Preliminary Pharmacognostic, Physicochemical and Phytochemical Evaluation of Plumeria Obtuse Seed Pods

Plumeria obtuse L. (Apocynaceae) is an ornate outdoor plant. The plant was traditionally used during accidentalinjuries. However, the pharmacognosy of this plant is very poorly explored. Therefore, we have conducted this study to assess the distinctive qualities of the P. obtusa. To investigate P. obtusa seed pods’ preliminary pharmacognostic, physical-chemical, phytochemical, microscopic, and phytoconstituent potential. Initially, the shape and microscopic characteristics of plant seed pods were assessed. Physicochemical analysis was used for the standardization. Utilizing several chemical techniques, phytoconstituents were evaluated qualitatively. This was followed by quantitative estimation and analytical profiling of various phytoconstituents. The basic characteristics of the seed pod have been documented by macroscopy to be its brown color, sweet aroma, bitter flavor, coarse texture, and rough fracture. Microscopy showed the existence of vascular bundles, lignified fibers, calcium oxalate crystals and arteries. The results of the physicochemical analysis revealed no foreign organic matter, 2.8 % weight-average moisture content and a high total ash value of 14.80 compared to an acid insoluble ash value of 0.70, which indicated that there was less inorganic matter in the plant. The extractive values were 3.93, 6.03 and 10.16 % w/w for water soluble, alcohol soluble and hydro-alcoholic soluble extracts respectively. Flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, phenolic constituents, tannins and carbohydrates were found during early phytochemical analysis. Instrumental analysis has given an idea about functional groups present whereas GCMS technique helped in identification of phytoconstituents. The results of this study can be significantly used as a reference support for quality control and standardization of P. obtusa and preparation of a monograph of plant

On the brink of transformation: Clinical research

The research on drug development life cycle and bringing sole new drug to the market is a million dollar question for pharmaceutical organization. Any clinical trial consumes average of 10 to 15 years and USD 1.5-2.0 billion with uncertainty of medications for its effectiveness for human use. Hardly, one out of 10 compounds entering into the clinical trial that reaches to the market rendering a major loss to pharmaceutical or biotech company in case of trial failure. Conversely, with changing time and an increase in the number of medicines approved by regulatory authorities, the regulatory teams are increasing networks for monitoring and assembling adverse event reports from varied sources. This in turn, has increases annual exponential rise in data volumes and the companies are facing a huge challenge in processing it. To meet such challenges, organizations must sharpen their ability to introduce new wearables for clinical trials and provide advanced cognitive solution to handle large and complex datasets. This has summoned concepts like Artificial Intelligence to expedite medical science and clinical trial and pharmacovigilance attain success

An assessment of publishing practices and barriers faced by medical students to conduct research: A cross‐sectional study from Pakistan

Abstract Background Pakistan being a low‐ and middle‐income country, its institutes are substantially deficient in scientific and technological aspects and share limited research contributions to the world repositories. Therefore, there is a rising concern to reflect on the history and status of publishing attitudes among medical students in Pakistan and to highlight and address the barriers that they are facing. Methods A study was conducted aiming to determine the experience, motivation, and attitude of medical students in regarding publishing practices throughout Pakistan in several medical colleges. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to find the independent predictors of students publishing a research article. Forward selection was used to arrive at the final stepwise logistic regression. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. p < 0.05 was considered significant for all statistical tests. Results From a sample size of 1225 participants, only 6.6% of students had published an article in our study. Of these, 59% were males and 31.3% were in final year. Males were more likely to publish articles than females (OR = 2.69, 95% CI: 1.37–5.26) and final‐year students were more likely to publish articles than first‐year students (OR = 7.48, 95% CI: 1.34–41.81). Students that had the knowledge that performing research is the way through which they will be judged for jobs had significantly higher odds of getting an article published (OR = 16.21, 95% CI: 3.65–71.88). Additionally, students who had been taught how to write a paper and those who knew the process of submitting an article were more likely to get published than the others. Conclusion Our study has successfully highlighted the status of publishing among medical students in Pakistan. Our findings serve as an eye opener and call to action for authorities to address the grievances of students in terms of barriers, lack of mentorship, and lack of research teaching. We hope our findings can guide a strong policy change to facilitate the next generation of passionate researchers