Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Wrath of Typhoon Ondoy

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Tropical typhoon Ondoy wreaked havoc in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces last Saturday. In its tail end, Ondoy left most of Metropolitan Manila submerged in deep floods, hundreds of dead and missing, and thousands homeless. No other Philippine typhoon in recent history has caused more harm than typhoon Ondoy. It was almost like a deluge has fallen in the Philippines. Ondoy broke the record as the typhoon that made the worst flood in Philippine history.

It all started on a bleak Saturday morning with heavy rainfall that seemed there was no end to it. The Pag-asa reported that a total amount of 341 mm of rain had been poured in a period of six hours from 8 in the morning up to 2 in the afternoon. The unexpected amount of rainfall had caused massive flash flooding in Marikina, Quezon City, Manila, Pasig, Rizal province, Malabon, Navotas, and many other parts of the metro and the nearby provinces.

At present the human death toll is 246 and counting, hundreds missing, and thousands homeless, such as never before had been seen. In the wake of this terrible disaster, people sought refuge in barangay halls, covered basketball courts, and empty parking areas.

Typhoon Ondoy is a disaster that exposed many hidden weaknesses in the government's preparedness for a calamity of this magnitude. Hundreds of people were trapped on the roofs of their homes as the flood heightened to drown them. They hoped in their heart of hearts that a rescue team will somehow emerge from the total darkness and bring them safely to a safe ground. But no one came. While people sent messages of help in their soaked and dying cellphones pleading for help, the Arroyo government went on closed-door meetings and media interviews, where a single second may have been significant in saving lives. It was like making an emergency meeting of airplane pilots on how to save passengers while the plane was a few seconds from crashing. In this kind of disaster, every second lost and may mean lost lives.

Hundreds of people were trapped, but very few rubber boats arrived for rescue. Many died, and those who survived had to be sobered by the fact that a few more hours of rain would have certainly killed them, had not the rain somehow diminished in the night. They had to wait in the morning to be rescued, spending the night cold, wet, hungry---but alive.

But the wrath of this natural calamity has also brought out heroes out of ordinary men and women. In the face of this terrible disaster, the natural instinct to save others prevailed. Stories of heroism abound in this catastrophe and many of these heroes such as Muelmar Magallanes, Ralph Lee, Toto Poras, Jigger Poras, Rolly Ignacio, and many other anonymous people will forever be remembered by the people they saved. Many risked and sacrificed their own lives in order to save their fellow men.

After the flood has subsided, what remained is a landscape of devastation, destroyed homes, and shattered lives.

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A scene in Barangay Industrial Village in Marikina City

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Scene in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City. A big fire hit this Barangay while typhoon Ondoy was raging on Saturday night.

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Flood in Avenida Rizal, Manila

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Far Eastern University, Quezon Boulevard, Manila

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Quezon Boulevard underpass in Quiapo totally submerged in deep flood

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Massive traffic congestion in Manila

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Intersection of Avenida Rizal and Recto Avenue

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The elderly evacuees in Cainta, Rizal waiting for the arrival of relief goods.

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The mass funeral for the typhoon dead in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City

It's Really Cute For About 200 Feet

Someone posted a proposal on light poles along the busy Barrenjoey Road in Bigola, NSW, Australia. It's really cute, for about 200 feet.... Until it all goes awry....





Cholesteatoma







Findings

Non contrasted temporal bone CT reveals a soft tissue mass of the right tympanic membrane and Prussak’s space with associated erosions of the scutum, epitympanum walls, lateral semicircular canal, tegmen tympani and middle ear ossicles.

Differential diagnosis:
- Chronic otomastoiditis
- Acquired cholesteatoma
- Middle ear cholesterol granuloma
- Glomus tympanicum paraganglioma


Diagnosis: Cholesteatoma


Key points

An acquired cholesteatoma is a collection of exfoliated squamous epithelium and debris.
Cholesteatomas often begin at the pars flaccida of the tympanic membrane and grow in Prussak's space of the temporal bone and produce inflammatory reaction.
Cholesteatomas typically occur in the setting of chronic dysfunction of the Eustachian tubes and recurrent otitis media.
Cholesteatomas can be as small as a couple of millimeters in size or can grow to fill the entire middle ear.
Erosions of the scutum and ossicles are commonly seen.
The presence of bony erosions or expansion are strong support of cholesteatoma over chronic otomastoiditis.
Acquired cholesteatomas occur in children and adults.
Most common presenting symptoms include ear discharge, hearing loss, ear pain and vertigo.
Without treatment cholesteatomas will progressively increase in size.
Complications include: Hearing loss, CN 7 palsy, venous sinus thrombosis, semicircular canal fistulas, and intracranial invasion.
Early surgical intervention usually results in complete eradication and preservation of hearing.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Accidental Dong

Here's the second blog recommendation for today.... Have you ever been on a walk, seen a group of puppies, and said to yourself, 'Hey, the markings on their faces look like penises!"? Then this is the blog for you... This guy has blessed us by taking pictures of inadvertent penises (it's penises right? Not penii?), and sharing them with the little people.... By the way, the site is safe for work, there are no actual penises on the site. However, your co-workers might not understand your desire to look at accidental dongs. Here are a few pictures from the site.... If you click on the 'Accidental Dong" logo beneath the photos, you'll go directly to the blog....






Brett Favre Is A Miracle Man

Did you see Brett Favre, the almost 40-year old quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, throw a 40-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left to beat the San Francisco 49ers? You're welcome.....


People Of Walmart

Today, I have two blog recommendations for you.... I can't decide which one is better. Here's the first....

I've spent over an hour on this site today. This person posts pictures of stereotypical Walmart shoppers and their vehicles. The titles, photos and descriptions are all very funny. Here are a few pictures from the site, and they're not even the funniest pictures from the site.... If you click on the 'People Of Walmart" logo beneath the photos, you'll go directly to the site.





Dorsal dermal Sinus with Intramedullary Abscess Formation--MRI


Dorsal dermal sinus, a congenital abnormality associated with spinal dysraphism, can serve as a path for spread of infection inside the spinal thecal sac with its sequelae. Intramedullary abscess formation is an uncommon complication and very few have been reported in the English literature. Case by Dr Sangeeta Aneja, MD Associate Professor & Head of Dept. LLRM Medical College.

Monday, September 28, 2009

What Might Have Been

What if life wasn't too short? What could have been achieved if some of the greatest minds or talents had not been taken from us too soon? What would, or could, they have accomplished? This really well done commercial from Allan Gray Investments tries to give a glimpse into what could have been the rest of James Dean's life, if he hadn't died in a head on car accident at the age of 24.


Teleradiology Market Potential

"TechNavio, the market intelligence platform of Infiniti Research published its a new research report on the teleradiology market. The report says that the global market for teleradiology was around $6 billion in 2008, and is expected to grow at double digit rates in the next five years. The report says that “Technological advances and requirement to lower the healthcare costs have encouraged the healthcare services providers to outsource the diagnosis of radiology images to developing and low-cost countries. Also, the ease of entry for the new entrants in the teleradiology market has resulted in a higher competition in the market, and a greater number of teleradiology service providers.”
Source: TechNavio
Our Teleradiology Services- Teleradiology Providers

Friday, September 25, 2009

Mrs. and Mr. Barack Obama

I'm not sure why this amuses me so much....

Mineralizing microangiopathy









Findings

Figure 1: Both basal ganglia and thalamus show homogeneous high signal.
Figure 2: There is low signal within the medial aspect of the lentiform nucleus (globus pallidus) and caudate heads bilaterally.
Figure 3: There is high density material within the basal ganglia and subcortical white matter.
Figure 4: There is high density bordering the subcortical white matter of both the frontal and parietal lobes.
Figure 5: There is high density bordering the subcortical white matter of the frontal lobes and caudate nucleus.
Figure 6: There is increased density within the subcortical white matter of the frontal and parietal lobes at the centrum semi ovale.


Diagnosis: Mineralizing microangiopathy


Mineralizing microangiopathy is a distinctive histopathologic process involving the microvasculature of the central nervous system. Pathologically there is hyalinization and fibrinoid necrosis of small arteries and calcium deposition. It is usually seen following combined radiation and chemotherapy for the treatment of CNS neoplasm in childhood, although it can be seen in patients receiving only radiation. There is no direct correlation between the extent of the radiological findings and patient’s symptoms. However age appears to be important as most cases have been reported in patients receiving treatment before 10 years of age.

Radiological manifestations include parenchymal calcification within the basal ganglia, specifically the putamen and thalamus. There might be involvement of adjacent white matter tracts, cerebral or cerebellar cortex but this is less likely. MRI evaluation may show high signal on T1 images and low signal on T2 images within the above mentioned areas corresponding to calcifications. Although there is usually low signal on both sequences due to a paucity of protons, high signal can be explained by a surface relaxation effect by the calcium salt particle precipitated in the brain. Differentiating treatment induced abnormalities from residual or recurrent tumor is often difficult and requires close clinical and radiological correlation.

Histologically, the calcifications seen in mineralizing microangiopathy are present within the walls of precapillary arterioles, capillaries, venules, and smaller arteries such as the lenticulostriate. Involvement of adjacent white matter tracts, cerebral cortex and cerebellar structures has also been described but is less common.

Osteosarcoma-MRI



These are the MRI images of a 18 year old male with osteosarcoma.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Masked Man Tries To Elude Speeding Tickets


David VonTesmar, from Phoenix, Arizona, recently received 37 speeding citations (for a total of approximately $6,700) from Arizona's Department of Health and Safety. VonTesmar, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines is accused of being caught speeding through photo radar zones, however, he's not making it very easy for authorities to prove it was actually him driving the car.

All of the photos taken of VonTesmar's speeding car by the photo radar system show a driver wearing a monkey, gazelle or giraffe mask. As a flight attendant, VonTesmar travels often and has said that family members and other co-workers have permission to drive his car when he's not in town.
"I haven't seen proof it was me, I don't know it was me. I have no reason to believe it was me, because I would never operate my vehicle in an unsafe manner. Have I worn the mask? Yes. I'm not admitting anything. I'm just saying the masks are in the car. I drive the car, but so do other people. I believe in peaceful, civil disobedience. I am not endangering anyone in the state of Arizona. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't endanger myself. Nobody likes me more than I do."
On his Facebook page, VonTesmar wrote:
"As the subject of this article, I would like to tell everyone that there is no proof that I am the driver in all of these photos. Several people that have access to my vehicle and have already called in to the Arizona Republic to state that they also drive this vehicle. I am a safe driver with an outstanding driving record. All those that think I am a blatant reckless and dangerous driver are making an uninformed statement using incomplete facts. I will put my driving history against anyone. I operate my vehicle in a safe fashion and drive with the flow of traffic. There has been no admission of guilt on my part nor have I been convicted of these charges or allegations. I appreciate that this is the United States of America and everyone is entitled to their opinion and can freely state it, however, before you condemn me, please get all the facts and make an informed statement."
I'm sure the State of Arizona is going to spend many tax dollars to try to prosecute this guy. Wouldn't it be easier to put a police officer at the areas where they typically find the person in the masks speeding to try to catch them in the act? Reports say that they have had investigators outside his house who have seen him put on the masks.... That must mean he's guilty (note: sarcasm). Let's hope this doesn't start a wave of copycat speeders.... This could become and epidemic! First bank robbers, now speeders? What's next?

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Celebrity Fit Club 2010!


I'm so excited! VH1 has announced its cast for the next season of 'Celebrity Fit Club'! KEVIN FEDERLINE!!!! KEVIN FREAKING FEDERLINE!!!!! KEVIN FEDERLINE will be on 'Celebrity Fit Club' on VH1!


Other contestants will include Shar Jackson, Nicole Eggert, Bobby Brown, Sebastian Bach, Kaycee Stroh, Jay McCarroll and Tanisha Thomas.

Brown Widow


Look what I found outside my patio door last night. It was a huge brown widow spider. There were two of them actually, but the other one was hiding near the egg sack on Noah's basketball hoop.... If you click on the photo, you can get a better look at the spider. They're popping up all over the place. They're not as aggressive and their bite does not pack as much of a punch as their Black Widow counterparts, however, arachnid experts say that Brown Widow venom is stronger than Black Widow venom when compared drop for drop. Apparently the only ill effects are a very painful bite and a red mark at the affected area. So if you have kids or pets...keep an eye out for the new eight legged monsters.

Here's what their egg sacks look like, just in case you wanted to know....


By the way, have you ever killed a spider, and then thought that they may have thousands of little relatives hiding inside your walls waiting to revenge their loved ones? Yeah, me neither....

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Barack Obama Visits The Late Show With David Letterman


Did you see Barack Obama on "The Late Show" with David Letterman last night? What an impressive man.... Anyway, Letterman asked Obama about Jimmy Carter's recent comments about the behavior at the town hall meetings, and Obama answered with an impressive level of class and wit.

David Letterman: Withing the last week, Jimmy Carter started talking about this behavior, and was speculating that this unease or poor decorum, was rooted in racism. Is he on to something there, or is that just something to talk about?

Barack Obama: Well, first of all, I think it's important to realize that I was actually black before the election.