Severe Electric Shock Research Articles

Drug Therapy for Refractory Trigeminal Neuralgia- A Review

Trigeminal neuralgia is the most common neuralgia affecting the orofacial region. The condition characterized by sudden, severe electric shock like pain on the face with pain free periods and is termed as refractory period.Management of this condition is achieved through various drug therapies and in some cases, surgical intervention may be required. Refractory trigeminal neuralgia is a condition that is non responsive to the traditional line of therapy. This poses a challenge to the clinicians to offer the patients alternate options for pain control in these patients. In this review, an attempt has been made to discuss the various drug therapies in the management of refractory trigeminal neuralgia.

Identificación de riesgos por desastres naturales en las cuencas hidrográficas Matasnillo (Panamá) y Goascorán (Honduras), y su relación con el cambio climático utilizando Tecnologías de Información Geográfica

Honduras y Panamá están caracterizados por precipitaciones intensas y de larga duración, tormentas, fuertes descargas eléctricas, inundaciones, incendios de masas vegetales, trompas marinas, tsunamis, episodios de la presencia de El Niño, La Niña y de derrames de sustancias peligrosas. El presente trabajo se desarrolla en el marco del Programa Universitario para la Gestión Integral del Riesgo de Desastres y Adaptación al Cambio Climático en Centroamérica(PRIDCA) coordinado por el Consejo Superior Universitario Centroamericano y financiado por la Agencia Suiza para el Desarrollo y la Cooperación -COSUDE-, y donde la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras y la Universidad Marítima Internacional de Panamá a través de un proyecto interuniversitario han decidido desde una perspectiva de investigación científica y tecnológica, establecer estrategias y acciones para la reducción de riesgos de desastres naturales en las cuencas hidrográficas de los Ríos Matasnillo, Golfo de Panamá, y la cuenca del Río Goascorán, Golfo de Fonseca, Honduras; y la relación del cambio climático que además comprenda un eje transversal de involucramiento y apropiación del proceso por parte de los actores claves en las zonas de estudio, mediante el desarrollo de una metodología que facilite la identificación, el análisis y la clasificación de riesgos producto de la identificación de amenazas y vulnerabilidades en el área de las cuencas seleccionadas a través de la aplicación de tecnologías de Información Geográfica, elaborando además propuestas y recomendaciones para minimizar riesgos identificados como altos en base a profundidad de la amenaza.

Learning lessons from five electrostatic incidents

It is well known that electrostatic discharges can ignite mixtures of flammable gases with air and suspensions of combustible dust in air. For this reason, the prevention of electrostatic discharges is an essential part of measures to prevent explosions and fires. Incendive electrostatic discharges occurred in five cases in various chemical plants.The incidents involved were:1.Spark type electrostatic discharges from a leaking steam pipe.2.Spark type electrostatic discharges inside a charging chute for a solid.3.A spark type electrostatic discharge whilst transferring a solid powder from a bin, which led to ignition of the powder.4.A propagating brush discharge during pneumatic transfer of solid, which caused a severe electric shock to a process operator.5.A brush discharge inside an electrostatic precipitator which caused ignition of an aerosol of hydrocarbon.To avoid explosions and fires it is important to prevent incendive electrostatic discharges from occurring in industrial facilities. To help managers of chemical plants to do this, the incidents above are presented in the form of learning lessons including:•the mechanism of the generation and separation of electrical charges,•the mechanism of the electrostatic discharge,•the root causes of the incident,•the safety measures which are necessary to avoid a repetition.

Anterior wrist and medial malleolus as the novel sites of tissue selection: a retrospective study on electric shock death through the hand-to-foot circuit pathway.

Our previous work demonstrated that characteristic changes could occur in the anterior wrist and medial malleolus in electric deaths through the hand-to-foot electric circuit pathway in an electric shock rat model. However, whether the same phenomenon occurs in humans is unknown. The aim of the present retrospective study was to ascertain whether the anterior wrist and medial malleolus could also be selected as the promising and significant sites in electric death through the hand-to-foot circuit pathway. Nineteen human cases from the autopsy and one clinical survivor who sustained a severe electric shock through the hand-to-foot circuit pathway were analyzed. Additional ten autopsy patients who died from traffic accidents and sudden cardiac attacks were used as the control group. Histopathological changes in the soft tissues of the anterior wrist and medial malleolus in all autopsy patients, as well as the electric current pathway of the survivor, were observed. The results showed that the nuclear polarizations in the anterior wrist and medial malleolus soft tissues of the electric death were extremely noticeable as compared with the controls. The most severe electrical injury in the survivor occurred in the anterior wrist. These findings suggest that the soft tissues of the anterior wrist and/or the medial malleolus as the narrowest parts of the limbs could be used as the complementary sites for tissue selection and considered as necessary locations for examinations to assess the electric death in medicolegal identification.

Differential diagnosis of facial pain and guidelines for management

The diagnosis and management of facial pain below the eye can be very different dependant on whether the patient visits a dentist or medical practitioner. A structure for accurate diagnosis is proposed beginning with a very careful history. The commonest acute causes of pain are dental and these are well managed by dentists. Chronic facial pain can be unilateral or bilateral and continuous or episodic. The commonest non-dental pains are temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), especially musculoskeletal involving the muscles of mastication either unilaterally or bilaterally; they may be associated with other chronic pains. A very wide range of treatments are used but early diagnosis, reassurance and some simple physiotherapy is often effective in those with good coping strategies. Dentists will often make splints to wear at night. Neuropathic pain is usually unilateral and of the episodic type; the most easily recognized is trigeminal neuralgia. This severe electric shock like pain, provoked by light touch, responds best to carbamazepine, and neurosurgery in poorly controlled patients. Trauma, either major or because of dental procedures, results in neuropathic pain and these are then managed as for any other neuropathic pain. Red flags include giant cell arteritis which much be distinguished from temporomandibular disorders (TMD), especially in >50 yr olds, and cancer which can present as a progressive neuropathic pain. Burning mouth syndrome is rarely recognized as a neuropathic pain as it occurs principally in peri-menopausal women and is thought to be psychological. Chronic facial pain patients are best managed by a multidisciplinary team.

The Selection of the Major Premise

It is notorious that in a common law system of adjudication, there are no categorical rules for the selection, at the appropriate level of generality, of the major premise from which there will proceed the chain of reasoning to the result. This is a significant matter, given that the result will differ if one major premise is selected rather than another. The point may be illustrated by looking back to the choice of the major premise by Dixon CJ and Williams J in their joint reasons in the Australian case of Thompson v Bankstown Corporation.1 In that case, a thirteen year old boy had sought to reach a bird's nest in a ledge in a decayed portion of a pole, erected by the respondent local government authority on a public road to carry high tension electricity wires. The boy received a severe electric shock. The Australian High Court restored a verdict in his favour which the intermediate court had set aside. The opening passage in the joint reasons reads:

Transverse myelitis following combined spinal-epidural anesthesia

Transverse myelitis following combined spinal-epidural anesthesia

Atlantoaxial Joint Syndrome Misconceived as an Idiopathic Neuralgia -A case report-

Although the atlantoaxial joint is the most common site of rheumatoid arthritis, our patient had no symptoms or signs suggestive of rheumatoid arthritis. The atlantoaxial joint is frequently involved in degenerative osteoarthritis, especially in elderly patients. An 81-year old man presented with severe intermittent electric shock like, lancinating pain from the occipital to the temporal and parietofrontal areas. He also had neck pain and a limited range of motion. After many examinations and laboratory tests, at the department of neurology and neurosurgery, he was diagnosed with idiopathic neuralgia. The diagnosis of atlantoaxial joint syndrome was confirmed, and treated successfully with atlantoaxial joint block.

Natural history of ALS: symptoms, strength, pulmonary function, and disability.

ALS is a disease that may have a preclinical and a clinical phase (see Appendix 1 Table 1). The low frequency of ALS suggests an inherent susceptibility in patients who are destined to develop the disease at a particular point in life subsequent to a possible initiating event. [1] View this table: Table 1. Appendix 1: Pathogenetic aspects of ALS. Neuropathological, neurophysiological, and clinical aspects of ALS in the preclinical and clinical stages. There is currently no clear-cut evidence of neuropathologic, neurophysiologic, or clinical abnormalities that would mark a patient as potentially susceptible to ALS during the susceptibility period. Initiating events may include severe electric shock exposure, which is a physical injury that is epidemiologically linked to the development of ALS, or dietary intake of particular substances that have, in isolated instances, been associated by case-control studies with the development of ALS. During the latent period of the development of the disease, there may be changes in motoneuron soma and dendritic size as the only neuropathologic features long before there is evidence of motoneuron loss or corticospinal tract degeneration. No clear-cut neurophysiologic signs have yet been described. [2] During the clinical period of the disease, there may be a presymptomatic period during which there are pathologic changes involving motoneuron size and loss as well as possible corticospinal tract degeneration. This hypothetical construct is based on pathologic studies. [3] Neurophysiologic changes during this time may include changes in single-fiber density, with variable changes in motor unit count. [4] The clinical examination at this point is characterized by patient reports of possible functional changes and by possible abnormalities in isokinetic muscle testing at a time when normal isometric strength is present. [5] During the stage of disease spread from focal onset to more symmetric generalization, there will be changes in motoneuron size and loss as …

Electrical hazards associated with lasers

The range and degree of electrical hazards associated with lasers is generally greater than encountered with other forms of equipment in the industrial, commercial, or scientific sectors. In laser equipment the electrical energy conversion to ‘optical’ wavelength energy is achieved by many methods, each method having differing electrical safety hazard exposures. Laser output is described in terms of beam power, energy, wavelength, and spatial characteristics, enabling common points of comparison and beam hazard characterization. In contrast, the methods of electrical energy conversion have unique characteristics which are not generally appreciated. It is natural to expect this, as it is the laser beam that is the instrument of useful work, not the manner in which the beam is produced. The fact that certain energy conversion methods require electrical equipment having more in common with radar transmitters leaves open the problem of severe electrical hazards through unfamiliarity and inexperience. Many severe electric shock accidents with laser power‐supply and pulse‐forming equipment have occurred for these reasons. Several common electrical energy conversion systems and their general electrical safety requirements are discussed and connections to the requirements and expectations of current codes and regulations are explored. An understanding of the triad of equipment exposures, equipment environment, and the human element is developed to provide a greater appreciation of the necessity for recognition, evaluation, and control if electric shock accidents are to be avoided.

Electrical cataract and optic neuropathy

We report on a 20 year old male, who developed mature cataract (Electrical Cataract) on both eyes after a severe electric shock from high voltage. Both of his hands and the left foot had to be amputated, because of the severe injury. Although electrical cataract due to high voltage or lightning is rare, they may still occur after industrial or home electric accidents. Even if extracapsular cataract extraction with intraocular lens implantation is successfully performed, the final visual acuity will depend on other ocular damage due to the electric current.

Behavioral responses of Escherichia coli to changes in temperature caused by electric shock.

The behavioral response of Escherichia coli to electric shock in 10(-2) M potassium phosphate plus 10(-4) M potassium EDTA was studied. When presented with a 150-V/cm electric shock that lasted 250 ms, the bacteria at first exclusively ran, then exclusively tumbled, and finally returned to their original running and tumbling. This response is due to increased temperature caused by the electric shock, i.e., to thermotaxis, and it is mediated by the chemotaxis machinery. A more severe electric shock, 150 V/cm for 550 ms, caused cells to tumble immediately, and then they went back to their original running and tumbling. The mechanism of that response is unknown since, unlike known thermotaxis, it does not require the chemotaxis machinery.

Motor neuron syndrome after electric shock

Presented here are 17 individuals with motor neuron disease that followed a severe electric shock. All were under the age of 45 when their motor disorder began. Five developed the illness within 24-36 months of the electrical accident and 12 not until decades later. In 14 cases only a single, but severe, shock had been received while in three others multiple, but substantial, jolts of electricity had been sustained. All 17 were males and all but one are still alive.

Bilateral anterior fracture-dislocation of the shoulder joints due to severe electric shock

A 37-year-old sheet metal worker sustained a severe electric shock. He was referred to the Accident Department of the Grimsby General Hospital and discharged home after clinical examination only. Nine weeks later the diagnosis of anterior fracture-dislocation of both shoulders was confirmed by X-rays and open reduction was carried out with considerable difficulty.

Psychological stress and stomach ulcer: In search of an hypothesis

An evaluation of the effects of psychological stress on ulceration leads to the following conclusions: 1. (1) In the experimental literature, there is no convincing demonstration which indicates that psychological factors can induce ulcers. Rumenal ulcers that appeared in the early conflict experiments of Weisz and Sawrey were mainly expressions of the severe food deprivation used in these studies. Ulcers of the corpus, on the other hand, are most likely a result of the excessive and/or severe electric shock stimulation employed by recent investigators of fear or avoidance training. 2. (2) Fear does not induce nor promote ulcer formation. Common among the diverse psychological treatments which employed the pain of shock as the US is the emotion of fear (CR). Since these treatments failed to produce ulcers that can be attributed to psychological factors, fear does not appear to be ulcerogenic. 3. (3) An alternative to fear is the hypothesis that anger induces ulceration. Several human studies have indicated that the pathological changes associated with ulcer formation occur when anger or related emotional patterns (e.g., resentment and hostility) are provoked. 4. (4) Future progress in ulcer research requires changes in approach and objectives. Psychophysiological disease is the product of interacting environmental and genetic variables. This view should guide the investigation of stress and ulceration.

An Attributional Analysis of Experimental Norms

Like other social situations, experimental encounters are conceived as normatively structured in terms of the dispositional attributions that participants make about one another. Experimental norms or demand characteristics provide individuals with ideas about appropriate and expected behavior. One of these norms seems to be that of reciprocity, such that a likeable experimenter is supposed to get positive responses to his stimuli from subjects interacting with him. It seemed to us that a well-known series of initiation severity in dissonance might be explicable in these terms. Thus, we conducted a simulational study where observers heard the same experiment, with spliced-in variations in introductory rationale and subjects' responses to mild or severe electrical shock. The tape modifications produced differences in observers' ratings of the experimenter, primarily along affective dimensions, and these differences related closely to stimulus-rating changes both among and within conditions. We concluded that dispositionally different experimenters are created by their participation in or responsibility for the manipulations that define conditions and that the kind of person he appears to be may often influence what people consider to be appropriate conduct toward him and expected reactions to his stimuli.