Assessment of Biological Risk among Dentists during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The health and life of a healthcare worker are repeatedly under threat due to the rising number of epidemics and pandemics. The COVID?19 pandemic is said to be fatal in people with a risky biological, demographic profile and working environment. This study is the first of its kind carried out on the dentist population from India, who were most affected during the COVID?19 pandemic. Aims and Objective: The present study aims to assess the biological risk of dentists based on the objective risk stratification (ORS) tool developed by Strain et al. Materials and Methods: This was a cross?sectional study of dentists in government dental colleges of Kerala using the online form of the ORS tool consisting of questions which included certain demographic characteristics and comorbid conditions of the individual. An additional question was added to the tool, to categorise the work of the dentist depending on the exposure to aerosol (non?aerosol, minimal aerosol and aerosol). Results: Out of the 74 dentists, 48.6% reported high aerosol and 31% with minimal aerosol. The median score of the study participants was 2 (ranging from 1 to 12). Using the ORS tool, 16.2% had medium risk and only 2.7% had high risk. When the ORS tool was stratified with the aerosol generation, 5.4% had minimal and 6.7% had significant with medium?risk scores. Also, 2.7% with a high?risk score had minimal aerosol generation. Conclusion: Identifying the high?risk category to allocate duties accordingly and decrease the morbidity and mortality among dentists has to be kept a top priority in the event of a pandemic.

Carotid Artery Stenting and Its Impact on Cognitive Function: A Prospective Observational Study / 신경중재치료의학

Purpose@#Carotid artery stenting (CAS) has evolved as a first-line therapeutic option for carotid revascularization in indicated patients for stroke prevention, but there is still a lack of data on its effect on cognitive function (CF), especially among Indian patients. To determine the effect of CAS on CF and to study the immediate and delayed complications of CAS in Indian patients. @*Materials and Methods@#This was a prospective, observational, single-center study. CF was assessed using Addenbrooke’s cognitive examination version III (ACE) before and 3 months after stenting. The demographic and clinical parameters were also assessed. A follow-up evaluation after 3 months was done to compare CF and to observe the occurrence of any complications. @*Results@#Out of 31 patients, 3 were lost to follow up. There were no immediate or delayed procedure-related complications. There was a statistically significant improvement in overall ACE score and memory before and after stenting. On subgroup analysis of those with and without strokes, there was a significant improvement in visuospatial function and mean ACE score. Those with left CAS had significant improvement in memory, visuospatial, language, and ACE scores than right CAS. @*Conclusion@#CAS was associated with significant improvement in CF in patients.

Vegetable Granuloma – A Case Report

Introduction: Vegetable granuloma or pulse granulomaresults from the implantation of food particles of plant orvegetable origin and is usually seen in periapical or in sulcusareas. Many authors have postulated that food particleswhich are getting implanted will rapidly get digested, or maysometimes partly get altered by host responses resulting invegetable granuloma or pulse granuloma. The cellulose partof plant food being indigestible may persists in the form ofhyaline material, whereas the starch matter gets digested. Thiscellulose moiety invokes chronic granulomatous response.Case report: 30-year-old female patient was referred from aprivate hospital for a swelling in relation to right side of cheekwhich they had noticed accidently on a radiograph which hadtaken during extraction of her tooth. Intraoral examinationwas negative for swelling, and on palpation a bony hardswelling of size 0.5cm ×0.5cm in relation to anterior border oframus can be located.Radiograph showed a mixed radiopaqueradiolucent lesion with predominant radiopacity of 1cm×1cmnear to external oblique ridge.Histopathology showed thepresence of concentric lamellated amorphous eosinophilicstructure surrounded by fibro cellular connective tissuecapsule.Conclusion: A pulse granuloma is nothing but a reaction ofthe foreign body to any vegetable which is characterized by acollection of the hyaline; pulse granuloma is a well describedentity with distinct histopathology. Occurrence of pulsegranuloma can be well documented if extensive sampling isdone.

Oral manifestion of Langerhans cell histiocytosis mimicking inflammation.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare idiopathic disease characterized by the clonal proliferation of Langerhans cells. LCH affects five children per million population. The peak incidence is from 1 to 4 years of age. LCH involves the head and neck region quite commonly. Oral soft tissue lesions are also common. The differential diagnosis of oral LCH includes leukemia, neutropenia, prepubertal periodontitis, hypophosphatasia, fibrous dysplasia, and Papillon-Lefevre syndrome. The prognosis of LCH depends on early detection and appropriate management. Surgical management alone is used in 50% of cases with an additional 23% of the lesions being treated with both surgery and radiation therapy. A case of LCH in a 6-year-old girl involving the mid root level of developing first permanent molar with a floating developing tooth bud of permanent second molar mimicking an inflammation is reported.

Structural Analysis and Docking of Stilbene Synthase Protein from Chinese Grape Vine Vitis pseudoreticulata.

Aims: The present work aims to perform the molecular modeling of stilbene synthase protein from Chinese grape vine Vitis pseudoreticulata. Place and Duration of Study: The study has been performed in the Department of Biotechnology, GITAM Institute of Technology, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, India for a period of 8 months. Methodology: The sequence of Vitis STS protein was obtained by BLAST search from DFCI web server using Arabidopsis Stilbene synthase sequence. To read the amino acid pattern among these sequences, Multiple Sequence alignment have been performed using clustal W. The secondary and 3D structures were predicted for the protein and the stability of the structures was determined through Ramachandran plot and PROSA analysis. 3D structure obtained using Swiss model workspace was utilized for docking studies. Results: In the multiple sequence alignment except Gossypium and Ipomea remaining sequences were aligning well. The secondary structure of the protein is possessing helices, coils and sheets respectively and most of the protein structure is coiled. The predicted model was subjected to evaluation by PROSA with a Z score of -10.1. Ramachandran plot revealed that the predicted that 96.6% residues were in favoured region, 2.6% were in allowed region and 0.8% were in outlier region proving that the predicted model is acceptable. Docking STS protein with secondary metabolite ligands elucidated that anethole, ascorbic acid and arbutin have good binding affinity. Conclusion: The structural model of Vitis pseudoreticulata stilbene synthase has been determined, and in silico docking studies have elucidated that this protein has docked with some of the essential secondary metabolites like anethole, ascorbic acid and arbutin which might enhance the performance when they enter into a biological system.

Colonization of probiotic bacteria and its impact on ornamental fish Puntius conchonius.

The present study was conducted to assess the establishment and effect of probiotic bacteria such as Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus mesentericus, and Bifidobacterium infantis in the gut of freshwater ornamental fish Puntius conchonius. Postlarvae of 60 days old Puntius conchonius divided in four experimental groups each with three replicates. T1, T2 and T3 groups were fed with Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus mesentericus and Bifidobacterium infantis enriched copepod Thermocyclops decipiens respectively. T0 was the control group (without probiotic treated T.decipiens). The experiment was conducted for 45 days. The initial gut analysis of fish showed significant level of pathogenic bacteria in the gut of fish (p<0.05). Total plate count of initial gut analysis of fish larvae were enumerated as 1.2 x 104 CFU ml-1. The bacteriological study indicated that final gut microflora of post-larvae have decreased level of pathogens. Total plate count of T1, T2, T3 and T0 were reported to be as 1.08x104, 1.06x104, 1.27x104 and 2.1x105 CFU ml -1, respectively. Three experimental groups (T1, T2 and T3) were significantly different from control group (T0) (p<0.05). At the end of the experiment, establishment of probiotics were examined. One week after probiotics administration, gut analysis of fish larvae showed, poor spore formation of Bacillus coagulans (2.3x10³ CFU ml -1), when compared to B. mesentericus (3.2±0.03x10³ CFU ml -1) and Bifidobacterium infantis (3.1x10³ CFU ml -1). The results from the study suggest that the probiotic bacteria significantly established in gut of P. conchonius and significant effects on the pathogenic gut inhabitants of the fish.

Elderly and depression.

It is believed that it is 'normal' for the elderly per sons to become depressed and many cases aren't recognized and thus lead to untold misery for the sufferers and their families. We have found that majority of the clients under study were females belonging to low socio economic status, uneducated and unemployed. Majority of the clients had moderate depression (58%), And about 19% of them had severe depression. The problems related to subjective depressive feelings were investigated through a structured questionnaire surveyed among 100 elderly clients in Udhyava Village of Udupi district. We conclude that there is a significant relationship between family--friend relationships and depressive feelings of aged people.