effectiveness in the completer schools: (1) gender (with a stronger decrease among victimized girls; p = 0.004) and (2) school grade (with a stronger decrease of victimization among grades 5-7; p = 0.028). The German version of the OBPP significantly reduced the bullying prevalence in the completer schools. Effective prevention needs time and resources: fulfilling the 18-months implementation period was the basis for positive results

Nonhemolytic, Nonmotile Gram-Positive Rods Indicative of Bacillus anthracis

We report a 40-year-old female patient who was admitted to the hospital because of a left ovarian mass torsion. A nonhemolytic, nonmotile Bacillus, suspicious of Bacillus anthracis, was isolated from a blood culture. We discuss the evaluation that led to the final identification of the bacterium as B. megaterium

Diversity of Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetases Involved in the Biosynthesis of Lipopeptide Biosurfactants

Lipopeptide biosurfactants (LPBSs) consist of a hydrophobic fatty acid portion linked to a hydrophilic peptide chain in the molecule. With their complex and diverse structures, LPBSs exhibit various biological activities including surface activity as well as anti-cellular and anti-enzymatic activities. LPBSs are also involved in multi-cellular behaviors such as swarming motility and biofilm formation. Among the bacterial genera, Bacillus (Gram-positive) and Pseudomonas (Gram-negative) have received the most attention because they produce a wide range of effective LPBSs that are potentially useful for agricultural, chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The biosynthetic mechanisms and gene regulation systems of LPBSs have been extensively analyzed over the last decade. LPBSs are generally synthesized in a ribosome-independent manner with megaenzymes called nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). Production of active-form NRPSs requires not only transcriptional induction and translation but also post-translational modification and assemblage. The accumulated knowledge reveals the versatility and evolutionary lineage of the NRPSs system. This review provides an overview of the structural and functional diversity of LPBSs and their different biosynthetic mechanisms in Bacillus and Pseudomonas, including both typical and unique systems. Finally, successful genetic engineering of NRPSs for creating novel lipopeptides is also discussed

Welche ernährungsbezogenen Faktoren beeinflussen das Risiko eines schweren Covid-19-Krankheitsverlaufes von Personen ohne Vorerkrankungen? : Eine systematische Literaturrecherche

Bisherige Forschungsergebnisse über Pneumonien, HIV, Influenza, Malaria und Hepatitis C weisen darauf hin, das ernährungsbezogene Faktoren den Krankheitsverlauf positiv beeinflussen. Die aktuelle Forschung überträgt diese Ergebnisse auf den Verlauf einer Sars-Cov-2-Infektion. Unklar ist, ob die Ernährung auch Einfluss auf den Covid-19-Verlauf hat. Deshalb ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit, die ernährungsbezogenen Faktoren, die das Risiko eines schweren Covid-19-Krankheitsver-laufes von Personen ohne Vorerkrankungen beeinflussen zu identifizieren, eine Übersicht und Handlungsempfehlungen für weitere Forschungen zu geben.Previous research findings on pneumonia, HIV, influenza, malaria, and hepatitis C indicate that nutritional factors positively influence disease causes. The current research applies these findings to the course of Sars CoV-2 infection. It is unclear whether nutrition also influences covid-19 progression. Therefore, the aim of this work is to identify the nutrition-related factors that in-fluence the severity of Covid-19 in individuals without comobidities, to provide an overview and recommendations for further research