Literary Lessons. Knowledge and Genre in Dutch Middlebrow Fiction of the Interwar Years

The middlebrow novel has often been characterized as a highly didactic and pedagogical literary form, that aims to combine entertainment with education and instruction. In reaction to the often rather generalizing accounts of the middlebrow novel’s pedagogical function, this essay wants to sort out the different types of knowledge that can be involved and the different narrative and rhetorical means that are used to communicate these literary lessons. Focusing on two bestselling Dutch-language middlebrow novels from the interwar years – Whitey by Ernest Claes and Rubber by Madelon Székely-Lulofs – it is shown how different novelistic genres – the rural novel and the colonial novel – are almost naturally associated with different kinds of knowledge, but nevertheless display remarkably similar pedagogical strategies and techniques

Use of endospore-forming bacteria as an active oxygen scavenger in plastic packaging materials

In this study the use of heat resistant endospore-forming aerobic microorganisms of the genus Bacillus amyloliquefaciens as an active oxygen scavenger in multilayer PET bottles was evaluated. Therefore a modelsystem was developed in which Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spores were incorporated in a PET copolymer (PETG) at 220°C. The effectiveness of the OS was evaluated directly by measuring the oxygen absorption rate and indirectly by determining the viability of the incorporated spores

A generative modeling framework for statistical link analysis based on sparse data

This paper proposes a novel strategy for creating generative models of stochastic link responses starting from limited available data. Whereas state-of-the-art techniques, e.g., based on generalized polynomial chaos expansions, require a considerable amount of (expensive) input data, here we start from a small set of "training" responses. These responses are obtained either from simulations or measurements to construct a comprehensive stochastic model. Using this model, new response samples can be generated with a distribution as similar as possible to the real data distribution, for use in Monte Carlo-like analyses. The methodology first uses the standard Vector Fitting algorithm to fit the S-parameter data with rational functions having common poles. Then, a generative model for the residues is created by means of principal component analysis and kernel density estimation. An a posteriori selection of passive samples is performed on the generated data to ensure the new samples are physically consistent. The proposed modeling approach is applied to a commercial connector and to a set of differential striplines. Both are concatenated to produce the stochastic analysis of a complete link. Comparisons on the prediction of time-domain responses are also provided

ER stress in antigen‐presenting cells promotes NKT cell activation through endogenous neutral lipids

CD1d-restricted invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells constitute a common glycolipid-reactive innate-like T-cell subset with a broad impact on innate and adaptive immunity. While several microbial glycolipids are known to activate iNKT cells, the cellular mechanisms leading to endogenous CD1d-dependent glycolipid responses remain largely unclear. Here, we show that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in APCs is a potent inducer of CD1d-dependent iNKT cell autoreactivity. This pathway relies on the presence of two transducers of the unfolded protein response: inositol-requiring enzyme-1a (IRE1α) and protein kinase R-like ER kinase (PERK). Surprisingly, the neutral but not the polar lipids generated within APCs undergoing ER stress are capable of activating iNKT cells. These data reveal that ER stress is an important mechanism to elicit endogenous CD1d-restricted iNKT cell responses through induction of distinct classes of neutral lipids

Predicting therapy response to mycophenolic acid using UGT1A9 genotyping: towards personalized medicine in atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a very common chronic inflammatory skin disease requiring long-term treatment. Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is used off-label in treatment of patients with severe AD failing Cyclosporin A (CsA) treatment, however clinical efficacy is observed in only half of the AD patients. In blood, MPA levels are known to have a large interindividual variability. Low MPA exposure and increased enzyme activity correlates with the presence of UGT1A9 polymorphisms. In this retrospective study, 65 adult AD patients treated with MPA were classified as responder or non-responder to MPA treatment. UGT1A9 polymorphisms were determined using PCR. A significantly higher number of UGT1A9 polymorphisms was found in the group that did not respond to MPA treatment. Of the patients that carried a UGT1A9 polymorphism, 85.7% were non-responsive to MPA treatment. This implies that non-responsiveness in AD patients is more likely to occur in carriers of a UGT1A9 polymorphism. In a binary logistic regression analysis the odds ratio (OR) was 8.65 (95% confidence interval: 0.93–80.17). Our results show that UGT1A9 polymorphisms can be used to identify patients with non-responsiveness to MPA. Patients with UGT1A9 polymorphisms might benefit from higher MPA dosage

Human Cardiac-Derived Adherent Proliferating Cells Reduce Murine Acute Coxsackievirus B3-Induced Myocarditis

BACKGROUND: Under conventional heart failure therapy, inflammatory cardiomyopathy typically has a progressive course, indicating a need for alternative therapeutic strategies to improve long-term outcomes. We recently isolated and identified novel cardiac-derived cells from human cardiac biopsies: cardiac-derived adherent proliferating cells (CAPs). They have similarities with mesenchymal stromal cells, which are known for their anti-apoptotic and immunomodulatory properties. We explored whether CAPs application could be a novel strategy to improve acute Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced myocarditis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To evaluate the safety of our approach, we first analyzed the expression of the coxsackie- and adenovirus receptor (CAR) and the co-receptor CD55 on CAPs, which are both required for effective CVB3 infectivity. We could demonstrate that CAPs only minimally express both receptors, which translates to minimal CVB3 copy numbers, and without viral particle release after CVB3 infection. Co-culture of CAPs with CVB3-infected HL-1 cardiomyocytes resulted in a reduction of CVB3-induced HL-1 apoptosis and viral progeny release. In addition, CAPs reduced CD4 and CD8 T cell proliferation. All CAPs-mediated protective effects were nitric oxide- and interleukin-10-dependent and required interferon-γ. In an acute murine model of CVB3-induced myocarditis, application of CAPs led to a decrease of cardiac apoptosis, cardiac CVB3 viral load and improved left ventricular contractility parameters. This was associated with a decline in cardiac mononuclear cell activity, an increase in T regulatory cells and T cell apoptosis, and an increase in left ventricular interleukin-10 and interferon-γ mRNA expression. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that CAPs are a unique type of cardiac-derived cells and promising tools to improve acute CVB3-induced myocarditis

'Schakel fladderende woorden tot een zwerm aaneen': de poëziemagie van Peter Holvoet-Hanssen

status: publishe

De ene schrijver is de andere niet: Het beeld van de auteur in een functionalistische perspectief

The present article articulates a functional perspective on the author as a central category in literary historiography. Taking as its starting point the common practices in Dutch literary historiography the paradoxes surrounding the authorial function -- even in so-called postmodern histories -- are analyzed. Authors remain a central dimension of literature and hence of its scholarly study, although the ‘death of the author’ has been claimed time and again. The present article does not plead for a further death or, alternately, a clear resurrection of the author. Rather it argues for an meticulous analysis of the authorial category as a crucial discursive category, which can be both analyzed and thematized in a Foucaldian way. A number of topics in relation to this discursivefunctionalist approach to literature are presented

Van TNTL naar TLN: een kort pleidooi voor een taalkundige letterkundige neerlandistiek

status: publishe