Disruption Of Daily Life Research Articles

Weapons of Mass Victimization, Radioactive Waste Shipments, and Environmental Laws

Transnational and domestic terrorists may employ unconventional weapons of mass destruction and/or mass contamination in their future operations against governments. These asymmetrical tactics may include nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons designed to produce panic and disruption in daily life. This article addresses several of the myriad legal and practical issues relative to potential radiological weapons. Several suggestions as to local-level policy are offered and discussed. Among these suggestions are the need for local law enforcement and policy decision makers to formally recognize the potential use of radiological weapons of mass contamination and the need to develop both protection strategies for radioactive shipments that may be at risk from this form of crime and proactive public intervention measures for when communities are faced with a terrorist attack on shipments of nuclear waste.

両側変動難聴性メニエール病

This article is based on a review of the literature on bilaterality of Meniere's disease. On the basis of the results of our study using the same diagnostic criteria of bilateral involvement of Meniere's disease, the clinical characteristics of Meniere's disease with bilateral fluctuant hearing loss were examined. In this series of patients 204 had normal hearing in the contralateral ear (unilateral cases) and 135 had fluctuant cochlear symptoms in the other ear (bilateral involvement). The latter group had a high degrees of hearing loss, cluster attacks, evolvement from vertigo to continuous dizziness and disruption of daily life. In addition we found that bilateral cases responded poorly to therapy with diuretics, steroids or hospitalization. Thus, early diagnosis of the bilaterality of the disease and intensive treatment such as sac operation or drug therapy is necessary. It is the obligation of ENT specialists to clarify the pathophysiology of the disease, to understand the importance of its development in the second ear, and to perform preventive therapy.

Psychological treatment for atypical non-cardiac chest pain: a controlled evaluation

Thirty-one patients with atypical non-cardiac chest pain which had persisted despite negative medical investigation were treated in a controlled trial of cognitive-behavioural therapy. The average duration of pain was 4.7 years. Patients were randomized to either immediate treatment or as a control to assessment only. Treatment involved teaching patients how to anticipate and control symptoms, and modification of inappropriate health beliefs. The average number of sessions given was 7.2. There were significant reductions in chest pain. limitations and disruption of daily life, autonomic symptoms, distress and psychological morbidity in the treated group as compared with the control group who were unchanged. The assessment-only group were treated subsequently and showed comparable changes. Improvements were fully maintained by both treated groups at four- to six-months follow-up.