OLANZAPINE COMBINED WITH STANDARD ANTIEMETIC REGIMENS FOR PREVENTION OF CHEMOTHERAPY THERAPY-INDUCED NAUSEA AND VOMITING: A SINGLE-CENTER EXPERIENCE FROM SOUTH INDIA

  Objectives: Olanzapine, an antipsychotic agent, exhibits significant antiemetic properties due to its inhibitory activity on neurotransmitters at multiple receptors involved in chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). CINV can have an immensely negative impact on patient's quality of life (QOL) and daily activities. Our objectives were to determine the effectiveness of adding olanzapine to standard antiemetic regimens for the prevention of CINV in cancer patients and to compare the QOL of such patients with those receiving standard antiemetic regimens.Methods: A prospective, observational, cohort study was done on patients receiving either highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC). The patients who received only the standard antiemetic regimens were considered as the control group and those who received 10 mg of olanzapine once daily on days 1-5 of chemotherapy in addition to the standard antiemetic regimens were considered to be the study group. The patients were assessed for grades of nausea and vomiting using National Cancer Institute common terminology criteria for adverse events and for QOL using European Organization in Research and Treatment of Cancer QOL questionnaire.Results: Patients were evaluated for a total of 168 cycles of chemotherapy. Compared to the control group, the study group patients showed significant improvement in response to acute nausea (p=0.02) but not in acute vomiting (p=0.09). However, response to delayed nausea and vomiting improved significantly (p=0.004 and p=0.05, respectively). The QOL of study group patients showed significant improvement in functional scales and symptom scales (p<0.02). Global health status also increased significantly (p=0.02) in the study group patients.Conclusion: Olanzapine containing pre-medication regimens can reduce acute and delayed nausea and delayed vomiting and improve the QOL of cancer patients receiving highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapeutic agents as compared to the standard pre-medication regimens

Copepod (Crustacea) infection on Oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847 (Actinopterygii; Clupeidae) - First report

911-914Among the Clupeidae, the oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps, Valenciennes, 1847 dominates the catches of commercial boats in India. Despite two reports on isopod infection, no further information on parasitic crustacean infection on this fish species was available to date. Between June 2014 and April 2018, we examined 1513 specimens of S. longiceps, obtained from Cochin and Malabar Coast (Kerala, India) where we report for the first time the exclusive infection of this fish by the Lernaeopodid copepod, Clavellisa ilishae. This parasitic copepod was observed on the gill arches of the host collected from Malabar Coast; the specimens were all sexually mature females bearing egg sacs. Curiously, this copepod parasite was recovered only in a period of three months from October to December in the year 2017 even though the observation was continued for a total of 4 years from 2014-2018. This observation must be addressed further in terms of ecological impacts

Prevalence of Stress among First Year Medical Students and Factors Influencing It: A Single Centre Questionnaire Based Study

Background: Prevalence of stress in medical students is very high at about 30 to 50 % as per available literature. They need to acquire a huge amount of knowledge and skills. This study intends to find out the prevalence of stress in first year medical students in a medical college in Kerala.Methods:After obtaining Institutional ethical clearance, the study was conducted in 2018 among first year medical students of a medical college in Kerala.The students were asked to fill a predesigned and validated questionnaire, Medical Student Stress Questionnaire (MSSQ-40). There are a total of 40 questions. The students were asked to mark their response along the Likertscale from 0 to 4. To find out whether there is any significant difference in stress between genders, blood groups, mode of accommodation, sleep and diet, Chi- square test was used.Results:A total of 150 first year medical students filled up the questionnaire, of which 61 were males and 89 were females. High degree of stress was recorded in 47%, moderate in 11% and severe in 4% of students. Next most affected domain was the social related stress, which was present in 46% of students. Sleep of 7 to 9 hours was taken as adequate and less than 7 hours as inadequate. A significant difference in the academic stress was found in the two groups (P= 0.019).Conclusion:Prevalence of stress among first year medical students is high in our setting. The most important domain of stress was academic stressors. Difficulty in understanding the content, heavy workload, large amount of content and lack of time to revise the topics are the major factors contributing to academic stress

Crystal structure of poly[[di-μ3-acetato-tetraaquabis(μ2-cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylato)dilanthanum(III)] dihydrate]

The title compound, {[La2(CH3COO)2(C8H10O4)2(H2O)4]·2H2O}n or [La2(ac)2(e,a-cis-1,4-chdc)2(H2O)4]·2H2O, where ac is acetate and 1,4-chdc is cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylate anion, is a binuclear lanthanum(III) complex. Each metal atom is decacoordinated by four O atoms from two distinct 1,4-chdc2− ligands, four O atoms from three acetate groups and two O atoms from coordinated water molecules to form a distorted bicapped square-antiprismatic geometry. Two non-coordinated water molecules are also present in the formula unit. The most remarkable feature of this compound is that it possesses a only cis conformation for cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, although the raw material consists of a mixture of cis and trans isomers. The μ3-η2:η2 coordination mode of the bridging acetate group and the flexible dicarboxylate fragments of 1,4-chdc2− results in the formation of infinite two-dimensional lanthanide–carboxylate layers within the crystal structure. The directionality of strong intermolecular O—H...O and weak C—H...O interactions provides robustness to the layers, which leads to the construction of a three-dimensional supramolecular network. The crystal studied was refined as a two-component twin

Synthesis and characterization of silver nanomaterial from aqueous extract of Commelina forskaolii and its potential antimicrobial activity against Gram negative pathogens

Aim: Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles from medicinal plants have been progressively acquiring attractiveness to the researchers due to its sustainable nature, nontoxic and economically beneficial. The present study was to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from aqueous extract of Commelina forskaolii Vahl and exhibit its potential antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity. Material and Methods: The whole plant of Commelina forskaolii was used to synthesize AgNPs. The synthesized AgNPs was then characterized by UV – visible spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The AgNps are widely tested for antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic property. Results: The phytochemical screening of the aqueous extract showed the presence of secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phenols, saponins, steroids, glycosides and proteins. The UV – vis absorption spectrum exhibited key peaks at 425 nm. FTIR spectrum revealed that the biochemical compounds are responsible for the reduction and capping material of AgNPs. SEM analysis showed, the average size of synthesized AgNPs ranged from 18 to 27 nm. TEM micrographs revealed that the particle size was to be 30–40 nm. The AgNPs exhibited potential antimicrobial activity against bacterial species (Enterococcus fecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) showed MIC at about 62.5 µg/ml and 125 µg/ml respectively and fungal species (Candida albicans and Aspergilus niger) 250 µg/ml and 31.2 µg/ml respectively. The synthesized AgNPs showed potential cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) with the IC50 value of 50.2 µg/ml. The present investigation concludes the effectiveness of confirmed AgNPs might be used in pharmacological field for the treatment of bacterial, fungal and breast cancer