Plagiarism in medical scientific research

Plagiarism is defined as "the practice of taking someone else's words, work or ideas and passing them off as one's own". It is probably the most common form of scientific dishonesty found in research articles. The aim of this review is to present a comprehensive account about plagiarism to raise awareness of all aspects of plagiarism. The key words "plagiarism", "types", "detection" and "consequences" were used to retrieve articles from the MEDLINE database. About five hundred articles were retrieved. Articles were divided into subgroups, with each group covering an aspect of plagiarism. Main findings and updates were summarized for each topic. The main reason behind plagiarism was found to be a lack of knowledge about the subject. When coupled with insufficient time, immature writing skills and the pressure on researchers to get their work published in good journals, authors take unacknowledged pieces of others' work and commit plagiarism. In the past, it was difficult to detect plagiarism; however, in recent years, many plagiarism-detection services and software programs have become available. The present article details how journals use these services and software as a helpful tool to check for plagiarism in submitted manuscripts. Within academia, plagiarism is an offense that can be devastating. Plagiarism is the most common problem in research writing. The cornerstone in preventing this problem from getting worse is to raise awareness about how to cope with this growing problem of research misconduct

Egyptian students' guardians knowledge, attitude and predictors of negative attitude of epilepsy in Assiut city

Epilepsy is very prevalent in Egypt, approaching 6.98 per 1000 population. This study was designed to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy among guardians of Egyptian high school students. A cross-sectional study was made among guardians [parents/guardians] of high school students in Assiut city, Egypt. A 15-item questionnaire was self-administered by 1257 students' guardians who were randomly selected. All recruited parents/guardians of high school students had heard about epilepsy. Families with a patient with epilepsy [PWE] had significantly better information about epilepsy and its aetiology than other families. The predictors of negative attitudes towards PWE were: age group ranging from 40 to 49 years, no work, skilled work, male sex and incorrect knowledge. Having a patient with epilepsy is a predictor to having greater knowledge and a better attitude towards epilepsy. However, people still have a concept that PWE are stigmatized and are different from others. Raising awareness about epilepsy and its aetiology will increase the knowledge and improve the attitudes towards PWE

TEMPOL, a membrane-permeable radical scavenger, ameliorates lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice: a key role for superoxide anion

Acute lung injury [ALl] or acute respiratory distress syndrome is a serious clinical problem with high mortality. Oxidative stress was found to play a major role in mediating lung injury and antioxidants have been shown to be effective in attenuating ALI. In this study, we determine the effects of tempol, a membrane-permeable radical scavenger, in lipopolysaccharide [LPS] induced ALl and the underlying mechanism. ALl was induced by intraperitoneal injection of LPS [lmglkg] and mice were treated with tempol 30 mm before injection of LPS. One hour later, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid [BALF] was collected and subjected to estimation of total and differential cell counts as svell as the proinflammatory cytokines; tumor necrosis factor-alpha [TNF-alpha], interleukin-1beta [IL-1beta] and interferon-gamma [IFN-gamma]. Lung tissue damage was confirmed by histopathological changes and by immunohistochemical analysis of myeloperoxidase [MPO]. Moreover, lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione [GSH] and nitric oxide [NO] were investigated in the lung tissue. Pretreatment with tempol produced significant attenuation of LPS-induced lung injury as well as inhibition of LPS mediated increase in MPO immunostaining, MDA and NO levels in lung tissue. Elevated cytokines levels in both BALF and lung tissue homogenates of ALl mice were significantly decreased after administration of tempol. These findings confirmed significant protection by tempol against LPS-induced acute lung injury and that superoxide anion scavenging appears to be a potential target for new potential therapy in pulmonary disorders

Effect of coenzyme Q - 10 and alpha - tocopherol on the hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride

This work aimed to compare the in vivo protective effect of coenzyme Q- 10 and vitamin E against the hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats. Pretreatment was carried out for 14 days with either coenzyme Q-10 or vitamin E before CC14 was administrated. Serum AST, ALT and ALP were measured as well as liver LDH, cytochrome oxidase, MDA, GSH and GSH-Px. It was shown that CC14 administration induced many toxic effects on liver functions which was apparent from the increased serum AST, ALT and ALP activities; the severe increase in LDH activity and MDA level; the reduction of cytochrome oxidase and GSHPx activities and the depletion of GSH in liver tissue of CCl4-administered rats. Pretreatment with coenzyme Q-10 or vitamin E succeeded to protect the liver from the hepatotoxic effect of CC14. This was evident from the normalized serum ALT and ALP activities; the decrease in MDA content; LDH and cytochrome oxidase activities and the increased value of GSH and GSH-Px activity in liver tissue of rats pretreated with either coenzyme Q-10 or vitamin-E. This study proved that coenzyme Q-10 showed similar protective effect to vitamin E as a potent antioxidant and could be suggested as a hepatoprotective agent

Contribution of nitric oxide, monoaminergic and opioidergic systems to the antinociceptive effects of tramadol and clonidine in rats and mice

In this study, thermal and chemical stimuli using hot plate and acetic acid tests were used. Tramadol hydrochloride produced antinociception in both hot plate test in rats and acetic acid analysis in mouse. The antinociceptive activity of tramadol was abolished by naloxone. Administration of yohimbine also reduced antinociception produced by administration of tramadol. These results suggested that tramadol- induced antinociception might be mediated by opioid and non-opioid mechanisms. Clonidine produced dose dependent antinociception using hot plate test. It was concluded that opioid receptors, alpha 2-adrenergic receptors and nitric oxide might play a role in pain transmission

protective effect of dimethyl-4,4' dimethoxy - 5,6,5',6' - dimethylenedioxybiphenyl -2.2' - dicarboxylate [DDB] on isolated rat hepatocytes compared with vitamin E

This work aimed to compare the protective effect of dimethyl- 4, 4'dimethoxy-5, 6, 5', 6'-dimethylenedioxybiphenyl-2, 2'dicarboxylate [DDB] with that of vitamin E against the hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride on isolated rat hepatocytes. Vitamin E and various concentrations of DDB were preincubated in the isolated rat hepatocyte suspension for 30 minutes before being subjected to the hepatotoxin CC14 for an additional 150 minutes. Lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], malondialdehyde [MDA] for lipoperoxidation and the depletion of reduced glutathione [GSH] were measured as indices for liver damage. Protection against the induced cell injury was conferred by DDB as evidenced by the decreased leakage of LDH, the inhibition of lipoperoxidation and the restoration of cellular glutathione. Vitamin E induced similar hepatoprotection against CC14-induced damage, but to a lesser extent than DDB

Does nitrous oxide produce an effect upon brain neurotransmitters namely dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin and is it the answer to postoperative nausea and vomiting?

The effect of nitrous oxide [N2O] was studied on the changes of brain neurotransmitters [dopamine [DA], serotonin [5HT] and norepinephrine [NE]] in rats. Nitrous oxide was found to have no significant effect on the contents of NE, and 5HT, but decreases that of DA [mid- brain], thalamus-hypothalamus and medulla] after one hour. Decreased levels of DA indicated that, N2O increases dopaminergic neuronal activities in the mesocortical projections [midbrain, thalamus and hypothalamus] as well as the medullary network. The euphoric properties of nitrous oxide may be an indication of activation of mesocortical dopaminergic projection, while the increased incidence of emesis may indicate activation of medullary dopaminergic system. The observed plateau of the dopamine effect within the two hours of exposure could reflect the development of an acute tolerance to nitrous oxide. The effect of N2O on the liver function enzymes was studied as well as to investigate whether it has a hepatotoxic effect. Both enzymes tested, ALAT and ASAT, showed no significant difference from control

Studies on ras cheese ripening with enzymes addition. 1. Preparation of lipase and protease from bacteria and its addition to ras cheese slurry

Ten microbiolgical sources were screened for abilites to produce proteolytic and lipolytic activities. Three organisms were selected from them for proteolytic activity and lipolytic activity. Both of them were used to accelerate cheese slurries ripening with concentrations of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 ml / 100 g curd. Slurries were incubated at 37° for 7 days. The best results were obtained when Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus was used for both protease and lipase

new monophasic medium for the histolytica cultivation for the purpose of drug screening

A new monophasic medium for the E. histolytica cultivation was described and compared with other two known media. It was seen that the new medium can be used for the purpose of the drug screening

Effect of the anti-inflammatory drug [oxyphenbutazone] in combination with vitamin C on carbohydrate, proteins, and fat metabolism

The effect of the oxyphenbutazone alone and in combination with vitamin C has been studied on the metabolism of carbohydrate, protein, and fat in albino rats. It was found that, it is better to give the combination for a period not more than 7 successive days to avoid the side effect of the anti-inflammatory drug on the body metabolism