University Of Greifswald Research Articles

Sustainability Science Communication: Case Study of a True Cost Campaign in Germany

The Anthropocene, marked by human-induced climate change, necessitates urgent action to address climate goals and respect planetary boundaries. While sustainability research provides knowledge, the first challenge lies in communicating the findings in an adequate manner to the public and several stakeholders, such as economic and political actors. Therefore, this study explores the significance of science communication in sustainability science, focusing on a case study—the True Cost Accounting (TCA) campaign by the University of Greifswald, Technical Institute of Nuremberg, and German retailer PENNY. TCA herein serves as a transparency tool, economic incentive, and discussion basis for sustainable consumption. This study investigates consumer perceptions of ecological prices of foods through a face-to-face survey during the 2023 PENNY campaign, comparing results to an informational campaign carried out in 2021. Findings indicate a high awareness of the true cost campaign in 2023, with 50.8% of participants hearing about it. Consumers’ willingness to pay true costs and potential behavior changes were explored. In comparison to results from the informational campaign of 2021, customers showed a decrease in this WTP when the true prices would actually impact their spending, indicating an attitude–behavior gap. In addition, a willingness to reduce the consumption of animal foods—if TCA was implemented—of 60.5% was determined, which suggests that TCA has the potential for sustainable behavior change. This study highlights factors that influence consumer attitudes and preferences regarding the inclusion of TCAs, such as environmental, social, and animal welfare costs. Customers’ understanding of increased prices—like, in this case, the compensation for environmental and social costs—is an argument in favor of true prices. The results emphasize the need for differentiated scientific communication strategies to bridge knowledge and action gaps in sustainability science.

Caries risk and dental anxiety in recall patients in a specialised paedodontic university clinic

Objective To evaluate parental reports of the oral health status and anxiety levels of children who attended a paediatric dental service and their association with children’s caries experience. Methods This questionnaire- and dental record-based study included a total of 70 healthy recall children aged between five and 10 years, who presented for a dental check-up to the specialised paedodontics department at the University of Greifswald, and for whom an application of fluoride varnish was indicated. The accompanying parent (n=70) was asked to evaluate their child’s dental anxiety (dichotomously with a single question – yes or no answer) and oral health status (good, satisfying, poor). Caries experience was categorised according to the dmft index based on World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. Results An overall frequency of dental anxiety of 40% (n=28) was found in recall children according to parental report. Only 32.1% (n=9) of those were children with low to very low caries experience, whereas 67.9% (n=19) belonged to the moderate to high/very high caries experience group. Thus, dental anxiety in this study was significantly associated with caries experience based on dmft index (p=0.030, chi-square test). Parental assessment of the oral health status of the schoolchildren and their caries experience level also showed a statistically significant association (p=0.020; chi-square test). Conclusion: Dental anxiety in recall children attending a specialised paediatric university dental clinic is high, which is clearly associated with higher caries experience. The majority of children who attended for dental follow-up appointment had moderate to very high caries experience, which was also associated with higher parent-reported dental anxiety and a poorer oral health status report.

The crisis is over, long live the crisis: mental health in emerging adulthood during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a multidimensional stressor, the COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant threat to mental health, with studies showing younger age groups to be particularly vulnerable. Thus, this study aimed to monitor mental health, potential risk/protective factors, and pandemic-related variables among young university students during the pandemic. Students of the University of Greifswald (M age = 23.0 years, 73.9% female) participated in five cross-sectional online surveys in December 2020 (N = 1,127), March 2021 (N = 760), June/July 2021 (N = 531), December 2021 (N = 1,226), and December 2022 (N = 814). Sociodemographic data, depression and anxiety severity, loneliness, quality of life, coping strategies, resilience, self-esteem, and emotion regulation were measured. First, results from December 2020 were compared to pre-pandemic normative data. Second, the time course during the pandemic was analyzed. Third, linear models were calculated to examine the influence of risk and protective factures on depression and anxiety severity. Higher levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, as well as lower levels of self-esteem, physical and mental health, social relationships and well-being were found in December 2020 compared to pre-pandemic. Levels of depression and anxiety severity peaked in December 2022. Female sex, loneliness, and previous mental treatment showed associations with higher depression and anxiety severity, while higher self-esteem, resilience and use of reappraisal strategies appeared to act as protective factors. The study indicates the pandemic's detrimental impact on students' mental health and quality of life. Identified risk and protective factors provide guidance for tailored prevention and treatment, as well as the design of measures for future pandemics and other crisis.

Vaccination Training for Pharmacy Undergraduates as a Compulsory Part of the Curriculum?-A Multicentric Observation.

In order to increase vaccination rates, the Government of Germany introduced vaccination against influenza and COVID-19 into the regular care administered by pharmacists. However, vaccination training is yet not integrated into the German pharmacy curriculum. Therefore, the Institute for Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy in Duesseldorf had developed an innovative vaccination course using high-fidelity simulation for students. To investigate the acceptance further, the course was carried out at three different German universities (Bonn, Duesseldorf, Greifswald). Students were asked to give their self-assessment before and after and satisfaction only after the training course. Responses from 33 participants from the University of Bonn, 42 from the University of Duesseldorf and 49 from the University of Greifswald were analyzed. Every participant at the respective universities showed a significant increase in their self-assessment and indicated a high level of satisfaction with the course. The results also did not differ significantly between the respective universities. Consequently, the results lead to the hypothesis that the satisfaction of pharmacy students with this kind of training using high-fidelity simulation is very high and attractive, and can be recommended for other German universities. The integration of such vaccination training into the German pharmacy curriculum might be a future step.

Being a master of metaphors

Being a master of metaphors

The historic greenhouses of the Greifswald Botanic Garden (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany) – rescued in the nick of time

The historic greenhouses of the University of Greifswald, built between 1884 and 1886 and covering an area of almost 300 m², are characterised by their riveted frame construction typical of the era. After almost 130 years of uninterrupted use, they were briefly on the brink of collapse in 2014 because damage caused by corrosion had reached a critical level. The State Monument Preservation Office campaigned strongly for the greenhouses, so that the university, with the support of the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and other sponsors, was ultimately able to successfully carry out the restoration. The costs are expected to amount to around €4.3 million. The construction work undertaken on the tropical, palm and cycad houses guarantees that valuable plant collections will be preserved and that more extensive growth phenomena and ecological relationships can be demonstrated in the future.

Z Wielkopolski na Helikon. Rozważania o życiu i twórczości Bonawentury Czesława Graszyńskiego (1859–1922) w stulecie śmierci polsko-greckiego poety

The aim of my paper is to present the life and poetical works of Bonawentura Czesław Graszyński (1859–1922), a Polish classical philologist, who wrote a number of tragedies and lyrical poems in Ancient Greek. He was born in Murowana Goślina (Greater Poland). After graduating from the high school in Leszno (Greater Poland), he studied medicine and classical philology from 1879 to 1887 at the University of Greifswald. In 1908 he received awards from the Academy of Athens, as well as George I of Greece. It can be said that Graszyński conquered Mount Helicon as a symbol of poetical mastery in Polish-Greek literature.

Anti-neuronal antibodies against brainstem antigens are associated with COVID-19.

SummaryBackgroundUnderstanding how SARS-CoV-2 affects respiratory centres in the brainstem may help to preclude assisted ventilation for patients in intensive care setting. Viral invasion appears unlikely, although autoimmunity has been implicated, the responsible antigens remain unknown. We previously predicted the involvement of three epitopes within distinct brainstem proteins: disabled homolog 1 (DAB1), apoptosis-inducing-factor-1 (AIFM1), and surfeit-locus-protein-1 (SURF1).MethodsHere, we used microarrays to screen serum from COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care and compared those with controls who experienced mild course of the disease.FindingsThe results confirm the occurrence of IgG and IgM antibodies against the hypothesised epitopes in COVID-19 patients. Importantly, while IgM levels were similar in both groups, IgG levels were significantly elevated in severely ill patients compared to controls, suggesting a pathogenic role of IgG.InterpretationThe newly discovered anti-neuronal antibodies might be promising markers of severe disease and the targeted peptide epitopes might be used for targeted immunomodulation. Further work is needed to determine whether these antibodies may play a role in long-COVID.FundingAF, CF and PR received support from the German Research Foundation (grants FL 379/22-1, 327654276-SFB 1315, FR 4479/1-1, PR 1274/8-1). SH, DR, and DB received support from the Ministry of Economy, State of Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, Germany (grant COVIDPROTECT: “Optimisation of diagnostic and therapeutic pathways for COVID-19 patients in MV”). SH received support from the Research Group Molecular Medicine University of Greifswald (FVMM, seed funding FOVB-2021-01). AV received support from the Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation and the Alzheimer Research Initiative.

Spring showers put a dampener on reproduction success

Bat mothers invest incredible amounts of energy in raising a pup. Typically, bats mate in the autumn and hibernate over winter; however, the females do not become pregnant until the following spring and give birth in the summer. To sustain pregnancy, bats feed on insects, such as midges and flies that can become rarer when poor weather sweeps in. In addition, younger bats need to hone their insect-catching skills which can also impair their ability to raise pups. Bianca Stapelfeldt from the University of Greifswald, and colleagues from the Bat Research Project, Germany and the Nossentiner/Schwinzer Nature Park, Germany, set out to determine how weather affects the reproductive success of adult female Natterer's bats (Myotis nattereri) of different ages.Beginning in 1990 and continuing every year since, researchers have collected Natterer's bats from bat and bird boxes in the Nossentiner/Schwinzer Nature Park in Mecklenburg-Pomerania, Germany, between July and September. The researchers measured the body mass, forearm length (measurement of body size) and identified the bat's age (whether they were adult or juvenile), before marking the bats with forearm bands to keep track of individuals through the years. In addition, the scientists noted whether the adult females had given birth that year by assessing the fur around the nipple; if there was fur, then the bat likely did not have a pup, while a lack of fur meant that she had given birth to a pup that season. Over the decades, the team also monitored archived climate data from a nearby meteorological station in Goldberg, Germany, and identified the average and lowest temperatures, the daily precipitation levels and the overnight wind speeds and total precipitation levels from 2003 to 2020.The team found that over the 17-year period, the younger adult female bats had less success in birthing and rearing baby bats, compared with older adult females, likely because the younger mothers may be unable to provide themselves with the immense amount of energy required during pregnancy and when feeding their pups. The researchers speculate that younger adult bats may forgo pregnancy to avoid investing energy into a pup that they may be unable to raise. Interestingly, wetter springs also resulted in lower birth rates in younger adult bats, which was not seen with the older mothers. The researchers suspect that rainy periods make it difficult for the bats to echolocate and hunt for food and to stay warm. Therefore, poor weather may cause the bats’ body weight to reach a critical low, so that younger bats may forgo pregnancy altogether.In addition, the researchers identified a 2-week window (from the end of April to 11 May) where poor weather had the greatest negative impact on the females’ pregnancies. It is unknown when Natterer's bats become pregnant, but this 2-week critical period is the same time pregnancies begin for other bats across Europe. Since pups have little time to grow and prepare for hibernation, adult females cannot delay their pregnancies any later, and so may abandon pregnancies if they experience adverse weather during this pivotal period.Stapelfeldt and colleagues have successfully shown the impact of poor weather on the pregnancy and baby rearing by bat mothers using long-term monitoring of a bat population and the weather conditions they encounter. Climate change is an imminent threat worldwide and many European countries are likely to become increasingly wet during this critical period for bat pregnancies, which could dramatically affect the ability of bat populations to reproduce. Increases in rainfall during the spring may be a particular threat for European bat species at risk of extinction.

Fritz Steiniger i jego badania nad Karaimami. Uwagi wstępne

The article represents a press release published in 1944 by Fritz Steiniger, a German racial scientist, in the German magazine titled „Natur und Volk”. A member of the fascist party, Steiniger published an article that questioned the Jewish origins of the Karaites and thus stood up for them during the Holocaust. Archival materials concerning Steiniger’s life and work are preserved in the archives of the University of Greifswald, where he worked. Due to the pandemic, further research based on this archive collection was not possible yet.

One year clinical success of pulpectomy in primary molars with iodoform-calcium hydroxide paste.

In order to retain primary molars, eg with irreversible pulpitis or pulp necrosis, pulpectomy can be an alternative to extraction. However, reports on the success of pulpectomies in primary teeth vary widely in the literature. Thus, the objective of this study was not only to analyze the success rate of primary tooth pulpectomy 12 months posttreatment in the setting of a specialized clinic, but also to identify and analyze various factors that modify the outcome. Between 2012 and 2018, a total of 76 dental records of the Department of Preventive and Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Greifswald fulfilled the inclusion criteria, resulting in a 1-year analysis of 62 primary molars with an idoform-calcium hydroxide paste as root canal filling material almost exclusively covered by a stainless steel crown as restoration. The pulpectomy treatment was successful after 1 year in 93.5%, with a significantly higher survival for mandibular primary molars (100.0% vs 83.3%; chi-square test P = .01). Apart from the very few cases in the mixed dentition, no other factors related to the patient (sex, caries level, general health conditions, distance to clinic), tooth (first or second primary molar, pulpal and periapical condition before treatment), or treatment (indication, academic qualification of the operator, number of visits) proved to be of significance for the treatment outcome due to the overall high success rate. Pulpectomies for pulpally involved or even necrotic primary molars followed by stainless steel crowns as restoration should be considered as a treatment option, especially in the mandible. (Quintessence Int 2021;52:528-537; doi: 10.3290/j.qi.b1244443).

Autoimmune Encephalitis in Late-Onset Seizures: When to Suspect and How to Treat.

Objective: This study was conducted to elucidate prevalence, clinical features, outcomes, and best treatment in patients with late-onset seizures due to autoimmune encephalitis (AE).Methods: This is a single-institution prospective cohort study (2012–2019) conducted at the Epilepsy Center at the University of Greifswald, Germany. A total of 225 patients aged ≥50 years with epileptic seizures were enrolled and underwent an MRI/CT scan, profiling of neural antibodies (AB) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and neuropsychological testing. On the basis of their work-up, patients were categorized into the following three cohorts: definite, suspected, or no AE. Patients with definite and suspected AE were subsequently treated with immunosuppressive therapy (IT) and/or anti-seizure drug (ASD) therapy and were followed up (FU) regarding clinical and seizure outcome.Results: Of the 225 patients, 17 (8%) fulfilled the criteria for definite or suspected AE according to their AB profile and MRI results. Compared with patients with no evidence of AE, those with AE were younger (p = 0.028), had mesial temporal neuropsychological deficits (p = 0.001), frequently had an active or known malignancy (p = 0.006) and/or a pleocytosis (p = 0.0002), and/or had oligoclonal bands in CSF (p = 0.001). All patients with follow-up became seizure-free with at least one ASD. The Modified Rankin scale (mRS) at hospital admission was low for patients with AE (71% with mRS ≤2) and further decreased to 60% with mRS ≤2 at last FU.Significance: AE is an important etiology in late-onset seizures, and seizures may be the first symptom of AE. Outcome in non-paraneoplastic AE was favorable with ASD and IT. AB testing in CSF and sera, cerebral MRI, CSF analysis, and neuropsychological testing for mesial temporal deficits should be part of the diagnostic protocol for AE following late-onset seizures.

Exkursionen als Beitrag zur praxisorientierten akademischen Lehre – Wilhelm Kählers Besichtigungen der pommerschen Wirtschaft in der Weimarer Zeit

In the German Weimar Republic of the 1920s, the field of economic science found itself in a crisis environment beyond the limits of its understanding. Very few contributions from academia found their way into practice, and thus the limited interplay between the two was of little consequence. During this era, universities responded by introducing various new approaches to make the teaching of economics more relevant to practice. In many universities, this included the participation of practitioners as lecturers and examiners. In addition, Professor Wilhelm Kähler of the University of Greifswald organised field trips within the province of Pomerania so that students could see economics in practice and better grasp its real‐world peculiarities. In this paper, the historical records of these excursions, as recorded in a log, are analysed and insights gained from the numerous teaching visits to companies, welfare institutions, organisations and associations as well as to municipalities, housing developments and infrastructural establishments. The paper concludes with an examination of how practical relevance in university teaching subsequently shifted during the Nazi era.

Intersectoral care management for older people with cognitive impairment during and after hospital stays [intersec-CM]: study protocol for a process evaluation within a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundIn the healthcare system in Germany, different institutions and actors play specific roles in the discharge and transition of patients from hospitals into primary care (Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der Entwicklung im Gesundheitswesen, Wettbewerb an der Schnittstelle zwischen ambulanter und stationärer Gesundheitsversorgung, 2012). However, there are shortcomings in these intersectoral transitions. Especially in older people with cognitive impairment (PCI), discharge management often lacks coordination and cooperation between healthcare providers. This frequently results in higher rates of unscheduled readmission. The project intersec-CM is a randomised controlled trial (RCT) that aims to explore up to what extent an intersectoral care management (ICM) can improve this transition. This ICM is delivered by nurses with special training in care management. The objective of this paper is to describe a mixed-methods process evaluation of the intersectoral care management intervention and the factors that facilitate and inhibit its implementation.MethodsDifferent study designs for process evaluations from previous literature were collected and analysed according to the dimension implementation fidelity, satisfaction with the intervention, feasible transfer into routine care, optimum point of time, frequency and execution of the intervention, and context factors.ResultsThe actor-network theory was chosen as the theoretic framework for the process evaluation. Based on this theory, a mixed-methods design was developed to combine and integrate qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods. The qualitative part includes semi-structured interviews using topic guides (phase 1) and later in-depth interviews with narrative portions (phase 3), which will be analysed by using the qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz. The quantitative survey (phase 2) is conducted with standardised questionnaires.DiscussionChallenges in data collection include the development of interview guidelines, which require different terminologies depending on every specific actor targeted in the intervention. Conducting the interviews, there is a risk of misunderstanding the older PCI by the interviewer and vice versa. However, the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches as different techniques of process evaluation may help to capture, integrate and analyse data on different dimensions of the intervention.ConclusionsThe results of our process evaluation may serve as an implementation guideline for intersectoral care management in the German healthcare system. Furthermore, the approach to evaluate the process of a complex intervention in health care for older PCI may serve as a stimulus to broaden the evidence base also of other complex intervention studies to improve health care for this vulnerable group.The study was ethically approved by the Ethics Committee of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald. The study has been registered at the U.S. National Library of Medicine.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03359408. Registered on 2 December 2017. The approximate date when recruitment to the process evaluation of the study will be completed is 31 May 2021.

In the Spotlight-Established Researcher.

Tamara Franz-Odendaal holds the NSERC Chair Women in Science and Engineering (Atlantic Canada) and is a Fellow of the American Association of Anatomists Tamara is a Guest Co-Editor of this special issue on Cavefish Website: www.bonedevelopmentlab.ca With whom and where did you study? I completed my undergraduate, MSc and PhD degrees at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. For my MSc degree, I studied gene expression during eye development in chicken embryos under the supervision of Dr. Susan Kidson. My PhD thesis explored paleopathologies and paleodiets of 5 million-year-old fossil herbivores from a South African locality called Langebaanweg. My PhD supervisors were paleontologist Dr. Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan and archaeologist Dr. Julia Lee-Thorpe. Notably, these three supervisors are top female scientists, two of whom had families when I was in their research groups. I completed a short-term DAAD scholarship to pursue a post-doc with Dr. Thomas Kaiser at the University of Greifswald (Germany) and then conducted a 3.5-year post-doc with Dr. Brian Hall (Dalhousie University, Canada), where I got my first true taste of the EvoDevo field. What got you interested in Biology? When did you know EvoDevo was for you? I have been interested in animals and the natural world from a young age. My MSc degree was in developmental biology and I branched out into paleontology for my PhD. Therefore, merging my fascination with embryos and fossils was a natural fit for my post-doc. To have the opportunity to do this with such a remarkable scientist as Dr. Hall was a wonderful experience. If you are amazed at animal diversity then EvoDevo may be for you too since how can you not wonder how that diversity arose both over evolutionary and over developmental time scales. What has been your biggest challenge in getting to your position? My biggest challenge to getting to my position was job searching while having a toddler, being a permanent resident of Canada, and having a degree from a university that was not well known in Canada. I received my first faculty position as an NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canada) University Faculty Award recipient. This program provided me the mechanism for establishing my research program at Mount Saint Vincent University by giving me a reduced teaching load in my first three-years. As an active and productive researcher in Canada, I often have to justify why I chose a primarily undergraduate institution as my home. There are many benefits to teaching at a smaller university such as closer interactions with students and a sense of community. The first time I was exposed to research was during my undergraduate degree and it was an immensely rewarding experience. I view training undergraduates in research methods and analysis as incredibly important since these are the students that become our graduate students and future scientists. Or alternatively, they become our doctors, dentists, and veterinarians; professions that require an understanding of the scientific process. What advice do you have for junior EvoDevo researchers? My advice for graduate students and post-docs interested in EvoDevo is to thoroughly learn as many different techniques as possible, work on different organisms (this will become important if you need to teach EvoDevo or Developmental Biology), and pick your advisors based on how they treat their trainees and their productivity. It is okay (and the norm) to randomly email PI's to ask if they are taking on new students rather than waiting for a graduate position announcement. Do your homework though, and make sure you have read about their research and that you really want to work with them. We established PI's receive numerous applications from students for positions and are very adept at picking out the students who have done some homework about our research. Your first email to us should be to introduce yourself and tell us why your interests or past experiences align with our research group's interests. Always attach your CV or resumé.

The Integrated Research Biobank of the University Medicine Greifswald

The Integrated Research Biobank (IRB) at the Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IKCL) is the central biobank resource of the University Medicine Greifswald (UMG) for all biological materials collected within the framework of clinical and experimental studies carried out by internal and external researchers. The IRB is a core unit of the UMG and focuses on collection, processing and storage of mainly liquid biomaterials, e.g. blood, urine, saliva or swaps in established workflows and thereby securing highest quality standards. Aliquots are usually stored at –80°C in one of the two fully automated LiCONiC biorepositories or, if necessary, in one of the –80°C freezers. Up to now, the IRB stores more than 1.1 million liquid aliquots and the collection grows continuously. Currently, the storage capacity of the IRB is limited to 3 million aliquots. Funding statement: European Fond for Regional Development (EFRE) funded by the European Union (grant INZ-EFRE 1503). Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) is part of the Community Medicine Research net (CMR) of the University of Greifswald, Germany, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grants no. 01ZZ9603, 01ZZ0103 and 01ZZ0403), the Ministry of Cultural Affairs as well as the Social Ministry of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 81Z7400173). German Biobank Alliance (GBA) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01EY1705). National Cohort (NAKO) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant 01ER1301/18).

A multi-cohort consortium for GEnder-Sensitive Analyses of mental health trajectories and implications for prevention (GESA) in the general population in Germany

IntroductionMental health is marked by gender differences. We formed a multi-cohort consortium to perform GEnder-Sensitive Analyses of mental health trajectories and study their implications for prevention (GESA). GESA aims at...

«Судьба России – давать свет миру, человечеству»: творчество Ф.А. Абрамова в контексте литературной и общественной жизни ХХ–ХХI веков

The aim of the study is an analytical review of the range of major and peripheral literary issues discussed during the international scientific conference dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Fedor Alexandrovich Abramov. Among the main issues actualized in the process of studying the creative legacy of the prose writer, it is worth identifying promising areas of understanding phenomena that are the near and extended context of the works of the founder of the “village prose”, clarifying the genesis of industrial literature, identifying conflicting links with the entire previous literary tradition of the tetralogy “Brothers and sisters”. The author of the article substantiates the productivity and prospects of the genre, comparatively typological, cultural-civilizational, mythopoetic, intertextual approaches to the work of F.A. Abramov and his entourage, implemented in the studies presented by literary scholars from A.M. Gorky IWL RAS, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), Lomonosov Moscow State University, St. Petersburg University, Moscow Pedagogical State University, Department of Slavonic Studies of University of Greifswald (Germany), Moscow Region State University, Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, other scientific and educational organizations. Independent, but deeply integrated into the general issues of Abramology, is the issue of studying literary and literary critical concepts of F.A. Abramov’s. The review of the reports and messages made at the conference allows us to make a reasonable conclusion that the literary legacy of F.A. Abramov’s is of value not only in the artistic and aesthetic terms, but also in terms of the civilizational and world outlook. The conference confirmed the tendency to improve and deepen the traditional approaches, the effectiveness and the need for the new approaches to the study of the work of a great Russian writer.

Slavistics at St. Petersburg and Greifswald Universities (results of cooperation)

The article offers a review on the history of Slavic studies at St. Petersburg and Greifswald universities from the era of Peter the Great to present day. The role of Professor Lyudmila Verbitskaya is highlighted who always actively supported the activities of the Department of Slavic Philology (for example, she approved the initiative to create a department of Ukrainian studies in the early 2000s). Thanks Verbitskaya, St. Petersburg University was historically recognized as the first university in Russia founded by Peter the Great in 1724, which was proven by archival materials stored in Greifswald. Peter the Great, in the assembly hall of the University of Greifswald in September 1712, at a meeting of the Academic Council received a proposal from the President of the German Academy of Sciences Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz on the establishment of a university in St. Petersburg with a European status. The status of the first university was officially recognized by a decree of the Government of the Russian Fed- eration in 1999 when the 275th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg State University was celebrated. As the Rector of St. Petersburg University, Verbitskaya in 2006 concluded an inter-university agreement with the Rector of the University of Greifswald Professor Jürgen Kohler. Slavic scholars and professors from St. Petersburg and Greifswald Universities collaborate closely. One of the active pedagogical and scientific areas of such cooperation is Slavic studies, which have long combined the efforts of Russian and German philologists.

Structure of plastic-munching enzyme solved

Plastic bottles and packaging made from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) are ubiquitous, and plastic litter is a global problem, from the great Pacific garbage patch to the air we breathe. PET can be broken down and reused, but the process is not widely employed. In 2016, researchers discovered a bacterium that partially feeds on PET. The bacterium uses two enzymes: PETase converts PET to mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (MHET) and then MHETase breaks that product into terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol. Researchers at the University of Greifswald and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have now solved the crystal structure of MHETase (Nat. Commun. 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09326-3), showing how the enzyme closes around the substrate when it docks. After determining the active-site structure, the team made mutants that work at higher substrate concentrations and can break down another substrate, taking another step in the journey toward plastics biorecycling.