Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Weimer.
The initial results of a German-Swedish research project demonstrate the at times active-resistant and at times passive-resigned approaches of AIDS patients toward their illness.
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Antibodies to DNA in the left-handed (Z) conformation bind to acid-fixed polytene chromosomes of both Chironomus thummi and Drosophila melanogaster, as shown by direct and indirect immunofluorescence. Comparison of the phase-contrast, immunofluorescence, and DNA staining patterns shows a predominant localization of the antibody to the regions of high contrast and DNA density, the bands. The immunofluorescence is completely abolished by competition with polynucleotides in the Z conformation but not by those in the B form. DNase but not RNase treatment eliminates the antibody staining. Actinomycin D inhibits binding, whereas mithramycin has no effect. The highly reproducible immunofluorescence patterns obtained with the anti-Z-DNA antibodies demonstrate variations in fluorescence intensity between particular bands, which can be quantitated by laser scanning and photon counting techniques. The telomeric regions and DNA strands associated with end-to-end chromosome linkage and ectopic pairing are exceptionally bright. At saturation, average values of 1 IgG molecule per 3,000 base pairs and 1 per 15,000 base pairs are found in the intensely and weakly staining regions, respectively. An alternative statement is that the left-handed Z-DNA conformation is present at a frequency of 0.02-0.1%. The measured differences reflect variations in the local density of Z-DNA sites and not in the affinity for the specific antibody, which appears to be relatively constant throughout the chromosomes (Kd approximately equal to 10 nM). These observations taken together with results of biophysical studies on the properties of Z-DNA in solution suggest that regions of DNA in the left-handed conformation could be involved in higher-order structural organization of chromosomes and possibly in modulation of their functional state.
Experiments on subjective color sensations using a special signal generator and a standard TV monitor (black and white) led to a new hypothesis on information coding in the visual system. According to this hypothesis a trigger signal is required which restores the phase correlation of the pulse-coded spiking of the neurons transmitting visual information from the eye to the brain. The "shift effect" ("periphery effect"), either artificially induced or initiated by microsaccades, might act as the postulated trigger.
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Interviews and psychotherapeutic treatments performed with HIV-positive males reveal frequent depressive crises in some of the men, whereas others are mentally relatively stable after having gone through a period of mourning over the loss of long-term life perspectives and prospects. The present study examined in 54 HIV-positive male homosexuals not suffering from AIDS, the causes of the depressive management by comparing a depressive and a non-depressive group. The results show: 1. that three well-defined styles of coping can be discerned, namely, "self-confrontation", "avoidance", and "seeking social support"; 2. that the "avoidance" style of coping is particularly pronounced in the depressive group; 3. that in 86% of the depressive but only in 26% of the non-depressives there is a noticeable conflict between socioemotional retreat and seeking social support; 4. that the depressives estimate the changes of any subjective influence on the course, as being very low, whereas the subjective probability of falling ill is correspondingly high, the self-confronting coping style correlating negatively with the subjective disease probability; 5. that in the depressive group the reasons for the infection are seen rather in one's own person, a mental predisposition being held co-responsible. In this context, the lower self-acceptance of one's own homosexuality plays a decisive role in the "subjective infection theory".