Misconceptional views about epilepsy exist across social class system of society

Epilepsy affects over 1% of population worldwide. Studies have shown that although our understanding about epilepsy has come a long way, misconceptions about its etiology and treatment exist in rural slums. However, no study has been conducted to see whether such misconceptions exist in middle and upper socio-economic class. This study aims to explore the existence of misconceptions and social stigma in the middle and upper socio-economic class. Materials and Methods: We conducted a survey-based study about epilepsy on 227 participants, belonging to middle and upper socio-economic class. Results: The symptoms of generalized tonic-clonic seizures were correctly described by participants. However, magic, superstition and ‘jin’ were considered as the etiology by some. Incorrect treatment options, like shoe sniffing and ‘taweez’ etc., were also mentioned. Social stigmas regarding sharing information about epilepsy and marrying epileptics also existed. Discussion: Our study shows that although the general understanding about epilepsy was correct in majority of participants belonging to the middle upper socio-economic class, it was restricted to generalized tonic clonic seizures. Key misconceptions regarding the etiology and treatment of epilepsy and social stigma associated with it did exist. These findings emphasize the need to educate all segments of the society about epileps

Experimental studies on vacancy induced ferromagnetism in undoped TiO2

Room temperature ferromagnetism is observed in undoped TiO2 films deposited on Si substrates using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The ferromagnetic properties of the samples depend on the oxygen partial pressure during the PLD synthesis. The appearance of higher binding energy component (HBEC) in the oxygen 1s core peak from x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggests the presence of oxygen vacancies in these samples. The amount of oxygen during the synthesis determines the vacancy concentration in the samples which is directly related to the magnetic behavior of the samples. The magnetic moment decreases with oxygen vacancy concentration in the samples. Valence band measurements were performed to study the electronic structure of both stoichometric and reduced TiO2. The analyses show the presence of Ti 3d band near the Fermi level in reduced TiO2 samples. These bands are otherwise empty in stoichiometric TiO2 and reside in the conduction band which makes them unobservable by XPS. The existence of this Ti 3d band near the Fermi level can possibly lead to Stoner splitting of the band.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figur