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First the history of the appointment for a full professorship is described in the various stages of development of the School of Veterinary Medicine Dresden. Then the significance of the habilitation degree introduced in 1903 is discussed in terms of the development of the School of Veterinary Medicine Dresden and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Leipzig, respectively. Commentary follows on the current discussion about the discontinuation of further development of the habilitation and possible alternatives to it, the Ph.D. and the assistant professorship.

Age-related changes in motor endplates were studied in the fibularis longus, semitendinosus and longissimus muscles in pigs. They develop from small, compact AChE-active figures in fetuses to typical myoneuronal synapses with a branched subsynaptical structure of AChE-active units. High correlations were found between size of endplates and both myofibre diameter and body mass. Growth analyses with respect to age, as well as allometrical approaches, showed that endplate growth slightly precedes that of myofibres, with both having similar growth patterns. The morphological changes, however, imply that the increment of synaptical area could lag behind that of myofibres.

Generally, the skin of the bovine mammary gland is found to be similar to the skin of the integument. In the epidermis, the stratum lucidum is lacking. A prominent stratum corneum can be observed as well as in the haired areas and in areas without hairs as well. Distinct granules of melanin are located mainly in the stratum basale in pigmented skin areas. By means of the alkaline phosphatase, dendritc cells can be seen in the basal parts of the epidermis. In the corium, collagenous fibres are less thick below the epithelium, whereas coarse bundles are seen deeper in the stratum reticulare. The appearance of multilobal sebaceous glands and apocrine sweat glands is associated with a hair follicle, which occur loosely distributed as single hairs. A large erector pili muscle is situated on the side of the hair slope. The numerous sweat glands with wide diameters appear below the hair papilla, and vary greatly in shape and size. Myoepithelials cells are seen at the periphery of its secretory portions. The small number of differences in all areas of the skin examined, are reduced to differences between haired areas and the base of the teats. The histologic structure of the epidermis remains unchanged by the perfusion. A partly collagenolysis occur in the dermis and subcutis.

Tissue regeneration within the udder after mastitis is part of the healing process and may lead to restoration of the affected quarter. These in most cases multiple processes differ considerably in shape and size according to the duration and the type of the disease. They are distinct from the more uniform regenerative processes within the lobuli of the gland during colostrogenesis of the dry period.

The nervous supply of the teat and udder skin of the bovine was examined by means of the AChE-reaction. In comparison to the silver impregnation method, a rich subepidermal fibre-network with intra-epithelial nerve endings and, especially, a strongly developed nerve fibre meshwork associated with muscle fibres was seen.

This study addresses the question whether children taken for treatment to a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents differ from other, not noticeably disturbed children in their use of a transitional object. Parents of mentally disturbed children between six and eight years of age were interviewed about the transitional objects used by their children. The control group was made up of children of corresponding ages from an ordinary nursery school. Based on the extant literature, the concept of "transitional object" is described and defined. Twenty two research hypotheses were formed and subjected to statistical tests. As the main result concerning the research question it emerged that the children suffering from psychiatrical disturbances needed a transitional object mainly in their fourth year of life, but to some extent even in their fifth and sixth year whereas the "healthy" children in the control group without noticeable disturbances used a transitional object mainly in their first and second years. It could be shown with statistical significance that psychiatrically disturbed children had a transitional object at a later age and for a longer period of time than healthy, undisturbed children.

According to the electron microscopic investigations the most evident sign of the phase of the active involution of the mammary gland in cattle is the occurrence of different great vacuoles with a diffuse content in the cytoplasma of the secretory cells till the 30th day after the beginning of the dry period. Secretory cells which go over in the rest phase show a great reduction of the cell organelles and many filaments and secondary lysosomes or residual bodies. One can observe many macrophages and lymphocytes in the partly enlarged intercellular rooms between the secretory cells and the myoepithelial cells. The myoepithelial cells are adapting to the changing forms of alveoli. The phase of the colostrogenesis is characterised by the enlargement of the cell organelles and the reappearance of vacuoles.

Light microscopical and histochemical investigations were performed on biopsies, which were obtained from the mammary glands of healthy pregnant cows during different stages of the nonlactating period. The results demonstrate characteristic morphological changes in the different phases of the nonlactating period. They can be interpreted as involution and regeneration processes, which occur in the alveoli and interalveolar tissue of the bovine mammary gland during the nonlactating period.

Thirty-four Syrian goats were investigated for postnatal uterus development, from the first day after parturition to the age of six months. Structures were found to undergo conspicuously early differentiation. Full morphological uterus development was established at the age of three to four months. Syrian goat thus is sexually mature at that early age. This is considered to be essential to good suitability of Syrian goat as experimental animal.

From 1978 to 1988 in 77 patients of a district hospital, 58 females and 19 males, with malignant tumours or haemoblastoses a therapy with cytostatic agents was finished. A retrospective study analyses characteristics of haematotoxic side effects of cytostatic agents, which despite usual dosage according to the valid guide-lines have appeared in this patient population. According to this the granulocytopoiesis is injured most frequently and most severely. In one third of all patients under influence of cytostatic agents the number of the segment-nuclear granulocytes in the peripheral blood decreased deeper than 0.5 Gpt/l (severe neutropenia). In toxic influences on the thrombopoiesis slight and medium degrees of severity are dominating. Lesions of the erythropoiesis are apparently more infrequent, though they are more difficult to be proved. Further characteristics in the occurrence of severe neutropenias (date, dependence on age, pharmacological aspects) are demonstrated and discussed.

The correlations among findings obtained from experimental Escherichia coli udder infection and reported in the three previous communications are discussed in this paper. The defence capabilities elucidated included specific and unspecific activities of non-epithelial cells, primarily neutrophilic granulocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, plasma cells, and mast cells, as well as the capability of epithelial cells proper of absorbing pathogenic material from lumens of lactiferous ducts and milk cisterns and of storing such material within intracytoplasmic vacuoles. Hence, alterations in the course of pathogenesis of acute coli mastitis were found to be of complex nature and could be properly followed up by their morphological patterns.

Alterations were recorded from capillaries and connective tissue by means of optical light and electron microscopy in investigations of subepithelial structures, following experimental Escherichia coli infection. These alterations led to an impairment of the blood-udder barrier and thus to increased extravasation of cells (especially neutrophilic granulocytes). They were found to accumulate in subepithelial connective tissue and, eventually, to penetrate in high quantity the epithelium proper, and, consequently, to be considerably involved in alterations to the latter.

Optical light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy were used in investigations of epithelia in the glandular region of the milk cistern and greater lactiferous ducts and yielded the following findings, four and six hours from infection: degeneration and necrosis of epithelial cells, intraepithelial foreign cell infiltration (neutrophilic granulocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages), intra-epithelial oedema and locally delimited epithelial loss. The lesions differed by intensity in various regions, so that a distinction could be made among five froms of epithelial alterations. The epithelial cells revealed their capability of absorbing pathogenic material and storing it in cytoplasmic vacuoles. This was considered to reflect active involvement of epithelium in antibacterial defence, and consequently, to reflect the role played by epithelium as a defence barrier in the milk cistern and greater lactiferous ducts.

Four cows with clinically intact udders in high lactation were intracisternally infected by a pathogenic field strain of Escherichia coli. Infections were induced by quarters and with time intervals. Hence, when the animals were slaughtered six hours from beginning of the experiment, epithelial samples could be collected from cisternal walls and lactiferous ducts which, by the time of sampling, had been in contact with pathogens for one, four, and six hours. Highly acute mastitis began to develop two hours from experimental infection and exhibited typical clinical symptoms, including general disorders, unambiguous alterations to the white blood count, and changes in milk composition. These changes were typical of acute toxin action on the udder quarters. Concomitant reactions of non-infected control quarters, detectable by clinical manifestations or by laboratory diagnosis, were not observed.

With histological and histochemical methods the innervation of the mammary gland of the cow was studies. The skin of the udder has a weak innervation in contrast to the test. In the district of the basement of the gland body nerve stems enter in the teat. In the skin of the teat only isolated free nerve terminals are found. Intraepithelial nerve terminals are missed. In the middle layer of the teat round the blood vessels bundles of nerve fibers and many organs of nerve terminals were shown. The organs of nerve terminals are typical of the teat and present mechanical receptors. It is discussed the functional significance of the afferent and efferent innervation of the mammary gland of the cow.

It is described the placenta of a bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ). The placenta shows a discoidal form (placenta discoidalis ) with a distinct marginal hematoma. Histological the placenta is a placenta endotheliochorialis which is characterized by the placental labyrinth and a striking transitional zone.

The activities of succinate dehydrogenase (SDR) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as well as the ribonucleic acid levels in the epithelium of both the lactic ducts and alveoli of lactic glands were examined in heifers, close to full term, lactating cows, some of them with subclinical mastitis lesions, and udder biopsies of two cows. The activities of SDH and LDH as well as RNA levels were pronounced in the glandular epithelium of alveoli and in the epithelium of the lesser lactic ducts. All three parameters were also pronounced but at lower levels in the cells of the apical stratum of the two-layer epithelium in the greater lactic ducts. Relationships were found to exist between the enzyme activities and RNA levels and the lactation cycle. Their patterns and manifestations were more or less typical of those areas of the lactic gland which were affected by mastitis.

The development of fiber types composition and fiber diameter in porcine longissimus muscle from birth to the age of 5 years was examined by means of cross-sectional study. The fiber types were classified in the following manner: FTG = fast-twitch-glycolytic, FTO = fast-twitch-oxidative and STO = slow-twitch-oxidative. The percentage on the oxidative fibers decrease from 60.8% on the 1st d to 39.1% on the 100th d of life. On the 1800th d only 26.5% oxidative fibers are present. The average diameters of fiber types increase during the whole examination period, especially to the 100th d of life. The initial gradation of fiber diameter FTG = 63 micron, FTO = 62 micron, STO = 56 micron converts during growth into STO = 112 micron, FTO = 108 micron, FTG = 104 micron. A common representation of muscle fiber diameter growth curve and rump length growth curve demonstrates different growth modes of muscle and skeleton.

After a short survey of the literature the form, distribution and histochemistry of the goblet cells in the duodenum, jejunum and colon were investigated on pigs of different age. There are much goblet cells in the colon than in the parts of the intestine. The goblet cells occur in a great number in the crypts of Lieberkühn, but their evidence is relatively rare in the superficial epithelium. Histochemically the goblet cells are alcian blue- and PAS-positive, where by the alcian blue reaction is dominant, therefore the secret contains more acid than neutral glycoproteins.

The behaviours of arteries and veins in the teats of cattle of different age groups is described against the background of general formation and development of the vessels. Growing age was found to have been accompanied by numerical growth of veins (rather than arteries) towards the teat tip and by some thickening of the median vein region. No correlations were established between those vascular changes, on the one hand, and milkability, on the other.

The two-layered epithelium of the large milk ducts and the milk sinus of the bovine udder were studied by light and electron microscopy. Whereas the cells of the basal cell layer are poor in cell organelles, the cells of the apical layer shows many cell organelles and microvilli at the surface. This hints at processes of reabsorption through the apical cell layer. Together with the fast junctional complex between the cells, this confirmes the function of the epithelium as a barrier within the local defense system of the bovine udder.

Reference is made to transformation of spermatids into sperms. The various phases in the development of ram sperm and transformation of spermatids into sperms are demonstrated by microphotographs. Reference is also made to abnormal forms and types of sperms due to defective development.

Premature parturition was induced in 115 of 121 sows (95%) that had been given injections of 150 microgram or 200 microgram of "Estrumate", a prostaglandin analogues, on the 112th and 113th days of gestation. The average time that elapsed between injection and parturition of those 115 animals was 27.2 +/- 7.7 hours, with no difference being observed between gilts, on the one hand, and old sows, on the other. The time of gestation of the treated animals was shortened with significance from 114.6 +/- 1.6 days for the controls to 113.2 +/- 0.4 days. The average duration of parturition proper was 3.7 +/- 2.2 hours, the average litter being 11.2 +/- 3.3 piglets. The total number of piglets born was 1,320, with stillbirths accounting for 4.17%. The average weight at birth, 1,330 +/- 210 g, and the weight at weaning did not differ from weight figures recorded from the controls. The courses of parturition and puerperium were in agreement with normal biological standards. The sows treated were tested for their blood counts close to full term and for their endometrial histomorphology after weaning, with no side effects of "Estrumate" treatment being established. The behaviours of progesterone, 17-beta oestradiol, and cortisol in serum of "Estrumate"-treated sows were investigated, and congruence was established between spontaneous and prostaglandin-induced parturitions, which was in agreement with international literature. The conclusion is that 150 micrograms of 'Estrumate", administered to swine, after the 11th day of gestation has very good labour-inducing effects and ensures normal physiological parturition and piglet development.

Parturition was induced to 23 sows on the 112th day of pregnancy by intramuscular injection of 7.5 mg PGF2 alpha (Dinoprost-Upjohn Co.). Onset of parturition was achieved within 27 hours and 52 minutes +/- four hours and 54 minutes in 21 animals (91.3 per cent). Average litter size was 11.33 piglets, with parturition time per litter having been five hours and 45 minutes +/- two hours and 39 minutes. Stillbirths accounted for 6.3 per cent. The average birth weight, 1.245 g +/- 264 g did not differ with significance from that of the controls. The physiological process accompanying parturition is described in greater detail. Unobstructed re-intergration with further reproduction of animals which had received PGF2 alpha treatment is established with hard evidence on the basis of clinical examination of oestrus, ovulation, conception, and farrowing rates as well as by histological examination of the endometrium. Alterations in the blood state recorded from animals with PGF2 alpha treatment close to full term were identical with those recorded from untreated animals.