Evaluating mild traumatic brain injury in adults: an emergency physician’s dilemma

Background: Mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is a common presentation in emergency departments across the globe. A controversy about the policy of evaluating them with CT scan and hospital admission or discharge and for these patients. This study is directed towards correlation of clinical profile with CT brain findings of the patients to predict the possibility of an intracranial lesion and need for early neurosurgical intervention.Methods: This prospective observational study was carried out in the Emergency Department (ED) of a tertiary care government medical college and hospital. All patients aged more than 12 years presenting to the ED with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) within 24 hours of injury in whom NCCT head (trauma protocol) was done during the Study. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors related to different outcomes.Results: 178 patients with MTBI were enrolled in the study among which intracranial injuries were found by CT scan in 28 patients (15.7%). Odds of finding intracranial injuries were highest with the presence of post-traumatic vomiting, post traumatic amnesia (PTA), pre-existing alcohol use disorder, GCS≤14, focal neurological deficit and clinical signs of basal skull fracture. 2.8% patients required urgent neurosurgical intervention.Conclusions: Presence of post-traumatic vomiting, PTA, alcohol use disorder, GCS≤14, focal neurodeficit and signs of basal skull fracture in a MTBI patient should be considered as high-risk factors for significant intracranial injuries. 

Did LIGO detect dark matter?

We consider the possibility that the black-hole (BH) binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of dark matter. Interestingly enough, there remains a window for masses $20\,M_\odot \lesssim M_{\rm bh} \lesssim 100\, M_\odot$ where primordial black holes (PBHs) may constitute the dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate enough energy in gravitational waves to become gravitationally bound. The bound BHs will rapidly spiral inward due to emission of gravitational radiation and ultimately merge. Uncertainties in the rate for such events arise from our imprecise knowledge of the phase-space structure of galactic halos on the smallest scales. Still, reasonable estimates span a range that overlaps the $2-53$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ rate estimated from GW150914, thus raising the possibility that LIGO has detected PBH dark matter. PBH mergers are likely to be distributed spatially more like dark matter than luminous matter and have no optical nor neutrino counterparts. They may be distinguished from mergers of BHs from more traditional astrophysical sources through the observed mass spectrum, their high ellipticities, or their stochastic gravitational wave background. Next generation experiments will be invaluable in performing these tests.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, updated to match version published in PR

Review of the Effectiveness of UV-C for Disinfection of High Touch Objects

General wellbeing dangers like bioterrorism, multi-and unnecessary medication safe tuberculosis, pandemic flu, and outrageous intense respiratory problem have heightened attempts to use environmental measures to deter infection spread that is entirely or partly airborne. UV germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is one such control that has gained renewed recognition following quite a while of under-implementation and negligence. With renewed interest, however, come new concerns, especially about effectiveness and protection. Proof shows that the condition of the patient care system has a significant effect on the risk of hospital acquired infections among hospitalized patients. The new launch of its use for surface decontamination has piqued the attention of medical facilities. Nonetheless, the worldwide scattering of the novel Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) brought about a shortage of filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) among medical services experts. This has raised the issue of whether FFRs can be safely sanitized for reuse without endangering primary strength or viability by utilizing UV light. There is a long history of studies reasoning that, when utilized appropriately, UVGI can be both sound and successful in sanitizing surfaces, keeping away from the spread of various airborne microorganisms

The Role of Citizens’ Familiarity, Privacy Concerns, and Trust on Adoption of Smart Services

Smart city solutions and applications are considered as a strategic means to cope with multiple global and local challenges such as pollution, energy expenditure and digitalization to name a few. Although these solutions are driven by advanced information technologies such as IoT and Big data, their success is dependent on user engagement and trust. We seek to examine how citizens' awareness and perception of smart cities affect their adoption of smart services.To answer this, we conducted a study in Norway and employed a questionnairereceiving 103 responses. Furthermore, we conducted 12 semi-structured interviewsto obtain further insights. The results show how citizens value the benefitof smart services and how their adoption is influences by engagement and trusttowards them.

Safety and Efficacy of Paracetamol + Lignocaine Injection in Patients with High-grade Fever:A Prospective Analysis

Paracetamol is frequently used as an analgesic and antipyretic across the world. However, there is no data on Indian patients regarding the safety and efficacy of paracetamol + lignocaine injection in patients with high-grade fever. Hence, a prospective analysis was conducted to assess the safety and efficacy of paracetamol and lignocaine injection in patients with high-grade fever and mild-to-moderate body pain. The study is a real-world prospective study. The results showed that following intervention with paracetamol and lignocaine injection, 98% patients showed resolution of fever and 58% patients showed improvement in pain symptoms. The authors suggest that clinicians should consider paracetamol and lignocaine injection in patients with high-grade fever and associated pain and discomfort

Computerized Simulation using Finite Element Method (FEM) for Guardrail Crashes

The rigid structure of the existing w-beam guardrail design leads to numerous death and injuries. Recently, a new prototype was produced by considering the best design while innovating an additional element to the existing w-shape guardrail to create a safer and more practical device. Yet, the behavior of the prototype when subjected to explicit impaction force with proper environment setting was not properly investigated experimentally. By using Ansys Ls-Dyna software, finite element analysis was conducted by subjecting a higher impaction velocity with proper environment setting on both models: (1) the existing w-beam model, and (2) prototype model. The validity of the produced finite element model was ensured by comparing the maximum impaction force of the existing experimental literature. The model deformation in terms of element displacement and scale of force received by both models was observed. The observation showed that the additional element on the prototype reduced the deformation rate onto the beam span under the impaction force of 26.933 kN