Precious Lives Research Articles

Physio-pathology of induced endotoxaemia in bovine and its treatment regimen

Endotoxic shock was induced in five apparently healthy male buffalo calves by i.v infusion of Escherichia coli endotoxin at 5microgram/kilogram (μg/Kg) body weight/hour (BW/hr) for 3 hours. Endotoxin infusion caused clinical signs of restlessness, respiratory distress, snoring, diarrhoea, profuse salivation along with the significant hypoproteinemia, hypoalbuminemia and hypokalemia in all the animals. The animals were observed up to day 4 or death, whichever was earlier. The treatment with one time intravenous infusion of hypertonic saline solution @ 4milliliter/Kilogram body weight (ml/Kg?BW), dextran-40 @ 10 ml/Kg?BW, flunixin meglumine @ 1.1 milligram/Kg?BW (mg/Kg?BW) and blood @ 20 ml/Kg?BW to these animals alleviated the clinical signs and significantly raised the circulating glucose level at 4.5 and 5.5 hrs. The treatment led to survival of three of the five endotoxemic buffalo calves. The significant hypoproteinemia, hypoalbuminemia, hypokalemia and hypoglobulinemia continued even after treatment. Gross and histopathologic findings of congestion, haemorrhage, necrosis in vital organs viz., lungs, liver, kidneys, brain and intestines were suggestive of endotoxin induced hypoxia and multi-organ failure. Additionally, emphysema and fibrinous thrombi in microvasculature of lungs were salient histopathological findings indicating terminal respiratory failure in the remaining two dead endotoxemic buffalo calves. From clinical signs, plasma chemistry and pathological lesions, it was concluded that endotoxemia led to a disruption of critical life processes, but a timely and effective treatment could counter these deleterious effects and save precious lives.

Live Human Detecting Robot for Earthquake Rescue Operation

Natural calamities do occur and they are unstoppable. But humans are becoming increasingly aware in the concept of intelligent rescue operations in such calamities so that precious life and material can be saved though calamities cannot be stopped. Still there are lots of disasters that occur all of a sudden and Earthquake is one such thing. Earthquakes produce a devastating effect and they see no difference between human and material. Hence a lot of times humans are buried among the debris and it become impossible to detect them. A timely rescue can only save the people who are buried and wounded.Detection by rescue workers becomes time consuming and due to the vast area that gets affected it becomes more difficult. So the project proposes an autonomous robotic vehicle that moves in the earthquake prone area and helps in identifying the alive people and rescue operations.

Implementation of X-Tree Structure for Multidimensional Data Ranking

modern world, travelling has become as normal routine for most of the people in the cities. At the same time, frequency of happening of accidents also increasing alarmingly. Also one cannot avoid health care and should take proper health checks in hospitals periodically. At the time of accidents, to save precious lives, we must know better hospitals nearby. In that context, in this paper X-tree (1) structure has been implemented for multidimensional data ranking. Problem definition is explained in section1, importance of X-tree is explained in section2, Proposed System explained in section3, Advantages of Proposed system explained in Section 4, Implementation and sample data are explained in sections 5 and 6, module description and other constraints have been explained in the remaining sections.

Fatal cardiac tamponade by Bodkin

Cardiac tamponade is life-threatening, slow or rapid compression of the heart due to the pericardial accumulation of fluid, pus, blood, clots or gas, as a result of effusion, trauma or rupture of the heart. Penetrating injuries of the chest are most commonly the result of stab wounds and are often associated with a range of potentially life-threatening injuries. It must be treated by pericardial drainage as soon as possible. Sometimes the injury resulting in life-threatening conditions may be so small that it could be missed in the first instance. We present a case report in which the deceased was stabbed by Bodkin at road side. As the wound was so minute, it was not appreciated and time was lost in getting treatment, resulting in loss of a precious life.

A Human Approach to World Peace

When we rise in the morning and listen to the radio or read the newspaper, we are confronted with the same sad news: violence, crime, wars and disasters. I cannot recall a single day without a report of something terrible happening somewhere. Even in these modern times it is clear that one’s precious life is not safe. No former generation has had to experience so much bad news as we face today; this constant awareness of fear and tension should make any sensitive and compassionate person question seriously the progress of our modern world.

An analysis of accidental drowning fatalities in Manipal, South India

BackgroundAccidental drowning constitutes a significant public health problem that is often neglected in developing countries.Aims/Objectives/PurposeThis study aims at describing the epidemiology and pattern of accidental drowning deaths in Manipal, a...

Extreme altitude pulmonary oedema (EAPO) in acclimatized soldiers

BackgroundHigh Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (HAPO) is the most common challenging emergency at Siachen Glacier. This study was aimed at studying various aspects of Extreme Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (>5500 m/18,000 ft) while correlating it with acclimatization and post acclimatization duration of stay in retrospect and response to HAPO Bag nursing prospectively. MethodsAll clinical cases of HAPO on Siachen were included. Cases were diagnosed using Lake Louis criteria, standard treatment given and response monitored. Data was retrospectively correlated for acclimatization and post acclimatization duration of stay on glacier and prospectively for response to HAPO Bag nursing. ResultsExtreme Altitude Pulmonary Oedema presented in fully acclimatized, temporarily resident, mountain trained soldiers and also among native highlanders. HAPO Bag ensued dramatic improvement in the absence of oxygen. Extreme altitude presentation of HAPO with such findings has not been reported in literature earlier. ConclusionHAPO cannot be prevented at extreme altitudes beyond 5500 m (18,000 ft) by scheduled pre-induction acclimatization, mountain training or prolonged stay at such altitudes. The dictum ‘Every day is a new day beyond 18,000 ft’ needs to be emphasized and due care needs to be taken in ventures at extreme altitudes. HAPO Bag is an indispensable device to save precious lives and prolong survival at such altitudes due to paucity of available oxygen. Easy availability and universal know how should be ensured.

Government’s Response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

This paper analyzes how the Japanese government has responded to the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that devastated cities and towns along the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan claiming many precious lives and causing extremely extensive destruction. The resilience of a society depends largely on how it identifies existing gaps, how it addresses them in the recovery process, and how it integrates solutions in the existing disastermanagement system as a result. From such a perspective, this paper examines the government’s response to the disaster for approximately the first one year following it by taking stock of progress made versus the priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.

Variations in bacterial pathogens causing early onset neonatal septicaemia, according to birth weights - a 5 year study in a referral hospital of West- Bengal

Bacterial sepsis continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates. The features of sepsis being non- specific, a high index of suspicion can only save a precious life. Pathogens of early onset septicaemia may vary, from one country to another and within a country from one place to the other. This study had been undertaken t o understand the variations in the pathogens of early onset neonatal septicaemia according to birth weights ,their susceptibility patterns to commonly used antibiotics in this age of emerging resistance and to utilise this data for better empirical treatment of this potentially fatal conditions. Blood samples from 255 babies belonging to various birth weights and of both sexes with definitive inclusion and exclusion criteria were processeed according to standard laboratory protocols during a five year period, from February 2005-2010, in a rural referral hospital of West Bengal. Culture positivity was found in 63/255 samples (24.70%), comprising of Klebsiella pneumoniae (31.74%) and methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (31.74%) as predominant isolates. Male: female ratio was 1.25:1. The susceptibility pattern of isolates has been discussed. It is observed that bacteriology of early onset neonatal septicaemia varies according to birth weights. In very low birth weight babies Eshcherichia coli is the predominant organism and culture positivity is highest (87.5%). Where as culture postivity in low birth weight and normal weight babies with sepsis are 32.89% and 29.26% respectively.In low birth weight babies Staphylococcus aureus and in normal weight babies Klebsiella pneumoniae are the predominant organisms. Birth weight of babies and development of neonatal sepsis are significantly associated x2= 7.174, p<0.03. Male babies are more susceptible to develop neonatal sepsis.For initial therapy of early onset neonatal septicemia, Amikacin is the best choice.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjmm.v4i2.10823

Factors predicting outcome in patients with severe head injury: Multivariate analysis

BackgroundOutcome prediction after severe head injury is of great clinical importance especially for countries like India for better targeting of limited healthcare resources. This study was undertaken to evaluate various factors as predictors of outcome in severe head injury. Patients and MethodsThis study is based on prospective analysis of 110 patients admitted over a period of one and half year with severe head injury. Patients with associated severe chest, abdominal or orthopedic trauma were excluded. Clinical outcome was evaluated at the time of discharge and after six months, according to Glasgow outcome score. ResultsRoad traffic accident was commonest (83.64%) mode of severe head injury. Only 5.71% of patients were following traffic rules. Increasing age of patients, hypoxia, low GCS and abnormal pupillary reflex were found to be significant predictors of adverse clinical outcome. Early operative intervention, when indicated as per CT findings, was significantly associated with favorable outcome. Greater degree of midline shift and effacement of Basal cisterns were associated with adverse outcome. ConclusionPredicting outcome is an assimilative and integrative process of various pre-injury, injury and post-injury variables. Strict enforcement of traffic rules can help us to save precious life. Hypoxia should be avoided on absolute basis. CT scan should be done on urgent basis to look for operable mass lesions.

Learn to ‘Get in Flow’ to Create Career Joy

Learn to ‘Get in Flow’ to Create Career Joy

Spontaneous Uterine Artery Rupture at Delivery

Spontaneous rupture of uterine vessels, though rare, is a life threatening condition occurring during pregnancy or the peripartum period. The maternal and perinatal mortality may be as high as 40 and 30 % respectively [1]. Though more than 100 cases of rupture of uterine vessels have been reported during pregnancy and puerperium, only five cases have been reported during labor [2]. The case under reference developed shock soon after vaginal delivery and was explored due to suspected intraperitoneal hemorrhage. This case is being reported to emphasize the need for careful post-delivery monitoring not only for revealed postpartum hemorrhage, but also for this rarer life-threatening cause of obstetric shock, as active and early operative intervention can save a precious young life.

Precious Lives: Who Lives and Who Dies in America's Contemporary Capital Punishment Complex

In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all existing capital punishment statutes, declaring the death penalty unconstitutional due to its excessive discretion which resulted in its arbitrary and discriminatory application against racial minorities and the poor. The suspension on executions only proved temporary. In 1976, capital punishment was reinstated under the premise that a number of conditions be met. However, despite an abundance of reformed statutes supposedly designed to stamp out racial discrimination, mounting evidence suggests that the system continues to end human lives unfairly. In particular, it has been found that an individual is, on average, three-to-five times more likely to receive a death sentence if their victim is white. Despite ample evidence of the disparities and inconsistencies which recur in the meting out of society’s ultimate punishment, the current literature which dominates academia continues to indulge in old trade-offs which see the death penalty’s efficacy as a deterrent to murder continually debated with minimal regard for social issues. The objectives of this thesis are thus twofold: (1) first, I argue that a paradigm shift is necessary in death penalty rhetoric which moves away from empirically-laden econometric studies towards a sociological approach which is more attuned to the numerous social issues, and in particular the racial disparities, which the modern death penalty in the United States consistently reproduces; secondly (2), the thesis explores the racial disparities which persist in America’s officially ‘colour-blind’ capital punishment system and attempts to provide an historically-grounded explanation which situates such discrepancies in the embodiment of African Americans as ‘inferior’ and whites as ‘superior’ across three systems of racial control, and the influence such developments have exerted on who lives and who dies for death-eligible crimes in twenty-first century America. The paper concludes with the recommendation of declaring a moratorium on all scheduled executions in order to allow social scientists the time to conduct county, state, and nationwide studies which further investigate racial disparities whilst building upon the theoretical foundations laid down in this paper.

D-dimer in the diagnostic workup of suspected pulmonary thrombo-embolism at high altitude

BackgroundPulmonary thrombo-embolism (PTE) is relatively common in high altitude areas where radiological diagnostic facilities are usually not available. So this study was undertaken to use the results of D-dimer assay to determine the need for imaging studies in patients suspected of having PTE at high altitude. MethodsA total of 101 patients at an altitude of > 3,000 m suspected of having PTE were evacuated. D-dimer and imaging studies were carried out to confirm the diagnosis. ResultsA total of 101 patients suspected of having PTE underwent D-dimer level estimation and imaging studies for PTE. Sixty-eight of these had negative findings) on D-dimer assay. All these patients with negative findings on D-dimer assay had negative findings on pulmonary imaging studies also. So this test is very sensitive with very high negative predictive value (NPV). Whereas, 17 out of 33 patients positive for D-dimer, had positive findings on imaging studies, indicating a relatively less specific test. ConclusionClinical assessment in combination with D-dimer assay can be used for timely differentiation of PTE from other conditions such as high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPO) especially at isolated high altitude areas/military posts, so that patients could be evacuated as early as possible by fastest means to save the precious lives and in hospital settings this test identifies patients to whom anticoagulant therapy should not be given or patients who should not be subjected to invasive imaging tests.

Scoring System Approach for Assessment of Critical Illness using Mobile Phones

This paper demonstrates the use of mobile phones in assessing the illness of patients by developing a Scoring System where medical practitioners (often nurses) collect various physiological signals like ECG, EEG, SpO2, temperature, continuous blood pressure and subjective parameters like level of pain, level of alertness, awareness, behavioral responses etc. After taking the data, a scoring system is utilized for early detection of critical illnesses. The mechanism of scoring is performed either manually, where the medical practitioner ticks on to a scoring board or is automated by relocating the information from scoring board to a PC, where the software performs the scoring calculation. In the proposed system, the medical practitioner inputs the parameters directly on to their mobile phone by collecting the parameters from the patient. The score is automatically calculated by miniature java based software running inside the mobile phone. Based on the score, level of urgency is determined by the intelligent program. At the end, specialists are contacted automatically by messaging services. Moreover, the results of the scoring are transmitted to the hospital server. Therefore, assistance from civilians with mobile phone based medical intelligence can save precious life.

Who killed Rambhor?: The state of emergency medical services in India

In India, the healthcare delivery system starts up from the sub-center at the village level and reaches up to super specialty medical centers providing state of the art emergency medical services (EMS). These highest centers, located in big cities, are considered the last referral points for the patients from nearby cities and states. As the incidents of rail and road accidents have increased in recent years, the role of EMS becomes critical in saving precious lives. But when the facilities and management of these emergency centers succumbs before the patient, then the question arises regarding the adequate availability and quality of EMS. The death of an unknown common man, Rambhor, for want of EMS in three big hospitals in the national capital of India put a big question on the “health” of the emergency health services in India. The emergency services infrastructure seems inadequate and quality and timely provision of EMS to critical patients appears unsatisfactory. There is lack of emergency medicine (EM) specialists in India and also the postgraduation courses in EM have not gained foot in our medical education system. Creation of a Centralized Medical Emergency Body, implementation of management techniques, modification of medical curriculum, and fixing accountability are some of the few steps which are required to improve the EMS in India.

English

Abstract- Road accidents are a major factor for deaths world wide and recent studies show that driver fatigue is a key factor for road accidents. Drivers tend to drive vehicles even if they are extremely tired and due to this, there is chance of them falling asleep at the wheel which results in accidents causing major loss to precious human life & property. This implies there is a need for a driver alert system which monitors the driver’s wakefulness and gives an alarm. This paper proposes a novel technique to determine sleep stages by considering the available EEG Signals of the subject, calculate its FFT and determine the power spectrum. Using this we then plot the hypnogram from which the wakefulness and sleep stages can be determined and if the driver is found to move from a state of wakefulness to sleep stage, immediately an alarm is provided. This concept can be enhanced for real time application with hardware realization and thus helps to reduce road accidents to a great extent.

Deep Gluteal Abscess in a Zebra (Equus burchelli boehmi)

A male zebra aged about 7 years, weighing approximately 250 kg showed signs of lameness on its hindquarter. It was treated by the zoo veterinarians symptomatically, and it recovered. However, there was recurrence of the symptoms after 1 month. The animal was treated with fluid, electrolyte, antibiotic, and analgesic therapy. The hematology and serum biochemistry profiles were tested and found within the normal range. The animal was tranquilized, and physical and external examinations were conducted. Radiological examination of hoof ruled out any chances of laminitis or any other hoof deformities. Per-rectal examination along with flexion and extension of the hind limbs could not reveal any abnormalities. However, there was no improvement, and finally it died. Postmortem examination revealed an internal deep gluteal abscess. This is a rare report of deep gluteal abscess in a zebra. The difficulties encountered in diagnosing the case and its serious possible complications and possible methods of diagnosing have been described, which may help future equine and wildlife vets in diagnosing such cases successfully and may help in saving the precious lives of the patients suffering from such conditions.

A comprehensive strategy for dementia from primary prevention to end‐stage management

A comprehensive strategy for dementia from primary prevention to end‐stage management

Readers Respond: Letters from Summer 2011

Readers Respond: Letters from Summer 2011