To study the pattern, efficacy and tolerability of analgesic self medication among undergraduate medical students: a questionnaire based survey

Background: Self-medication is widely prevalent among medical students. Sufficient data is still lacking in India. The present study was aimed to determine the pattern, efficacy and, tolerability of analgesic self-medication among undergraduate medical students.Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. A structured questionnaire was given to medical students aged 18-24 years. Results were expressed in numbers and percentage.Results: In the present study, 130 students filled the questionnaires completely and were assessed for study. The principal morbidity for seeking self-medication was moderate intensity headache which is completely relieved by analgesics in most of the cases. Pain affected the quality of life of students by decrease in concentration in studies, decrease in energy level, and affecting their daily activity. Analgesics which were commonly used for self-medication included paracetamol (64%), diclofenac (7.6%), aceclofenac (5.3%), paracetamol plus ibuprofen combination (4.6%), mefenamic acid plus dicyclomine combination (7.7%) ibuprofen (5.3%), and others (5%). Gastrointestinal side effects were also observed (29%). Reasons for seeking self-medication were mild nature of the illness (39%), saves time and money (27%), self confidence in treatment (19%), easy and effective (15%). Among the source of information of self-medication includes the use of previous prescriptions (50%), advertisement (9%), textbooks (23%), and others (18%).Conclusions: Our study showed a high prevalence (77.8%) of analgesic self‑medication among medical students. Paracetamol was the most common drug consumed, followed by other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. A high incidence of side effects observed. It is necessary to create more awareness regarding possible harmful effects of self-medication and ways to minimize them

To study the oxidative stress induced by lindane in epileptic rats brains and their modulation by neurosteroids

Background: Lindane is pesticide has been shown to affect the nervous system adversely. Previous work has shown that lindane is proconvulsant and neurosteroids (NS) has been shown to be neuroprotective against lindane-induced convulsions. As the mechanisms of lindane in epileptogenesis is not completely understood. The present study was designed to investigate the oxidative stress parameters of lindane toxicity in epileptogenesis and their modulation by NS like allopregnanolone (AP), and 4ʹ-chlorodiazepam (4ʹ-CD) in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) kindling methods.Methods: Kindling was induced by injecting PTZ (30 mg/kg; s.c.) on alternate days i.e., 3 times in a week. Lindane was also administered (15 mg/kg p.o) on alternate days for 6 weeks. AP (2.5 mg/kg, intaperitoneal [i.p.]) and 4ʹ-CD (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) single dose was given in kindled rats before lindane.Results: Following per oral administration of lindane for 6 weeks produced significant oxidative stress in epileptic brain. There was an increase in brain malondialdehyde (MDA) level and decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) levels. AP (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) and 4ʹ-CD (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) single dose administration were not able to reverse the effect of chronic exposure of lindane.Conclusion: The result of the present study provides evidence that oxidative stress produced in the brain after chronic exposure of lindane may be the mechanism of epileptogenesis. Though NS have been shown to be neuroprotective, but they failed to reverse chronic oxidative stress produced by lindane. Further studies are required to demonstrate interaction of NS with lindane in oxidative stress

Antiatherosclerotic Potential of Active Principle Isolated from Eugenia jambolana in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the antiatherosclerotic effect of active principle (FIIc) isolated from aqueous fruit pulp extract of Eugenia jambolana. Crude aqueous extract of E. jambolana was subjected to purification using chromatographic techniques which yielded purified active compound (FIIc). Purity of FIIc was tested by HPLC. Phytochemical investigation of FIIc by NMR, IR, and UV spectra showed that the purified compound is α-hydroxy succinamic acid. The streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats were fed atherosclerotic (Ath) diet containing 1.5 mL olive oil containing 8 mg (3, 20,000 IU) vitamin D2 and 40 mg cholesterol for 5 consecutive days. The STZ-induced diabetic rats receiving Ath diet were orally administered FIIc at doses of 10, 15, and 20 mg/kg, and results were compared with reference drug, that is, glibenclamide (600 μg/mg) and healthy control. 30-day treatment with FIIc resulted in significant (P < .001) improvement in blood glucose, serum lipid profile, apolipoproteins (Apo A1 and apoB100), and endothelial dysfunction parameters. Histomorphological studies also confirmed biochemical findings. Our results showed that FIIc has protective effect on hyperglycemia-induced atherosclerosis

SECURITY AND OTHER VULNERABILITY PREDICTION USING NOVEL DEEP REPRESENTATION OF SOURCE CODE WITH ACTIVE FEEDBACK LOOP

Since the cost of fixing vulnerabilities can be thirty times greater after an application has been deployed, it is recognized that properly-written code can yield potentially large savings. Accordingly, approaches presented herein apply machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to improve developer experience by enabling developers to avoid introducing potential bugs and/or vulnerabilities while coding. Billions of lines of source code, which have already been written, are utilized as examples of how to write functional and secure code that is easy to read and to debug. By leveraging this wealth of available data, which is complemented with state-of-art machine learning models, enterprise-level software solutions can be developed that have a high standard of coding and are potentially bug-free

Effect of Allopregnenalone (AP) and 4′-Chlorodiazepam (4′CD) on the Lindane-induced acute and chronic convulsive behavior in rats

Neurosteroids (NS) are considered important modulators of brain functions. Lindane a pesticide has been shown to affect the nerv-ous system adversely. The present study was designed to explore the modulation of the effects of lindane on convulsions by Allopregnenalone (AP), and 4′-Chlorodiazepam (4′-CD), in both acute and chronic seizure models using Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). We used acute and chronic models. In the acute model, seizures were induced by PTZ 90mg/kg, intra-peritoneal (i.p.) injection, while in the chronic model, kindling was induced by injecting PTZ 30 mg/kg sub-cutaneous(s.c) on alternate days three times in a week. Lindane produced augmented effect on convulsions by decreasing the onset of preclonic convulsions and increased duration of clonic convulsions. AP (2.5mg/kg, i.p) and 4′-CD (0.5mg/kg, i.p) were able to attenuate the effect of acute as well as chronic exposure of lindane. They significantly increased the onset and decreased the duration of convulsions in lindane-treated rats. These results conclusively demonstrate the efficacy of the neurosteroids in lindane-induced convulsions in both acute as well as chronic models. Thus, NS have a potential role as anticonvulsant in treatment of convulsions produced by pesticides like lindane

Endodontic management of Type 2 dens in dente (DI) with talons cusp (DE): A rare case report

Dens invaginatus (DI or dens in dente) and Talons cusp or dens evaginatus are relatively rare developmental anomalies which affect the shape of teeth. DI is a deep surface invagination of the crown or root which is commonly detected on routine radiographic examination. Talon cusp is an additional cusp that projects predominately from the lingual surface of anterior teeth. These anomalies most commonly may be observed in the maxillary lateral tooth. Concurrently, the coexistence of these two anomalies in a single tooth is considered extremely rare. However, still in literature, there are a few reports cases available. This article is a case report of Talons cusp with DI involving maxillary lateral incisors in a 16-year-old patient

Customer Adoption of Banking Technology in Private Banks of India

This paper explores the perception of Indian customers towards the use of technologies with respect to such factors as convenience, privacy, security, ease of use, real time accessibility, and accurate record of varied transaction that enable customer’s adoption of Banking Technology. Other factors such as slow transfer speed, technical failure, frauds and unawareness among customers that make hindrance in adoption, are also tested. The results show that demographic variables such as gender, age, qualification and income play a positive role in adoption of banking technology. All the banks are using information technology as a strategic vehicle to stay competitive against other players. There is no significant difference between adoption rates of banking technologies by the customers of different private banks. The paper also shows that banking technology helps in increasing customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, improvised growth, and performance of the banks

DNA Origami Directed Au Nanostar Dimers for Single-Molecule Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

We demonstrate the synthesis of Au nanostar dimers with tunable interparticle gap and controlled stoichiometry assembled on DNA origami. Au nanostars with uniform and sharp tips were immobilized on rectangular DNA origami dimerized structures to create nanoantennas containing monomeric and dimeric Au nanostars. Single Texas red (TR) dye was specifically attached in the junction of the dimerized origami to act as a Raman reporter molecule. The SERS enhancement factors of single TR dye molecules located in the conjunction region in dimer structures having interparticle gaps of 7 and 13 nm are 2 × 10¹⁰ and 8 × 10⁹, respectively, which are strong enough for single analyte detection. The highly enhanced electromagnetic field generated by the plasmon coupling between sharp tips and cores of two Au nanostars in the wide conjunction region allows the accommodation and specific detection of large biomolecules. Such DNA-directed assembled nanoantennas with controlled interparticle separation distance and stoichiometry, and well-defined geometry, can be used as excellent substrates in single-molecule SERS spectroscopy and will have potential applications as a reproducible platform in single-molecule sensing

Attenuation of renal dysfunction by anti-hyperglycemic compound isolated from fruit pulp of <i style="">Eugenia jambolana </i>in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

83-89The renal protective effect of an active principle isolated from the aqueous extract of fruit pulp of Eugenia jambolana was investigated in streptozotocin(45 mg/kg body weight)-induced severely diabetic rats (FBG ≥  300 mg/dl). For isolation of active principle, crude aqueous extract of E. jambolana fruit pulp was subjected to purification by ion-exchange column chromatography, which yielded a partially purified compound (FII), which on further purification by rechromatography gave a purified active compound (FIIc). Purity of FIIc was confirmed by high pressure liquid chromatography. Detailed UV, NMR, IR spectra suggested that FIIc is a small aliphatic organic compound having molecular formula C4H7O4N. Oral administration of FIIc to diabetic rats (10, 15 and 20 mg/kg body weight per day for a period of 60 days) produced significant (P<0.001) fall in fasting blood glucose (FBG) in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with FIIc (15 mg/kg body wt.) showed significant (P<0.001) improvement in body weight, blood urea, plasma creatinine levels, urinary volume, urinary sugar and microalbuminuria. Renal hypertrophy, assessed as the ratio of the weight of the two kidneys to total body weight was also significantly (P<0.05) improved after treatment with FIIc. The above results suggest that FIIc possesses significant nephroprotective activity