Psychology Space

Challenges Posed By A Major Terrorist Attack Highlighted By Mumbai Hospital Review - Meticulous forward planning, effective casualty assessment by a senior surgeon and efficient teamwork by medical and administrative staff are essential when handling injuries sustained in major terrorist incidents…
Biosecurity Runs Up Against Scientific Endeavor: NSABB And H5N1 Redactions - In response to recent actions of the U.S…
Newly Engineered Highly Transmissible H5N1 Strain Ignites Controversy About Balancing Scientific Discovery And Public Safety - Scientists have engineered a new strain of H5N1 (commonly known as bird flu) to be readily transmitted between humans. Two perspectives being published early online in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, raise concerns about if and how this research should be continued, and how the data should be shared for the benefit of public health…
Decision Of Researchers To Temporarily Halt Research On H5N1 Applauded By Georgetown Professor - A Georgetown University Medical Center professor says the voluntary action taken by two research teams to temporarily halt work involving the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 is “laudable…
Tracing Explosives And Fish With Chemical Tags - Researchers at the University of Oviedo (Spain) have come up with a way of tagging gunpowder which allows its illegal use to be detected even after it has been detonated. Based on the addition of isotopes, the technique can also be used to track and differentiate between wild fish and those from a fish farm, such as trout and salmon…
WTC Responders’ PTSD Linked To Respiratory Illness - More than a decade after 9/11, the “FirstView” section online in Psychological Medicine published results of a study in which the association between two signature health problems amongst WTC first responders was examined, namely respiratory illness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study was led by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D., an Edmund D…
WTC Attack Responders - PTSD Linked To Respiratory Disease - Results of an investigation analyzing the association between the two signature health problems - post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and respiratory illness - among recovery workers who responded first at the World Trade Center (WTC), have been revealed after more than a decade following the terrorist attacks on the WTC. The study was led by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D., the Edmund D…
Mutated Bird Flu Research Worries World Health Organization - Research on the H5N1 influenza (bird flu) virus’ human transmissibility is seriously starting to worry WHO (World Health Organization) experts - in a written statement, the authors express concern about the potential risks linked to this research. The possible negative consequences of some experiments are serious and potentially dangerous…
Terrorists Who Use Nerve Gas And Other Agents Could Be Tracked Down Using New Test - Scientists are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind technology that could help law enforcement officials trace the residues from terrorist attacks involving nerve gas and other chemical agents back to the companies or other sources where the perpetrators obtained ingredients for the agent…
US Govt Asks Scientists To Keep Lab-Bred Bird Flu Blueprint Secret - Imagine this, our worst nightmare becomes our reality: as anticipated, the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus that kills most people it infects has acquired the ability to transmit easily from bird to human and then from human to human and has reached pandemic proportions…
The Toll On Human Health Is Still Being Counted 10 Years After Attacks On World Trade Center - The World Trade Center disaster exposed nearly half a million people to hazardous chemicals, environmental toxins, and traumatic events. According to research published in the December 2011 issue of Elsevier-published journal Preventive Medicine, this has resulted in increased risk of developing physical and mental health conditions after 9/11…
When Planning For Terrorist Chemical Weapons, Pharmacists May Be Crucial - Terrorist attacks with chemical weapons are a real possibility, according to a study that appears in the online open access Journal of Pharmacy Practice, published by SAGE. Thanks to their extensive knowledge of toxic agents, and how to treat those who have been exposed, pharmacists are an invaluable resource in the event of an actual or potential chemical weapons attack…
Anthrax Attack, US Government Agrees $2.5 Million Payout, But Does Not Admit Fault - The family of Florida photo editor, Robert Stevens, who died following an anthrax attack, is to receive a payout of $2.5 million from the US government. According to court filings, Maureen Stevens will no longer pursue other claims. The lawsuit, which was filed in 2003, claimed government negligence because it did not stop somebody at U.S…
Norwegians Still Coming To Terms With Terror - How will the terrorist attacks in Norway on 22 July change the country? That question has been put to three social scientists at the University of Stavanger (UiS). “Norwegians are still in a state of shock,” says professor Odd Einar Olsen. “These incidents were so extensive and gruesome that people need time to come to terms with them…
Leading Chemical Weapons Preparedness Companies Announce Partnership To Deploy Break-through Diagnostic Test Internationally - ProQares a leading provider of testing, evaluation and certification services for protective equipment against chemical hazards announced a partnership with U.S.-based Rapid Pathogen Screening, Inc. (RPS®) a leading developer of point-of-care diagnostic tests, to deploy ChemTox™ in numerous countries throughout the European and Asia Pacific regions…
Lung Function Impairment After Exposure To WTC Dust Predicted By Metabolic Syndrome Biomarkers - Metabolic syndrome biomarkers predict subsequent decline in lung function after particulate exposure, according to new research involving rescue personnel exposed to World Trade Center (WTC) dust…
Key To Anthrax Defense Could Be Natural Killer Cells - One of the things that makes inhalational anthrax so worrisome for biodefense experts is how quickly a relatively small number of inhaled anthrax spores can turn into a lethal infection…
Viewing TV Coverage Of Terrorism Has More Negative Effect On Women - Exposure to television coverage of terrorism causes women to lose psychological resources much more than men, which leads to negative feelings and moodiness. This has been shown in a new study, conducted at the University of Haifa and soon to be published in Anxiety, Stress & Coping, that examined the differences between men and women in a controlled experiment environment…
Federal Government Wants To Test Anthrax Vaccine On Children - Terrorists could use the potentially deadly Anthrax bacteria on an attack against the United States, and there is plenty of vaccine stockpiled for use against this and other possible biological agents of warfare. However they have never been tested on children so the effectiveness and possible side effects of the vaccines are unknown in children…
The Effects Of Existential Fear On Politics - Why did the approval ratings of President George W. Bush - who was perceived as indecisive before September 11, 2001 - soar over 90 percent after the terrorist attacks? Because Americans were acutely aware of their own deaths. That is one lesson from the psychological literature on “mortality salience” reviewed in a new article called “The Politics of Mortal Terror…
Einstein Montefiore Bioethicist Helped Shape New Institute Of Medicine Report On Staging Antibiotics For Possible Anthrax Attack - The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report last Friday that provides guidance to U.S. public health officials to develop plans to pre-position antibiotics that can be distributed to the general public in the case of a large-scale anthrax attack. Tia Powell, M.D…
News From Annals Of Internal Medicine: Oct. 4, 2011 - 1. Key to Thwarting Bioterrorism Threat Lies in Clinicians’ Ability To Recognize Signs Ten Years Later, Doctor Who Identified Anthrax Case Reflects on Lessons Learned October 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the anthrax attacks that led to one of the largest epidemiologic and criminal investigations in U.S. history…
Community Storage Of Anthrax-Preventing Antibiotics Should Be Determined By State - As part of preparations for a possible large-scale anthrax attack, public health officials on the state and local levels should determine where and how anthrax-preventing antibiotics should be stored in their communities, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine…
10 Year Anniversary Of Anthrax Attacks In October, TFAH Statement - With the 10th anniversary of the anthrax attacks in the United States coming up this October, Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) marked the occasion making the following statement: “All of us at the Trust for America’s Health want to take this anniversary to remember those we lost and their loved ones and to commemorate the public h…
New Materials Hold Promise For Better Detection Of Nuclear Weapons - Northwestern University scientists have developed new materials that can detect hard radiation, a very difficult thing to do. The method could lead to a handheld device for detecting nuclear weapons and materials, such as a “nuclear bomb in a suitcase” scenario…