Procrastination as a Marker of Anxiety Disorder Among College Students: An Institution-Based Cross-Sectional Study From Puducherry, India.

Background and objective Procrastination, which refers to the act of unnecessarily delaying the beginning or completion of an assigned task, is a widespread but often neglected problem among college students. Postponing a task can impair academic performance or lead to stress and poor mental well-being. A knowledge gap exists in understanding the cyclical nature of the relationship between anxiety and procrastination, wherein anxiety leads to procrastination, which in turn exacerbates anxiety. In light of this, we aimed to assess the level of procrastination and anxiety among college students and to correlate the relationship between their procrastination and anxiety status. Methodology A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among 347 graduate students from various disciplines at a tertiary care hospital in Puducherry, India. A convenient sampling technique was employed to recruit the participants, and data were collected using the validated Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students (PASS) and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). Results Our findings showed that about 124 (35.7%) participants reported weekly reading assignments as the most frequently procrastinated task, with a mean score of 3.15 ± 1.02, followed by studying for exams and writing term papers. The most commonly reported reason for procrastination was evaluation anxiety, followed by low self-esteem and perfectionism. A significant number of students (157, 45.2%) had mild anxiety, and 58 (16.7%) students were found to have severe anxiety. A Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.26 (95% CI: 0.16 - 0.36) was observed between the overall procrastination score and HAM-A score, which indicated a weak positive correlation and was statistically significant (p<0.05). Similarly, a weak positive correlation was found between task aversiveness, fear of failure, and anxiety levels. Conclusions Procrastination is positively related to anxiety but the relationship is weak. Understanding and addressing the underlying anxiety or stress can be a key to managing procrastination among college students.

Red Ribbon Club inculcation of positive deviance approach to promote blood donation among undergraduate medical college students.

BACKGROUND: Blood is an essential part of human life and blood donation has become a necessity that every society must take into consideration. Health care professionals have a major responsibility in raising community awareness on blood donation. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to find out the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate medical students on blood donation and to determine the effectiveness of positive deviance (PD) approach. METHODOLOGY: This institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted as a part of World AIDS Days celebration by Red Ribbon club among 414 undergraduate students using convenient sampling technique. A baseline and endline survey were conducted using a pre-structured validated questionnaire. To address the knowledge gap PD approach was used for the students who had voluntarily donated blood, volunteered in providing health education, and shared their experience to their peers. Ethical principals were adhered. RESULTS: The mean age of the students was 20.4 ± 1.2 years. Most respondents had moderate knowledge on blood donation and positivity attitude towards the same. The key finding of our study is that about 45 students (10.9%) have donated blood till now. As a result of PD training session more than half of them volunteered to donate blood in the future. CONCLUSION: This study shows that awareness about blood donation were minimal among the medical students with misconceptions. After PD approach, the willingness was increased from 10% to 66%. Thus, PD approach builds capacity and leadership in volunteers is considered as the best approach for behavior change among their own peers.

Unicystic ameloblastoma - A case series.

Ameloblastoma is a benign, locally aggressive neoplasm that constitutes about 1-3% of the tumors of the jaw. Wide surgical excision with adequate safe margin is the most common treatment of choice. The study aimed to manage cases with unicystic ameloblastoma while preserving the continuity of the mandible (without resection). This article presents a series of cases ranging from 18 to 40 years old patients of both sexes with unicystic ameloblastoma, especially in the mandible showing more male predilection than female. All the cases presented in this article were treated by enucleation and curettage. None of the patients presented post-operative paresthesia. None of the cases went in for resection. Post-operative recovery was uneventful in all the patients. All the patients were followed up for a period of 3.5-5 years. None of the cases reported recurrence at the date of publication.

A family of familial gigantiform cementoma: clinical study.

Background: Familial gigantiform cementoma is an autosomal dominant fibro-cement osseous lesion that causes massive expansion of facial skeleton. Patients with such massive lesions have a compromised quality of life. The main goal of treating such patients is to restore and preserve the jaw as far as possible which would enhance their quality of life. Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the occurrence of gigantiform cementoma which had affected three generations of a family and also to focus on documentation of the clinical course and management. Method: Patients (one family-mother, grandmother, aunt and grandson) who had visited the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tamilnadu Government Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, over a period for their swelling in the maxillofacial region were clinically and radiographically evaluated and histopathologically diagnosed as familial gigantiform cementoma; later, they were surgically managed. Result: It is very rare to document three generations of this disease which had shown varied clinical presentation (asymptomatic slow growth, arrested growth and one case of aggressive growth). Management of these cases varied from observation to aggressive resection. Conclusion: Gigantiform cementoma follows an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance with variable phenotypic expression without gender predilection. These cases require regular observation and intervention if necessary.

White-Eyed Blowout Fracture.

White-eyed blowout fracture is often found in pure orbital floor blowout fracture among pediatric patients. Unlike common orbital blowout fractures with apparent clinical signs, the diagnosis of white-eyed orbital blowout fractures is difficult because of minimal soft-tissue signs. This report describes an early missed-out diagnosis of a white-eyed blowout fracture in a 7-year-old child, due to negligible soft-tissue manifestation.

Abstraction of phenol onto Pseudomonas putida and Cetyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide.

Foam separation, an efficient downstream processing unit operation, was tested as a post-treatment technique for phenol removal after biosorption. The biosorptive foam separation process was carried out in two stages, namely biosorption and foam separation. A minimum run resolution V central composite design with four variables (initial concentration, pH, biosorbent dosage, and time) for biosorption and three variables (liquid pool height, surfactant concentration, and air flow rate) for biosorptive foam separation was applied to optimize the process. The results showed a good fit with the proposed statistical model for removal of phenol (R2 = 0.9500) for biosorption and (R2 =0.9599) for biosorptive foam separation. In addition, the adsorption isotherm and kinetic studies revealed that the biosorption process followed the Langmuir model (R2=0.9544) and Bangham kinetic model (R2=0.9857). The adsorbed chemical species was identified by FTIR spectroscopy. Electrokinetic measurements were carried out to determine the isoelectric point (IEP) of the bacteria. The zeta potential profile of the bacteria appears to be negative throughout the range of pH examined, showing isoelectric point at a pH of 3. The recovery of phenol loaded biomass and final traces of phenol by flotation were found to be 99.95%.

The biochemical composition and nutritional potential of the tribal pulse, Mucuna monosperma DC. ex Wight.

Two germplasms of the tribal pulse, Mucuna monosperma Dc. ex Wight, viz., Thirunelly Reserve Forest, Wynaad District (Kerala) and Siruvani Reserve Forest, Coimbatore District (Tamilnadu), were analysed for proximate composition, total (true) seed proteins, seed protein fractionation, amino acid composition, fatty acids, minerals and anti-nutritional factors. Crude proteins, crude lipids, ash and nitrogen free extractives constituted 23.10%, 4.36%, 3.80%, 61.74%, respectively, in Tamilnadu germplasm; whereas, in Kerala germplasm they constituted 20.13%, 8.99%, 3.60% and 61.69%, respectively. The calorific values of 100 g dry matter of seed material are 408.19 KCal (Kerala) and 378.60 KCal (Tamilnadu) germplasms. Essential amino acids like methionine, cystine, threonine and valine were found to be limiting in the seed proteins of both the germplasms. The fatty acids like lauric acid and palmitic acid are found to be common in both the germplasm seed samples, while linoleic and oleic acids in Kerala germplasm and stearic acid in Tamilnadu germplasm are present. The Tamilnadu germplasm seems to be a rich source of sodium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper and iron; whereas the Kerala germplasm seems to be a rich source of phosphorus. Antinutritional substances like total free phenols, tannins, L-DOPA, trypsin inhibitor activity and phytohaemagglutinating activity also were investigated.