Maritare Mundum

Titelblatt und Inhaltsverzeichnis Quérir un grand peut-être I Princeps concordiae 1\. Exploratio 2\. In mundi meditullio positus 3\. Redurre la multitudine nella sua unità 4\. In libro legis legere II Capnion nostrae decus omne terrae 1\. Quartam viam ingredi 2\. Tanquam in quodam aeternitatis speculo intueri 3\. Deus verbo parturitur 4\. Mala aurea in lecticis argenteis III Her Trippa 1\. Coepta audacia 2\. Deus et omnia 3\. Sapiens, sacerdos, propheta 4\. Non in lingua, sed in corde veritatis sedes Nachwort Weyter süchen Bibliographie Erklärung Übersetzungen, EssaysTradition entsteht dort und erst dann, wenn ein Bruch erfolgt, ein Verlust eingetreten ist, der in der Folge durch die Symbolik der zerstörten oder vergessenen Überlieferung kompensiert wird. Auf einer Art mentalem terrain vague, das noch Spuren des Vergangenen, vorläufige Markierungen des Zukünftigen zeigt, schlägt die neue Tradition ihre Wurzeln: neue Denkanstöße werden -- nicht selten in pseudoepigraphischer Form -- zu Altem er- oder besser verklärt, dessen Ursprung, wenn nicht ohnehin als göttlich angenommen, sich im Dämmer vorhistorischer Zeit verliert, während zugleich Elemente, Motive und Symbole tatsächlich archaischer Überlieferungen in den Rang rezenter Entdeckungen oder eigenständiger Erfindungen erhoben werden, Wert und Würde eines aufgefundenen Schatzes erhalten. Der ideengeschichtlichen Lokalisierung eines solchen terrain vague ist die vorliegende Untersuchung gewidmet. Sie will zur genaueren Kenntnis der Entdeckung jener terra nova incognita beitragen, von deren Existenz sich in der westeuropäischen Umbruchszeit des ausgehenden 15. und beginnenden 16. Jahrhunderts die Kunde verbreitete: einer spirituellen Brache, die es zu erobern und zu kultivieren galt, eines theologischen Niemandlandes, das sich als Hort und wahre Heimat den Angehörigen aller Religionen darbot -- die cabala christiana. Bei aller Unterschiedlichkeit hinsichtlich der Motive, Ziele und gewiß auch des literarischen Diskurses der frühen christlichen Kabbalisten tritt ein Merkmal deutlich hervor: diese -- zweifellos stark christlich geprägte -- Spiritualität fußte nicht auf einer Religion, sondern erhob sich gleichsam als Überbau über einer Vielzahl sakraler Traditionen. Nicht die von christlichem Standpunkt aus geführte polemische Auseinandersetzung mit dieser oder jener Glaubenslehre, nicht die Einvernahme religiöser Vorstellungen aus anderen sakralen Überlieferungen, schon gar nicht der Versuch der Missionierung ist ihr eigentümlich, sondern die Erschließung eines esoterischen Gebiets, auf dem alle Religionen in ihrer von trennenden Äußerlichkeiten befreiten Gestalt zusammenkamen. In dieser Gleichwertigkeit aller Gotteslehre lag die innovatorische Brisanz -- und das die kirchliche Autorität herausfordernde Skandalon. Anders gesagt: mit der christlichen cabala wurde die Tradition der modernen esoterischen, eklektizistischen Spiritualität begründet -- einer Mystik an sich, die alle Religionen weniger zu umfassen, als zu überhöhen suchte, um deren positiven Gehalt einer mystischen, im allgemeinen höchst eigenwilligen Interpretation zu unterziehen, in der sich die Konturen der ursprünglichen Dogmen, Gebote, Riten bis zur Unkennntlichkeit auflösten. Im Mittelpunkt der Untersuchung stehen die Werke von Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Johannes Reuchlin und Agrippa von Nettesheim, die über Anfang und Ausbildung der christlichen cabala Aufschluß geben und die Wechselhaftigkeit der cabala-Tradierung dokumentieren, ihre zum Teil nur in Nuancen sich vollziehende Wandlung von einer universalen Mystik zu einer ästhetisch- literarischen Technik, ihre Nähe und im Lauf der Zeit immer größer werdende Distanz zur jüdischen Kabbala.Tradition develops after a rupture has taken place, a loss was caused which will subsequently be compensated by the symbolism of the lore distroyed or forgotten. On a kind of mental terrain vague, still bearing traces of the past and showing some provisional markings of the future, the new tradition puts down its roots: quite often in pseudo-epigraphic form, new intellectual starting points are presented as old lore whose origin remounts to the dawn of prehistoric times -- if it is not assumed to be of divine source. On the other hand and at the same time, elements, motifs and symbols from authentic archaic traditions are presented as recent discoveries resp. proper inventions, thus gaining dignity and value of a treasure just found. The study tries to localize a very special kind of terrain vague in the history of ideas: a terra nova incognita whose existence became known at the end of the 15., the beginning of the 16. centuries throughout Western Europe; a kind of spiritual fallow which was to be conquered and cultivated, a theological no-man´s-land which presented itself as shelter and home to the believers of all religions known: the cabala christiana. Concerning their motives, requested aims and certainly their literary discourse, the early Christian cabbalists differed considerably; they agreed however that this very special spirituality, for all its close relation to Christianity, did not root in one religion but rose, a kind of superstructure, above a wealth of sacral traditions. Cabala christiana neither set out for polemic disputes with members of different beliefs, nor intended to absorb religious notions from other traditions, nor meant to convert others to Christian dogmas. Ultimate goal was the development of an esoteric region where all religions would meet -- once they had taken off the outward appearances in which lay their difference. It was exactly this postulated equality of all religions that constituted the innovative, explosive force of the new tradition -- and the scandalon that outraged the church´s authorities. With Christian cabala the history of modern esoteric eclectic spirituality, of mysticism per se began which does not mean to unite the multitude of religions, but to superelevate them and to give their positive content a mystical, almost always astonishingly unconventional interpretation which dissolves the outlines of the original dogmas, commandments and rites. The study concentrates on the works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Johannes Reuchlin and Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim which document beginning, rise and early crisis of Christian cabala as well as the vicissitudes of transmitting cabbalistic knowledge, last but not least the almost imperceptible transformation from universal mysticism to literary technique, its closeness and over the years widening distance to authentic Jewish cabala

Crystal structure of(E)N{2[2(3chlorobenzylidene)hydrazinyl]-2-oxoethyl}-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide monohydrate

The molecule of the title compound, C16H16ClN3O3SH2O, is L-shaped being bent at the S atom; the S—N—C—C torsion angle is 132.0 (3). The central part of the molecule, C—C—N—N C, is almost linear, with the C—C—N—N and C—N—N C torsion angles being �174.1 (2) and 176.0 (2), respectively. The dihedral angle between the p-toluenesulfonyl ring and the S—N—C—C( O) segment is 67.5 (4), while that between the two aromatic rings is 52.17 (11). In the crystal, the water H atom is involved in O—HO hydrogen bonds with asulfonamide O atom and the carbonyl O atom. The water O atom is itself hydrogen bonded to both NH hydrogen atoms. These four hydrogen bonds lead to the formation of corrugated sheets lying parallel to (100). There are also weak C—HO contacts present within the sheets. 1. Chemi

Extractive spectrophotometric determination of trace amounts of molybdenum using thiocyanate and ethylisobutrazine hydrochloride

An extractive spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amounts of molybdenum in hydrochloric acid medium has been developed using potassium thiocyanate and ethylisobutrazine hydrochloride in the presence of ascorbic acid. The ternary complex that is extracted into chloroform has a molar absorptivity of 3.86 × 104 l mol–1 cm–1 at 460 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range 0.05–5.6 p.p.m. The complex is stable for over 1 week. The effects of acid and reagent concentrations, time, temperature and foreign ions were investigated. The method has been applied to the determination of molybdenum in steel samples

Tetramer enrichment reveals the presence of phenotypically diverse hepatitis C virus-specific CD8+T cells in chronic infection

Virus-specific CD8+ T cells are rarely detectable ex vivo by conventional methods during chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In this study, however, we were able to detect and characterize HCV-specific CD8+ T cells in all chronically HCV genotype 1a-infected, HLA-A*02:01-positive patients analyzed by performing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I tetramer enrichment. Two-thirds of these enriched HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell populations displayed an effector memory phenotype, whereas, surprisingly, one-third displayed a naive-like phenotype despite ongoing viral replication. CD8+ T cells with an effector memory phenotype could not expand in vitro, suggesting exhaustion of these cells. Interestingly, some of the naive-like CD8+ T cells proliferated vigorously upon in vitro priming, whereas others did not. These differences were linked to the corresponding viral sequences in the respective patients. Indeed, naive-like CD8+ T cells from patients with the consensus sequence in the corresponding T-cell epitope did not expand in vitro. In contrast, in patients displaying sequence variations, we were able to induce HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell proliferation, which may indicate infection with a variant virus. Collectively, these data reveal the presence of phenotypically and functionally diverse HCV-specific CD8+ T cells at very low frequencies that are detectable in all chronically infected patients despite viral persistence. IMPORTANCE In this study, we analyzed CD8+ T-cell responses specific for HLA-A*02:01-restricted epitopes in chronically HCV-infected patients, using MHC class I tetramer enrichment. Importantly, we could detect HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell populations in all patients. To further characterize these HCV-specific CD8+ T-cell populations that are not detectable using conventional techniques, we performed phenotypic, functional, and viral sequence analyses. These data revealed different mechanisms for CD8+ T-cell failure in HCV infection, including T-cell exhaustion, viral escape, and functional impairment of naive-like HCV-specific CD8+ T cells

TCF1(+) hepatitis C virus-specific CD8(+) T cells are maintained after cessation of chronic antigen stimulation.

Differentiation and fate of virus-specific CD8(+) T cells after cessation of chronic antigen stimulation is unclear. Here we show that a TCF1(+)CD127(+)PD1(+) hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific CD8(+) T-cell subset exists in chronically infected patients with phenotypic features of T-cell exhaustion and memory, both before and after treatment with direct acting antiviral (DAA) agents. This subset is maintained during, and for a long duration after, HCV elimination. After antigen re-challenge the less differentiated TCF1(+)CD127(+)PD1(+) population expands, which is accompanied by emergence of terminally exhausted TCF1-CD127-PD1(hi) HCV-specific CD8(+) T cells. These results suggest the TCF1(+)CD127(+)PD1(+) HCV-specific CD8(+) T-cell subset has memory-like characteristics, including antigen-independent survival and recall proliferation. We thus provide evidence for the establishment of memory-like virus-specific CD8(+) T cells in a clinically relevant setting of chronic viral infection and we uncover their fate after cessation of chronic antigen stimulation, implicating a potential strategy for antiviral immunotherapy

Neutralizing antibody response during acute and chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Little is known about the role of Abs in determining the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. By using infectious retroviral pseudotypes bearing HCV glycoproteins, we measured neutralizing Ab (nAb) responses during acute and chronic HCV infection. In seven acutely infected health care workers, only two developed a nAb response that failed to associate with viral clearance. In contrast, the majority of chronically infected patients had nAbs. To determine the kinetics of strain-specific and crossreactive nAb emergence, we studied patient H, the source of the prototype genotype 1a H77 HCV strain. An early weak nAb response, specific for the autologous virus, was detected at seroconversion. However, neutralization of heterologous viruses was detected only between 33 and 111 weeks of infection. We also examined the development of nAbs in 10 chimpanzees infected with H77 clonal virus. No nAb responses were detected in three animals that cleared virus, whereas strain-specific nAbs were detected in six of the seven chronically infected animals after approximately 50 weeks of infection. The delayed appearance of high titer crossreactive nAbs in chronically infected patients suggests that selective mechanism(s) may operate to prevent the appearance of these Abs during acute infection. The long-term persistence of these nAbs in chronically infected patients may regulate viral replication

Expansion of anti-AFP Th1 and Tc1 responses in hepatocellular carcinoma occur in different stages of disease

Copyright @ 2010 Cancer Research UK. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.Background: α-Fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumour-associated antigen in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is a target for immunotherapy. However, there is little information on the pattern of CD4 (Th1) and CD8 (Tc1) T-cell response to AFP in patients with HCC and their association with the clinical characteristics of patients. Methods: We therefore analysed CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses to a panel of AFP-derived peptides in a total of 31 HCC patients and 14 controls, using an intracellular cytokine assay for IFN-γ. Results: Anti-AFP Tc1 responses were detected in 28.5% of controls, as well as in 25% of HCC patients with Okuda I (early tumour stage) and in 31.6% of HCC patients with stage II or III (late tumour stages). An anti-AFP Th1 response was detected only in HCC patients (58.3% with Okuda stage I tumours and 15.8% with Okuda stage II or III tumours). Anti-AFP Th1 response was mainly detected in HCC patients who had normal or mildly elevated serum AFP concentrations (P=0.00188), whereas there was no significant difference between serum AFP concentrations in these patients and the presence of an anti-AFP Tc1 response. A Th1 response was detected in 44% of HCC patients with a Child–Pugh A score (early stage of cirrhosis), whereas this was detected in only 15% with a B or C score (late-stage cirrhosis). In contrast, a Tc1 response was detected in 17% of HCC patients with a Child–Pugh A score and in 46% with a B or C score. Conclusion: These results suggest that anti-AFP Th1 responses are more likely to be present in patients who are in an early stage of disease (for both tumour stage and liver cirrhosis), whereas anti-AFP Tc1 responses are more likely to be present in patients with late-stage liver cirrhosis. Therefore, these data provide valuable information for the design of vaccination strategies against HCC.Association for International Cancer Research and Polkemmet Fund, London Clinic

Protective vaccination with hepatitis C virus NS3 but not core antigen in a novel mouse challenge model

BACKGROUND: Efficient vaccines against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are urgently needed. Vaccine development has been hampered by the lack of suitable small animal models to reliably test the protective capacity of immmunization. METHODS: We used recombinant murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68) as a novel challenge virus in mice and tested the efficacy of heterologous candidate human vaccines based on modified vaccinia virus Ankara or adenovirus, both delivering HCV non-structural NS3 or core proteins. RESULTS: Recombinant MHV-68 expressing NS3 (MHV-68-NS3) or core (MHV-68-core) were constructed and characterized in vitro and in vivo. Mice immunized with NS3-specific vector vaccines and challenged with MHV-68-NS3 were infected but showed significantly reduced viral loads in the acute and latent phase of infection. NS3-specific CD8+ T cells were amplified in immunized mice after challenge with MHV-68-NS3. By contrast, we did neither detect a reduction of viral load nor an induction of core-specific CD8+ T cells after core-specific immunization. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the challenge system using recombinant MHV-68 is a highly suitable model to test the immunogenicity and protective capacity of HCV candidate vaccine antigens. Using this system, we demonstrated the usefulness of NS3-specific immunization. By contrast, our analysis rather discarded core as a vaccine antigen

Gary Snyder\u27s idiosyncratic Buddhist poetics and the razoredge .

Gary Snyder\u27s poetry conveys Zen states of consciousness through unconventional grammar and syntax. From his first book Riprap in 1959 to his last collection of poems, Mountains and Rivers Without End in 1996, he has confronted the challenge of transforming Buddhist philosophy and discourse into Western poetics. Snyder\u27s syncretism pertaining to Buddhist and Native American beliefs form a unique view of Zen that suggests his precise involvement with the meditative self-discipline may be unstable and elusive. A close reading of Snyder\u27s idiosyncratic Buddhist poetics reveals an impasse between a non-verbal realm, where the Cartesian duality of subject and object dissolves, and the Western outlook that consciousness can\u27t escape language and thought; Snyder\u27s term razoredge corresponds to this juncture. Viewing his works from a Buddhist perspective, which emphasizes Eastern forms such as haiku and the Zen koan, shows how the disruption of ordinary dualistic thinking potentially improves the aesthetic of nonduality