Vestiges of Affective Resonance

Daniel Bacchus presents two pieces of virtual reality work produced in collaboration with Ukrainian and Gulag survivor, Ivanna Masczcak. ‘I Look For Them’ is a non-linear VR experience that engages with Ivanna’s memories as she recalls being transported across Russia and Siberia to the coastal Gulag camp at Magadan in 1949. The participant is invited to journey with Ivanna into the intangible territory where the possibility of a connection between self and other, separated by time and history, resides. Addressing the same subject matter, ‘Be That Ocean’ immerses the participant in a dynamic, layered virtual landscape, experimenting with the unique affordances of VR to invite an immanent, embodied, affective resonance with the experience of another. The projects consider the various ways of being in virtual space and how VR may be used to create spaces of affective relationality with another’s experiences. Patrick Wichert shows his latest photographs produced on a field trip to Poland and the Baltic Sea. This work follows oral history accounts of forced migration in January 1945 from the former East Prussia to then Western Germany. This project is part of a wider investigation into the communication of affect in landscape photography, in this case following a traumatic and sudden uprooting during conflict close to the end of the 2nd WW. The research combines photographic walking practice with the study of historical archives and research in modes of haptic display of visual narratives. It investigates how landscape photographs communicate those memories carried across generations which are ‘imprinted’ in the people’s sub-conscious as well as their mind. The exhibition aims to navigate between the ghosts of a haunting memory and active recollections of events which occurred on those lands, yet which are now barely visible

Warship wrecks and their munition cargos as a threat to the marine environment and humans: The V 1302 “JOHN MAHN” from World War II

In addition to endangering sea traffic, cable routes, and wind farms, sunken warship wrecks with dangerous cargo, fuel, or munitions on board may emerge as point sources for environmental damage. Energetic compounds such as TNT (which could leak from these munitions) are known for their toxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity. These compounds may cause potential adverse effects on marine life via contamination of the marine ecosystem, and their entry into the marine and human food chain could directly affect human health. To ascertain the impending danger of an environmental catastrophe posed by sunken warships, the North Sea Wrecks (NSW) project (funded by the Interreg North Sea Region Program) was launched in 2018. Based on historical data (derived from military archives) including the calculated amount of munitions still on board, its known location and accessibility, the German World War II ship “Vorpostenboot 1302” (former civilian name - “JOHN MAHN”) was selected as a case study to investigate the leakage and distribution of toxic explosives in the marine environment. The wreck site and surrounding areas were mapped in great detail by scientific divers and a multibeam echosounder. Water and sediment samples were taken in a cross-shaped pattern around the wreck. To assess a possible entry into the marine food chain, aged mussels were exposed at the wreck, and wild fish (pouting), a sedentary species that stays locally at the wreck, were caught. All samples were analyzed for the presence of TNT and derivatives thereof by GC–MS/MS analysis. As a result, we could provide evidence that sunken warship wrecks emerge as a point source of contamination with nitroaromatic energetic compounds leaking from corroding munitions cargo still on board. Not only did we find these explosive substances in bottom water and sediment samples around the wreck, but also in the caged mussels as well as in wild fish living at the wreck. Fortunately so far, the concentrations found in mussel meat and fish filet were only in the one-digit ng per gram range thus indicating no current concern for the human seafood consumer. However, in the future the situation mayworsen as the corrosion continues. Fromour study, it is proposed that wrecks should not only be ranked according to critical infrastructure and human activities at sea, but also to the threats they pose to the environment and the human seafood consumer

Monitoring of lung edema by microwave reflectometry during lung ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo

It is still unclear whether lung edema can be monitored by microwave reflectometry and whether the measured changes in lung dry matter content (DMC) are accompanied by changes in PaO(2) and in pro-to anti-inflammatory cytokine expression (IFN-gamma and IL-10). Right rat lung hili were cross-clamped at 37 degrees C for 0, 60, 90 or 120 min ischemia followed by 120 min reperfusion. After 90 min (DMC: 15.9 +/- 1.4%; PaO(2): 76.7 +/- 18 mm Hg) and 120 min ischemia (DMC: 12.8 +/- 0.6%; PaO(2): 43 +/- 7 mm Hg), a significant decrease in DMC and PaO(2) throughout reperfusion compared to 0 min ischemia (DMC: 19.5 +/- 1.11%; PaO(2): 247 +/- 33 mm Hg; p < 0.05) was observed. DMC and PaO(2) decreased after 60 min ischemia but recovered during reperfusion (DMC: 18.5 +/- 2.4%; PaO(2) : 173 +/- 30 mm Hg). DMC values reflected changes on the physiological and molecular level. In conclusion, lung edema monitoring by microwave reflectometry might become a tool for the thoracic surgeon. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Molecular matched targeted therapies for primary brain tumors—a single center retrospective analysis

PURPOSE: Molecular diagnostics including next generation gene sequencing are increasingly used to determine options for individualized therapies in brain tumor patients. We aimed to evaluate the decision-making process of molecular targeted therapies and analyze data on tolerability as well as signals for efficacy. METHODS: Via retrospective analysis, we identified primary brain tumor patients who were treated off-label with a targeted therapy at the University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University. We analyzed which types of molecular alterations were utilized to guide molecular off-label therapies and the diagnostic procedures for their assessment during the period from 2008 to 2021. Data on tolerability and outcomes were collected. RESULTS: 413 off-label therapies were identified with an increasing annual number for the interval after 2016. 37 interventions (9%) were targeted therapies based on molecular markers. Glioma and meningioma were the most frequent entities treated with molecular matched targeted therapies. Rare entities comprised e.g. medulloblastoma and papillary craniopharyngeoma. Molecular targeted approaches included checkpoint inhibitors, inhibitors of mTOR, FGFR, ALK, MET, ROS1, PIK3CA, CDK4/6, BRAF/MEK and PARP. Responses in the first follow-up MRI were partial response (13.5%), stable disease (29.7%) and progressive disease (46.0%). There were no new safety signals. Adverse events with fatal outcome (CTCAE grade 5) were not observed. Only, two patients discontinued treatment due to side effects. Median progression-free and overall survival were 9.1/18 months in patients with at least stable disease, and 1.8/3.6 months in those with progressive disease at the first follow-up MRI. CONCLUSION: A broad range of actionable alterations was targeted with available molecular therapeutics. However, efficacy was largely observed in entities with paradigmatic oncogenic drivers, in particular with BRAF mutations. Further research on biomarker-informed molecular matched therapies is urgently necessary. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11060-022-04049-w

Integrating Data Science and Earth Science

This open access book presents the results of three years collaboration between earth scientists and data scientists, in developing and applying data science methods for scientific discovery. The book will be highly beneficial for other researchers at senior and graduate level, interested in applying visual data exploration, computational approaches and scientifc workflows

Erzählte Fremdheitserfahrung - Studien zu Alfred Döblins 'Amazonas'-Trilogie

Alfred Döblins Romanepos 'Der blaue Tiger' (1938), zweiter Teil seiner Amazonas-Trilogie, ist ein wichtiger Beitrag für das Verstehen der Kontaktnahme zwischen zwei einander fremden Kulturen - für Akkulturation (W. Reinhard) als eine Erscheinungsform der Fremdheitserfahrung. Zugleich ist das Romanepos ein 'modernes' Konzept für Subjektivität: Hier erfolgt interkulturelle Erfahrung zwischen europäischen Jesuiten und amerikanischen Einheimischen wechselseitig. Der Text drückt diese Dialektik inhaltlich wie formal durch ein essayistisches Erzählverfahren aus. Essayismus manifestiert sich dabei auf zwei Erzählebenen, die der Text miteinander kontrastiert. So erzählt das Epos den Zerfall der 'christlichen Republik', ein humanitäres jesuitisches Projekt im Amazonasbecken, anhand zwei parallel verlaufender Diskurse: auf der Ebene der geschichtsbestimmenden Mächte an der Metropole sabotieren die Machthaber und Technokraten das Projekt von den Machtzentren aus, und auf der Ebene der handelnden Figuren an der Peripherie wirkt die Eigendynamik der Kontaktnahme dem Missionsprojekt entgegen. Döblin entwirft hierfür den 'empirischen Menschen' (Dollinger), ein Handlungssubjekt, dessen Austausch mit den Anderen stets dialogisch 'nach beiden Richtungen' (Peter Burke) verläuft: Das Fremde verhält sich zum 'empirischen Menschen' komplementär, der Erfahrungsprozess des Handlungssubjektes selbst ist zum Ende hin offen - ohne fest bestimmbaren Ausgang. Döblins anthropologisches und historisches Denken greift aktuellen Analysen der Eroberung Amerikas in vielen Aspekten vor: Die Jesuitenmission zerfällt nicht allein an der einseitig aggressiven Akkulturation durch die Missionare, sondern zerbricht an der Sogwirkung, die von der widerstandsfähigen lokalen Kultur ausgeht. Döblin behandelt den Desintegrationsprozess der Mission am Wandel der Jesuiten-Generationen und entwirft ein typologisches Modell des interkulturellen Clash am 'Überläufer', am 'eindeutigen Christen' und 'Imperialisten'

Walk Out

Walk Out is a group exhibition of the research outputs of Media Arts and Photography lecturers made through the activities of the Walking Arts Research group, an inclusive walking group formed to generate research, collaboration, reflection, and practice. The exhibition, comprised of photography, video works, and installation, including a zoetrope, reveals a diverse response to the rural and urban environment experienced during the walks. The title is knowingly political and the manifesto and accompanying exhibition essay acknowledge WARGs activities as a resistance to the increasingly time-compressed and bureaucratised work environment. The group aims, through walking and collaborative practice, to nurture an environment in which creative practice can thrive