German Woman Research Articles

Detection of Rare Cases of HTLV-I and -II Infections and High Numbers of HTLV-Seroindeterminate Results in Bavarian Blood Donors

Background: In order to evaluate the prevalence of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I and II (HTLV-I/-II) infections in Germany, the Bavarian blood donor population was screened. Material and Methods:Between 1991 and 1994 around 1.5 million donations from about 375,000 blood donors of the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) were tested for HTLV-I/-II in an antibody screening test. Sera repeatedly reactive in the screening test at the BRK blood bank were further assayed in additional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), Western blot (WB) and radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA). Selected donors were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results:Only 4 HTLV-I/-II infections could be confirmed by WB and by RIPA, indicating a seroprevalence of 0.001%. Three positive donors were American soldiers and the fourth one was a German woman. Out of 609 sera reactive in at least two antibody screening tests, only 4 could be confirmed in WB as HTLV-I or -II positive. However, reactivity of these sera appears not to be related to an HTLV-I or -II infection, as shown by selected samples testing negative by RIPA and PCR. Conclusions:HTLV-I/-II seroprevalence in Bavarian blood donors is very low which implies that a general testing of all blood donations should not be recommended. However, donors with sexual partners from HTLV-endemic regions should be tested. Concerning serological diagnosis, we would suggest to modify the WHO-based interpretation criteria in countries with low HTLV prevalences: Only sera with antibodies to 1 or 2 Gag andthe 2 recombinant Env proteins should be considered HTLV positive.

The Role of Anglophilia in Sophie von La Roche’sGeschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim (1771)

Eighteenth‐century Germany was strongly oriented towards Britain as a model of political, economic and cultural progress. The admiration for all things British was a Continental phenomenon, and Anglophilia extended to a number of aspects of everyday life.Britsh literature had a significant impact on German literature. The first German woman novelist, Sophie von La Roche, was influenced by British works in much of her writing. Her first novel, Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim (1771), exhibits this Anglophilia in that it is directly modelled on Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa (1747–8) and that the theme of Englishness constitutes one of the driving forces of the plot. This paper argues that La Roche subtly uses authentic and entertaining expressions of Anglophilia in order to pursue a didactic interest, moral instruction.

Hemoglobin Rambam (β69[E13]Gly→Asp), a pitfall in the assessment of diabetic control: characterization by electrospray mass spectrometry and HPLC

Hemoglobin (Hb) Rambam, or beta69[E13]Gly-->Asp, has been identified in a German woman also suffering from non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is the first observation of this Hb variant in a German family thus far. The detailed evaluation of its structure using electrospray mass spectrometry revealed new minor glycohemoglobin components and showed that the attachment of glucose to the beta NH2 terminus occurred at an almost identical rate in both wild-type and mutant beta-chains. However, the introduction of a carboxyl group at beta69 seems to increase the glycation of epsilon-amino groups of lysine residues. The glycemic state in the propositus was well reflected by the total glycohemoglobin concentrations but not by the Hb A1c values, which did not reflect hemoglobin glycation in this patient. This case demonstrates that Hb A1c cannot be used reliably in the management of diabetic patients carrying Hb variants such as Hb Rambam. Functional studies of the whole blood of the heterozygous carrier demonstrated extremely low oxygen affinity, which may have been caused by increased 2,3-diphosphoglycerate related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and hyperthyroidism. None of the clinical symptoms could be directly associated to Hb Rambam.

Reconstructing Silenced Biographical Issues through Feeling-Facts

The undiscussible within daily discourse can have intentional and unintentional forms. The first occurs when someone intentionally gears the discourse so that it will not reveal certain facts which have happened (such as being an abused child, or a perpetrator during the Holocaust). We assume that even if they were difficult to reconstruct as part of one's biography, these facts could be verified externally (not only through the feelings of the victim). In the first part of the paper, we analyze the paradoxical nature of such discourse, and show how difficult it is to work through intentional undiscussibility. In the second part, we discuss what happens when the undiscussible facts can not be verified, meaning that there is doubt if events have taken place. By presenting a case study of a German woman who tried to construct a biography in face of certain undiscussibility in her family, we discuss the different social reactions evolving in such reconstruction of feeling-facts. We thereby hope to confront the psychoanalytic approach to narrative analysis with the constructivist hermeneutic one.

Leprosy type 1 reaction as the first manifestation of borderline lepromatous leprosy in a young native German

While leprosy is usually a chronic disease, leprosy reactions may lead to acute problems. These reactions most often occur after initiation of therapy, but can also develop before treatment. Leprosy rarely presents with a reaction. We describe a German patient who presented in this unusual way in order to demonstrate the various tools used to confirm the diagnosis. A young German woman suddenly developed progressive functional loss of the left hand and within a few weeks an increasing number of erythematous macules and nodules appeared. Histological examination of a skin biopsy revealed tuberculoid granulomas, some located around small nerves; acid-fast bacilli were detected microscopically and DNA from Mycobacterium leprae was identified by polymerase chain reaction in the biopsy and a nasal swab; serological tests were positive. The disease was classified as borderline lepromatous leprosy. The acute neuritis followed by skin lesions represented a leprosy type 1 reaction in which the immune system reacts to bacilli previously unrecognized in nerve tissue, both in nerve and skin.

Social Change and Declines in Marriage and Fertility in Eastern Germany

Between 1989 and 1994, the birth rate in Eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic) fell from 12.0 to 5.1 per 1,000, while fertility in the West remained stable at around 11.0 per 1,000. In addition, marriage rates in the East have been cut in half. The social and economic conditions surrounding marriage and parenthood have changed significantly since 1989 in postsocialist East Germany (e.g., higher unemployment and less generous policies). Using gender perspective, I argue that in the insecure economic times following German unification, East German women are likely to regard the responsibility of getting married and raising children as risky, long-term commitment they are reluctant to enter. Evidence from various data sources shows that since 1989 changes in the nature of employment and reductions in state support for leave, child care, and abortion have contributed to declining marriage and birth rates in the new German states. Key Words: East Germany, fertility, gender, German unification, women. Children are now question of money. Family planning is financial planning. An East German woman interviewed by Butow, 1992, p. 48. Between 1989 and 1994, the birth rate in Eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic or GDR, commonly referred to as the new German states) fell from 12.0 to 5.1 per 1,000, while fertility in the West remained stable at around 11.0 per 1,000 (Conrad, Lechner, & Werner, 1996). In fact, compared with the preunification era, fertility in the various new German states has been reduced by between 25% and 75% (see Eberstadt, 1994; Ferree, 1993; Living and Dying, 1994). In addition, marriage rates in the East also have been cut in half (Conrad et al., 1996). This sharp drop in the East is unprecedented during peacetime in industrial countries and indicates reaction to dramatic social and economic change (Conrad et al., 1996; Eberstadt, 1994). This study challenges mainstream economic and cultural arguments, which attribute this freeze in marriage and fertility rates to rapid shifts of individual attitudes regarding the value of children based on Western culture of consumerism and hedonism, or general family decline in the West (see Andorka, 1978; Coleman, 1993; Oppenheimer, 1994; Popenoe, 1993). Using gender perspective (see Ferree, 1990; Risman & Ferree, 1995; Stacey, 1993; Thompson & Walker, 1995), I contend that the insecure economic conditions and lower social provisions after the transition from centrally planned state economy to the Western free market do not meet the level of economic security East German women consider prerequisite for the responsibility of getting married and raising children. Numerous scholars document that East German women, in particular, have experienced various negative consequences in their lives since German unification in 1990 (Beyer, 1992; Einhorn, 1992; Gerhard, 1992; Kolinsky, 1992, 1993; Marvin, 1995; Nickel, 1992; Ostner, 1994a; Schffgen, 1992; Schaeffer-Hegel, 1992). In fact, these observers suggest that despite its positive effect on personal freedom, unification could be regarded as downward adjustment, a step back, or regression to pre-war gender roles for East German women. This assessment relates to the loss of several advantages that women in the former GDR had over West German women, such as guaranteed employment, extensive reproductive control, and state support for the integration of employment and responsibilities. Unification has replaced the GDR's state support for women's economic independence with Western values and state policies favoring single-earner, two-parent families, values that reinforce traditional gender role patterns (Butow, 1992; Gerhard, 1992; Rosenberg, 1991). This revival of the traditional stereotypes of motherhood and male breadwinners is reflected in high gender-specific unemployment rates, the extensive closing of child-care centers, and changes in tax, divorce, abortion and leave legislation (Beyer, 1992; Gerhard, 1992; Kurz-Scherf,1992; Marvin,1995). …

"Between Worlds": Reading Jeannette Lander's Jahrhundert der Herren as a Postcolonial Novel

This article examines Jeannette Lander's novel Jahrhundert der Herren in the context of postcolonial and travel literature. It offers a close reading of the text and traces the conflicting discourses the main protagonist, a young German woman, confronts in settling down in Sri Lanka. It argues that the protagonist is on the one hand able to critique the (neo)colonial masters' discourse, alluded to in the title of the novel, but that she also remains deeply implicated in it through her identification with the concepts of bourgeois subjectivity and progress, which ultimately hinder her from developing a dialogic, reciprocal relationship with Sri Lankan culture. (MS)

Laocoon's Body and the Aesthetics of Pain: Winckelmann, Lessing, Herder, Moritz, Goethe (review)

348 Book Revkws Her demonstration is overlooked by those who see her plays only as an extension of her husband's ÎμΰυÎμ3Ε ίοη3Ε program or compare them styUsticaUy to other Uterary models, as tie translators do to this anthology. Mrs. Gottsched has οÎμÎμη criticized as unseemly for writing the body and presenting it to vulgar images (vomit, excrement, prostitution to French Housekeeper ), but, surely, we can applaud her courage to calling a spade a spade and exposing the theatricaUty of the highly artificial culture which she identifies with French mannerisms. To this she οϕ Ï• οβÎμβ a German culture that does not deny its peasant tradition of Ufe to touch with nature and ΟίÎμ needs of die body. Wtereas "a Frenchwoman is not supposed to rummage around to tie dirty Unen of a merchant 's son" (151), a German woman is portrayed as an agent that chaUenges bourgeois aspirations to adopt die life styk of tie nobiUty, a chaUenge that begins "at ΙιοπιÎμ" and does not scom mention of undeiwear and "dirty Unen." To me, this is a good Îμχ3ΠΓϕ 1Îμ of how Luise Gottsched relates gender to other social catcgorks and how she depicts female resistance to, and redirection of, cultural norms and tendencies. If common βÎμηβÎμ is a vahe in tie bou^ois pubUc sphere, then it is women's contribution to see to it that this common βÎμηβÎμ rematas grounded to the senses instead of to abstract reason. Common βÎμηβÎμ is then no longer a "natural" prerogative of males. I read Luise Gottsched's plays as a plea for a female cultural agency tiiat is tadcpÎμndÎμnt of and ta contrast to her biographical struggles with male superiority, which I think has σÎμÎμη wrongly emphasized to tiiis English edition . To make these comedies more accessibk and show die author's agenda of tiematizing naturakess to GÎμrman boun^ois culture, the vocabulary, particularly to Pietism in Petticoats, would have to be changed from the stilted English given here to a language that reinforces the tiiematic context. The sprechende Namen would have to be better translated and the explanation of them to the footnotes corrected. "Herr Tiefenbom" does not mean "deep wÎμU" but refers to die lower class origin of this man: bom low. "Herr Muckersdorff" may or may not be from "the village of pious frauds" (5), but he clearly shows his Mucken, his quirks, which designate him as a social misfit and help create the dramatic tension. Hobart and William Smith Colleges Angelika Rauch Simon Richter, Laocoon's Body and the Aesthetics of Pain: Winckelmann, Lessing , Herder, Moritz, Goethe. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1992. Richter's revised dissertation on dassical aesthetics and its negotiations with pain is a work of exceptional erudition and bold imagination. Sometimes it becomes too boldly imaginative—some of the Îμtymological argumentation strikes me as fanciful, as docs Richter's framing of die GoÎμÃœlÎμ-Karl Phüipp Moritz relationship . HowÎμver, the occasional provocation, like the speed bump, helps to focus attention and αÎμÎμÏ• Îμη engagement and f suspect tiiat this is what Richter totended . More generaUy, Richter's insights and the "heterc^nous discourses" (190) he brings to bear on Wtockelmann's, Lcsstog's, Herder's, Moritz's and Goetiie 's classicisms open up the field of German classicistic aesthetics to a wealth of new ideas, new contexts and very exciting avemes of scholarly pursuit. Goethe Yearbook 349 Richter's starting point is the Laocoon group in the Vatican Museum and die large body of eightÎμÎμnth-century German aestlÂœtic commentary that marvels at its classical restraint, its "edle Einfalt und stüle Größe," but dÎμllies the obvious pata that Laocoon is expresstag. His first chapter, "Laocoon's Two Bodies," posits both a real (screaming) and an ideal (transcending, restraUed) Laocoon statue to account for die "jarring incongruity between the actual statue and the extravagant aesthetic and moral claims mat attach to it" (9)· Richter, a very clever and engaging narrator, provides a thorough history of the statue and tie story it depicts (three versions, disttoguished mainly by who dies—one son, both sons or aü αττÎμÎμ figures) and speculates as to die conditions under which German aestieticians , particularly Wtockcfmann, were able to view it. He then...

Genetic typing of HIV-2 from a Senegalese/German heterosexual transmission.

HIV-2 is genetically and biologically related to HIV-1 but it is associated with differences in the natural history of infection virulence ranging from relative attenuation to a high level of pathogenicity in certain populations and a close genetic and epidemiological connection to simian lentiviruses which infect wild sooty mangabeys in West Africa. HIV-2 also shows genetic variations of multiple highly divergent evolutionary lineages which probably developed from independent transmissions of diverse viruses from infected monkeys to humans. These may result in HIV-2 substrains that exhibit different in vivo pathogenicities so studies of the HIV-2 genetic and biological diversity are necessary to understand the molecular evolution and virulence properties of this group of viruses. Therefore a partial characterization and phylogenetic analysis was made of 2 sequential HIV-2 isolates obtained from a German woman infected in 1983 by a Senegalese man (both developed AIDS). The isolates MVP-11971 and MVP-15132 are available from the AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program. Single round polymerase chain reaction amplification was performed and amplification products were subcloned with representative clones sequenced by the dideoxy chain termination method. The isolates showed a 98% nucleotide identity with each other and 77-97% with other HIV-2 strains. They also encoded uninterrupted open reading frames upon amino acid translation. After phylogenetic analysis the isolates were found to belong to the group of prototypic HIV-2 strains which contains the largest number of HIV-2 sequences characterized and has been named sequence subtype A. This evolutionary position was confirmed by amplification of an additional envelope fragment from isolate MVP-15132. This identification is consistent with the origin and biological properties of the isolates. Both isolates replicate in the patients primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells and immortalized T cell lines with pronounced cytopathic effects. Within subtype A the Senegalese isolates are significantly related to HIV-2 viruses from Gambia Mali and Ghana suggesting efficient spread and increased virulence of this subtype.

A Psychoanalytic Account for Lesbianism

Diane Hamer's impressive article 'Significant others' (1990) is one ofthe rare attempts I have come across to assess lesbianism in analytical theory without pathologizing it. Her assumption that analysis does not necessarily have to categorize lesbianism in terms of illness seems to me a valid way to rethink lesbianism in psychoanalytical terms. Such an approach could do the same for lesbian relations as for heterosexual ones; it could allow a better understanding of psychic relations and lift the restrictions that have hampered our thought. Unfortunately, analysis has often been misused in a different way, namely to pathologize, destroy and marginalize lesbian love. Diane Hamer managed to use analytical theory for a positive understanding of lesbian life. However, I still cannot quite agree with the assessment of lesbianism she prescribes. So I will try to elaborate my own thoughts on the subject. As I believe that the point from which somebody writes should be disclosed as far as possible, here is my account: I am a German woman and bisexual, however vague this term may be. My love with a woman has predominated in my life far more than any heterosexual relation but I have only limited experience with the social role of a lesbian, be it inside or outside lesbian circles. I have been in analysis and although it changed my attitude within the lesbian relationship it didn't turn me into a rigid straight. However, I do not use the word 'we' in this article but I hope that this does not deter the lesbian reader who would identify in this way.

Qu'est-ce qu'être allemande ? De la polémique politique à la recherche historique

What does it mean to be a German woman ? From political polemic to historical research, Ute Frevert. It is more important to ask questions about the identity of German women in the 20th century than about that of their male counterparts. In Germany as in the rest of the world, the history of women represents a scientific and political stake. In a country seeking its identity, tormented by a memory difficult to handle and a reunification just as delicate to achieve, questions about the place of sexe difference in recent history may provide an opportunity to deal with many problematical issues of " general " history.

Fortress Europe and Migrant Women

One of the best-read German newspapers published an interview with Mr WB, owner of a marriage bureau, in which Mr WB praises the 'goods' he has on offer for his potential clients, German men: a Polish wife (to be) for only 390DM. The client is free to select four among some 1,500 photos. For each he gets to know as much as her WEIGHT and AGE, sometimes accompanied by attributes like 'super sexy' or 'extremely full bosom'. He can try them out, and even make another selection of four. If HE is not satisfied SHE goes back to Poland. WB's speciality was South East Asian women but he is now switching to Poles for whom there is a growing demand, especially among retired, divorced and not directly well-off men. No German woman would take them but for Poles they are good enough. Besides, 'Poles are cheaper than Asians both in terms of capital investment and in maintenance: what is a cheap train ticket in comparison to a 5,000DM air ticket from Bangkok or Manila? And, whereas a Thai is unprepared for cold German winters one has to buy her clothes a Pole brings her own boots and a fur coat. And she is as good in bed and industrious in the kitchen'. (Bild, 9 January 1991)

Ida Pfeiffer: A Nineteenth-Century Woman Travel Writer

eighteenth-but also still in the nineteenth century a veritable flood of travel books was published by more-or-less well known writers, scholars, scientists, tourists, and socalled naive travelers. This body of texts has become the subject of many studies, and now we even have the first fairly comprehensive history of the genre.2 Traditional criticism with its emphasis on formal and aesthetic principles cannot do justice to this literature. Recent approaches based on the specific tradition, the intention of the author, the effect on the reader, and the socio-historical context have proven much more useful.3 This also holds true in relation to travelogues by women, although here an additional focus on the emancipatory consciousness of the author seems indicated.4 These travel books are a rich source for the study of female experiences outside the traditional home setting. Women writing in German have been contributing to travel literature since the late eighteenth century, although their works are only now beginning to be studied.5 Sophie La Roche was the first well known German woman novelist who also wrote several travelogues. In the nineteenth century her example was followed by such highly successful--

HB Geelong [β139(H17)ASN→ASP

Hb Geelong [beta 139(H17)Asn----Asp] was detected in a German woman of Polish-Russian descent. It is an unstable variant which appears to increase the severity of a beta (+)-thalassemic phenotype in the propositus. The electrophoretic properties of Hb A and Hb Geelong are similar on cellulose acetate in both acidic and alkaline conditioning. The electrophoretic mobility and the amino acid analysis of beta XT-14 indicated the substitution Asn----Asp at beta 139. The sequence of beta XT-14 was confirmed by dansyl-Edman degradation. The slight increase observed in the P50 of whole blood is not intrinsic to the beta 139 substitution, but is thought to result from an increased 2,3-diphosphoglycerate level in response to anemia. No family studies were possible to investigate the mode of inheritance of either beta (+)-thalassemia or Hb Geelong in the propositus. Synthetic globin chain ratios suggest that impaired synthesis of the variant globin chain is partially responsible for the low level of Hb Geelong in peripheral blood.

Kroetz's ‘Request Concert’ in India, Part Three: Madras

In the earlier instalments of this series of articles, published in NTQ 11 and 12, Rustom Bharucha described. first, how he and fellow director Manuel Lutgenhorst became fascinated with the idea of transposing Franz Xaver Kroetz's play without words. Request Concert, about the last evening in the life of a very ordinary German woman. into a variety of social contexts in his native India. He then provided detailed descriptions of the productions as realized under their direction in Calcutta and Bombay, revealing the very difficult kinds of insight they offered both into the theatrical potential of the play, and the different natures of the urban societies to which it was being adapted. The performances of Usha Ganguli in Calcutta and of Sulabha Deshpande in Bombay – themselves strongly contrasting both in actorly approach and in realization – were followed in Madras, in a production by Lutgenhorst. by the very different interpretation of the dancer Chandralekha, who brought to the play the energies and disciplines of Bharat Natyam. revealing yet other stylistic possibilities and sustaining a creative tension between these possibilities and the surface realism of the play.

Kroetz's ‘Request Concert’ in India, Part Two: Bombay

In the first of this series of three articles, published in NTQ 11, the director Rustom Bharucha – born in India. but living and working mainly in New York – described how he initially became intrigued by the idea of transposing Franz Xaver Kroetz's play without words, Request Concert, concerning the last evening in the life of a very ordinary German woman, into a variety of Asian contexts. His ambition was first realized – in collaboration with fellow-director Manuel Lutgenhorst, and with valued assistance from the International School of Theatre Anthropology – in a production mounted in Calcutta, with the actress Joya Sen. The following account of the second production, in Bombay, illuminates both the varieties of Indian urban life and the varieties of theatrical experience, with fascinating insights into the nature of Bombay's competitive, media-saturated society, and the perceptions of the actress Sulabha Deshpande concerning her role and its technical requirements – and how both shed new light on this play and on the nature of theatricality.

Biology as a career.

A Welshman who conducted Sunday religious services on occasion and a German woman who could shoot squirrels for the table and handle tools as well as a man brought up a family in Illinois in the early days. They were parents of my father. Two children of English extraction grew up on the shores of Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire—one a girl ofa family of thirteen, and the other a boy belonging to the Sprague clan. Upon maturity they were married and migrated west finally settling as farmers in Gibbon, Nebraska. These were the parents ofmy mother. It was in Gibbon my father and mother met and were married, and I was born there December 4, 1883. During the early years of my life we moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, and I entered grammar school at nine years ofage. My mother, having been a teacher, taught me previously. My summers were spent with my grandparents in Gibbon until I was in my teens. These were among the happiest times ofmy life. I fished for bull heads and sunfish in Wood River, roamed the prairies, and hunted for birds' nests along the Platte River. A neighbor taught me to stuffbirds and mammals, so I proceeded to make a collection. I kept live hawks, owls, ground squirrels, and lizards, thereby learning much about their habits. With regret I returned each autumn to the city and was struck by its smoke and drabness. On the farm I also learned the nature ofhard work by cultivating corn, haying or stacking bundles, and threshing grain tenhours a day. However, there was still time to explore the countryside. My grandmother in Gibbon grew many flowering plants in a large outdoor garden and in a bay window indoors. These plants were ofgreat interest, showing a variety which supplemented the wild forms in the field.

S. Etta Schreiber, The German Woman in the Age of the Enlightenment: A Study in the Drama from Gottsched to Lessing

"S. Etta Schreiber, The German Woman in the Age of the Enlightenment: A Study in the Drama from Gottsched to Lessing." The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, 25(3), pp. 231–232

The German Woman in the Age of Enlightenment: A Study in the Drama from Gottsched to Lessing

The German Woman in the Age of Enlightenment: A Study in the Drama from Gottsched to Lessing

The German Woman in the Age of Enlightenment. A Study in the Drama from Gottsched to Lessing

The German Woman in the Age of Enlightenment. A Study in the Drama from Gottsched to Lessing