Pattern of prescription and drug use in psychiatry out patient department of private practitioners of Central India

Background: Psychotropic drugs have had a remarkable impact in psychiatric practice. The continuous monitoring of prescription and drug utilization studies may help to identify the problem involved in therapeutic decision and promote rational prescribing. Very few studies from India have evaluated the prescription pattern of Psychiatrists. Present study was undertaken to analyze the prescription pattern and drug used in psychiatric Out Patients of private practitioners of Central India.Methods: One thousand prescriptions were collected by undergraduate students from chemist and analysed. Study parameter like demographic profile of patients viz. age, sex, diagnosis were recorded. Basic drug indicators, the prescribing pattern of antipsychotics and other categories of drugs were also recorded. The most common and, top brands of anti psychotics were analyzed .Inappropriate prescription if any were recorded and analyzed further.Result: The most common psychotropic drugs were anti-anxiety in 361(36.1%) and antidepressants 130 (13%) prescribed for various psychiatric disorder. Usage of Sedative Hypnotics 104(10.4%), anti-psychotics 90(9%) and anticonvulsants 80 (8%) drugs in prescriptions. The incidence of polypharmacy (22%) was common occurrence in prescriptions. The commonest combination prescribed was of tricyclic antidepressant with benzodiazepines. Central anti-cholinergic was commonly prescribed with anti psychotics.Conclusions: Anti-anxiety drug (benzodiazepines) was the most frequently prescribed class of psychotropic drugs in various psychiatry disorders. The prescribing prevalence of Alprazolam with different brand names was more than that of other benzodiazepines. The combination of different psychotropic drugs were also prescribed

Six senses while considering hydatid cyst as a differential for a swelling at nape of the neck: a case report

While cervical swellings usually are located in anterior midline like thyroglossal cyst, thyroid swellings, or in antero-lateral aspect of neck like cold abscess, branchial cyst, lymphangioma, cervical lymphadenopathy etc. Nape of the neck swelling is even less common with differentials including lipoma, sebaceous cyst, lymphangioma, etc. Hydatid cyst (HC) is often missed as a differential resulting in intraoperative surprises. This case report might change the mind of the readers to keep HC in back of their minds while approaching a case of swelling of the neck. Here we report a case of 15 years’ female who presented with swelling of nape of neck which on evaluation was inclining towards lipoma/epidermal cyst. With an intention for surgical exploration and excision, the patient was taken for operation, where we discovered it to be HC and the same was later confirmed by histopathology as well. Because of its rare presentation the primary diagnosis of HC is often missed out in spite of having sensitive cytology and imaging modalities. Hence, by reporting this case we intend to emphasize six facts a clinician, a radiologist and also a pathologist must consider while keeping primary HC at an unusual site as a differential diagnosis.

Prospect and potential of Burkholderia sp. against Phytophthora capsici Leonian: a causative agent for foot rot disease of black pepper

Foot rot disease is a very destructive disease in black pepper in Malaysia. It is caused by Phytophthora capsici Leonian, which is a soilborne pathogenic protist (phylum, Oomycota) that infects aerial and subterranean structures of many host plants. This pathogen is a polycyclic, such that multiple cycles of infection and inoculum production occur in a single growing season. It is more prevalent in the tropics because of the favourable environmental conditions. The utilization of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) as a biological control agent has been successfully implemented in controlling many plant pathogens. Many studies on the exploration of beneficial organisms have been carried out such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, which is one of the best examples used for the control of Fusarium wilt in tomato. Similarly, P. fluorescens is found to be an effective biocontrol agent against the foot rot disease in black pepper. Nowadays there is tremendous novel increase in the species of Burkholderia with either mutualistic or antagonistic interactions in the environment. Burkholderia sp. is an indigenous PGPR capable of producing a large number of commercially important hydrolytic enzymes and bioactive substances that promote plant growth and health; are eco-friendly, biodegradable and specific in their actions; and have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity in keeping down the population of phytopathogens, thus playing a great role in promoting sustainable agriculture today. Hence, in this book chapter, the potential applications of Burkholderia sp. to control foot rot disease of black pepper in Malaysia, their control mechanisms, plant growth promotion, commercial potentials and the future prospects as indigenous PGPR were discussed in relation to sustainable agriculture

Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

Comparison of nebivolol and atenolol on blood pressure, blood sugar, and lipid profile in patients of essential hypertension

Background: Nebivolol is a third-generation β-blocker, with highest β1 selectivity and nitric-oxide-derived vasodilatation. It also exhibits antiproliferative and antioxidant property that has beneficial metabolic profile compared to second-generation β blockers like atenolol. This study was planned to study the comparative effects of nebivolol and atenolol on metabolic parameters in patients with essential hypertension. Materials and Methods: A prospective, randomized, parallel, open-label clinical study was carried out on patients with essential hypertension. The patients were randomly assigned to receive tablet atenolol (Group A) and nebivolol (Group B) for a period of 24 weeks. Investigations were carried out at baseline and at the end of study period, that is, 24 weeks. Out of 69 patients, 60 completed the study and the data was analyzed using student′s t-test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Atenolol and nebivolol both showed significant (P < 0.001) antihypertensive action after 24 weeks. Mean blood sugar and lipid profile were found to be significantly (P < 0.001) elevated after 24 weeks of treatment with atenolol but not with nebivolol. Heart rate was significantly (P < 0.001) decreased in both groups at 24 weeks. Conclusion: In view of metabolic adverse effects of atenolol, nebivolol is the better choice whenever β-blockers have to be used in essential hypertension

Fragment emission studies in low energy light heavy-ion reactions

Fragment emission mechanisms have been studied in 12C on 12C and 13C on 12C reactions at same excitation energy. The inclusive energy distributions of the complex fragments (3≤ Z ≤ 5) emitted from the composite system have been measured in the angular range 14° to 36°. The present experiments have been performed with the motivation to study the isotopic dependence of fragment yields in these two reactions. From the preliminary analysis, it has been observed that fragments are emitted from a completely equilibrated and long lived composite system for both 12C + 12C and 13C + 12C reactions. It has also been observed that the emission of neutron-rich fragments are more in 13C + 12C compared to 12C + 12C reaction

Fragment emission studies in low energy light heavy-ion reactions

Fragment emission mechanisms have been studied in 12C on 12C and 13C on 12C reactions at same excitation energy. The inclusive energy distributions of the complex fragments (3≤ Z ≤ 5) emitted from the composite system have been measured in the angular range 14° to 36°. The present experiments have been performed with the motivation to study the isotopic dependence of fragment yields in these two reactions. From the preliminary analysis, it has been observed that fragments are emitted from a completely equilibrated and long lived composite system for both 12C + 12C and 13C + 12C reactions. It has also been observed that the emission of neutron-rich fragments are more in 13C + 12C compared to 12C + 12C reaction