Latest news with #MMUs
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
COPD, hypertension and diabetes detection drive planned in Tiruchi district
Health authorities will be organising awareness programmes and early screening for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD) as well launching a service to detect hypertension and diabetes among workers in small commercial establishments in Tiruchi district this week as part of a Statewide initiative to integrate them under the Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam (MTM) scheme. According to an official press release, the COPD programmes will be launched on June 4 under the supervision of the State Nnon-communicable Diseases (NCD) Section with the support of National Health Mission-Tamil Nadu. COPD is a long-term lung disease causing persistent cough and breathlessness, especially common in people exposed to smoke and dust. Symptoms include chronic cough for over eight weeks, breathlessness during daily activity, wheezing or chest tightness and sputum production. Smokers, users of biomass fuels, and people working in dusty environments are at high risk of COPD. The programme will involve the participation of all the 84 Primary Health Centres, including those under Tiruchi Corporation, that have been mapped to their nearest tertiary care centre and functional spirometry facility (Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital), said the release. Spirometry tests will be available free of cost at designated centres. Monthly results of the screening would be reported to the State NCD Section. On June 5, a programme to screen 25,571 workers in nearly 878 factories and small commercial establishments for hypertension and diabetes will be launched in Tiruchi district, covering the blocks of Lalgudi, Manapparai, Manachallur, Marungapuri, Musiri, Thiruverumbur, Thuraiyur, Thottiyam, and Tiruchi Corporation. The firms with less than 1,000 employees were identified through the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH) for the programme. The initiative will be implemented through the existing Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) – both Regular and Tribal – without deviation from the fixed tour programme by integrating workplace screening with routine outreach activities at the block level. The programme aim at promoting early detection of hypertension and diabetes among labourers, and ensure timely referral of suspected/confirmed NCD cases to the nearest government health facility for further management. Over 5 lakh workers had been identified for the programme throughout the State, said the release.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The Story Behind the Most Terrifying Space Photo Ever Taken
Imagine drifting alone in space, with no cord connecting you to anything. It's the stuff of nightmares or the freedom of dreams, depending on how you look at it. In 1984, four astronauts did just that, and footage from their untethered flights is again making the rounds, reminding everybody of how incredible -- and frightening -- the emptiness of space can be. NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II stepped away from the Space Shuttle Challenger on Feb. 7, 1984, using a jet-powered backpack called the Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU). He was the first human to float untethered in space. The image of him drifting alone above the Earth is considered the most terrifying space photo ever taken. His spacewalk was not a stunt. It was the first demonstration of a cutting-edge tool designed to help satellite repair and space station construction. Drifting 90 meters away from the shuttle, he showed that astronauts could operate freely in space. Until then, the idea had been purely theoretical. Two days later, fellow astronaut Bob Stewart also donned an MMU, and both men leaped from the shuttle into space. Just months later, NASA would put the MMU to an even greater test. During a November 1984 mission, astronauts Dale Gardner and Joseph Allen donned MMUs for a space salvage mission. Two communications satellites had failed to reach their intended orbit. Rather than letting them become space junk, NASA decided to try and retrieve them. Once their space shuttle was within nine meters of each satellite, they began their untethered spacewalk. Allen went first. He flew out to the satellite and attached a capture device that secured it for transport back to Earth. Then Gardner did the same with the second satellite. Footage of the maneuvers looks straight out of a sci-fi thriller. Despite its success, the MMU was short-lived. After just three missions, NASA retired it in favor of robotic arms and safer, tethered spacewalks. The risk of an astronaut being lost in the void was just too great.
