Inevitable Deaths Research Articles

Eliciting Mortality Salience in Dark Tourism and its Influence

While dark tourism research has increasingly emphasized mortality salience’s role in exploring dark tourists’ experiences, little is known regarding the triggers and effects of mortality salience. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 tourists visiting the Xuankou Middle School (Wenchuan earthquake site), revealing that both the objective and constructive authenticity of tourism objects can trigger mortality salience. Mortality salience can prompt tourists to seek to increase their self-esteem, family connectedness, and sense of national identity to cope with their inevitable deaths. A second survey-based study found a positive relationship between mortality salience and the identified triggers and effects. Theoretical contributions include advancing terror management theory’s development in dark tourism research, enhancing the understanding of dark tourism’s meanings, and inspiring research on dark tourism’s death education. Practical implications include suggesting managers continuously collect and display authentic objects related to the site’s disaster and provide message areas for tourists to share their experiences.

Annexin A2 Stabilizes Oncogenic JAG1 Intracellular Domain by Inhibiting Proteasomal Degradation in Glioblastoma Cells.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal brain cancer, causing inevitable deaths of patients owing to frequent relapses of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The significance of the NOTCH signaling pathway in CSCs has been well recognized; however, there is no NOTCH-selective treatment applicable to patients with GBM. We recently reported that Jagged1 (JAG1), a NOTCH ligand, drives a NOTCH receptor-independent signaling pathway via JAG1 intracellular domain (JICD1) as a crucial signal that renders CSC properties. Therefore, mechanisms regulating the JICD1 signaling pathway should be elucidated to further develop a selective therapeutic regimen. Here, we identified annexin A2 (ANXA2) as an essential modulator to stabilize intrinsically disordered JICD1. The binding of ANXA2 to JICD1 prevents the proteasomal degradation of JICD1 by heat shock protein-70/90 and carboxy-terminus of Hsc70 interacting protein E3 ligase. Furthermore, JICD1-driven propagation and tumor aggressiveness were inhibited by ANXA2 knockdown. Taken together, our findings show that ANXA2 maintains the function of the NOTCH receptor-independent JICD1 signaling pathway by stabilizing JICD1, and the targeted suppression of JICD1-driven CSC properties can be achieved by blocking its interaction with ANXA2.

The novel Orshina Rhythm in a colonial urochordate signifies the display of recurrent aging/rejuvenation sequels

When it comes to aging, some colonial invertebrates present disparate patterns from the customary aging phenomenon in unitary organisms, where a single senescence phenomenon along ontogeny culminates in their inevitable deaths. Here we studied aging processes in 81 colonies of the marine urochordate Botryllus schlosseri each followed from birth to death (over 720 days). The colonies were divided between three life history strategies, each distinct from the others based on the presence/absence of colonial fission: NF (no fission), FA (fission develops after the colony reaches maximal size), and FB (fission develops before the colony reaches maximal size). The study revealed recurring patterns in sexual reproductive statuses (hermaphroditism and male-only settings), colonial vigor, and size. These recurring patterns, collectively referred to as an Orshina, with one or more 'astogenic segments' on the genotype level. The combination of these segments forms the Orshina rhythm. Each Orshina segment lasts about three months (equivalent to 13 blastogenic cycles), and concludes with either the colonial death or rejuvenation, and is manipulated by absence/existing of fission events in NF/FA/FB strategies. These findings indicate that reproduction, life span, death, rejuvenation and fission events are important scheduled biological components in the constructed Orshina rhythm, a novel aging phenomenon.

Apocrypha Hiberniae II: Apocalyptica 2

Apocrypha Hiberniae II: Apocalyptica 2

Oncologists' Locus of Control, Compassion Fatigue, Compassion Satisfaction, and the Mediating Role of Helplessness.

The oncology setting may give rise to significant feelings of helplessness among oncologists via patients’ inevitable deaths or suffering. The current study examines whether and how oncologists’ sense of control (locus of control; LOC) influences their compassion fatigue and satisfaction. Methods: Seventy-three oncologists completed the following questionnaires: the Professional Quality of Life scale; Levenson’s Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance scale; the Guilt Inventory, State Guilt subscale; and the Learned Helplessness scale. Results: Oncologists reported high levels of secondary traumatic stress and burnout and moderate levels of compassion satisfaction. A positive association between oncologists’ external LOC and compassion fatigue, and a negative association between oncologists’ internal LOC and compassion fatigue, were found. Helplessness, but not guilt, had a mediating role in these associations. Internal LOC was also positively associated with compassion satisfaction. Conclusions: The current study highlights oncologists as a population at risk of experiencing compassion fatigue and emphasizes oncologists’ locus of control as a predisposition that plays a role in the development of this phenomenon. Additionally, the cognitive as well as the emotional aspects of control were found to be important factors associated with compassion fatigue.

Barriers and facilitators to reporting deaths following Ebola surveillance in Sierra Leone: implications for sustainable mortality surveillance based on an exploratory qualitative assessment

ObjectivesTo understand the barriers contributing to the more than threefold decline in the number of deaths (of all causes) reported to a national toll free telephone line (1-1-7) after the...

More than mortality data: a news media analysis of COVID-19 deaths in Aotearoa, New Zealand

ABSTRACT News media have an important social role during times of disruption including national emergencies. This paper bears witness to the 21 New Zealanders who died during the first lockdown due to COVID-19 by critically examining the nature of their portrayal in mainstream newspapers. We searched Knowledgebasket for newspapers published between 28 February 2020 and 13 May 2020 relating to COVID-19 deaths. Of the 147 included articles, 50 were selected for in-depth thematic analysis. Our key finding is that COVID-19 made the death of ordinary older New Zealanders newsworthy, albeit in a way that distinguished individuals by residential status. This is reflected in the themes identified: (1) Unexpected community deaths; (2) Inevitable aged residential care deaths; (3) Justification for lockdown measures. We conclude that New Zealand journalists played an important advocacy role in justifying New Zealand’s ‘go hard go early’ approach through the largely compassionate coverage of older people’s deaths.

Honoring Emil J. Freireich: A Visionary Medical Cancer Researcher-March 21, 1927-February 1, 2021.

![][1] Dr. Emil Freireich at MD Anderson in 2018, in conversation with Lauren Gobert, a leukemia physician assistant who had childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia cured by combination therapy developed as a result of Dr. Freireich's research. Emil J, Freireich, a founding father of

Cannibalism

Chloe Fouilloux and colleagues introduce animal cannibalism.

Eric Goosby: the UN special envoy for tuberculosis

Eric Goosby: the UN special envoy for tuberculosis

Tuberculosis-An Ancient Scourge

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), and has been present in the human population since antiquity; fragments of the spinal column from Egyptian mummies from 2400 BCE show definite signs of TB. The term ‘phthisis’, i.e. consumption, appears first in the Greek literature. Around 460 BCE, Hippocrates identified phthisis as the most widespread disease of the times, and noted that it was almost always fatal. Due to common phthisis-related fatalities, he wrote something no doctor would dare write today; he warned his colleagues against visiting TB patients in late stages of the disease, because their inevitable deaths might damage the reputations of the attending physicians. Exact pathological and anatomical descriptions of the disease began to appear in the 17th century. In his Opera Medica of 1679, Sylvius was the first to identify actual tubercles as a consistent and characteristic change in the lungs and other areas of consumptive patients. He also described their progression to abscesses and cavities. The earliest references to the infectious nature of the disease appeared in the 17th century Italian medical literature. Although victims of TB occur all over the globe, this disease posses a tough challenge in the developing countries, which accounts for about 95% of all TB cases.

Evolution of mortality amongst the youth of Navarra: 1985-1995

Recent publications show that mortality rates amongst young people and adolescents in some industrialised countries have increased in recent years. The addition of new diseases such as AIDS, which principally affect the young population, to those inevitable deaths brought about through causes such as traffic accidents has increased interest in this public health problem. The number of deaths and the adjusted global mortality rates amongst men and women of 15-34 years did not increase in Navarra in the 1985-1995 period. These are situated around 70 per 100,000. Changes have taken place in the pattern of causes, similar to those observed in other industrialised areas, with an increase of deaths through overdose and AIDS, and a decline in mortality due to traffic accidents in recent years. Traffic accidents were the first cause of death amongst youths until 1993. From this year onwards deaths from AIDS became the first cause amongst women, while amongst men the number of deaths from AIDS is equal to those caused by traffic accidents.

Prehospital deaths in the Yorkshire Health Region.

To estimate the proportion of prehospital deaths in a British population of trauma victims which may be preventable, and to investigate the effect of death at the scene and death in transit on potential survivorship. Blinded review, by four specialists with an interest in trauma, of necropsy results and details of age, sex, and mechanism of injury for prehospital trauma deaths in the Yorkshire Health Region in a 12 month period. Complete records were traced on 305 of 337 trauma deaths, 190 being recorded as dead on arrival of emergency services and 115 dead on arrival at hospital. In the group declared dead at the scene, three of the four assessors considered 93% of deaths to have been inevitable and only 2% as potential survivors (25% of this group sustaining inevitably fatal injuries such as brain avulsion or decapitation). In the group dead on arrival 81% were felt to be inevitable deaths and 5% potential survivors. There seems to be less scope for salvage of victims of trauma death in a British population than has been recorded in America, possibly due to a higher proportion of blunt trauma deaths here. Those who die in transit consist of a less severely injured group with a higher potential for survival.

Higher rates of SIDS persist in low income groups

To examine how changes in the rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have varied in different income groups during a 25 year period. Census data were obtained for five census periods (1971, 1976, 1981, 1986 and 1991) on the number of SIDS cases and inevitable deaths. Census area units (CAU) were ranked according to the average income earned by adults over the age of 15 years for each census year. The CAU were then divided into three equal income groups: low, middle and high. The rates of SIDS differed significantly between the three income groups for the 1991 census period with the low income SIDS rate being 4.6/1000 births compared to 1.2/1000 live births for the higher income groups (Chi-squared = 18.3, P < 0.0001). There was no association between rates of inevitable deaths and income groups. Currently, low income groups have three times the rate of SIDS compared to those in higher income groups. The reason for this is probably because the disadvantaged groups carry an overall higher burden of risk factors for SIDS. This must be kept in mind as further SIDS educational programmes are developed and implemented.

A SURVEY OF RURAL ROAD FATALITIES

This study is a retrospective case series analysis of all 82 road deaths occurring in the Orana Area Health Service (OAHS) over the 2 year period 1989-90. The OAHS services a population of 112,800 in an area of 199,077 km2 in north-west New South Wales. The aim of the study was to document timing, place and cause of deaths, severity of injuries, pre-hospital management of victims, and a TRISS analysis of outcome. This was done using ambulance, hospital, police and autopsy reports. Seventy-two (88%) of the victims were motor vehicle occupants, five (6%) were motorcyclists and four (5%) were pedestrians. The median ambulance response time to the scene of the accident was 17 min (range 2-103 min). All deaths occurred within 24 h of injury with 65 (79%) of the victims being dead at the scene, nine (11%) dying en-route and eight (10%) reaching hospital alive. A TRISS analysis was performed on 51 deaths and 8% (4/51) of these had a greater than 50% probability of survival. Of the victims that had inevitable deaths according to TRISS, 11% (5/47) may have survived if pre-hospital care arrived sooner. Reduction in the rural road toll is achievable through preventative measures and strategies to improve access to care and administration of pre-hospital care.

Differences in postperinatal infant deaths between north and southern Derbyshire.

In depth confidential inquiries on all post-perinatal infant deaths were carried out for two years in North and Southern Derbyshire District Health Authorities in order to explore why the postperinatal death rates and cot death rates have been consistently higher in Southern than in North Derbyshire. It was found that the death rates for probably inevitable deaths and for 'idiopathic' cot deaths were the same in both districts. The differences in the death rates lay in the group of partly explained cot deaths. Adverse social factors associated with each death were recorded and an estimate made of their relevance to the individual deaths. The group of deaths most amenable to intervention was those of category B (partly explained cot deaths). As judged by the Jarman index there are more areas of deprivation in Southern than in North Derbyshire.

Cardiac arrest during anaesthesia. A computeraided study in 250 543 anaesthetics

With the aid of a computer-based anaesthetic record-keeping system, all cardiac arrests during anaesthesia at the Karolinska Hospital between July 1967 and December 1984 were retrieved. There were a total of 170 cardiac arrests and 250,543 anaesthetics in the data file, which gives an incidence of 6.8 cardiac arrests per 10,000 anaesthetics. Sixty patients died, constituting a mortality of 2.4 per 10,000 anaesthetics: 42 were considered as inevitable deaths (rupture of aortic or cerebral aneurysm, multitrauma, etc.); 13 cases of cardiac arrest were considered as non-anaesthetic, i.e. complications due to surgery and other procedures. Nine of these patients died. 115 cases of cardiac arrest were considered as caused by the anaesthetic and nine of these patients died. Thus mortality caused by anaesthesia was 0.3 per 10,000 anaesthetics. The most common cause of cardiac arrest due to anaesthesia was hypoxia because of ventilatory problems (27 patients), postsuccinylcholine asystole (23 patients) and post-induction hypotension (14 patients). The highest mortality was seen when spinal or epidural anaesthetics were given to patients with impaired physical status including hypovolaemia. The incidence of cardiac arrest has declined considerably during the period studied, and this coincides with an increasing number of qualified anaesthetists employed in the department during the same period.

Inevitable and avoidable deaths in childhood ALL.

The causes of 37 deaths among 100 Finnish children with ALL were analyzed after a median follow-up of 5 years. Five children died during primary induction, 9 in complete remission, and 23 in hematological relapse. Infections were responsible for 17 deaths, and four deaths were due to toxicity of chemotherapy. In 16 cases ALL relapse was the major cause of death. Ten of the deaths were defined as "avoidable" because they occurred in potentially curable children, i.e., during induction or primary remission. Critical analysis revealed that 5 out of the 10 "avoidable" deaths might indeed have been prevented by appropriate diagnosis and therapy. We want to emphasize the need for continuous education of all pediatricians involved in the care of ALL patients, as well as the importance of best available clinical expertise and centralization of medical therapy in the efforts to diminish the mortality in childhood ALL.

Subacute cor pulmonale: Report of four cases

Subacute cor pulmonale is a distinct clinical syndrome that is often not too easily diagnosed. Its salient features are (1) development of sudden dyspnea of a progressive nature; (2) absence of an underlying cardiopulmonary disorder to account for the dyspnea, or presence of such disorder in an asymptomatic phase; (3) paucity of physical signs in the chest to explain the dyspnea; (4) signs of failure of the right side of the heart developing later in the course of the disease; (5) lack of therapeutic response to the usual measures for congestive heart failure; (6) roentgenographic evidence of lymphangitic carcinomatosis or pulmonary embolization; (7) electrocardiographic abnormalities suggesting hypertrophy and dilatation of the right ventricle; and (8) a clinical course of only a few weeks or months. Inasmuch as an underlying thrombophlebitis or phlebothrombosis may be responsible for the development of pulmonary embolization, one of the causes of subacute cor pulmonale, it appears reasonable to suggest that anticoagulants be administered as soon as the presence of this condition is suspected. Such early prophylactic therapy may prevent a certain number of otherwise inevitable deaths.

The treatment of tuberculous meningitis

Any review of the treatment of tuberculous meningitis by streptomycin at this stage must be depressing. Human memory is so short that we forget the inevitable and speedy deaths of the years before 1947 and concentrate on the disappointing failures of treatment with streptomycin after 8 or 10 or 14 months of apparent response. It is far too early yet to assess the place of this rather toxic drug in therapeutics. Our limited experience suggests that intrathecal therapy is necessary for at least 6 weeks if even 20 per cent. of the cases are to survive. The great majority of cases survive for long periods, and this feature must also be put to the credit side of streptomycin. Over a year ago, in another place, I said, in trying to evaluate streptomycin as an effective weapon against this condition, that it was only the “end of the beginning”. I feel the same now. We want not a drug which cures 20 per cent. of cases, and leaves a quarter of them deaf after a year or more of treatment, but a preparation of much higher potency and of lower toxicity. At any rate, one individual who has had to treat several hundred cases of tuberculous meningitis during a quarter of a century is glad to be afforded the privilege of placing before this assembly of tuberculosis experts some account of 19 surviving cases treated in one hospital during the last two years.