Awareness about medico legal aspects and Consumer Protection Act among dentists.

BACKGROUND: The practice of medicine in India has undergone considerable change affecting delivery of health in both positive and negative directions. As a result, there was a growing feeling that medical treatment should be made accountable and this led to doctors and dentists becoming subject to the process of law. Patients have become more aware of their right to compensation and as a consequence doctors and dentists should be knowledgeable about the laws that govern them. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess the awareness about Medico legal aspects and Consumer Protection Act [CPA] among Dental professionals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A self-structured validated questionnaire comprising of 20 questions related to medico legal aspects and CPA was designed. A total of 450 dental professionals were surveyed from 4 prime dental institutions in Chennai, India. Of the 450 professionals that were surveyed 150 were MDS faculty, 150 were BDS faculty and 150 were PG students. The data was subjected to SPSS, version 16 and statistically analysed using Chi square test and Fisher's exact test. A- p value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: BDS faculty, MDS faculty and PG students were found to possess similar level of understanding and there was no significant difference between the groups. Knowledge was found to be equal between male and female dentists. The young practitioners were found to be more informed about CPA than the senior practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that most of the participants were aware of relevant Medico legal aspects, but were less aware of CPA. This study emphasises the need for education relevant to Medico legal aspects and CPA for dental professionals.

Microbial production of poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate by marine microbes isolated from various marine environments.

Considering the industrial interest of Poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), bacteria isolated from the various marine arenas were screened for their ability to accumulate PHB and were compared with Wausteria eutropha (MTCC-1285). Among the 42 isolates, four strains showed the accumulation of PHB. The maximum PHB producer Vibrio sp. (MK4) was further studied in detail. To increase the productivity, steps were taken to evaluate the effect of carbon sources, nitrogen sources, pH and sodium chloride concentration on PHB productivity by MK4. The optimized conditions were further used for the batch fermentation over a period of 72 h. Significantly higher maximum biomass of 9.1g/L with a PHB content of 4.223 g/L was obtained in a laboratory-scale bioreactor at 64 h, thus giving a productivity of 0.065 g/L/h. The extracted polymer was compared with the authentic PHB and was confirmed to be PHB using FTIR analysis and (1)H NMR analysis. Thus, the study highlights the potential of the use of Vibrio sp (MK4) in the commercial production of PHB.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) biodegradation by basidiomycetes fungi, Pseudomonas isolate, and their cocultures: comparative in vivo and in silico approach.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) biodegradation potential of the five basidiomycetes' fungal monocultures and their cocultures was compared with that of a Pseudomonas isolate recovered from oil-spilled soil. As utilization of hydrocarbons by the microorganisms is associated with biosurfactant production, the level of biosurfactant production and its composition by the selected microorganisms was also investigated. The Pseudomonas isolate showed higher ability to degrade three of the five PAHs but the isolate did not produce biosurfactant higher than C. versicolor and P. ostreatus. Among the PAHs, the most effective biodegradation of PAH--pyrene (42%)--was obtained with the fungus C. versicolor. Cocultures involving the fungi and Pseudomonas could not significantly degrade the selected PAHs compounds above that degraded by the most efficient monoculture. A slight increase in pyrene degradation was observed in cocultures of C. versicolor and F. palustris (93.7% pyrene). The crude biosurfactant was biochemically characterized as a multicomponent surfactant consisting of protein and polysaccharides. The PAH biodegradation potential of the basidiomycetes fungi positively correlated with their potential to express ligninolytic enzymes such as lignin peroxidase (Lip), manganese peroxidase (Mnp), and laccase. The present study utilized in silico method such as protein-ligand docking using the FRED in Open Eye software as a tool to assess the level of ligninolytic enzymes and PAHs interactions. The in silico analysis using FRED revealed that of the five PAHs, maximum interaction occurred between pyrene and all the three ligninolytic enzymes. The results of the in silico analysis corroborated with our experimental results showing that pyrene was degraded to the maximum extent by species such as C. versicolor and P. ostreatus.

Triplet repeat polymorphism & fragile X syndrome in the Indian context.

Mental retardation due to fragile X syndrome is one of the genetic disorders caused by triplet repeat expansion. CGG repeat involved in this disease is known to exhibit polymorphism even among normal individuals. Here we describe the development of suitable probes for detection of polymorphism in CGG repeat at FMR1 locus as well as the diagnosis of fragile X syndrome. Using these methods polymorphism at the FMR1 locus has been examined in 161 individuals. Ninety eight patients with unclassified mental retardation were examined, of whom 7 were found to have the expanded (CGG) allele at the FMR1 locus. The hybridization pattern for two patients has been presented as representative data.