Doctrine of Novus Actus Interveniens Not Always a Defense: Analysis of a Case.

Doctrine of novus actus interveniens (NAI) sometimes plays an important role as a tool of defense in medical negligence suits. It is a Latin phrase which means breakage of the causal chain at some point, relieving the initial wrongdoer. In medical negligence suits, the appearance of an external factor or event in the causal chain and the outcome is not directly related to the negligence of the doctor, but for the novel agent; the doctrine of NAI can be applied and the initial wrongdoer, i.e., the treating physician can be exempted. Autopsy of a similar type of case was performed in a tertiary care hospital in the State of Chhattisgarh. The autopsy findings identified a new factor in the form of dereliction in duty by another physician causing breakage of the chain in the current case described. How to cite this article: Dheeraj AB, Giri SK, Sarma B. Doctrine of Novus Actus Interveniens Not Always a Defense: Analysis of a Case. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(10):983-985.

Ultralow loading Pt nanocatalysts prepared by atomic layer deposition on carbon aerogels.

Using atomic layer deposition (ALD), we show that Pt nanoparticles can be deposited on the inner surfaces of carbon aerogels (CA). The resultant Pt-loaded materials exhibit high catalytic activity for the oxidation of CO even at loading levels as low as approximately 0.05 mg Pt/cm2. We observe a conversion efficiency of nearly 100% in the 150-250 degrees C temperatures range, and the total conversion rate seems to be limited only by the thermal stability of the CA support in ambient oxygen. The ALD approach described here is universal in nature, and can be applied to the design of new catalytic materials for a variety of applications, including fuel cells, hydrogen storage, pollution control, green chemistry, and liquid fuel production.