Providentia

Under Enemy Fire

A paper published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Stress Management presents the results of a field experimental study organized during a handgun shooting workshop for armed officers (N = 36). In-depth stress analyses involved anticipatory distress, subjective stress, and salivary cortisol reactivity triggered by reality-based handgun shooting practice and, more specifically, by being in an uncontrollable situation with the risk of being shot at. Subsequently, the study examined to what extent exposure to reality-based stress affected working memory performances and self-perceived active learning. As expected, the risk of being shot at caused more anticipatory distress, subjective stress, and increasingly triggered cortisol secretion. Further results showed that, although stress endurance deteriorated working memory performance, participants in the high-realism group simultaneously self-perceivably learned more (i.e., acquired task-relevant skills and competencies). The dual stress effect may result from the professional appreciation of reality-based practice and increased self-efficacy toward hazardous real-life situations. Balancing the intersection between occupational psychology, cognitive psychology, and psychoneuroendocrinology, this study performed stress research in an important and rarely accessible professional setting.

For the abstract.

Witch Hysteria Strikes Kenya's Elderly

All Ponda Changa wanted was to enjoy his retirement in peace.

After a lifetime of work, he had built a modest four-bedroom home, complete with solar power and a television set,  in his native Kibaoni village in Kenya's Kilifi District.  With an income derived from a herd of cattle and a grove of coconut trees on six acres of land,  Mzee Changa had few worries in his life.

Until one of his sons accused him of witchcraft.

Now in a refuge in Ganze District farfrom his village, Changa states that "My son has attempted to kill me several times. He once beat me seriously outside a chief’s office in Takaungu on claims that I bewitched his sister. I decided to flee to save my life".   He also states that his son has used to witchcraft accusation as an excuse to seize his property which he plans to sell.    His son has also seized his National Identity Card and his life savings of 50,000 Kenyan shillings (about US $600).  Although he reported the threats to the local police, they have been of little assistance and he claims that the officers demanded bribes which he did not have.

The accusations directed against Ponda Changa is just the latest of a series of incidents in which elderly Kenyans in Kilifi District have been targeted.  Due to widespread local beliefs that people with grey hair and red eyes were witches or wizards, many old people have faced death threats and forced to leave their homes.  Given that the witchcraft accusation provides younger relatives with an excuse to seize property that they might otherwise not inherit until after the owners death, the obvious financial incentive has fueled the attacks.

In some cases, more than threats can occur.   Youth attackers have reportedly killed accused witches and leaving the bodies hanged under trees to make the deaths appear to be suicides.  Others have been forced to drink poisonous substances with the attackers only leaving their homes after the accused witches were dead.   Although human rights groups in Kenya have demanded government intervention to protect accused witches, investigation of suspected deaths has been slow since the killings are often carefully planned by close family members to ensure inheritance.   

To protect accused witches such as Ponda Changa, a refugee centre has been established in Ganze District by the Ganze District Cultural Association.  Originally intended for cultural preservation, the centre has become a rallying p0int for many elders fighting against accusations of witchcraft.    Using traditional rituals to refute the witchcraft charges, the centre also recruited youths to carry out civic education to combat many of the local beliefs about red eyes and grey hair that have been used to justify the attacks.  Despite the centre's education campaign, Coast Provincial Commissioner Ernest Munyi has expressed concern over the rising incidence of killings following claims of practicing witchcraft.  He blames the violence on high levels of illiteracy among Kilifi villagers as well as the economic climate which provides witch accusers with a profit motive.

While district authorities have taken a closer look at suspicious deaths, the climate of fear in Kilifi District has made many elders afraid of returning to their homes.

For more information.

Remembering Minamata (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1

A fresh outbreak of Minamata Disease occurred in 1969, this time Niigata Prefecture.  While the Chisso factory was not implicated, a factory owned by Showa Denko, using similar industrial processes to the Chisso plant, was found to be leaking mercury into the surrounding environment.   Researchers familiar with the previous Minamata outbreak used their experience to prove Showa Denko's involvement in the new outbreak.   By the time this new announcement was made, public sentiment was definitely changing in favour of the Minamata victims.   Widespread publicity over the outbreaks as well as other pollution-related epidemics occurring during that same period meant that Minamata Disease sufferers were no longer regarded with the same stigma as before.   The adverse health consequences of widespread release of industrial waste spurred a major campaign to reform Japanese environmental legislation.  The two Minamata outbreaks, along with two other related cases, became known as the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan and spawned the environmental movement in Japan.  The publicity also forced  the Japanese government to launch its first Environmental Agency in 1971 (later expanded into a full Ministry of the Environment in 2001). 

As for the victims of the two Minamata Disease outbreaks, the government released an official announcement on September 26, 1968 acknowledging that Minamata Disease was a condition of the central nervous system caused by methylmercury exposure.  The announcement contained factual errors and completely omitted mention of the later victims who had become exposed when Chisso diverted its wastewater into the Shiranui Sea.  Still, it represented vindication of a sort for the Minamata victims and their families and provided them with the means to force better financial compensation from the Chisso Corporation.   As for Chisso itself, the dumping of methylmercury only stopped in 1968 when the old industrial equipment became outmoded and new technology became available. 

When the Mutual Aid Society approached Chisso about a new compensation package however, the corporation in turn asked for a binding arbitration settlement from the Japanese government (as opposed to formal litigation).   What followed was a government-run arbitration committee which initially offered to have Chisso pay 2 million yen for dead patients (approximately US $5,600) and 140,000 to 200,000 yen a year for surviving patients (US $390-560).  Outraged over the proposed settlement, the victims' group  representatives rejected the binding arbitration agreement and pushed for litigation.  The political furour over the announced settlement was met with rioting and arrests of protesting victims. 

In 1969, twenty-nine families of Minamata victims filed a lawsuit against Chisso and the media coverage of the trial gripped all of Japan.  Graphic news footage of protesters being arrested and beaten, sit-ins outside Chisso's Tokyo offices, and officials from Chisso being confronted with one of the disabled children dominated headlines during the four years that it took for the trial to be completed.   The most damaging testimony came from Hajme Hosokawa who told the court about his research which had been deliberately suppressed by Chisso's executives.  Although Dr. Hosokawa died three months after giving his testimony, Chisso officials admitted that the dumping had continued despite the known risks.

The turmoil surrounding the Minamata trial also led to considerable social and political upheaval, especially since Chisso continued to be the largest employer in Minimata.  When American photojournalist Eugene Smith began documenting Minamata Disease, he was brutally attacked by Chisso employees in an attempt to suppress his work.  Although Smith survived the attack, the sight in one eye was left permanently damaged.  Despite his injuries, Eugene Smith released this work on Minamata victims to critical acclaim.  One of his most haunting pictures, Tomoko Uemura in her Bath, is considered to be Smith's greatest work although it has since been withdrawn from publication at the request of the victim's family.

In March of 1973, the Kumamoto District Court ruled in favour of the families.  In handing down a verdict, the court ruled that the Chisso Corporation "could have prevented the occurrence of Minamata disease or at least have kept it at a minimum. We cannot find that the defendant took any of the precautionary measures called for in this situation whatsoever. The presumption that the defendant had been negligent from beginning to end in discharging wastewater from its acetaldehyde plant is amply supported. The defendant cannot escape liability for negligence."    The original "sympathy money" agreement was scrapped and Chisso was ordered to pay 18 million yen for each deceased victim (US $66,000) and 16-18 million yen for each surviving victim (US $59,000-69,000).   It was the largest settlement ever awarded by a Japanese court. 

The actual number of Minamata Disease victims may never be known for certain.   To receive compensation, disease victims needed to be officially certified by one of the various ad hoc committees that sprang into existence following the original 1959 agreement.  Since the committees adhered to a rigid definition of Minamata Disease, many victims often needed to wait for decades for official recognition.   Not all Minamata cases have manifested the full range of symptoms associated with organic mercury poisonin and the lack of government certification has delayed compensation. 

In a case that garnered recent headlines in Japan, Toshiyki Kawakami and his wife Kazue were only officially recognized this year despite their original application 38 years ago.   Their application was only processed following medical checkups in May of this year.  Recognizing the Kawakamis has raised the official Minamata toll in Kumamoto Prefecture alone to 1,782 but the actual number of cases across Japan is likely much higher (some estimates have placed it higher than 40,000). 

And what of Minamato Bay?  After decades of reclamation efforts, including reclamation of more than 58 hectares of land, cleanup efforts have produced some positive results.  While fish and seafood were declared safe to eat in 1997, levels of mercury concentration have slowly declined and official estimates suggest that background levels have dropped to normal as of 2011.   The fight for offical recognition and compensation for many Minamata sufferers is still ongoing with one group of 2,123 Minamata sufferers reaching a settlement with Chisso and various levels of government only last year.   Many of the congenital Minamata victims are now in their forties or fifties and often completely dependent on their aging parents for support.   Despite active community support programs, the tragedy of Minamata Disease is likely to continue for decades more. 

Caring for the Elderly

A paper published in a recent issue of GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry presents the EUROFAMCARE study findings, examining a typology of care situations for family carers of older people, and the interplay of carers with social and health services. Despite the complexity of family caregiving situations across Europe, the study results determined the existence of seven “caregiving situations,” varying on a range of critical indicators.  These indicators include: degree of impairment experienced by the care recipient, the extent of the burden placed on the caregiver, and the underlying support network.  The study also describes the availability and use of different support services for carers and care receivers, and carers’ preferences for the characteristics of support services. These findings have relevance for policy initiatives in Europe, where limited resources need to be more equitably distributed and services should be targeted to caregiving situations reflecting the greatest need, and organized to reflect the preferences of family carers.

For the abstract

Giant's Shoulders #37: The Wunderkammer Edition

Welcome to my first foray into hosting the Giant's Shoulders, the monthly blog carnival devoted to the history of science.    Considering the diverse arrange of wonderful and exotic posts that span the entire range of the sciences, it put me in mind of the marvelous wunderkammer (wonder-room) a.k.a. the cabinet of curiosities that was often found during the Renaissance.  Though rarely found these days, the wunderkammer (plural wunderkammem) featured exotic collections of rare fossils, minerals, botanical specimens, and other curious items meant to show the full range of nature and science.  With that mind, let's turn to the numerous and diverse contributions that have been made to this latest edition.  Classified according to the different sciences they represent, we have:

Anatomy

A big hat tip to Thony Christie who contributed a historical essay showing that the body-snatching trade wasn't just limited to Edinburgh.  Read this contribution from Georgian London for all the ghoulish details...

Over at ZombieMommeh's blog, we have her entertaining review of Holly Tucker's awesome Blood Work.  A tale of 17th century of science and murder that is well worth the read. 

Astronomy

Over at Jona Lendering and Bill Thayer's Livius.org and LacusCurtius site,  we have this contribution on Babylonian astronomy and how it can be used to make predictions about lunar eclipses even today. 

Also on the subject of astronomy, we have a contribution from the Royal Society's web page describing the fortuitous discovery of a rare volume on astrology and the stunning woodcut drawings describing the stock in trade of the astrologers/astronomers of that period. 

Are we too Eurocentric in our perception of the history of science?  Check out David Dobbs' post on the Arabic Roots of Science and the symposium that he recently moderated at the World Conference in Doha, Qatar (the one I didn't get to attend - not that I'm bitter, mind you).   (and a hat tip to Michael Barton for this contribution). 

What role did the Catholic Church's censorship of scientific literature play in the history of astronomy?  Thony Christie at The Renaissance Mathematicus explores this very interesting question.

How does commerce shape the way that we measure time?  Matthew Shaw at the History Today blog explores why visitors to Samoa will soon discover that December 28, 2011 will never take place and the strange history of attempts to reform the calendar,

Given that the Earth is just one of many worlds, isn't it logical to assume that all the other worlds are inhabited as well?  This entertaining post from io9 examines the strange history of Cosmic Pluralism and how Christianity briefly conquered the solar system.

And speaking of Cosmic Pluralism, check out this post on the Moon Hoaxing Scandal of 1835 over at Zoonomanian's blog.

Stalin's purges led to the deaths of countless Russian intellectuals, including many scientists.  Gennady Gorelik, a guest blogger for Scientific American asks, Why Is Quantum Gravity So Hard? And Why Did Stalin Execute the Man Who Pioneered the Subject?

Chemistry

Can noble gases be coaxed into forming compounds (which means they're not quite so noble as all that).  Join Feanor as he explores the enthusiastic quest for noble compounds

Geology

A woman?  Doing science?  Unthinkable!   Or, at least, that was likely what Maria Matilda Ogilvie Gordon's male colleagues likely thought.  At Dave Bressan's History of Geology site,  we hear the story of one of the unsung heroes of modern geology and the struggle she faced to do her research.  

Also over at the History of Geology site, we have this post exploring the life of Dorothea Bate, the great lady of island paleontology. 

At Brian Switek's Laelaps blog, we have this story of 19th century scientist and explorer Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden.  Dubbed the "Man Who Picks Up Stones Running" by the local Sioux (who were likely puzzled by his search for fossils), Hayden's research changed the perception of the prehistoric West  forever. 

Nature and Evolution

I wasn't quite sure how to classify the charming contribution by Eric Michael Johnson of The Primate Diaries.  His essay touches on an array of topics including mathematics, biology, physics, and teaching his young son about science.    Since he describes himself as a "primate in the human zoo", I'll place this one here and move on...

While we're on the subject of evolution, this contribution from J.F. Derry's site explores Charles Darwin's research,  peacock plumage, antelope horns, penis size and why sexual selection proves that Size Does Matter. 

How did Charles Darwin seduce Asa Grey into becoming his chief American supporter?  Read David Dobb's ongoing serialization of his awesome book Reef Madness and how the Agassiz-Gray debate over natural selection led to Agassiz' fall from academic power.

What were the "two hundred thousand hardships, privations and dangers" that Spanish naturalists faced in the New World?  This contribution from William Eamon's blog shows that the Spanish Conquest led to some interesting new science as well.

Considering Charles Darwin's widely known views on sexual differences in intelligence, it seems surprising that he was so supportive of early suffragette Lydia Becker in her own feminist educational initiative.   In a post by Phillippa Hardman at the Darwin and Gender blog,  we find that his private actions didn't always mesh with his public statements on some issues.

Was Herbert Spencer a Lamarckian?  Kele's Science Blog explores this provocative question in depth. 

Mathematics

Is the history of mathematics often neglected?  Rebekah Higgit at Whewell's Ghost explores why science teachers need to address the complex history of mathematics to make it more relevant to a new generation of students.

Climatology

Did a U.S. congressman (of all people) predict anthropogenic global warning in an 1846 speech that is little remembered today?  This fascinating contribution from The Guardian's Environment Blog talks about George Perkins Marsh whose prescient speech showed that this early politician was decades ahead of his time. 

Technology

Did you know that July 6 marked the anniversary of the first photograph being transmitted across the Atlantic by radio?   Katrina Gulliver presents this fascinating factoid on her blog, Notes From The Field, while exploring the evolution of telephotography from its humble beginnings to now.

Nikola Tesla is still a paradox in many ways but his pioneering work in a variety of fields is legendary.  But can he also be credited with discovering x-rays?  A provocative article at Radiographics examines that very question and fills in some of the gaps in the early history of medical technology

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With that, we close the wunderkammer and this edition of the Giant's Shoulders.   The August edition will be up at the Longitude Blog  (closing date for submissions is August 15).  If anyone would like to host a future edition, please contact either either Dr SkySkull at Skulls in the Stars or Thony C at The Renaissance Mathematicus.    Remember the future of the History of Science blog carnival rests on your shoulders.

 

 

Potentially Lethal Suicide Attempts Using Sharp Objects during Psychotic Illness

Recent studies have reported that serious violence toward self and others is more common in the first episode of psychosis than after treatment. A recent study published in Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention examined the proportion of survivors of potentially lethal suicide attempts with sharp objects who have a diagnosis of psychotic illness, and the proportion of those patients who had never received treatment for psychosis with antipsychotic medication. The researchers conducted an audit of the medical records of patients from three major teaching hospitals in Sydney, Australia, who survived a self inflicted stab wound to the abdomen, torso, or a laceration to the neck.  Of the 95 survivors of self-inflicted wounds by cutting or stabbing who met the inclusion criteria for the study, psychotic illness was diagnosed in 46 cases (48%), of which 26 (57%) had never received treatment with antipsychotic medication and, hence, were in the first episode of psychosis. The authors conclude that psychosis is strongly associated with potentially lethal suicide attempts using sharp objects and patients who have never received treatment for psychosis appear to be at particular risk.

For the abstract

Treating Suicide Around The World

Although suicide remains a continuing health problem throughout the world, actual research on the true extent of suicide worldwide and why many suicidal people do not seek treatment remains limited.    According to the most recent statistics by the World Health Organization, almost one million people die from suicide each year (about one every forty seconds) with suicide rates increasing by 60% worldwide over the past 45 years.    While suicide has traditionally been most common among older males, suicide rates among young people have climbed dramatically in recent years and they have now become the demographic group at highest risk for suicide in a third of all countries.    While mental disorders (including depression and substance abuse) remains a primary risk factor in many countries,  specific causes for suicidal behaviour remain hard to isolate due to the complex role that psychological, economic, cultural, and social factors can play.

In an ambitious new study recently published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, an international team of researchers sponsored by the World Mental Health Survey Initiative combined the results of World Mental Health surveys in 21 countries across six continents.    The 109,381 participants in the study were selected using probability sampling with a 77% response rate.    Using face-to-face interviews with trained interviewers, the study participants were questioned concerning lifetime incidence of mental disorders and suicidal behaviour or thoughts over the previous 12-month period.     Those participants who admitted to suicidal thoughts or behaviour were further classified according to perceived severity of suicide risk with additional questioning relating to whether they sought treatment as well as potential barriers to seeking treatment.

The results were startling in that only 39% of study participants who admitted to some form of suicidal behaviour over the previous twelve months received any form of treatment for emotional difficulties.   While the participants at a higher risk for suicide were more likely to seek care, only 23% sought help from mental health professionals directly.  A further 22% sought general medical care and 11% sought help from non-healthcare services.  Factors that predicted who sought help included higher education and income, marital status, family social support, and existence of preexisting mental problems.   As expected, treatment of suicidal behaviour was most common in high-income countries while only 17% of suicidal people in low-income countries actually sought some form of treatment.    The most common barrier to seeking treatment was low perceived need (believing that the suicidal thoughts would go away by themselves).  The next most common barrier involved attitudes towards seeking treatment with many suicidal people preferring to "tough it out" rather than asking for help.  Other barriers included financial need and lack of access to treatment services.  In high-income countries, attitudes towards treatment represented the primary reason for not seeking care. 

Overall, the researchers noted that rate of treatment for suicidal thoughts and behaviours remained low across all of the 21 countries in the study.  Although they noted potential limitations with their study given the moderate response rate, the rate of suicidal behaviour among those who declined to participate in the study was likely to be even higher (given that the study excluded people in institutions  or those lacking  a fixed address).  Still, the study results reflected the enormous unmet need worldwide for the treatment of suicidal behaviour, especially in moderate and low-income countries.   While effective treatment for suicidal behaviour remains critical to address the soaring suicide rates that international studies have consistently found, the question of why people are not seeking help and whether that help will be available remains critical.   Barriers to treatment are difficult to resolve considering cultural attitudes towards therapy, including the deep stigma that mental patients often face in many country.

The study also included specific examples of  the attitudinal barriers to treatment that often prevented suicidal people from seeking help.  Interviewers reported common statements such as "I was scared about being put in a hospital against my will", "I was concerned about what others  might think if they found out I was in treatment", and "I was not satisfied with available treatment".    In conclusion, the study authors noted that attitudinal barriers represented the greatest obstacle in suicidal people receiving proper care, far greater than the considerable structural and financial barriers that are also in place.    Whether proper education and greater acceptance of treatment options will make suicide prevention and treatment more accessible remains to be seen.

For theabstract.

 

New Report States that More Than 116 Million U.S. Adults Live With Chronic Pain

According to a new report released by the Institute of Medicine (IOM),  an estimated 116 million American adults deal with chronic pain  -  more than all patients directly affected by cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined.  Medical treatment and lost productivity related to chronic pain costs more 635 billion U.S. dollars each year. 

The report, titled Relieving Pain in America: a Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research,  presents the results of an IOM study committee investigating chronic pain.   Acting under the mandate of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education was chaired by Philip A. Pizzo of Stanford University and Noreen M. Clark of the University of Michigan.    In addition to presenting the committee's findings, the report also provides specific recommendations and calls on HHS to implement a plan to:

• heighten awareness about pain and its health consequences
• emphasize the prevention of pain
• improve pain assessment and management in the delivery of health care and financing programs of the federal government
• use public health communication strategies to inform patients on how to manage their own pain, and
• address disparities in the experience of pain among subgroups of Americans

The committee identifies a series of current shortcomings identified in pain treatment including the lack of innovation in the development of new pain medications despite 10% of all written prescriptions being for the treatment of pain.   As well, primary care physicians are often the main providers of medical treatment despite their limited formal training in pain management.  There are only 3500 pain specialists nationwide and many Americans have no access to comprehensive pain centres.   To compound the problem,  insurance plans are more likely to pay for invasive surgeries than for physical rehabilitation or psychological counseling which can be more effective in dealing with chronic pain.   As a result, "perverse incentives"  are established in which costly medical treatments are favoured over less invasive methods which are more cost-effective.  

Chronic pain specialists routinely report dealing with patients who have endured years, and at times decades, of chronic pain which has been inadequately treated.   Since many surgeons have limited training in dealing with post-operative pain, they often prescribe narcotic medication without addressing the underlying causes of pain.   Related issues such as depression, sleep disorders, and cognitive impairments associated with pain are also poorly understood by many medical specialists. 

The report concludes by stating that "pain is a major driver for visits to physicians and other healthcare providers, a major reason for taking medications, a major cause of disability, and a key factor in quality of life and productivity.  Given the burden of pain in human lives, dollars, and social consequences, relieving pain should be a national priority."

For more information.

For the report (pdf)