[Persisting psychological disorders following harrassment because of an application to leave the GDR]. / Andauernde psychische Störungen nach Repressalien infolge eines Ausreiseantrages in der damaligen DDR.

In an exploratory study we examined 40 patients, who had been exposed to harassment in the GDR because of an official application to leave and who suffered from persisting mental sequelae of that experience. On an average more than six years after termination of the stress situation in the GDR, patients showed a moderate anxious-depressive syndrome and vegetative complaints. Diagnostic classification varied; depressive disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, somatoform and anxiety disorders were most often diagnosed. 45% of the patients stated that the symptoms were not mainly due to experiences during repression, and 43% saw a mainly positive effect of that experience on their life. The relevance of the findings is discussed briefly.

Evidence against the involvement of DNA synthesis in phytochrome-mediated photomorphogenesis.

In order to clarify the relationship between photomorphogenesis and DNA replication we investigated the effect of continuous far-red or white light on the synthesis of DNA in the cotyledons and the hypocotyl of mustard seedlings between 36 and 108 h after sowing. The total DNA content of the cotyledons (about 2.2 pg cell(-1)) did not significantly change during this period although long-term labeling experiments revealed newly synthesized DNA of nuclear, plastid, and mitochondrial origin. Light had no detectable effect on total DNA content and on the labeling of either DNA fraction. Histoautoradiography indicated that nuclear DNA synthesis was exclusively localized in dividing stomatal cells and in sieve tube companion cells undergoing endopolyploidization. The DNA content of the hypocotyl increased continuously but likewise showed no detectable effect of light. It is concluded that cell growth and differentiation during photomorphogenesis is independent of DNA synthesis.