A bibliometric analysis of malaria research in India during 1998–2009.

Objective: This study analyses the research output of India in malaria research in national and global context, as reflected in its publications output during 1998–2009. Methods: SCOPUS Citation database has been used to retrieve the publication data, which has been further analysed on several parameters including its growth, rank and global publications share, citation impact, overall share of international collaborative papers and share of major collaborative partners and patterns of research communication in most productive journals. The publications output, impact and collaborative publication share of India is also compared with South Africa, Brazil and China. Results: Indian scientists together have published 2786 papers in malaria research during 1998–2009 and registered an average citation per paper of 3.49. The country ranks 4th among the top 20 most productive countries in malaria research with its global publications share of 6.47% during 1998–2009. Conclusion: Quantum of Indian research output in malaria research is high but its citations per paper is low compared to select developing countries, which can be improved by investing more funds in international and national collaborative research projects, as well as increasing the participation of researchers in such projects.

Effects of Fexofenadine, Cetirizine and Diphenhydramine on Psychomotor Performance in Adult Healthy Volunteer

The present study was conducted to assess and compare the cognitive and psychomotor effects of fexofenadine, a newer second generation antihistamine with cetirizine, diphenhydramine and placebo in 10 healthy adult volunteers in a double blind, randomized cross over study. Following single dose of each drug, the volunteers were subjected to perform a series of tests of cognitive and psychomotor performance at 1, 3 and 6 hours post dose. The test battery consisted of both subjective and objective tests which were further grouped into instrumental and non-instrumental. Instrumental tests included – Simple reaction time (SRT), Multiple Choice ReactionTime Task (MCRT) and Critical Flicker Fusion frequency threshold (CFFT). The tests used in the non instrumental group were- Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS), Digit Cancellation Task (DCT), Digit Symbol Substitution Task (DSST) and mental arithmetic tests. Fexofenadine at doses of 120 mg was not significantly different from placebo in any of the tests used. However, as expected for a verum, all the measures were significantly disrupted by diphenhydramine 25 mg upto 6 hours post dose. Cetirizine 10 mg has produced significant subjective somnolence at 3 & 6 hours post dose but without any impairment of objective tests. These results allow the conclusion that fexofenadine at its recommended therapeutic dose of 120 mg is free from impairment effects on aspects of psychomotor function and hence can be used safely. Cetirizine is mildly sedating though it did not impair any of the objective psychometric tests.