Transhumanism: the epitome of doom and gloom

Ever since the idea of [Transhumanism] came into being, it has divided our society into two opposing factions i.e. the bioconservatives and transhumanists. The transhumanist movement is based on the idea that enhancements should be made in humans through technology while bioconservatives oppose this idea. Transhumanism is already feared to be world's most dangerous idea by bioconservatives such as Francis Fukuyama, as it is not justified or proven yet that transhumanism is safe for our future. The notion is believed to be not only de-humanising but also poses many threats to the rest of humanity. As explicitly suggested by bioconservatives human enhancing technologies are more of a bane than a boon. Furthermore, many of the transhumanist technologies have many demerits to them. Bioconservatives believe that the technological enhancements will lead to obscenity and be a blemish on the human race. It is highly possible that humans will suffer from autocracy by the hands of the posthumans, since the posthuman age will certainly give rise to several moral dilemmas, such as racism, which will plague the human world. There are four fundamental aspects of transhumanism; nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology [IT] and cognitive sciences, which come with many promising advantages, but can also turn our future into a dystopia. Even with constant opposition from the bioconservatives, the dark scenarios related with the ascend of the transhuman era are inevitable and the amalgamation of machines with man is equivalent to forfeiting true humanity

Diagnostic accuracy of CT scan in detecting intestinal obstruction keeping the histopathology findings as gold standard

Objective: to determine diagnostic accuracy of CT scan to diagnose intestinal obstruction on the basis of histopathological analysis as gold standard

Methods: total of one hundred and eleven [n=111] patients with age ranging 20-60 years having profound clinical features of intestinal obstruction were enrolled in the study. CT scan was performed with intravenous contrast medium. Following parameter were assessed on CT scanning: dilatation of bowel loops, presence of abrupt or gradual change of luminal caliber in bowel, and presence of any wall thickening of bowel or focal mass lesion at or around the level of obstruction. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy was assessed among the two procedures

Results: mean age of subjects was 39.6 +/- 11.4 years. The female to male ratio in this study was 1:1. Intestinal obstruction was detected in 70% cases using CT scan while 73% cases were identified positive using the histopathological analysis. Overall sensitivity was found to be 95.1%, specificity 96.7%, and accuracy of 69.4% in this study. Among patients with age 40 years exhibited sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 94.7%. Whereas, among male patients sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 93.3% and in female patients the sensitivity was 90.2% and specificity was 100%

Conclusion: CT is highly sensitive and specific in determining presence of bowel obstruction and it also clearly demonstrates the site and cause of obstruction