“THAT VERY FUNNY ARTICLE,” POLLYPERRUQUE, AND THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF DUCHAMP’S FOUNTAIN

Within half a century, the status of Duchamp’s readymades changed from iconoclastic object to iconic sculpture. This contribution focusses on two of Duchamp’s readymades, one from 1915 and thus dated at the very beginning of Duchamp’s occupation with this subject matter, while the other is dated 1967, the very last object to enter this particular category within Duchamp’s oeuvre. André Breton remarked that “future generations can do no less than make a systematic effort to go back the stream of Duchamp’s thought and carefully describe its meanderings in search of the hidden treasure which was his mind.” It is with these suggestions in mind that, after the examination of an heretofore unknown readymade from the 1910’s and his collage Pollyperruque from the year before he passed away, final observations will examine the 100th anniversary of Duchamp’s Fountain to reassess the readymade’s potential as an analog object and social media phenomenon in the digital realm

Umweg statt Abkürzung: Über das Prinzip funktionaler Serendipität für die Lehranstalten der Zukunft

Die Universität ist auch ein Ort, an dem die Studierenden in eine neue Lebensphase eintreten und wertvolle Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen gewinnen können, die sie gar nicht gesucht haben. In seinem Beitrag empfiehlt der Autor daher – gerade angesichts der engeren Taktung und zunehmenden Verschulung – auch Umwege zu machen und nicht immer den kürzesten Weg einzuschlagen. Es muss möglich sein, sich auf die Suche machen zu können, um etwas zu finden, nach dem man gar nicht gesucht hat. (DIPF/Orig.

DNA damage interactions on both nanometer and micrometer scale determine overall cellular damage

Abstract DNA double strand breaks (DSB) play a pivotal role for cellular damage, which is a hazard encountered in toxicology and radiation protection, but also exploited e.g. in eradicating tumors in radiation therapy. It is still debated whether and in how far clustering of such DNA lesions leads to an enhanced severity of induced damage. Here we investigate - using focused spots of ionizing radiation as damaging agent - the spatial extension of DNA lesion patterns causing cell inactivation. We find that clustering of DNA damage on both the nm and µm scale leads to enhanced inactivation compared to more homogeneous lesion distributions. A biophysical model interprets these observations in terms of enhanced DSB production and DSB interaction, respectively. We decompose the overall effects quantitatively into contributions from these lesion formation processes, concluding that both processes coexist and need to be considered for determining the resulting damage on the cellular level

Live cell imaging of mitochondria following targeted irradiation in situ reveals rapid and highly localized loss of membrane potential

The reliance of all cell types on the mitochondrial function for survival makes mitochondria an interesting target when trying to understand their role in the cellular response to ionizing radiation. By harnessing highly focused carbon ions and protons using microbeams, we have performed in situ live cell imaging of the targeted irradiation of individual mitochondria stained with Tetramethyl rhodamine ethyl ester (TMRE), a cationic fluorophore which accumulates electrophoretically in polarized mitochondria. Targeted irradiation with both carbon ions and protons down to beam spots of <1 μm induced a near instant loss of mitochondrial TMRE fluorescence signal in the targeted area. The loss of TMRE after targeted irradiation represents a radiation induced change in mitochondrial membrane potential. This is the first time such mitochondrial responses have been documented in situ after targeted microbeam irradiation. The methods developed and the results obtained have the ability to shed new light on not just mitochondria’s response to radiation but to further elucidate a putative mechanism of radiation induced depolarization and mitochondrial response