Prescribing pattern and adverse drug reactions monitoring in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory arthritis which requires lifelong treatment to prevent the damage to joints and to maintain day to day functioning of patients. All the drugs used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis show significant toxicity and hence it is very important that their use require regular monitoring for adverse reactions. The present study is designed to estimate the prescribing pattern and the occurrence of adverse drug reactions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted from July 2014 to September 2014 in rheumatology outpatient department.75 patients who fulfilled the study criteria were observed for 3 months. Their prescriptions were collected and analysed. The CSDCO reporting forms were used for the collection of adverse drug reactions. Causality assessment was done by using WHO-UMC scoring system and severity assessment by modified Hartwig and Siegel scale.Results: The study group consists of 85.6 % female. Majority of them were in age group 40-49 years. Average number of drugs per prescription was 4.97.Out of 75 patients, 57.33% were on single DMARD, and 33.33% required 2 DMARDs and 9.33% were prescribed 3 DMARDs. A total of 64 adverse drug reactions were reported out of which 29.6% was due to glucocorticoids, 25% was due to the use of NSAIDS and steroids. Chloroquine maculopathy occurred in 2 patients and elevated liver enzymes occurred in 6 patients due to methotrexate which necessitated DMARD withdrawal. Eight percent of the ADRs were severe.Conclusions: Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is based on DMARDs and glucocorticoids where it is difficult to prevent the occurrence of ADRs. Consistent monitoring of therapy is needed for early recognition of ADRs and prompt action

Impact and Perception of Virtual Team-based Learning in Comparison to Online Lectures in Pharmacology- A Randomised Crossover Interventional Study

Introduction: Competency-based Medical Education (CBME) emphasizes small group teaching; henceforth, more innovative educational strategies are needed to stimulate student learning. Team-based Learning (TBL) is structured small-group teaching featuring student preparation out of class to acquire critical concepts. In the current study, TBL was carried out on a virtual platform using commonly available web applications. Aim: To evaluate the impact and perception of virtual TBL compared to online lectures in Pharmacology. Materials and Methods: The randomised crossover study was conducted from September 2021 to January 2022, in the Pharmacology department of Tirunelveli Medical College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India. The students were assigned into two groups in the ratio of 1:1 by simple random sampling. Students in group A attended TBL sessions, whereas group B attended lectures on the same topic via Google classroom for the first session. A crossover of groups was done for the second session. At the end of both sessions, a questionnaire with Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) to assess knowledge recall and Short Answer Questions (SAQs) to assess critical analysis was sent to both groups in Google forms, and responses were collected and evaluated. A validated 33 item TBL Student Assessment Instrument (TBL-SAI) was used to determine the student perceptions. An unpaired t-test was used to compare the scores of both groups to assess performance. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the student accountability, preference, and satisfaction scales of TBL-SAI. Results: Out of 130 students, 125 were taken up for analysis as five failed to attend the sessions or complete the questionnaire. TBL group scored significantly better than the lecture group in MCQs {(15.8±2.2 vs 12±2.6) and (12.7±3.5 vs 6.4±2.2)} and SAQs {(5.4±2.1 vs 2.3±1.4) and (6.1±2.0 vs 3.3±1.9)} in sessions 1 and 2, respectively. TBL-SAI subscale and total scores were higher than neutral scores in both groups, indicating a positive attitude toward virtual TBL. Conclusion: Implementation of virtual TBL in synchronous setting in Pharmacology course established proof of high student accountability and satisfaction. Students preferred online TBL to online lectures. Virtual TBL sessions were more effective than online lectures

Phase I-Designing a biofeedback device for quadriceps re-education-bridging the gap in exercise compliance

529-532Knee Osteoarthritis is a painful and disabling condition which causes difficulty in activities of daily living. Such patients are referred for physiotherapy sessions where they were prescribed with exercises as home programs, quadriceps isometrics was the commonly prescribed exercises as it causes the least intraarticular inflammation than other types of exercises. Research reports poor compliance to the exercise program with lack of confidence and doubt of performing correctly were being commonly reported answers to the lack of compliance. With the idea to improve the compliance to the exercise program this device is developed which helps the patients to perform the exercises at home and improve their confidence levels too. The Microcontroller used is Arduino Mega 2560 and Force sensor. Force sensor is used to sense the force produced by the patient and MCP6004 operational amplifier is used as Voltage follower for providing the exact voltage. It also has audio feedback and visual feedback, Audio feed back is given by connecting a voice playback module and a buzzer and visual feedback is given by LED’s of three colours- red, yellow, blue. LCD also displays the time taken by the patients. This device will surely improve the compliance with exercises for the wellbeing of patient

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using <i>Atalantia monophylla</i>: A potential eco-friendly agent for controlling blood-sucking vectors

Abstract Developing floral-based replacement molecules might manage blood-sucking vectors in an eco-friendly way. Atalantia monophylla (Am) aqueous leaf extract (ALE) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were evaluated against mosquitoes (Aedes vittatus, Anopheles subpictus, and Culex vishnui) and ticks (Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Rhipicephalus microplus, and R. sanguineus) at different concentrations. Phytochemical screening and AgNPs' synthesis were performed on ALE of A. monophylla. UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscope were used to examine the synthesized Am-AgNPs. A. monophylla's ALE included alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, triterpenes, coumarins, anthraquinones, and phenolics. Am-AgNPs had a higher LC50 (22.19, 23.92, 26.09, 40.25, 51.87, and 60.53 μg·mL−1, respectively) than leaf aqueous extract (LAE) against Ae. vittatus, An. subpictus, Cx. vishnui, H. bispinosa, R. microplus, and R. sanguineus larvae. A. monophylla ALE and Am-AgNPs' bio-toxicity was investigated against aquatic and terrestrial non-target species (Acilius sulcatus, Anisops bouvieri, Araneus mitificus, and Cyrtophora moluccensis) with LC50 values ranging from 2,094.5 to 10,532.8 μg·mL−1, respectively. A. monophylla ALE and Am-AgNPs had little negative impacts on the chosen non-target fauna. Environmental protection is important nowadays. Green AgNPs are low-cost, readily accessible, environmentally safe, and effective pesticides. Am-AgNPs are effective alternative insecticides, requiring a considerable study on this plant to control blood-sucking vectors for worldwide human/animal health importance

Comparative studies on the digestive enzymes in the gut of earthworms, Eudrilus eugeniae and Eisenia fetida

567-569Solid waste and resource recycling are the only sensible ways to tackle the problem of municipal solid waste (MSW). The digestive enzymes and the intestinal microflora of earthworms seem to play an important role in the digestion of soil organic matter. The present investigation was aimed to study the levels of various enzymes viz. amylase, cellulase, xylanase, cellbiase, endonuclease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and nitrate reductase and their activities in the gut of the two selected earthworms, Eudrilus eugeniae and Eisenia fetida. Overall, amylase, cellobiase, endoglucanase, acid phosphatase and nitrate reductase showed higher enzymatic activity

IMPLEMENTATION OF SOFT COMPUTING TECHNIQUES ON COMBINED OPERATION OF SOLAR SYSTEM WITH UNIFIED POWER QUALITY CONDITIONER FOR POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Harmonic contamination, non-linear loads, voltage sag-swell and other issues can all have an impact on the quality of electricity. The fluctuation of load side voltage has made it extremely difficult to maintain power quality in recent years. The load side voltage variation solved by optimization technique is suitable for attain good result. The work consist of additional solar system provided with Maximum Power Point Tracking controlled by a Particle Swarm Optimization Technique and fuzzy, Artificial Neural Network based Proportional Integral control technique, which is used in the Unified Power Quality Conditioner, in order to balance and increase to maintain the load side power. Total harmonic distortion has decreased from an average of 2.77 percent for voltage to 1.16 percent, and from an average of 4.48 percent to 2.02 percent for current. Results of the simulation run using MATLAB software

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles from Sargassum tenerrimum and screening phytochemicals for its antibacterial activity

Synthesis of nanomaterials by biological approach is innovative, cheaper and environmental friendly and requires less-labor. In this regard, the present study focused on the synthesis of silver nanoparticles from the extract of Sargassum tenerrimum. Synthesized silver nanoparticles were well-characterized by UV-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier-Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis (TEM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). It was found that spherical shaped nanoparticles of size 20 nm were found in TEM analysis and showed effective anti-bacterial activity against standard reference strains. Altogether, extracts from seaweed were screened for phytochemicals followed by FT-IR prediction to reveal chemical functional groups present. The results showed that the anti-bacterial activity of silver nanoparticles was comparably higher than the phytochemicals present. Therefore, the present study elucidates silver nanoparticles can play a vital role in nano-based therapy in future

Comparative transcriptome analysis of pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan (L.) and one of its wild relatives Cajanus platycarpus (Benth.) Maesen.

Pigeonpea is a major source of dietary protein to the vegetarian population of the Indian sub-continent. Crop improvement to mitigate biotic and abiotic stresses for realization of its potential yield and bridging yield gap is the need of the hour. Availability of limited genomic resources in the cultivated germplasm, however, is a serious bottleneck towards successful molecular breeding for the development of superior genotypes in pigeonpea. In view of this, improvement of pigeonpea can be attempted through transgenesis or by exploiting genetic resources from its wild relatives. Pigeonpea wild relatives are known to be bestowed with agronomic traits of importance; discovery and deployment of genes from them can provide a lucrative option for crop improvement. Understanding molecular signatures of wild relatives would not only provide information about the mechanism behind desired traits but also enable us to extrapolate the information to cultivated pigeonpea. The present study deals with the characterization of leaf transcriptomes of Cajanus cajan and one of its wild relatives, Cajanus platycarpus. Illumina sequencing revealed 0.11 million transcripts in both the species with an annotation of 0.09 million (82%) transcripts using BLASTX. Comparative transcriptome analyses on the whole, divulged cues about the wild relative being vigilant and agile. Gene ontology and Mapman analysis depicted higher number of transcripts in the wild relative pertaining to signaling, transcription factors and stress responsive genes. Further, networking between the differentially expressed MapMan bins demonstrated conspicuous interactions between different bins through 535 nodes (512 Genes and 23 Pathways) and 1857 edges. The authenticity of RNA-seq analysis was confirmed by qRT-PCR. The information emanating from this study can provide valuable information and resource for future translational research including genome editing to alleviate varied stresses. Further, this learning can be a platform for in-depth investigations to decipher molecular mechanisms for mitigation of various stresses in the wild relative

Not Available

Not AvailablePigeonpea is a major source of dietary protein to the vegetarian population of the Indian subcontinent. Crop improvement to mitigate biotic and abiotic stresses for realization of its potential yield and bridging yield gap is the need of the hour. Availability of limited genomic resources in the cultivated germplasm, however, is a serious bottleneck towards successful molecular breeding for the development of superior genotypes in pigeonpea. In view of this, improvement of pigeonpea can be attempted through transgenesis or by exploiting genetic resources from its wild relatives. Pigeonpea wild relatives are known to be bestowed with agronomic traits of importance; discovery and deployment of genes from them can provide a lucrative option for crop improvement. Understanding molecular signatures of wild relatives would not only provide information about the mechanism behind desired traits but also enable us to extrapolate the information to cultivated pigeonpea. The present study deals with the characterization of leaf transcriptomes of Cajanus cajan and one of its wild relatives, Cajanus platycarpus. Illumina sequencing revealed 0.11 million transcripts in both the species with an annotation of 0.09 million (82%) transcripts using BLASTX. Comparative transcriptome analyses on the whole, divulged cues about the wild relative being vigilant and agile. Gene ontology and Mapman analysis depicted higher number of transcripts in the wild relative pertaining to signaling, transcription factors and stress responsive genes. Further, networking between the differentially expressed MapMan bins demonstrated conspicuous interactions between different bins through 535 nodes (512 Genes and 23 Pathways) and 1857 edges. The authenticity of RNA-seq analysis was confirmed by qRT-PCR. The information emanating from this study can provide valuable information and resource for future translational research including genome editing to alleviate varied stresses. Further, this learning can be a platform for in-depth investigations to decipher molecular mechanisms for mitigation of various stresses in the wild relative.Not Availabl