A study on awareness regarding universal precautions among medical students of tertiary teaching hospital, Bengaluru

Background: Health care staffs are at increased risk of acquiring various infection as they are exposed to infectious agents at their workplace hence having awareness regarding Universal precautions help them protect themselves and provide better health care services. Methods: Descriptive study was conducted on 220 medical students of 5th, 7th and 8th term for a period of 2 months. Medical students were selected based on probability proportional to size sampling method. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview the study subjects Results: Assessment regarding awareness on Universal Precautions among Medical students was done by administering questionnaire on Universal Precautions. Awareness on Hand hygiene among medical students was 92% (195/220). 98.1% (208/220) of them had awareness regarding gloves usage, 45.6% (124/220) of them were unaware about safe needle practices. Conclusions: Medical students lack awareness regarding safe needle practices. They were aware of other aspects such as hand hygiene and gloves usage.

Pyrimidinethione derivatives with tosyl substitution: Synthesis, and antimicrobial property investigation.

Substitution of tosyl group on hydroxyacetophenones orhydroxybenzaldehyde and their subsequent condensation yielded several tosyloxy substituted chalcones which were derivatized to obtain the corresponding pyrimidinethione derivatives. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques like FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectrometry. These compounds were subjected to initial screening for their bioactivity using zone of inhibition method and were found moderately active against the tested microorganisms, viz. Mycobacterium smegmatis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans.

Management of an Epileptic Patient with Intellectual Disability: A Case Report and Clinical Guidelines.

Abstracts: Background: People with epilepsy have compromised livelihood due to the effect of disease and medications on the quality of life. Patients with accompanied intellectual disability have further difficulty to cope up in daily chores. Article highlights holistic management of patient having complex partial seizure with intellectual disability. Control of seizures along with the Psychological therapy was done to ameliorate standard of life. Management of patient consisted of history, oral prophylaxis, patient-parent counselling followed by non pharmacological treatment consisting of cognitive behaviour therapy, promotive autonomy therapy and promotive creativity therapy. She was coached in special school for physiotherapy, speech therapy, music therapy, yoga therapy and special education techniques. Team work between dentist, teachers and psychotherapists gave better accordance with each subsequent appointment. Apart from just teeth oriented approach one should focus on overall care. Timely referral to physician should be done for physical and mental ailments. The article also gives brief clinical guidelines on dental problems and there treatment in such patients along with seizure control of epileptic patients and behaviour management of patients with mental impairment.

Association of recurrent aphthous ulcers with stress among students in an Indian Dental Institution.

Background: Recurrent aphthous ulcers are painful oral lesions with no proven effective treatment. A definitive cause of these ulcerations still remains elusive. It is believed that psychological stress may be a significant contributor. Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine whether there was any significant association of Recurrentaphthous ulcers with episodes of stress by determining the prevalence of ulcers and levels of stress tolerance among dental students. Materials and methods: A cross sectional survey was carried out on 341 students of Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal, India by distributing questionnaires. The questionnaire had two sections, the first part dealt with ulcers and the later part comprised of a perceived stress scale. The data collected was analyzed with Independent sample t test and ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test using the SPSS 16 version software. Results: Prevalence of ulcer was found to be 66.9%. Comparison of mean stress scores between the ‘ulcer-experienced’ and ulcer-free groups showed no difference. Assessment of stress among undergraduates, interns and post graduates who had reported ulcer experience revealed that interns were able to handle the stressful situations significantly better than under graduates and post graduates. Conclusion: The present study did not show any association between episodes of ulcers and stressful events.

Prevalence of tooth wear in patients attending the department of periodontics, Manipal college of dental sciences, Manipal.

Background: Tooth wear is a condition that encompasses attrition, abrasion and erosion and has a multifactorial etiology. Prevalence of tooth wear is reported to be between 5-50%.This wide range probably reflects the various parameters used in assessing of tooth wear and the difficulty in differentiating between the types of tooth wear. Diagnosing tooth wear and eliciting the etiological factors can help in the prevention and treatment of the condition. Aim and objective: To record the prevalence of tooth wear among the patients attending the Department of Periodontics, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal over a period of 3 months. Materials and methods: Patients attending the Department of Periodontics over a three month period were examined. Patient history was taken according to the proforma shown. All teeth were examined and indexed according to Tooth Wear Index given by Smith and Knight (1984)16.All patients with 20 teeth and above in their dentition were included in the study. Results: In the present study the prevalence of tooth wear was found to be 6.1% and that it was seen more among males and increased with age. Mandibular canines were the most commonly affected teeth and incisal and occlusal surfaces of the teeth being commonly affected.

Lung function changes in young obese women – A harbinger for graver outcomes.

Obesity is a global health hazard. As standards of living are continuing to rise, weight gain and obesity are posing a growing threat to health in countries all over the world. These obese individuals are at increased risk of morbidity and mortality because of its relationship with various metabolic disorders. It is also known to cause alterations in pulmonary functions, so the present study was planned to assess the effect of obesity on pulmonary function tests in young adult females of 18 to 25 years. Based on body mass index (BMI) participants were divided in to two groups. Both groups were age and physical activity matched. Pulmonary function tests were recorded using computerized spirometry. Results when analyzed statistically using students “t” test showed that there was a significant decrease in expiratory reserve volume in obese individuals compared to controls. Other tests were not significant. This result shows that obesity has an impact on respiratory functions even in younger age group hence we have to safeguard against the hazards of obesity by taking corrective steps through our health programs.

Allele, genotype, and composite genotype effects of IL-1A +4845 and IL-1B +3954 polymorphisms for chronic periodontitis in an Indian population.

Introduction: The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a key modulator of host responses to microbial infection and a major modulator of extracellular matrix catabolism and bone resorption, and polymorphisms in the IL-1 gene cluster have been associated with an increased risk of developing severe adult periodontitis. A case control study was performed to determine the role of IL-1A+4845 and IL-1B+3954 polymorphisms in the predisposition to chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted with 103 unrelated participants recruited from Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal, which included 51 chronic periodontitis patients and 52 normal periodontally healthy individuals. Extensive clinical data were collected, bone loss was the major outcome variable and smokers and diabetics were excluded from the study to eliminate the influence of these risk factors. Genomic DNA was isolated from the blood samples of participants for genotyping IL-1A+4845 and IL-1B+3954 polymorphisms by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and the data statistically analyzed. Results: Allele 2 of the IL-1A+4845 polymorphism was carried by 38% of all participants; of these only 6 were homozygous for the allele. Allele 2 of the IL-1B+3954 was carried by 21% of the subjects; only 1 was homozygous for allele 2. The composite genotype was carried by 31% of the cases and by 38% of the controls. Overall, 35% participants carried the composite IL-1 genotype. No statistically significant association was found for the distributions. Conclusions: The distribution of the IL-1 positive composite genotype is in concordance with the frequencies reported in the Caucasians. Association was not found for the effect of allele, genotype, composite genotype, and haplotypes of IL-1A+4845 and IL-1B+3954 polymorphisms with periodontitis. Its utility as a risk marker in this population was not borne out by the study.

SSR and AFLP based genetic diversity of soybean germplasm differing in photoperiod sensitivity

Forty-four soybean genotypes with different photoperiod response were selected after screening of 1000 soybean accessions under artificial condition and were profiled using 40 SSR and 5 AFLP primer pairs. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) for SSR and AFLP marker systems was 0.507 and 0.120, respectively. Clustering of genotypes was done using UPGMA method for SSR and AFLP and correlation was 0.337 and 0.504, respectively. Mantel's correlation coefficients between Jaccard's similarity coefficient and the cophenetic values were fairly high in both the marker systems (SSR = 0.924; AFLP = 0.958) indicating very good fit for the clustering pattern. UPGMA based cluster analysis classified soybean genotypes into four major groups with fairly moderate bootstrap support. These major clusters corresponded with the photoperiod response and place of origin. The results indicate that the photoperiod insensitive genotypes, 11/2/1939 (EC 325097) and MACS 330 would be better choice for broadening the genetic base of soybean for this trait.

A simple broth-disk method to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of ceftriaxone on Salmonella enterica serovar typhi and paratyphi.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Resistance to fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins is a major problem with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Paratyphi. An accurate determination of antibiotic susceptibility requires tests for minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics. We describe a simple broth-disk method to determine the MIC of ceftriaxone on S. typhi and S. paratyphi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen strains of S. typhi and two strains each of S. paratyphi A and S. paratyphi B were used in the study. The MIC of ceftriaxone was determined using the simple broth-disk method and the conventional broth macrodilution method and the results were compared. RESULTS: All salmonella strains were susceptible to ceftriaxone. The results of the broth-disk and the conventional broth macrodilution method were similar. CONCLUSION: The broth-disk method is a simple, reliable and cost-effective method to determine the MIC of ceftriaxone on S. typhi and S. paratyphi A.

Toothbrush selection: a dilemma?

The toothbrush is a fundamental tool used for accomplishing plaque control. Various types of toothbrushes available in the market keep the buyer in a state of dilemma as to which one to choose, due to lack of information about the "quality" of it. This study has been designed to understand whether all the products available in the market adhere to the specifications laid down by the ADA, which is universally accepted in standardization of a tooth brush. 95% of the brushes surveyed contain less number of bristles per tuft than specified and a large percentage deviate from the standard prescribed value for their bristle diameter and other dimensions. Few brushes labeled as "Soft" were "Medium" and labeled "Medium" were "Hard". The study will bring to light the quality of toothbrushes available in India for a rationalised selection of appropriate toothbrush by the community at large.

Microbial contamination of "in use" bar soap in dental clinics.

Bar soap from 18 different dental clinics were investigated for microbial contamination, while it was "in-use". Of the 32 samples obtained from the bar soap, 100% yielded positive culture. A total of 8 different genera of organisms were isolated. Each bar soap was found to harbor 2-5 different genera of micro organisms. Heavily used soap had more micro organisms compared to less used soap. The microbial load of the "in-use" bar soap constituted a mixed flora of gram positive, gram negative, aerobes, anaerobes, and fungi. The results indicate that the bar soap under "in-use" condition is a reservoir of microorganisms and handwashing with such a soap may lead to spread of infection.