Impact of Academic Resilience on the Scholastic Performance of High School Students

Background and Objectives: The research aimed at studying Marital Adjustment and Marital Satisfactionin participants experiencing high workplace stress and low workplace stress residing in Mumbai. The samplesize consisted of 120 working females i.e. 60 participants experiencing high workplace stress and 60participants experiencing low workplace stress.Methods: The Convenience and Snowball non-probability sampling method was used to collect data inperson and online through google forms. The tools employed were Marital Adjustment Test (MAT) givenby Locke, H.J., Wallace, K.M. (1959), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS) given by Hendrick, S.S (1988)and Workplace Stress Scale (WSS) given by Harris Interactive, Marlin Company, North Haven and TheAmerican Institute of Stress (2006).Results: Descriptive statistics was used to calculate statistical properties and age of the participants. To findthe difference between two groups WSS (High and Low), independent t-test was used to find the significancelevel. The t value obtained for MAT was -.760 and RAS was -1.763 with degree of freedom 118. The resultsobtained were found to be insignificant.Conclusion: The findings indicate that the workplace stress category of females had no effect on maritaladjustment as well as on marital satisfaction. However, despite supporting past studies, it was found thatthere was no significant relationship between the levels of workplace stress and marital adjustment andmarital satisfaction.

Formulation development and characterization of fast dissolving tablets of oxcarbazepine.

The objective of this study was formulation development and evaluation of Oxcarbazepine Fast Dissolving Tablets (FDTs) prepared by sublimation technique where different sublimating agents like camphor and menthol were used with L-HPC and crospovidone as a superdisintegrants. Oxcarbazepine is an anticonvulsant drug used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. Each sublimating agent was used in concentration of 10-20 mg per tablet. Tablets were first prepared and then kept in hot air oven for sublimation. The prepared FDTs were evaluated for weight variation, thickness, drug content, friability, hardness, wetting time, water absorption ratio, in-vitro dispersion time, in-vitro disintegration time and in-vitro dissolution time. All formulations showed disintegration time ranging from 8 to 332sec. Optimized batch (SA6) was selected for the stability studies. The results of stability studies revealed that there was no remarkable difference in the tested parameters of promising formulation after storage for 3 months at 400 c ± 20 c 75% ± 5%RH and at room temperature 65% ± 5%RH as compared to initial results All the prepared formulae complied with Pharmacopoeia requirements of drug contents.

The relevance of "Nonsmoking-associated lung cancer" in India: A single-centre experience.

Background: Lung cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, accounting for more deaths than any other cancer cause. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical profile and the epidemiological trends in lung cancer patients from a single centre with an emphasis on the smoking practices. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 258 consecutive hospital in-patients with a proven diagnosis of lung cancer at a tertiary care oncology centre between 2003 and 2007. Results: The median age of patients in our study was 56 years; the male to female ratio was approximately 3.5:1. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was the predominant histology in 224 patients; the histology in the remaining 34 patients was small-cell carcinoma. Within NSCLC, the most common histology was adenocarcinoma followed by squamous cell carcinoma. One hundred and two patients were never-smokers as compared to 156 patients who were ever-smokers. Among the smokers, the majority of them were found to be cigarette smokers compared to 28.2% bidi smokers. There was a very significant correlation found with adenocarcinoma among nonsmokers, and with squamous cell carcinoma among the smokers compared to non-smokers. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the epidemiology of lung cancer in India is possibly changing, with close to 40% of our lung cancer patients being nonsmokers. More importantly, our study reflects the global trend of rise in adenocarcinoma histology. These observations need to be substantiated in similar studies of larger magnitude, preferably population-based.

Adult soft-tissue sarcomas of the head and neck.

Background: Head and neck sarcomas are relatively rare tumors, accounting for only about 2% of all head and neck malignancies and for 4 to 10% of all soft tissue sarcomas. The rarity and more over the heterogeneity of these tumors make rigorous study of their clinical behavior difficult. Aims: We analyzed our single center experience of adult soft tissue sarcomas of the head and neck. Settings and Design: Our study included 27 patients of adult soft-tissue sarcomas of the head and neck who presented to our center between January 1996 and December 2005. Materials and Methods: Patient characteristics, clinical features, treatment modalities, clinical course, and long-term outcomes and its determinants were analyzed. Results: Surgery in the form of wide excision aimed at achieving negative margins was the main modality of treatment and adjuvant radiation was used in selected patients. The five-year disease-free survival was 64.5% and overall survival (OS) was 68%. Of the multiple potential factors analyzed, univariate analysis showed grade, margin status, and adjuvant radiation to be the important prognostic factors for the survival. The multivariate analysis however only showed margin status and adjuvant radiation to be prognostic. Conclusions: Surgery with negative margins is a key to long-term survival. Complete resection with adjuvant radiation in selected cases potentially decreases local recurrences and improves OS.

Comparison of pyrazinamide drug susceptibility of m.tuberculosis by radiometric bactec and enzymatic pyrazinamidase assay.

The aim of this study was to perform pyrazinamide (PZA) susceptibility testing of M.tuberculosis by enzymatic PZA assay and compare the results with radiometric BACTEC 460 TB system and LJ proportion method. One hundred and thirty clinical isolates of M.tuberculosis were included in the study. Of the 130 clinical isolates tested, five were resistant and 124 were sensitive by both methods thus giving overall sensitivity and specificity of 83.33% and 100% respectively. Concordance was found in 129 out of 130 strains tested by all three methods. Pyrazinamidase assay can be used as an alternative to BACTEC and LJ proportion method.

Rapid detection of rifampicin resistance in m.tuberculosis by phage assay.

Increase in multidrug-resistant M.tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has become a great cause of concern and rifampicin resistance is considered to be a good predictor of MDR-TB in many parts of the world. Its rapid detection will allow alteration in treatment regimens in time to reduce the spread of the disease. Detection of rifampicin resistance by phage assay is a useful tool as mycobacteriophages are specific for M.tuberculosis complex and detect viable cells only. In our study, we analyzed 85 samples for rifampicin resistance using a novel mycobacteriophage based test (Phage assay) and radiometric BACTEC 460 TB. Of the 85 samples, 70 (82.35%) were resistant and 12 (14.10%) were sensitive by both methods. Our study yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 80% respectively. A good correlation was observed with conventional LJ proportion method. We conclude that phage assay allows determination of rifampicin resistance within 48 hours from culture, reducing the time taken to define susceptibility results by BACTEC 460 TB and LJ proportion method (5-7 days and 6-8 weeks respectively).

Conformations of hydrophobic peptides in trifluoroethanol, water and in solid state: a circular dichroism and Fourier Transform Infrared study.

The conformations of peptides corresponding to KLLIALVLCFLPLAALG have been examined in trifluoroethanol (TFE), aqueous medium by circular dichroism spectroscopy and in the solid state by Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy (FTIR). The 17-residue parent peptide and peptides corresponding to shorter segments LVLCFLPLAALG and CFLPLAALG showed preference for helical conformation in TFE. Even the shorter hydrophobic peptides corresponding to KLLIA and LVL showed propensity for beta-turn conformations in TFE. However, peptides corresponding to the relatively polar segment FLPLAALG were unordered in TFE. In water, peptides that showed ordered conformation in TFE preferred beta-conformation. In solid-state, FTIR spectra indicated that the hydrophobic peptides adopt beta-structures with extensive hydrogen bonded network in the solid-state. The hydrophobic core segment thus appears to dictate the conformational propensity of the peptide.

Effect of bezafibrate & nicotinic acid on triton induced hyperlipidemias in CFY rats.

The two mechanisms of action of bezafibrate and nicotinic acid and their combination were evaluated in normal rats and triton treated rats. Bezafibrate was effective hypolipidemic agent in normal rats, but addition of nicotinic acid has certainly improved the effectiveness further which could be of clinical significance. In triton treated rats bezafibrate and nicotinic acid used individually and together had prophylactic hypolipidemic action. However, in their therapeutic effectiveness, bezafibrate reduced triglycerides (65.4%) and nicotinic acid, cholesterol (39.3%). But when treated together they showed marked acceleration in the removal of cholesterol as well as triglycerides. It is therefore concluded that a combination of bezafibrate and nicotinic acid may be beneficial in the treatment of hyperlipoproteinemias, both prophylactically and therapeutically.

Pre-clinical toxicity of IDPH-791: a new centrally acting muscle relaxant in rats.

IDPH-791, a novel centrally acting muscle relaxant, in doses up to 500 mg/kg (po) for 14 days did not result in any appreciable adverse effect on body weight gain, food or water consumption including biochemical and haematologica parameters in rats. Variations observed in the biochemistry and haematology were either comparable to controls or were within normal limits.