Mental health of refugees following state-sponsored repatriation from Germany

von Lersner U, Elbert T, Neuner F. Mental health of refugees following state-sponsored repatriation from Germany. BMC Psychiatry. 2008;8(1): 88.BACKGROUND: In recent years, Voluntary Assisted Return Programmes (VARPs) have received increasing funding as a potential way of reducing the number of refugees in EU member states. A number of factors may affect the mental well-being of returnees. These include adjustment to the home country following return, difficult living conditions, and long-term effects resulting from the severe traumatic stress that had originally driven the affected out of their homes. Little is known about the extent to which these and other factors may promote or inhibit the willingness of refugees to return to their country of origin. The present pilot study investigated refugees who returned to their country of origin after having lived in exile in Germany for some 13 years. METHODS: Forty-seven VARP participants were interviewed concerning their present living conditions, their views of their native country, and their attitudes towards a potential return prior to actually returning. 33 participants were interviewed nine months after returning to their country of origin. Mental health and well-being were assessed using the questionnaires Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and EUROHIS and the structured Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.).Our objectives were to examine the mental health status of refugees returning to their home country following an extended period of exile. We also aimed to assess the circumstances under which people decided to return, the current living conditions in their home country, and retrospective returnee evaluations of their decision to accept assisted return. RESULTS: Prior to returning to their home country, participants showed a prevalence rate of 53% for psychiatric disorders. After returning, this rate increased to a sizeable 88%. Substantial correlations were found between the living situation in Germany, the disposition to return, and mental health. For two thirds of the participants, the decision to return was not voluntary. CONCLUSION: Psychological strain among study participants was of a considerable magnitude. As a result of traumatic stress experienced during war and refuge, victims were vulnerable and not well equipped to cope with either post-migration stressors in exile or with a return to their country of origin. It is noteworthy that the majority returned under pressure from immigration authorities. Living conditions after return (such as housing, work, and health care) were poor and unstable. Participants also had great difficulty readapting to the cultural environment after having lived abroad for an average of 13 years. Current VARPs do not take these factors into account and are therefore not able to assist in a humanitarian reintegration of voluntary returnees

Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation

von Lersner U, Wiens U, Elbert T, Neuner F. Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation. BMC International Health and Human Rights. 2008;8(1): 8

Design of a Quadrotor System for an Autonomous Indoor Exploration

This paper describes the hardware components and the embedded software of a self-designed unmanned aerial system (UAS) to fulfill the task of an autonomous indoor exploration. The project, the paper is based on, was conducted at the University of Braunschweig - Institute of Technology by students and scientific researchers studying and working at the Institute of Flight Guidance. The paper is structured as follows. The first part deals with the development, selection, collocation and assembling of the appropriate hardware to obtain a reliable and robust system which suits the task of controlling the UAS, collecting information about the environment and providing the computational resources to execute the implemented algorithms. The second part deals with the software architecture that generates the control commands for the quadrotor UAS and ensures the execution of the mission by the stepwise fulfillment of single tasks

The relevance of urodynamic studies for urge syndrome and dysfunctional voiding:A multicenter controlled trial in children

Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare prospectively, in urge syndrome and dysfunctional voiding, clinical patterns with urodynamic patterns, to assess changes in urodynamic patterns after treatment, and to correlate urodynamic patterns and parameters with treatment outcome. Materials and Methods: In the European Bladder Dysfunction Study 97 children with clinically diagnosed urge syndrome received standard treatment, to which was randomly added placebo, oxybutynin or bladder training with online feedback. In a separate branch 105 children with clinically diagnosed dysfunctional voiding were randomly allocated to standard treatment or standard treatment plus pelvic floor training with online feedback. In all children urodynamic studies were performed before and immediately after treatment. Results: In urge syndrome detrusor overactivity was present in 33% of cases before and 27% after treatment (of which 65% were de novo). Detrusor overactivity did not correlate with treatment outcome. In dysfunctional voiding increased pelvic floor activity during voiding, which was present in 67% of cases before and 56% after treatment (of which 45% were de novo), did not correlate with treatment outcome. In urge syndrome as well as in dysfunctional voiding neither maximum detrusor pressure during voiding, cystometric bladder capacity, bladder compliance nor free flow patterns correlated with treatment outcome. Conclusions: Neither detrusor overactivity nor increased pelvic floor activity during voiding correlated with treatment outcome. Standard treatment could be the first choice in urge syndrome as well as in dysfunctional voiding, reserving urodynamic studies for patients in whom this first approach fails

Hebrews' Angelology in the Light of Early Jewish Apocalyptic Imagery

Hebrews’ references and allusions to angels are investigated in the light of early Jewish apocalyptic imagery and against the backdrop of similarities with a number of aspects that possibly underlie the Qumran community. It became clear that the author of Hebrews has a complex and more developed understanding of angels. Firstly, the author presents a “high” Christology in Heb 1–2, which argues about Christ’s exaltation to the right hand of God, a position as King and Judge that differs from the other “sons of God,” i.e. the angels (1:4–5). As they have inferior positions, roles and names, the angels should worship this “Firstborn” (1:6). They are made to be winds, fl ames of fi re, servants (1:7) and messengers of God to humanity (2:2). After his temporary humiliation (2:7), Christ now rules whereas the angels are still carrying out their duties through the aeons as servants of God. Secondly, Heb 12–13 takes the reader into heaven and presents an apocalyptic glimpse of a festal gathering of earthly believers and angels in the heavenly Jerusalem, sharing in an act of cultic worship within the “congregation of the Firstborn.” Thirdly, the character of Moses as a “son of God” (Heb 3) and that of Melchizedek (Heb 7), who was perceived as the archangel Michael in some circles of early Judaism, were positioned alongside the angels by the author of Hebrews. His angelology is clearly subordinate to his Christology – a picture which becomes even clearer against the backdrop of the position of angels in the early Jewish apocalyptic world. Fourthly, Christian hospitality is based on the argument that those entertained might even be angels. The appeal is rooted in the belief of the visitation of angels amongst humans in an anthropomorphic form which makes them unrecognizable to humans. This argument completes the circle of relations between Christ, the angels and humans in Hebrews: Christ occupies the ultimate position in heaven and the angels are subordinate to him. Angels are nonetheless of a higher rank than humans, being the messengers of God.http://journals.sabinet.co.za/ej/ejour_patris.htm