Certain results of infectious disease prevention in the German Democratic Republic]

The history of the formation of the sanitary and hygienic service in the GDR is outlined with special reference to the friendly assistance of the USSR. The data on the morbidity dynamics in the GDR for the most important infectious diseases are presented for the 30-year period of the existance of the GDR. The role played by the system of immunoprophylaxis developed in the GDR in controlling infectious diseases, is shown and the immediate tasks presented, at increasing the effectiveness of this system on the basis of close and extensive cooperation between the scientists and physicians of the USSR and the GDR.     

Evolution and maintenance of divergent lineages in an endangered freshwater fish, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macquaria australasica</Emphasis>

Variable hydrological regimes and habitat availability are factors that affect the distribution of freshwater dependent species and are expected to influence their levels of genetic diversity. Although geologically relatively stable, the south eastern region of Australia has experienced significant changes in hydrological conditions during the Quaternary. This area has also been recently affected by anthropogenic activities, resulting in dramatic population declines of Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica). We conducted a range-wide phylogeographic study of this endangered fish to assess the relationship between landscape and freshwater fish evolution in south eastern Australia and infer levels of genetic diversity and population structure. Surprisingly, we detected high genetic diversity, with 46 mtDNA control region haplotypes found across 37 sampling locations. Some lineages were remarkably divergent; one represents a putative undescribed species that probably went extinct during the period of this study. Our reconstruction of population history using a combination of coalescent and phylogenetic methods indicates that the species originated on the coast, east of the Great Dividing Range (GDR), with subsequent colonisation of the Murray-Darling basin, west of the GDR. Nested clade and IM analyses inferred a series of range expansions and fragmentations across the species range consistent with the history of climatic oscillations in south eastern Australia during the Pleistocene. We conclude that the unexpected high levels of diversity and divergence observed in M. australasica may be due to specific habitat requirements, localised recruitment, and Pleistocene climate fluctuations. Under expectations of a drier climate and increased sea levels due to global warming, populations of this and other freshwater species may be expected to experience increased habitat fragmentation and loss of genetic diversity. Conservation management should focus on habitat protection, the maintenance of genetic diversity and taxonomic review.     

“You are special”: othering in biographies of “GDR children from Namibia”

The article analyses a historical case of politically induced flight. The so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR) children from Namibia are about 430 people brought to the GDR between 1979 and 1989. They came from Namibian refugee camps and were part of a solidarity project between South West African People’s Organization (SWAPO) and the GDR. They were educated to become the Namibian elite once the country had been liberated. Their stay was to be temporary, with the children identified as Namibian by SWAPO and GDR. The article reconstructs culturalist and biological-racist forms of othering as characteristic biographical experience of the young people which deny them belonging to GDR and Namibia. Simultaneously it examines how the young people irritate the categories of othering and create spaces of agency. They build a new hybrid language “Oshi German” thereby breaking culturalization and staying together as a collective in search of a place of belonging.     

Evaluation of the erythrocyte antibody registry in East Germany (1978-1980)

On the basis of statistics on erythrocyte antibodies annually transmitted to the Ministry of Health by the institutions of blood transfusion service in the GDR, an analysis on frequency, population and distribution of specificity to be found in erythrocyte antibodies was established for the first time from 1978 to 1980. For the time covered by the investigation, the GDR percentage of the total detection rate for antibodies amounted to 0.39%, with a fluctuating range of 0.14% to 0.7% being present in the various districts. Even the percentages of immunoantibodies and natural antibodies greatly differed within the country. Anti-D could be identified as the most frequent antibody. Moreover, the specificities anti-E, anti-P1, anti-Lea, anti-D + C and anti-Lea + Leb were significant in their number. The variety of antibodies detected justifies the necessity of consequently applying antibody screenings in the pretransfusional serology of hospitals. The percentage of antibodies predominantly identified by the indirect antihuman globulin test has to be enhanced by the continual application of this method.     

Mutagenesis and functional analysis of the Escherichia coli tRNALeu1 promoter

The leuV promoter which produces tRNA^Leu₁ in Escherichia coli has been extensively mutagenized in order to determine the effects of altered sequences on promoter efficiency (strength) and on growth-rate-dependent regulation (GDR). Each mutant promoter was ligated with a β-galactosidase reporter gene into the chromosome of a host cell by phage lambda lysogenization. Reporter gene activities were measured for cells growing in selected media at various growth rates. Sequences which flank the ?10 consensus region, when altered, caused remarkable up-promoter effects, increasing efficiency in some cases almost 10-fold. One up mutation which had five successive T residues in the‘discriminator’region completely abolished GDR, whereas several mutations with single base changes in the discriminator had little or no effect on GDR. Another mutation which changed one base in the ?35 region to bring it to consensus increased promoter strength 18-fold and sharply reduced GDR. Chimaeric promoters in which segments of leuV were replaced by segments of the his operon showed that only when the discriminator of leuV is replaced by the his discriminator was GDR-disturbed. AM upstream sequences which were replaced by his sequences had little effect on GDR. Overall, there appeared to be little correlation between promoter efficiency and GDR.     

Werner Schnese and the Development of Coastal Waters Ecology in Rostock,GDR

A survey of ecosystem research in brackish coastal waters (Baltic Sea) by the Department of Biology, University Rostock (GDR) is given. Using selected results the main goals are demonstrated, outgoing from the first steps initiated by W. Schnese.     

Occurrence of HLA-A, B, C antibodies in first, second, and third pregnancies (follow-up studies of 161 pregnancies

In the course of their gravidity 161 women, among them 71 pregnant for the first time, 64 for the second time and 26 for the third time, were examined five times for the presence of cytotoxic HLA-A, B, C antibodies in NIH-LCT. This resulted in a total frequency of 23% of cytotoxic antibodies. Among those women pregnant for the first time there was an antibody rate of 18.3% (12.7% specifically), in those being in their second or third pregnancy the antibody rate amounted to 26%. In women with the second pregnancy the frequency of specific antibodies amounted to 17%, in those with the third pregnancy to 7.7%. HLA-antibodies were identified in the first gravida at the earliest between the 33rd and 40th week of pregnancy, in the second gravidas from the 12th to 16th or 33rd to 40th week of pregnancy and in the third gravidas from the 6th to 12th week. The results are discussed in comparison with HLA-mass screening of gravids carried out in the GDR in selected pregnant women and with other data taken from literature. They obtain a practical significance for performing a programme of HLA-antibody screening in a selected number of pregnant women with the aim of providing a possibility for gaining test sera from pregnant women for the purpose of improving the yield of test sera in comparison with the HLA-antibody screening test commonly used for pregnant women in the GDR.     

Untersuchungen zur physiologischen spezialisierung von Erysiphe graminis DC

Zusammenfassung Bei der Überprüfung des Verhaltens von 27 in der DDR zugelassenen Futtergrassorten gegenüber vierzehn Rassen des Gerstenmehltaus, 9 Rassen des Weizenmehltaus und 1 Population des Roggenmehltaus verliefen alle Infektionen negativ. Da mit den ausgewählten Rassen alle typischen Pathogenitätseigenschaften der bisher bekannten Rassen des Getreidemehltaus erfaßt worden waren, ist anzunehmen, daß der Getreidemehltau allgemein unter natürlichen Bedingungen die geprüften Futtergrassorten nicht befällt.

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Studies on the physiological specialization of Erysiphe graminis DCV. The reaction of important fodder grasses cultivated in the GDR against some races of cereal mildew

Summary In an examination of the susceptibility of 27 fodder grass varieties cultivated in the GDR to 14 races of barley mildew, 9 races of wheat mildew and 1 population of rye mildew no infections were obtained. Since the races used represented the whole range of pathogenicity of the known races of cereal mildew, it may be assumed that under natural conditions cereal mildew does not cause any infection in the examined varieties of forage grasses.

     

Epidemiological analysis of acute respiratory diseases (ARD) of viral etiology in the Czech Socialist Republic (CSR] and German Democratic Republic (GDR) over the period 1979 to 1984

An analysis is made of the ARD reported in CSR and the GDR over the period July 1st, 1979 to June 30th, 1984. During that time, there were 27,810,000 cases reported in CSR in the framework of ARD epidemiological surveillance, representing 2.67 cases per one inhabitant, whereas in the GDR, the total number of reported ARD was 28,900,000 yielding 1.73 cases per person. However, the GDR reported higher morbidity per one child of preschool age. The authors believe that the differences in the reported incidence of ARD between the two countries are due to differences in the reporting systems and medical officers' activity during an epidemic and in the interim period. Approximately one third of ARD reported annually in the two countries falls to the period of influenza epidemics. The authors also analyze the etiology of the influenza epidemics which affected the two countries in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 and 1984. In most seasons, the causative agents and morbidity excesses were different in the two countries. The drift variant B/USSR/100/83, which caused a major epidemy in CSR in 1984, has not to date been implicated in the DGR in the etiology of ARD. The cyclic epidemic due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae occurred in the GDR already in 1979-80, while CSR experienced it a year later. There was a temporal and territorial correlation between the course of A(H1N1) influenza epidemic in the two countries in 1984.     

Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and fasting blood glucose.

Changes in insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism were studied in young and aged subjects, subjects with impaired glucose tolerance, and patients with NIDDM by means of the glucose clamp technique. The diabetic group includes obese and non-obese patients treated without insulin and non-obese patients treated with insulin. The glucose disposal rate (GDR) was decreased in aged subjects (5.8 +/- 0.4 mg/kg/min) compared with young controls (7.4 +/- 0.3 mg/kg/min). In patients with IGT, it was further decreased to 3.6 +/- 0.5 mg/kg/min, which was comparable to the rate in NIDDM without insulin treatment (3.3 +/- 0.4 mg/kg/min). There were no differences in the GDR between obese (3.0 +/- 0.3 mg/kg/min) and non-obese (3.4 +/- 0.6 mg/kg/min) diabetic patients. In insulin-treated diabetic patients, GDR ranged widely, but the mean value was partially normalized (5.2 +/- 0.9 mg/kg/min). In the diabetic group, no correlation was observed between fasting blood glucose and GDR. These results suggest that in the course of developing NIDDM, a decrease in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake precedes a rise in fasting blood glucose. Thus, as previously reported for Caucasian NIDDM patients, resistance to insulin-stimulated glucose uptake may be one of the basic defects in Japanese patients with NIDDM. The degree of glycemia, however, is not directly related to the magnitude of the defect in insulin action.     

Do influenza epidemics spread to neighbouring countries?

This study compares the main causes of influenza epidemics reported in Czechoslovakia (CSR) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) during the 9 seasons between 1980 and 1988. The influenza epidemics due to identical virus types were experienced in the two countries in the 1980, 1984 and 1986 seasons, and of these only the 1984 epidemic associated with A-strain influenza A/Chile/1/83 (H1N1) virus could be demonstrated to spread from the eastern parts of the CSR to the northern areas of the GDR. This implies that influenza epidemics due to identical drift variants spread only exceptionally from one country to the other during the period of observation, in spite of a busy tourist activity across the borderline.     

Chemoluminescence study of the influence of phagocytosis of peripheral blood leukocytes using a perfluorocarbon-containing blood substitute

In an animal experimental model (rats) the influence of which model substances for blood substitution of GDR origin may have on the phagocytosis behaviour of leukocytes of the peripheral blood was investigated by means of luminol-amplified chemoluminescence. After applying the model substance in an amount corresponding to 10% of the circulating blood volume a reversible increase of luminol-amplified chemoluminescence could be observed. The values referred to the portion of neutrophilic granulocytes, however, showed no significant differences compared to the control groups. The opsonizing capacity of the serum towards cymosan revealed a temporary deficit after applying blood substitution substances of GDR origin. The conclusion is drawn that the functions of leukocytes of the peripheral blood recorded by the applied method are not depressed by the model substances used.     

Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for respiratory diseases: Current challenges and perspectives,March 31 – April 1, 2016, Tours,France

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapeutics have tremendous potential to benefit patients with lung diseases, for which there remains substantial unmet medical need. To capture the current state of mAb research and development in the area of respiratory diseases, the Research Center of Respiratory Diseases (CEPR-INSERM U1100), the Laboratory of Excellence “MAbImprove,” the GDR 3260 “Antibodies and therapeutic targeting,” and the Grant Research program ARD2020 “Biotherapeutics” invited speakers from industry, academic and government organizations to present their recent research results at the Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies for Respiratory Diseases: Current challenges and perspectives congress held March 31 – April 1, 2016 in Tours, France.     

Infusion of beta-endorphin improves insulin resistance in fructose-fed rats.

In an attempt to probe the effect of beta-endorphin on insulin resistance, we used Wistar rats that were fed fructose-rich chow to induce insulin resistance. Insulin action on glucose disposal rate (GDR) was measured using the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp technique, in which glucose (variable), insulin (40 mU/kg/min), and beta-endorphin (6 ng/kg/min) or vehicle were initiated simultaneously and continued for 120 min. A marked reduction in insulin-stimulated GDR was observed in fructose-fed rats compared to normal control rats. Infusion of beta-endorphin reversed the value of GDR, which was inhibited by naloxone and naloxonazine each at doses sufficient to block opioid mu-receptors. Opioid mu-receptors may therefore be activated by beta-endorphin to improve insulin resistance. Next, soleus muscle was isolated to investigate the effect of beta-endorphin on insulin signals. Insulin resistance in rats induced by excess fructose was associated with the impaired insulin receptor (IR), tyrosine autophosphorylation, and insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 protein content in addition to the significant decrease in IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation in soleus muscle. This impaired glucose transportation was also due to signaling defects that included an attenuated p85 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) and Akt serine phosphorylation. However, IR protein levels were not markedly changed in rats with insulin resistance. beta-endorphin infusion reversed the fructose-induced decrement in the insulin-signaling cascade with increased GDR. Apart from IR protein levels, infusion of beta-endorphin reversed the decrease in protein expression for the IRS-1, p85 regulatory subunit of PI3-kinase, and Akt serine phosphorylation in soleus muscle in fructose-fed rats. The decrease in insulin-stimulated protein expression of glucose transporter subtype 4 (GLUT 4) in fructose-fed rats returned to near-normal levels after beta-endorphin infusion. Infusion of beta-endorphin may improve insulin resistance by modulating the insulin-signaling pathway to reverse insulin responsiveness.     

Molecular basis for specificities of reactivating factors for adenosylcobalamin-dependent diol and glycerol dehydratases

Adenosylcobalamin-dependent diol and glycerol dehydratases are isofunctional enzymes and undergo mechanism-based inactivation by a physiological substrate glycerol during catalysis. Inactivated holoenzymes are reactivated by their own reactivating factors that mediate the ATP-dependent exchange of an enzyme-bound, damaged cofactor for free adenosylcobalamin through intermediary formation of apoenzyme. The reactivation takes place in two steps: (a) ADP-dependent cobalamin release and (b) ATP-dependent dissociation of the resulting apoenzyme-reactivating factor complexes. The in vitro experiments with purified proteins indicated that diol dehydratase-reactivating factor (DDR) cross-reactivates the inactivated glycerol dehydratase, whereas glycerol dehydratase-reactivating factor (GDR) did not cross-reactivate the inactivated diol dehydratase. We investigated the molecular basis of their specificities in vitro by using purified preparations of cognate and noncognate enzymes and reactivating factors. DDR mediated the exchange of glycerol dehydratase-bound cyanocobalamin for free adeninylpentylcobalamin, whereas GDR cannot mediate the exchange of diol dehydratase-bound cyanocobalamin for free adeninylpentylcobalamin. As judged by denaturing PAGE, the glycerol dehydratase-DDR complex was cross-formed, although the diol dehydratase-GDR complex was not formed. There were no specificities of reactivating factors in the ATP-dependent dissociation of enzyme-reactivating factor complexes. Thus, it is very likely that the specificities of reactivating factors are determined by the capability of reactivating factors to form complexes with apoenzymes. A modeling study based on the crystal structures of enzymes and reactivating factors also suggested why DDR cross-forms a complex with glycerol dehydratase, and why GDR does not cross-form a complex with diol dehydratase.     

Mechanisms of insulin resistance in cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is associated with a high incidence of diabetes. Studies evaluating causes of CF-related diabetes (CFRD) have consistently documented decreased insulin secretion. In patients with CFRD, insulin sensitivity has been documented to be decreased, but controversy exists in patients with normal or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). We undertook this study 1) to reexplore insulin sensitivity in patients with IGT and 2) to evaluate potential mechanisms of insulin resistance in CF, including GLUT-4 translocation, elevation of serum cytokines, and free fatty acid (FFA) levels. We recruited nine CF subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGTCF) and nine age-, gender-, and body mass index-matched control volunteers. Each underwent a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp (200 mU. m(-2). min(-1)) to measure insulin sensitivity. A muscle biopsy was obtained at maximal insulin stimulation for measure of GLUT-4 translocation with sucrose gradients. An oral glucose tolerance test and National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical status scores were measured in all volunteers. We also measured tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha levels and FFA in all subjects. Additionally, we report the results of TNF-alpha and FFA in 32 CF patients previously studied by our group. Results were that glucose disposal rate (GDR) was significantly lower in the CFIGT subjects than in controls, indicative of impaired insulin action. GLUT-4 translocation was impaired in CF and correlated with GDR. TNF-alpha levels were higher in all CF subjects than in controls and correlated with GDR. There was no difference in FFA between CF and control subjects. Modified NIH clinical status scores were inversely correlated with GDR and TNF-alpha levels. We conclude that IGTCF patients have decreased peripheral insulin sensitivity. Mechanisms include elevation of TNF-alpha and impaired translocation of GLUT-4.     

Serum Leptin Concentration and Insulin Sensitivity in Men with Abdominal Obesity

JOHANNSSON, GUDMUNDUR, CECILIA KARLSSON, LARS LÖNN, PER MÅRIN, PER BJÖRNTORP, LARS SJÖSTRÖM, BJÖRN CARLSSON, LENA M.S. CARLSSON, BENGT-ÅKE BENGTSSON. Serum leptin concentration and insulin sensitivity in men with abdominal obesity. Obes Res. 1998;6:416–421. Objective : We have examined the association between generalized adiposity, abdominal adiposity, insulin sensitivity, and serum levels of leptin in a cross-sectional study of abdominally obese men. Research Methods and Procedures : Thirty men, 48 to 66 years of age with a body mass index (BMI) of between 25 kg/m² and 35 kg/m² and a waist hip ratio of <0.95, were included in the study. Serum leptin concentration was measured using radioimmunoassay. Total body fat percentage was determined from total body potassium, abdominal adiposity was measured by computed tomography, and the glucose disposal rate (GDR) was measured during an euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic glucose clamp. Results : Significant correlations were found between serum leptin concentration and BMI, percentage body fat, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, serum insulin, GDR, and 24-hour urinary-free Cortisol. In a multiple regression analysis, it was shown that abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue, GDR, and BMI explained 72% of the variability of serum leptin concentration. GDR demonstrated an independent inverse correlation with serum leptin concentration. Discussion : In abdominally obese men with insulin resistance, it was demonstrated that most of the individual variability in serum leptin concentration was explained by the amount of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue, insulin sensitivity, and BMI.     

The current state measles eradication programs in the German Democratic Republic]

The analysis of epidemiology effectiveness of contrameasles immunoprophylaxis in the GDR. On the basis of the programme, scientifically established and planwise realized, of the measles control, this infection could have been practically liquidated as early as in 5 years when observing immunoprophylactic measures.     

Foucault in the Bush. The Social Life of Post-Structuralist Theory in East Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg

This essay seeks to make critical theory an object of ethnographic con-textualization and inquiry through an exploration of the social life of post-structuralist theory in 1980s East Berlin. The 'Prenzlauer Berg Scene' of artists and writers utilized post-structuralism as a distinctive register for defining their social identity and as an analytical and interpretive paradigm for articulating their alienation from the state-crafted language of GDR public culture. The essay discusses how the subversive practice of post-structuralism in the Prenzlauer Berg came at the price of linguistic exclusion and political withdrawal from mainstream GDR society. In conclusion, it is argued that the Prenzlauer Berg case emblematizes the difficulty of politicizing expert theoretical registers since these registers' objective critical 'power' relies upon structures of epistemic inequity that cultivate distinctions between critical experts and naïve practitioners.