Regret after sex reassignment surgery in a male-to-female transsexual: a long-term follow-up.

This case report describes a four-decade presentation of a non-homosexual gender dysphoric male patient. The case material was collected from two main sources. One of the authors had weekly therapy sessions with the patient over a period of 2 years almost 15 years after sex reassignment surgery. Information was also gained from the patient's medical records covering the period from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. Over the years, the patient fulfilled the criteria for different diagnoses: overanxious reaction of childhood, fetishism and transvestism during adolescence, and transsexualism during adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of this report was to shed light on aspects of regret, its manifestation in a male-to-female transsexual with psychiatric co-morbidity, and to show the complexity of the process of adjustment when regret is involved. The present case is an argument for a strict interpretation of the Standards of Care provided by the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association in terms of evaluating patients' mental health, apart from the evaluation of the gender identity disorder, and the patients' subsequent need for treatment interventions.

On the incidence and sex ratio of transsexualism in Sweden, 1972-2002.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the incidence of transsexualism in Sweden has been stable over the period of the three decades sex reassignment has been permitted by law in Sweden and whether there has been a change over time in the sex ratio of those requesting sex reassignment surgery (SRS). The incidence and sex ratio of transsexualism were calculated on the basis of the total number of applications for sex reassignment submitted to the National Board of Health and Welfare between July 1972 and June 2002. The frequency data were then analyzed in relation to the number of SRSs performed, age at the time SRS was requested, and the proportion of applicants of foreign origin. The results showed that the incidence of transsexualism was not stable during the study period of three decades. The sex ratio changed from almost 1:1 in the late 1960s to almost 2:1 in favor of male-to-female (MF) transsexuals in the 1990s. The number of SRSs performed rose considerably after the mid- 1980s. On average, MF transsexuals are now 6 years older than female-to-male (FM) transsexuals when they apply for SRS, and MF transsexuals are currently about 8 years older at the time of application than they were 20 years ago. The proportion of applications from applicants of foreign origin increased during the 1990s.

Plant-affecting streptomycin-sensitive micro-organisms in barley monoculture soils.

Soils from barley monoculture and from crop-rotation plots of three long-term field experiments were tested for their effects on barley growth in the glasshouse, using plant growth tubes. Test plants of young barley developed significantly shorter and thinner root axes when grown in soil from monoculture plots than when grown in soil from crop rotation plots, but the difference in shoot growth was only small. Addition of small doses of streptomycin sulphate neutralized the retarded root growth in soil from monoculture plots, whereas the fungicide metalaxyl induced no such effect. The difference in root growth of barley test plants could be transmitted into a soil-free root environment by inoculation with the microflora from roots grown in soil. These findings indicate that some component(s) of rhizosphere bacteria is the causal agent of the early monoculture effect measured.