Toxicological Aspects of Saccharin

Saccharin is a widely used sweetener especially prescribed for the diabetics. But since its discovery, its use has been a matter of controversy due to its tumour promoting abilities in second generations of rats. As a result, saccharin was thought to be unfit for human consumption and was banned before the First World War. Later on, various studies focusedon the possible mechanism of carcinogenic effects of saccharin on different animals. Several epidemiological studies were conducted to find out the relation of saccharin with cancer promotion. But, no significant association was found between saccharin intake and cancer in humans. It was found that urinary bladder cancer is a high dose phenomenon and is species specific, which occurs only in rats. Lastly, in 2000, Saccharin was removed from the list of human carcinogens by National Toxicology Programme, USA and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). In this article, an effort has been made to study the historicaland toxicological aspects of saccharin

Nanoceramics in Bone Tissue Engineering: The Future Lies Ahead

Nanoceramics are composed of ceramics and are classified as inorganic, heat-resistant, nonmetallic solids made of both metallic and nonmetallic compounds. Bone tissue engineering applies bioactive scaffolds, host cells and osteogenic signals for restoring damaged or diseased tissues. Composites of bioactive ceramics closely match the properties of bone. In the present review paper, an attempt has been made to emphasize the suitability of nanoceramics in the field of bone tissue engineering. Toxicity of these synthesized nanomaterials should be checked before their real application. Nanoceramics, in future, will surely prove to be important nanomaterials in the field of tissue engineering

Effect of Mesorhizobium, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and phosphorus on plant biometery and growth indices of desi chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The field experiment was conducted during 2015-16 to study the effect of biofetilizer inoculation [control, Mesorhizobium only, Mesorhizobium + RB-1 (Pseudomonas argentinensis) and Mesorhizobium + RB-2 (Bacillus aryabhattai)] and four levels of phosphorus (0, 15, 20 and 25 kg P2O5 ha-1) on chickpea growth. RB-1 and RB-2 were the plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Biofertilizers could play a crucial role in reducing the dependence on chemical fertilizers by fixing the atmospheric nitrogen for crop and/or by increasing the availability of phosphorus and phytohormones to the crop. The 16 treatment combinations were laid out in Factorial Randomized Complete Block Design and replicated three times. In biofertilizer treatments, Mesorhizobium + RB-1 proved superior over control and sole inoculation of Mesorhizobium and at par with Mesorhizobium + RB-2 with respect to plant height (cm), number of branches (plant-1), shoot and root dry matter (kg ha-1) which were recorded at 30, 60 90, 120 days after sowing (DAS) and at harvest. Application of 25 kg P2O5 ha-1 gave the highest values of all the growth at-tributes viz. plant height (60 cm), number of primary (5.3) and secondary (27.2) branches per plant, shoot dry matter (4000 kg ha-1) and root dry matter (354 kg ha-1) which were significantly higher than that of 0 and 15 kg P2O5 ha-1 and at par with 20 kg P2O5 ha-1. Similar results were observed in case of crop growth rate (CGR) whereas relative growth rate (RGR) was not influenced significantly by various biofertilizer and phosphorus treatments. The dual inoc-ulation with PGPR strains along with phosphorus application have a supplementary effect on the growth of chickpea

CUSTOMER PERCEPTION OF ONLINE BANKING IN INDIA: PUNJAB

The emergence and adoption of information technology has turned the world into a global village. India being an emerging market, it cannot afford to ignore the benefits of information technology especially in the banking sector. The financial services sector realized the importance of the internet as a way of connecting and interacting with clients. From the customers point of view internet banking is a boon. Registered online customers can perform common banking transactions such as paying bills; writing checks, transferring funds, printing statements and inquiring about account balances. But what is most intriguing is that with all the benefits of online banking why has the Indian consumer not adopted internet banking and felt its potential. This piece of work studies the customer perception of online banking in India, Punjab. Goyal and Joshi (2011b) say that a significant element of organizational relationship is customer perception, which helps to achieve the expected customer’s expectations and satisfaction level. The challenges experienced by Indian banks in achieving quality service deliveries were associated with their failure to compensate, support and train their users on their online banking services. In particular, this was realized to impede the adoption rate due to mismatches between promises and outcomes

A descriptive study of prevalence, pattern and attitude of self-medication among second professional medical students in a tertiary care center

Background: The implications of self-medication practices are increasingly recognized around the world as self-medication is a common practice worldwide and irrational use of drugs is a cause of concern more so among medical students as they are future medical practitioners. The objective was to determine the prevalence, attitude, and knowledge of self-medication among second professional medical students.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students in February-March 2015. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire and expressed as percentage frequency.Results: Of the 138 students, only 122 filled and returned the questionnaire. The majority of the students self-medicated because of the illness being too trivial for consultation (63.1%) or had previous experience of same illness (63.1%), headache (77.8%), flu/cold and sore throat (58.1%), closely followed by fever (52.4%) were the main symptoms leading to self-medication. Commonly used medicines were analgesics (74.6%), headache relievers (71.3%), antibiotics (64%), and antipyretics (50.8%). A large proportion (42.6%) and 35% used every few months or 2-3 times per year, respectively.Conclusion: Our study showed that self-medication is widely practiced among students, easy availability of medicine probably being the cause. Educating the students regarding advantages and disadvantages of self-medication is necessary to create awareness

A questionnaire based study of prevailing teaching methods in pharmacology and its efficacy /evaluation by second professional M.B.B.S students

Background: Pharmacology is the subject which has got scientific obligation and feedback from the students facilitates a change in preconceived notion about teaching. The study was under taken to elicit the perception and feedback regarding the prevailing system of teaching methods in pharmacology and requirement of    any consequent changes.Methods: A questionnaire was designed and given to second years medical students on internationally accepted Likert  scale which they were supposed to fill after giving due instructions. Analysis was done on percentage wise distribution of various parameters used in the questionnaire.Results: Out of the total of 150 enrolled students, 130 filled and returned questionnaire with students vouching for various changes with 125 (96%) agreeing that black board teaching as best method of teaching in contrast to 31 (23.8%) for PPT and 87 (66.9%) for combination of both. 109 (83.8%) wanted distribution of handouts giving outline of topic before lecture classes.Conclusions: There is a need of various reforms for improvement of prevailing teaching methods in pharmacology like microteaching and group discussions and involving MCQs in pattern of evaluation as opined by the students

An evaluation of pattern of adverse drug reactions reporting by undergraduate medical students in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and reporting ADRs voluntarily is fundamental to medical drug safety surveillance but gross underreporting of ADRs is a cause for a concern. Being key health care professional, physicians, pharmacists and nurses have immense responsibility in reporting of ADRs. Therefore, the sensitization and involvement of undergraduate medical students can reduce underreporting. This study is aimed at evaluating knowledge, attitude and reporting of quality of ADRs by undergraduate medical students.Methods: The study was conducted after sensitizing the second professional year undergraduate students about Pharmacovigilance as part of their internal assessment and asked them to submit reports of ADR observed during their clinical posting.Results: A total of 82 ADR’s were reported after sensitization with majority of them i.e. 30 related to skin and appendages disorder followed by gastrointestinal tract with antibiotics i.e. 28 and analgesics being most common probable/possible culprits.Conclusions: The response percentage of reporting ADRs was 54.66%. Medical students being future healthcare professionals should be exposed to ADR reporting during their clinical teaching posting as a part of sensitization and make them actively involved in reporting to improve detection rate and make Pharmacovigilance a success

A descriptive study on drug prescribing pattern in hypertensive patients in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Hypertension is highly prevalent and the goal of antihypertensive therapy is to abolish the risks associated with blood pressure (BP) elevation without adversely affecting quality of life. Drug selection is based on efficacy in lowering BP and in reducing cardiovascular (CV) end points including stroke, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. Not many studies are conducted in this part of world regarding drug utilization of antihypertensive drugs and hence this study was planned.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted for a period 6 month in outpatient department of a tertiary care centre of Government Medical College, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The prescriptions containing antihypertensive drugs were collected from the patients attending the outpatient department.Results: During the study period a total of 230 prescriptions were collected, out of which 196 were included for the final analysis. Mean age was found to be 62.42±7.77 years. In majority of cases (44.89%), a combination of two drugs was prescribed and among the two-drug combination, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) and Calcium Channel Blockers (CCBs) were used most commonly (40.90%). Angiotension receptor blockers were used as single drug in most number of patients (41.66%). Proton pump inhibitors were the most common (35.71%) co-prescribed drug, followed by Anti platelet drugs (27.55%), Anti diabetics (16.32%) and Statins (16.32).Conclusions: Present study represents the current prescribing trend for antihypertensive agents. It implies that ARBs are the leading group of antihypertensive agents both when used singly and in combination. Further studies focused on the rationale for choice of drugs based on demographic data, economic status, associated comorbid conditions and complications would give additional insights into prescribing patterns in hypertension in India

Leiomyosarcoma: A rare soft tissue cancer arising from multiple organs

Leiomyosarcoma (LMS), a smooth muscle connective tissue tumor, is a rare form of cancer which accounts for 5–10% of soft tissue sarcomas. This type of cancer is highly unpredictable. LMS is a resistant type of cancer and can remain in the dormant state for long time. It can recur in the later stages of life. LMS has been reported in different animals including humans. A wide literature search was done. The PubMed database was used to search for journal articles on the occurrence of LMS in different organs from 1950 to 2016. LMS has been reported to be associated with different organs, including esophagus, stomach, intestine, anus and uterus. In this article, an attempt has been made to review the studies based on occurrence of LMS with respect to the organs affected and frequency of publications. Finding the organ-associated occurrence of LMS may be useful in assessing the overall risk and formulating future cancer preventive strategies