Cognitive emotion regulation in unaffected offspring of schizophrenic patients

Background: Schizophrenic patients are reported to use ‘suppression’ strategy for emotion regulation. Milder levels of psychological issues are observed in first degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we examined usage of cognitive emotion regulation strategies associated with negative emotions in offspring of schizophrenic patients.Method: 20 schizophrenic patients and 20 their offspring were sampled. Cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire and depression, stress, anxiety scales were administered on each participant.Results: The results revealed greater usage of adaptive emotion regulation strategies by offspring and negative strategy by schizophrenic patients. However, under conditions of negative emotions, there is significant reduction in the usage of adaptive coping emotion regulation strategy in the offspring.Conclusion: The results implicate need for strengthening adaptive coping mechanisms under vulnerable conditions of emotional turmoil

Burden and quality of life in caregivers of obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia: a cross-sectional study

Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia both are chronic and disabling mental illness which imposes considerable burden on caregivers. Many studies have also reported that both of them have a negative impact on the quality of life (QOL) of both the patients and the caregivers living with the patients. The aim of the study was to assess and compare the burden of care and quality of life (QoL) in the care givers of patients with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Schizophrenia.Methods: The present study is a hospital based, cross-sectional and comparative study. 30 patients with schizophrenia and 30 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients and their caregivers attending the OPD and family ward of Institute of Mental Health and Hospital, Agra were selected through purposive sampling with specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (BREF version), Burden Assessment Schedule, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) were used for assessment.Results: The findings of this study revealed remarkable burden in the caregivers of OCD and Schizophrenia patients along with considerable and comparable impairment of their quality of life. Caregivers of Schizophrenia patients experienced more burden and have poor quality of life than the caregivers of OCD patients.Conclusions: It is suggested to develop effective strategies for family intervention with the purpose of supporting the caregivers and improving their quality of life

Enterococcus faecalis: A resistant microbe in endodontics

Enterococcus faecalis is commonly detected in endodontic infections that are asymptomatic, persistent and recurrent. They are the microorganisms mainly responsible for persistent periradicular lesions even after root canal treatment. It can survive in the root canal as a single organism or as a major component of the flora. This article highlights the characteristics of E. faecalis, the factors responsible for its virulence and survival, as well as the effect of disinfectants on E. faecalis. Knowledge regarding this microorganism may help to prevent endodontic treatment failures caused by this organism

Micropropagation and conservation of selected endangered anticancer medicinal plants from the Western Ghats of India

Globally, cancer is a constant battle which severely affects the human population. The major limitations of the anticancer drugs are the deleterious side effects on the quality of life. Plants play a vital role in curing many diseases with minimal or no side effects. Phytocompounds derived from various medicinal plants serve as the best source of drugs to treat cancer. The global demand for phytomedicines is mostly reached by the medicinal herbs from the tropical nations of the world even though many plant species are threatened with extinction. India is one of the mega diverse countries of the world due to its ecological habitats, latitudinal variation, and diverse climatic range. Western Ghats of India is one of the most important depositories of endemic herbs. It is found along the stretch of south western part of India and constitutes rain forest with more than 4000 diverse medicinal plant species. In recent times, many of these therapeutically valued herbs have become endangered and are being included under the red-listed plant category in this region. Due to a sharp rise in the demand for plant-based products, this rich collection is diminishing at an alarming rate that eventually triggered dangerous to biodiversity. Thus, conservation of the endangered medicinal plants has become a matter of importance. The conservation by using only in situ approaches may not be sufficient enough to safeguard such a huge bio-resource of endangered medicinal plants. Hence, the use of biotechnological methods would be vital to complement the ex vitro protection programs and help to reestablish endangered plant species. In this backdrop, the key tools of biotechnology that could assist plant conservation were developed in terms of in vitro regeneration, seed banking, DNA storage, pollen storage, germplasm storage, gene bank (field gene banking), tissue bank, and cryopreservation. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to critically review major endangered medicinal plants that possess anticancer compounds and their conservation aspects by integrating various biotechnological tool

Indian nursing students' attitudes toward mental illness and persons with mental illness

Background: Nursing fraternity play a pivotal role in psychiatric services. Negative attitudes toward mental illness have been consistently reported in nursing students. Psychiatric conditions and persons suffering from them may elicit different kinds of attitudinal responses. Objective: The current study aimed at assessing the attitude toward mental illness and also at comparative evaluation of the attitude toward persons with different psychiatric, physical, and social conditions. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out among conveniently selected nursing students (n = 100) using Attitude Scale for Mental Illness (ASMI) and Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) on their 1st day of psychiatric posting. Results: Higher stereotype (3.1 ± 0.8), benevolence (3.7 ± 0.6), and pessimistic prediction (3.4 ± 0.9) were reported toward mental illness. Negative attitude was noted toward persons with criminal background (4.8 ± 3.7), heroin abuse (3.2 ± 3.6), suicidal depression (1.36 ± 3.6), alcohol use (0.59 ± 4.38), and schizophrenia (0.03 ± 3.2) in the same order, with positive attitude toward diabetic (−4.4 ± 3.9) and religious persons (−5.13 ± 3.6). Significant correlation of ASMI scores was noted mainly with schizophrenia of AMIQ but not with other psychiatric conditions. Conclusion: High negative attitudes in nursing students underline the need for stronger antistigma measures. Differences in attitude toward mental illness in general and specific psychiatric conditions need further systematic evaluation

Strain-mediated ferromagnetism and low-field magnetic reversal in Co doped monolayer WS2

Strain-mediated magnetism in 2D materials and dilute magnetic semiconductors hold multifunctional applications for future nano-electronics. Herein, First principles calculations are employed to study the influence of biaxial strain on the magnetic properties of Co-doped monolayer WS2. The non-magnetic WS2 shows ferromagnetic signature upon Co doping due to spin polarization, which is further improved at low compressive (-2 %) and tensile (+2 %) strains. From the PDOS and spin density analysis, the opposite magnetic ordering is found to be favourable under the application of compressive and tensile strains. The double exchange interaction and p-d hybridization mechanisms make Co-doped WS2 a potential host for magnetism. More importantly, the competition between exchange and crystal field splittings, i.e. (Delta(ex) > Delta(cfs)), of the Co-atom play pivotal roles in deciding the values of the magnetic moments under applied strain. Micromagnetic simulation reveals, the ferromagnetic behavior calculated from DFT exhibits low-field magnetic reversal (190 Oe). Moreover, the spins of Co-doped WS2 are slightly tilted from the easy axis orientations showing slanted ferromagnetic hysteresis loop. The ferromagnetic nature of Co-doped WS2 suppresses beyond +/- 2 strain, which is reflected in terms of decrease in the coercivity in the micromagnetic simulation. The understanding of low-field magnetic reversal and spin orientations in Co-doped WS2 may pave the way for next-generation spintronics and straintronics applications