Sachsenhausen, “More of the Same”: The Transition of a Nazi Concentration Camp into a Soviet Special Camp

Abstract Totalitarian use of the concentration camp to subjugate and control its citizens was exemplified on a massive scale with the world’s most oppressive twentieth century regimes, Nazi Germany, and the USSR. While evolved from very different political origins, concentration camps were the primary instrument within each nation’s security services resulting in human misery and death on a massive scale. One camp, Sachsenhausen, near Berlin was especially prominent, designed and constructed in 1936 as a model camp with the IKL eventually housed adjacent to it. In May 1945 the Soviets invaded Germany, and within months Sachsenhausen was utilized by the Soviet NKVD and became the most prominent camp in the SOZ. This thesis demonstrates how Sachsenhausen was utilized by both regimes, undoubtedly differing in their politics, but demonstrating the concentration camps as their tool of choice. Any differences in camp administration were significantly outweighed by the human suffering and death experienced there

Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology

notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations

Desenvolvimento e avaliação do desempenho de uma semeadora puncionadora para plantio direto de milho Development and evaluation performance of a punch planter for direct sowing of corn

Realizou-se este trabalho com o objetivo de desenvolver uma semeadora pontual para o semeio de milho em sistema de plantio direto e avaliar seu sistema de dosagem e distribuição de sementes. Primeiro, elaborou-se uma lista de requisitos os quais a máquina deveria atender; depois, foi feito o projeto conceitual do corpo da máquina e, em seguida, o projeto detalhado de todas as partes e conjuntos, para posterior construção do protótipo. Em bancada de ensaio avaliou-se o desempenho do sistema dosador e distribuidor de sementes, em relação à variação da velocidade e da quantidade de punções utilizada. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados arranjados em parcelas subdivididas com a parcela principal composta por 6, 9 e 12 punções e a subparcela sendo quatro rotações da roda dosadora correspondentes às velocidades de deslocamento de 4, 6, 8 e 10 km h-1. De modo geral, tanto o aumento da velocidade como do número de punções nas rodas, diminuiu o número de duplas e aumentou o número de faltas, porém a diminuição do número de duplas não foi significativo quanto ao aumento do número de faltas. A semeadora exerceu desempenho satisfatório, com média geral do número de normais de 91%.<br>The present work was accomplished to develop a punch planter to sow corn seeds in no-tillage system, and also to evaluate the performance of its seed metering and delivery systems. First of all, a requirement list was established, that the machine would have to attend. Next, the conceptual and the embodiment designs of the machine was made. Then, the detailed design of all machine parts was made and a prototype was constructed. In a testing bench the performance of the seed metering unit and its seed delivery system was assessed in relation to the punch wheel speed and the quantity of punches on the wheel. The statistical design was in random blocks arranged in sub-divided plots with the main plot made of 6, 9 and 12 punches and the sub-plot made of four rotational speeds of the punch wheel, corresponding to the travel speeds of 4, 6, 8 and 10 km h-1. Generally, the increase in velocity and the increase in the number of punches in the punch wheel decreased the number of doubles and increased the number of missing seeds; however the decrease in number of doubles was not significant compared to the increase in the number of errors. The punch planter had a satisfactory performance, with a global mean of 91% for normal seed selection and delivery

ASPirin Intervention for the REDuction of colorectal cancer risk (ASPIRED): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Although aspirin is recommended for the prevention of colorectal cancer, the specific individuals for whom the benefits outweigh the risks are not clearly defined. Moreover, the precise mechanisms by which aspirin reduces the risk of cancer are unclear. We recently launched the ASPirin Intervention for the REDuction of colorectal cancer risk (ASPIRED) trial to address these uncertainties. Methods/design ASPIRED is a prospective, double-blind, multidose, placebo-controlled, biomarker clinical trial of aspirin use in individuals previously diagnosed with colorectal adenoma. Individuals (n = 180) will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to low-dose (81 mg/day) or standard-dose (325 mg/day) aspirin or placebo. At two study visits, participants will provide lifestyle, dietary and biometric data in addition to urine, saliva and blood specimens. Stool, grossly normal colorectal mucosal biopsies and cytology brushings will be collected during a flexible sigmoidoscopy without bowel preparation. The study will examine the effect of aspirin on urinary prostaglandin metabolites (PGE-M; primary endpoint), plasma inflammatory markers (macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1)), colonic expression of transcription factor binding (transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2)), colonocyte gene expression, including hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase 15-(NAD) (HPGD) and those that encode Wnt signaling proteins, colonic cellular nanocytology and oral and gut microbial composition and function. Discussion Aspirin may prevent colorectal cancer through multiple, interrelated mechanisms. The ASPIRED trial will scrutinize these pathways and investigate putative mechanistically based risk-stratification biomarkers. Trial registration This protocol is registered with the U.S. National Institutes of Health trial registry, ClinicalTrials.gov, under the identifier NCT02394769. Registered on 16 March 2015. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-016-1744-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

PIAS4 is associated with macro/microcephaly in the novel interstitial 19p13.3 microdeletion/microduplication syndrome

Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) is a powerful genetic tool that has enabled the identification of novel imbalances in individuals with intellectual disability (ID), autistic disorders and congenital malformations. Here we report a \u27genotype first\u27 approach using aCGH on 13 unrelated patients with 19p13.3 submicroscopic rearrangement (11 deletions and 2 duplications) and review cases in the literature and in public databases. Shared phenotypic features suggest that these patients represent an interstitial microdeletion/microduplication syndrome at 19p13.3. Common features consist of abnormal head circumference in most patients (macrocephaly with the deletions and microcephaly with the duplications), ID with developmental delay (DD), hypotonia, speech delay and common dysmorphic features. The phenotype is associated with at least a ~0.113 Mb critical region harboring three strong candidate genes probably associated with DD, ID, speech delay and other dysmorphic features: MAP2K2, ZBTB7A and PIAS4, an E3 ubiquitin ligase involved in the ubiquitin signaling pathways, which we hypothesize for the first time to be associated with head size in humans