Performance as Transformation: The Laughing Songs of “Death in Venice” in Literature, Film, and Opera

This paper takes as its starting point a scene from the fifth chapter of Thomas Mann’s novella Death in Venice (1912). While Venice is threatened by an outbreak of cholera, a group of Neapolitan street musicians plays in front of Aschenbach, Tadzio, and the other hotel guests. The leader of the band—a buffonesque guitarist-singer with red hair and a wrinkled, emaciated face—is an ominous figure whose facetious, sexually charged performance eventually turns into blatant mockery of the audience, whom he infects with his contagious laughter. Using the concept of “performance as transformation” (Erika Fischer-Lichte) as a lens through which to investigate the filmic and operatic adaptations of the scene in Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice (1970) and Benjamin Britten’s eponymous opera (1973), I focus on the various renditions of the laughing song to trace the particular transformative power it unfolds across media. Both adaptations use music to ironically comment on Aschenbach’s infatuation. Yet, their approach to the scene at large is distinct from one another: While the opera turns the performance into an interiorized space of moral interrogation, the film evokes the sound of the past through the insertion of pre-existent popular songs from the time, including Berardo Cantalamessa’s Neapolitan laughing song “’A risa.” As I argue, the latter served as a model for the uproarious comical number described by Mann which thus constitutes a “phono-graphic” adaptation itself. Finally, I discuss the recurrences of demonic laughter throughout the film as part of Visconti’s intertextual strategy to create motivic relationships between Death in Venice and Doctor Faustus (1947)

Renal Involvement in Preeclampsia: Similarities to VEGF Ablation Therapy

Glomerular VEGF expression is critical for the maintenance and function of an intact filtration barrier. Alterations in glomerular VEGF bioavailability result in endothelial as well as in podocyte damage. Renal involvement in preeclampsia includes proteinuria, podocyturia, elevated blood pressure, edema, glomerular capillary endotheliosis, and thrombotic microangiopathy. At least the renal signs, symptoms, and other evidence can sufficiently be explained by reduced VEGF levels. The aim of this paper was to summarize our pathophysiological understanding of the renal involvement of preeclampsia and point out similarities to the renal side effects of VEGF-ablation therapy

Veränderungen im Krankheitserleben von depressiven Patienten während einer stationären psychoedukativen Gruppenbehandlung

Ziel der Dissertation war die Evaluation einer auf der Depressionsstation am ZIP Kiel durchgeführten psychoedukativen Gruppenbehandlung für depressive Patienten. Dabei wurde der Fokus auf einen Aspekt gelegt, der im Verlauf chronischer Erkrankungen regelhaft einen wichtigen Stellenwert einnimmt, nämlich die Ungewissheit. Verschiedene Qualitäten von Ungewissheiten wurden durch einen Fragebogen vor und nach Teilnahme an der Depressionsgruppe erfasst und die Ergebnisse ausgewertet

Challenging the nation-state from within: the emergence of transmunicipal solidarity in the course of the EU refugee controversy

In the context of the so-called refugee crisis, political disputes about solidarity become a central issue with member states applying competing concepts. At the same time, European cities use transnational networks to implement a new form of solidarity among municipalities via city diplomacy (Acuto, Morissette & Tsouros, 2017). Analyzing the deadlock between member states and the emerging activities of cities, we scrutinize the limits of existing approaches to political solidarity (e.g., Agustín & Jørgensen, 2019; Knodt, Tews & Piefer, 2014; Sangiovanni, 2013) to explain this phenomenon. Based on expert interviews and document analysis from a study on transnational municipal networks, we identify an emerging concept of solidarity that challenges the nation states as core providers of solidarity from within: transmunicipal solidarity focuses on joint action of local governments to scale out and scale up

Concentrations of Fat, Protein, Lactose, Macro and Trace Minerals in Alpaca Colostrum and Milk at Different Lactation Stages

Although alpacas are not used for milk production a detailed knowledge on the composition of the colostrum and milk is needed for development of colostrum and milk replacers. The aim of the present study was to measure the concentration of fat, protein, lactose, and minerals in alpaca colostrum and milk. Colostrum samples were taken daily over four days after parturition from 20 multiparous alpaca mares. Milk samples were obtained monthly, during the first four months of lactation from 17 alpacas. Composition of colostrum and milk differed in numerous indicators. The concentrations of fat and lactose increased from day 1 (0.5%, 4.0%) to day 4 (5.3%, 5.0%), protein decreased from 20.4% on day 1 to 8.3% on day 4. In milk these three indicators did not change during the lactation. Minerals have been little studied in alpaca colostrum and milk in the past, many of which had the highest concentrations in colostrum immediately after birth. The results of the present study do not support that goat’s milk is the preferred substitute for feeding crias. This study contributes to the knowledge of the composition of alpaca colostrum and milk which can be of particular use in developing replacers

RV POSEIDON Cruise Report POS420 COWACSS Biological observation and sampling of cold-water corals to investigate impacts on climate change

Trondheim – (Kristiansund) – Kiel 08. – (25.) – 30.09.201

Economic and Environmental Aspects of Aircraft Recycling

Aircraft recycling can be considered as an important step on the path to sustainable aviation, as valuable resources used in aircraft construction can be returned for use in a circular economy by these activities. Our results have shown that the market for aircraft recycling is emerging with great future relevance due to the increasing number of aircraft retirements expected in the future. The costs of recycling per aircraft vary by aircraft class and number of engines. The costs range from USD 109,000 for a twin-engine regional jet to USD 268,000 for a four-engine widebody jet. The costs for a twin-engine narrowbody jet lie in between at USD 138,000. In this paper, we investigated the economic efficiency of aircraft recycling expressed as the ratio of average dismantling and recycling costs per aircraft and engine in USD compared with the achieved environmental benefit in average tons recycled material or re-used parts. This ratio revealed that aircraft recycling leads to notable environmental benefits as a large share (60%) of the total structural weight is being re-used at given costs. The average economic efficiency is estimated at 1,666 USD/ton for a widebody aircraft, 3,531 USD/ton for a narrowbody jet and 6,693 USD per ton for a regional jet. In future, aircraft recycling will be facing a number of major challenges as the number of retired aircraft will increase and the share of composite material to be recycled will rise significantly in the medium and long term - for which material no satisfying technological recycling solution exists today. In addition, the environmental pressure from politics and society is expected to be increasing in future. Against this background, we recommend to effectively enforce ambitious recycling standards for retired aircraft on a global level. Furthermore, as recycling technologies for aircraft composite materials are not mature currently, significant R&D investments are needed for these technologies

Meristic and morphometric characters of <em>Leptopelis natalensis</em> tadpoles (Amphibia: Anura: Arthroleptidae) from Entumeni Forest reveal variation and inconsistencies with previous descriptions

The tadpole of Leptopelis natalensis is described based on a series of 32 specimens from Entumeni Forest, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Previous descriptions are brief, lack morphometric data, or are based on specimens of imprecise origin. The tadpole resembles other Leptopelis tadpoles and is generally in agreement with existing accounts, although some differences exist. Some of these differences seem to fall within the range of natural variation. Others, such as the presence of a fifth anterior row of keratodonts, might be indicative of variation at the population level and should be considered in future taxonomic revisions. Leptopelis natalensis tadpoles seem to be most readily distinguished by their more narrowly keratinized beaks from the geographically overlapping or adjacent L. mossambicus and L. xenodactylus

Identification of an ADAMTS2 frameshift variant in a cat family with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

We investigated four European domestic shorthair kittens with skin lesions consistent with the dermatosparaxis type of the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue disorder. The kittens were sired by the same tomcat, but were born by three different mothers. The kittens had easily torn skin resulting in non-healing skin wounds. Both clinically and histologically, the skin showed thin epidermis in addition to inflammatory changes. Changes in collagen fibers were visible in electron micrographs. The complete genome of an affected kitten was sequenced. A one base pair duplication leading to a frameshift in the candidate gene ADAMTS2 was identified, p.(Ser235fs*3). All four affected cats carried the frameshift duplication in a homozygous state. Genotypes at this variant showed perfect co-segregation with the autosomal recessive EDS phenotype in the available family. The mutant allele did not occur in 48 unrelated control cats. ADAMTS2 loss-of-function variants cause autosomal recessive forms of EDS in humans, mice, dogs, cattle and sheep. The available evidence from our investigation together with the functional knowledge on ADAMTS2 in other species allow to classify the identified ADAMTS2 variant as pathogenic and most likely causative variant for the observed EDS