Phenytoin toxicity as a forgoer of schizophrenia like psychosis: a case report

This is a case report describing the toxicity of phenytoin overdose. It is very uncommon to find an anti-epileptic drug causing psychosis and till date only a few studies have found such a co-relation. A psychiatric patient was admitted in our department of medicine with the complain of ingestion of 30 tablets of phenytoin. On examination he was found to have auditory and visual hallucinations. He was restless and had an ill sustained concentration. First and foremost, thing was to stop the prescribed phenytoin tablets and sedate the patient with haloperidol and promethazine. Then, he was switched over to Levetiracetam 500 mg i.v. thrice daily, Clobazam 10 mg once daily and Resperidone 3 mg twice daily. On investigation we found serum phenytoin level >40 mg/dl. This was sufficient to support our diagnosis as after stopping the drug his symptoms improved. There have been case reports of epileptic patient presenting with psychosis but usually after 10-15 years, unlike our case. In our case this time period was reduced to 12 hours as there was a triggering factor present. So, if a known epilepsy patient develops psychosis, the drug history should be given a big importance and if required serum phenytoin level should be assessed to come to the diagnosis of “phenytoin induced schizophrenia like psychosis

Perinuclear anti neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody vasculitis with nonspecific muscle pain

This is a case report describing p-ANCA vasculitis presenting with nonspecific muscle pain. It is a very uncommon finding seen in p-ANCA vasculitis patients which they usually present with palpable purpura alone. In this case, along with nonspecific muscle pain, renal involvement of the disease has been explained and there are no upper and lower respiratory tract complaints which favours more towards microscopic polyangitis

Karakoram: An Integral Part of Perigondwana ProvinceFossiliferous Evidences

86-91The sedimentary sequence from the Chongtash Formation, Karakoram area (Upper Shyok Valley) has yielded Lower Gondwana palynomorphs referable to Early Permian age. Though these palynomorphs are not well preserved but can be identified at generic level. The palynoassemblage shows dominance of monosaccates viz. Parasaccites, Plicatipollenites, Divarisaccus, and Caheniasaccites. Few striate disaccates viz. Striatopodocarpites, Faunipollenites, Striatites and non-striate disaccates viz. Scheuring ipollenites and Ibisporites have also been recorded. Among trlietes presence of Callumispora and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Indotriradites have been observed. Except <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Cordaitina all taxa undoubtedly belong to Gondwana. The palynocomposition especially dominance of Parasaccites and presence of few striate and non-striate disaccates shows that the assemblage is equivalent to Talchir/ Upper Karharbari Formation (Late Asselian-Sakmarian) of India. This palynoassemblage from Chongtash Formation of Karakoram also shows resemblance with marine Lower Gondwana palynoassemblage of Salt Range (Pakistan). This finding of early Permian palynomorphs from Chongtash Formation of Karakoram area also supports the contention that during early Permian Karakoram was a part of Peri-Gondwanan province and was located on the northern margin of Indian subcontinent

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Not AvailableCluster analysis is used extensively to organize data into groups based on similarities among the individual data items, leading to a crisp or fuzzy partition of sample space. Fuzzy c-means (FCM) is a clustering algorithm which all owsone data point to be long to two or more clusters. In this paper, principal component based fuzzy c-means clustering is applied for classifying 518 lentil genotypes based on their numeric agronomic and morphological traits. The appropriate number of clusters is obtained with the help of validity measures. Results of the study revealed that the genetic divergence is not highly related to geographical origins as exotic and indigenous lentil genotypes are distributed in all the four clusters.Not Availabl

A Study on Consumer Awareness, Safety Perceptions & Practices About Food Preservatives and Flavoring Agents Used in Packed /Canned Foods from South India

Introduction: The increasing use of preservatives and flavouring agents has the potential to cause health problem among the people. There are no published studies from India exploring the awareness, safety perception, & practices aboutFood Preservatives (FPs)and Flavouring Agents (FAs).So this study was conducted with the objectives of assessing the awareness, safety perceptions &practices about Food Preservatives (FPs),FlavouringAgents (FAs) in commonly bought / purchased packedfood items. Materials & method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in January 2012. Sample size of 126 was computed using the formula for infinite population. People who bought packed food items in malls were approached and requested to fill a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire explored awareness, safety perception& practices of FPs& FAs. Data was then analyzed using SPSS version 10.0. Chi-square test was used to know if the observed differences were statistically significant. ‘p’ value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Totally 123 people (males- 48.8% and females-51.2%) participated (response rate of 97.6%) in the study. Majority of the people were aware about presence of ‘FPs’ (91.7%) and‘FAs’ (84.9%) though their knowledge was inadequate. Breakup of the study subjects according to level of awareness about FPs was as follows (%): Good (37.4), Satisfactory (40.6), Poor(22) & FAs (%): Good (49.6), Satisfactory (36) &Poor(14). Distribution according to type of practices for FPswas as follows (%): Favourable (14), Unfavourable (86) & FAs(%): Favourable (30.5), Unfavourable (69.5). There was a gap between knowledge and practices. Conclusion: Though there was awareness, the knowledge was inadequate. Unfavourable practices were observed. The gaps in the knowledge and unhealthy practices need to be addressed by public awareness campaign

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Not AvailableIn this paper, forecasting performance of time-delay neural network and GARCH models for predicting the volatility using monthly price series of edible oils in domestic and international markets is evaluated. An attempt has also been made to investigate whether the forecasting performance of two competing models can be improved by combining their individual forecasts. For this purpose, the individual models were combined to produce improved forecasts using non-parametric approach through the use of kernel. Further, the models were evaluated on their ability to predict the correct change of direction (CCD) for future values.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableIn this paper, forecasting performance of time-delay neural network and GARCH models for predicting the volatility using monthly price series of edible oils in domestic and international markets is evaluated. An attempt has also been made to investigate whether the forecasting performance of two competing models can be improved by combining their individual forecasts. For this purpose, the individual models were combined to produce improved forecasts using non-parametric approach through the use of kernel. Further, the models were evaluated on their ability to predict the correct change of direction (CCD) for future valuesNot Availabl

Evaluation of adverse drug reactions in HIV positive patients in a tertiary care hospital

Context: The advancement and development of new drugs and treatment strategies increase the risk of unusual Adverse Events (AEs) in HIV patients. Aims: The objective of our study was to assess the incidence, types and nature of AEs in HIV positive subjects. Settings and Design: Patients with WHO stage IV disease irrespective of the CD4 cell count, or WHO stage III disease with a CD4 cell count <350 cell/cu. Mm, or, WHO stage I or II disease with a CD4 cell count of <200 cells/cu. mm, and on prior anti-retroviral therapy for not more than six months preceding the observation date, were included in the study. After initiation of therapy, the patients were examined for the occurrence any adverse events including the type and severity, or any other abnormal laboratory findings. Causality assessment of the adverse events was done using the Naranjo′s scale. Results: Out of 327 patients studied prospectively, 43 patients developed AEs. Out of these, 23 (53.5%) were males and 20 (46.5%) were females. A total of 53 (16.21%) AEs were reported. Antitubercular drugs caused the maximum AEs (28.3%) followed by zidovudine (20.7%), nevirapine (15.0%) and efavirenz (5.6%). Stavudine, ethambutol, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, and atazanavir were also responsible for 3.7% of AEs individually. Causality assessment done according to the Naranjo′s scale revealed that 66.04% AEs were ′probable′ and 33.96% were ′possible′. Conclusions: Anemia, hepatitis and dermatological adverse effects are the most common AEs. Antitubercular drugs contributed significantly for the incidence of AEs in these patients. Frequency of AEs was slightly more in males compared to females

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Not AvailableIn this paper, forecasting performance of time-delay neural network and GARCH models for predicting the volatility using monthly price series of edible oils in domestic and international markets is evaluated. An attempt has also been made to investigate whether the forecasting performance of two competing models can be improved by combining their individual forecasts. For this purpose, the individual models were combined to produce improved forecasts using non-parametric approach through the use of kernel. Further, the models were evaluated on their ability to predict the correct change of direction (CCD) for future values.Not Availabl