Psychiatric evaluation in accordance with the transsexualism regulation. An experience-based plea for guidelines and against arbitrary bias

Today patients want to change their Christian names not so much for social support but in order to obtain sex change operations. For this reason among others we caution against casual and careless evaluations and plead for conscientiousness and thoroughness. The spectrum of 16 evaluation cases in the year 1995 is presented. Following this and looking for guiding principles, the most important aspects are discussed: the dilatable frame of the written law, the examiner's diagnostic process, the duty of being well informed, reconstruction of development as the first goal of examination, real-life self-testing and therapy, the obligation to report one's own findings, change of Christian name and indication of operation, evaluation for gender changing, problems of the judge-expert relationship and of future development.     

Telephone booster sessions for optimizing smoking cessation for patients in rehabilitation centers.

Smokers with smoking-related diseases who are hospitalized in rehabilitation centers should be offered smoking cessation. This is the first study evaluating whether telephone booster sessions after intensive inpatient treatment are an effective strategy. The present study was conducted in 13 rehabilitation centers for somatic disorders as a prospective multicenter study with a randomized treatment-control group design. We compared abstinence rates after hospital discharge from treatment that included a group smoking cessation program with (treatment group) and without telephone booster sessions (control group). Data from 290 smokers were analyzed. After 6 and 12 months the treatment group achieved abstinence rates twice as high as those of the control group. Men profited more from telephone booster sessions than did women. Results indicated that telephone booster sessions were highly effective (even) after an inherently intensive group program during a hospital stay. Further research should focus on the special needs of women receiving telephone counseling.     

Biocide polymers

Summary Potential polymeric herbicides have been synthesized by reacting poly(acrylic acid)s with 3-aniino-1,2,4-triazole and 1-acetyl-5-amino-1,2,4-triazole, respectively. The produced copolymers contained the active moieties as pendant groups in the range of 3 to 27 per cent of weight and with a content of carboxyl groups up to 95 mol-%. The hydrolytic release of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole was investigated.Part 12: M. Hartmann, H,-J. Bauer, A. Pritzsche and K. Wermann, Makromol. Chem., in press     

Microcalorimetry for characterization of film formation and cure of coatings and adhesives

A new microcalorimeter with eight parallel channels using robust, low cost sensors for characterization of coatings and adhesives is described and first experiments on coatings and adhesives are presented. The calorimetric sensors are based on thin glass plates (20 mm × 20 mm, thickness 150 μm) with heater and thermocouple sputtered on the surfaces (calorimetric active area of about 9 mm²). The setup allows heating and cooling experiments as well as isothermal measurements in the temperature-modulated mode with up to eight sensors in parallel. The measured quantities are the real (C^′_p) and imaginary part (C^″_p) of the complex heat capacity (), the related absolute value of the heat capacity () and the heat flow . An industrial computer (NI PXI system) with specific software for calibration and data recording controls the electronic components. Sensors can be embedded in a temperature controlled oven (heating and cooling by Peltier elements) or alternatively in a climatic cabinet with controlled temperature and humidity.

The method has been applied successfully to monitoring of film formation of aqueous polymer dispersions (styrene-acrylate copolymer) and curing of coatings.     

Green Tax Reforms and Computational Economics A Do-it-yourself Approach

The double or even triple dividend hypothesis of green tax reforms has beena major issue of dispute in both the scientific community and the politicalarena during the last decade. Theoretical analysis has provided a number ofimportant qualitative insights to the debate but lacks of actual policyrelevance due to very restrictive assumptions. Applied research that takes thestep from stylized analytical to complex numerical models usually comes as ablackbox to non-expert modelers. This paper aims at bridging the gap betweenstylized theoretical work and numerical analysis. We develop a flexible,interactive simulation model which is accessible underhttp://brw.zew.de. Users can specify their own green tax reforms andevaluate the induced economic and environmental effects. Based on illustrativesimulations, we demonstrate the usefulness of our do-it-yourself approach fora better understanding of the double (triple) dividend hypothesis.     

High levels of serum allopregnanolone in women with premature ovarian failure

BACKGROUND: Blue-on-yellow (B/Y) perimetry can reveal visual field defects earlier and larger in extent than white-on-white (W/W) perimetry. The Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) produces a three-dimensional image of the optic disc. The aim of this study was to compare the strength of the association of the B/Y and W/W visual hemifield mean deviation (HMD) variables with the optic nerve head (ONH) morphological variables of the respective area. METHODS: We evaluated one randomly chosen eye of 40 normal subjects and 37 patients with ocular hypertension and different stages of glaucoma. The B/Y and W/W visual fields (program 30-2) were obtained with a Humphrey perimeter. Results of both visual fields were adjusted for the patient's age and lens transmission index measured with a lens fluorometer. HMD was calculated as the difference between the measured and expected hemifield mean sensitivity values, predicted by the regression model fitted in our nonglaucomatous subject data. The HRT with the software version 1.11 was used to acquire and evaluate the topographic measurements of the optic disc. RESULTS: The B/Y and W/W visual field HMDs showed statistically significant correlation with ONH parameters such as cup shape measure (CSM), rim volume, rim area, mean retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and RNFL cross-sectional area. With forward stepwise logistic regression analysis using B/Y hemifield data 38% of the glaucoma patient's normal W/W hemifields were classified abnormal. With the CSM alone in the model 52% of the cases were classified abnormal. CONCLUSIONS: B/Y visual field hemifield mean deviation values correlate well with ONH parameters examined with the HRT.