Der geehrte Autor und die Kunst der Invektive. Zu Thomas Bernhards «Meine Preise»

Thomas Bernhard reflects in his posthumously published story collection Meine Preise the most important of his many literary awards, which were often  associated with public scandals. This essay examines the mechanisms of authorship and self-stylization in the stories concerning the prizes received, shows the conglomeration of reality and fiction which characterizes his late work and offers a compact, interpretative survey of Bernhard’s prose volume in the light of his career in the literary field

Titania und ihr Meister. Epigonale Inszenierung und Habsburgischer Mythos in Elisabeth von Österreichs Lyrik: [Titania and her Master. Epigonous Self-Presentation and Habsburg Myth in the Poetry of Elisabeth of Austria]

This article offers an inventory of the rarely analyzed poetry of the mythical Austrian Empress and thereby shows the masterful self-presentation of a historically am­bivalent personality. Using selected poems, this article brings out Elizabeth’s appraisal of the contemporary court society, for which she often had only biting scorn. Her poetry reveals an almost religious veneration for Heinrich Heine and an almost subversive attitude towards the k.u.k. monarchy. It also illustrates Elizabeth’s literary strategy of dismantling a hated society, though its effect could also be interpreted to the contrary, i.e. as an unin­tended contribution of the opposition to the transfiguration of the Habsburg myth

Rapid hydrothermal cooling above the axial melt lens at fast-spreading mid-ocean ridge

Axial melt lenses sandwiched between the lower oceanic crust and the sheeted dike sequences at fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges are assumed to be the major magma source of oceanic crust accretion. According to the widely discussed "gabbro glacier'' model, the formation of the lower oceanic crust requires efficient cooling of the axial melt lens, leading to partial crystallization and crystal-melt mush subsiding down to lower crust. These processes are believed to be controlled by periodical magma replenishment and hydrothermal circulation above the melt lens. Here we quantify the cooling rate above melt lens using chemical zoning of plagioclase from hornfelsic recrystallized sheeted dikes drilled from the East Pacific at the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1256D. Weestimate the cooling rate using a forward modelling approach based on CaAl-NaSi interdiffusion in plagioclase. The results show that cooling from the peak thermal overprint at 1000-10506 degrees C to 6006 degrees C are yielded within about 10-30 years as a result of hydrothermal circulation above melt lens during magma starvation. The estimated rapid hydrothermal cooling explains how the effective heat extraction from melt lens is achieved at fast-spreading mid-ocean ridges.DFG/KO1723/12-1DFG/KO1723/12-

Dextran as internal calibrant for N-glycan analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to ion mobility-mass spectrometry

LC–MS is one of the most important tools for the comprehensive characterization of N-glycans. Despite many efforts to speed up glycan analysis via optimized sample preparation (e.g., faster enzyme digestion in combination with instant or rapid labeling dyes), a major bottleneck remains the rather long measurement times of HILIC chromatography. Further complication arises from the necessity to concomitantly calibrate with an external standard to allow for accurate retention times and the conversion into more robust GU values. Here we demonstrate the use of an internal calibration strategy for HILIC chromatography to speed up glycan analysis. By reducing the number of utilized dextran oligosaccharides, the calibrant can be spiked directly into the sample such that external calibration runs are no longer required. The minimized dextran ladder shows accurate GU calibration with a minor deviation of well below 1% and can be applied without modifications in sample preparation or data processing. We further demonstrate the simultaneous use of the minimized dextran ladder as calibrant for the estimation of CCS values in traveling wave ion mobility spectrometry. In both cases, the minimized dextran ladder enables the measurement of calibrant and sample in a single HPLC run without losing information or accuracy

Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC) for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma

Abstract Background Patients with recurrent malignant epithelioid mesothelioma (MM) after surgery and standard chemotherapy with cisplatin and pemetrexed have limited treatment options. Methods We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with recurrent MM undergoing Pressurized IntraPeritoneal/Thoracal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC/PITAC) with doxorubicin 1.5 mg/m2 and cisplatin 7.5 mg/m2. Data were retrospectively collected in a prospective registry of patients undergoing PIPAC/PITAC. Study outcomes were microscopic tumor regression grade (TRG), survival and adverse events (v4.0 CTCAE). Results A total of 29 patients (m/f = 17/12) with MM with a mean age of 62.4 (range: 42 to 84) years were analyzed. A total of 74 PIPAC and 5 PITAC procedures were performed. The mean number of PIPAC applications was 2.5 (range: 0 to 10) per patient. Twenty patients (69%) had > 2 PIPAC procedure and were eligible for TRG analysis. TRG 1 to 4 was observed in 75% (15/20) of patients. Major regression (TRG 3) or complete regression (TRG 4) was observed in 20% and 10%, respectively. PIPAC induced significant tumor regression in 51.7% (15/29) of patients with a cumulative effect after repetitive PIPACs (PIPAC #1 vs. PIPAC #2: p = 0.001; PIPAC #1 vs. PIPAC #3: p = 0.001; PIPAC #1 vs. PIPAC #4: p = 0.001). Postoperative CTCAE grade 4 complications were observed in two patients (6.9%) who had cytoreductive surgery (CC2) and intraoperative PIPAC. One patient (3.4%) died due to postoperative kidney insufficiency. After a follow up of 14.4 (95% CI: 8.1 to 20.7) months after the last PIPAC/PITAC application, median overall survival was 26.6 (95% CI: 9.5 to 43.7) months (from the first application). Conclusion After prior abdominal surgery and systemic chemotherapy, repetitive PIPAC applications are feasible and safe for patients with end-stage MM. Furthermore, PIPAC induces significant histological regression of malignant mesothelioma in the majority of patients. PITAC is feasible, but its safety and efficacy to control malignant pleural effusion remain unclear

Additional file 1: of Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC) for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma

Figure S1. Box plots of malignant ascites removed during PIPAC cycles #1 to #5. No statistically significant control of malignant ascites could be achieved with PIPAC treatment (p > 0.99). (PDF 101 kb

Additional file 2: of Pressurized IntraPeritoneal Aerosol Chemotherapy (PIPAC) for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma

Figure S2. Box plots for the PCI observed during PIPAC cycles #1 to #5. No statistically significant difference could be observed during repetitive PIPAC applications (p > 0.99). (PDF 22 kb