ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE AND APPROACH ADOPTED FOR STUDYING BIOCHEMISTRY AMONGST FIRST YEAR MBBS STUDENTS

Background: The subject of biochemistry is taught in the first year of MBBS course. It is a subject required as an aid to understand the health and disease status of the patients in clinical studies and during medical practice. Considering the immense importance of the biochemistry subject in the future of the medical students, a feedback from the 1st MBBS students dealing with the subject would be directional. Hence the present study was undertaken at PIMS-DU with second semester of first year MBBS students as participants. Aims and Objectives: 1) To assess the attitude and approach of first year MBBS students towards the subject of biochemistry 2) Ascertain whether the medical students were informed adequately at the beginning of the course. Materials and Method: The participants of the study were first year MBBS students who are in the last month of their second semester. The questionnaire was administered amongst the students present on the particular day of study. The written responses to a 21-points questionnaire were analyzed on a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and descriptive analysis was done. Results: Majority of the first year MBBS students belonged to urban and semi-urban areas. metabolism was considered as the most difficult topic. The medical students had sufficient knowledge regarding the subject of Biochemistry. Their attitude and approach was analyzed towards the subject considering the minute details. Conclusions:The attitude and approach of the students of first year MBBS towards biochemistry was found to be commendable. However there is scope for further improvisation. KEYWORDS: Biochemistry; Attitude; Approach, Medical student

ASSESSMENT OF ATTITUDE AND APPROACH ADOPTED FOR STUDYING BIOCHEMISTRY AMONGST FIRST YEAR MBBS STUDENTS

Background: The subject of biochemistry is taught in the first year of MBBS course. It is a subject required as an aid to understand the health and disease status of the patients in clinical studies and during medical practice. Considering the immense importance of the biochemistry subject in the future of the medical students, a feedback from the 1st MBBS students dealing with the subject would be directional. Hence the present study was undertaken at PIMS-DU with second semester of first year MBBS students as participants. Aims and Objectives: 1) To assess the attitude and approach of first year MBBS students towards the subject of biochemistry 2) Ascertain whether the medical students were informed adequately at the beginning of the course. Materials and Method: The participants of the study were first year MBBS students who are in the last month of their second semester. The questionnaire was administered amongst the students present on the particular day of study. The written responses to a 21-points questionnaire were analyzed on a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and descriptive analysis was done. Results: Majority of the first year MBBS students belonged to urban and semi-urban areas. metabolism was considered as the most difficult topic. The medical students had sufficient knowledge regarding the subject of Biochemistry. Their attitude and approach was analyzed towards the subject considering the minute details. Conclusions:The attitude and approach of the students of first year MBBS towards biochemistry was found to be commendable. However there is scope for further improvisation. KEYWORDS: Biochemistry; Attitude; Approach, Medical student

Humeral Metastasis in a case of Squamous Cell Carcinoma - a Case Report

A rare case of squamous cell carcinoma with metastasis to distal acralskeleton – humerus within two months of diagnosis of the primary is being reported. The metastasis to the bones from carcinoma cervix is uncommon especially in the distal appendicular skeleton. A 47 years female came with spontaneous fracture of right humerus shaft. The tissue from fracture site revealed metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma. X-Ray lung and USG abdomen did not show any organ involvement. She was diagnosed assquamous cell carcinoma cervix stage III B two months before and put on radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This is one of the few documented cases of metastasis to humerus without involvement of lung liver or brain within two months of diagnosis of the primary

Inhibition of Protein Aggregation: Supramolecular Assemblies of Arginine Hold the Key

BACKGROUND: Aggregation of unfolded proteins occurs mainly through the exposed hydrophobic surfaces. Any mechanism of inhibition of this aggregation should explain the prevention of these hydrophobic interactions. Though arginine is prevalently used as an aggregation suppressor, its mechanism of action is not clearly understood. We propose a mechanism based on the hydrophobic interactions of arginine. METHODOLOGY: We have analyzed arginine solution for its hydrotropic effect by pyrene solubility and the presence of hydrophobic environment by 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonic acid fluorescence. Mass spectroscopic analyses show that arginine forms molecular clusters in the gas phase and the cluster composition is dependent on the solution conditions. Light scattering studies indicate that arginine exists as clusters in solution. In the presence of arginine, the reverse phase chromatographic elution profile of Alzheimer's amyloid beta 1-42 (Abeta(1-42)) peptide is modified. Changes in the hydrodynamic volume of Abeta(1-42) in the presence of arginine measured by size exclusion chromatography show that arginine binds to Abeta(1-42). Arginine increases the solubility of Abeta(1-42) peptide in aqueous medium. It decreases the aggregation of Abeta(1-42) as observed by atomic force microscopy. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our experimental results we propose that molecular clusters of arginine in aqueous solutions display a hydrophobic surface by the alignment of its three methylene groups. The hydrophobic surfaces present on the proteins interact with the hydrophobic surface presented by the arginine clusters. The masking of hydrophobic surface inhibits protein-protein aggregation. This mechanism is also responsible for the hydrotropic effect of arginine on various compounds. It is also explained why other amino acids fail to inhibit the protein aggregation

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Search for a correlation between the UHECRs measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array and the neutrino candidate events from IceCube

We have conducted three searches for correlations between ultra-high energy cosmic rays detected by the Telescope Array and the Pierre Auger Observatory, and high-energy neutrino candidate events from IceCube. Two cross-correlation analyses with UHECRs are done: one with 39 cascades from the IceCube ‘high-energy starting events’ sample and the other with 16 high-energy ‘track events’. The angular separation between the arrival directions of neutrinos and UHECRs is scanned over. The same events are also used in a separate search using a maximum likelihood approach, after the neutrino arrival directions are stacked. To estimate the significance we assume UHECR magnetic deflections to be inversely proportional to their energy, with values 3◦ , 6◦ and 9 ◦ at 100 EeV to allow for the uncertainties on the magnetic field strength and UHECR charge. A similar analysis is performed on stacked UHECR arrival directions and the IceCube sample of through-going muon track events which were optimized for neutrino point-source searches. </p

Search for a correlation between the UHECRs measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array and the neutrino candidate events from IceCube

We have conducted three searches for correlations between ultra-high energy cosmic rays detected by the Telescope Array and the Pierre Auger Observatory, and high-energy neutrino candidate events from IceCube. Two cross-correlation analyses with UHECRs are done: one with 39 cascades from the IceCube ‘high-energy starting events’ sample and the other with 16 high-energy ‘track events’. The angular separation between the arrival directions of neutrinos and UHECRs is scanned over. The same events are also used in a separate search using a maximum likelihood approach, after the neutrino arrival directions are stacked. To estimate the significance we assume UHECR magnetic deflections to be inversely proportional to their energy, with values 3◦ , 6◦ and 9 ◦ at 100 EeV to allow for the uncertainties on the magnetic field strength and UHECR charge. A similar analysis is performed on stacked UHECR arrival directions and the IceCube sample of through-going muon track events which were optimized for neutrino point-source searches. </p