Die Grenzen und Möglichkeiten der Philologie im Holocaust-Diskurs : das Beispiel Theresienstadt

Philology seems to have come to a crossroads. One path leads back to the save haven of established core strengths and competences, the other path promises new perspectives through further expansion into the vastness of cultural studies. If philology is to continue as a discipline relevant to society as a whole, retreat into pure philology — concentrating only on the text itself, adhering to national boundaries — is no viable option. Instead, by opening itself up for the questions and methods of truly interdisciplinary inquiry, philology can emerge in new shape, powerful enough to adequately address issues of interdisciplinary, intercultural and intergenerational importance. This essay will argue for such an extension of philology into cultural studies through an examination of texts, songs and plays written in and about the Terezín ghetto. The songs of Leo Strauß and Manfred Greiffenhagen, the ghetto opera "Der Kaiser von Atlantis" (The Emperor of Atlantis), as well as Roy Kift's play "Camp Comedy" and Frido Mann's parable "Terezín" will exemplify the potential of philology’s conjunction with history, sociology and cultural studies

Body Size of Wood Ant Workers Affects their Work Division

The division of functions among ant workers and their mutual cooperation is one of the reasons for ants’ success. The activities that workers perform in the nest can be divided by age or morphology. We studied the body size of workers of the wood ant Formica polyctena as a function of their activity. Our results show that workers exploiting protein baits were larger than workers attracted to carbohydrate baits. The biggest of all were workers located at the upper parts of the nest, which shows the importance of nest defense and maintenance. It also points that the distribution of functions does not have to be given only by workers age. Work division based on several mechanisms may be advantageous for colony functioning

The Lure of Vicarious Traumatization: Binjamin Wilkomirski’s Bruchstücke and the Construction of False Identity

El artículo examina la construcción de identidad en el texto de Binjamin Wilkomirski Bruchstücke: Aus einer Kindheit 1939-1948 (Fragmentos: memorias de una infancia en tiempo de guerra). Esta historia sobre la supervivencia infantil en campos de concentración nazis y la superación de memorias traumáticas, muy alabada al principio, fue más tarde desenmascarada como una ficción escrita por el ciudadano suizo Bruno Dössekker. Analizando Fragmentos desde el contexto de un creciente interés por los estudios del trauma en general y de los relatos autobiográficos del trauma en particular, Martin Modlinger defiende que podemos considerar el texto de Wilkomirski como un ejemplo casi perfecto de lo que el enfoque en trauma se propone tratar. Fragmentos se ocupa de los tropos comunes de la literatura autobiográfica del trauma, especialmente, de la literatura del Holocausto, como la ruptura catastrófica de la narración o la culpabilidad del superviviente. Independientemente de su condición de ficción, lo cierto es que el texto y su recepción proporcionan elementos para comprender peligrosas tendencias en los estudios del trauma, desde la reivindicación de la copropiedad del trauma hasta el atractivo de la traumatización indirecta

Monosaccharides as alpha4 integrin antagonists and oligomeric Somatostatin analogues for nuclear medicine

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt die Synthese und die biologische Evaluation von Monosacchariden als alpha-4 Integrinantagonisten. Aufbauend auf früheren Untersuchungen wurden Minibibliotheken von Glucose- und Mannosederivaten dargestellt und biologisch auf ihre Fähigkeit selektiv die Adhäsion von MAdCAM an alpha-4 Integrine zu unterbinden, untersucht. Durch die Synthese von C-Mannosiden konnten Verbesserungen hinsichtlich der Stabilität der Verbindungen unter Erhalt der Aktivität erreicht werden. In einem zweiten Projekt wurden erstmals oligomere Somatostatinanaloga für eine mögliche Anwendung in der Nuklearmedizin entwickelt. Zwar konnten hervorragende Rezeptoraffinitäten nachgewiesen werden, aber die hohe Nierenreicherung der radiomarkierten oligomeren Verbindungen im Mausmodell schließt einen klinischen Einsatz aus. Schließlich wurden neuartige Chelatoren entwickelt, die chemoselektive Radiomarkierungen erlauben.This thesis describes the synthesis and biological Evaluation of monosaccharides as alpha-4 integrin antagonists. Biased libraries of glucose and mannose derivatives were synthesized and tested for selective inhibitory activity towards adhesion of MAdCAM to alpha-4-beta-7 Integrin. The synthesis of potent C-mannosides enhanced the stability of the compounds. A second project implicated the synthesis of oligomeric somatostatin analogues for nuclear medicine. Although excellent receptor affinities were observed, a high renal uptake of the radiolabeled oligomeric compounds in tumor bearing nude mice excludes further application in the clinic. Finally, new chelators suitable for chemoselective radiolabeling were developed

Conservation and Analyses of the Twelfth-Century Bronze Doors made by Oderisius of Benevento in Troia, Italy

In the context of the international GAPAMET project, a study was conducted on European metal doors from the eleventh-twelfth century CE, which were composed of various copper alloys. The aim of the project was to gain deeper insights into the manufacturing processes and subsequent modifications of these doors. Two of them, namely the doors from the cathedral of Troia, Italy, were made by Oderisius of Benevento at the beginning of the twelfth century. In this paper, we present, for the first time, chemical analyses of all the metal parts of the two doors and focus on the restoration of the main door on the cathedral’s façade in the 1990s conducted by one of the authors, which brought to light previously unnoticed remnants of further original panels that had been thought to be lost. Particular attention is paid to rearrangements and the addition of new panels over the course of time, and the usage of different leaded bronze alloys for the production of the various metal parts. Furthermore, we include in our study a discussion of the door handles from Sepino, also associated with Oderisius’ workshop, which were made of leaded bronze and quaternary Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb alloys

Cry3A δ-endotoxin gene mutagenized for enhanced toxicity to spruce bark beetle in a receptor binding loop

Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3A gene was redesigned for high expression in Norwegian spruce and the sequence was slightly modified to allow for simple N- and C- terminal deletions and domain II loop 1 exchange for synthetic oligos. Modified Cry3A toxins from 13 variants of the synthetic gene were expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 and their toxicity on spruce bark beetle larvae was tested using spruce bark sandwiches. Mutant toxins with N-terminal deletion and loop 1 duplication showed increased toxicity.Key words: Bacillus thuringiensis, Ips typographus, Picea abies, resistance

Electrochemical Approximation to Bronze Age Chronology via Multiple Scan Voltammetry

[EN] Insert A multiple-scan voltammetry strategy is described and applied to a set of 107 Bronze Age and later copper/bronze objects, mainly from sites in Central Europe. This methodology allows the study of the compositional and textural properties (compactness, crystallinity, degree of hydration) of the patina to be studied from the accumulated peak current values for the characteristic signals corresponding to the reduction of cuprite and tenorite to metallic copper. A new model for the relationship between peak current and the depth reached in successive scans is presented and used to discriminate samples of different provenance and manufacturing technique, as well as their ascription to different Bronze Age periods.Project P34960-G supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project PID2020-113022GB I00 supported by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ERDF) and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), and Project AICO/2021/095 which is supported with Generalitat Valenciana and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ERDF), funds are gratefully acknowledged.Domenech Carbo, MT.; Doménech-Carbó, A.; Modlinger, M.; Osete Cortina, L. (2023). Electrochemical Approximation to Bronze Age Chronology via Multiple Scan Voltammetry. ChemElectroChem. 10(23). https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.202300405102

Unravelling the gut bacteriome of Ips (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae): identifying core bacterial assemblage and their ecological relevance

Bark beetles often serve as forest damaging agents, causing landscape-level mortality. Understanding the biology and ecology of beetles are important for both, gathering knowledge about important forest insects and forest protection. Knowledge about the bark beetle gut-associated bacteria is one of the crucial yet surprisingly neglected areas of research with European tree-killing bark beetles. Hence, in this study, we survey the gut bacteriome from five Ips and one non-Ips bark beetles from Scolytinae. Results reveal 69 core bacterial genera among five Ips beetles that may perform conserved functions within the bark beetle holobiont. The most abundant bacterial genera from different bark beetle gut include Erwinia, Sodalis, Serratia, Tyzzerella, Raoultella, Rahnella, Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, Vibrio, and Pseudoxanthomonas. Notable differences in gut-associated bacterial community richness and diversity among the beetle species are observed. Furthermore, the impact of sampling location on the overall bark beetle gut bacterial community assemblage is also documented, which warrants further investigations. Nevertheless, our data expanded the current knowledge about core gut bacterial communities in Ips bark beetles and their putative function such as cellulose degradation, nitrogen fixation, detoxification of defensive plant compounds, and inhibition of pathogens, which could serve as a basis for further metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics investigations

Multidisciplinary analyses on the 11th-12th century bronze doors of San Marco, Venice

Two 11th- and 12th-century entrance doors from the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, made of different copper alloys and woods, were non-invasively examined in situ. The chemical composition of the metals, the way in which different metal parts were joined together, the tree species used to construct the supporting structures and the age of the wood are determined. A portable ED-XRF instrument and optical microscopes were used. The doors were also photographed to produce high-resolution orthophotos and 3D models. The metal parts of the doors were made of leaded tin-bronze and quaternary Cu-Sn-Zn-Pb alloys and were mounted on a wooden multi-layer structure of larch and silver fir; the dendrochronological dates of some of the larch boards are 1965, teminus post quem