ABSTRACT | PDF

EDITORIAL

Ten

Simanta Talukdar¹, Shyamanta Das², Samrat Singh Bhandari³, Uddip Talukdar⁴, Devyani Borkataki⁵

¹Department of Psychiatry, Gauhati Medical College Hospital, Guwahati, Assam, India, ²Department of Psychiatry, Gauhati Medical College Hospital, Guwahati, Assam, India, ³Department of Psychiatry, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, Gangtok, Sikkim, India, ⁴Department of Psychiatry, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College Hospital, Barpeta, Assam, India, ⁵Editorial Assistant, Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®)

Abstract

An editorial on completion of ten years for the journal.

Keywords: Editorial. Years. Journal.

Correspondence: Dr. Shyamanta Das, MD, 10, CK Agarwalla Road, Ambari, Uzan Bazar, Guwahati-781001, Assam, India. dr.shyamantadas@gmail.com

Received: 15 May 2019

Revised: 2 June 2019

Accepted: 8 June 2019

Epub: 15 June 2019

DOI: 10.5958/2394-2061.2019.00040.5

Greetings from the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®)!

THE YEAR 2010

What engraves a particular year in mind defying the chaos of constantly changing lane of time? There were many significant events on the year 2010 like the other years. Noting the ten most important ones is a topic that deserves debate. Selection would vary across individuals, communities, interests, workspaces, governments, corporations, and countries. Ranging from official opening of the tallest man made structure Burj Khalifa in Dubai to the end of H1N1 pandemic declared by World Health Organisation or triggering of the Arab Spring, there were numerous remarkable occurrences. Here are our picks:[1]

One

The Burj Khalifa is tallest among all of the man-made structures. It was opened officially in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates.[2] Till this year, it has retained its record.

Two

In cricket, Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first batsman to score a double century in one-day international.[3] Till date, a total of ten double centuries have been scored in one-day cricket, eight in men’s and two in women’s.

Three

A functional synthetic genome is created, announced by scientists.[2] It is the first such living cell. A bacterium’s “genetic software” was constructed. Later, it was transplanted into a host cell. The creation is described as the first species having computer as parents.[4]

Four

The world was swept by the football World Cup fever. By hosting the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, South Africa became the first such African nation to do so. Fans from the other side of the globe had sleepless nights to catch up with the actions. Spain was crowned the world champions.[1,5]

Five

“The H1N1 influenza pandemic is over”, declared the World Health Organization (WHO).[2] There was return of worldwide flu activity to typical seasonal patterns. Immunity to the virus was developed by many people. Amidst criticism of WHO exaggerating the pandemic threat under influence from pharmaceutical companies, confirmed 2009 H1N1 deaths reached about 18,500. As many people dying of flu-related causes are not tested, the true number may be much higher.[6]

Six

Delhi of India hosted the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[2] This XIXth edition saw participation form 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies. It was the first time in India and the second time in Asia that the Games were held.[7]

Seven

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo for his struggle for fundamental human rights in China.[1,2]

Eight

Mohamed Bouazizi was a street vendor in Tunisia. He attempted suicide by self-immolation. It triggered the Tunisian Revolution. Later, led to the Arab Spring.[2]

Nine

“Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”; it was a 17-year-old policy. In the United States military, homosexuals were banned from serving openly. President Barack Obama repealed it by signing into law.[3]

The tenth?

Another event of the year 2010, as fleeting and silent as the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings, was the release of the inaugural issue of Dysphrenia. It was an in-house magazine having roots in 7+5=13,[8] turned journal, and later rechristened to OJPAS®.[9]

With the current July-December 2019, Volume 10 Issue 2 of OJPAS®, we have turned ten. We do not know whether we have stirred up a storm, like the fluttering of the butterfly in one part of the world has the potential to stir up a typhoon half-way across the world, according to chaos theory.

It is time to cherish the struggles that strengthened us over the years. It is time to cast light on our achievements. It is also time to introspect, reflect, and envision yet another decade ahead. But, above all, we are just happy to be ten!

Next year, we will be 11. We should comparatively feel happier next year. But, ‘turning ten’ seems to be the happiest! Naturally, the number ten has its unique significance.

THE TEN

In the decimal number system, ten is the base. For denoting numbers, the most common system is the decimal number system. Humans have ten fingers (digits). That is the reason for the choice of ten, it is believed.[10]

A decade is formed by the collection of ten items (mostly ten years). In religion and philosophy, the Ten Commandments constitute a cornerstone of Judaism and Christianity. In Hinduism, Dashaavathar means the appearance of ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu on the earth. There are ten human Gurus in Sikhism.[10]

In sports and games, ten track and field events form a combined event in athletics, called decathlon. In football, the team’s playmaker usually wears the number ten jersey. “Number 10” has become synonym for the player in that specific role, even without wearing that number. The referee counts to ten in boxing before declaring winner by knockout.[10]

In the Rorschach inkblot test, there are ten official inkblots. There are ten different letters in Snellen chart.[10]

THE STAMP?

As mark of celebrating the ten years of OJPAS®, the first and last authors have come up with an innovative design to commemorate the event (Figure 1).

INFLUENTIAL ARTICLES

Here, we are highlighting the influential articles published in the last ten years with highest number of citations (Table 1).[11]

Moreover, the following articles are included in the PubMed (Table 2):[23]

THE WAY AHEAD…

With the upcoming issues of OJPAS®, we are planning to focus on few less explored territories within the purview of LAMIC (low and middle income countries) perspective:

• Engaging with a larger audience beyond the medical faculty by connecting with related fields like social work, rehabilitation, and rights-based civil society organisations, and accepting contribution based on their experiences.
• Acknowledging the differences among communities within LAMIC, based on historical experiences of socioeconomic and cultural discriminations, and addressing the relevant issues through appropriate research.
• Ensuring inclusiveness in covering issues of different individual and collective identities based on ethnicity, language, gender and sexual orientation.
• Exploring intersectional ties in addressing relevant issues in the forms of collaborative studies and workshops.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our gratitude to Team OJPAS® consisting of the editorial and advisory board members as well as the support staff, authors, reviewers, and readers, also the friends and adversaries, for sticking through thick and thin in this ten-year long journey. Let us now together stride ahead in our journey for the next ‘ten’.

Dr. Linda Cottler and the FOGARTY team, “INDO - US TRAINING PROGRAM IN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ACROSS THE LIFESPAN” #D43 TW009120 (SS Bhandari, Fellow)

REFERENCES

1. Rachman G. The five most important events of 2010. In: Financial Times [Internet]. 2010 Dec 31 [cited 2019 May 15]. Available from: https://www.ft.com/content/19e38cac-ddb8-39b1-afe0-0e855f13676d
2. Wikipedia. 2010 [Internet]. 2019 May 15 [cited 2019 May 15]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010
3. On This Day. What happened in 2010 [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2019 May 15]. Available from: https://www.onthisday.com/date/2010
4. BBC NEWS. How scientists made ‘artificial life’ [Internet]. 2010 May 20 [cited 2019 June 2]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8695992.stm
5. China.org.cn. Top 10 world events of 2010 [Internet]. 2010 Dec 27 [cited 2019 May 15]. Available from: http://www.china.org.cn/world/2010-12/27/content_21564940.htm
6. Roos R. WHO says H1N1 pandemic is over [Internet]. In: Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy (CIDRAP). 2010 Aug 10 [cited 2019 Jun 2]. Available From: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2010/08/who-says-h1n1-pandemic-over
7. Wikipedia. 2010 Commonwealth Games [Internet]. 2019 Apr 19 [cited 2019 Jun 2]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Commonwealth_Games
8. Das S, Talukdar S. 7+5=13, Dysphrenia, and OJPAS®. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2018;9:88-91.
9. Das S, Talukdar U. “For the times they are a-changin’”. Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences. 2015;6:3.
10. Wikipedia. 10 [Internet]. 2019 May 13 [cited 2019 May 15]. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10
11. Google Scholar. Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS), Formerly DYSPHRENIA [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2019 May 25]. Available from: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-EBkTpMAAAAJ
12. Kumar D, Kumar P, Singh AR, Bhandari SS. Knowledge and attitude towards mental illness of key informants and general population: a comparative study. Dysphrenia. 2012;3:57-64.
13. Vijayalakshmi P, Ramachandra, Nagarajaiah, Reddemma K, Math SB. Attitude and response of a rural population regarding person with mental illness. Dysphrenia. 2013;4:42-8.
14. Karim N, Ali A, Deuri SP. A comparative study of care burden and social support among caregivers of persons with schizophrenia and epilepsy. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2015;6:132-7.
15. Das D, Talukdar U, Chisty SJS, Das MK, Das S. Serum prolactin level in patients taking olanzapine. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2015;6:50-8.
16. Kumar P, Nehra DK, Verma AN. Subjective well-being and coping among people with schizophrenia and epilepsy. Dysphrenia. 2013;4:25-30.
17. Raj H, Kumar K, Sinha VK, Dogra R. A comparative study on behavioural problems in children of alcohol dependent parents. Dysphrenia. 2012;3:137-43.
18. Nehra DK, Sharma NR, Kumar P, Nehra S. Efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction programme in reducing perceived stress and health complaints in patients with coronary heart disease. Dysphrenia. 2014;5:19-25.
19. Nehra DK, Kumar P, Sharma V, Nehra S. Alexithymia and emotional intelligence among people with cannabis dependence and healthy control: a comparative study. Dysphrenia. 2014;5:49-55.
20. Mukherjee SB, Sahu KK, Sahu S. Stigma: knowledge of college going students about mental illness and reaction towards the persons with mental illness. Dysphrenia. 2014;5:106-13.
21. Hazarika S, Roy D, Talukdar SK. A study of medication nonadherence in schizophrenia. Dysphrenia. 2013;4:123-6.
22. Bhagabati D, Das B, Das S. Pattern of alcohol consumption in underage population in an Indian city. Dysphrenia. 2013;4:36-41.
23. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed.gov [Internet]. “Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci”[jour]. 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD, 20894 USA. 2019 [cited 2019 May 25]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Open+J+Psychiatry+Allied+Sci%22[jour]
24. Bhandari SS, Das S. Policy of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®) related to plagiarism. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2019;10:1-2.
25. Hazarika M, Choudhury P. Reflections on and discussions about ‘Luminous Life: A New Model of Humanistic Psychotherapy’. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2019;10:87-90.
26. Das S, Bhandari SS, Talukdar S, Dutta A, Barman N, Bhagabati D. An exploratory study from eastern India on neurological soft signs and spontaneous movement disorders in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2019;10:3-8.
27. Hazarika M, Bhagabati D. Father and son attachment styles in alcoholic and non-alcoholic families. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2018;9:15-9.
28. Das S, Das B, Hazarika M. Global psychiatry: a LAMIC perspective. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2017;8:105-6.

Talukdar S, Das S, Bhandari SS, Talukdar U, Borkataki D. Ten. Open J Psychiatry Allied Sci. 2019;10:97-100. doi: 10.5958/2394-2061.2019.00040.5. Epub 2019 Jun 15.

Source of support: Nil. Declaration of interest: The authors are editorial board members of the Open Journal of Psychiatry & Allied Sciences (OJPAS®).