ABSTRACT
Background: Numerous investigations have revealed that oral issues are quite common among young Afghans. Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior are the three oral health-related population dimensions that need to be assessed in order to design effective public health awareness programs. Objective: The study's goal was to find out how much health professions' students at Kabul University of Medical Sciences knew about oral health, as well as their attitudes and behaviors toward dental health and oral hygiene routines. Materials and Methods: From September 2022 to December 2022, cross-sectional research was conducted at Kabul University of Medical Sciences. A total of 496 health professions' students (312 females and 184 males) aged 18-25 years old from 5 colleges of health and medical-related disciplines were addressed. All participants were given a thorough questionnaire with 30 amended items modified from Peterson et al and Stenberg et al. Results: 44.5% (n=220) of the participants brushed their teeth twice per day, 41.3% (n=204) once per day, and 9.31% (n=46) more than twice per day, while just 4.7% (n=23) cleaned their teeth less than once per day. Surprisingly, the majority of participants (91% or n=451) were aware of the significance of routine dental visits, and 51.3% (n=252) of participants reported visiting the dentist while they experienced pain. 94% of students were of the opinion that brushing their teeth prevents dental decay. 93% (n=461) of them agreed that using fluoride strengthens teeth, and 96% (n=476) said that sweets are bad for teeth. Conclusion: Oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours are related to an individual's level of education. Female and generally dental professions' participants, rather than other health professions participants, were more likely to be concerned about their oral health than male participants.
ABSTRACT
Efficient and excellent nanoparticles are required for the degradation of organic dyes in photocatalysis. In this study, silver-manganese oxide nanoparticles (Ag-Mn-NPs) were synthesized through a wet chemical precipitation method and characterized as an advanced catalyst that has enhanced photocatalytic activity under sunlight irradiation. The nanoparticles were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, UV-vis light spectra, and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, revealing their spherical and agglomerated form. The EDX spectra confirmed the composition of the nanoparticles, indicating their presence in oxide form. These bimetallic oxide nanoparticles were employed as photocatalysts for the degradation of malachite green (MG) dye under sunlight irradiation in an aqueous medium. The study investigated the effects of various parameters, such as irradiation time, catalyst dosage, recovered catalyst dosage, dye concentration, and pH, on the dye's photodegradation. The results showed that Ag-Mn oxide nanoparticles exhibited high photocatalytic activity, degrading 92% of the dye in 100 min. A longer irradiation time led to increased dye degradation. Moreover, a higher catalyst dosage resulted in a higher dye degradation percentage, with 91% degradation achieved using 0.0017 g of the photocatalyst in 60 min. Increasing the pH of the medium also enhanced the dye degradation, with 99% degradation achieved at pH 10 in 60 min. However, the photodegradation rate decreased with increasing dye concentration. The Ag-Mn oxide nanoparticles demonstrate excellent potential as a reliable visible-light-responsive photocatalyst for the efficient degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater treatment.
