`An dem Tag, als die Amazonen kamen, die männergleichen´.

Der germanistische Beitrag von Kristin Schwarz (M. A.) „An dem Tag, als die Amazonen kamen, die männergleichen“. – Die Transgression von Geschlechtergrenzen in Heinrich von Kleists Penthesilea, fokussiert die Zeit um 1800 als Gründungszeit der historischen Moderne, um in ihrer traumatisch erfahrenen politischen, sozialen, ideologischen und epistemischen Krisenhaftigkeit die genderdiskursive wie ästhetische Transgressivität von Kleists berühmter Tragödie von 1808 zu begründen. ‚Grenzüberschreitung‘ wird so zur Meistertrope eines textspezifischen Verfahrens- und Strukturprinzips, das zum einen Kleists synkretistische ‚Arbeit am Mythos‘ und (im Sinne Aristoteles‘) ‚verbotswidrige‘ Plot-Manipulationen erfasst – hier ins-besondere die amazonischen Initiationsrituale, Penthesileas Regression in der Begegnung mit Achill und den Zivilisationsbruch seiner ekstatischen Tötung. Zum andern eignet, so die Verfasserin, dieses Konstruktionsprinzip auch Kleists ‚exzessivem‘ und ‚transgressivem‘ Gebrauch sprachlicher Standards, jenseits des Sag- und Darstellbaren, mit steten ‚Grenzverletzungen‘ und ‚Grenzverwischungen‘ zwischen konkreter und metaphorischer Wortbedeutung, zahllosen Perspektiv-, Bild- und Stilbrüchen und anderen Techniken poetischer Komplexierung. Für Schwarz hat die hieraus resultierende Verrätselung von Text und Identität der amazonischen Protagonistin sowohl genderkritische wie methodische Relevanz: Erscheint in ihrer ‚queeren‘ Lesart die weibliche Hauptfigur doch als hybride und ambigue Konstruktion, die nicht nur jegliche (damalige, heutige und künftige) geschlechtlichen Identifizierungs- und Differenzierungslinien unterläuft, sondern die zugleich ein attraktives Beispiel für die ‚unbegrenzte‘ Dialogfähigkeit historischer Gegenstandsfelder und modernster gendertheoretischer Zugänge darstellt

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Boston University Medicine was published by the Boston University Medical Campus, and presented stories on events and topics of interest to members of the BU Medical Campus community. It followed the discontinued publication Centerscope as Boston University Medicine from 1991-2005, then continued as Campus & Alumni News from 2006-2013 before returning to the title Boston University Medicine from 2014-present

Fusaricidins, Polymyxins and Volatiles Produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa Strains DSM 32871 and M1

Paenibacilli are efficient producers of potent agents against bacterial and fungal pathogens, which are of great interest both for therapeutic applications in medicine as well as in agrobiotechnology. Lipopeptides produced by such organisms play a major role in their potential to inactivate pathogens. In this work we investigated two lipopeptide complexes, the fusaricidins and the polymyxins, produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa strains DSM 32871 and M1 by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The fusaricidins show potent antifungal activities and are distinguished by an unusual variability. For strain DSM 32871 we identified numerous yet unknown variants mass spectrometrically. DSM 32871 produces polymyxins of type E (colistins), while M1 forms polymyxins P. For both strains, novel but not yet completely characterized polymyxin species were detected, which possibly are glycosylated. These compounds may be of interest therapeutically, because polymyxins have gained increasing attention as last-resort antibiotics against multiresistant pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, the volatilomes of DSM 32781 and M1 were investigated with a GC–MS approach using different cultivation media. Production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was strain and medium dependent. In particular, strain M1 manifested as an efficient VOC-producer that exhibited formation of 25 volatiles in total. A characteristic feature of Paenibacilli is the formation of volatile pyrazine derivatives.Peer Reviewe

Assembly of microbial communities in replicate nutrient-cycling model ecosystems follows divergent trajectories, leading to alternate stable states

We studied in detail the reproducibility of community development in replicate nutrient‐cycling microbial microcosms that were set up identically and allowed to develop under the same environmental conditions. Multiple replicate closed microcosms were constructed using pond sediment and water, enriched with cellulose and sulphate, and allowed to develop over several months under constant environmental conditions, after which their microbial communities were characterized using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Our results show that initially similar microbial communities can follow alternative – yet stable – trajectories, diverging in time in a system size‐dependent manner. The divergence between replicate communities increased in time and decreased with larger system size. In particular, notable differences emerged in the heterotrophic degrader communities in our microcosms; one group of steady state communities was enriched with Firmicutes, while the other was enriched with Bacteroidetes. The communities dominated by these two phyla also contained distinct populations of sulphate‐reducing bacteria. This biomodality in community composition appeared to arise during recovery from a low‐diversity state that followed initial cellulose degradation and sulphate reduction

Staphylococcus aureus isolates from Eurasian Beavers (Castor fiber) carry a novel phage-borne bicomponent leukocidin related to the Panton-Valentine leukocidin

Staphylococcus aureus can be a harmless coloniser, but it can also cause severe infections in humans, livestock and wildlife. Regarding the latter, only few studies have been performed and knowledge on virulence factors is insufficient. The aim of the present study was to study S. aureus isolates from deceased wild beavers (Castor fiber). Seventeen isolates from eleven beavers, found in Germany and Austria, were investigated. Antimicrobial and biocide susceptibility tests were performed. Isolates were characterised using S. aureus-specific DNA microarrays, spa typing and whole-genome sequencing. From two isolates, prophages were induced by mitomycin C and studied by transmission electron microscopy. Four isolates belonged to clonal complex (CC) 8, CC12, and CC398. Twelve isolates belonged to CC1956 and one isolate was CC49. The CC49 and CC1956 isolates carried distinct lukF/S genes related to the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) from human isolates of S. aureus. These genes were located on related, but not identical, Siphovirus prophages. The beavers, from which those isolates originated, suffered from abscesses, purulent organ lesions and necrotising pneumonia, i.e., clinical manifestations resembling symptoms of severe PVL-associated disease in humans. It might thus be assumed that the “Beaver Leukocidin (BVL, lukF/S-BV)”-positive strains are beaver-specific pathogens, and further studies on their clinical role as well as on a possible transmissibility to other species, including humans, are warranted

Summertime plankton ecology in Fram Strait - a compilation of long- and short-term observations

Between Greenland and Spitsbergen, Fram Strait is a region where cold ice-covered Polar Water exits the Arctic Ocean with the East Greenland Current (EGC) and warm Atlantic Water enters the Arctic Ocean with the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC). In this compilation, we present two different data sets from plankton ecological observations in Fram Strait: (1) long-term measurements of satellite-derived (1998–2012) and in situ chlorophyll a (chl a) measurements (mainly summer cruises, 1991–2012) plus protist compositions (a station in WSC, eight summer cruises, 1998–2011); and (2) short-term measurements of a multidisciplinary approach that includes traditional plankton investigations, remote sensing, zooplankton, microbiological and molecular studies, and biogeochemical analyses carried out during two expeditions in June/July in the years 2010 and 2011. Both summer satellite-derived and in situ chl a concentrations showed slight trends towards higher values in the WSC since 1998 and 1991, respectively. In contrast, no trends were visible in the EGC. The protist composition in the WSC showed differences for the summer months: a dominance of diatoms was replaced by a dominance of Phaeocystis pouchetii and other small pico- and nanoplankton species. The observed differences in eastern Fram Strait were partially due to a warm anomaly in the WSC. Although changes associated with warmer water temperatures were observed, further long-term investigations are needed to distinguish between natural variability and climate change in Fram Strait. Results of two summer studies in 2010 and 2011 revealed the variability in plankton ecology in Fram Strait

Environmental Constraints Guide Migration of Malaria Parasites during Transmission

Migrating cells are guided in complex environments mainly by chemotaxis or structural cues presented by the surrounding tissue. During transmission of malaria, parasite motility in the skin is important for Plasmodium sporozoites to reach the blood circulation. Here we show that sporozoite migration varies in different skin environments the parasite encounters at the arbitrary sites of the mosquito bite. In order to systematically examine how sporozoite migration depends on the structure of the environment, we studied it in micro-fabricated obstacle arrays. The trajectories observed in vivo and in vitro closely resemble each other suggesting that structural constraints can be sufficient to guide Plasmodium sporozoites in complex environments. Sporozoite speed in different environments is optimized for migration and correlates with persistence length and dispersal. However, this correlation breaks down in mutant sporozoites that show adhesion impairment due to the lack of TRAP-like protein (TLP) on their surfaces. This may explain their delay in infecting the host. The flexibility of sporozoite adaption to different environments and a favorable speed for optimal dispersal ensures efficient host switching during malaria transmission

New genetic loci implicated in fasting glucose homeostasis and their impact on type 2 diabetes risk.

Levels of circulating glucose are tightly regulated. To identify new loci influencing glycemic traits, we performed meta-analyses of 21 genome-wide association studies informative for fasting glucose, fasting insulin and indices of beta-cell function (HOMA-B) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in up to 46,186 nondiabetic participants. Follow-up of 25 loci in up to 76,558 additional subjects identified 16 loci associated with fasting glucose and HOMA-B and two loci associated with fasting insulin and HOMA-IR. These include nine loci newly associated with fasting glucose (in or near ADCY5, MADD, ADRA2A, CRY2, FADS1, GLIS3, SLC2A2, PROX1 and C2CD4B) and one influencing fasting insulin and HOMA-IR (near IGF1). We also demonstrated association of ADCY5, PROX1, GCK, GCKR and DGKB-TMEM195 with type 2 diabetes. Within these loci, likely biological candidate genes influence signal transduction, cell proliferation, development, glucose-sensing and circadian regulation. Our results demonstrate that genetic studies of glycemic traits can identify type 2 diabetes risk loci, as well as loci containing gene variants that are associated with a modest elevation in glucose levels but are not associated with overt diabetes