Unnatural Death Among Covid-19 Tested Positive Individuals: A Retrospective Study

Introducction:-Covid 19 started out as a fast-spreading viral disease, in Wuhan in 2019. Soon, it spread across the globe and WHO declared it a Pandemic. Various countries took various measures to control its spread and transmission. By the time, countries recovered from it, a new wave would come along with different expressions and pathophysiology. When Covid 19 began, various health agencies in India started making protocols and standard ooperating procedures including conducting autopsies in COVID-19 infected bodies. Aims and Objectives:-Aim of our study is to analyze cause of death among all covid 19 positive cases brought for medicolegal autopsies from the time of lockdown for a period of one year. Our aim is to see if there were any factors which could have prevented these deaths. Material(s) and Method(s): A retrospective study of 1 year conducted from 25th March 2020 to 24th March 2021, (1st wave of Covid 19) was done in a tertiary care hospital in Bangalore. (Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital) Results: 39 Covid-19-positive unnatural deaths were handled with the youngest being 18 years old and the oldest beings 83. The majority turned out to be suicides (51.28%), then RTAs, falls, and natural death. The commonest method of suicide was hanging (35.89%), followed by poison consumption, and falling from a height. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 is a viral infection with variable clinical signs and variable fatality rates. There is much to learn about it. However, suicides in COVID-19 cases might not have ended death if some care, timely diagnosis, and treatment were provided.Copyright © 2023, Institute of Medico-legal Publication. All rights reserved.

Case Studies in the Treatment of Asian Scroll Paintings

Works of art in the diverse Asian collections at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) are regularly requested for display. These collections are routinely condition checked and, where appropriate, interventive treatments undertaken. Storage, in particular, has been continually improved. With the closure of the NGA during the initial Covid lockdown in March 2020, and the subsequent decreased demand to prepare works for exhibition, loan and travelling exhibitions, there was an opportunity to investigate Asian works in the NGA Study Collection, with the objective of identifying those excluded from display because of condition. The time available meant that the NGA Paper Conservation team could examine and treat a number of Asian scroll paintings in this collection. The focus of this paper is three Japanese paintings and two Chinese paintings, all on silk supports, with various degraded paper and fabric mounts and backings. After initially viewing the works with Curatorial colleagues, treatment expectations were discussed and established. Background research was undertaken, in terms of generic style and period, together with limited analysis on supports and pigments in order to inform treatment. While further Curatorial research is ongoing, it was possible to agree appropriate potential mounting styles and materials, allowing treatments to progress. © The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials 2022.

Near Hanging: evaluation and management.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of self-harm was already on the rise. Hanging/suffocation accounted for 50% of the increase in suicide attempts and remains the second leading cause of death from self-harm in the United States. Studies on the management of near hanging patients are lacking and most published literature is retrospective. Following airway and circulation assessment, clinical examination and imaging, namely CT angiography, remain the standard to identify the injuries associated with near hanging - cervical spine fracture, blunt cerebrovascular injury, laryngeal injury, injury to the trachea and oropharynx. These injuries, however, are uncommon, and each occur in less than 5% of patients in most series. In a large series of critically ill near hanging patients, over 50% survived to hospital discharge, however cardiac arrest predicted a poor outcome. The management of asphyxia related arrest remains controversial. Targeted Temperature Management (TTM) has only been studied in a single large multicenter trial which was retrospective. Given the significant selection bias of TTM treatment for the most ill patients, no firm recommendations can be made. Finally, for survivors, the underlaying mental health issues must be addressed to avoid recurrent suicide attempts. Thirty percent of patients in a large near hanging series were admitted for their second suicide attempt.

Socio-Demographic Profile of Victims of Hanging Cases: An Autopsy Based Cross-Sectional Study Done in Police Morgue of a Medical College of West Bengal

Background: The word asphyxia is of Greek derivation and means "a stopping of the pulse". Any death is asphyxial in nature. But forensic pathology understands asphyxia as the interference with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. Hanging and strangulation constitute asphyxia by compressing vital structures within the neck. Hanging is one of the ten leading causes of death in the world accounting for more than a million deaths annually. In India, hanging is one of the common methods of committing suicide. 2021 NCRB report also depicts the alarming rate of increase of suicide in the country. Over the past 30 years specially during and after the COVID-era the incidence of suicide by hanging is on increase, especially among young adults. 2021 NCRB report also depicts the alarming rate of increase of suicide in the country. Material(s) and Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted following the complete enumeration method over the body of deceased died due to hanging and came for medico-legal autopsy in Burdwan police morgue of West Bengal with specific Inclusion and Exclusion criteria. Study done on total 129 (N= 129) bodies of hanging cases Detailed information regarding the deceased, circumstances of death, its different sociodemographic parameters hanging were collected from the inquest, investigating officer and relatives. Result(s): Results showed that most of the victims of hanging were males. Highest incidence was in the age group of 21 to 30 years. Most of the victims were Hindus by faith. Conclusion(s): In Covid and Post-Covid era number of hanging cases has been increased mostly due to familial and socio-economical constrains. Copyright © 2022 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of Cross-Disciplinary Learning Using Augmented Reality Technology

An active introduction to the use of digital technology for reality virtual in online education. The COVID-19 event is one of the main reasons. In this study, AR technology is applied to the development of instructional media was invented to teach them about Thai floral hanging garlands, especially for High-class Thai craftsmanship in online classrooms for university students for cross-disciplinary learning to study online for 9 consecutive weeks. The research results suggest that students' learning objective is to use AR self-learning. The results of the comparison between male and female research participants in terms of their perceptions using the augment reality-based Thai floral hanging garland course for cross-disciplinary learning no significant difference in opinions. Students were highly motivated to learn the Thai floral hanging garlands according to the ARCS model to learn and opinions are consistent. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

Suicide hangings during pre-Covid-19 and Covid-19 - Myths debunked for the lower-middle-income group countries.

The psyche about the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has got fixed to a level of conviction that committing suicide is directly linked to coronavirus infection. The statistics of suicidal hangings for the pre-Covid-19 and the Covid-19 periods were compared in the Indian capital. The data analysis of the autopsy records showed the absence of temporal association between the incidence rates of suicides between these two periods. The study concludes that there was no net increase in suicide rates in the study population of this lower-middle-income group country during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Suicide rates in Ecuador: A nationwide study from 2011 until 2020.

Suicide, suicide ideations, and psychiatric disorder rates tend to increase after natural disasters such as earthquake. In 2016 Ecuador experienced a 7.8Mw earthquake and, more recently, the Covid-19 confinement. Both events may have negatively affected the mental health of the Ecuadorian population. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the suicide rates and choice of suicide method in the Ecuadorian population between January 2011 and December 2020. The dataset used is publicly available on the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR) for potential sociodemographic factors associated with each suicide method compared to other reported suicide methods. There were 10,380 registered cases of suicide in Ecuador between 2011 and 2020. Significant suicide rates per provinces were seen in Napo with 12.63 and Azuay with 12.52, followed by Bolívar with 12.30, and Orellana with 11.36 suicides/100,000 habitants. Hanging accounted for 7082 cases (68.2 %). The mestizos (82 %) were the most prevalent ethnicity of all suicide cases. School-age children with 6-12 years (OR 8.83, 95 % CI 5.34-14.59) and adolescents with 13-19 years (OR 1.46, 95 % CI 1.29-1.66) were more likely to use hanging as method of suicide. In conclusion, we observed an increase of suicide rates from 8.15 per 100,000 in 2011 to 8.81 in 2020. The confinement of COVID-19 pandemic in the period evaluated did not significantly affect the suicide rates. An increased suicide rate was observed in the province hardest hit by the 2016 earthquake.

Dyadic Deaths - Repercussion of COVID-19 Pandemic

Of late we are going through the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a lot of stress not only on health care workers but also on the general population. Social isolation and loss of jobs contributing to financial and mental crisis because of COVID-19 pandemic have been well proven by recent studies. This is known to be associated with distress, anxiety, and fear of contagion amongst the general population. The most extreme consequence of mental instability can result in suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, and actual suicide. Dyadic death is the simultaneous deaths of two people, either as part of a pact, or desire to accompany the death of the first person without any agreement or as part of a homicide-suicide without the consent of the victim. Here we present two cases of dyadic deaths during the period of lockdown of COVID-19. In lrtcase, the mother and her daughter were found in a hanging position resulting from the financial crisis and domestic disharmony, while 2°d case was amongst a family of four consisting of husband, wife, and their two kids who were also found hanged position following financial crisis brought by the lockdown. This explains the extent of the impact of the CO VID-19 pandemic on the development of mental instability. The existing health care facilities are primarily focussing and prioritizing on treating the physical ailments whereas the psychological effects on the general population have mostly remained untouched barring a few exceptions. To prevent such type of tragic incidents timely, appropriate and relevant public health care measures should be adopted. © 2022. Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine. All Rights Reserved.

Suicides During the Pandemic: A Retrospective Study

Suicide is defined as a fatal self-injurious act with some evidence of intent to die.1 Suicide occurs more often in older than in younger people, but is still one of the leading causes of death in the late childhood and adolescence. Every year, more than 1,00,000 people commit suicide in our country.1 Suicide accounts for 1.4% of all deaths, and is the 15th leading cause of death globally.2,3 Suicide is associated with an impulsive nature. Several risk factors concerning family structure and interactions have been linked to a suicidal behaviour. Direct conflicts with parents and siblings, Occupational status and social acceptance have a great impact, but so do the absence of communication and a lack of empathy.12 Interpersonal losses are also strongly associated with suicide cases. But in developing countries one of the major reason always remains unemployment and poverty. There are different rates of suicides and suicidal behaviour between males and females (among both adults and adolescents). While females more often have suicidal thoughts, males die by suicide more frequently.5 Hence, this study was planned with a purpose to know the magnitude and the socio-cultural factors of the problem of suicides, so that a sound prevention program could be suggested, planned and implemented for reducing the incidence of suicides.

Changing Trends of Medico-legal Cases during period of Lock Down due to Covid-19 in Agra District

Introduction: During global Covid-19 pandemic, India fought against the situation by implementing strict lockdown in whole country starting from 25th March 2020. Looking at severity of situation government decided to extend it in 4 phases till 31st May, 2020 which has been applied strictly in all district belonging to "Red Zone". Agra is the worst hit district in Uttar-Pradesh and it remained in the condition of strict Lockdown. Materials and Methods: Record-based comparative cross-sectional study looking for the impact of lockdown on change in pattern and number of medico-legal cases in Agra was done. Data related to name, age, sex, place of residence, type of medico-legal case was collected from records of medicolegal cases admitted in Emergency department of S.N. Medical College, Agra for the period of 25th March to 31 May 2020 (lockdown period) and compared it with data collected from 25th March to 31st May 2019 i.e. data of same corresponding period in last year. Results: On comparison we found out that during lockdown there was a decrease in no. of total admissions by 37.7%, while no. of medico legal cases is decreased by 54.2%. On further analysis of the data maximum decrease is seen in cases of road traffic accident, burns and firearm injuries while there was an increase in number of MLC cases of hanging. On gender wise comparison it was found that during lockdown period male MLC patients are decreased by 62.9% while female MLC patients decreased by 23.5%, which is lesser than decrease in total no. of admission. Interestingly we found out that there is increase in no. of MLC cases of female poisoning and hanging also increased significantly which might be due to increased domestic unrest or financial crisis emerged due to lockdown. Although on comparison of age groups no significant difference is seen during lockdown period. On area-wise comparison there was a decrease from 33% to 18% in total no. of MLC cases coming from districts other than Agra. This may be due to affected referral service or restrictions in inter-district transport. Conclusions: There is overall decrease in medico-legal cases with increased cases of hanging. Cases of female poisoning is also increased probably due to undue raised burden caused due to lockdown. © 2021, Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. All rights reserved.

Epidemiology of Suicide in Western Odisha During COVID Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Introduction Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself. It is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. Each year, more than seven lakh people end their lives globally. India is the worst-affected country in Southeast Asia. Both the genders and all age groups are affected. The COVID pandemic has led to the disruption of routine life and business. The proportion of deaths due to suicide was 9.4% among all deaths reported for autopsies by a study in the same mortuary over a seven-year period. Increased stress and anxiety have been postulated to lead to suicide. Our study objective is to describe the epidemiology of suicide during the early COVID pandemic (lockdown period). Methods This is a record-based cross-sectional study. We have analyzed the post-mortem reports for six months starting from April 1, 2020. Descriptive analysis was performed with Epi Info version 7 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA). Results During the study period, 340 cases were classified as deaths due to suicide, out of a total of 891 mortalities. The median age for females was 26.5 and for males, it was 30. The male to female ratio was 1.8:1. Most of the deceased (39.8%) were in their third decade, followed by the fourth decade (18.9%), second decade (15%), and fifth decade (12.98%), respectively. Poisoning was the leading method used for suicide, accounting for 238 (70.1%) deaths, followed by hanging (11.8%), burns (6.8%), jumping from a height (6.5%), and jumping in front of the train (4.13%). Self-immolation (burning) was a common mode of suicide for females. Most of the suicides (71.4%) took place from the evening to midnight. Conclusion There was a fourfold rise in suicides during the period compared to previous data. Productive age groups are affected more. A large-scale multi-centric study in community settings for estimation of the true burden is the need of the hour. A multi-sectorial public health approach is needed to prevent untimely death due to suicide.

Yet Another Potential Age-Old Nonpharmaceutical Intervention

Social conventions of the day kept Morisot from pursuing the same subject matter as her male counterparts, such as Monet and Renoir, who often painted popular sites of leisure around Paris. Because Morisot liked to paint outdoors―and frequenting such sites without a chaperone would have invited scandal―she instead depicted domestic scenes, landscapes, and portraits, stating, “It is important to express oneself, provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience.” According to exhibition notes from the Barnes Foundation, “Working women are a recurring subject in Morisot’s painting. October 19, 2021 The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Volume 27, Number 11—November 2021 About the Cover Yet Another Potential Age-Old Nonpharmaceutical Intervention Downloads Article ------------ RIS [TXT - 2 KB] Article Metrics Metric Details Related Articles Coronavirus Vaccine Breakthrough Infections ------------ Postvaccination MIS-A with No Prior Infection ------------ SARS-CoV-2 Associated with Large Public Gatherings ------------ More articles on Vaccine, Immunization Kathleen Gensheimer and Byron BreedloveComments to Author Author affiliations:

Suicide and Suicidal Behaviors in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic in Bangladesh: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Without integration of the available information, appropriate suicide preventive actions can be hindered. Therefore, this study attempts to review the Bangladeshi COVID-19-related suicide studies for the first time. METHODS: For conducting a systematic review, the PRISMA guideline was adhered. Bangladeshi literatures concerning the COVID-19 pandemic related to either suicide case or suicidal behavior were identified within 1 to 10 April 2021, from the databases like PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, etc. Finally, a total of 9 literatures were included in this review. RESULTS: Four literatures were cross-sectional studies assessing the prevalence and risk factors of suicidal behavior, and the rest five were retrospective suicide studies concerned with either case study (n=3) or case-series study (n=2). The prevalence of suicidal ideation was identified to be ranging between 5% and 19.0%, whereas the rate increased over time of the pandemic inception. Significant risk factors concerning suicidal behavior included the factors related to (i) socio-demographic variables: female gender, being divorced or widows or widowers or single in marital status, having lower levels of education, being urban residence, belonging to higher socioeconomic class, being unemployed, and having no children, (ii) behavior and health-related variables: lack of physical exercise, cigarette smoking, alcohol consuming, abnormal sleep status, more exposure to social media, and suffering from the higher number of physical health problems; (iii) COVID-19 pandemic-related variables: lower knowledge of COVID-19, lack of preventive COVID-19 behaviors, higher levels of COVID-19 fear, living in highly COVID-19 infected area, higher economic loss due to the pandemic, and experiencing relatives or acquaintances' death by the COVID-19; (iv) psychopathological variables: depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, suicidal thought history, suicide attempt history, and family with a history of suicide. CONCLUSION: Implementing cost-effective mental health strategies along with social and community awareness for increasing help-seeking behaviors of suicide risky individuals is highly suggested.

Voltammetric determination of heavy metals in honey bee venom using hanging mercury drop electrode and PLA/carbon conductive filament for 3D printer.

A new method for determination of selected heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, and Ni) in honey bee venom was developed. Heavy metals are metabolized and incorporated into bee products, including honey and honey bee venom (apitoxin). Their composition reflects contamination of "bee environment", providing information about heavy metal contamination in the neighborhood of human dwellings. Moreover, assessment of bee products contamination is relevant for medicine, as they are a tool for promising therapeutic and chemoprophylactic strategies against COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Owing to the complicated matrix, the developed method consists of wet mineralization with sulfuric acid, nitric acid, under increased temperature, and pressure and subsequent repeated boiling with concentrated nitric acid. Determination of the selected metals was carried out by anodic or cathodic stripping voltammetry on two types of electrodes: pen-type hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) and PLA filament with carbon conductive admixture (PLA-C) for 3D printer. Contents of lead and cadmium in all analyzed bee venom samples were on the level of mg kg-1, of nickel and copper about ten times higher, and of zinc on the level of g kg-1. The results achieved using HMDE were recorded with average relative standard deviation (RSD) 5.4% (from 3.2% to 8.6%) and using PLA-C 11.8% (from 6.5% to 18.0%). The results achieved using both electrodes proved to be equivalent with statistical probability higher than 95%.