The Outsider Inside: Ideas of Jewishness in Contemporary Jewish, Postcolonial, and Palestinian Literature

My thesis creates a comparative framework for understanding representations of Jewishness in Jewish, postcolonial, and Palestinian literature in response to particular historical events such as the Holocaust, the creation of the state of Israel, the first intifada, and the siege of Ramallah during the second intifada. Central to my study is the shift from Jewish identity in Europe before the creation of Jewish settlements in Palestine – as a minority identity in the Diaspora, facing discrimination and persecution in Europe, which culminated in the Holocaust – to Jewishness as Israeliness, defined in relation to the state of Israel, Zionism, and settler-colonialism. My study contests ahistorical and decontextualised uses of Jewishness and each chapter proposes a different angle to engage with ideas of Jewishness in their specific historical context. I examine narrative fiction and travelogues, published between 1971 and 2008, by Jurek Becker, Anita Desai, David Grossman, Shulamith Hareven, Edgar Hilsenrath, Sahar Khalifeh, Caryl Phillips, Anton Shammas, Raja Shehadeh, and A. B. Yehoshua. Through these examples, I interrogate the political and stylistic reasons underlying the inclusion and appropriation of ideas of Jewishness in literature. I suggest that literature offers alternative models of Jewishness which question received notions of Jewish victimhood and powerlessness. By determining the ways in which ideas associated with Jewishness travel across different geographical locations and examining adaptations of these concepts in non-Jewish contexts, I illustrate the centrality of ideas of Jewishness in the construction and definition of identities for both Jewish and non-Jewish writers and readers and indicate the global ramifications of engaging with Jewishness for contemporary literature and culture

Gigantism in unique biogenic magnetite at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

We report the discovery of exceptionally large biogenic magnetite crystals in clay-rich sediments spanning the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) in a borehole at Ancora, New Jersey. Aside from previously-described abundant bacterial magnetofossils, electron microscopy reveals novel spearhead-like and spindle-like magnetite up to 4 μm long and hexaoctahedral prisms up to 1.4 μm long. Similar to magnetite produced by magnetotactic bacteria, these single-crystal particles exhibit chemical composition, lattice perfection, and oxygen isotopes consistent with an aquatic origin. Electron holography indicates single-domain magnetization despite their large crystal size. We suggest that the development of a thick suboxic zone with high iron bioavailability – a product of dramatic changes in weathering and sedimentation patterns driven by severe global warming – drove diversification of magnetite-forming organisms, likely including eukaryotes

Congenital and Disseminated Pyogenic Granuloma-like Vascular Lesions

International audienceWe report an exceptional case of multiple cutaneous and visceral neonatal pyogenic granuloma (PG) initially suggestive of a diffuse neonatal haemangiomatosis. CASE REPORT A full-term female newborn, with no significant past medical history, was referred to our department for treatment of an acute respiratory distress syndrome of neurological origin at day 8 of life. At birth, she presented with 3 small angiomatous papules and 4 subcutaneous nodules suggestive of neonatal hae-mangiomatosis (NH) (Fig. 1). A brain MRI revealed a highly vascularised brain stem tumour suggestive of glioma (Fig. 2), associated with 2 abnormal hepatic lesions consistent with infantile haemangiomas (IH) on ultrasound and CT scan. Methylprednisolone was started for the suspected glioma-associated oedema, and vincristine and propranolol were introduced for NH. After initial improvement, an acute intracranial hypertension related to cystic evolution of the disease necessitated surgical resection at the age of 2 months. Pathological examinations of the brain, cutaneous and subcutaneous lesions were similar, showing a vascular lobular proliferation of capillaries highly suggestive of PG. The misdiagnosis of glioma was eliminated. The GLUT-1 antigen marker was negative, ruling out the diagnosis of NH-like infantile haemangioma (Fig. 3). Lymphatic marker (D2-40) was also negative and eliminated a multifocal lymphangioendotheliomato-sis with thrombocytopaenia (MLT). Cutaneous and hepatic lesions gradually regressed. She is currently in complete remission after completing a treatment over 18 months with propranolol but a spontaneous improvement can not be excluded. DISCUSSIO

Peroxisomal very long-chain fatty acid transport is targeted by herpesviruses and the antiviral host response

Very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) are critical for human cytomegalovirus replication and accumulate upon infection. Here, we used Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection of human B cells to elucidate how herpesviruses target VLCFA metabolism. Gene expression profiling revealed that, despite a general induction of peroxisome-related genes, EBV early infection decreased expression of the peroxisomal VLCFA transporters ABCD1 and ABCD2, thus impairing VLCFA degradation. The mechanism underlying ABCD1 and ABCD2 repression involved RNA interference by the EBV-induced microRNAs miR-9-5p and miR-155, respectively, causing significantly increased VLCFA levels. Treatment with 25-hydroxycholesterol, an antiviral innate immune modulator produced by macrophages, restored ABCD1 expression and reduced VLCFA accumulation in EBV-infected B-lymphocytes, and, upon lytic reactivation, reduced virus production in control but not ABCD1-deficient cells. Finally, also other herpesviruses and coronaviruses target ABCD1 expression. Because viral infection might trigger neuroinflammation in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD, inherited ABCD1 deficiency), we explored a possible link between EBV infection and cerebral X-ALD. However, neither immunohistochemistry of post-mortem brains nor analysis of EBV seropositivity in 35 X-ALD children supported involvement of EBV in the onset of neuroinflammation. Collectively, our findings indicate a previously unrecognized, pivotal role of ABCD1 in viral infection and host defence, prompting consideration of other viral triggers in cerebral X-ALD

Attachment and coping in psychosis in relation to spiritual figures

Background: Studies have found higher levels of insecure attachment in individuals with schizophrenia. Attachment theory provides a framework necessary for conceptualizing the development of interpersonal functioning. Some aspects of the attachment of the believer to his/her spiritual figure are similar to those between the child and his/her parents. The correspondence hypothesis suggests that early child-parent interactions correspond to a person's relation to a spiritual figure. The compensation hypothesis suggests that an insecure attachment history would lead to a strong religiousness/spirituality as a compensation for the lack of felt security. The aim of this study is to explore attachment models in psychosis vs. healthy controls, the relationships between attachment and psychopathology and the attachment processes related to spiritual figures. Methods: Attachment models were measured in 30 patients with psychosis and 18 controls with the AAI (Adult Attachment interview) in relationship with psychopathology. Beliefs and practices related to a spiritual figure were investigated by qualitative and quantitative analyses. Results: Patients with psychosis showed a high prevalence of insecure avoidant attachment. Spiritual entities functioned like attachment figures in two thirds of cases. Interviews revealed the transformation of internal working models within relation to a spiritual figure: a compensation process was found in 7 of the 32 subjects who showed a significant attachment to a spiritual figure. Conclusions: Attachment theory allows us to highlight one of the underlying dimensions of spiritual coping in patients with psychosis

The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: a consolidated design for the system requirement review of the preliminary definition phase

The Athena X-ray Integral Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer, studied since 2015 for flying in the mid-30s on the Athena space X-ray Observatory, a versatile observatory designed to address the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme, selected in November 2013 by the Survey Science Committee. Based on a large format array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES), it aims to provide spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (up to 7 keV) over an hexagonal field of view of 5 arc minutes (equivalent diameter). The X-IFU entered its System Requirement Review (SRR) in June 2022, at about the same time when ESA called for an overall X-IFU redesign (including the X-IFU cryostat and the cooling chain), due to an unanticipated cost overrun of Athena. In this paper, after illustrating the breakthrough capabilities of the X-IFU, we describe the instrument as presented at its SRR, browsing through all the subsystems and associated requirements. We then show the instrument budgets, with a particular emphasis on the anticipated budgets of some of its key performance parameters. Finally we briefly discuss on the ongoing key technology demonstration activities, the calibration and the activities foreseen in the X-IFU Instrument Science Center, and touch on communication and outreach activities, the consortium organisation, and finally on the life cycle assessment of X-IFU aiming at minimising the environmental footprint, associated with the development of the instrument. Thanks to the studies conducted so far on X-IFU, it is expected that along the design-to-cost exercise requested by ESA, the X-IFU will maintain flagship capabilities in spatially resolved high resolution X-ray spectroscopy, enabling most of the original X-IFU related scientific objectives of the Athena mission to be retained. (abridged).Comment: 48 pages, 29 figures, Accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy with minor editin

The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: a consolidated design for the system requirement review of the preliminary definition phase

The Athena X-ray Integral Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer studied since 2015 for flying in the mid-30s on the Athena space X-ray Observatory. Athena is a versatile observatory designed to address the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme, as selected in November 2013 by the Survey Science Committee. Based on a large format array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES), X-IFU aims to provide spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (up to 7 keV) over a hexagonal field of view of 5 arc minutes (equivalent diameter). The X-IFU entered its System Requirement Review (SRR) in June 2022, at about the same time when ESA called for an overall X-IFU redesign (including the X-IFU cryostat and the cooling chain), due to an unanticipated cost overrun of Athena. In this paper, after illustrating the breakthrough capabilities of the X-IFU, we describe the instrument as presented at its SRR (i.e. in the course of its preliminary definition phase, so-called B1), browsing through all the subsystems and associated requirements. We then show the instrument budgets, with a particular emphasis on the anticipated budgets of some of its key performance parameters, such as the instrument efficiency, spectral resolution, energy scale knowledge, count rate capability, non X-ray background and target of opportunity efficiency. Finally, we briefly discuss the ongoing key technology demonstration activities, the calibration and the activities foreseen in the X-IFU Instrument Science Center, touch on communication and outreach activities, the consortium organisation and the life cycle assessment of X-IFU aiming at minimising the environmental footprint, associated with the development of the instrument. Thanks to the studies conducted so far on X-IFU, it is expected that along the design-to-cost exercise requested by ESA, the X-IFU will maintain flagship capabilities in spatially resolved high resolution X-ray spectroscopy, enabling most of the original X-IFU related scientific objectives of the Athena mission to be retained. The X-IFU will be provided by an international consortium led by France, The Netherlands and Italy, with ESA member state contributions from Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, with additional contributions from the United States and Japan.The French contribution to X-IFU is funded by CNES, CNRS and CEA. This work has been also supported by ASI (Italian Space Agency) through the Contract 2019-27-HH.0, and by the ESA (European Space Agency) Core Technology Program (CTP) Contract No. 4000114932/15/NL/BW and the AREMBES - ESA CTP No.4000116655/16/NL/BW. This publication is part of grant RTI2018-096686-B-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”. This publication is part of grant RTI2018-096686-B-C21 and PID2020-115325GB-C31 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

The Paleozoic Origin of Enzymatic Lignin Decomposition Reconstructed from 31 Fungal Genomes

Wood is a major pool of organic carbon that is highly resistant to decay, owing largely to the presence of lignin. The only organisms capable of substantial lignin decay are white rot fungi in the Agaricomycetes, which also contains non–lignin-degrading brown rot and ectomycorrhizal species. Comparative analyses of 31 fungal genomes (12 generated for this study) suggest that lignin-degrading peroxidases expanded in the lineage leading to the ancestor of the Agaricomycetes, which is reconstructed as a white rot species, and then contracted in parallel lineages leading to brown rot and mycorrhizal species. Molecular clock analyses suggest that the origin of lignin degradation might have coincided with the sharp decrease in the rate of organic carbon burial around the end of the Carboniferous period

Counterfactual Israels: Zionism, Nation-Building, and Indigeneity in Contemporary Jewish Writing - إسرائيلات مضادة للواقع: الصهيونية، وبناء الدولة، والشعوب الأصلية في الكتابة اليهودية المعاصرة

[This article examines three works by Jewish writers that offer a counterfactual narrative of the establishment of Israel: Nava Semel’s IsraIsle (2006), Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007), and Lavie Tidhar’s Unholy Land (2018). Focusing on indigenous experiences of settler-colonialism, these novels use alternate histories to examine a Jewish identity not exclusively defined by Zionism. This, in turn, creates a sense of empathy, or at least sympathy, with Palestinians and Palestinian history, and opens up a space for critiquing Israel’s actions in the contemporary period, while exploring the implications of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians on Jewish, and Israeli-Jewish, identities today. .تتناول هذه المقالة ثلاثة أعمال لكتّاب يهود تقدم سرداً مضاداً لوقائع قيام دولة إسرائيل، وهي: إسراآيل (جزيرة إسرا) لناڤا سيمل (٢٠٠٦)، واتحاد الشرطة اليديشية لمايكل شيبون (٢٠٠٧)، والأرض غير المقدسة للاڤي تيدهار (٢٠١٨). فمن خلال التركيز على تجارب السكان الأصليين في ظل الاستعمار الاستيطاني، تستخدم هذه الروايات التاريخ البديل كي تفحص هوية يهودية لا يقتصر تعريفها على الصهيونية. وهو ما يوطّد بدوره الشعور بالتعاطف مع الفلسطينيين والتاريخ الفلسطيني، ويخلق مساحة لانتقاد أفعال دولة إسرائيل المعاصرة، كما يوضّح في ذات الوقت تداعيات ذلك على الهوية اليهودية واليهودية-الإسرائيلية اليوم

The Parapostcolonial: Interdisciplinary Perspectives and New Approaches

Editors' Introduction to Special Issue on the Parapostcolonia