A study on prescribing pattern and drug utilization among depressed patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Drug utilization is defined as the marketting, distribution, prescribing and use of drugs in society. Various factors like quality, quantity, and cost of drugs plays an important role in selection of drug therapy. Hence we wanted to observe that drug utilization and prescribing pattern of antidepressants.Methods: A prospective observational study were conducted in a psychiatric department at RMMCH for a period of 6 months from November 2019 to April 2020. Sixty patients were enrolled and analysed to study the pattern and the world health organisation (WHO) prescribing indicators.Results: From 60 prescriptions, the most widely prescribed antidepressant drug escitalopram 21 (42%) as a combination drug citalinforte 30 (50%), linotril 21 (42%) lorazepam 12 (20%), haloperidol 6 (10%) and quitipin 3 (5%). Most commonly, depression was seen in age group between 31-40 years and males were more to depression than females. Most drugs were prescribed under brand names (55%) than generic drugs (45%). Monotherapy was the preferred drug pattern for the mild depression followed by dual therapy and triple therapy for moderate and severe depression respectively. The number of drugs which were prescribed from the WHO and national list of essential medicine (NLEM) was haloperidol (10%) and escitalopram (85%) respectively.Conclusions: Escitalopram was the commonly prescribed drug for depression followed by lorazepam, linotril and haloperidol. Monotherapy was most preferred, because of increased medication adherence, low ADRs, minimum cost and lesser drug interactions compared to other therapies

On the accuracy of assessing copepod size and biovolume using FlowCAM and traditional microscopy

1261-1264In this paper, based on the biovolume estimation of different genera of copepods, we present the fact that only the Area-based Diameter (ABD) algorithm of FlowCAM has the efficiency to measure the bio-volume of copepods better than traditional microscopy. Also, we have demonstrated that the efficiency of the Equivalent Spherical Diameter (ESD) algorithm of FlowCAM over traditional microscopy is lesser while assessing the copepod biomass, and it depends on the morphological characteristics of various copepod genera. The ESD algorithm overestimates (8-140 times) while traditional microscopy method underestimates (2-8 times) the copepod biovolume, chiefly because of the inclusion of the entire image field for volume estimation in the former case and avoidance of extended body parts such as appendages in the latter case. These observations have special implications in aquatic environmental monitoring as many of the modern researchers prefer FlowCAM as a better tool to accurately quantify plankton biomass

Response of phytoplankton to heavy cloud cover and turbidity in the northern Bay of Bengal

An interesting physiological response of phytoplankton to large fluctuations in underwater photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) levels in the northern Bay of Bengal has been presented here. This study is primarily based on a 12-day time series observation in the northern Bay of Bengal during the peak Southwest Monsoon (July 2012), when the study region was recurrently exposed to alternating cloudy and sunny sky conditions. On overcast days, the PAR available underwater at the time series location (TSL) drastically decreased, with the noontime PAR at the surface water (2 m) usually being similar to 600 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) on sunny days and declining to similar to 50 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) on heavily overcast days. Closely linked with the sunny and cloudy days at TSL, chlorophyll a concentration in the water column showed noticeable features; it increased in the upper water column (surface-40 m) and decreased in the lower water column (41-80 m) on cloudy days, while the reverse was the case on sunny days. Based on in-situ and laboratory experimental data, it was observed that these temporal changes in the vertical distribution of chlorophyll a in the northern Bay of Bengal were due to the short-term physiological acclimation of phytoplankton to large changes in underwater PAR

Response of phytoplankton to heavy cloud cover and turbidity in the northern Bay of Bengal

An interesting physiological response of phytoplankton to large fluctuations in underwater photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) levels in the northern Bay of Bengal has been presented here. This study is primarily based on a 12-day time series observation in the northern Bay of Bengal during the peak Southwest Monsoon (July 2012), when the study region was recurrently exposed to alternating cloudy and sunny sky conditions. On overcast days, the PAR available underwater at the time series location (TSL) drastically decreased, with the noontime PAR at the surface water (2 m) usually being similar to 600 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) on sunny days and declining to similar to 50 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) on heavily overcast days. Closely linked with the sunny and cloudy days at TSL, chlorophyll a concentration in the water column showed noticeable features; it increased in the upper water column (surface-40 m) and decreased in the lower water column (41-80 m) on cloudy days, while the reverse was the case on sunny days. Based on in-situ and laboratory experimental data, it was observed that these temporal changes in the vertical distribution of chlorophyll a in the northern Bay of Bengal were due to the short-term physiological acclimation of phytoplankton to large changes in underwater PAR

Phytoplankton size structure in the southern Bay of Bengal modified by the Summer Monsoon Current and associated eddies: Implications on the vertical biogenic flux

The present study combines field and satellite observations to investigate how hydrographical transformations influence phytoplankton size structure in the southern Bay of Bengal during the peak Southwest Monsoon/Summer Monsoon (July-August). The intrusion of the Summer Monsoon Current (SMC) into the Bay of Bengal and associated changes in sea surface chemistry, traceable eastward up to 90 degrees E along 8 degrees N, seems to influence biology of the region significantly. Both in situ and satellite (MODIS) data revealed low surface chlorophyll except in the area influenced by the SMC During the study period, two well-developed cydonic eddies (north) and an anti-cyclonic eddy (south), closely linked to the main eastward flow of the SMC, were sampled. Considering the capping effect of the low-saline surface water that is characteristic of the Bay of Bengal, the impact of the cyclonic eddy, estimated in terms of enhanced nutrients and chlorophyll, was mostly restricted to the subsurface waters (below 20 m depth). Conversely, the anti-cyclonic eddy aided by the SMC was characterized by considerably higher nutrient concentration and chlorophyll in the upper water column (upper 60 m), which was contrary to the general characteristic of such eddies. Albeit smaller phytoplankton predominated the southern Bay of Bengal (60-95% of the total chlorophyll), the contribution of large phytoplankton was double in the regions influenced by the SMC and associated eddies. Multivariate analysis revealed the extent to which SMC-associated eddies spatially influence phytoplankton community structure. The study presents the first direct quantification of the size structure of phytoplankton from the southern Bay of Bengal and demonstrates that the SMC-associated hydrographical ramifications significantly increase the phytoplankton biomass contributed by larger phytoplankton and thereby influence the vertical opal and organic carbon flux in the region. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Influence of Cu2+ substitution on the structural, optical, magnetic, and antibacterial behaviour of zinc ferrite nanoparticles

Ferrite nanoparticles are an emerging material for industrial and biomedical applications. Herein, a simple non-aqueous sol–gel method is used to synthesize CuxZn(1-x)Fe2O4 (x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75) nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Vis spectroscopy, and a vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM) were utilized to investigate the structural formation and magnetic merits of the prepared ferrite nanoparticles. The Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the formation of single-phase cubic structures with Fd3¯m space groups for all samples. The increase in cu2+ concentration in zinc ferrite nanoparticles decreases the lattice parameters from 8.4418 to 8.4368. The energy gap of cu2+-doped zinc ferrite increases from 1.89 to 2.04 eV with a decrease in particle size. MH loop revealed an increase in Ms and Mr Parameters as Hc reduces with an increase in Cu2+ concentration in the zinc ferrite matrix. It was discovered that an increase in Cu2+ content improved the antibacterial activities of Cu2+-doped zinc ferrite against all bacterial species