The adverse effects of long term exposure to rotten spine

Melvin Yeo

BIOMAT laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore


Abstract

Introduction. For the past decade, many researchers in the field of engineering are devoting their efforts to bioengineering, one of which is the mechanical properties of bone. Due to cost of acquiring bone specimens and limited funding of most researches, many researchers maximise the use of each specimen, possibly up to a year. This paper in particular studies the harmful effects of prolonged exposure to rotten spine.

Methods. The subject chosen for this study is the author himself. The author's Final Year Project is to design a radio-translucent spine testing rig. Observations for abnormalities to his daily routine on 4th October 2004 were made.

Observations. Woke up at 0730h in the morning, decided to switch off his alarm clock and return to sleep a little longer. Later, as he was packing his bag to leave for school, he realised he had misplaced his eye lubricator and had to make do without them.

Upon reaching his lab, he took out a specimen from the freezer to prepare for future testing and left it in the lab subsequently. While in the lab, a friend asked if he would like to join her group for doing lab and he agreed, completely forgetting that he had promised to join another friend for lab previously.

Went down to Science Park 1 with another already thawed specimen for testing. As he was setting up the equpiment, he realised he has forgotten how to calibrate the equipment again (for the upteenth time). While waiting for the experiment to run, he went to Medical Library to photocopy journals for his literature research review, but left his matriculation card in the photopying machine.

At the end of the experiment, he returned to his lab to collect his things and return home, only to realise after a while that he had left a specimen in the lab. Throughout the whole day, he had been in a near state of depression.

Conclusion. Prolonged exposure to rotten spine can lead to fatigue, carelessness, loss of memory and depression.