Abstract Dupuytren’s disease is a Caucasian male-dominant disease that affects the palmar fascia. Incidence grows with age, but persons with strong diathesis seem to develop the disease at an earlier age than the majority of the diseased. Myofibroblasts are histopathologically the main cell type in DD tissue. Despite scientific research, the aetiology of the disease is still unrevealed. Only genetic susceptibility is generally accepted as predisposing to DD. Available treatment has thus far been unsatisfactory, because only symptoms can be cured to date.The disease recurs. With genetic susceptibility the recurrence rates are high (even up to 70%) and the time to recurrence is inevitably shorter. This behaviour is considered the aggressive type of DD. To be able to predict the behaviour of DD, whether it is an aggressive or conventional type, twenty-one Dupuytren samples were gathered and compared with five controls by means of immunohistochemical stainings. It was found that cellularity was better expresented in aggressive and recurred samples. Alfa-SMA and Ki-67 showed more activity in the aggressive tissue type of DD. Tenascin was vaguely expressed in aggressive-type samples. To compare the gene and protein expressions and to obtain a more profound understanding of the disease, a microarray technique was used. With a microarray it is possible to compare nucleotide pair hybridisations to resolve the genome of the tissues. In this study RT-PCR was used to examine mRNA levels to determine gene expression changes. Twelve DD palmar fascia samples were compared with three healthy control samples. Both myoglobin and ROR2, which we considered as the most valuable results, were found in the DD samples. ROR2 acts as a receptor or co-receptor for the Wnt system. The Wnt signalling pathway transfers signals from outside of the cell through cell surface receptors, and plays a significant role in proliferation processes such as in fibrotic conditions. To evaluate a possible chromosomal imbalance behind the aetiology of the disease, eighteen DD palmar fascia samples were compared with two reference samples. However, we were not able to detect any chromosomal imbalance in the DD samples. The method used was Oligonucleotide aCGH Agilent’s 60-mer oligonucleotide-based microarray according to the manufacturer’s instructions, which can reveal gains and losses of approximately 35 kilobases in the whole genome. The result does not exclude copy number changes entirely; a small presence of aberrant cells will not be detected if the change is less than 50%. In conclusion, we revealed elements in DD tissue that would enable us to predict the nature of the disease; whether the disease is aggressive with a stronger tendency to recur. Histological differences could be detected, and this can be used to benefit patients. As a new element, ROR2 was discovered in DD tissue.The genome-wide analysis with the 44K oligonucleotide-based array method revealed no changes of DNA number sequences. / Tiivistelmä Kämmenkalvon kuroumatauti eli Dupuytrenin kontraktuura on valkoihoisen miehen kämmenkalvon sairaus. Sairastumisen todennäköisyys lisääntyy ikääntymiseen liittyen, mutta vahva sukurasitus poikkeuksellisesti altistaa sairaudelle jo tavanomaista nuoremmalla iällä. Myofibroblastit ovat tärkein ja edustetuin solutyyppi Dupuytren kudoksessa. Huolimatta runsaasta tutkimustyöstä ei etiologiaa ole saatu vielä selvitettyä. Sukurasitus näyttää selkeästi altistavan taudille. Toistaiseksi kyetään hoitamaan ainoastaan sairauden aiheuttamat seuraukset, mutta ei perussyytä. Lisäksi tauti uusiutuu. Dupuytrenin sukurasitus lisää uusiutumista suurella todennäköisyydellä. Myös uusiutumisaika on tuolloin tavanomaista nopeampi, ja kyseessä katsotaan olevan ns.aggressiivisempi taudin muoto. Väitöskirjatyössäni pyrittiin löytämään mahdollisia tekijöitä, joiden perusteella voitaisiin ennustaan onko kyseessä aggressiivisempi vai tavanomainen taudin muoto. Tätä varten tutkittiin kaksikymmentä yksi Dupuytren kudosnäytettä ja viisi tervettä kämmenkalvon näytettä immunohistologisilla värjäyksillä, ja voitiin todeta, että soluisuus oli selkeästi koholla aggressiivisten ja taudin uusineiden potilaiden näytteissä. Tulos oli samanlainen myös alfa-SMA ja Ki-67 suhteen. Tenaskiiniä voitiin löytää edellisiä niukemmin aggressiivisista näytteistä. Dupuytrenin taudin luonteen lisäselvittelemiseksi geeni- ja proteiinitasolla tehtiin mikroarray, jossa emäsparien pariutumisen avulla selvitetään taudin genomia ja myös sitten tästä aiheutuvien proteiinien ilmentymistä. Kahtatoista Dupuytren potilaan kämmenkalvon kudosnäyttettä verrattiin kolmeen terveeseen verrokki kudosnäytteeseen ja voitiin todeta myoglobiinin ja ROR2:n selkeät pitoisuuden muutokset terveisiin näytteisiin verrattaessa. ROR2 toimii solujen välisten viestien välityksen reseptorina, eli siirtää signaalin solun ulkopuolelta sen sisäpuolelle solun pinnalla olevan kiinnittymiskohdan avulla. Sillä on selkeä merkitys ja tehtävä proliferatiivisissä tapahtumissa, kuten sidekudoksen lisääntymisessä. Mahdollisia kromosomin määrän muutoksia Dupuytren kudoksessa selviteltiin kahdeksantoista kudosnäytteen tutkimisella ja löydösten tulosta verrattiin sitten kahteen normaaliin verrokki kudosnäytteen tulokseen. Tutkimuksessa ei saatu selville kromosomien määrän muutosta, kun muutosten kokonaismäärä on vähäinen tai ainakin alle 50 % kokonaismäärää alhaisempi. Yhteenvetona voidaan todeta, että löytyi histologisia kudoselementtejä, joiden perusteella voidaan ennustaa, onko Dupuyrenin tauti aggressiivisempi ja todennäköisemmin uusiutuva luonteeltaan. ROR2 ei ole aikaisemmin yhdistetty Dupuytrenin kontraktuuraan. Dupuytren kudoksesta ei voitu 44K oligonukleotide mikroarray tekniikalla paljastaa geenimäärien muutoksia.

As a notable academic, Marxist writer and one-time political activist, an extensive critique of Rudolf Schlesinger’s writings is long overdue. Raised in the revolutionary atmosphere of early twentieth century Austria, Schlesinger soon became embroiled in central European communism, taking on full-time work for the German Communist Party in Berlin, Prague and Moscow. He left the Soviet Union during the purges, having been described as ‘alien to the party’, and made his way to the UK where he fostered a reputation as an informed and prolific scholar. This investigation is not intended to be a biography of Schlesinger, but rather an ‘intellectual biography’, an examination of his monographs, papers, drafts and memoir reflections. This allows for an appreciation of his academic contribution and an understanding of his unique personal motivation and perspective. Given his experiences, as well as the cultural, political and ideological paradigm from which he emerged, this analysis provides insights into Marxist theory, the labour movement, the Soviet Union and German communism. It also throws light upon the intellectual climate in the West during the cold war, providing a historiographical snapshot of academic Soviet studies, particularly in the UK. The thesis is divided into two sections, with each exploring a different aspect of Schlesinger’s writing. The first traces Schlesinger’s theoretical development and education, detailing and analysing the impact of Luxemburg, Lenin, Marx and Engels on his thought and writing. Schlesinger emerges as a Leninist, whose understanding of the dialectical nature of Marxism leads him to seek the next stage in its development, since Lenin’s revolutionary successes forever altered the socio-economic landscape and thus fated his theories to obsolescence. An examination of Schlesinger’s attitude towards Stalin as a Marxist theorist illuminates his pragmatic stance regarding the Soviet leader. Whilst Stalin’s rule had a considerable human cost and a deleterious impact upon Marxist theory, to Schlesinger, his leadership was necessary to further the existence of the Soviet state, the sole manifestation of the great social democratic experiment. The second section focuses on Schlesinger’s writings concerning Soviet historiography. It is possible to discern changes in tone, emphasis and argument in his work on this subject. A dichotomy emerges between Schlesinger’s positive portrayal of historiographical developments in the Soviet Union in papers written before Stalin’s death and his retrospective condemnation of these events after 1953. This latter attitude chimes with his personal memoir reflections of life as an intellectual in Stalin’s Russia, in which he described a highly controlled, academically stagnant society; yet it contrasts starkly with his earlier position. It is also possible to detect parallels between Schlesinger’s changing emphasis and the dynamics of official Soviet attitudes. An explanation is required if Schlesinger is not to be dismissed as inconsistent or polemical. It is argued that Schlesinger can be accurately described as a ‘scholar advocate’, both in terms of a defender of the Soviet experiment and a proponent of Marxism and social democracy. This characterisation allows for an understanding of Schlesinger’s changing stance and motivations and explains his apparent inconsistency. Schlesinger was loyal to Marxism in general, but not to the fluctuating dictates of the Russian party. He was not a polemicist or propagandist but instead sought to stay loyal to wider Marxist ideals and methodology. For Schlesinger, his pragmatism ensured that he did not judge events in Russia from the rose-tinted spectacles of utopianism; his attitude was not swayed by single events, however tragic, and he was aware both of the utility and the transient nature of Stalin’s rule. This helps to explain his positive attitude. In addition, Schlesinger was keen to defend Marxism and the Soviet Union against what he perceived as unfair criticism; he sought to counter myths and misunderstandings propagated by disillusioned supporters and opponents. Schlesinger consciously attempted to combat what he saw, and many academics have recognised, as the cold war bias of a section of Western comment and scholarship. This may, perhaps, have led Schlesinger to paint too optimistic a picture of the Soviet Union, but his work is a useful and necessary counterbalance to other literature. Schlesinger was no propagandist, and recognition of his unique and conscious motivation allows for a full appreciation of his rich and varied writings.

Hubmaier's appeal to the fathers was inspired by humanist principles, especially ad fontes, restitutionism, and rejection of scholastic syllogism and glosses in favour of full, humanist editions of the fathers based on an improved focus on grammar and philology. However, Hubmaier confessionalized Humanism by commandeering its disciplines, principles, and accomplishments to advance a reforming program that centred around credobaptism and freedom of the will. This confessionalization of Humanism is reflected also in the way Hubmaier exploited a perceived Nicodemism in the disparity between Erasmus' private and public statements on baptism and appropriated his endorsement of the docete–baptizantes–docentes baptismal sequence in Mt. 28:19 and defence of free will. Further, Hubmaier's Catholic, nominalist, and humanist academic background ensured that study of the fathers was an intuitive activity as his Anabaptist convictions developed. His nominalist education under the mentorship of Johann Eck also seems to have factored into his moderate Augustinianism and use of the African bishop in defence of free will against the hyper-Augustinianism of Luther. Hubmaier used carefully selected, amenable patristic theologians and historical witnesses to verify that credobaptism was preserved by the fathers in continuity with the practice of the apostolic era, while infant baptism was introduced only later and gradually accepted in the second to fifth centuries until definitively ratified by Augustine and universally embraced by the Catholic, papal "particular church." This increasing confusion during the patristic era was thought by Hubmaier to reflect the hesitant acceptance of paedobaptism in his own day especially by Zwingli and Erasmus, which inspired his desire for a new ecumenical council to decide the correct form of baptism on the basis of Scripture and supporting patristic exegesis. Ultimately, Hubmaier not only cognitively accepted the teachings of the fathers on baptism and free will, but embraced them as co-affiliates with himself in the one, holy, apostolic ecclesia universalis in protest against the errant papal ecclesia particularis as per the composition of his ecclesiology.

There is a gap in the existing literature as to why the New Left in West Germany entered a phase of rapid decline by the end of the 1970s. The overarching aim of this thesis is to offer a politico-theoretical explanation for the historical development of the New Left and why the ‘red decade’ between 1967 and 1976/7 ended so abruptly. Within this context, the thesis will focus on the Maoist K-Gruppen and particular emphasis will be placed on the Marxistische Gruppe, which defied the general decline of West Germany’s New Left and developed into its largest organisation during the 1980s. Furthermore, the Red Cells movement will be analysed from which both currents emerged in the wake of the student movement. Key works of the Marxistische Gruppe will be analysed with particular emphasis on politico-theoretical aspects. The analysis of the group’s theoretical work will provide a better understanding of the New Left’s historical developments against the background of the changing political environment. This thesis will conclude with reflections on developments of the radical left after the collapse of the New Left in 1989/91 and how the red decade’s legacy is still prominent in the work of the Gegenstandpunkt publishing house (the Marxistische Gruppe’s ideological successor). In conclusion, this thesis will reveal that the influence of politico-theoretical aspects on the historical development of the New Left has been given too little consideration and that the New Left’s fate cannot be adequately explained by external factors, but demands the consideration of the very development of theories and the practical conclusions organisations reached regarding their social, economic and cultural circumstances. This work will be the first to provide an insight into the potential of such a theoretical explanation for an understanding of the specific developments of the post-1968 West German New Left.

Scholarly interest in travel literature has increased substantially in recent years. However, there has been a lack of sustained, cohesive commentary on the journey motif in German Romantic culture, particularly its origins and manifestations in literature and philosophy. My doctoral research fills this gap through a philosophically- and historically-informed reading of German Romanticism. The thesis examines 1) the paradigmatic template of the literary journey established by Goethe in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, 2) metaphors of movement and mobility within the Idealist philosophy of Kant and Fichte and their role, 3) the manner in which these metaphors migrate into the theoretical and prose writings of Novalis, 4) Tieck’s notion of the sublime and its relevance for the Romantic journey, and 5) the late Romantic satirization of the journey motif within Eichendorff’s prose. Additionally, the thesis serves to show how philosophical discourse of the Enlightenment had reached something of an impasse in its use of the journey motif, with the subject unable to evolve and renew itself beyond the strictures of particular models of subjective cognition. The Romantics thought literary practice was to supersede philosophy and it was mobility in the form of the journey as both metaphor and process, which helped bring about this transition and created a flexible self-authoring and self- renewing model of the subject. The study also recounts a particular history of Romanticism which charts, via the history of the journey, the movement’s youthful idealism, the fear of the pitfalls of human subjectivity, and its eventual self-distanciation through parody.

In the late 20th century, historical research on the 1632 Battle of Lützen, a major engagement of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), came to a dead end after 150 years of mostly unfruitful discussions. This thesis examines the battle’s military material culture, including historical accounts and physical evidence in the form of archaeological finds from the battlefield to provide new insight into the battle’s events, but also to develop a methodology which allows a comparison between two very different sources: the eyewitness account and the ‘lead bullet.’ To achieve this aim, the development of 17th century firearms is highlighted through an assessment of historical sources and existing weapons and by an evaluation of various collections of ‘lead bullets’ from Lützen and other archaeological sites, thus providing a working baseline for interpreting bullet distribution patterns on the battlefield. The validity of bullet distribution patterns is also dependant on the deposit process during the battle and metal detector survey methodologies, which also provides vital information for battlefield surveys in general. In an overarching methodology, statements from battle eyewitnesses are evaluated and compared to bullet distribution patterns, in conjunction with the historic landscape, equipment and tactics. Together, these ultimately lead to a better understanding of the battle and its historic narrative, by asking why reported events actually did not happen at Lützen. This last element is also important for understand the reliability of early modern battle accounts in general. Overall, a more general aim of this case study has been to provide a better insight into the wider potentials of early modern battle research in Europe.

The thesis examines British fiction of the 1990s, focusing on the `novel of history'. It contributes to the analysis of recent and contemporary British fiction, joining work by John Brannigan, Steven Connor, Peter Childs, Dominic Head, Rod Mengham, Nick Rennison and Alan Sinfield. Whilst these critics have written about the centrality of the historical novel, the significance of the Holocaust and its use in fictional narrative remains relatively under-theorised. Issues surrounding memory and representation and their relation to history are central to an understanding of how British 1990s Holocaust novels dramatise the events of the `real'. In this regard, the thesis contributes to the theory that the 1990s British novel often `looked backwards' over the waning century. Fiction attempting to represent the Holocaust has made a significant contribution to this `taking stock'. A number of issues arise surrounding the complex relationship between historical `event' and `imaginary' text. Given the extremity of the Holocaust and the persistence of it as a 'secular-sacred' discourse, such issues are further problematised. The central theme is how British writers in the 1990s, given their temporal, spatial and familial distance from the event, have negotiated the `limits of representation' inherent in the aesthetic apprehension of the Holocaust. The fiction under discussion is by Martin Amis, Justin Cartwright, Robert Harris, John King, Caryl Phillips, Michele Roberts, W. G. Sebald, Rachel Seiffert, Zadie Smith and D. M. Thomas. The `apocalyptic turn' that many have characterised as emblematic of the 1990s is interpreted as a turning back to an `apocalypse' that has already taken place. Tropes of fragmented temporality, absence and presence, the sublime, articulation and silence, trauma, atrocity and the inherent problems of retelling the past are interpreted in relation to each individual text. Recent writing on the representation of the Holocaust also informs the central arguments of the thesis. Work by Saul Friedlander, Geoffrey H. Hartman, Berel Lang, Dominick LeCapra, Daniel R. Schwarz and Sue Vice discuss both the enduring legacy of the Holocaust and the areas of contention surrounding the `speaking' of the event. Holocaust representation will thus provide a `bridge' between analysis of the historical novel since 1989 and theoretical work on imagining the `Final Solution'. The thesis title is taken from Sebald's Austerlitz and alludes to the theme of contemporary writers making imaginary and ethical `journeys' back to the `dark heart' of the century. It also suggests something of the impulse to remember and `serve witness' to a generation of survivors. In conclusion, the thesis argues that despite the hegemony of postmodern concepts of the `textuality' of history and the instability of narrative, the Holocaust embodies a fundamental challenge to cultural and political relativism. The novels embrace and argue back against postmodern literary strategies, and in doing so reveal how ethical and aesthetic issues of representation are profoundly `tested' in context of the Holocaust.

This study is about discourses of bilingualism in Bolzano-Bozen, Italy, and what they reveal about language, identity, hegemony and the production of social space. The theoretical and methodological framework I use is Nexus Analysis and Geosemiotics: approaches developed by Scollon and Wong Scollon (2004 and 2003, respectively). These approaches have revealed how and why place names, their public placement, Fascist-era monuments and bilingual education maintained a constant presence, under broader discourses on bilingualism, during the research period. Nexus Analysis focuses on social action and Geosemiotics pays meticulous attention to fundamental aspects of signs, including where they are in the material world, and how social actors interact with them. This has led to an investigation of the historical past, and how this is represented, understood and indexed in the present by those who align (or not) to ideologies of language and nation. In the complex multilingual context of this study, this approach has revealed how such ideologies are mobilized to contest ownership of geographic place and to make social space. I have traced discourses across disparate discursive genres, to reveal the complex interrelationships between language and other social semiotic data in discourses on bilingualism in Bolzano-Bozen through time, and across space.

This thesis will examine the Electronic Warfare [EW] policies and subsequent Suppression of Enemy Air Defence [SEAD] postures of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command during the Second World War. It examines how EW was applied to the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) Integrated Air Defence System [IADS] so as to reduce Bomber Command aircraft losses, and determines whether EW policies were drafted in a proactive and/or reactive fashion vis-à-vis the Luftwaffe IADS. The thesis applies air power theory regarding the levels and methods of application by which SEAD was brought to bear against the IADS as a result of these EW policies. Ultimately, the thesis will argue that Bomber Command enacted both proactive and reactive EW policies at the Campaign and Localised SEAD levels using a combination of Manoeuvrist, Mass and Stealth/Surprise approaches.

This thesis examines the role(s) played by German writers as cultural ambassadors after the First World War, at a time when culture was seen as increasingly important in Germany’s international relations. It focuses on the development and activities of the German branch of the International PEN Club and the international engagement of four writers from across Weimar Germany’s cultural and political spectrum: Hans Friedrich Blunck, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann and Ernst Toller. By exploring the agendas pursued by writers on the international stage and their direct and indirect interactions with state and non-state institutions, the thesis illuminates a spectrum of approaches to cultural diplomacy in the Weimar years. The thesis demonstrates how attempts to use varying conceptions of culture to diverse diplomatic ends were underpinned by manifold understandings of Germany’s position in the European and international orders; illustrates the differing negotiations of the sensitive relationship between culture and politics; and traces a range of expressions of nationalism, internationalism, patriotism and cosmopolitanism. This study of writers’ contributions to German foreign affairs sheds new light on the selected case studies and on the openness and contingency of the period, bringing new perspectives to bear on the complexities of the cultural politics and ideological landscape of the Weimar Republic.