Houses, Secrets, and the Closet

»Houses, Secrets, and the Closet« investigates the literary production of masculinities and their relation to secrets and sexualities in 18th and 19th century fiction. It focusses on close readings of Gothic fiction, Sensation Novels, and tales by Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, William Godwin, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Wilkie Collins, and Henry James. The study approaches these texts through the lens of domestic space, gender, knowledge, and power. This approach serves to investigate the cultural roots of the »closet« – the male homosexual secret – which reveals a more general notion of male secrecy in modern society. The study thus contributes to a better understanding of the cultural history of masculinities and sexualities

Ergebnisse nach modifizierter Norwood-Operation bei Patienten mit Linksherzhypoplasie-Varianten im Vergleich zum typischen Krankheitsbild

Während die Fehlbildungen des linken Herzens mit Hypoplasie der Mitralklappe, des linken Ventrikels, der Aortenklappe und des Aortenbogens als hypoplastisches Linksherzsyndrom (HLHS) bezeichnet werden, fasst man die anderen komplexen Herzfehler, die mit einer Hypoplasie des Aortenbogens bei verschiedener dominanter oder balancierter Ventrikelmorphologie einhergehen, als Non-HLHS zusammen. Diese Gruppe ist inhomogen und klein. Das Behandlungskonzept ist ebenfalls dreistufig wie beim klassischen hypoplastischen Linksherzsyndrom. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden die früh- und spätpostoperativen Verläufe und die jeweilige Letalität der Patientengruppe mit Non-HLHS (n = 26), die zwischen November 1993 und Juni 2006 im Kinderherzzentrum Kiel des Universitätsklinikums Schleswig-Holstein behandelt wurden, analysiert und mit einer Gruppe von Patienten mit HLHS (n = 157) verglichen. Alle Patientendaten wurden retrospektiv analysiert und anonymisiert ausgewertet. Das Follow-up erfolgte bis zum 31.12.2009. Das männliche Geschlecht überwog in allen Gruppen (76 % Non-HLHS/64,3 % HLHS). Zwischen den Gruppen der Non-HLHS-Patienten und der HLHS-Gruppe bestanden keine signifikanten Unterschiede bei der Geschlechtsverteilung, dem Geburtsgewicht, der Frühgeburtlichkeit und dem medianen Durchmesser der Aorta ascendens. 13 Kinder (50 %) in den drei Patientengruppen mit Non-HLHS und 21 Kinder mit HLHS (13,3 %) hatten zusätzliche extrakardiale Fehlbildungen. Dieser Unterschied zwischen beiden Gruppen war signifikant (50 % vs. 13,3 %; p ≤ 0,001). Alle Kinder mit Non-HLHS und alle Kinder mit HLHS erhielten eine modifizierte Norwood-Operation innerhalb der ersten Lebenstage bis -wochen. In der Non-HLHS-Gruppe gab es keine Hospitalletalität. In der HLHS-Gruppe verstarben dagegen 18 Kinder (11,5 %). Der Unterschied war nicht signifikant (p = 0,080). Der zweite und dritte Operationsschritt erfolgte je nach Ventrikelmorphologie entweder mit Hemi-Fontan- und späterer Fontan-Operation oder bei biventrikulärer Balance durch eine Rastelli-Operation. Im Langzeitverlauf verstarben insgesamt sechs Kinder aus allen drei Gruppen mit Non-HLHS. Dies entspricht einer Gesamtletalität von 23,1 %. Letztere war bei den Patienten mit dominantem rechtem Ventrikel signifikant höher als bei den Patienten mit balancierten Ventrikeln bzw. dominantem linkem Ventrikel (p = 0,015). Im Vergleich der Non-HLHS-Gesamtgruppe mit der Gruppe der HLHS-Patienten (31,6 %) zeigte sich kein signifikanter Unterschied (p = 0,192) in der Gesamtsterblichkeit. Die fehlende Hospitalletalität der Non-HLHS-Patienten ist im Vergleich zum Großteil der vorliegenden Literatur mit Sterblichkeitsangaben zwischen 17 und 25 % bemerkenswert und identisch mit der von Bradley (2002). Die im Langzeitverlauf verstorbenen Kinder hatten entweder zusätzliche extrakardiale Fehlbildungen, einen dominanten rechten Ventrikel oder es lagen Lungenvenenfehlmündungen vor. Tendenziell war das Langzeitüberleben in der Non-HLHS-Gruppe besser, besonders dann, wenn ein dominanter linker Ventrikel oder eine biventrikuläre Balance vorlag. Limitiert wurden unsere Ergebnisse durch die sehr kleinen Fallzahlen und individuellen Ausprägungen der komplexen Herzfehler der Non-HLHS-Gruppe

Human Dermis Harbors Distinct Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Subsets

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are found in a variety of adult tissues including human dermis. These MSCs are morphologically similar to bone marrow–derived MSCs, but are of unclear phenotype. To shed light on the characteristics of human dermal MSCs, this study was designed to identify and isolate dermal MSCs by a specific marker expression profile, and subsequently rate their mesenchymal differentiation potential. Immunohistochemical staining showed that MSC markers CD73/CD90/CD105, as well as CD271 and SSEA-4, are expressed on dermal cells in situ. Flow cytometric analysis revealed a phenotype similar to bone marrow–derived MSCs. Human dermal cells isolated by plastic adherence had a lower differentiation capacity as compared with bone marrow–derived MSCs. To distinguish dermal MSCs from differentiated fibroblasts, we immunoselected CD271+ and SSEA-4+ cells from adherent dermal cells and investigated their mesenchymal differentiation capacity. This revealed that cells with increased adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic potential were enriched in the dermal CD271+ population. The differentiation potential of dermal SSEA-4+ cells, in contrast, appeared to be limited to adipogenesis. These results indicate that specific cell populations with variable mesenchymal differentiation potential can be isolated from human dermis. Moreover, we identified three different subsets of dermal mesenchymal progenitor cells

Differential Expression of PD-L1 during Cell Cycle Progression of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The expression of PD-L1 by tumor cells is mainly associated with its immunosuppressive effect. In fact, PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitors demonstrated remarkable effects in advanced cancer patients including HNSCC. In this context, irradiation is currently being investigated as a synergistic treatment modality to immunotherapy. However, the majority of HNSCC patients still show little improvement or even hyperprogression. Interestingly, there is increasing evidence for additional cell-intrinsic functions of PD-L1 in tumor cells. In previous studies, we showed that PD-L1 has a strong influence on proliferation, migration, invasion, and survival after irradiation. We demonstrated that cellular expression and localization of PD-L1 differed depending on sensitivity to irradiation. Here, we show that PD-L1 is also differentially expressed during cell cycle progression of HNSCC. Furthermore, cellular localization of PD-L1 also changes depending on a particular cell cycle phase. Moreover, distinct observations occurred depending on the general differentiation status. Overall, the function of PD-L1 cannot be generalized. Rather, it depends on the differentiation status and microenvironment. PD-L1 expression and localization are variable, depending on different factors. These findings may provide insight into why differential response to PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapy can occur. Detailed understanding of cell-intrinsic PD-L1 functions will further allow antibody-based immunotherapy to be optimized

The stories we tell: uncanny encounters in Mr Straw’s house

During my first visit to Mr Straw’s House, a National Trust Property in the North of England, I was intrigued by the discrepancies between the narrative framework provided by the National Trust – its exclusions, silences and invisibilities – and the far more complex stories the house seemed to tantalisingly hint at. As a scholar I am drawn to certain sites and affectively engage with them and yet I usually keep silent about my investment which informs not only my interest but also how I read these heritage sites. My aim here is not primarily to interrogate my own investment, but to ask how productive it is, what it enables me to see and to describe and where its limits are. This case study explores a particular tourist attraction from the perspective of storytelling and asks what narratives can be constructed around, and generated through, the spatial-emotional dimensions of this heritage site. I am interested in the hold sites have over people, why and how they provoke imaginative and empathic investment that generates a network of stories and triggers processes of unravelling which have the potential to transform silences and unmetabolised affect into empathy and emotional thought

Potential biological role of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in male gametes

Maintaining the integrity of sperm DNA is vital to reproduction and male fertility. Sperm contain a number of molecules and pathways for the repair of base excision, base mismatches and DNA strand breaks. The presence of Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), a DNA repair enzyme, and its homologues has recently been shown in male germ cells, specifically during stage VII of spermatogenesis. High PARP expression has been reported in mature spermatozoa and in proven fertile men. Whenever there are strand breaks in sperm DNA due to oxidative stress, chromatin remodeling or cell death, PARP is activated. However, the cleavage of PARP by caspase-3 inactivates it and inhibits PARP's DNA-repairing abilities. Therefore, cleaved PARP (cPARP) may be considered a marker of apoptosis. The presence of higher levels of cPARP in sperm of infertile men adds a new proof for the correlation between apoptosis and male infertility. This review describes the possible biological significance of PARP in mammalian cells with the focus on male reproduction. The review elaborates on the role played by PARP during spermatogenesis, sperm maturation in ejaculated spermatozoa and the potential role of PARP as new marker of sperm damage. PARP could provide new strategies to preserve fertility in cancer patients subjected to genotoxic stresses and may be a key to better male reproductive health

Persistent Place-Making in Prehistory: the Creation, Maintenance, and Transformation of an Epipalaeolithic Landscape

Most archaeological projects today integrate, at least to some degree, how past people engaged with their surroundings, including both how they strategized resource use, organized technological production, or scheduled movements within a physical environment, as well as how they constructed cosmologies around or created symbolic connections to places in the landscape. However, there are a multitude of ways in which archaeologists approach the creation, maintenance, and transformation of human-landscape interrelationships. This paper explores some of these approaches for reconstructing the Epipalaeolithic (ca. 23,000–11,500 years BP) landscape of Southwest Asia, using macro- and microscale geoarchaeological approaches to examine how everyday practices leave traces of human-landscape interactions in northern and eastern Jordan. The case studies presented here demonstrate that these Epipalaeolithic groups engaged in complex and far-reaching social landscapes. Examination of the Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic (EP) highlights that the notion of “Neolithization” is somewhat misleading as many of the features we use to define this transition were already well-established patterns of behavior by the Neolithic. Instead, these features and practices were enacted within a hunter-gatherer world and worldview

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI