Countering Anti-Semitism and Religious Violence.

In Moses and Monotheism, Freud developed an influential and highly controversial theory for understanding anti-Semitism as blowback against monotheism, specifically against the Jewish people's form of Geistigkeit (intellectuality/spirituality) and the notion of exclusive chosenness. Against the backdrop of the recent global rise of anti-Semitism, white supremacy, and violence in the name of religion, this essay reviews a collection of nine fresh perspectives on Freud's text in Freud and Monotheism by authors from a cross section of the humanities. They critically engage Freud's seminal thoughts on the nature of religion and violence, tradition and history, trauma and repression, hermeneutics and the transgenerational transmission of identity. Connecting with Freud's ideas on Geistigkeit, the chosen people, the superego, and sublimation, and Drewermann's insights into the historical connection between monotheism and the development of the human sense of personhood, the essay concludes with a proposal for countering anti-Semitism and religious violence through a reinterpretation of the meaning of monotheism.

Angular resolved power spectral density analysis for improving mirror manufacturing.

Ultra-precise diamond turning is the method of choice for manufacturing freeform optics. Analyzing surface errors in different spatial frequency ranges has mainly been performed in a one-dimensional representation of the power spectral density function. However, the advanced machine dynamics at the fabrication of freeform mirrors result in highly anisotropic surfaces with regular ripples in different orientations. To properly analyze the entire surface in the frequency regime, a new way of representing the two-dimensional power spectral density is introduced in this paper. This novel tool is utilized for the evaluation of an example freeform mirror.

Aerobic epoxidation of olefins catalyzed by the cobalt-based metal-organic framework STA-12(Co).

A Co-based metal-organic framework (MOF) was investigated as a catalytic material in the aerobic epoxidation of olefins in DMF and exhibited, based on catalyst mass, a remarkably high catalytic activity compared with the Co-doped zeolite catalysts that are typically used in this reaction. The structure of STA-12(Co) is similar to that of STA-12(Ni), as shown by XRD Rietveld refinement and is stable up to 270 °C. For the epoxidation reaction, significantly different selectivities were obtained depending on the substrate. Although styrene was epoxidized with low selectivity due to oligomerization, (E)-stilbene was converted with high selectivities between 80 and 90 %. Leaching of Co was low and the reaction was found to proceed mainly heterogeneously. The catalyst was reusable with only a small loss of activity. The catalytic epoxidation of stilbene with the MOF featured an induction period, which was, interestingly, considerably reduced by styrene/stilbene co-epoxidation. This could be traced back to the formation of benzaldehyde promoting the reaction. Detailed parameter and catalytic studies, including in situ EPR and EXAFS spectroscopy, were performed to obtain an initial insight into the reaction mechanism.

Structural changes of noble metal catalysts during ignition and extinction of the partial oxidation of methane studied by advanced QEXAFS techniques.

The dynamics of the ignition and extinction of the catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) of methane to hydrogen and carbon monoxide over Pt-Rh/Al(2)O(3) and Pt/Al(2)O(3) were studied in the subsecond timescale using quick-EXAFS with a novel cam-driven X-ray monochromator employing Si(111) and Si(311) crystals. The experiments were performed under reaction conditions in a small fixed-bed capillary reactor. For the first time XAS data were taken with this QEXAFS technique with a Si(311) crystal that opens the energy range up to 35 keV. In addition, both XANES and EXAFS data are shown at the Pt L(3)-edge, allowing to discuss the potential and limitation of this technique in catalysis and related areas. With respect to the noble metal catalysed partial oxidation of methane, several interesting observations were made: structural changes during ignition were-independent of the chosen reaction conditions-significantly faster than during the extinction of the reaction. The dynamic behavior of the catalysts was dependent on the flow conditions and the respective noble metal component(s). Higher reaction gas flow led to a faster ignition process. While the ignition over Pt-Rh/Al(2)O(3) occurred at lower temperature than over Pt/Al(2)O(3), the structural changes during ignition were significantly faster in the latter case. The rate of reduction of the catalyst during ignition was also dependent on the axial position in the fixed-bed. The spectroscopic results provide important insight into the ignition and extinction behavior of the CPO of methane and are complementing results from time-resolved infrared thermography and full field X-ray microscopy studies.

Dynamic collision-induced dissociation of peptides in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer.

The fragmentation of natural peptides using dynamic collision-induced dissociation (DCID), a novel fragmentation method for quadrupole ion traps, is demonstrated. Using leucine enkephalin as a diagnostic molecule, the fragmentation efficiencies and energetics of DCID are compared with other methods of collisional activation in ion traps such as conventional on-resonance excitation and high-amplitude short-time excitation (HASTE). A typical fragmentation efficiency of approximately 20% is achieved for DCID, which is significantly lower than conventional CID (maximum near 80%). Tandem mass spectra of two other peptides, substance P and oxidized insulin alpha-chain, demonstrate that product ion spectra for DCID are comparable to conventional or HASTE CID. Because DCID achieves fragmentation during the standard mass acquisition scan, no extra time is necessary for on-resonance excitation or product ion collection, so analysis times are reduced by a minimum of 10-15% depending on the scanning conditions. DCID therefore offers more tandem mass spectra per second than conventional methods of collisional activation, which could be highly advantageous for bottom-up proteomics separations.

Deficiency of UBR1, a ubiquitin ligase of the N-end rule pathway, causes pancreatic dysfunction, malformations and mental retardation (Johanson-Blizzard syndrome).

Johanson-Blizzard syndrome (OMIM 243800) is an autosomal recessive disorder that includes congenital exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, multiple malformations such as nasal wing aplasia, and frequent mental retardation. We mapped the disease-associated locus to chromosome 15q14-21.1 and identified mutations, mostly truncating ones, in the gene UBR1 in 12 unrelated families with Johanson-Blizzard syndrome. UBR1 encodes one of at least four functionally overlapping E3 ubiquitin ligases of the N-end rule pathway, a conserved proteolytic system whose substrates include proteins with destabilizing N-terminal residues. Pancreas of individuals with Johanson-Blizzard syndrome did not express UBR1 and had intrauterine-onset destructive pancreatitis. In addition, we found that Ubr1(-/-) mice, whose previously reported phenotypes include reduced weight and behavioral abnormalities, had an exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, with impaired stimulus-secretion coupling and increased susceptibility to pancreatic injury. Our findings indicate that deficiency of UBR1 perturbs the pancreas' acinar cells and other organs, presumably owing to metabolic stabilization of specific substrates of the N-end rule pathway.