Gender Equality: Perception of Medical Students of SMC, Vijayawada, A P, India

“We recognize that gender equality and women’s empowerment are important for sustainable development and our common future. We reaffirm our commitments to ensure women’s equal rights, access and opportunities for participation and leadership in the economy, society and political decision making.We underscore that women have a vital role to play in achieving sustainable development. We recognize the leadership role of women, and we resolve to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and to ensure their full and effective participation in sustainable development policies, programmes and decision-making at all levels.

The Demonstration, Encounter and Associations of Violent behaviours in Adolescents attending Educational institutions in a city of Southern India

Introduction:Violence is a major and growing public health problem across the world. It affects the general well-being, physical and mental health and social functioning of people. Violence by young people is one of the most visible forms of violence in the society and is a leading cause of death worldwide for people aged 15–44 years. This study was devised to estimate the prevalence of violent behaviours and the identify the factors associated with these behaviours in the adolescent students of Vijayawada.Material and Methods:A Cross sectional observational study was conducted from March 2015 to November 2017 on 621 adolescent students attending schools and colleges in Vijayawada. Institutions were selected through stratified random sampling. After obtaining permission from the Institutional Ethics Committee of Siddhartha Medical College, Vijayawada and the respective heads of the Institutions, a predesigned, pretested, structured questionnaire customised and adapted from the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey was used to collect data through individual interview by a single unbiased interviewer. Data obtained was analysed using SPSS v15.Results:15.8% (12.4% males, 3.4% females) carried a weapon with intention to injure someone over the last 12 months. 26.4% of the participants had carried a weapon with an intention to injure someone on school property over the last 12 months. 31.1% were involved in a physical fight while 23% had involved in a physical fight on school property. 17.6% participants had been threatened or injured with a weapon.17.4% adolescents felt unsafe at school or on the way to and from school. 12.2% had been bullied on school property, 10.3% had been electronically bullied. 83.8% had reported being exposed to verbal abuse on different forms of media and 86.5% had viewed physical fights, injuries or killings on various media.12.6% had sexual intercourse at-least once in their lifetime. 16.7% had been subjected to sexual violence while 7.6% had subjected someone to sexual violence.Conclusion:Adolescents have several types of violent behaviours, that are repetitive. Hence it is the need of the hour to establish systems for monitoring and surveillance of these traits

Cross-Sectional Study on Stress, Anxiety and Depression among Medical Undergraduate Students of Guntur Medical College, AP, India

Stress is a state of an individual that results from the interaction of the individual with the environment that is perceived as threatening to the well-being. It is an external constraint which upsets an individual both mentally and physically. Individual in a stressful situation is influenced by his or her mental ability to carry out ongoing tasks. Medical education is highly challenging and often places heavy demands on the mental health of the students. Compared to other fields of education; medical education is evidenced by high prevalence of stress. Educational process exerts an inadvertent negative effect on student’s mental health with a high frequency of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students. Students exposed to work overload and examinations in a competitive environment with constant pressure of assessment brings various changes in their daily habits such as lack of sleep and irregular diet. Mental morbidity is least accounted form of all population health studies and with the threatening rates of mental ill-health and rising rates of deaths due to the lack of early recognition of these morbidities, with not many Indian studies to document this burden. Therefore, the presence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical undergraduate students was assessed using a previously validated and standardized instrument, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 42) and the associations with their socio-demographic characteristics were identified. The objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical undergraduate students and to study the association of stress, anxiety and depression with the socio-demographic characteristics of medical under- graduate students

A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF ADENOSINE DEAMINASE AND SERUM FERRITIN LEVELS WITH BODY MASS INDEX IN CHILDREN.

Objectives: The study aims to establish the correlation between serum adenosine deaminase and ferritin levels with somatometric measurements in children aged 6 to 14. Additionally, it sought to assess the association of these biochemical parameters with components of dysmetabolic syndrome, including blood pressure and lipid profile. Methods: The multicentric study, conducted over a 2-year period from Jan 2021 to Dec 2022 at a tertiary care centre, focused on children aged 6 to 14 attending the outpatient department for eyesight irregularities or immunization. A total of 120 children meeting specific inclusion criteria underwent meticulous anthropometric measurements, BMI calculation, and comprehensive biochemical assessments to correlate serum adenosine deaminase (ADA) as well as ferritin levels with various parameters. The biochemistry tests were performed at the Department of Biochemistry, Nalanda Medical College & Hospital, Patna. Results: In the study of 120 children (6-14 years), the overweight/obese group (n=60) showed higher weight (52.309 kg) compared to the normal weight group (n=60, 27.945 kg). Anthropometric measures, excluding common parameters, were significantly elevated in the obese cohort. Robust positive correlations were noted amongst systolic blood pressure, adenosine deaminase, and serum ferritin with BMI, and significant associations were noted between anthropometric measures and ferritin levels, with ADA showing significance only in systolic blood pressure and waist-hip ratio. Conclusion: The current study revealed significant associations between anthropometric measures, serum adenosine deaminase (ADA), and ferritin levels in children aged 6-14. These findings emphasize the interplay between obesity, inflammatory markers, and cardiovascular health in this paediatric population. Recommendation: The study recommends further research with larger samples to validate findings and emphasizes the importance of longitudinal studies to elucidate dynamic relationships between anthropometric measures, inflammatory markers, and metabolic outcomes in paediatric populations

Formulation and Evaluation of Gastroretentive Dosage Forms of Clarithromycin

The purpose of this research was to develop the hydrodynamically balanced delivery system of Clarithromycin (CLA) which, after oral administration should have the ability to prolong gastric residence time with the desired in vitro release profile for the localized action in the stomach, in the treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) mediated peptic ulcer. By applying wet granulation technique floating tablets of Clarithromycin were prepared. The proportion of sodium bicarbonate was varied to get the least possible lag time, also the polymer part varied to get the desired release. In vivo radiographic studies were performed with Barium sulphate loaded formulation to justify the increased gastric residence time of the dosage form in the stomach, based on the floating principle. The formulation developed using 66.2% Clarithromycin, 12% HPMC K4M polymer, 8% sodium bicarbonate gave floating lag time less than 3 min with a floating time of 12 h, and an in vitro release profile very near to the desired release. X-ray studies showed the enhanced gastric residence time of the tablet to 220 ± 30 min. The mechanism of release of Clarithromycin from the floating tablets is anomalous diffusion transport and follows zero order kinetics. In vivo radiographic studies suggest that the tablet has increased gastric residence time for the effective localized action of the antibiotic (Clarithromycin) in the treatment of H.pylori mediated peptic ulcer