Saturday, May 16, 2015

Collodion Babies or Plastic Babies

Collodion Babies or Plastic Babies
Collodion Babies or Plastic Babies

The collodion baby is a descriptive term for the infant who is born encased in a tight shiny membrane that resembles plastic wrap. The skin resembles a yellow, tight and shiny film or dried collodion (sausage skin). These babies are often premature. Collodion babies are also known as plastic babies. This is a very rare disease and is found in who are often premature one among every six lakh babies.

The collodion membrane undergoes desquamation or peeling, which is usually complete by 2 to 3 weeks of life. This reveals the underlying skin disorder.

The collodion membrane is due to abnormal desquamation (a peeling process). It is due to mutation of certain genes and is usually an autosomal recessive, congenital ichthyosis (scaly skin condition). However 10% of collodion babies have normal underlying skin – a mild presentation known as ‘self-healing’ collodion baby.

Collodion babies are at high risk of some complications. The cracking and peeling of the membrane increase the risk of infection from microorganisms. These infants are also at risk for fluid loss, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, body temperature instability, and pneumonia.


Collodion babies should be placed in a high humidity chamber, and monitored closely for complications. A high humidity environment will allow slow, gradual sloughing off of the membrane. The membrane will come off on its own and should not be peeled off.   Application of mild petroleum-based moisturizers may help the infant feel more comfortable while the membrane is peeling off.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Comet Snowball near Mars



Comet Snowball near Mars

 

 


A comet the size of a small mountain is about  to skim past Mars, and NASA hopes its spacecraft will be able to photograph the once-in-a-million-years encounter. The comet, known as Siding Spring (C/2013 A1), is set to hurtle past Mars at a close distance of about 141,600 kilometeres. The closest pass is expected to happen on Monday at 4.27 am AEDT. Astronomers do not expect it will come any where near colliding with Mars, but they do hope it will be close enough to reveal clues about the origins of the solar system. That is because the comet is believed to have originated billions of years ago in the Oort Cloud, a distant region of space at the outskirts of the solar system. The comet is flying through space at a breakneck speed of 200,000 kilometres per hour. Another interesting thing about the comet, about a mile wide in diameter, is that it is only about as solid as a pile of talcum powder.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Mars Orbiter Mission

Mars Orbiter Mission


The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan "Mars-craft" (Sanskrit मंगल maṅgala "Mars" + यान yāna "craft) is a Mars orbiter launched into Earth orbit on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was successfully inserted into orbit of Mars on 24 September 2014, making India the first country in the world to successfully send a spacecraft to Mars on its very first attempt.
 
Mars Orbiter Mission
 
The success of the Mars Orbiter Mission, lauded for its low price tag of Rs 450 crore, will boost India's five-decade-old space programme.

With a spacecraft around Mars, India joins a small group of nations that have successfully sent probes to orbit or land on Mars. Others, however, failed several times initially.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Chef killed by severed snake head


Chef killed by severed snake head


Chef killed by severed snake head
A snake came back from the dead to deliver a deadly bite to a chef, 20 minutes after he had chopped its head off.  The chef was preparing a dish from cobra flesh when the snake’s head bit him.
Victim Peng Fan had chopped off the head of the Indochinese spitting cobra, a rare delicacy in Asia, to prepare for making the special dish. But when he went to throw the severed snake head into the bin it bit him on the hand, injecting him with fast-acting, deadly venom.
Police say Mr Peng died before he could be given lifesaving anti-venom in hospital.