Drug utilization pattern of analgesics after a surgical procedure in a tertiary care hospital: a prospective observational single centre cohort study

Background: the study aimed to understand the prescription pattern of analgesics used in the post-operative period after a general surgical procedure in a tertiary care hospital in India and estimate the severity of post-operative pain up to 48 hours. Such a study was not done in this institute of recent hence it was carried out. Methods: 266 adults of either gender were recruited and prescription pattern analyzed over a period of 1 year beginning January 2021 to December 2021 from the post-operative general surgery wards of a tertiary care hospital in India. Patient interview and records were used to collect data. Follow ups at 4, 24 and 48 hours were undertaken to assess pain according to the visual analogue scale (VAS) that was analyzed using the Friedman’s test followed by the post hoc Dunn’s test. Results: an average of 1.52±0.58 analgesics were prescribed per patient. Paracetamol was most commonly used followed by tramadol and diclofenac. All analgesics prescribed were a part of the national list of essential medicines. Effective pain management is feasible as seen by the significant (p<0.0001) reduction in average pain score from 4.75±1.35 to 3.05±1.18 at 24 hours and further to 2.16±1.04 at 48 hours. Conclusions: Use of analgesics prescribed from a standardized list is effective in majority of patients

An analysis of studies on non-small cell lung cancer registered on clinical trials registry of India

Background: Lung cancer is the most common cancer in males, of which non-small cell type is more prevalent. It is an active area of research owing to the limited available treatment modalities with several studies registered on CTRI. Objectives of current study was to analyse randomized control trials for non-small cell lung cancer registered on clinical trial registry India.Methods: Studies registered on CTRI were reviewed in this registry-based audit using the keywords lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. Parameters such as type of study, nature of intervention, phase of study, primary and secondary endpoints used, etc, were analysed and summarised using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel 365.Results: Out of 230 trials for lung cancer, 121 studied non-small cell lung cancer, of which 103 studies (85.1%) were interventional studies. Most common intervention under study was drug 97 studies (94.2%) followed by radiation 4 studies (3.3%). Majority of trials were phase 3, 48 trials (39.7%) and only 4 (3.3%) studies were phase 1. Five most common primary and secondary endpoints observed were survival, response rate, safety, pharmacokinetic data & quality of life. Maximum patients were in the advanced stage of cancer(52.1%) and pemetrexed (9.9%) was the most common drug used.Conclusions: We observed an increasing trend in studies registered on CTRI, with maximum studies in phase 3 with patients in the advanced stage of cancer having overall survival as the endpoint

Study of prescribing pattern of topical corticosteroids in dermatology out patients department in a tertiary care hospital in India

Background: The selection of rational yet most effective treatment is an art to be learnt by most physicians. The advent of topical glucocorticoids has changed the way inflammatory dermatological conditions are managed. However, there is a constant need to keep a check on these prescriptions for their rationality. The present study was done to review the prescribing pattern of topical corticosteroids in dermatology outpatients at a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This was a prospective observational study on 300 prescriptions of patients above 18 years of age receiving topical corticosteroids in the dermatological outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital in the time frame of June 2014 to August 2014. Data obtained was recorded in a structured case record form (CRF) and analysed for their prescribing pattern, adverse reactions and cost analysis within different socioeconomic classes. Data was analysed using relevant statistical tests. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results: Data was collected from 300 patients with the mean age of 38.28±11 years. The most common indication for prescription of topical steroids was eczema (22.33%). The most commonly prescribed topical steroid was clobetasol (68.66%) followed by mometasone (11%), betamethasone (9.33%) and halobetasol (3%). Cream was the most frequently prescribed formulation (85.66%). 28 patients (9.33%) out of 300 showed adverse drug reactions, of which, erythema was the most common (50%).Conclusions: Topical corticosteroids are effective drugs in an array of dermatological diseases and abundant choices are available in different formulations. Optimal therapy involves careful consideration of factors such as potency, formulation, responsiveness and the cost of the topical steroid

Cuba’s Offshore Oil Development: Background and U.S. Policy Considerations

This report first examines Cuba’s oil sector, including current production and consumption levels. It then looks at Cuba’s offshore development, including the Repsol project, other offshore projects involving state-owed foreign oil companies, and the outlook for Cuba’s offshore oil production. The report then analyzes considerations for the United States raised by Cuba’s offshore oil development, examining oil spill risks and environmental dangers if spilled oil reaches U.S. waters, the status of disaster coordination between the United States and Cuba, and potential approaches on the issue. The report then examines the debate over broader U.S. involvement in Cuba’s offshore oil development, and touches on two outstanding boundary issues related to Cuba’s offshore oil development. Finally, the report examines legislative initiatives that have been advanced to deal with Cuba’s offshore oil development

Study of the anisotropy of cosmic rays with narrow angle telescopes

This article does not have an abstract

Momordica charantia (bitter melon) inhibits primary human adipocyte differentiation by modulating adipogenic genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Escalating trends of obesity and associated type 2 diabetes (T2D) has prompted an increase in the use of alternative and complementary functional foods. <it>Momordica charantia </it>or bitter melon (BM) that is traditionally used to treat diabetes and complications has been demonstrated to alleviate hyperglycemia as well as reduce adiposity in rodents. However, its effects on human adipocytes remain unknown. The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of BM juice (BMJ) on lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation transcription factors in primary human differentiating preadipocytes and adipocytes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Commercially available cryopreserved primary human preadipocytes were treated with and without BMJ during and after differentiation. Cytotoxicity, lipid accumulation, and adipogenic genes mRNA expression was measured by commercial enzymatic assay kits and semi-quantitative RT-PCR (RT-PCR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Preadipocytes treated with varying concentrations of BMJ during differentiation demonstrated significant reduction in lipid content with a concomitant reduction in mRNA expression of adipocyte transcription factors such as, peroxisome proliferator-associated receptor γ (PPARγ) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c) and adipocytokine, resistin. Similarly, adipocytes treated with BMJ for 48 h demonstrated reduced lipid content, perilipin mRNA expression, and increased lipolysis as measured by the release of glycerol.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data suggests that BMJ is a potent inhibitor of lipogenesis and stimulator of lipolysis activity in human adipocytes. BMJ may therefore prove to be an effective complementary or alternative therapy to reduce adipogenesis in humans.</p

Sequence analysis of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I strains from southern India: gene amplification and direct sequencing from whole blood blotted onto filter paper

Human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) infection in India has been found to be associated with adult T cell leukaemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) among life-long residents of southern India. To examine the heterogeneity of HTLV-I strains from southern India and to determine their relationship with the sequence variants of HTLV-I from Melanesia, 1149 nucleotides spanning selected regions of the HTLV-I gag, pol, env and pX genes were amplified and directly sequenced from DNA extracted from whole blood blotted onto filter paper and from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, obtained from one patient with HAM/TSP, two with ATLL and eight asymptomatic carriers from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Sequence alignments and comparisons indicated that the 11 HTLV-I strains from southern India were 99.2% to 100% identical among themselves and 98.7% to 100% identical to the Japanese prototype HTLV-I ATK. The majority of base substitutions were transitions and silent. No frameshifts, insertions, deletions or possibly disease-specific base changes were found in the regions sequenced. The observed clustering of the Indian HTLV-I strains with those from Japan, as determined by the maximum parsimony method, suggested a common source of HTLV-I infection with subsequent parallel evolution. Amplification of DNA from blood specimens collected on filter paper may be useful for the study of other blood-borne pathogens

Pacing, packing and sex-based differences in Olympic and IAAF World Championship marathons

The aim of this study was to describe pacing profiles and packing behaviours of athletes in Olympic and World Championship marathons. Finishing and split times were collated for 673 men and 549 women across nine competitions. Mean speeds for each intermediate 5 km and end 2.2 km segments were calculated. Medallists of both sexes maintained even-paced running from 10 km onwards whereas slower finishers dropped off the lead pack at approximately half-distance. Athletes who ran with the same opponents throughout slowed the least in the second half (P < .001, men: ES ≥ 1.19; women: ES ≥ 1.06), whereas other strategies such as moving between packs or running alone were less successful. Overall, women slowed less (P < .001, ES = 0.44) and were more likely to run a negative split (P < .001), and their more conservative start meant fewer women dropped out (P < .001). This also meant that women medallists sped up in the final 2.2 km, which might have decided the medal positions. Marathon runners are advised to identify rivals with similar abilities and ambitions to run alongside provided they start conservatively. Coaches should note important sex-based differences in tactics adopted and design training programmes accordingly

Thermoluminescence of zircon: a kinetic model

The mineral zircon, ZrSiO4, belongs to a class of promising materials for geochronometry by means of thermoluminescence (TL) dating. The development of a reliable and reproducible method for TL dating with zircon requires detailed knowledge of the processes taking place during exposure to ionizing radiation, long-term storage, annealing at moderate temperatures and heating at a constant rate (TL measurements). To understand these processes one needs a kinetic model of TL. This paper is devoted to the construction of such amodel. The goal is to study the qualitative behaviour of the system and to determine the parameters and processes controlling TL phenomena of zircon. The model considers the following processes: (i) Filling of electron and hole traps at the excitation stage as a function of the dose rate and the dose for both (low dose rate) natural and (high dose rate) laboratory irradiation. (ii) Time dependence of TL fading in samples irradiated under laboratory conditions. (iii) Short time annealing at a given temperature. (iv) Heating of the irradiated sample to simulate TL experiments both after laboratory and natural irradiation. The input parameters of the model, such as the types and concentrations of the TL centres and the energy distributions of the hole and electron traps, were obtained by analysing the experimental data on fading of the TL-emission spectra of samples from different geological locations. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data were used to establish the nature of the TL centres. Glow curves and 3D TL emission spectra are simulated and compared with the experimental data on time-dependent TL fading. The saturation and annealing behaviour of filled trap concentrations has been considered in the framework of the proposed kinetic model and comparedwith the EPR data associated with the rare-earth ions Tb3+ and Dy3+, which play a crucial role as hole traps and recombination centres. Inaddition, the behaviour of some of the SiOmn− centres has been compared with simulation results.