[Medical and psychological aspects of the treatment of connatal dacryostenosis : Parental evaluation of their own and their child's stress]. / Medizinpsychologische Aspekte bei der Behandlung kindlicher Tränenabflussstörungen : Elterliche Beurteilung eigenen und kindlichen Stresserlebens.

BACKGROUND: Lacrimal probing and syringing for connatal dacryostenosis can be performed under local (LA) and general anesthesia (GA). In cases of invasive medical procedures, pain and anxiety can be distressing for children and their parents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using questionnaires (n = 65), parents were asked to evaluate their own stress and that of their child during lacrimal probing and syringing. Analyzing different subgroups, the impact of the kind of anesthesia (LA vs. GA), trust in medical treatment, therapeutic success, prior experiences with GA, parental educational level, age of parents and children, number of children, and time between the intervention and the interview on the stress was examined. Stress level was evaluated on a scale from 1 (no stress) to 10 (maximal stress). RESULTS: Mean children's age was 8.5 ± 7.42 months. Mean age of the parents was 30.8 ± 6.17 years. Treating children under LA, parents reported moderate to severe stress levels for themselves (mean, M = 7.15) and for their children (M = 7.82). Children's stress levels were significantly higher when the treatment was performed under LA (n = 47; M = 7.34) in comparison to GA (n = 18; M = 6.06; p < 0.05). Parents having two or more children reported significantly lower stress levels than those with only one child. Furthermore, prior experiences with GA led to significantly higher parental stress levels when their children were treated under GA. Other factors did not show any impact on parent's and children's stress levels. CONCLUSIONS: Parents might have been influenced by hearing the children's reaction (e. g., crying) during the intervention under LA. Nevertheless, parents had a higher acceptance of this type of intervention (LA) in comparison to GA. This effect was even stronger among parents with prior experience of GA.

[Treatment of congenital lacrimal duct obstruction: A prospective clinical cohort study]. / Behandlung kindlicher Tränenwegsstenosen : Eine prospektive klinische Kohortenstudie.

BACKGROUND: Pressurized probing and irrigation is the method of choice for congenital lacrimal duct obstruction after conservative therapeutic strategies have failed. The aim of this study was to evaluate age dependence and success rates of different therapeutic options. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study of children with congenital lacrimal duct obstruction was performed. All children treated during the period between May 2009 and June 2010 were included. Surgical success was defined as the absence of epiphora and mucous discharge for a postoperative follow-up of 3 months. Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) of different variables were estimated using logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 111 children (137 eyes) underwent treatment for congenital lacrimal duct obstruction. The mean age of the children was 7.7 months (range 1-30 months). The success rate of probing under local anesthesia was 85.5 % (n = 100). Probing under general anesthesia without intubation of the lacrimal pathway was successful in 28.6 % (n = 2). Treatment under general anesthesia with intubation of the lacrimal pathway had a success rate of 94.2 %. If the primary treatment was complicated the OR was 1.9 (95 % CI: 0.7-5.1), for males the OR was 1.7 (95 % CI: 0.8-3.5) and in cases of a positive family history the OR was 1.5 (95 % CI: 0.7-3.3). With every increasing month of age the risk not to be treated successfully increased (OR: 1.3, 95 % CI: 1.2-1.5). CONCLUSION: Syringing under local anesthesia is an effective therapy. The highest success rates were found at the ages of 1-6 months. Therapy with additional silicone tube intubation was highly successful.

Transparent heat mirrors for solar-energy applications.

Transparent heat-mirror films, which transmit solar radiation but reflect ir thermal radiation, have potentially important applications in solar/thermal/electric conversion, solar heating, solar photovoltaic conversion, and window insulation. We have used rf sputtering to prepare two types of films: TiO(2)/Ag/TiO(2) and Sn-doped In(2)O(3). To characterize the properties of heat-mirror films for solar-energy collection, we define the parameters alpha(eff), the effective solar absorptivity, and epsilon(eff), the effective ir emissivity. For our Sn-doped In(2)O(3) films, alpha(eff)/epsilon(eff) is comparable to the values of alpha/epsilon reported for the leading selective absorbers. Even higher values of alpha(eff)/epsilon(eff) are obtained for the TiO(2)/Ag/TiO(2) films.