The title compound, C13H10N2O4, crystallized as the zwitterionic tautomer. As a result, the phenolate C—O− bond [1.296 (2) Å] is shorter than a normal Csp 2—O(H) bond, and the azomethine C=N bond [1.314 (2) Å] is longer than a normal C=N double bond. The mol­ecule is nearly planar, the mean plane of the nitro-substituted benzene ring forming dihedral angles of 9.83 (7) and 8.45 (9)° with the other benzene ring and with the nitro group, respectively. The mol­ecular conformation is stabilized by an intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond. In the crystal, strong O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into double-stranded chains along the b-axis direction. Within the chains there are π–π interactions involving the benzene rings of adjacent molecules [centroid–centroid distance = 3.669 (1) Å]. The chains are linked via C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming R 2 1(6), R 2 1(7) and R 2 2(10) ring motifs.

In the title compound, C19H25NO2, the 3-eth­oxy-2-hy­droxy­benzaldehyde group is almost planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.029 Å). An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond generates an S(6) ring. There are no inter­molecular hydrogen bonds.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C16H17NO2, contains two mol­ecules in which the dihedral angles between the 3-eth­oxy-2-hy­droxy­benzaldehyde and toluidine moieties are 16.87 (8) and 19.93 (6)°. S(6) rings are present in both mol­ecules due to intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. In the crystal, one of the mol­ecules is dimerized with an inversion-generated partner, due to two C—H⋯O inter­actions. This generates an R 2 2(8) loop.

Fetus in fetu is a rare developmental aberration, characterized by encasement of partially developed monozygotic, diamniotic, and monochorionic fetus into the normally developing host. A 4-month-old boy presented with abdominal mass. Radiological investigations gave the suspicion of fetus in fetu. At surgery a fetus enclosed in an amnion like membrane at upper retroperitoneal location was found and excised. The patient is doing well after the operation.

Sweet potato is known to be rich in healthful antioxidants, but the stability of its antioxidant properties under gastrointestinal pH is very much unknown. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the changes in antioxidant properties (total contents of phenolics and flavonoids as well as antioxidant activity) of sweet potato flour (SPF) under simulated gastrointestinal pH conditions. It was found that the yield of SPF crude phenolic extract increased from 0.29 to 3.22 g/100 g SPF upon subjection to gastrointestinal pH conditions (p < 0.05). Also elevated significantly were the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and antioxidant activity of SPF (p < 0.05). In summary, the antioxidant properties of SPF were enhanced under gastrointestinal pH conditions, suggesting that SPF might possess a considerable amount of bound phenolic and other antioxidative compounds. The antioxidant properties of SPF are largely influenced by pH and thus might be enhanced during the in vivo digestive process.

The neuroprotective and antioxidative effects of germinated brown rice (GBR), brown rice (BR) and commercially available γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) against cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells have been investigated. Results show that GBR suppressed H2O2-mediated cytotoxicity and induced G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest in SH-SY5Y cells. Moreover, GBR reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and prevented phosphatidylserine (PS) translocation in SH-SY5Y cells, key features of apoptosis, and subsequent cell death. GBR exhibited better neuroprotective and antioxidative activities as compared to BR and GABA. These results indicate that GBR possesses high antioxidative activities and suppressed cell death in SH-SY5Y cells by blocking the cell cycle re-entry and apoptotic mechanisms. Therefore, GBR could be developed as a value added functional food to prevent neurodegenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress and apoptosis.

Quantitative structure-retention relationships (QSRRs) have successfully been developed for naturally occurring phenolic compounds in a reversed-phase liquid chromatographic (RPLC) system. A total of 1519 descriptors were calculated from the optimized structures of the molecules using MOPAC2009 and DRAGON softwares. The data set of 39 molecules was divided into training and external validation sets. For feature selection and mapping we used step-wise multiple linear regression (SMLR), unsupervised forward selection followed by step-wise multiple linear regression (UFS-SMLR) and artificial neural networks (ANN). Stable and robust models with significant predictive abilities in terms of validation statistics were obtained with negation of any chance correlation. ANN models were found better than remaining two approaches. HNar, IDM, Mp, GATS2v, DISP and 3D-MoRSE (signals 22, 28 and 32) descriptors based on van der Waals volume, electronegativity, mass and polarizability, at atomic level, were found to have significant effects on the retention times. The possible implications of these descriptors in RPLC have been discussed. All the models are proven to be quite able to predict the retention times of phenolic compounds and have shown remarkable validation, robustness, stability and predictive performance.

Background

In recent times the basic understanding, perceptions and CAM use among undergraduate health sciences students have become a topic of interest. This study was aimed to investigate the understanding, perceptions and self-use of CAM among pharmacy students in Malaysia.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 systematically sampled pharmacy students from two private and one public university. A validated, self-administered questionnaire comprised of seven sections was used to gather the data. A systematic sampling was applied to recruit the students. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied using SPSS® version 18.

Results

Overall, the students tend to disagree that complementary therapies (CM) are a threat to public health (mean score = 3.6) and agreed that CMs include ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit (mean score = 4.7). More than half (57.8%) of the participants were currently using CAM while 77.6% had used it previously. Among the current CAM modalities used by the students, CM (21.9%) was found to be the most frequently used CAM followed by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) (21%). Most of the students (74.8%) believed that lack of scientific evidence is one of the most important barriers obstructing them to use CAM. More than half of the students perceived TCM (62.8%) and music therapy (53.8%) to be effective. Majority of them (69.3%) asserted that CAM knowledge is necessary to be a well-rounded professional.

Conclusions

This study reveals a high-percentage of pharmacy students who were using or had previously used at least one type of CAM. Students of higher professional years tend to agree that CMs include ideas and methods from which conventional medicine could benefit.

Inguinal hernia is a frequent surgical condition encountered of pediatric age group. It may get incarcerated and at times strangulated requiring prompt intervention. However if lesion is not treated timely a host of complications may occur. Enteroscrotal fistula is one such rare complication that may follow such discourse. We report a case of 25-days old male neonate who presented with enteroscrotal fistula due to incarcerated right inguinal hernia. Patient was explored through abdomen and the involved part of ileum was resected and ileo-ileal anastomosis performed.

Gastric teratomas are very rare tumours in children. They usually present with a palpable mass in the upper abdomen. We report a case of gastric teratoma in one and half month old male infant who presented with a palpable mass in abdomen, extending from epigastrium to the pelvis. Ultrasound of abdomen revealed a huge mass with solid and cystic components. CT scan delineated calcifications in the mass. The preoperative diagnosis was a teratoma but not specifically gastric one. The mass was excised completely with seromuscular layer of the stomach wall. The histopathology confirmed it to be grade-3 immature gastric teratoma. The rarity of the origin of teratoma in addition to its immature variety prompted us to report the case.

Complete or partial avulsion of common bile duct is a very rare injury following blunt abdominal trauma in children. A 7-year old boy presented to ER following blunt abdominal trauma by a moving motorcycle. X ray abdomen revealed free air under diaphragm and CT scan showed pancreatic contusion injury. At operation anterior wall of common bile duct (CBD) along with a 2mm rim of duodenal tissue on either side of anterior wall of CBD were found avulsed from the duodenum. The avulsed portion of CBD and duodenum were reanastomosed and a tube cholecystostomy performed. The patient had an uneventful recovery.

In the title hydrated mol­ecular salt, 2C7H8NO2 +·SO4 2−·H2O, each cation in the asymmetric unit is stabilized by an intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond. The O atoms of the sulfate ion are disordered over two sets of sites with an occupancy ratio of 0.541 (13):0.459 (13), which possibly optimizes the acceptance of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds from the cations. The crystal structure also features aromatic π–π stacking [centroid–centroid separation = 3.842 (2) Å] and a C—H⋯π inter­action.