Die medizinwissenschaftliche Perspektive im magischen Heilsegen der Frühen Neuzeit

Die Arbeit geht medizinwissenschaftlichen Sachverhalten und Sichtweisen in heilmagischen Segen des Spätmittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit nach. Dazu werden zu insgesamt zwölf ausgesuchten Krankheitsbildern jeweils mehrere Segenstexte analysiert. Die krankheits- spezifischen Aspekte, die sich in ihnen finden, werden mit Darstellungen in zeitge- nössischen medizinischen Fachschriften verglichen. Im Ergebnis kann man festhalten, dass das empirische Medizinwissen, das den magischen Heilsegen eingeschrieben ist, in vielen Fällen bis ins Detail den Ausführungen in der gelehrten Fachliteratur entspricht. Als Material-grundlage dient das „Corpus der deutschen Segen und Beschwörungsformeln“, eine Sammlung von über 20 000 heilmagischen Texten, vorwiegend aus der Frühen Neuzeit. Sie befindet sich im Institut für Sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde der TU Dresden und ist online aufrufbar (https://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/343387/1/ ). Die Arbeit ist interdisziplinär ausgerichtet; die Autorin ist Medizinerin und Germanistin

Triebkräfte der digitalen Partizipation: Was Online-Community-Mitglieder zur proaktiven Beteiligung motiviert

Mit modernen Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien wurde die Basis gelegt für die Entstehung von Online-Communities (OCs), virtuelle Gemeinschaften, in denen die Mitglieder auf vielfältigen Kanälen Wissen und Erfahrungen austauschen können (Tanasic & Casaretto, 2017). Mit Hilfe einer vom Unternehmen zur Verfügung gestellten und gemanagten technischen Plattform werden OCs mit ihren Community-Zielen und -Maßnahmen auch zum Erreichen von Unternehmenszielen genutzt (Göhring & Perschke, 2014; Tanasic & Casaretto, 2017). Um von den Potentialen und Vorteilen von OCs zu profitieren, ist eine freiwillige aktive Beteiligung zentral (Hagel III & Armstrong, 1997; Nambisan & Baron, 2009; Nielsen, 2006). Im Unternehmenskontext ist in der Regel eine Verpflichtung zur Teilnahme in OCs nicht möglich aufgrund von Betriebsratsentscheidungen und unternehmensinternen Richtlinien (Clauss, 2017; Rohs, 2013)

Fasted and furious? Considerations on the use of fasting days in large carnivore husbandry

Many large mammalian terrestrial carnivores do not hunt every day in their natural habitats, because given the right prey, they can gorge-feed more than their daily energy and nutrient requirements. At the same time, there is a tradition of exposing these species to one or several fasting days per week in zoos. In this study husbandry guidelines for large carnivores were surveyed, and feeding routines recorded in 44 European zoos. Husbandry guidelines did not suggest that fasting days should be preceded by gorge-feeding, and the most common practice observed at the zoos also did not include a gorge-feeding day prior to the fasting day. This raises the question why fasting days are implemented in zoo regimes in the first place. The observed practice of providing special enrichment on fasting days might stem from the impression that animals are not at ease when fasting after receiving a food portion basically corresponding to little more than their daily requirement on the day before, without a feeling of satiety related to gut distension. These current feeding regimes of zoo carnivores should be re-assessed. The combination of fasting days with preceding gorge-feeding, together with strenuous physical activity and cognitive challenges linked to the feeding event, might have the potential to mimic natural behaviours more closely than current practices. This should be investigated in future studies

Kritischer Perspektivenwechsel im virtuellen Klassenzimmer: Charakteristika einer erfolgreichen virtuellen Zusammenarbeit aus Studierendensicht

Arbeitsbedingungen verändern sich immer deutlicher, insbesondere im Bereich der Wissensarbeit. Die moderne Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie (IKT) führt zu einem Bedeutungsverlust zentraler, lokal begrenzter Arbeitsplätze. Gleichzeitig gewinnt die Fähigkeit zur Zusammenarbeit in dezentralen, interkulturellen, interdisziplinären Teams an Bedeutung (Perez-Sabater, Montero-Fleta, MacDonald, & Garcia-Carbonell, 2015). Neben inhaltsbezogenen Fachkompetenzen gewinnen dadurch Sozial-, Selbst-, Medien- und Methodenkompetenzen in Unternehmen an Relevanz (Kummer, Wolff, Lieske, & Schoop, 2012). Die Vorbereitung der Studierenden auf diese veränderten Arbeitsbedingungen ist eine entscheidende Herausforderung für die Hochschulen (Coyne, 2008). [... aus der Einleitung

No news from old drawings? Stomach anatomy in muroid rodents in relation to body size and ecology

Muroid rodents mostly have a complex stomach: one part is lined with a cornified (nonglandular) epithelium, referred to as a “forestomach”, whereas the rest is lined with glandular epithelium. Numerous functions for the forestomach have been proposed. We collated a catalog of anatomical depictions of the stomach of 174 muroid species from which the respective nonglandular and glandular areas could be digitally measured, yielding a “stomach ratio” (nonglandular:glandular area) as a scale‐independent variable. Stomach ratios ranged from 0.13 to 20.15, and the coefficient of intraspecific variation if more than one picture was available for a species averaged at 29.7% (±21.5). We tested relationships of the ratio with body mass and various anatomical and ecological variables, including diet. There was a consistent phylogenetic signal, suggesting that closely related species share a similar anatomy. Apart from classifying stomachs into hemiglandular and discoglandular, no anatomical or ecological measure showed a consistent relationship to the stomach ratio. In particular, irrespective of statistical method or the source of dietary information, dietary proxies did not significantly correlate with the stomach ratio, except for a trend towards significance for invertivory (insectivory). Yet, even this relationship was not convincing: whereas highly insectivorous species had high but no low stomach ratios, herbivorous species had both low and high stomach ratios. Thus, the statistical effect is not due to a systematic increase in the relative forestomach size with invertivory. The most plausible hypotheses so far associate the muroid forestomach and its microbiome with a generic protective role against microbial or fungal toxins and diseases, without evident correlates of a peculiar need for this function under specific ecological conditions. Yet, this function remains to be confirmed. While providing a catalog of published depictions and hypotheses, this study highlights that the function of the muroid rodent forestomach remains enigmatic to date

Less need for differentiation? Intestinal length of reptiles as compared to mammals

Although relationships between intestinal morphology between trophic groups in reptiles are widely assumed and represent a cornerstone of ecomorphological narratives, few comparative approaches actually tested this hypothesis on a larger scale. We collected data on lengths of intestinal sections of 205 reptile species for which either body mass (BM), snoutvent-length (SVL) or carapax length (CL) was recorded, transforming SVL or CL into BM if the latter was not given, and analyzed scaling patterns with BM and SVL, accounting for phylogeny, comparing three trophic guilds (faunivores, omnivores, herbivores), and comparing with a mammal dataset. Length-BM relationships in reptiles were stronger for the small than the large intestine, suggesting that for the latter, additional factors might be relevant. Adding trophic level did not consistently improve model fit; only when controlling for phylogeny, models indicated a longer large intestine in herbivores, due to a corresponding pattern in lizards. Trophic level effects were highly susceptible to sample sizes, and not considered strong. Models that linked BM to intestine length had better support than models using SVL, due to the deviating body shape of snakes. At comparable BM, reptiles had shorter intestines than mammals. While the latter finding corresponds to findings of lower tissue masses for the digestive tract and other organs in reptiles as well as our understanding of differences in energetic requirements between the classes, they raise the hitherto unanswered question what it is that reptiles of similar BM have more than mammals. A lesser effect of trophic level on intestine lengths in reptiles compared to mammals may stem from lesser selective pressures on differentiation between trophic guilds, related to the generally lower food intake and different movement patterns of reptiles, which may not similarly escalate evolutionary arms races tuned to optimal agility as between mammalian predators and prey

The Efficacy and Biopharmaceutical Properties of a Fixed-Dose Combination of Disulfiram and Benzyl Benzoate

Scabies and hair lice are parasitic diseases that affect human skin and hair, respectively. The incidence and resistances of these infections are increasing. Tenutex® (disulfiram and benzyl benzoate emulsion) is an alternative to standard insecticides to avoid resistances. The aim of the work is to evaluate the transdermal absorption and the in vitro efficacy against scabies and hair lice after different exposition times. Dermatomed human skin was used to assess the dermal absorption using a validated High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. HEK001 keratinocytes were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of benzyl benzoate. Only benzyl benzoate was able to cross the skin, but it did not show cytotoxicity at any of the tested concentrations. The product efficacy was tested on Psoroptes ovis after direct contact and after administration on sheep skin explants at different contact times. Permethrin/malathion-resistant strains of Pediculus humanis capitis adults and eggs were directly exposed to Tenutex, and the vitality and hatchability, respectively, were evaluated. The anti-scabies study demonstrated that exposure for 6 or 24 h completely eradicated the parasite. The pediculicidal activity of Tenutex exhibited superior efficacy than standard treatment on resistant lice. The positive results obtained suggest that Tenutex® is a good treatment option, especially in drug resistance situations

Floral and insect-induced volatile formation in Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea, a perennial, outcrossing relative of A. thaliana

Volatile organic compounds have been reported to serve some important roles in plant communication with other organisms, but little is known about the biological functions of most of these substances. To gain insight into this problem, we have compared differences in floral and vegetative volatiles between two closely related plant species with different life histories. The self-pollinating annual, Arabidopsis thaliana, and its relative, the outcrossing perennial, Arabidopsis lyrata, have markedly divergent life cycles and breeding systems. We show that these differences are in part reflected in the formation of distinct volatile mixtures in flowers and foliage. Volatiles emitted from flowers of a German A. lyrata ssp. petraea population are dominated by benzenoid compounds in contrast to the previously described sesquiterpene-dominated emissions of A. thaliana flowers. Flowers of A. lyrata ssp. petraea release benzenoid volatiles in a diurnal rhythm with highest emission rates at midday coinciding with observed visitations of pollinating insects. Insect feeding on leaves of A. lyrata ssp. petraea causes a variable release of the volatiles methyl salicylate, C11- and C16-homoterpenes, nerolidol, plus the sesquiterpene (E)-β-caryophyllene, which in A. thaliana is emitted exclusively from flowers. An insect-induced gene (AlCarS) with high sequence similarity to the florally expressed (E)-β-caryophyllene synthase (AtTPS21) from A. thaliana was identified from individuals of a German A. lyrata ssp. petraea population. Recombinant AlCarS converts the sesquiterpene precursor, farnesyl diphosphate, into (E)-β-caryophyllene with α-humulene and α-copaene as minor products indicating its close functional relationship to the A. thaliana AtTPS21. Differential regulation of these genes in flowers and foliage is consistent with the different functions of volatiles in the two Arabidopsis species

Mutations in EDA and EDAR Genes in a Large Mexican Hispanic Cohort with Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia

Ectodermal dysplasias (ED) encompass nearly 200 different genetic conditions identified by the lack, or dysgenesis, of at least two ectodermal derivatives, such as hair, nails, teeth, and sweat glands. Hypohidrotic/anhidrotic ED (HED) is the most frequent form of ED and it can be inherited as an X-linked (XL)-HED (MIM 305100), autosomal recessive (AR)-HED (MIM 224900), or autosomal dominant (AD)-HED (MIM 229490) condition. HED is caused by mutations in any of the three ectodisplasin pathway genes: ectodisplasin (EDA), which encodes a ligand for the second gene, the EDA receptor (ectodysplasin A-receptor, EDAR), and EDARADD, an intracellular signaling for this pathway. HED is characterized by a triad of clinical features including absent or diminished eccrine sweat glands, missing and/or malformed teeth, and thin, sparse hair. It also includes dryness of the skin, eyes, airways, and mucous membranes, as well as other ectodermal defects and, in some cases, fever, seizures, and rarely, death. XL-HED is caused by mutations in the EDA gene, located on chromosome Xq12-q13.1, which encodes a signaling molecule of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily. AR- and AD-HED are caused by mutations in the EDAR gene, located on chromosome 2q11.q13 or the EDARAssociated Death Domain encoding gene, EDARADD, located on chromosome 1q42-q431. Several mutations in the EDA, EDAR, and EDARADD genes have been described as causing HED in different populations. The XL-HED form is the most common and is responsible for 90% of all HED cases2-6. The three forms of HED are clinically indistinguishable. To date, a comprehensive evaluation of HED in the Mexican Hispanic population has not been undertaken. In the present study, we aimed to characterize the mutations in EDA, EDAR, and EDARADD genes present in Mexican Hispanic patients with HED. Male and female patients (35 families) from different geographical regions of Mexico with features suggestive of HED were enrolled in the study (Fig. 1). Index cases and their parents were screened for missing or malformed teeth, thin or sparse hair, and nail changes; all subjects answered questions about sweating, heat intolerance, fever, seizures, and family history of siblings deceased due to unknown feve