Scientometric portrait of T. S. West

T. S. West, the internationally well known analytical chemist has been widely recognised as a very successful scientist. His research productivity and collaboration pattern were analysed by years, papers, authorships, and authorwise productivity. The channels of communications used and distribution of articles among channels were found out. He has 410 papers to his credit. The period 1969-70 when he was 42-43 years age was most productive with 41 papers in 1969 and seven single authorship papers in 1970. Quinquennial collaboration coefficients ranged between 0.57 to 1.00, clearly indicating high collaboration team spirit in his research group. His productivity coefficient was 0.45 indicating rapid publication activity during early period of research career. His most prominent collaborators in number of papers were: R. M. Dagnall (92), G. F. Kirkbright (77), R. Belcher (56), K. C. Thompson (19), J. D. Norris, (13), and J. F. Alder (11). Top ranking journals, with papers, to which he had contributed were: Anal. Chim. Acta (106), Talanta (84), The Analyst (49), Anal. Chem. (23), and J. Chem. Soc. (20). Publication density was 8.54, publication concentration was 6.25, and average Bradford multiplier was 3.9. High frequency keywords in the titles of the articles were: Atomic fluorescence spectroscopy (51), Atomic absorption spectroscopy (43), and Atomic absorption spectrometry (31). The results indicate his temporal publication productivity and the nature of the research activities were such that he is eminently qualified to be taken as a 'role model' for the younger generation to emulate

Informetrics on accidents and trauma

MEDLINE database has been analysed for 1995-97 on index Accidents and Trauma. Publications output has been classified year-wise country-wise, journal-wise and other fine structure characteristics have been found. High frequency keywords have been identified. Other valuable data have been compiled. The value of informater for decision-making is brought out by this study and the comprehensive data compilation by MEDLINE is established

Scientometric Portrait of Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar

Scientometric analysis of the publications productivity of Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar is documented

Scientometric Portrait of Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar

Scientometric analysis of the publications productivity of Nobel Laureate S. Chandrasekhar is documented

AC CONDUCTIVITY STUDY OF POLYANILINE / NiCuFe 2 O 3 COMPOSITES

ABSTRACT The PANI/ NiCuFe 2 O 3 composites have been synthesized by Insitu polymerization of aniline in the presence of NiCuFe 2 O 3 by chemical oxidation method with various compositions viz., 10, 30, and 50 Wt. % of NiCuFe 2 O 3 in PANI. The AC conductivity was studied in the frequency range 10 2 -10 7 Hz. The dimensions of NiCuFe 2 O 3 particles in the matrix have a greater influence on the conductivity values

BULLOUS PEMPHIGOID A RARE AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE: A CASE REPORT

Background. Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a rare autoimmune blistering skin disease in the elderly and it is manifested by cutaneous blisters on the skin lesions. The objective was to emphasize the rare case of BP. Methods. A case report of BP in a 58-year-old male patient admitted to a dermatology ward is presented. Results. A 58-year-old male patient with complaints of fluid-filled skin lesions, was examined initially over the trunk, gradually progressed involving B/L upper and lower extremities. Even though the patient was treated with the recommended therapy of corticosteroid (Dexamethasone) along with adjuvant drugs, new skin lesions continued to develop, and the patient’s condition worsened. The Prednisolone was started in place of Dexamethasone on the fifth day of treatment at its higher dose (50mg/day), the Prednisolone proved its efficacy to combat the extensive condition of BP. Conclusions. Bullous pemphigoid is a distressing blistering skin disease. Untreated disease is often fatal because of the susceptibility to infection and fluid-electrolyte disturbances. The mortality of patients with bullous pemphigoid has been significantly reduced with the advent of new therapies and treatment modalities. The treatment with systemic and topical corticosteroids forms the mainstay of treatment along with other adjuvant drugs. In the present case study, the use of Prednisolone has proven its efficacy in the extensive disease state of BP and improved the patient’s quality of life

Study of Prescribing Pattern, Identification of Drug Related Problems and Therapeutic Intervention in Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD) Patients

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a disorder of heart and blood vessels. CVD is one of the major causes of deaths in India, which contributed around 30 to 40%. The aim of the study was to study the prescribing pattern of drugs, identification of drug related problems and therapeutic intervention in CVD patients. A hospital based prospective and observational study was carried out for a period of nine months in a south Indian tertiary care hospital. Among 120 selected patients, 79 were male  (65.83%) and 41 were female  (34.16%), more number of patients (35) were between the age group of 55-64 (29.16%) of which 27 were males & 8 were females, and very less number of patients (6) were between the age group 85-94 (5%) of which all the 6 were male. Hypertension is the most commonest and dominant disorder, which affected 47(39.16%) patients, in which 30 were male (25%) and 17 were female (14.16%). Most common risk factor is HTN followed with smoking and diabetes of 45 patients (37.5%). The most often prescribed pattern adopted in CVD is Dual therapy, it is most frequently used therapy 50 (41.66%) and quadruple therapy is less frequently 6(6.5%) used. The diuretics and calcium channel blocker combination were maximally prescribed class of drugs as a dual therapy. A total of 47 drug-drug interactions were found, among 12 were major, 15 were moderate and 20 were minor interactions. Clinical pharmacist has intervened with the help of other health care professionals in order to reduce the risk factor and minimise the drug-drug interactions. The study provides the benefits of presence of clinical pharmacist in a hospital setting, in order to prevent the medication related errors and provide the expertise pharmacotherapy opinion in CVD patients, which improves the patient compliance.  Hence study justifies a need of active collaboration between clinical pharmacist, physician and other health care professionals for the better management of CVD patients. Keywords: Prescribing Pattern; Cardio Vascular Diseases; Drug Related Problems; Therapeutic Intervention