Knowledge, attitude and practices towards COVID-19 among Indian medical undergraduates: a questionnaire-based study.

Background: The Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) has emerged as a recent pandemic, increasing the need for epidemiological studies and studies on public health. Only some studies have evaluated the awareness of medical undergraduates in India and other countries, leading to a lack of literature.

Methods: This study is a descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted in Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, India, between June to August 2020.

Pain management in chronic pancreatitis.

Pain in chronic pancreatitis (CP) is difficult to manage. Many patients suffer from inadequate pain relief, completely incapacitating them in their daily activities. Historically, despite their well-known adverse effects, opioids have been the pillar of treatment regimens in painful CP.

Effect of Liquorice Candies on Remineralization of Initial Enamel Carious Lesion.

Background: (), known as liquorice root is one such herbal remedy that has been shown to have immense potential in the treatment of orofacial diseases.

Aim: To evaluate the remineralizing potential of liquorice extract on initial enamel carious lesions.

Materials And Methods: An and study was conducted, wherein the sound-extracted human premolars were sectioned longitudinally and into enamel blocks of size 4 × 4 mm.

Antiproliferative and Apoptotic Effects of pH-Responsive Veratric Acid-Loaded Polydopamine Nanoparticles in Human Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells.

Veratric acid (VA) is plant-derived phenolic acid known for its therapeutic potential, but its anticancer effect on highly invasive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is yet to be evaluated. Polydopamine nanoparticles (nPDAs) were chosen as the drug carrier to overcome VA's hydrophobic nature and ensure a sustained release of VA. We prepared pH-sensitive nano-formulations of VA-loaded nPDAs and subjected them to physicochemical characterization and in vitro drug release studies, followed by cell viability and apoptotic assays on TNBC cells (MDA-MB-231 cells).

Chitosan-based scaffolds as drug delivery systems in bone tissue engineering.

The bone tissue engineering approach for treating large bone defects becomes necessary when the tissue damage surpasses the threshold of the inherent regenerative ability of the human body. A myriad of natural biodegradable polymers and scaffold fabrication techniques have emerged in the last decade. Chitosan (CS) is especially attractive as a bone scaffold material to support cell attachment and proliferation and mineralization of the bone matrix.

Cysts that Still Persist: A Case Series of Cysticercosis on Histopathological Evaluation.

Cysticercus is the infective larval form of the cystode T. solium that causes cysticercosis. It is has been declared as one of the neglected endemic zoonoses by the WHO.

Prevalence and pattern of antipsychotic induced movement disorders in a tertiary care teaching hospital in India - a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To assess prevalence and pattern of movement disorders among patients taking antipsychotic medications.

Methods: This cross-sectional, intensive monitoring (patient interview, case record form review and clinical examination) study was conducted in patients taking antipsychotic drugs irrespective of duration for the development of movement disorders. The psychiatrist used Modified Simpson-Angus Scale score (10-item scale), Barnes' rating scale and Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale to diagnose parkinsonism, akathisia and tardive dyskinesia, respectively.

Adverse drug reactions in a psychiatric department of tertiary care teaching hospital in India: Analysis of spontaneously reported cases.

The epidemiological data are limited for the spontaneous adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting system in psychiatry and its comparison with intensive monitoring studies in terms of causative drugs, seriousness, preventability and drug interactions. This spontaneous ADR reporting study was carried out over a period of three years in the psychiatry department. We adopted WHO definition for an ADR, Naranjo's algorithm for causality, WHO-ADR terminology for the labeling of involved organ-system, International conference on harmonisation (ICH) E2A guidelines for seriousness, modified Schumock and Thornton's criteria for preventability and Medscape drug interaction checker for drug interactions.

Current Nanotechnological Approaches for an Effective Delivery of Bioactive Drug Molecules to Overcome Drug Resistance Tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an airborne communicable disease, mainly caused by aerobic, non-motile, rodshaped, weakly gram-positive, acid-fast tubercular bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb). Mycobacterium has worsened the problem in humans by acquiring various types of resistances like Multi-drug resistance (MDR), Single-drug resistance (SDR), and Extensive drug resistance (XDR). Some clinical problems and challenges associated with conventional TB chemotherapy include poor patient compliance, longer duration of chemotherapy, lesser cell permeability, primary drug resistance, difficulty in maintaining higher drug concentrations at the infected site, and degradation of the drug before reaching the target site.

Assessment of screening practices for gestational hyperglycaemia in public health facilities: a descriptive study in bangalore, India.

Background: Screening and timely treatment of gestational hyperglycaemia (GH) is proved to be beneficial and improves maternal and foetal health outcomes. To understand screening practices, we explored the knowledge and perceptions of doctors working in public health facilities in Bangalore, India. We also studied participation factors by examining whether undergoing glucose estimation tests affects morning sickness in pregnant women.

Pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in a male breast: a rare occurrence.

Carcinoma of male breast is uncommon as it accounts for 0.7% of total breast cancer. The pathology of male breast cancer is remarkably similar to that of cancers seen in women.

Cysteine-rich cyanopeptide beta2 from Spirulina fusiformis exhibits plasmid DNA pBR322 scission prevention and cellular antioxidant activity.

Isolation of three different active peptides from C-phycocyanin (C-pc) beta chain of S. fusiformis and their biological properties are reported. Phycocyanin peptide beta fraction 2 (cyanopeptide beta 2) facilitated both antioxidant and plasmid DNA strand scission prevention activity due to higher cysteine moieties in the isolated peptide.

Tryptophan inhibits bacteriorhodopsin formation in Halorubrum sodomense A01.

Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is well recognized for its applied values. We observed that the bottleneck associated with the use of different peptones for bR production was linked to the presence of tryptophan (Trp). Trp at 0.

Production and partial characterization of cellulase free xylanase by Bacillus subtilis C 01 using agriresidues and its application in biobleaching of nonwoody plant pulps.

Aims: To optimize the solid-state cultivation conditions for xylanase production using agriresidues and testing the biobleaching efficiency of xylanase on nonwoody plant fibre materials.

Methods And Results: An extracellular cellulase free xylanase was produced from Bacillus subtilis C 01 using various inexpensive substrates under solid-state cultivation. High level of xylanase production (135 IU gds(-1)) was observed when grown on wheat bran followed by maize powder (50 IU gds(-1)).

Biobleaching of banana fibre pulp using Bacillus subtilis C O1 xylanase produced from wheat bran under solid-state cultivation.

A cellulase-free xylanase produced by Bacillus subtilis C 01 from wheat bran under solid-state cultivation was tested for its efficacy in biobleaching of raw banana fibre and banana pulp obtained through a mechanical pulping process. Banana pulp samples treated with crude xylanase (450 nkat g(-1) pulp) resulted in a 19.6% increase in the brightness as compared to untreated pulp.

Pigment production in Spirulina fussiformis in different photophysical conditions.

The present investigation makes a comparative investigation of individual light source on the different commercially important pigments in Spirulina fussiformis in photobioreactor culture condition. Continuous culture system was carried out throughout the experimental condition. Initially, seed culture, corresponding to 0.

Curcumin for malaria therapy.

Malaria remains a major global health concern. New, inexpensive, and effective antimalarial agents are urgently needed. Here we show that curcumin, a polyphenolic organic molecule derived from turmeric, inhibits chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum growth in culture in a dose dependent manner with an IC(50) of approximately 5 microM.

Non-viral ex vivo hepatic gene transfer by in situ lipofection of liver and intraperitoneal transplantation of hepatocytes.

Perfusion of liver with plasmid DNA-lipofectin complexes via the portal vein results in efficient accumulation of the vector in hepatocytes. Such hepatocytes, when administered intraperitoneally into a hepatectomized rat, repopulate the liver and express the transgene efficiently. This procedure obviates the need for large-scale hepatocyte culture for ex vivo gene transfer.

Preservation of native conformation during aluminium-induced aggregation of tau protein.

Aluminium exposure has been shown to result in aggregation of microtubule-associated protein tau in vitro. In the light of recent observations that the native random structure of tau protein is maintained in its monomeric and dimeric states as well as in the paired helical filaments characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, it is likely that factors playing a causative role in neurofibrillary pathology would not drastically alter the native conformation of tau protein. We have studied the interaction of tau protein with aluminium using circular dichroism (CD) and 27Al NMR spectroscopy.

A model for the transcriptional regulation of the CYP2B1/B2 gene in rat liver.

The phenobarbitone-responsive minimal promoter has been shown to lie between nt -179 and nt + 1 in the 5' (upstream) region of the CYP2B1/B2 gene in rat liver, on the basis of the drug responsiveness of the sequence linked to human growth hormone gene as reporter and targeted to liver as an asialoglycoprotein-DNA complex in vivo. Competition analyses of the nuclear protein-DNA complexes formed in gel shift assays with the positive (nt -69 to -98) and negative (nt -126 to -160) cis elements (PE and NE, respectively) identified within this region earlier indicate that the same protein may be binding to both the elements. The protein species purified on PE and NE affinity columns appear to be identical based on SDS/PAGE analysis, where it migrates as a protein of 26-28 kDa.

Characterization of a negative cis-acting DNA element regulating the transcription of CYP2B1/B2 gene in rat liver.

The region -160 to -127 nt of the upstream of CYP2B1/B2 gene has been found to function as a negative cis-acting element on the basis of DNase-I footprint and gel mobility shift assays as well as cell-free transcriptional assays using Bal-31 mutants. A reciprocal relationship in the interaction of the negative and the recently characterized positive elements with their respective protein factors has been found under repressed and induced conditions of the gene. The negative element also harbors the core glucocorticoid responsive sequence, TGTCCT.

Patterns of resistant Salmonella typhi infection in infants.

Culture-proven cases of enteric fever (182) were studied during the period May 1991 to April 1992; 39 per cent of the children were below 3 years. There was male preponderance. Infants presented within first few days of onset of fever with severe systemic manifestation, such as repeated convulsion, puffiness of face and oedema, massive hepatomegaly, and bleeds due to thrombocytopenia.