Corrupting Capitalism: Michael Ende’s Momo and “Cathedral Station”

Michael Ende, the well-known author of The Neverending Story, foresaw dramatic changes in the fabric of society resulting from a turn toward neoliberal policies. One such far-reaching and dangerous change has to do with a diminishing of temporal autonomy, the ability to freely determine the use and meaning of our time. This article explores how neoliberalism is shaping our concept of time and our experience of it. In an effort to demonstrate the process and the line of reasoning behind the monetization of time, and to connect time to more qualitative considerations of the human condition, I shall demonstrate how Ende conceptualizes time as an integral part of the accumulation process of capitalism. I also discuss a fairly cryptic short story, “Cathedral Station,” that envisions “the mystery of money.” Utilizing Walter Benjamin’s critique issued in his 1921 fragment “Capitalism as Religion,” I outline Ende’s dystopian vision of the uncontested, unquestioned reign of capitalism as a religious cult. Read together, the novel and the short story offer a way of contrasting two extreme byproducts of capitalism’s colonization of time, namely what I would call an “ideology of work” and an “ideology of growth.” The first of these is a result of capitalism’s commodification of time according to liberal ideals such as choice, freedom, and self-interest. The second is a decidedly neoliberal phenomenon in that the “financialization of everything,” to use David Harvey’s phrase, results in the ever-present expectation of unlimited, exponential growth. By drawing out these two interconnected ideologies through close readings, the subtle processes of capitalism’s colonization of time are revealed

Low level of exosomal long non-coding RNA HOTTIP is a prognostic biomarker in colorectal cancer

Molecular risk stratification of colorectal cancer can improve patient outcome. A panel of lncRNAs (H19, HOTTIP, HULC and MALAT1) derived from serum exosomes of patients with non-metastatic CRC and healthy donors was analyzed. Exosomes from healthy donors carried significantly more H19, HULC and HOTTIP transcripts in comparison to CRC patients. Correlation analysis between lncRNAs and clinical data revealed a statistical significance between low levels of exosomal HOTTIP and poor overall survival. This was confirmed by multivariate analysis that HOTTIP is an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (HR: 4.5, CI: 1.69–11.98, p = 0.0027). Here, HOTTIP poses to be a valid biomarker for patients with a CRC to predict post-surgical survival time. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Corrupting Capitalism: Michael Ende’s Momo and “Cathedral Station”

Michael Ende, the well-known author of The Neverending Story , foresaw dramatic changes in the fabric of society resulting from a turn toward neoliberal policies. One such far-reaching and dangerous change has to do with a diminishing of temporal autonomy, the ability to freely determine the use and meaning of our time. This article explores how neoliberalism is shaping our concept of time and our experience of it. In an effort to demonstrate the process and the line of reasoning behind the monetization of time, and to connect time to more qualitative considerations of the human condition, I shall demonstrate how Ende conceptualizes time as an integral part of the accumulation process of capitalism. I also discuss a fairly cryptic short story, “Cathedral Station,” that envisions “the mystery of money.” Utilizing Walter Benjamin’s critique issued in his 1921 fragment “Capitalism as Religion,” I outline Ende’s dystopian vision of the uncontested, unquestioned reign of capitalism as a religious cult. Read together, the novel and the short story offer a way of contrasting two extreme byproducts of capitalism’s colonization of time, namely what I would call an “ideology of work” and an “ideology of growth.” The first of these is a result of capitalism’s commodification of time according to liberal ideals such as choice, freedom, and self-interest. The second is a decidedly neoliberal phenomenon in that the “financialization of everything,” to use David Harvey’s phrase, results in the ever-present expectation of unlimited, exponential growth. By drawing out these two interconnected ideologies through close readings, the subtle processes of capitalism’s colonization of time are revealed

Sperimentazione su substrati di calcestruzzo per l'inverdimento verticale

Gefördert durch den Publikationsfonds der Universität Kasse

Variation of the Nuclear, Subnuclear and Chromosomal Flavanol Deposition in Hemlock and Rye

Nuclei of hemlock (Tsuga canadensis and Tsuga canadensis var. nana) wereinvestigated for the presence of flavanols. Histochemical staining with p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde proved to be a highly valuable method yielding a brightblue flavanol coloration for nuclei. There was a significant variation in flavanol deposition(1) among nuclei, (2) at the subnuclear level and also (3) along the chromosomes duringmitosis. The presence of flavanols in nucleoli could not be established probably becausethey were too small, measuring less than 1 μm in diameter. In contrast to Tsuga, the cellsand nuclei of rootlets from rye (Secale cereale) were totally devoid of natural flavanols.However, externally added flavanols, catechin and epicatechin, were bound to the ryenuclei, while the rather large nucleoli failed to associate with the flavanols. The strong sinkactivity of nucleoplasm and chromosomes for flavanols in Tsuga and Secale indicates aprocess which is apparently widespread even in distantly related plant species. Variationsin chromatin-associated flavanols could to some extent be induced byacetylation/deacetylation of histones, as confirmed in the present study by means of UV-VIS spectroscopic titrations of histone sulphate and chemically acetylated histone sulphate