Introduction:  Dental students have to face the additional stress of their studies in addition to the stresses related to dentistry as a profession. Furthermore, increasing stress may result in declining student performance. The aim of the present study was to assess perceived sources of stress amongst dental undergraduate students at a private dental institution in India. Materials and methods:  A modified dental environment stress (DES) questionnaire which consisted of 38 questions was used to assess the levels of stress. Results:  The first major stressor for all the students was examination and grades with a mean score of 2.86 (SD 1.06) followed by full working day, receiving criticism from supervisors about academic or clinical work, amount of cheating in dental faculty, rules and regulations of the faculty and fear of unemployment after graduation. Amongst the six highest stressors in each year, at least three were dental faculty related. There was a significant difference in stress perception between genders with a predilection for males. Twelve of the 38 questionnaire items had significant differences across the year groups including clinical DES items. Conclusion:  The primary sources of stress as perceived by nearly 275 students at one private dental school in India were examinations and grades followed by full working day and receiving criticism from supervisors about academic or clinical work. It appears there is a need for the establishment of student advisors and counsellors combined with a faculty advising system in addition to student‐oriented programmes.

The NH2-terminal peptide of skeletal muscle aactin (SaN peptide), which contains a primary sequence unique to this actin isozyme, was used to prepare an isozyme-specific peptide antibody. SaN peptide was purified from chicken breast muscle actin by preparative reverse-phase HPLC and was coupled to hemocyanin. This complex was used to immunize rabbits in order to elicit actin antibodies specific for the skeletal muscle a-actin isozyme. (1)(2)(3)(4), and these isozymes may account for some of actin's tissue-specific functions. For example, the most prevalent isozymes in higher animals, the a-actins, function in muscle contraction. Three slightly different a-actin isozymes function in skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle (5). In addition, another smooth muscle isozyme, classified as a y-type muscle form, is a minor component of mammalian vascular smooth muscle and a major component of chicken gizzard muscle (5). In contrast, two isoelectric variants, called the nonmuscle (3 and y isozymes, are present in all nonmuscle tissues examined.Immunolocalization and electron microscopy have been utilized to study the distribution of microfilaments in various cell types (for recent reviews, see refs. 6 and 7); however, in no case has the specific localization of any of the six actin isozymes been reported. Similarly, although functional specialization of actin isozymes seems likely, there are no known examples of differences in in vivo function or in distribution of the isozymes. In myoblasts, for example, the nonmuscle isozymes ( and y are present before myogenesis whereas a-actin begins to be synthesized during the differentiation process. The a isozyme makes up most or all of the actin in fully differentiated muscle cells. It is not known whether the three coexistent isozymes copolymerize into filaments, nor is it known whether the a, 3, and y isozymes exhibit different functions or cellular distributions during myogenesis.Extensive amino acid sequence information has been used to identify the actin isozymes and to determine their relationship to one another (5, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Although the actins present in higher vertebrates show >90% overall sequence homology, the NH2-terminal regions are much less homologous. Each isozyme has a unique sequence in the 18 residues of the NH2 terminus (Table 1); in this region, actin isozymes show only 50-80% sequence homology (5). The presence of many carboxylic acids in the NH2 terminus of actin accounts for its low isoelectric point, and variations in the NH2-terminal portion confer characteristic isoelectric points on the various isozymes (5, 10).Recently, several groups have prepared antibodies to selected small peptides which represent parts of larger proteins (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). In these cases, peptides 6-20 amino acids long were chemically synthesized and coupled to carrier proteins for use as immunogens. In many cases the antipeptide antibodies reacted specifically with the protein from which the peptide was derived. The success of any par...

BackgroundSoil-transmitted helminths (STHs) infect over a billion individuals worldwide. In India, 241 million children are estimated to need deworming to avert the negative consequences STH infections can have on child health and development. In February-April 2011, 17 million children in Bihar State were dewormed during a government-led school-based deworming campaign. Prior to programme implementation, a study was conducted to assess STH prevalence in the school-age population to direct the programme. The study also investigated risk factors for STH infections, including caste, literacy, and defecation and hygiene practices, in order to inform the development of complementary interventions.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among children in 20 schools in Bihar. In addition to providing stool samples for identification of STH infections, children completed a short questionnaire detailing their usual defecation and hand-hygiene practices. Risk factors for STH infections were explored.ResultsIn January-February 2011, 1279 school children aged four to seventeen provided stool samples and 1157 children also completed the questionnaire. Overall, 68% of children (10-86% across schools) were infected with one or more soil-transmitted helminth species. The prevalence of ascariasis, hookworm and trichuriasis was 52%, 42% and 5% respectively. The majority of children (95%) practiced open defecation and reported most frequently cleansing hands with soil (61%). Increasing age, lack of maternal literacy and certain castes were independently associated with hookworm infection. Absence of a hand-washing station at the schools was also independently associated with A. lumbricoides infection.ConclusionsSTH prevalence in Bihar is high, and justifies mass deworming in school-aged children. Open defecation is common-place and hands are often cleansed using soil. The findings reported here can be used to help direct messaging appropriate to mothers with low levels of literacy and emphasise the importance of water and sanitation in the control of helminths and other diseases.

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Analogues of a novel class of hybrid 4-anilinoquinoline triazines have been synthesized with the aim of identifying the compounds with improved antimalarial activity preserving the potency of parent drug chloroquine (CQ). All the synthesized molecules were evaluated in vitro for their antimalarial activity against chloroquine-sensitive 3D7 and chloroquine-resistant K1 strains of P. falciparum. Molecules were also screened for their cytotoxicity towards VERO cell line.