Post Mortem Inquiry - Progress Report To The Minister for Health and Children

The Inquiry is of the view that the Terms of Reference are wide ranging and comprehensive. The issue of organ retention is not one which may be examined properly in isolation and involves consideration of many issues,  most notably the legal context within which the matters arise. The issue is one which needs to be seen in its proper context so that it may be properly and fully understood. Progress Report Addendum to Progress Report

Media exposure and internal migration-evidence from Indonesia

This paper investigates the impact of television on internal migration in Indonesia. We exploit the differential introduction of private television throughout the country and the variation in signal reception due to topography to estimate the causal effect of media exposure. Our estimates reveal important long and short run effects. An increase of one standard deviation in the number of private TV channels received in the area of residence reduces future inter-provincial migration by 1.7-2.7 percentage points, and all migration (inter and intra-provincial) by 4-7.4 percentage points. Short run effects are slightly smaller, but still sizeable and statistically significant. We also show that respondents less exposed to private TV are more likely to consider themselves among the poorest groups of the society. As we discuss in a stylized model of migration choice under imperfect information, these findings are consistent with Indonesia citizens over-estimating the net gains from internal migration.

Report of the Working Group on Post Mortem Practice

The Madden Report into Post Mortem Practice and Procedure (2005)1 stated that consideration should be given to the implementation of the recommendations made in the Report to other post mortems2, namely those carried out on babies who died before or during birth, minors and adults. It was acknowledged that while many of the recommendations in the Report may apply generically to all categories of post-mortem examinations, these post mortems also raise distinct legal and ethical issues that were not within the Terms of Reference of the Madden Report. The Report advised that a Working Group be established to ensure that appropriate adaptation in relation to those issues takes place. The terms of reference were: Read the report (PDF, 117kb)

Post-adopció i resiliència: l'ajust psicosocial i vivència de l'adopció en infants adoptats internacionalment

Antecedents. Cada cop són més els nens i nenes adoptats internacionalment que creixen en la nostra societat, i el seu ajust psicosocial s’ha convertit en un assumpte d’especial interès i rellevància. Objectius. Estudiar l'ajust psicosocial i la vivència de l'adopció en els infants adoptats internacionalment. Els objectius específics són: 1) estudiar els nivells d’adaptació personal i social en nens i nenes adoptats/des internacionalment, en comparació amb els estàndards de la població normativa; 2) estudiar la vivència de l’adopció en nens i nenes adoptats internacionalment i la percepció que mares i pares en tenen al respecte; 3) analitzar el paper de las variables estrés i estratègies d’afrontament en l’ajust psicosocial dels infants adoptats. Material i Mètode. La mostra està formada per 103 infants adoptats a l’estranger, d’entre 8 i 12 anys, i els seus respectius pares i mares. Els participants completaren les següents proves: BASC (Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992), Qüestionari de punts forts i febles (SDQ; Goodman, 1997, 1999), Escala de la vivència adoptiva (Reinoso, 2008), Kidcope (Spirito, Stara y Williams, 1988). En realitzen anàlisis estadístics de tipus descriptiu, comparatiu, correlacional i exploratori. Resultats. La majoria dels menors adoptats internacionalment presenta bons nivells de funcionament, si bé un 25% d’ells presenta dificultats adaptatives bàsiques. En general s’observa un elevat nivell de convergència en la visió de l’experiència adoptiva entre nens/es i mares i pares. Els infants puntuen més alt en identitat cultural i més baix en discriminació percebuda que els seus pares/mares. Principalment esmenten problemes interpersonals de relació i de salut, malalties i accidents i utilitzen predominantment estratègies d’afrontament aproximatives. Els estressors vinculats amb l’experiència adoptiva són escassament mencionats. Conclusions. L’especificitat de la condició adoptiva requereix d’intervencions ajustades a la realitat d’aquests les necessitats d’aquests nens i les seves families.

Cosecha y post-cosecha de nueces

La mecanización integral de la cosecha se reduce todavía a un número limitado de explotaciones, aunque cada día son más las plantaciones en las que se utilizan vibradores en la cosecha. La utilización de cosechadoras está reservada a explotaciones superiores a las 20 ha y se suele recurrir a vibradores de ramas mientras los árboles no alcanzan la envergadura de adultos. Una correcta cosecha se suelen realizar en dos pasadas y en pocas explotaciones se utilizan productos para la maduración artificial. Prácticamente la mayoría de las nuevas plantaciones de nogal disponen de sistemas de secado y acondicionado de las nueces, los productores son conscientes de la importancia del tratamiento de post-cosecha que, sin duda, marca la calidad final de la producción y con ella el precio de la nuez. En la misma explotación las nueces son peladas, lavadas, secadas y muy habitualmente calibradas y envasadas. Las nueces se secan entre 10-12% bh. en cáscara, y hasta 5-6% bh. en grano, utilizando secadores de aire insuflado por la base, los tradicionales de ‘falso fondo’ son los más habituales.

Response of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, Thunberg 1793, to pesticide exposure under experimental conditions.

Pesticide run-off into the ocean represents a potential threat to marine organisms, especially bivalves living in coastal environments. However, little is known about the effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of pesticides at the individual level. In this study, the suppression subtractive hybridisation technique was used to discover the main physiological function affected by a cocktail of three pesticides (lindane, metolachlor and carbofuran) in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. Two oyster populations exposed to different pollution levels in the wild were investigated. The pesticide concentrations used to induce stress were close to those found in the wild. In a time course experiment, the expression of three genes implicated in iron metabolism and oxidative stress as well as that of two ubiquitous stress proteins was examined. No clear regulation of gene or protein expression was found, potentially due to a low-dose effect. However, we detected a strong site- and organ-specific response to the pesticides. This study thus (1) provides insight into bivalve responses to pesticide pollution at the level of the transcriptome, which is the first level of response for organisms facing pollution, and (2) raises interesting questions concerning the importance of the sites and organs studied in the toxicogenomic field.

Renograma 99mTc Post-Captoprilen la valoración de la hipertensión vásculo-renal en pacientes portadores de injerto renal.

Objectiu: Descripció de la metodologia del renograma isotòpic basal/postcaptopril (RIB/P) en pacients portadors de empelt renal amb sospita de malaltia vasculo-renal (MVR). Material i mètodes: Es va realitzar en 44 pacients trasplantats renals un renograma basal i 48 hores després un renograma postcaptopril administrant 25 mg de captopril v.o i realitzant una adquisició 30 minuts després. Resultats: Dels 44 estudis 6 van ser positius, constatant-se MVR per angio-TC i 38 van ser negatius tractats posteriorment amb IECAs o ARAII i no van mostrar alteracions significatives del funcionalisme renal. Conclusions: El RIB/P es una eina útil para determinar MVR en pacients amb empelt renal i hipertensió arterial.

Report of Dr Deirdre Madden on Post Mortem Practice and Procedures

This Report aims to set out the general facts in relation to paediatric post-mortem practice in Ireland from 1970 to 2000, the way in which information was communicated to parents of deceased children in relation to post-mortemexaminations, and how these practices might be improved upon for the future Read the Report  

Limiting the Exposure of Young People to Alcohol Advertising: 4th Annual report of the Alcohol Marketing Communications Monitoring Body

Limiting the Exposure of Young People to Alcohol Advertising: 4th Annual report of the Alcohol Marketing Communications Monitoring Body Click here to download PDF 156KB

Limiting the Exposure of Young People to Alcohol Advertising: 5th Annual report of the Alcohol Marketing Communications Monitoring Body

Limiting the Exposure of Young People to Alcohol Advertising: 5th Annual report of the Alcohol Marketing Communications Monitoring Body Click here to download PDF 173KB

Exposure to tobacco smoke before and after a partial smoking ban in prison: indoors air quality measures

Although exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is reportedly high in prison, few studies have measured this in the prison environment, and none have done so in Europe. We measured two indicators of SHS exposure (particulate matter PM10 and nicotine) in fixed locations before (2009) and after (2010) introduction of a partial smoking ban in a Swiss prison. Access to smoking cessation support was available to detainees throughout the study. Objectives To measure SHS before and after the introduction of a partial smoking ban. Methods Assessment of particulate matter PM10 (suspended microparticles of 10 μm) and nicotine in ambient air, collected by real-time aerosol monitor and nicotine monitoring devices. Results The authors observed a significant improvement of nicotine concentrations in the air after the introduction of the smoking ban (before: 7.0 μg/m(3), after: 2.1 μg/m(3), difference 4.9 μg/m(3), 95% CI for difference: 0.52 to 9.8, p=0.03) but not in particulate matter PM10 (before: 0.11 mg/m(3), after: 0.06 mg/m(3), difference 0.06 mg/m(3), 95% CI for difference of means: -0.07 to 0.19, p=0.30). Conclusions The partial smoking ban was followed by a decrease in nicotine concentrations in ambient air. These improvements can be attributed to the introduction of the smoking ban since no other policy change occurred during this period. Although this shows that concentrations of SHS decreased significantly, protection was still incomplete and further action is necessary to improve indoor air quality.

Limiting the Exposure of Young People to Alcohol Advertising - Annual Report 2011

Our task as a Monitoring Body is to oversee the implementation of and adherence to Voluntary Codes of Practice to limit the exposure of young people under the age of 18 years to alcohol advertising. As this Sixth Annual Report shows there was overall compliance in 2011 by television, radio, cinema, outdoor advertisers and newspapers and magazines with the obligations set down in the Codes. Click here to download PDF 2.03MB