It is little known that one Okhil Chandra Sen wrote this letter to the Sahibganj divisional railway office in 1909. It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption "Travelers' Tales" in the Far Eastern Economic Review
Okhil Babu's letter to the Railway Department :
"I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with 'lotah' in one hand and 'dhoti' in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shockings to man and female women on plateform. It is too much shame shame for me. Then I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station.
This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers."
Any guesses why this letter was of historic value?
It apparently led to the introduction of toilets on trains.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Its All About Efficiency
Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant, and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket.
It seemed a little strange.
When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets.
When the waiter came back to serve our soup, I asked, "Why the spoon?"
He explained: "The restaurant's owners hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour. If our personnel is better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift."
As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he was able to replace it with his spare.
"I'll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now."
I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter's fly. Looking round, I noticed that all the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies.
So before he walked off, I asked the waiter, "Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?"
"Oh, certainly!" Then he lowered his voice. "Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also found out that we can save time in the restroom. By tying this string to the tip of you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39 percent."
WOW!
I asked, "After you get it out, how do you put it back?"
"Well," he whispered, "I don't know about the others, but I use the spoon."
It seemed a little strange.
When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets.
When the waiter came back to serve our soup, I asked, "Why the spoon?"
He explained: "The restaurant's owners hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour. If our personnel is better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift."
As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he was able to replace it with his spare.
"I'll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now."
I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter's fly. Looking round, I noticed that all the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies.
So before he walked off, I asked the waiter, "Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?"
"Oh, certainly!" Then he lowered his voice. "Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned also found out that we can save time in the restroom. By tying this string to the tip of you-know-what, we can pull it out without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39 percent."
WOW!
I asked, "After you get it out, how do you put it back?"
"Well," he whispered, "I don't know about the others, but I use the spoon."
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Did These Subjects Survive?
Its a lazy Sunday. Just got up after a long long snooze. Thought would put up some cerebral photographs. These were forwarded to me with a caption saying: Their Last Photos.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
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Friday, September 7, 2007
God
Hi Friends,
Going away from Medicine to faith today, the following series of pictures was one of the best e-mail forwards I have received in my life!
God Bless
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Viagra Alarm
Viagra, the 'wonder-drug' promoted for its ability to relieve impotence in men, may have some unwanted side-effects. Research presented recently in Cheltenham, UK, at the annual meeting of the British Fertility Society, suggests that men who are taking Viagra when trying to start a family may actually be decreasing their ability to father a child. However, Viagra manufacturers Pfizer deny that the drug causes fertility problems.
Viagra was designed to enable an increase of blood flow to the penis to overcome impotence problems. However, since its release it has increasingly been used 'recreationally', and is also used by fertility clinics in order to aid patients' semen production. Viagra is what is known as a 'phosphodiesterase inhibitor', a type of chemical known to affect sperm function, so the study looked at what effect the drug has on sperm. The researchers discovered that using Viagra speeds up chemical changes within sperm, rendering them infertile by the time they reach an egg. This chemical change, known as the acrosome reaction, normally only occurs when a sperm reaches an egg, and is when sperm release enzymes that break down the outer layer of the egg allowing the sperm head to penetrate it more easily. However, if the acrosome reaction occurs too early, the sperm become ineffective and unable to enter the egg, as they have no digestive enzymes left.
Scientists from the School of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Queen's University, Belfast, took 45 semen samples and split them into two groups. Half of the samples were treated with Viagra, while the other half was used as control. The research team found that while Viagra increased sperm motility, up to 79 per cent more sperm in the Viagra-treated samples had clearly undergone premature acrosome reactions. These findings lead the researchers to say they had 'significant concerns for Viagra use in assisted reproduction'. They added that the findings echo previous studies in mice that showed that the presence of Viagra meant that fewer eggs would be fertilised and fewer resulting embryos developed normally.
Dr Sheena Lewis, a member of the team, said that their 'message is that caution should be taken when using recreational drugs if you are hoping to start a family'. But a representative of the European Society for Sexual Medicine, Dr John Dean, said it was important that the study wasn't reported in an alarmist fashion, adding that sperm is highly sensitive in laboratory conditions. 'Childless couples - and the general population - should be aware that in the five years that Viagra has been around no overall detrimental effect on fertility has been observed', he said.
However, Pfizer says that there has been no evidence of Viagra affecting fertility following its use by 23 million men over six years. 'It's one study and it was in a test tube basically, not in real people', said spokesman David Watts.
Viagra was designed to enable an increase of blood flow to the penis to overcome impotence problems. However, since its release it has increasingly been used 'recreationally', and is also used by fertility clinics in order to aid patients' semen production. Viagra is what is known as a 'phosphodiesterase inhibitor', a type of chemical known to affect sperm function, so the study looked at what effect the drug has on sperm. The researchers discovered that using Viagra speeds up chemical changes within sperm, rendering them infertile by the time they reach an egg. This chemical change, known as the acrosome reaction, normally only occurs when a sperm reaches an egg, and is when sperm release enzymes that break down the outer layer of the egg allowing the sperm head to penetrate it more easily. However, if the acrosome reaction occurs too early, the sperm become ineffective and unable to enter the egg, as they have no digestive enzymes left.
Scientists from the School of Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Queen's University, Belfast, took 45 semen samples and split them into two groups. Half of the samples were treated with Viagra, while the other half was used as control. The research team found that while Viagra increased sperm motility, up to 79 per cent more sperm in the Viagra-treated samples had clearly undergone premature acrosome reactions. These findings lead the researchers to say they had 'significant concerns for Viagra use in assisted reproduction'. They added that the findings echo previous studies in mice that showed that the presence of Viagra meant that fewer eggs would be fertilised and fewer resulting embryos developed normally.
Dr Sheena Lewis, a member of the team, said that their 'message is that caution should be taken when using recreational drugs if you are hoping to start a family'. But a representative of the European Society for Sexual Medicine, Dr John Dean, said it was important that the study wasn't reported in an alarmist fashion, adding that sperm is highly sensitive in laboratory conditions. 'Childless couples - and the general population - should be aware that in the five years that Viagra has been around no overall detrimental effect on fertility has been observed', he said.
However, Pfizer says that there has been no evidence of Viagra affecting fertility following its use by 23 million men over six years. 'It's one study and it was in a test tube basically, not in real people', said spokesman David Watts.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Can a woman's prepregnancy weight influence their son's sperm count?
Men whose mothers were obese before becoming pregnant may be prone to poor semen quality, a pilot study suggests. The research, by a Danish team, used information on 347 men born in 1984-7 and monitored as part of a national pregnancy cohort. All men had semen and blood samples analyzed to indicate their reproductive status. The study found a significant inverse correlation between men's inhibin B levels and their mother's pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). Several other markers of fecundity, including sperm concentration, semen volume, percent motile sperm, testosterone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels, showed trends toward being impaired among sons of overweight mothers. None of the associations was statistically significant, however.
Craha Ramlau-Hansen, from University of Aarhus in Denmark, and co-authors remark that fat is a hormonally active tissue and that being overweight is associated with reduced fecundity in both women and men. In addition, men's BMI is associated with semen quality and reproductive hormonal status. "Our results suggest that there may be an effect of high maternal BMI on the sons' semen quality," the authors conclude. "We encourage others who have the necessary data to follow-up on this important hypothesis."
Guess this is another strong reason to go the Anjali Mukherjee diet.
Craha Ramlau-Hansen, from University of Aarhus in Denmark, and co-authors remark that fat is a hormonally active tissue and that being overweight is associated with reduced fecundity in both women and men. In addition, men's BMI is associated with semen quality and reproductive hormonal status. "Our results suggest that there may be an effect of high maternal BMI on the sons' semen quality," the authors conclude. "We encourage others who have the necessary data to follow-up on this important hypothesis."
Guess this is another strong reason to go the Anjali Mukherjee diet.
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