Development of brainstem-evoked responses in congenital auditory deprivation

To compare the development of the auditory system in hearing and completely acoustically deprived animals, naive congenitally deaf white cats (CDCs) and hearing controls (HCs) were investigated at different developmental stages from birth till adulthood. The CDCs had no hearing experience before the acute experiment. In both groups of animals, responses to cochlear implant stimulation were acutely assessed. Electrically evoked auditory brainstem responses (E-ABRs) were recorded with monopolar stimulation at different current levels. CDCs demonstrated extensive development of E-ABRs, from first signs of responses at postnatal (p.n.) day 3 through appearance of all waves of brainstem response at day 8 p.n. to mature responses around day 90 p.n.. Wave I of E-ABRs could not be distinguished from the artifact in majority of CDCs, whereas in HCs, it was clearly separated from the stimulus artifact. Waves II, III, and IV demonstrated higher thresholds in CDCs, whereas this difference was not found for wave V. Amplitudes of wave III were significantly higher in HCs, whereas wave V amplitudes were significantly higher in CDCs. No differences in latencies were observed between the animal groups. These data demonstrate significant postnatal subcortical development in absence of hearing, and also divergent effects of deafness on early waves II–IV and wave V of the E-ABR

Contagious History: Affect and Identification in Queer Public History Exhibitions

For LGBTQ people, history is never simply the past, what has passed, or what is dead and gone. Uncovering neglected LGBTQ pasts has been heralded not only as a project for historians but as an explicitly political endeavour. Histories that document LGBTQ lives and cultures have not traditionally been included in school curricula, collected in government archives, or passed down through family narration. Instead, their development and dissemination have been taken on primarily by LGBTQ individuals and communities themselves. This dissertation examines how community-based LGBTQ archives and public history projects reach out to broad publics. It focuses on the role of affect, feeling, and emotion in fostering interest in and connection to these histories. This dissertation explores three sites: the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History (Brooklyn, New York), the GLBT History Museum (San Francisco, California), and the site-specific art exhibition, Land|Slide Possible Futures, which was exhibited at the Markham Museum and Heritage Village in 2013 (Markham, Ontario). Research at these sites involved analyzing exhibits in terms of both content and form, interviewing curators and others involved in creating the exhibits, and writing reflective field notes. These three sites speak to a contagious public history that is necessarily critical. This is because contagious public history questions dominant historical narratives, demonstrates the construction of historical narratives and public history exhibitions, and questions traditional forms of expertise. This work highlights three factors that enable this form of public history: the encouragement of amateur historians; the use of objects in relationship-formation; and the creation of affective atmospheres. As a whole, this dissertation argues that there is much we can learn from community-based LGBTQ archives and public history projects. It insists that considerations of affect and emotion are central, not incidental, to a critical public history project. Though this work focuses primarily on representations of LGBTQ history, its contributions can reach into other areas because affect and emotion are central to all public history, whether or not they are recognized explicitly. History is political, but it is also emotional

Overview of the Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Coastal Forests and Wetlands in National Wildlife Refuges in the Mid-Atlantic Region

The National Wildlife Refuge System was established to assist the Fish and Wildlife Service in accomplishing their wildlife conservation goals. However, many of the refuges are located in areas susceptible to impacts from climate change, including sea level rise. Refuges in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States are particularly vulnerable given the higher than average rate of sea level rise in the region. Therefore, this project aims to quantify the impacts of sea level rise on coastal ecosystems within the refuges of the Mid-Atlantic. Based on the findings, recommendations for adaptation and mitigation of sea level rise impacts are given. The results of this study revealed substantial loss of ecologically significant protected land, with total NWR inundation ranging from 5-100%. Completing this research project allowed me to gain practical knowledge and further develop many skills. The data collection for this project was done through the use of ArcGIS, which gave me more technical experience with the software. I also gained more experience in conducting literature reviews and the background research necessary to develop a research topic and plan, as well as the actual process of developing and continuously revising the research plan. I also gained knowledge about the Chesapeake Bay region, including its ecological significance, the mechanisms behind sea level rise, and how sea level rise will impact its coastal ecosystems. I also now have a better understanding of where governmental management in the region is effective and where it is lacking. While this project does not tie into what I do in my current job as a science technician in a chemistry lab, it is closely related to my ideal career, which would be research, restoration, and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding area, and has helped me develop skills and knowledge necessary to obtain that career

"Spatial Joint Models through Bayesian Structured Piece-wise Additive Joint Modelling for Longitudinal and Time-to-Event Data"

Joint models for longitudinal and time-to-event data have seen many developments in recent years. Though spatial joint models are still rare and the traditional proportional hazards formulation of the time-to-event part of the model is accompanied by computational challenges. We propose a joint model with a piece-wise exponential formulation of the hazard using the counting process representation of a hazard and structured additive predictors able to estimate (non-)linear, spatial and random effects. Its capabilities are assessed in a simulation study comparing our approach to an established one and highlighted by an example on physical functioning after cardiovascular events from the German Ageing Survey. The Structured Piecewise Additive Joint Model yielded good estimation performance, also and especially in spatial effects, while being double as fast as the chosen benchmark approach and performing stable in imbalanced data setting with few events

Heterotrimeric G-protein subunit Gαi2 contributes to agonist-sensitive apoptosis and degranulation in murine platelets

Gαi2, a heterotrimeric G-protein subunit, regulates various cell functions including ion channel activity, cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. Platelet-expressed Gαi2 is decisive for the extent of tissue injury following ischemia/reperfusion. However, it is not known whether Gαi2 plays a role in the regulation of platelet apoptosis, which is characterized by caspase activation, cell shrinkage and cell membrane scrambling with phosphatidylserine (PS) translocation to the platelet surface. Stimulators of platelet apoptosis include thrombin and collagen-related peptide (CoRP), which are further known to enhance degranulation and activation of αII bβ3-integrin and caspases. Using FACS analysis, we examined the impact of agonist treatment on activation and apoptosis in platelets drawn from mice lacking Gαi2 and their wild-type (WT) littermates. As a result, treatment with either thrombin (0.01 U/mL) or CoRP (2 μg/mL or 5 μg/mL) significantly upregulated PS-exposure and significantly decreased forward scatter, reflecting cell size, in both genotypes. Exposure to CoRP triggered a significant increase in active caspase 3, ceramide formation, surface P-selectin, and αII bβ3-integrin activation. These molecular alterations were significantly less pronounced in Gαi2-deficient platelets as compared to WT platelets. In conclusion, our data highlight a previously unreported role of Gαi2 signaling in governing platelet activation and apoptosis.Fil: Cao, Hang. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Qadri, Syed M.. Canadian Blood Services; Canadá. McMaster University; CanadáFil: Lang, Elisabeth. Heinrich-heine-universität Düsseldorf; AlemaniaFil: Pelzl, Lisann. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Umbach, Anja T.. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Leiss, Veronika. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Birnbaumer, Lutz. National Institutes of Health; Estados Unidos. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas; ArgentinaFil: Nürnberg, Bernd. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Pieske, Burkert. Berlin Institute of Health; Alemania. Universitätsmedizin Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Voelkl, Jakob. Berlin Institute of Health; Alemania. Universitätsmedizin Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Gawaz, Meinrad. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Bissinger, Rosi. Universität Tübingen; AlemaniaFil: Lang, Florian. Universität Tübingen; Alemania. Heinrich-heine-universität Düsseldorf; Alemani

Flucht in die Freiheit

In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden zwei Romane von Erich Kästner (Fabian. Die Geschichte eines Moralisten) und Max Frisch (Stiller) behandelt. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt auf der Analyse der beiden Hauptprotagonisten, Jakob Fabian aus Kästners „Fabian. Die Geschichte eines Moralisten“ und Anatol Ludwig Stiller aus Frischs „Stiller“, deren Suche nach ihrer persönlichen – männlichen - Identität beobachtet wird. Die Flucht in die Freiheit, wie der Titel dieser Arbeit lautet, kann in beiden Romanen, wie gezeigt wird, ausgemacht werden. Sowohl Stiller als auch Fabian „flüchten“, teils freiwillig, teils durch die Umstände dazu gezwungen, aus ihrem (Alltags-) Leben und versuchen einen Neuanfang, indem sie sich von der „Rolle“, die sie zu spielen gewohnt sind, befreien. Da es sich bei den „Helden“ der beiden behandelten Romane um Männer und deren Identitätssuche handelt, ergibt sich eine tiefer gehende Auseinandersetzung mit dem Prinzip der Konstruktion von (männlicher) Identität und mit der Frage des gegenwärtigen kulturwissenschaftlichen Diskurses zur Identität. Dabei soll die Frage beantwortet werden, was die eigentliche Bedeutung des beinahe schon inflationär verwendeten Begriffes „Identität“ ist. Außerdem werden die Begriffe „Selbstwahrnehmung“ und „Männlichkeit“ näher beschrieben. Die Definition der grundlegenden Begriffe Identität und Selbstwahrnehmung erfolgt vor allem unter Bezugnahme auf Thesen Hannah Arendts, Paul Ricoeurs und Emmanuel Levinas´, die sich intensiv mit den genannten Aspekten auseinandergesetzt haben. Ein weiterer wichtiger Aspekt ist ein grundsätzlicher Vergleich der Konstruktion von männlichen und weiblichen Rollenbildern. Die Analyse der problematischen und zum überwiegenden Teil gescheiterten Beziehungen zwischen Männern und Frauen in den beiden Romanen zeigt, dass das Scheitern oft durch nicht hinterfragte Übernahme von gesellschaftlich anerkannten Geschlechterklischees passiert. Darüber hinaus beinhaltet die Arbeit eine formale Analyse der beiden verwendeten Romane. Durch die Beschäftigung mit der Konstruktion der Analyse sollen Antworten auf die Fragen gefunden werden, ob die unterschiedlichen Textkonstruktionen auf die Art der Charaktere von Stiller und Fabian verweisen und ob sich zwischen der Art und Weise des Erzählens und dem Erzählten selbst Bezüge herstellen lassen. Weiters soll gezeigt werden, welche Erzählstrategien vorliegen und was durch diese jeweils erreicht wird