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IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the traditional delivery of medical education. Medical education programmes have had to cope with limitations on face-to-face learning, and accelerate the adoption of digital learning. In addition, the pandemic has potential serious implications on the psychological well-being of medical students. We aim to assess the changes in perceptions and experiences of medical students as a consequence of this pandemic.MethodsCross-sectional survey of medical students at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) between March and April 2022 was performed. The survey explored student satisfaction with the current education program, teaching delivery and the impact of COVID-19 on education and student well-being.Results175 medical students participated in the survey. Overall, the majority of students were happy/neutral with their medical education. 93 (53.1%) felt tutorials and problem-based learning (PBL) to be the most effective method of teaching, followed by laboratory and clinical placements in 78 participants (44.6%) and hybrid-learning in 85 participants (48.6%). There was a mixed reaction to the changes in the delivery of education brought about by the pandemic. 67 participants (40.6%) felt happy with the changes, another 64 participants (38.8%) felt neutral, whilst only 34 participants (20.6%) were unhappy. However, most participants felt the pandemic negatively impacted their mental health, with 96 participants (55.8%) reporting negative responses. 58% of participants (n= 102/175) reported utilising the student support services at university campus and 49% (n= 50) were satisfied with their services.ConclusionDigital content and delivery confer the benefit of greater flexibility in learning, the ability to learn at one’s own pace and in a preferred environment, however lacks the advantage of bedside teaching and hands-on training. Our findings reinforce the potential advantages of online learning.

IoT supports a spectrum of applications, each of which has certain specific requirements. For instance, mission critical applications cannot tolerate delay in data transmission however simple monitoring applications are delay tolerant. The lifetime and performance of IoT sensor networks depend on the metric/constraint (ETX, Energy etc.) selected for routing path, data size and quality of service required. The selection of metric /constraint dependent Objective function (OF) in RPL provides a range of solutions for IoT applications. However, state-of-art solutions mainly focus on single metric/constraint resulting in poor performance of protocol. To understand the protocol behavior for different metrics (single and combined) a complete evaluation of RPL over important performance parameters is needed. Researchers have proposed several routing algorithms which are application specific and do not define a generic parent selection process. We require a structured algorithm for Minimum Rank Hysteresis Objective Function (MRHOF) applicable to majority of IoT applications. In this paper we have proposed a generalized algorithm for MRHOF along with routing path cost evaluation which defines the complete parent selection process. Further, comparative analysis of different RPL OFs has been done to identify suitable OF for enhanced RPL performance. Performance evaluation parameters have been extended to PDR, power consumption, hop count, average ETX, Rt metric and inter packet time, for different network size and link quality. Results are obtained using Cooja simulator of Contiki. RPL with combined metric provide 24% higher PDR, 28% lower power consumption and 39% lower inter-packet time as compared to RPL with single metric.

The abundance of Sodium (Na), its low-cost, and low reduction potential provide a lucrative inexpensive, safe, and environmentally benign alternative to Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs). The significant challenges in advancing Sodium Ion Battery (NIB) technologies lies in finding the better electrode materials. Experimental investigations revealed the real potency of Germanium (Ge) as suitable anode materials for NIBs. However, a systematic atomistic study is necessary to understand the fundamental aspects of capacity-voltage correlation, microstructural changes of Ge, as well as diffusion kinetics. We, therefore, performed the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) simulation to investigate the sodiation-desodiation kinetics in Germanium-Sodium system (Na64Ge64). We analyzed the intercalation potential and capacity correlation for intermediate equilibrium structures and compared our data with the experimental results. Effect of sodiation on inter-atomic distances within Na-Ge system is analyzed by means of Pair Correlation Function (PCF). This provides insight into possible microstructural changes taking place during sodiation of amorphous Ge (a-Ge). We further investigated the diffusivity of sodium in a-Ge electrode material and analyzed the volume expansion trend for Na64Ge64 electrode system. Our computational results provide the fundamental insight into the atomic scale and help experimentalists design Ge based NIBs for real-life applications., 5 figures, 21 pages

A new series of N-[4-[N-[4-[5-[4-(benzyloxy)phenyl]-1-(substituted phenyl)-1H-pyrazol-3-yl]phenyl]sulfamoyl]phenyl]acetamide derivatives were synthesized and elucidated by spectral data. All the compounds were subjected to in vitro evaluation for anti-inflammatory (BSA anti-denaturation assay), antioxidant (DPPH radical scavenging assay) and in vivo screening for anti-inflammatory (carrageenan induced rat paw edema inhibition) activities. Selected active compounds were evaluated for ulcerogenic, lipid peroxidation, and LPS induced TNF-α production inhibition potential. The most active compound in the series showed an in vivo anti-inflammatory efficacy of 83.1 % when compared to diclofenac sodium (81.6 %). Evaluation of ulcer index and biochemical estimation for oxidative stress also revealed that this compound was safe on gastric mucosa and did not induce oxidative stress in tissues. When further tested for LPS induced TNF-α production inhibition in mice, it showed a better inhibition (ID50 = 6.23 mg/kg) when compared to standard inhibitor, SB 203580 (ID50 = 28.40 mg/kg). The p38α MAP kinase docking score of this active compound was also found to be better than that of SB 203580.

To describe the profile of periorbital trauma in Indian children less than 10 years of age.Thirty two children with periorbital injuries were evaluated, over a period of 1 year. Demographic features, mechanism and type of injury were noted. Detailed ophthalmic examination and investigations, including X-ray, ultrasonography, and CT scan were done as needed. Patients requiring secondary intervention were followed-up up to 6 months after surgery.Among the 32 children seen, 20 (63%) were males, 25 of 32 (78%) were between 4 and 7 years of age. Fall was the cause of injury in 31% (10/32) and assault in 28% (9/32). Medial canthal injury was the commonest of all periorbital injuries manifesting as lacrimal drainage obstruction and telecanthus. Associated fractures of the naso-orbital bones were present in 7 patients (22%) and ocular injuries were seen in 18 patients (56%). Secondary intervention was performed in 20 patients and lacrimal drainage procedure was the commonest surgery, performed in 15 out of 20 (75%).Periorbital injuries in children not only lead to midfacial deformities and lacrimal drainage obstruction but are associated with significant ocular damage also.

Ptosis surgery is one of the more widely performed surgeries in ophthalmology. Preoperative lagophthalmos, Bell's phenomenon, corneal sensation and dry eye are important factors to be assessed in these cases, which influence the functional and cosmetic results. We herein describe the interesting complication of transient inversion of Bell's phenomenon observed following extensive levator resection performed for congenital ptosis. Three patients are described who underwent levator resection and showed an inversion of the Bell's phenomenon in the postoperative period, with the eye going down instead of up, during eyelid closure. The Bell's phenomenon reverted to normal in all three cases within 2 weeks and there were no corneal complications. The patients were given frequent lubricating eye drops during this period. It is important to look for variations in Bell's phenomenon in all cases of congenital ptosis, especially following levator resection. In cases with a poor or ineffective Bell's phenomenon, it is imperative to keep a close watch on the cornea along with copious lubrication during the early postoperative period.

Of 613 children evaluated in a village in Haryana 94 (15.3%) were observed to have chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM). Fifty eight (61.7%) children had hearing impairment. CSOM contributed to 71.6% of the hearing impaired (58/81). On analysis of association of CSOM with literacy and socio-economic status of mothers, and age, sex, and upper respiratory tract infections (URI) in children positive correlation was observed only with URIs (P