ABSTRACT
The present study focuses on the elemental analysis of road dust in Guwahati, the largest city of Assam and the largest metropolis of Northeast India during the Diwali festival. Road dust samples were collected on pre-Diwali (PD), the Day after Diwali (DaD), and one week after Diwali (WaD) from two sites (Lankeshwar; LKW and Patharquarry; PTQ). Three composite samples were collected from 3 points at each site. The elemental concentration was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of Ba and Sr increased by 1.6 and 1.7 times, respectively, after Diwali. Among other firework-related elements (FREs), Mg, Al, K, and Cu increased at LKW following Diwali (both DaD and WaD), whereas Mg, Al, and K increased in DaD dust at PTQ. The average concentration of Traffic Related Elements (TREs) at PTQ was significantly higher than at LKW (p < 0.05; 75.40 mg/kg vs 63.96 mg/kg). Cd had the highest enrichment (EF), followed by Ni and Zn. EF for Cd, Ni, and Zn ranged from high to extremely high enrichment. Ni and Cd exhibited moderate contamination (CF). The ecological risk (ER) values for Cd at LKW and PTQ were 54.32 and 56.71, respectively, indicating a moderate ER. Pearson's correlation was performed to study the relationship between elements, while PCA analysis was used to identify the main sources of these elements. Although the health hazard indices presently do not suggest any immediate danger, hazard quotient (HQ) values for ingestion, inhalation, and dermal exposure were higher for children than adults. In children, the contribution of HQing to HI (total risk) was the highest, accounting for more than 65% of all elements. There is no apparent lifetime cancer risk due to road dust exposure through inhalation.
Subject(s)
Air Pollutants , Cities , Dust , Environmental Monitoring , Dust/analysis , India , Air Pollutants/analysis , Humans , HolidaysABSTRACT
Sexual assault is a grave violation of an individual's fundamental rights and has a profound impact on their physical and mental health. However, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the quality of life (QOL) experienced by survivors after such incidents. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the QOL of survivors of sexual assault and determine the factors that affect their physical and psychological domains. The study included 32 survivors, and data were collected using the WHO-QOL questionnaire and the modified Kuppuswamy scale. The results showed that survivors experienced poor QOL in both physical and psychological domains. Factors such as physical injuries, pregnancy following the assault, education, and psychiatric counseling significantly influenced survivors' QOL. The findings underscore the importance of routine psychiatric counseling, follow-up care for physical illnesses, rehabilitation, continuation of education and employment, and early detection of pregnancies to improve the QOL for survivors of sexual assault.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Medico-legal issues are handled by every registered medical practitioner in their day-to-day medical practice but if they are not well versed with rules of managing such cases and laws behind them, they often land into criticism and are distressed at the courts while disposing of the cases. Objective: To assess the knowledge of registered medical practitioners in Meghalaya regarding the management of medico-legal cases in day-to-day medical practices. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted at the Department of Forensic Medicine, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) for 6 months. The study group included registered medical practitioners working in the government sector who were approached through the Director of Health Services (DHS), Meghalaya. Study tools included one preformed and pretested questionnaire. Knowledge was assessed along with designation and years of experience. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: From 94 subjects analyzed for their answers, 56% had adequate knowledge. Amongst nonspecialist doctors (n = 53), 52.8% had adequate knowledge and amongst specialist doctors (n = 34), 67.6% had adequate knowledge in various aspects of management of medico-legal cases, and it was found that 6.4% had adequate knowledge in documentation, 21.2% in consent, 3.2% in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 71.2% in autopsy, 88.2% in legal duties in emergency care. A total of 68.7% of those having 16-20 years of experience had adequate knowledge. Chi-square test of designation and years of experience on knowledge was found to be 0.33 and 0.75, respectively. Conclusion: Nearly half of the registered medical practitioners of Meghalaya have adequate knowledge. However, years of experience and designation have no significance with the knowledge of registered medical practitioners regarding the management of medico-legal issues.
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Background: Poisoning has been one of the greatest medical emergencies from the dawn of human civilization, posing threat to mankind. Tripura being a seven sister state of Northeast India have a unique topography, diverse ethnic groups, cross-cultural food habits, agriculture, and a horticulture-based economy that draws some distinctive type of poisoning threats compared to the rest of the Indian subcontinent. The present study was carried out to find out the epidemiological factors, toxicological profiles, and clinical outcomes of patients after consumption of poison. Methods: A cross-sectional study on 212 patients with a complaint of poisoning was conducted in a teaching hospital in Tripura, India, for 2 years, and the data were analyzed by using SPSS-15 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software. Results: Out of 212 participants, males from lower socioeconomic status, farmers by occupation, and belonging to the age group of 21-30 years predominated other categories. Organophosphorus compounds were majorly ingested (38.7%). Suicide was the most common manner of poisoning (62.73%). The majority of the patients (75%) died during treatment, 39.15% of patients died in the initial 24 hours and 43.87% of the patients had severe life-threatening symptoms [grade 3 of poison severity score (PSS)] during the first 72 hours of hospital admission. A Spearman rho value of -0.740 and a P value <0.001 were found while establishing a relationship between survival time and PSS. Conclusion: Poisoning by any agents and means produces adverse effects on the human body which further influences the clinical outcome. Therefore, proper knowledge and attention regarding its clinico-toxico-epidemiological profile, accurate and timely diagnosis, and satisfactory management and prevention strategies are necessary.
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Estimation of time since death (TSD) is an important aspect of forensic medicine. Methods used so far are subjective and have human errors. Corneal opacity images using software to analyze the red, green, and blue (RGB) components of corneal color against the TSD may prove to be an objective method. This study aimed to estimate TSD from image analysis of corneal opacity from the cornea of deceased individuals brought in for medicolegal autopsy to study the factors affecting corneal opacity and to formulate a predictive equation for the estimation of TSD. This was a cross-sectional study conducted at the department of forensic medicine and toxicology of a tertiary care medical institute over two years. The study group included cadavers brought in for autopsy where the TSD was known from hospital records. For study tools, we used a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera with standardized settings, a dark box made of cardboard, and open-access RGB analysis software. Images were analyzed for differences in the numeric values of the RGB color and compared against the TSD. Correlations between TSD and age, gender, and environmental temperature were checked. This study involved 30 cases; these were analyzed and showed an increase in the numeric values of RGB for the corneal color as the TSD increases. Of note, the correlation of TSD with the color red was greater than for either blue or green; age had a positive correlation while gender had nearly no correlation, and the environmental temperature had a negative correlation. Based on this, gender was excluded from our equation. Also, we noted that the variance inflation factor of green was high and, therefore, excluded it from the predictive equation. The equation derived follows: TSD = {(0.091 x Age) + (0.171 x Red) + (0.018 x Blue) - (0.019 x Environmental Temperature) - 5.263}. Using this equation, the mean error was 21 minutes. This equation further narrowed the time range, usually given as four to six hours, when determining the TSD via conventional methods. Image analysis of corneal color after death using RGB analysis software can give us a more accurate and human error-free TSD that can be digitally stored and reproduced and, therefore, could prove useful in the forensic arena in the future.
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The C-C chemokines, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)1alpha and MIP1beta are potent chemoattractants for the monocytes, which form an important component of the stroma of tumor tissue and may regulate tumor growth and associated inflammation. We examined the role of MIP1alpha and MIP1beta in inducing the release of inflammatory cytokines and the generation of tumoricidal monocytes from the peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) of healthy women and patients with carcinoma of breast (CaBr). Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha release by the PBM was markedly stimulated by MIP1alpha in CaBr patients, but only marginally so in healthy women. In contrast, MIP1beta stimulated the release of these cytokines by the PBM of healthy women, but failed to do so in CaBr patients. MIP1alpha, but not MIP1beta, synergized with LPS in inducing the release of IL-1 from the PBM of both healthy women and CaBr patients. Both MIP1alpha and MIP1beta augmented respiratory bursts in PBM and generated tumoricidal PBM that killed T24 cells, MIP1alpha being more effective in CaBr patients and MIP1beta in healthy women. IFN-gamma co-stimulated and IL-4 suppressed MIP1alpha and beta-induced cytotoxicity in PBM. The synergy of IFN-gamma was more marked with MIP1alpha than with MIP1beta. The differential effects of MIP1alpha and MIP1beta on the PBM of healthy women and CaBr patients co-related with the levels of expression of CCR1 and CCR5 in these monocytes. The expression of CCR5 was higher than that of CCR1 in the PBM of healthy women and the PBM of the CaBr patients showed overexpression of CCR1 and downregulation of CCR5.
