title: Neuroethical implications of focused ultrasound for neuropsychiatric illness

authors: Asher, Rachel

subjects: Ethics

abstract: Background: MR-guided focused ultrasound is a promising intervention for treatment-resistant mental illness, and merits contextualized ethical exploration in relation to more extensive ethical literature regarding other psychosurgical and neuromodulation treatment options for this patient population. To our knowledge, this topic has not yet been explored in the published literature. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss in detail the neuroethical implications of MR-guided focused ultrasound for neuropsychiatric illness as an emerging treatment modality. Methods: Due to the lack of published literature on the topic, the approach involved a detailed survey and review of technical and medical literature relevant to focused ultrasound and established ethical issues related to alternative treatment options for patients with treatment-resistant, severe and persistent mental illness. The manuscript is structured according to thematic and topical findings. Results: This technology has potential benefits for patients suffering with severe mental illness, compared with established alternatives. The balance of technical, neuroscientific and clinical considerations should inform ethical deliberations. The nascent literature base, nuances in legal classification and permissibility depending upon jurisdiction, influences of past ethical issues associated with alternative treatments, tone and framing in media articles, and complexity of clinical trials all influence ethical assessment and evaluations of multiple stakeholders. Recommendations for future research are provided based on these factors. Conclusion: Salient ethical inquiry should be further explored by researchers, clinicians, and ethicists in a nuanced manner methodologically, one which is informed by past and present ethical issues related to alternative treatment options, broader psychiatric treatment frameworks, pragmatic implementation challenges, intercultural considerations, and patients’ ethical concerns.

text: Neuroethical implications of focused ultrasound for neuropsychiatric illness Background: MR-guided focused ultrasound is a promising intervention for treatment-resistant mental illness, and merits contextualized ethical exploration in relation to more extensive ethical literature regarding other psychosurgical and neuromodulation treatment options for this patient population. To our knowledge, this topic has not yet been explored in the published literature. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review and discuss in detail the neuroethical implications of MR-guided focused ultrasound for neuropsychiatric illness as an emerging treatment modality. Methods: Due to the lack of published literature on the topic, the approach involved a detailed survey and review of technical and medical literature relevant to focused ultrasound and established ethical issues related to alternative treatment options for patients with treatment-resistant, severe and persistent mental illness. The manuscript is structured according to thematic and topical findings. Results: This technology has potential benefits for patients suffering with severe mental illness, compared with established alternatives. The balance of technical, neuroscientific and clinical considerations should inform ethical deliberations. The nascent literature base, nuances in legal classification and permissibility depending upon jurisdiction, influences of past ethical issues associated with alternative treatments, tone and framing in media articles, and complexity of clinical trials all influence ethical assessment and evaluations of multiple stakeholders. Recommendations for future research are provided based on these factors. Conclusion: Salient ethical inquiry should be further explored by researchers, clinicians, and ethicists in a nuanced manner methodologically, one which is informed by past and present ethical issues related to alternative treatment options, broader psychiatric treatment frameworks, pragmatic implementation challenges, intercultural considerations, and patients’ ethical concerns.

year: 2023-05

title: The Te Aroha silver and gold mining company: the introduction of Australian capital to Waiorongomai

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: William Robert Wilson, one of the founders of B.H.P., visited New Zealand on several occasions both to obtain relief for his rheumatism and to acquire racehorses. In 1888, after Josiah Clifton Firth and Henry Hopper Adams extolled the wonders of the Waiorongomai goldfield, he visited it, took samples for testing, and expressed confidence in its great future. Upon his return to Australia he formed the Te Aroha Silver and Gold Mining Company on terms that benefited the promoters but did not provide adequate working capital. 
The new company developed some of the existing mines and did some prospecting of nearby areas. The battery, completely overhauled on the American pattern under the supervision of American experts, was the best plant in Australasia. When it operated, after obtaining some very positive results it ran out of both suitable ore and fluxes and had to close, and mining ceased. The company then sought a government subsidy to drive an expensive low-level tunnel to provide cheaper access to the lodes at depth, threatening to dismantle the plant and remove it to Australia if the subsidy was not provided. As Cabinet did not want to set a precedent, its request was declined; accordingly, the plant was dismantled and sent to Australia. For a time its mines were held under protection, to the annoyance of local miners, but were then abandoned.
The company failed because its plant had an inappropriate process for the complex and refractory local ore, did not have cheap fluxes, and there was insufficient high-grade ore. Post mortems agreed it should have spent more time developing the mines and testing the ore before erecting such an expensive plant. The collapse of this company held back the development of the field for years.

text: The Te Aroha silver and gold mining company: the introduction of Australian capital to Waiorongomai William Robert Wilson, one of the founders of B.H.P., visited New Zealand on several occasions both to obtain relief for his rheumatism and to acquire racehorses. In 1888, after Josiah Clifton Firth and Henry Hopper Adams extolled the wonders of the Waiorongomai goldfield, he visited it, took samples for testing, and expressed confidence in its great future. Upon his return to Australia he formed the Te Aroha Silver and Gold Mining Company on terms that benefited the promoters but did not provide adequate working capital. 
The new company developed some of the existing mines and did some prospecting of nearby areas. The battery, completely overhauled on the American pattern under the supervision of American experts, was the best plant in Australasia. When it operated, after obtaining some very positive results it ran out of both suitable ore and fluxes and had to close, and mining ceased. The company then sought a government subsidy to drive an expensive low-level tunnel to provide cheaper access to the lodes at depth, threatening to dismantle the plant and remove it to Australia if the subsidy was not provided. As Cabinet did not want to set a precedent, its request was declined; accordingly, the plant was dismantled and sent to Australia. For a time its mines were held under protection, to the annoyance of local miners, but were then abandoned.
The company failed because its plant had an inappropriate process for the complex and refractory local ore, did not have cheap fluxes, and there was insufficient high-grade ore. Post mortems agreed it should have spent more time developing the mines and testing the ore before erecting such an expensive plant. The collapse of this company held back the development of the field for years.

year: 2016

title: Boat electrofishing survey of fish abundance in the Ohau Channel, Rotorua, in 2015

authors: Hicks, Brendan J.

abstract: The aim of the survey was to provide on-going monitoring of the fish communities and abundance by boat electrofishing in the Ohau Channel, especially fish species that are taonga to Maori (eels, goldfish, and koura). In the current study, we present the findings from the ninth year of sampling (2015) and a summary of previous surveys.
We used the University of Waikato's 4.5 m-long, aluminium-hulled electrofishing boat to catch a total of total of 1,198 fish and koura (18.9 kg) at 13 sites on 2 December 2015, which comprised 2,671 lineal m and 10,684 m² in area. Koura (freshwater crayfish) and 6 fish species were present, with common bully the most abundant species (up to 45.5 fish 100 m⁻² at the site 6, edge habitat). Goldfish (up to 4.85 100 m⁻²) was the next most abundant species, with most goldfish at sites 7 and 12-13 in and around the side channel. Rainbow trout densities were up to 0.28 fish 100 m⁻². Mean bully density (11.41 fish 100 m⁻²) was much higher than for smelt (0.29 fish 100 m⁻²). Koura had a patchy distribution; only 3 individuals were caught at one site.
Comparing catches over the 9 years of sampling, the mean abundance of common bullies in 2015 was consistent with densities in most post-wall years (after 2007), but lower than in 2007 before wall closure (ANOVA P = 0.001). The cause of fluctuating bully abundance is not known, and was not accounted for by changes in water clarity expressed as black disc distance (BDD), water temperature, or water conductivity. Poor water clarity can reduce the efficiency of electrofishing, but high BDD did not correspond with high common bully densities. In 2015, smelt abundance had recovered somewhat from the low catch in 2014.
Goldfish biomass increased initially (2009-2010) because of targeted fishing in the excavated side branch (site 11), which has dense macrophytes and offers good habitat for goldfish. The continued rise in density from 2012 on, however, suggests a real increase in goldfish numbers. In 2012 and 2013 shortfin eels were caught, but no eels were caught in 2014 and only a single longfin eel was caught in 2015.
Analysis of fish densities before and after wall closure is hampered by the single data point before closure. However, we now have 9 years of post-wall data, and comparison of means suggest that the number of bullies has been lower since 2007. An obvious cause could be interruption of bully migration into the Ohau Channel from Lake Rotoiti by the wall. This suggests that the bully population in the Ohau Channel before wall construction and closure was a mixture of fish from lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, and that recruitment from Rotoiti is now restricted. This hypothesis is testable with otolith microchemistry.

text: Boat electrofishing survey of fish abundance in the Ohau Channel, Rotorua, in 2015 The aim of the survey was to provide on-going monitoring of the fish communities and abundance by boat electrofishing in the Ohau Channel, especially fish species that are taonga to Maori (eels, goldfish, and koura). In the current study, we present the findings from the ninth year of sampling (2015) and a summary of previous surveys.
We used the University of Waikato's 4.5 m-long, aluminium-hulled electrofishing boat to catch a total of total of 1,198 fish and koura (18.9 kg) at 13 sites on 2 December 2015, which comprised 2,671 lineal m and 10,684 m² in area. Koura (freshwater crayfish) and 6 fish species were present, with common bully the most abundant species (up to 45.5 fish 100 m⁻² at the site 6, edge habitat). Goldfish (up to 4.85 100 m⁻²) was the next most abundant species, with most goldfish at sites 7 and 12-13 in and around the side channel. Rainbow trout densities were up to 0.28 fish 100 m⁻². Mean bully density (11.41 fish 100 m⁻²) was much higher than for smelt (0.29 fish 100 m⁻²). Koura had a patchy distribution; only 3 individuals were caught at one site.
Comparing catches over the 9 years of sampling, the mean abundance of common bullies in 2015 was consistent with densities in most post-wall years (after 2007), but lower than in 2007 before wall closure (ANOVA P = 0.001). The cause of fluctuating bully abundance is not known, and was not accounted for by changes in water clarity expressed as black disc distance (BDD), water temperature, or water conductivity. Poor water clarity can reduce the efficiency of electrofishing, but high BDD did not correspond with high common bully densities. In 2015, smelt abundance had recovered somewhat from the low catch in 2014.
Goldfish biomass increased initially (2009-2010) because of targeted fishing in the excavated side branch (site 11), which has dense macrophytes and offers good habitat for goldfish. The continued rise in density from 2012 on, however, suggests a real increase in goldfish numbers. In 2012 and 2013 shortfin eels were caught, but no eels were caught in 2014 and only a single longfin eel was caught in 2015.
Analysis of fish densities before and after wall closure is hampered by the single data point before closure. However, we now have 9 years of post-wall data, and comparison of means suggest that the number of bullies has been lower since 2007. An obvious cause could be interruption of bully migration into the Ohau Channel from Lake Rotoiti by the wall. This suggests that the bully population in the Ohau Channel before wall construction and closure was a mixture of fish from lakes Rotorua and Rotoiti, and that recruitment from Rotoiti is now restricted. This hypothesis is testable with otolith microchemistry.

year: 2016