Psychotherapie im Internet: Österreich

The paper presents a survey of internet users und suppliers of psychotherapy and counselling. The survey based on a search for relevant homepages was carried out as an online questionnaire. Psychotherapy as such is not on offer in the internet in Austria in compliance with the law, but information on psychotherapy practice, first contacts and short-term counsellling is provided mainly via e-mail. There are some significant differences between patients and psychotherapists who use the internet and those who do not. The demographic data of patients using the internet are similar to those of internet users generally. Psychotherapists providing services on the internet tend to be older and more experienced than the average psychotherapist in private practice.     

Interobserver variation of the sonographic diagnosis of orbital floor fractures and fractures of the infraorbital margin]

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the interobserver variation of the ultrasound diagnosis of orbital floor fractures and fractures of the infraorbital rim. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 25 patients with a clinical diagnosis of an orbital trauma were investigated prospectively by computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US). Inter-observer variation was calculated using the lambda coefficient (lambda). The US images were reassessed by two inexperienced investigators. RESULTS: The lambda value for the US investigation of the orbital floor showed poor reliability comparing the US findings with the results of the re-investigators. The comparison between the two re-investigators showed a good reliability for the US evaluation of the orbital floor. The lambda for the US investigation of the infraorbital margin showed a good reliability comparing the US findings with the results of the both re-investigators. The comparison of the two re-investigators showed a good reliability as well. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound is not yet an alternative method for the evaluation of orbital floor fractures and fractures of the infraorbital margin. To replace CT which is accepted as the current gold standard, further studies have to be done to reach a better diagnostic quality of the method and to achieve a better calibration of the investigations.     

Laser-aided debonding of orthodontic ceramic brackets.

The removal of ceramic brackets from the enamel surface by means of laser heating was investigated with the use of CO2 and YAG lasers. The two bracket types investigated were polycrystalline alumina and monocrystalline alumina. The average torque force necessary to break the adhesive between the polycrystalline ceramic brackets and the tooth was lowered by a factor of 25 when the brackets were illuminated with a CO2 laser beam of 14 watts for 2 seconds. All polycrystalline brackets debonded with the CO2 laser resulted in a complete bracket detachment without bracket failure. The average torque force needed to debond monocrystalline brackets was lowered by a factor of 5.2 when illuminated with a laser setting of 7 watts. Monocrystalline brackets cracked along the bracket slot in 2 of 10 cases. Debracketing without laser heating resulted in a slightly higher incidence of bracket failure (12 of 50). Nevertheless, no visible damage to the enamel surface was observed. Advantages of the laser-aided bracket-removal techniques include the following: The heat produced is localized and controlled; the debracketing tool is essentially "cold"; and the method can be used for removal of various types of ceramic brackets, regardless of their design.     

Donor insemination: child development and family functioning in lesbian mother families

Findings are presented of a comparative study investigating the family relationships and the emotional and gender development of children raised in lesbian mother families. A total of 30 lesbian mother families with 4-8 year old children created as a result of donor insemination (DI) were compared with 38 heterosexual families with a DI child and with 30 heterosexual families who had a naturally conceived child. A variety of assessment measures, including a standardized interview and questionnaires from the parents and psychological testing of the child were used to collect the data. The quality of the couples' relationships and the quality of the mother-child interaction did not differ between lesbian mother families and either of the heterosexual family groups. The quality of the interaction between the social mother and the child in lesbian families was superior to that between the father and the child in both groups of heterosexual families. Childrens' own perception of their parents was similar in all family types; the social mother in lesbian families was regarded by the child to be as much a 'parent' as the father in both types of heterosexual families. With regard to their emotional/behavioural development, boys and girls raised in lesbian mother families were well adjusted and their gender role development did not differ from that of children raised in heterosexual families. These results indicate that child and family development in lesbian mother families is similar to that of heterosexual families.      

Donor insemination: Dutch parents' opinions about confidentiality and donor anonymity and the emotional adjustment of their children

Results from a comparative study investigating 38 donor insemination (DI) Dutch families with 4-8 year old children are presented. The aims of this study were to investigate parents' opinions on the issues of confidentiality and donor anonymity, to assess the emotional development of the children, and to examine in DI families the association between secrecy with regard to the use of a donor and the emotional adjustment of the children. The DI families were compared to families with a child conceived by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and to families with a naturally conceived child. Secrecy appeared to be associated with DI and not with IVF: 74% of the DI parents intended not to inform the child about the way in which she/he was conceived, whereas none of the IVF parents intended to keep the secret. Only one set of DI parents and two sets of IVF parents had actually told the child. As to donor anonymity, a spread of opinions appeared among DI parents; 57% preferred an anonymous donor, 31% would have liked non- identifying information about the donor, 9% preferred the donor's identity to be registered and 3% remained unsure. Parents' major concern was to know more about the medical/genetic background of the donor. Mothers and fathers in the DI families differed in their opinions concerning the issues of confidentiality and donor anonymity: fathers, more often than mothers, were secretive with regard to the use of a donor and husbands, more often than their wives, were in favour of donor anonymity. With regard to the emotional development of the children, more emotional/behavioural problems were revealed among DI children than among children who were naturally conceived. No association was found between secrecy and the emotional/behavioural adjustment of the children.      

A modified human ELISPOT assay to detect specific responses to primary tumor cell targets

Background  

The desired outcome of cancer vaccination is to induce a potent T cell response which can specifically recognize and eliminate autologous tumor cells in vivo. Accordingly, immunological assays that demonstrate recognition of native tumor cells (tumor-specific) may be more clinically relevant than assays that demonstrate recognition of tumor protein or peptide (antigen-specific).     

Efficiency of continuous positive airway pressure versus theophylline therapy in sleep apnea: comparative sleep laboratory studies on objective and subjective sleep and awakening quality

Sleep apnea is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder characterized by repetitive episodes of hypoxemia. Therapies include behavioral, surgical, orthodontic, pneumological, and pharmacological interventions. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficiency of pneumological therapy by nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) versus a pharmacological approach with theophylline (Respicur retard(R) 400 mg) on respiratory variables as well as objective and subjective sleep and awakening quality in patients with moderate sleep apnea measured by polysomnography and psychometry. Under CPAP therapy all respiratory variables improved and normalized, while under theophylline only the apnea-hypopnea index and the desaturation index improved but still did not return to normal values. Regarding sleep initiation and maintenance, CPAP therapy prolonged sleep latency and reduced movement time, while patients treated with theophylline showed reduced total sleep period, total sleep time and sleep efficiency. Sleep architecture demonstrated an increase in deep sleep and REM stages under CPAP therapy, and remained unchanged under theophylline. Concerning subjective sleep and awakening quality, both treatments improved well-being in the morning. Regarding objective awakening quality, reaction time performance was improved in both groups. In conclusion, CPAP treatment is more effective than theophylline regarding respiratory variables as well as the normalization of sleep maintenance and sleep architecture in sleep apnea patients.