State aims to have 1 PG seat for every 2 MBBS students

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

This academic year the State has 1,758 seats in PG programmes across its 22 medical colleges. Fifty percent of these seats will be surrendered to the All India Quota, said A. Edwin Joe, Director of Medical Education.

“We converted 393 seats to master’s degree programmes and got permission to add 128 seats that we had applied for. Last year, we gained around 500 seats and this year we have added 474 seats. Diabetology is a diploma course as we don’t have a corresponding master’s degree,” an official said.

Medical education officials see the improvement in seats as an opportunity to build capacity in the State. “Students from across the country will study under the All India Quota, which will benefit all,” the official pointed out.

The State has sought 350 seats for the MBBS programme, in addition to its existing 2,900 seats.

These include 150 seats for the upcoming Karur Medical College and an increase of 100 seats each in Madurai and Tirunelveli medical colleges. “The increase would ensure that one in every two UG students in these medical colleges will get into PG programmes and that is a healthy ratio,” Dr. Joe said.

The first round of online counselling to allot AIQ PG seats will begin on Friday.

Candidates will get 10 days to register their choices and six days to lock in their choice, which ends at 5 p.m. on March 24.

The results will be declared on March 27. Candidates will get until April 3 to report to their respective colleges. The DME has started issuing applications and the last date for submitting filled-in forms online is March 20.

Precision medicine is here to stay, says diabetes expert

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

‘A scientific approach will ensure quality of life’

Diabetes may be all about irregular glucose levels but every person with the condition could respond differently to commonly prescribed medicines. A scientific approach would help treat each patient precisely for their condition and ensure quality of life, said V. Mohan, Chairman of Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialties Centre.

Dr. Mohan, who delivered the P. Kutumpiah endowment lecture at the University of Madras here on Thursday, said treatment can be provided to a patient using their health history. The Indian diabetes risk score that relies on age, physical activity, waist measurement and parents’ health history can help doctors predict with 70% accuracy a person’s predisposition to diabetes.

Precision medicine is based on science — where a genetic study is done and artificial intelligence comes up with a formula on the possible responses to a drug. Precision medicine helps to prevent complications that could occur from long-time use of medicine, he said. People with conditions such as obesity, anaemia, and poor kidney function, all require different types of drugs.

Phenotype study such as BMI score and age could further refine the results.

“A single gene defect could produce diabetes. Find a mutation and you find a cause,” he explained, citing the instance of a 16-year-old girl who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, putting her on lifelong insulin supplement.

A thorough study of the patient, however, found that the girl had inherited a mutated gene resulting in type 2 diabetes requiring specific treatment.

“For every drug there are some genetic markers: if you have them you will either respond, won’t respond or will have side effects. If the cost of genetic testing becomes very cheap you can do it for all,” Dr. Mohan said.

Forensic experts to be engaged in Pollachi sexual abuse case

S. Vijay Kumar

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Investigators plan to look beyond facts and sections in the FIR

The Crime Branch CID of the Tamil Nadu police will rope in cyber forensic experts as part of the investigation into the Pollachi sexual abuse case. Wit

h new videos/photographs emerging from various sources, the agency will look beyond the facts and sections of the FIR in the case.According to sources in the CB-CID, investigators were perusing vital clues and analysing storage devices, including mobile phones, seized from the suspects. A pen drive was found during searches on the residence of K. Thirunavukkarasu, one of the accused arrested and remanded in the case.

Asked about two videos circulated in the social media that contained the suspects sexually harassing or physically abusing girls and some photographs, a senior police official said that the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Pollachi town police was based on a complaint lodged by a college student.

“That case is relevant only to the complaint lodged by the girl. Our investigation will go beyond this FIR...efforts are on to identify the victims and motivate them to come out with the truth. Special teams are verifying every information that is coming from various sources,” the official said, adding that the CB-CID could alter the Sections.

In the FIR accessed by The Hindu , the victim says she knew Thirunavukkarasu and N. Sabarirajan through a common friend. On February 12, 2019, shortly after noon Sabarirajan called her while she was in college and wanted to meet her in person. He asked her to immediately come to Oonjavelampatti bus stop. When she went there, Sabarirajan and Thirunavukkarasu were waiting in a car.

Victim’s account

“I sat along with Sabarirajan in the rear seat and as Thirunavukkarasu started the car, two others entered the car. They were introduced to me as Satish and Vasanthakumar. After some time, the car stopped near the gate of a mill. Sabarirajan suddenly removed my upper garment and even before I could realise and resist, Satish took a video. They threatened that if I don’t cooperate, they would release the video in the internet...while two of them held my hands, Satish snatched my one sovereign gold chain,” the girl said, adding that the suspects dropped her and left the scene.

After the four threatened her often demanding money, the victim informed her family members on February 24, 2019, and they decided to lodge a complaint with the police. Meanwhile, the CB-CID has appealed to the people affected by the accused persons or having information on the alleged incidents to share them with the investigating agency.

The CB-CID said those having photos or videos could contact the Deputy Superintendent of Police by dialling 9488442993 instead of posting such evidence in the social media.

Keelkattalai flyovers to be completed by March 2020

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Long overdue:Each flyover will be 700 m in length, with 17 spans.B. Velanakanni Raj

Work that began in 2016 resumed recently after a change of contractors

The Highways Department has set a new deadline for completion of the two flyovers at Keelkattalai that are coming up at the junction of Thoraipakkam-Pallavaram Radial Road and Medavakkam Main Road.

The work, which began in 2016, resumed recently after a change of contractors. The department has now given the new contractor time till March 2020 for completing the work.

Contractor terminated

Sources in the department said the previous contractor had completed only 28% of the Rs. 64-crore project and had to be terminated.

“The two three-lane uni-directional flyovers were slated to be completed by December last year. We sent him notices and imposed fines, but he was not able to complete the work within the stipulated time. Hence we had to go in for fresh tenders,” the officer said.

Each flyover will be 700 m in length with 17 spans.

The new contractor, after mobilising men and machinery in the last three months, commenced work only recently. He will work on the four obligatory spans that will come up over the junction shortly. The Highways Department will be writing to the traffic police seeking permission for changes in traffic movement during the period of construction of the spans.

M. Ramasamy, who runs a plywood store on Medavakkam Main Road, said the junction was known for slowing traffic. “Even before the construction began, vehicle movement was slow. Now it takes motorists some 20-30 minutes to cross the junction. We hope the flyovers are completed on schedule and that they bring relief to motorists,” he said.

S. Suresh, a resident of Kandanchavadi, said he usually avoided taking the Radial road to the GST Road and the airport, since traffic moved slowly during peak hours due to the flyover work.

“I take the southern sector of the Inner Ring Road and go via Alandur. Though it is a longer route, I don’t mind the distance since I make it on time to the airport. Hopefully, the flyover work near the airport too will be completed on time,” he said.

The two three-lane uni-directional flyovers were slated to be completed by December last year

Officer

Highways Department

Nurses on way to work among dead

Jyoti Shelar

MUMBAI, MARCH 15, 2019 00:00 IST

Injured being treated at GT Hospital.Emmanual Yogini

Three nurses from GT Hospital, Fort, who were on their way to report for night duty were among the five people who lost their lives when a bridge abutting Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus collapsed on Thursday evening. Altogether 32 people were injured in the incident.

The victims were admitted to the two nearest State-run hospitals, St. George and GT, while one victim was taken to Bombay Hospital.

The nurses, Apoorva Prabhu (35) and Ranjana Tambe (40) were declared dead at GT Hospital with multiple severe injuries. A third nurse, Bhakti Shinde (40), succumbed during treatment at the St. George Hospital. All the three nurses were residents of Dombivali.

“They may have taken the same train to reach their workplace,” said a distraught Rajendra Shinde, Bhakti Shinde’s husband.

At GT Hospital, the staff rushed to attend to their colleagues. The nurses who were responding to the disaster broke down when the doctors failed to revive Prabhu and Tambe.

Excessive hygiene can cause antibiotic resistance

Times of India 15.03.2019

While maintaining hygiene is good for health, excess cleanliness could lead to antibiotic resistance often resulting to death and illness as well, suggests a new study. Comparing all existing microorganisms and antibiotic resistances, the researchers at Austria’s University of Graz showed that microbial diversity decreases in areas with high levels of hygiene and the diversity of resistances increases. The team compared the intensive care unit of the institute with clean rooms subject to strong microbial control in the aerospace industry and with public and private buildings which have hardly any microbial controls. “In environments with strong microbial control in the intensive care unit and industrially used clean rooms, there are increasing antibiotic resistances which show a high potential for combining with pathogens,” said Alexander Mahnert, director at the varsity.

The number of people who become ill and die from antibiotic-resistant germs is increasing worldwide, said the study, published in Nature Communications. Hence, the results indicated that a stable microbial diversity in clinical areas counteracts the spread of resistances.

The team suggested regular airing, houseplants, deliberate use of useful microorganisms and reduction of antibacterial cleaning agents could be the strategies in maintaining or improving microbial diversity.

IANS

Why planes flying themselves has a downside

As Pilots Spend More Time Learning Automated Systems, They May Become Less Comfortable With Manual Control

Jack Nicas and Zach Wichter

15.03.2019

In nearly 100 million flights by United States airlines over the past decade, there has been a single fatality. Other than most landings and takeoffs, the planes have largely been flying themselves.

But the recent crashes of Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia have raised questions about the downside of all that automation.

Pilots now spend more time learning these automated systems than practicing hands-on flying, so newer pilots are less comfortable with taking manual control when the computer steers them wrong, according to interviews with a dozen pilots and pilot instructors.

“The automation in the aircraft, whether it’s a Boeing or an Airbus, has lulled us into a sense of security and safety,” said Kevin Hiatt, a former Delta Air Lines pilot. Pilots now rely on autopilot so often, “they become a systems operator rather than a stick-and-rudder pilot.”

While automation has contributed to the airline industry’s stellar safety record in recent years, it has also been a factor in many of the crashes that have still occurred around the world. A 2011 study by a federal task force found that in about 60% of 46 recent accidents, pilots had trouble manually flying the plane or handling the automated controls. Complicated automation systems can also confuse pilots and potentially cause them to take action they shouldn’t, pilots said.

President Trump weighed in on Tuesday, posting on Twitter that airplanes have become too technologically complex and that he wants “great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!”

Overdependence on automation has been an issue for decades. A 1997 American Airlines pilot-training video warned that the problem was well known among pilots. In 2013, a federal task force concluded in a report that pilots relied too often on automation and should be required to improve their manual flying skills.

The issue has become more acute in recent years as aircraft have become more automated and a global pilot shortage has forced carriers to fill

Source: Agencies, Photo: AP

their cockpits with less experienced pilots. At the same time, the stream of military aviators that the big carriers have long relied on is dwindling.

Kit Darby, a former United Airlines captain and Boeing flight instructor who now trains pilots at another large carrier, said training for passenger pilots remained exhaustive and still focused on manual skills, including 1,500 hours of flight time and nearly 30 days in simulators. The bigger problem, he said, is the degradation of those skills once pilots get into the cockpit of an advanced passenger jet and begin to rely on autopilot. NYT NEWS SERVICE

Training for pilots still focused on manual skills, but the problem is the degradation of those skills once they get into the cockpit, say experts