Level of Independence and the Mental Status of the Visually Challenged High School Students in Chennai

Background: The purpose of this study is to measure the number of visually impaired students who are capable of doing and managing their own work and also to evaluate their state of mind due to their impairment. The study is also to bring awareness about the rehabilitation centres and special training on mobility for the children. Objective: To find out the level of independence and the mental status of visually challenged students. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Sixty visually impaired students were included in the study by random sampling method. Male students from class 9th to 12th standard were evaluated. Data relevant to the study are gathered by interview schedule method and questionnaire was designed for the study beforehand. Result: It is evident from the current study that 83.3% of the impaired have not been trained to walk independently. Almost 78.3% of the students are not even aware of the rehabilitation centres. However, about 98.3% of students are independent in grooming and washing & also taking care of their personal work. As per the survey, only 26.6 % of students are feeling isolated, whereas, the balance 73.4% students feel very comfortable while dealing with sighted students. About 96.6% feel very happy and satisfied as they get enough support from their parents.

A Study on Effect of Mobile Phone among College Students in Chennai

Background: Smart phones have become an integral part of our life, especially among the younger population. Due to its overuse, the effects caused by mobile phones and electromagnetic field also show an increasing trend. Hence this study was conducted to assess the ill effects of mobile phone use among the college students in Chennai. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted among college students, Chennai, from May 2019 to June 2019. Males and Females between 17 to 23 years of age were included in the study. A total of 125 students selected by convenient sampling technique were included in the study. The study was conducted using a questionnaire, covering particulars related to mobile phone usage and its ill effects on them. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Results: Proportion of participants with different ill effects includes pimples (18.4%), sleep disturbances (16%), loss of interest in studies (15.2%), fatigue (11.2%), headache (9.6%), restlessness (8.8%), and redness of eye (6.4%), irritability (6.4%), dizziness (4.8%), thumb pain (3.2%) and earache (1.6%). Conclusion: Students needs to be educated regarding the health problems owing to the over usage of mobile phones and large-scale studies are needed to assess the extent of the problem.

Biosimilars: concept, current status, and future perspectives in inflammatory bowel diseases

The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which consist of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, are chronic, incurable immunemediated inflammatory disorders of the intestine. As IBD incidence continues to increase globally and its mortality is low, prevalent cases of IBD are rapidly increasing, thereby leading to a substantial increase in health care costs. Although the introduction of biologic agents for IBD management has revolutionized the armamentarium of IBD therapy, the high cost of this therapy is concerning. With the expirations of patents for existing biologic agents (originals), biosimilars with cheaper costs have been highlighted in the field of IBD. Despite concerns regarding their short- and long-term efficacy, safety, immunogenicity, and interchangeability, increasing evidence via prospective observations and phase III or IV clinical trials, which aim to prove the “biosimilarity” of biosimilars to originals, has partly confirmed their efficacy, safety, and interchangeability. Additionally, although patients and physicians are reluctant to use biosimilars, a positive budget impact has been reported owing to their use in different countries. In the near future, multiple biosimilars with lower costs, and efficacy and safety profile similar to originals, could be used to treat IBD; thus, further consideration and knowledge dissemination are warranted in this new era of biosimilars.

Applications of biologic augmentations in rotator cuff repair / 中国骨伤

Biologic augmentation could promote rotator cuff tendon healing and improve the mechanical properties as well as reduce postoperative adhesion. Biologic augmentations play a vital role in rotator cuff repair and healing. However, most of the studies were performed on animals and clinical outcomes were short-term follow-up. The therapeutic effects should be assessed in multicenter prospective trials.

Use of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Mycobacterium leprae in the slit-skin smears of leprosy patients.

The relevance of bacterial index (BI) for understanding the prognosis of leprosy patients on treatment has been extensively debated, as it does not give a very clear idea of the viability of the bacteria in patients under treatment. Here we used slit-skin smear samples of leprosy patients to test the suitability for studying viability of Mycobacterium leprae using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For this purpose, we recruited 13 multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients (8 lepromatous and 5 borderline lepromatous). Of these, 7 were relapse cases, 3 were under treatment (MB-MDT), 2 were new cases and 1 had completed treatment. We carried out extraction of RNA using Trizol reagent (Life Technologies, UK) from the slit-skin smear samples from these patients. The RNA preparation was then used for the RT-PCR using Mycobacterium leprae-specific primers for the fragment of 16s ribosomal RNA gene. Samples from both the new cases, 4 suspected relapse cases and 1 patient under treatment showed positive RT-PCR results. Other 6 patients whose smear samples did not show any amplification by RT-PCR were on MB-MDT from 8 to 30 months. The usefulness of the technique needs to be validated using mouse footpad technique and also should be more extensively explored for studying the viability of M. leprae, the efficacy of treatment and the presence of other mycobacteria in the slit-skin smear samples.