Assessment of the knowledge, attitude and practice of self medication among second year undergraduate medical students in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Inappropriate self-medication is a cause of concern as it can result in wasteful expenditure, prolonged suffering, drug dependence, resistance and increase in morbidity. Self medication assumes significance among medical students as they have knowledge about ailments and medicines. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among undergraduate medical students.Methods: The present study was conducted in December 2017 among second professional undergraduate medical students in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, GMC Jammu after obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee of GMC, Jammu. A total of 123 students who took self-medication during last six months were included and given a questionnaire that included open and close ended questions about self-medication. Data was analysed using Microsoft Excel and presented as number and percentages.Results: Total of 123 second professional undergraduate MBBS students were analysed. 72 (58.53%) were males and 51 (41.46%) were females. 96 (78%) students practised self-medication. Allopathic drugs were most commonly used for self medication (93.5%), followed by Ayurvedic drugs. Fever and headache were common ailments treated with self medication. Common class of drugs used for self medication were antipyretics (66.6%), antibiotics (42.2%). Adverse drug reactions were perceived as the most common disadvantage of self medication. Analysis of source of information revealed that old prescriptions (33%), internet (18%) were the main sources of information. Regarding prevention of self medication, many students perceived that enhancing awareness was the most effective solution (72.3%) followed by stoppage of supply of medicines without prescription(39.8%).Conclusions: Self medication is practised by a majority of students. As responsible self medication is now increasingly being considered as a component of self-care, there is need for review of educational programs especially teaching of rational and judicious use of medicines to the undergraduate medical students

A COMPARITIVE EVALUATION OF SPECIES OF GUDUCHI (TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA (WILID.) MEIRS EX HOOK. F & THOMS., TINOSPORA MALABARICA MEIRS EX HOOK, TINOSPORA CRISPA MEIRS.) W.R.T SATWA

Background: Guduchi is a plant belonging to Menispermaceae family and widely used in Ayurvedic system of medicine. Tinospora cordifolia is the accepted botanical source of Guduchi. All the three species are indigenous to the tropical areas of India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Guduchi Satwa is the most commonly used dosage form of the plant for various conditions like fever, arthritis, gastric ulcer cough etc. Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi) is a widely used shrub in folk and Ayurvedic systems of medicine. Species of the plant, stem size, collection time, season and maturity of the plant may affect the yield and physico-chemical profile of Guduchi Satwa. Due to high demand and less yield of Satwa from Guduchi plant, market sample of Guduchi Satwa is subjected to adulteration. Hence this study is aimed at standardizing Guduchi Satwa prepared from all the three available species of the plant. Methodology: The study deals with preparation of Satwa as per the classical text of Ayurveda, identifying organoleptic features, conducting physicochemical and photochemical screening of the Satwa of all the above mentioned species of Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia (wilid.) Meirs ex hook. f & thoms., Tinospora malabarica meirs ex hook, Tinospora crispa meirs.). Results: The study provided significant difference in the yield of Satwa. Variations in the organoleptic characters were insignificant. All the phytoconstituents were found to be same and the physicochemical values were within the limits in all three species

Analgesic Activity of Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Muell. Arg.

Background: This study intended to experimentally evaluate the analgesic activity of Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Muell. Arg. which is widely used by folklore and traditional healers in pain relief. The drug is commonly known as ‘Bhumi Eranda’ among the locals.Methods: The plant material of Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Muell. Arg. was collected from the fields of Sri Sri College of Ayurvedic Science and Research, Bangalore and preserved as per the standard method. The toxicity studies carried out earlier has proved that, the drug was non-toxic up to 3000 mg/kg body weight. The effective doses were derived as 300 mg/kg (lower) and 600 mg/kg (higher) body weight and the experimental study was conducted. Analgesic screening models used for the study are – Eddy’s Hot plate and Tail immersion models. The study was carried out in 4 groups i.e. Control, Standard, Lower dose Kashaya of Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Muell. Arg. and Higher dose Kashaya of Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Muell. Arg. in each model. The activity was compared with a standard reference drug, Tramadol and Diclofenac.Results: The results were analyzed by using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test followed by Dunnett test to detect the significance of differences between each group and control.Conclusion: The study helped to conclude, Sebastiania chamaelea (L.) Muell. Arg. as an ideal analgesic and supported the traditional claim

Water rights as women's rights? : assessing the scope for women's empowerment through decentralised water governance in Maharashtra and Gujarat

Copublished with Utthan and TIS

4-Bromo­benzoic acid–6-(4-bromo­phen­yl)-3-methyl-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b][1,3,4]thia­diazole (1/1)

In the title 1:1 co-crystal, C10H7BrN4S·C7H5BrO2, the triazolothia­diazole system is approximately planar [with a maximum deviation of 0.030 (4) Å] and forms a dihedral angle of 8.6 (1)° with the bromo­phenyl ring. In the carb­oxy­lic acid mol­ecule, the carboxyl group is rotated by 6.4 (3)° out of the benzene ring plane. The crystal structure features O—H⋯N and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distances = 3.713 (2), 3.670 (2) and 3.859 (3) Å] and short S⋯N [2.883 (4) Å] contacts

Novel forms of neurofascin 155 in the central nervous system: alterations in paranodal disruption models and multiple sclerosis

Stability of the myelin-axon unit is achieved, at least in part, by specialized paranodal junctions comprised of the neuronal heterocomplex of contactin and contactin-associated protein and the myelin protein neurofascin 155. In multiple sclerosis, normal distribution of these proteins is altered, resulting in the loss of the insulating myelin and consequently causing axonal dysfunction. Previously, this laboratory reported that mice lacking the myelin-enriched lipid sulphatide are characterized by a progressive deterioration of the paranodal structure. Here, it is shown that this deterioration is preceded by significant loss of neurofascin 155 clustering at the myelin paranode. Interestingly, prolonged electrophoretic separation revealed the existence of two neurofascin 155 bands, neurofascin 155 high and neurofascin 155 low, which are readily observed following N-linked deglycosylation. Neurofascin 155 high is observed at 7 days of age and reaches peak expression at one month of age, while neurofascin 155 low is first observed at 14 days of age and constantly increases until 5 months of age. Studies using conditional neurofascin knockout mice indicated that neurofascin 155 high and neurofascin 155 low are products of the neurofascin gene and are exclusively expressed by oligodendrocytes within the central nervous system. Neurofascin 155 high is a myelin paranodal protein while the distribution of neurofascin 155 low remains to be determined. While neurofascin 155 high levels are significantly reduced in the sulphatide null mice at 15 days, 30 days and 4 months of age, neurofascin 155 low levels remain unaltered. Although maintained at normal levels, neurofascin 155 low is incapable of preserving paranodal structure, thus indicating that neurofascin 155 high is required for paranodal stability. Additionally, comparisons between neurofascin 155 high and neurofascin 155 low in human samples revealed a significant alteration, specifically in multiple sclerosis plaques

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI, 12.94-24.80], and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI, 4.30-7.68]). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI