Effect of oxytetracycline and doxycycline on muscle tone in healthy human volunteers

Background: Reduced grip strength is associated with adverse health consequences, and therefore there is interest in identifying modifiable influences. Tetracyclines are commonly used antibiotics, but their effect on muscle strength is unclear.Methods: We investigated associations between oxytetracycline, doxycycline and grip strength among 15 healthy human volunteers pre and post administration of test drug. The test drugs were administered at doses of oxytetracycline 500 mg and doxycycline 100 mg and the effect of test drugs on grip strength using jamar hand grip dynamometer was assessed.Results: Oxytetracycline was associated with a significant decrease in average grip strength of both right and left hand.Conclusions: Use of oxytetracycline is associated with reduced grip strength in healthy human volunteers. These findings have potential implication on the functional ability of muscle

Security Enhancement in Card Payment Systems

All customers who have used their credit card at an international POS terminal will have to be re-carded with a Chip +PIN credit card. A chip is a small microchip embedded in our payment card. It is encrypted so transactions are more secure on the payment card. The Chip +PIN card is a higher level of security on your card, in line with best global and local practice of security of transactions. This paper starts with an examination of a previous attempt at solving the pin entry method. It had the advantage of being simple to understand and use. Our analysis takes both the theoretical and experimental approaches reveals serious shortcomings of previous method. We suspect a security thread in this process when we enter the pin in front of our friends and family members

Perception and attitudes of medical students toward communication, chronic disease and death

Background: Medical students of today’s world found difficulty in communication when they faced with dying patients, how they would feel, what are their perception about caring of patients with chronic disease. These are often unspoken and neglected issues.Methods: It was a cross-sectional comparative questionnaire based survey of the 2nd year medical students and interns. Students were evaluated using a questionnaire consisting of 15 Likert type statements.Results: Completed questionnaire received from 89 out of 100 students. All students strongly agreed upon the commutation with patients. Interns (37.03%) were strongly disagreed (p=0.001) on not curing the patient is a failure of doctors. Interns (32.58%) were significantly more likely to be less worried (p<0.01) about death of the patient and to indicate cancer is a non-curable disease (p<0.001) when compared to 2nd MBBS. Students from both the groups distressed, while communicating with dying patients and relatives of dying patients.Conclusion: Perception of students regarding caring of chronically ill-patients and death related issues needs improvement. We believe that integrating different teaching strategies and training programs regarding this issue should begin at early stages of undergraduate medical curriculum

Exploring the big data paradox for various estimands using vaccination data from the global COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey (CTIS)

Selection bias poses a challenge to statistical inference validity in non-probability surveys. This study compared estimates of the first-dose COVID-19 vaccination rates among Indian adults in 2021 from a large non-probability survey, COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey (CTIS), and a small probability survey, the Center for Voting Options and Trends in Election Research (CVoter), against benchmark data from the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN). Notably, CTIS exhibits a larger estimation error (0.39) compared to CVoter (0.16). Additionally, we investigated the estimation accuracy of the CTIS when using a relative scale and found a significant increase in the effective sample size by altering the estimand from the overall vaccination rate. These results suggest that the big data paradox can manifest in countries beyond the US and it may not apply to every estimand of interest

Fibrolipoma - A Rare Intraoral Tumor: A Case Report

Lipomas are the most common benign mesenchymal tumors, developing in any location where fat is normally present. They develop mostly in the subcutaneous tissues but also could develop in deeper tissues. These most commonly occur in the fifth or sixth decade of life, are multiple in 5% of patients and are uncommon in children. However in the oral cavity this is a relatively rare tumor. When present in the oral cavity these lipomas can present with difficulties in speech and mastication. They predominantly affect the buccal mucosa followed by the lip and tongue. We present a case report of a young female patient diagnosed with a fibro-lipoma in the hard palate

Assess the Effectiveness of an Inquiry Based Learning Method in Microbiology for Undergraduate Medical Students

Two hours practical session in Microbiology for II MBBS students is most of the time monotonous, vague, teacher centric and not utilized time qualitatively by teaching faculty in conventional method. Inquiry-based learning is a form of active learning that starts by posing questions, problems or scenariosrather than simply presenting established facts or portraying a smooth path to knowledge. To determine the student’s performance & effectiveness of inquiry-based learning method over traditional practical method by comparing once. To study students’ and faculty perceptions about inquiry based learning (IBL) method Prospective interventional analytical study was conducted for II MBBS students in department of Microbiology for four months. After Ethical committee approval and informed consent randomized selected 100 students of II MBBS divided into two batches; one for didactic practical and one for interactive new inquiry based teaching learning method. Four topics ( Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Corynebacterium and M. tuberculosis) selected with 15 days interval from regular departmental teaching schedule. Structured the inquiry based questions to cover entire topic, post test papers and feedback forms and validated prior to start the study. Two hrs practical sessions divided into four parts. First half an hour introduction of the topic as routine didactic method, next half an hour we distributed the questions among students and told them to read, discuss and collect the information from the books or any other sources. Next half an hour discussed the questions and last half an hour conducted short test of 20 marks. Average score in tests was considered for analysis. Mean score was calculated and unpaired t test was applied. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistical significance. Students’ and faculty perceptions about inquiry based learning (IBL) method determined by taking questionnaire based feedback using Likert scale at the end of all four sessions. Mean score for topic Staphylococcus taken in traditional way was 9.02 with SD of 2.3 and that taken by the interactive inquiry based learning method was 14.6 with SD of 2.8 and t value 11.1. Mean score for topic Streptococcus taken in traditional way was 8.94 with SD of 2.6 and that taken by the interactive inquiry based learning method was 14.6 with SD of 2.9 and t value 10.2. Mean score for topic Corynebacterium taken in traditional way was 9.48 with SD of 2.4 and that taken by the interactive inquiry based learning method was 14.0 with SD of 2.7 and t value 8.8. Mean score for topic M. tuberculosis taken in traditional way was 9.38 with SD of 2.7 and that taken by the interactive inquiry based learning method was 14.2 with SD of 3.0 and t value 8.4. Improvement in the performance of the students was observed. Mean score was statistically significant (p value is 0.001) in all four topics conducted by interactive inquiry based learning method. Approximately 90% students agreed that the topic better taught in interactive inquiry based learning method and wanted to have more of such sessions.A positive feedback was received from the students and faculty members stated that the inquiry based learning method was very interesting and effective. The students were more alert, interested and receptive in the session. It helps how to utilized two hours practical time that enhance the interest of students and session become more interactive and informative. Student liked the method as it increases the interaction between teacher and students. It helps in integration of concepts and development of thinking skill. IBL method simplified and clarified concepts the topic, increased receptivity and questions increased attention span. It improves the confidence of teacher as well as students2.The study proved that inquiry based learning method is more effective than didactic method to understand the topic. Strengthen quality of teaching learning. Learners are encouraged to participate and interact