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The aim of this study was to determine the short-term prevalence of de novo urinary symptoms after hysterectomy indicated by meno/metrorrhagia or dysmenorrhea/dyspareunia. The study group consisted of 451 women who had had a hysterectomy for reasons of meno/metrorrhagia or dysmenorrhea/dyspareunia. Fifty-three (12%) had a supracervical, 151 (33%) a total abdominal and 247 (55%) a vaginal hysterectomy. As a non-gynecologic background population we enrolled 110 women who had had their gallbladder removed laparoscopically. All women received a postal questionnaire 9-45 months after their operation. Specific questions were asked about their voiding habits, comprising significant stress incontinence, bothersome stress incontinence, significant urge incontinence, bothersome urge incontinence, pollakisuria, nocturia, use of pads, and the feeling of having a hygiene problem. To evaluate de novo symptoms or de novo cure, the women assessed the symptoms before as well as after the operation. Results showed that abdominal hysterectomy lasted longer, had heavier blood loss and required longer hospitalization than did vaginal or supracervical hysterectomy. Women scheduled for a supracervical hysterectomy had preoperatively more significant and bothersome urge incontinence, and postoperatively more significant urge, urgency, and feeling of having a hygienic problem than did women having a vaginal hysterectomy, a total abdominal hysterectomy or a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. When assessing de novo symptoms, supracervical hysterectomy was associated with more urgency and the feeling of having a hygienic problem. Some women experienced de novo cure, but these were almost exclusively in the study group and rarely in the control group. It was concluded that supracervical hysterectomy is related to more urinary symptoms than vaginal or total abdominal hysterectomy. De novo symptoms as well as de novo cure are common, which is why urinary symptoms after hysterectomy must be evaluated over time.

The environmental mobility and bioavailability of radionuclides are related to their physicochemical forms, namely species. We here present a speciation analysis of important radionuclides including (129)I (also (127)I), (137)Cs, (232)Th, (238)U and plutonium isotopes ((239)Pu and (240)Pu) in soil (IAEA-375) and sediment (NIST-4354) standard reference materials and two fresh sediment samples from Øvre Heimdalsvatnet Lake, Norway. A modified sequential extraction protocol was used for the speciation analysis of these samples to obtain fractionation information of target radionuclides. Analytical results reveal that the partitioning behaviour, and thus the potential mobility and bioavailability, are exclusively featured for the individual radionuclide. Iodine is relatively mobile and readily binds to organic matter, while plutonium is mainly bound to both organic matter and nitric acid leachable fractions. Thorium is predominated in nitric acid leachable fraction and caesium is primarily observed in nitric acid and aqua regia leachable fractions and residue. Our analytical results reveal that around 50% of uranium might still remain in the residue which could not be extracted with aggressive acid, namely, aqua regia.

Radioactive anthropogenic pollution has raised concerns about the present and future environmental status of the semienclosed Baltic Sea. We here study the distribution and inventory of the anthropogenic radioactive (129)I in water depth profiles collected from 16 sites in August 2006 and 19 sites in April 2007 in the Baltic Proper and related Kattegat and Skagerrak basins. The results reveal considerable differences of (129)I concentration in terms of spatial and temporal variability and expose relatively high concentrations in the deep waters. Variability in the concentration of (127)I, stable natural isotope of iodine, seems to follow changes in the seawater salinity, but in oxygen-poor bottom waters sediment diagenetic release may contribute to the concentration of both isotopes in the water body. Inventory estimates show that (129)I in August 2006 (24.2 ± 15.4 kg) is higher than that in April 2007 (14.4 ± 8.3 kg) within the southern and central Baltic Proper whereas almost a constant load occurs in the Kattegat Basin. Calculated model inventory shows correspondence to empirical data and provides a guideline for future environmental assessment on the impact of (129)I load in the studied region.