Search

We and others have previously reported linkage to schizophrenia on chromosome 10q25-q26 but, to date, a susceptibility gene in the region has not been identified. We examined data from 3606 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mapping to 10q25-q26 that had been typed in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of schizophrenia (479 UK cases/2937 controls). SNPs with P

This paper summarizes studies in the field of growth and characterization of multi-crystalline (mc) silicon ingots performed within the Cluster of Excellence "Structure Design of Novel High-Performance Materials via Atomic Design and Defect Engineering (ADDE)". Experimental results on the interaction between impurities, inclusions, dislocations and grain boundaries in multi-crystalline (mc) silicon ingots grown from well-mixed and poorly mixed melts in graphite-containing and graphite free configurations are presented. The ingots were grown in a high-vacuum induction furnace by the vertical Bridgman (VB) method and the degree of impurity mixing within the melt was modified by changing the growth configuration and the growth rate. Vertical and horizontal slices were prepared from the ingots and analyzed by Fourier transform IR spectroscopy, as well as reflected-light and IR transmission microscopy to measure the axial carbon concentration and the distribution of dislocations or inclusions, respectively. The correlation between individual inclusions and dislocations has been investigated by correlative reflected-light/IR transmission and scanning electron microscopy in both setups. The influence of the melt mixing on the segregation of carbon is demonstrated and discussed with respect to the consequences for the formation of inclusions and dislocation clusters in multi-crystalline silicon. Additionally the alignment of dislocations in samples from VB-grown ingots and wafers from edge-defined film-fed (EFG) growth are investigated. Crystallographic orientations of single grains and dislocation structures are analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction and by the "traces on two parallel surfaces" method. The influence of the growth and cooling conditions on the final alignment of dislocations in mc-Si is discussed and explained.

Owing to the pharmacokinetic properties of physostigmine when administered by conventional routes, long-term cholinergic treatment of Alzheimer's disease is difficult to manage. In order to overcome the problems associated with the oral and intravenous application of physostigmine, and to improve patients' compliance, a transdermal therapeutic system was developed. The efficacy and tolerability of this system were evaluated in a double-blind, randomized, multicenter study comparing patches containing 30 mg and 60 mg physostigmine with a placebo patch. The clinical trial followed the basic principles of the various guidelines on the evaluation of anti-dementia drugs, and included patients with mild to moderate probable Alzheimer's disease. A total of 204 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease were included in the study. Of these, 136 patients were eligible for the according-to-protocol analysis of efficacy, 167 subjects for the intention-to-treat analysis of efficacy, and 181 patients were included in the safety analysis. In contrast to the hypothesis to be tested, the efficacy of physostigmine was not superior to that of placebo after a treatment period of 24 weeks. On the contrary, there was even a slight, but not statistically significant, trend toward a better outcome in the placebo group. Median physostigmine plasma concentrations of approximately 100 pg/ml were measured, showing a high degree of interindividual variability and no linear dose relationship between the 30 mg and 60 mg dosages. Plasma cholinesterase activity was not significantly affected by physostigmine. The physostigmine patch application in doses of 30 mg and 60 mg apparently did not lead to physostigmine plasma concentrations that were sufficient to compensate for cholinergic deficiencies in affected brain areas and produce clinical benefits. Both the drug and the transdermal system were generally well tolerated under the study conditions. Modifications of the patch system may perhaps make it possible to achieve higher physostigmine plasma concentrations, which seem to be required to induce the expected beneficial effects during long-term treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Cost reduction is the overall goal in the further development of solar cell technologies. In case of low quality mc-Si containing a relatively high concentration of metal impurities a low temperature process is desirable for solar cell fabrication. In order to avoid diffusion of metal impurities into the space charge region of the p-n junction the temperature of the mc-Si substrate should not exceed 400 oC. Although ion implantation doping got very recently distinct consideration for doping of monocrystalline solar material, efficient doping of multicrystalline solar material remains the main challenge to reduce costs. The influence of different annealing and implantation techniques on the optical and electrical properties of mc-Si solar cells was investigated. Flash Lamp Annealing in the ms-range combined with plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) is demonstrated here as a very promising techniques for the emitter formation at an overally low thermal budget. The flat silicon surface has a natural reflectivity in the range of 40 % with a strong spectral dependence. The minimization of the reflection loss is very important for high efficiency solar cells fabrication. In order to reduce the surface reflectivity wet chemical etching is the most widely used method in photovoltaic fabrication. Here we present a novel environment friendly method for silicon texturisation. As the reactive gases the mixture of SF6 and O2 with the ratio of 3:2 was used. After 10 min etching the black needle-like surface was obtained. The black silicon fabricated by PIII etching shows the average reflectance below 2% measured over the range from 200 nm to 1100 nm. Presented technology shows great promise to replace the conventional POCl3 –doping and wet chemical etching texturization for efficient silicon based solar cells fabrication.

Multicrystalline silicon has attracted considerable attention because of its high stability against light soaking. In case of Solar Grade (SoG) mc-Si the rigorous control of metal impurities is desirable for solar cell fabrication. Although ion implantation doping got very recently distinct consideration for doping of monocrystalline solar material, efficient doping of multicrystalline solar material remains the main challenge to reduce costs. To extend the application of the ion implantation technique to SoG mc-Si the diffusion of metal impurities during electrical activation of phosphorous and recrystallization of silicon has to be suppressed. Here an advanced annealing technique will be presented and explored, which allows the electrical activation of implanted elements by short time light pulse annealing. Flash Lamp Annealing in the ms-range is demonstrated here as a very promising technique for the emitter formation at an overally low thermal budget. It could be presented that FLA at 1000oC for 3 ms even without preheating is sufficient to recrystallize implanted silicon. The sheet resistance (SR) of FLA samples shows values of about 50 Ohm/sq. Especially, the minority carrier diffusion length for the FLA samples is in the range of 80 um without surface passivation. This is up to one order of magnitude higher than that observed from RTA or FA samples. This technology shows great promise to replace the conventional POCl3 –doping.

Cognitive performance depends on intact cortical connectivity. Important for memory processing in the human brain is the connection between posterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus, directly as well as indirectly via the parahippocampal gyrus. These brain areas are involved early in Alzheimer's disease (AD). At the same time, they belong to the default mode network (DMN), a functional network showing high functional connectivity under resting state conditions. In AD, this connectivity in specifically compromised, offering the possibility to investigate the structural basis of functional brain connectivity.We studied 18 patients with mild to moderate AD, 16 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 20 healthy control subjects using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting state fMRI at 3.0 Tesla. We determined the effect of structural integrity in the posterior cingulate as assessed by DTI on the functional connectivity between posterior cingulate, hippocampus and parahippocampus during resting state in these three groups.Structural integrity was reduced in posterior cingulate fibre tracts in patients with AD in the left hemisphere; however, this effect was partly accounted for by age differences. All three groups showed high functional connectivity between posterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus, via both the direct and the indirect pathways. Determination of effective connectivity yielded a negative fractional anisotropy (FA)-moderated correlation on the direct pathway in AD and MCI for both hemispheres, and in healthy controls for the right hemisphere. The indirect pathway showed a negative FA-moderated correlation in AD for the right hemisphere and in MCI for both hemispheres. Healthy controls showed a positive correlation on the indirect pathway for the left hemisphere.Our data suggest that under healthy conditions, effective connectivity in the DMN between posterior cingulate cortex and hippocampus is mainly maintained by the indirect pathway via the parahippocampal gyrus. Patients with AD and patients with MCI show changes in this connectivity with a partial allocation to the direct pathway, most likely reflecting early parahippocampal lesions. The combination of DTI and fMRI broadens our understanding of human brain connectivity and its pathological changes with AD.

Multicrystalline p-type silicon wafers were used for the implantation of phosphorous. After ion implantation the silicon is strongly disordered or amorphous within the ion range. Therefore subsequent annealing is required to remove the implantation damage and to activate the doping element. The influence of the annealing types (furnace annealing - FA, rapid thermal annealing – RTA and Flash-lamp-annealing – FLA) on the optical and electrical properties of mc-Si solar cell was investigated. FLA offers here an alternative route for the emitter formation at an overall low thermal budget. During FLA, only the wafer surface is heated homogeneously to very high temperatures at ms time scales, resulting in the annealing of the implantation damage and an electrical activation of the phosphorous. However, a variation of the pulse time also allows to modify the degree of annealing of the bulk region to some extent as well, which can have an influence on the gettering behaviour of metallic bulk impurities. The phosphorous implanted and annealed silicon wafers were characterised by means of u-Raman spectroscopy, temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL), surface photo-voltage method (SPV) and four-point probe resistor measurements. The μ-Raman spectroscopy showed that the silicon surface is amorphous after ion implantation. It could be demonstrated that FLA at 1000oC for 3 ms even without preheating is sufficient to recrystallize implanted silicon. The maximum PL intensity (band-to-band transition in silicon) was obtained from samples annealed for 3 ms, at the same time the sheet resistance (SR) of FLA samples shows the value of about 50 Ohm/sq. Moreover, the minority carrier diffusion length for the FLA samples is in the range of 100 um, what is fivefold longer than that observed from RTA or FA samples.

Cost reduction is the overall goal in the further development of solar cell technologies. Multicrystalline silicon has attracted considerable attention because of its high stability against light soaking. In case of Solar Grade (SoG) mc-Si the rigorous control of metal impurities is desirable for solar cell fabrication. The main source of degradation of the photovoltaic effect in p-type mc-Si is iron present as interstitials (Fei) and Fe-B pairs. Processing solar cells at lower temperatures helps reducing the energy cost and in thin film technologies may also facilitate the use of less temperature stable substrates such as normal glass or polymers foils. In the present work a new technique will be presented and explored, which allows the implantation of the doping element by a plasma process and the subsequent annealing by a short time light pulse (Flash Lamp Annealing). Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) technique can be used for the emitter formation of solar cells. It is much easier to handle and has the potential for mass production. A dedicated PIII - machine has been built suitable for the implantation of doping impurities into silicon. The phosphorous implanted and annealed SoG mc-Si wafers were characterised by means of μ-Raman spectroscopy, temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL), surface photo-voltage method (SPV) and four-point probe resistor measurements. It could be demonstrated that FLA at 1000°C for 3 ms even without preheating is sufficient to recrystallize implanted silicon and to electrically activate the phosphorous. The sheet resistance (SR) of FLA samples shows values of about 40 μ/sq. Moreover, the minority carrier diffusion length for the FLA samples is in the range of 80 m. This is up to one order of magnitude higher than that observed from RTA or FA samples.

OBJECTIVE After acute treatment of the first illness episode in schizophrenia, antipsychotic maintenance treatment is recommended for at least 1 year. Evidence for the optimal subsequent treatment is still scarce. Targeted intermittent treatment was found to be less effective than continuous treatment at preventing relapse in multiple episode patients; however, a post hoc analysis of our own data from a previous study suggested comparable efficacy of the 2 treatment approaches in first-episode patients. The current study was therefore designed to compare prospectively the relapse preventive efficacy of further maintenance treatment and targeted intermittent treatment in patients with ICD-10-diagnosed first-episode schizophrenia. METHOD A randomized controlled trial was conducted within the German Research Network on Schizophrenia. Entry screening took place between November 2000 and May 2004. After 1 year of antipsychotic maintenance treatment, stable first-episode patients were randomly assigned to 12 months of further maintenance treatment or stepwise drug discontinuation and targeted intermittent treatment. In case of prodromal symptoms of an impending relapse, patients in both groups received early drug intervention, guided by a decision algorithm. The primary outcome measure was relapse (increase in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale positive score > 10, Clinical Global Impressions-Change score ≥ 6, and decrease in Global Assessment of Functioning score > 20 between 2 visits). RESULTS Of 96 first-episode patients, only 44 were eligible for the assigned treatment (maintenance treatment, n = 23; intermittent treatment, n = 21). The rates of relapse (19% vs 0%; P = .04) and deterioration (up to 57% vs 4%; P < .001) were significantly higher in the intermittent treatment group than in the maintenance treatment group, but quality-of-life scores were comparable. Intermittent treatment patients received a significantly lower amount of antipsychotics (in haloperidol equivalents; P < .001) and tended to show fewer side effects, particularly extrapyramidal side effects. CONCLUSIONS Maintenance treatment is more effective than targeted intermittent treatment in preventing relapse, even in stable first-episode patients after 1 year of maintenance treatment, and should be the preferred treatment option. However, about 50% of patients remain stable at a significantly lower drug dose and show fewer side effects, and a substantial proportion refuse maintenance treatment. Alternative long-term treatment strategies, including targeted intermittent treatment, should therefore be provided in individual cases. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00159120.

Both mono- and multicrystalline p-type silicon wafers were used for the implantation of phosphorous. After ion implantation the silicon is strongly disordered or amorphous within the ion range. Therefore subsequent annealing is required to remove the implantation damage and to activate the doping element. Flash-lamp-annealing (FLA) offers here an alternative route for the emitter formation at an overall low thermal budget. During FLA, only the wafer surface is heated homogeneously to very high temperatures at ms time scales, resulting in the annealing of the implantation damage and an electrical activation of the phosphorous. However, variation of the pulse time also allows to modify the degree of annealing of the bulk region to some extent as well, which can have an influence on the gettering behaviour of metallic bulk impurities. The μ-Raman spectroscopy showed that the silicon surface is amorphous after ion implantation. It could be demonstrated that FLA at 800oC for 20 ms even without preheating is sufficient to recrystallize implanted silicon. The highest carrier concentration and efficiency and the lowest resistivity were obtained after annealing at 1200oC for 20 ms both for mono- and multicrystalline silicon wafers. Photoluminescence results point towards P-cluster formation at high annealing temperatures which effects on metal impurity gettering within the emitter.

Both mono- and multicrystalline p-type silicon wafers were used for the phosphorous ion implantation. After ion implantation the silicon is strongly disordered or amorphous within the ion range. Therefore subsequent annealing is required to remove the implantation damage and to activate the doping element. During FLA, only the wafer surface is heated homogeneously to very high temperatures at ms time scales, resulting in the annealing of the implantation damage and an electrical activation of the phosphorous. It is demonstrated that FLA at 800 oC for 20 ms even without preheating is sufficient to recrystallized implanted silicon. The highest recrystallization and the lowest resistivity were obtained after annealing at 1200 oC for 20 ms both for mono- and multicrystalline silicon wafers. Photoluminescence results point towards P - cluster formation at high annealing temperatures which effects on metal impurity gettering within the emitter.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI scans indicate lesions of the subcortical fiber system. The regional distribution of WMH may be related to their pathophysiology and clinical effect in vascular dementia (VaD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and healthy aging. Methods: Regional WMH volumes were measured in MRI scans of 20 VaD patients, 25 AD patients and 22 healthy elderly subjects using FLAIR sequences and surface reconstructions from a three-dimensional MRI sequence. Results: The intraclass correlation coefficient for interrater reliability of WMH volume measurements ranged between 0.99 in the frontal and 0.72 in the occipital lobe. For each cerebral lobe, the WMH index, i.e. WMH volume divided by lobar volume, was highest in VaD and lowest in healthy controls. Within each group, the WMH index was higher in frontal and parietal lobes than in occipital and temporal lobes. Total WMH index and WMH indices in the frontal lobe correlated significantly with the MMSE score in VaD. Category fluency correlated with the frontal lobe WMH index in AD, while drawing performance correlated with parietal and temporal lobe WMH indices in VaD. Conclusions: A similar regional distribution of WMH between the three groups suggests a common (vascular) pathogenic factor leading to WMH in patients and controls. Our findings underscore the potential of regional WMH volumetry to determine correlations between subcortical pathology and cognitive impairment.

In recent years, the efficacy of symptomatic antidementive drugs in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been well documented. A prerequisite for maximally effect antidementive treatment is early diagnosis and a subsequent specific diagnostic clarification. A further essential is early initiation of treatment to delay progression of the disease and thus early loss of daily skills and independence ending in the need for intensive nursing care. Currently, cholinesterase inhibitors, the efficacy of which has been confirmed in placebo-controlled multicenter studies, are recommended for the treatment of mild to moderate AD. Further substances with proven efficacy are memantine, ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 and certain classical nootropics. To treat behavioral and other psychological disturbances, symptom-related substances such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and atypical neuroleptics should be employed. In addition to their positive effect on cognitive disturbances, cholinesterase inhibitors also have an appreciable impact on concomitant psychopathological symptoms.

Background: This cross-cultural study was designed to examine cultural differences in empathy levels of first-year medical students.Methods: A total of 257 students from the academic year 2010/11, 131 at Jimma University, Ethiopia, and 126 at the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany, completed the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES), the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME-R) test, and a questionnaire on sociodemographic and cultural characteristics. Furthermore, we conducted a qualitative analysis of the students’ personal views on the definition of empathy and possible influencing factors. Group comparisons and correlation analyses of empathy scores were performed for the entire cohort and for the Jimma and Munich students separately. We used a regression tree analysis to identify factors influencing the BEES.Results: The male students in Jimma (39.1 ± 22.3) scored significantly higher in the BEES than those male students from Munich (27.2 ± 22.6; p = 0.0002). There was no significant difference between the female groups. We found a moderate, positive correlation between the BEES and RME-R test, i.e. between emotional and cognitive empathy, within each university. Nevertheless, the RME-R test, which shows only Caucasian eyes, appears not to be suitable for use in other cultures.Conclusions: The main findings of our study were the influence of culture, religion, specialization choice, and gender on emotional empathy (assessed with the BEES) and cognitive empathy (assessed with the RME-R test) in first-year medical students. Further research is required into the nature of empathy in worldwide medical curricula.Keywords: Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale, Cross-cultural, Empathy, Medical Students

Physical activity (PA) may be therapeutic for people with severe mental illness (SMI) who generally have low PA and experience numerous life style-related medical complications. We conducted a meta-review of PA interventions and their impact on health outcomes for people with SMI, including schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder. We searched major electronic databases until January 2018 for systematic reviews with/without meta-analysis that investigated PA for any SMI. We rated the quality of studies with the AMSTAR tool, grading the quality of evidence, and identifying gaps, future research needs and clinical practice recommendations. For MDD, consistent evidence indicated that PA can improve depressive symptoms versus control conditions, with effects comparable to those of antidepressants and psychotherapy. PA can also improve cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life in people with MDD, although the impact on physical health outcomes was limited. There were no differences in adverse events versus control conditions. For MDD, larger effect sizes were seen when PA was delivered at moderate-vigorous intensity and supervised by an exercise specialist. For schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, evidence indicates that aerobic PA can reduce psychiatric symptoms, improves cognition and various subdomains, cardiorespiratory fitness, whilst evidence for the impact on anthropometric measures was inconsistent. There was a paucity of studies investigating PA in bipolar disorder, precluding any definitive recommendations. No cost effectiveness analyses in any SMI condition were identified. We make multiple recommendations to fill existing research gaps and increase the use of PA in routine clinical care aimed at improving psychiatric and medical outcomes.

Psychiatrisches Wissen und Handeln weist innerhalb der Medizin die wohl komplexeste Vernetzung mit der Ideen- und Sozialgeschichte auf. Daher birgt eine knappe Darstellung der Psychiatriegeschichte stets das Risiko unzulassiger Verkurzung: Die folgende Ubersicht kann somit nur einer ersten Orientierung dienen und ein vertieftes Literaturstudium nicht ersetzen. Zwar orientiert sich der Aufbau des Beitrags v. a. an der Chronologie der wesentlichen psychiatrischen Konzepte von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, doch wurde gerade mit Blick auf das 19. und 20. Jahrhundert diese zeitliche Strukturierung zugunsten einer mehr thematischen Schwerpunktsetzung aufgelockert. Eine bemerkenswerte Tatsache ist die grose Ahnlichkeit psychiatrischer Grundfragestellungen in der antiken, der mittelalterlichen und der neuzeitlichen Medizin, etwa die Fragen nach dem Verhaltnis von psychischer Storung und betroffener Person und deren Biografie, nach der Bedeutung somatischer Funktionsstorungen fur die Genese psychischer Krankheiten und auch die Debatten um das Verstandnis psychopathologischer Phanomene als ubersteigerter Ausdruck anthropologischer Konstanten („Urangste“) oder als Metaphern metaphysischer Zusammenhange. Aus Platzgrunden wurde auf den ideengeschichtlichen Kontext und den Nachweis seiner Relevanz fur das heutige klinische Denken und Handeln in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie grosserer Wert gelegt als auf die Nennung moglichst vieler Personen oder Veroffentlichungen.

Melt flow plays an important role in directional solidification of multicrystalline silicon influencing the temperature field and the crystallization interface as well as the transport of impurities. This work investigates the potential of a traveling magnetic field (TMF) for an active control of the melt flow. A system of 3D numerical models was developed and adapted based on open-source software for calculations of Lorentz force, melt flow, and related phenomena. Isothermal and non-isothermal model experiments with a square GaInSn melt were used to validate the numerical models by direct velocity measurements. Several new 3D flow structures of turbulent TMF flows were observed for different melt heights. Further numerical parameter studies carried out for silicon melts showed that already a weak TMF-induced Lorentz force can stir impurities near to the complete mixing limit. Simultaneously, the deformed temperature field leads to an increase of the deflection of crystallization interface, which may exhibit a distinct asymmetry. The numerical results of this work were implemented in a research-scale silicon crystallization furnace. Scaling laws for various phenomena were derived allowing a limited transfer of the results to the industrial scale.

Psychiatrisches Wissen und Handeln weist die von allen medizinischen Fachern wohl komplexeste Vernetzung mit der Ideen- und Sozial ge schich te auf. Daher birgt eine knappe Darstellung der Psychiatrie geschichte das Risiko unzulassiger Verkurzung: Die folgende Ubersicht kann somit nur einer ersten Orientierung dienen und ein vertieftes Literaturstudium nicht ersetzen. Zwar orientiert sich der Aufbau des Beitrags v. a. an der Chronologie der wesentlichen psychiatrischen Konzepte von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, doch wurde gerade mit Blick auf das 19. und 20. Jahrhundert diese zeitliche Strukturierung zugunsten einer mehr thematischen Schwerpunktsetzung aufgelockert. Eine bemerkenswerte Tatsache ist die grose Ahnlichkeit psychiatrischer Grundfragestellungen in der antiken, der mittelalterlichen und der neuzeitlichen Medizin, etwa die Fragen nach dem Verhaltnis von psychischer Storung und betroffener Person und deren Biografie, nach der Bedeutung korperlicher Funktionsstorungen fur die Genese psychischer Krankheiten und auch die Debatten um das Verstandnis psychopathologischer Phanomene als ubersteigerter Ausdruck anthropologischer Konstanten (»Urangste«) oder als Metaphern metaphysischer Zusammenhange. Aus Platzgrunden wurde hier auf den ideengeschichtlichen Kontext und den Nachweis seiner Relevanz fur das heutige klinische Denken und Handeln groserer Wert gelegt als auf die Nennung moglichst vieler Personen oder Veroffentlichungen.

Deskriptive psychopathologische Befunderhebung — dieser Begriff meint zum einen ein methodenkritisches Vorgehen bei weitgehender Vermeidung impliziter theoretischer Vorannahmen und stellt insoweit eine wesentliche Grundlage fur jede sorgfaltige psychiatrische Diagnostik dar. Zum anderen aber stost er seinerseits an methodische und konzeptionelle Grenzen, an die es zu denken gilt, um bei der Untersuchung und Beschreibung der abnormen seelischen Phanomene keine Vorurteile und unzulassigen Verkurzungen wirksam werden zu lassen. Der Begriff der deskriptiven Psychopathologie ist viel alter als die heute gebrauchlichen Diagnosesysteme, doch heben diese ganz wesentlich auf den von ihnen praktizierten deskriptiven Zugangsweg ab. Freilich sind operationale Diagnostik und deskriptive Psychopathologie keineswegs deckungsgleich.

Die Schizophrenie, ursprunglich (1896) als Dementia praecox beschrieben und 1911 von Eugen Bleuler als Schizophrenie benannt, ist nach heutigem Kenntnisstand eine seltene Erkrankung, die weniger als 1% der Bevolkerung betrifft. Wir diagnostizieren die Schizophrenie im klinischen Alltag anhand bestimmter operationalisierter Kriterien. Die Diagnose soll nicht nur Auskunft uber Art und Verlauf der Erkrankung geben, sondern auch handlungsleitend fur die Therapie sein. Aus klinischer Sicht stellt sich deshalb bei jedem einzelnen Patienten die Frage, ob es sich um einen „Fall“ handelt oder nicht.

Introduction: Serotonin has been extensively studied in relation to both personality features and suicidal behaviours. Objective: In this study, we considered the association between the serotonin receptor 1A (HTR1A) and 2C (HTR2C) SNPs and personality traits, as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), in a sample of suicide patients and healthy volunteers. Methods: The SNPs considered were, for HTR1A rs1423691, rs878567 and rs6295, and for HTR2C rs547536, rs2192372, rs6318, rs2428707, rs4272555 and rs1801412. The sample was composed of three groups: two German samples, consisting of a healthy control group of 289 subjects (42.6% males, mean age: 45.2 +/- 14.9) and a psychiatric patient group of 111 suicide attempters (38.7% males, mean age: 39.2 +/- 13.6), and an Italian sample, composed of 64 mood disorder patients (35.9% males, mean age: 43.0 +/- 14.8). In the German samples all the SNPs were investigated. while in the Italian sample only the HTR1A rs6295 and the HTR2C rs6318 SNPs were considered. Results: Controlling for sex, age and educational level, single markers and haplotypes were not or only marginally associated with personality dimensions. Conclusions: Our study does not support the role of HTR1A and HTR2C gene variants on personality traits in both healthy volunteers and mood disorder patients. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Die sorgfaltige Anamneseerhebung ist Voraus setzung, ja sogar integraler Bestandteil jeder psy chiatrisch-psychotherapeutischen Diagnostik und Therapie. Die hier vorgestellte Systematik spricht die wesentlichen Bereiche an; im Interesse einer moglichst vollstandigen Datenerhebung empfiehlt sich die konsequente Anwendung eines derartigen Schemas. Jenseits dieses formalen Aspekts kommt es aber entscheidend darauf an, die Balance zu halten zwischen umfassender Datensammlung auf der einen und Respekt vor der Individualitat und Intimitat des Patienten auf der anderen Seite. Hier wird jeder Untersucher mit wachsender Erfahrung einen eigenen »Stil« entwickeln mussen. Dies steht keineswegs im Gegensatz zu einem strukturierten Vorgehen wie dem hier vorgeschlagenen. Im Gegenteil: Erst die personliche Ausgestaltung der vorgegebenen Struktur stellt die dem individuellen Patienten angemessene Weise der Anamneseerhebung dar.

Conflict and the war in the Balkans results in huge number of all kinds of war victims in need of psychological help. Professionals tried to meet these growing demands by developing treatment programs within official health care system or within nongovernmental organisations. Tretament approaches were developed according possibilities, number of clients, number of professionals and their educational background. In addition the professionals themselves were living in the war circumstances and often overwhelmed with traumatised clients. All these influenced the treatment approaches and outcomes. The studies of outcomes and effectiveness of such treatments are still rare. Within the STOP-study (Priebe et al., 2003), 400 clients suffering from PTSD in 4 specialised tretament centres in Croatia, Bill and Serbia were included in assessment of treatment effectivness. The specialised treatment strategies differed from individual therapy, group therapy to combined treatments programs. They were assessed using several standardised instruments on posttraumatic stress (CAPS), general psychopathology (BSI), and quality of life (MANSA) before starting the treatment program, after three months and after one year. In the second and the third assessment the structured questionnaire on the satisfaction with treatment on the side of client and on the side of therapist was added. The findings on outcomes of presented specialised treatment strategies will be presented, and the results will be discussed in the frame of organisational possibilities and social circumstances within which the post-war recovery take place.