Résumé
Background: With the inclusion of health care services under Consumer Protection Act, a spurt in litigations arising out of breach in medical/dental profession is seen. Thus, it becomes imperative for health professionals today to be aware of such laws. Objective: To assess and compare the awareness about Consumer Protection Act among dentists (dentists in teaching institutions and dentists in private practice.) Material and Methods: A questionnaire survey was carried out on a total of 224 dentists [112 dentists in teaching institutions (DTI)] from Manipal and Mangalore and 112 dentists in private practice (DPP) from Udupi and Mangalore, Karnataka, India]. Statistical Analysis was done using SPSS version 10. Chi- square test was used to compare between the categorical variables (P<0.05). Results: A total of 69.6% of DTI and 76.8% of DPP reported to be aware of Consumer Protection Act but subsequent analysis of responses did not reveal the same. Awareness (> 75%) about rules and regulations of Consumer Protection Act was found to be low in both the dentist group. No difference was seen in awareness based on gender, degree and type of practice (P>0.05). Significantly higher percentage of DPP as compared to DTI (90.7% Vs 69.2% ; P< 0.05) were observed to rely upon regular consent. Conclusion: There is a need to raise the awareness of health professionals about such laws so that their increased professional concern and practice conforms to welfare of patients.
Résumé
Mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) rhizome is used in the manufacture of pickles and other food preparations due to its unique raw mango fl avour. The chloroform extract of mango ginger rhizome was subjected to antibacterial activity-guided purifi cation by repeated silica gel column chromatography to obtain a pure compound. The structure of the isolated compound was deduced by analysing UV, IR, LC-MS and 2D-HMQCT NMR spectral data, and named it as amadaldehyde, a novel compound. It exhibited a wide range of antibacterial activity with potential bactericidal activity against several bacteria. The purifi ed compound also exhibited antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity and platelet aggregation inhibitory activities.