Necrotising Fasciitis of the Neck and Anterior Chest Wall

Necrotising fasciitis is a rare but rapidly progressive and potentially life threatening infection of the soft tissue, involving subcutaneous tissue and deep fascial layer. It may affect any part of the body, but the extremities, abdominal wall, and perineum are most commonly affected. Here we present a case of necrotising fasciitis of the neck and anterior chest wall which is a rare presentation. The risk factor of the disease was uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. We could treat this patient successfully by early recognition, aggressive surgical debridement, intravenous antibiotics, fractional doses of insulin to control diabetes and other supportive measures

Promoting patient safety in India: situational analysis and the way forward

Unsafe healthcare is a well-recognized issue internationally and is attracting attention in India as well. Drawing upon the various efforts that have been made to address this issue in India and abroad, we explore how we can accelerate developments and build a culture of patient safety in the Indian health sector. Using five international case studies, we describe experiences of promoting patient safety in various ways to inform future developments in India. We offer a roadmap for 2020, which contains suggestions on how India could build a culture of patient safety

Humanitarian program cycle.

Elderly people in humanitarian crises, a forgotten population: A call for action</p

Language-focused instruction for literacy acquisition in akshara-based languages: Pedagogical considerations and challenges

In this chapter we explore the role of language- and meaning-focused instruction for supporting literacy acquisition in akshara-based languages, drawing upon examples from Hindi and the Devanagari script. Instruction of lower- and higher-level literacy skills typically targeted in pre- and primary school years are examined with a particular focus on the phonological, orthographic and morpho-syntactic domains. The role of affective-motivational aspects in learning and a strong cultural embedding of teaching-learning materials and pedagogical strategies are highlighted, with implications for native speakers and second language learners, in contexts of diglossia, and with demographically diverse groups. Such a multi-component curriculum is dependent on the perceptiveness and sensibilities of teachers, their attitudes towards teaching and learning, specific pedagogical skills and concrete knowledge-bases. We discuss the challenges this holds

The Assessment of Emergent and Early Literacy Skills in the Akshara Languages.

The assessment of language and literacy skills in the akshara languages pose distinct challenges that are related to the specificities of the orthography, contextual variability and population diversity, which in turn tend to be compounded by generally low levels of achievement. In this chapter, we discuss an assessment framework targeted at capturing children’s language and literacy learning in the early years. Using assessments for Hindi and Kannada as cross-linguistic illustrative examples, we bring focus on psychometric rigor, test utility for research purposes versus practice, appropriateness of test adaptations, and challenges related to monitoring growth in language and literacy skills over time. A key consideration is the urgent need for sensitivity of assessments to contextual factors including demographic diversity (e.g. socioeconomic factors, home language(s), and access to literacy resources), classroom practices, and orthography