Plutonium Isotopes (Pu) Dissolved in Pacific Ocean Waters Detected by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry: No Effects of the Fukushima Accident Observed.

The concentration of plutonium (Pu) and the isotopic ratios of Pu to Pu and Pu to Pu were determined by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) in Pacific Ocean water samples (20 L each) collected in late 2012. The isotopic Pu ratios are important indicators of different contamination sources and were used to identify a possible release of Pu into the ocean by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident. In particular, Pu is a well-suited indicator for a recent entry of Pu because Pu from fallout of nuclear weapon testings has already significantly decayed.

[A theoretical model for transcultural psychiatry].

Background: Patients of non-Western origin quite often fail to complete their course of treatment. The reasons are generally unclear. aim To suggest ways of tackling the problems in transcultural psychiatric practice.

Transcultural psychiatry: from practice to theory.

Psychiatric patients of non-western origin leave treatment against the advice of their clinicians far more often than do their western counterparts. This article presents a theoretical framework for better understanding such clinical cases, developed from examples of psychiatric practice in different cultures. The theory is based on two meanings of the concept of culture, an elaboration of the universality-relativity dichotomy, and a view of the work of mental health care providers as involving three components: (1) building a trusting relationship with the patient; (2) making a diagnosis and treatment plan; and (3) carrying out treatment that is acceptable and meaningful to the patient.

[Transcultural psychiatry; developments in the past 25 years].

Until the 1970's the universality hypothesis was the leading theory in transcultural psychiatry. Kleinman argued in favour of a more anthropological approach. This was reflected in Appendix I of the DSM IV (Cultural Formulation).

Validity of 'post-traumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic features': a review of the evidence.

Objective: To review the evidence from empirical studies regarding the validity of 'post-traumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic features' (PTSD-SP) as a separate diagnostic entity.

Method: The authors performed a review tracing publications between 1980 and January 2008.

Results: Twenty-four comparative studies were included.

Posttraumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic features: neurobiological findings.

The neurobiological knowledge on the potentially new diagnostic entity "posttraumatic stress disorder with secondary psychotic features" (PTSD-SP) is reviewed. Studies published between 1980 and 2006 were traced focussing on adult patients suffering from this "syndrome". Studies on cortisol, corticotrophin releasing hormone, dopamine beta-hydroxylase, smooth pursuit eye movements and psychopharmacology are described and potential pathophysiological mechanisms briefly discussed.

Mental health and psychosocial support aspects in disaster preparedness: Nepal.

To improve mental health care in Nepal, a National Mental Health Policy, Strategy and Plan of Action was approved by the Government in 1997. Nepal has high vulnerability to natural disasters compounded by a prolonged violent civil conflict affecting almost all districts of the country. Floods, landslides and earthquakes are the most regularly occurring disasters in Nepal.

Pressure and coercion in the care for the addicted: ethical perspectives.

The use of coercive measures in the care for the addicted has changed over the past 20 years. Laws that have adopted the "dangerousness" criterion in order to secure patients' rights to non-intervention are increasingly subjected to critique as many authors plead for wider dangerousness criteria. One of the most salient moral issues at stake is whether addicts who are at risk of causing danger to themselves should be involuntarily admitted and/or treated.

Mental health care reform in Afghanistan.

The mental health situation in Afghanistan is characterized by a highly felt need and an extremely incapacitated mental health care system. The new Afghan government has identified mental health as one of five health priorities. Integration of mental health into the basic health care services of Afghanistan could substantially increase the effectiveness of mental health services.

[Abstention: arguments for stopping or withholding of life-sustaining treatment. Task Force Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine, Catholic University].

A decision to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment can only be justified if one (or more) of three arguments apply: (a) the patient refuses the treatment concerned, (b) the therapy cannot produce the intended medical effect, or (c) the therapy may be effective, but the effects are not meaningful. Assessment of effectiveness is a medical professional judgement. This assessment should take into account the proportionality of medical (technological) means and ends.

[Kidney donation by a 'non-heart-beating' donor from an ethical perspective].

In asystolic patients, kidney donation is possible by using a non-heart-beating (NHB) donation procedure. This involves in situ perfusion of the kidneys by inserting a catheter into the femoral artery and flushing cold fluid through the kidneys. The introduction of an NHB donation programme leads to ethical questions concerning the guarantees for prudent procedure: How should death of a patient be defined in case of NHB donation? Is there a strict separation of responsibilities of the medical teams in the different phases of the procedure (patient treatment and actual donation procedure)? Are sufficient attention and care given to the relatives? Does the NHB donation procedure not interfere with the care of a patient who is expected to die soon? Extensive discussion with the Medical Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Nijmegen, the Netherlands, has led to a protocol for NHB kidney donation that meets the required guarantees.

Moral assessment of growth hormone therapy for children with idiopathic short stature.

The prescription of growth hormone therapy for children who are not growth hormone deficient is one of the controversies in contemporary paediatric endocrinology. Is it morally appropriate to enhance the growth, by means of medical treatment, of a child wish idiopathic short stature? The medical, moral, and philosophical questions in this area are many. Data on the effects of human growth hormone (hGH) treatment will not on their own provide us with answers, as these effects have to be evaluated from a normative perspective.

[Application of the Act Special Admissions in Psychiatric Hospitals; balance between respect for autonomy and acting in the patient's best interest].

Three years after the implementation of the Dutch Act on Compulsory Admission to Psychiatric Hospitals an evaluation was made. It shows that the law has reinforced the patients' rights to self-determination, but that actual practice is not yet fully according to the law. For the latter the reporters blame the complexity of the law and the inadequate manner in which the law was introduced.

[Controversies in hospital guidelines for non-resuscitation decisions].

Guidelines regarding non-resuscitation decisions sometimes raise conceptual and ethical questions. Establishing blood circulation and gas exchange is no useful criterium to determine the efficacy of resuscitation. A professional assessment of efficacy or medical futility of resuscitation may involve value judgements.

[Management of indoor air pollution by polychlorinated biphenyl compounds exemplified by two Hagen schools].

An indoor pollution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) of about 4000 ng/m3 could be reduced by an average amount of 68% by temporary sealing of the primary source in combination with intensive cleaning. The costs were around DM 100,000.- for the school building containing 12 classrooms.

Psychiatric case finding in Ethiopia: shortcomings of the Self Reporting Questionnaire.

Attenders of health care facilities usually present somatic complaints. It is important to identify the psychiatric patients among them, especially the neurotic complainers. They are at risk for being exposed to expensive somatic investigations and being prescribed useless and sometimes harmful drug treatment.

Comprehension and motivation in responses to a psychiatric screening instrument. Validity of the SRQ in Ethiopia.

The Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ), a psychiatric-case-finding instrument designed by the WHO for developing countries, was tested in Ethiopia. It was submitted to 40 patients attending a psychiatric clinic, 30 at a somatic clinic, and 40 subjects not attending a clinic. Forty per cent of the yes-answers were rated as invalid.

DSM-III in Ethiopia: a feasibility study.

A feasibility study of DSM-III on 40 Ethiopian visitors to a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Addis Ababa was carried out by a Dutch psychiatrist, with three of his Dutch colleagues. In spite of the highly idiosyncratic way in which Ethiopians present their complaints, the diagnostic criteria of DSM-III appeared to be useful to a certain extent. The outcome of an inter-rater reliability study was comparable with that of an American one.

Problems in communication in transcultural psychiatry. The self reporting questionnaire in Ethiopia.

It is often difficult for people from different cultural backgrounds to understand one another. On the other hand, this article provides some information about the problems Ethiopians have in understanding the concepts of Western psychiatry. In this study, the Western concepts are contained specifically in the items of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire, a psychiatric case-finding instrument designed by the World Health Organization.