Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on online medical education - An online survey of students' perspective.

Introduction: The year 2020 brings in a paradigm shift in medical education with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the government of India initiated the first countrywide lockdown, educational institutions, including medical colleges, have adopted online mode for undergraduate teaching. Medical education is virtually incomplete without appropriate practical exposure. This study was conducted to understand the opinion of the medical students towards online classes as an impact of this pandemic on medical education. Materials and Methods: A descriptive online survey was conducted using a google form among medical undergraduate students from across India. Snowball sampling was used to recruit study participants. The responses were analyzed using numbers and percentages. Continuous variables were expressed as the mean and standard deviation of the mean. Results: The mean age of the 1426 respondents was 20.46 years. The majority of the responses were from Karnataka (412), followed by Odisha (167). While fairly a good number of respondents agreed that online classes provided a conducive environment and independence in learning, a large proportion disagreed or remained neutral in terms of its usefulness. This could be attributed to several reasons, which may be categorized into three important groups: the technical competence of the students, the provision of an enabling environment and the ability of the teachers. Conclusion: Students had varying opinions on online classes, but most emphasized the need for redoing the lessons taught online.

Prevalence of anxiety, stress, and depression among health care and nonhealth-care professionals in India.

BACKGROUND: The psychological impact of anxiety, stress, and depression among health care and nonhealth-care professionals in India contribute significantly to the global burden of mental illness in the world. Impaired mental health and stress influence the efficiency and productivity of work. Long-term professional stress among individuals can lead to chronic illness, increased blood pressure, and many systemic disorders. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of anxiety, stress, and depression among the health care and nonhealth-care professionals in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective survey-based study included 200 study participants (80 nonhealth care and 120 health-care workers) who were asked to submit their feedback and opinion on a questionnaire survey. Depression, stress, and anxiety were scored as per patient health questionnaire-4 and UCLA scale. The reliability of questionnaires was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha (r = 0.90). The statistical analysis was done using the Chi-square test. RESULTS: Higher prevalence ratio of anxiety, depression, and stress was observed among nonhealth care compared to health-care professionals. CONCLUSION: Psychological disturbances were found to be higher among nonmedical when compared to health-care workers or professionals. Thus, psychological counseling is required to manage the stress levels in both health care and nonhealth-care professionals.

Habit-associated salivary pH changes in oral submucous fibrosis: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Salivary pH plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of various oral diseases and conditions. Chewing of areca nut and various tobacco products changes salivary pH. AIM: The aim of the study was to measure the effect of habitual chewing of areca nut and various tobacco products on salivary pH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study included 360 individuals (chewers and nonchewers) of age group between 20 and 30 years who visited the Outpatient Department of Hi-Tech Dental College and Hospital. The patient's salivary pH was measured with the help of a digital pH meter before and after chewing areca nut and various tobacco products. RESULTS: It was observed that, in all the groups of chewers, pH decreased after chewing except in the gutkha and lime chewing group, where pH increased (pH before chewing was 7.43 ± 0.41 and after chewing was 7.51 ± 0.399), the difference was strongly significant (P < 0.001). pH was found to be less in lime and tobacco chewers (6.83 ± 0.33) and more in tobacco, betel nut, and lime chewers (7.50 ± 0.41) in comparison to other groups before chewing; the difference was strongly significant (P < 0.001). In the mean ± standard deviation, increase in pH was found among chewers (7.32 ± 0.49) as compared to nonchewers (6.99 ± 0.14), which is the control group, and the data were statically significant (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: pH is altered in areca nut and various tobacco chewers, rendering the oral mucosa vulnerable to the toxic effects of areca nut and various tobacco products.

Cancer stem cells and field cancerization of head and neck cancer - An update.

Oral cancer results due to multiple genetic alterations that transform the normal cells in the oral cavity into neoplastic cells. These genetic changes in a particular tumor field lead to a rapid expansion of preneoplastic daughter cells producing malignant phenotype but the malignancy results due to such genetic changes occurr over several years. The morphological changes in these transformed cells help in the diagnosis of malignancy. Thus, the early changes at the gene level are present in the population of daughter cells in the organ, which explains the concept of field cancerization. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a group of cells that have the capacity of self-renewal and have the potential to differentiate into other types of tumor cells. This review explains the cellular and genetic basis of field cancerization and the role of cancer stem cells in field cancerization.

Comparison of efficacy of ozonated water, normal saline, and povidone-iodine after surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Surgical extraction of mandibular third molars is an important and one of the most frequently performed operative procedures in dentistry. There are a variety of postoperative complications that may follow this procedure. These include pain, trismus, infection, dry socket, or alveolar osteitis. Numerous techniques have been used for reducing these morbid conditions. These range from flap designs, suture placement, use of various irrigating solutions, etc. AIM: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of three irrigating solutions: Ozonated water, normal saline, and povidone-iodine in reducing postoperative complications following surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 study participants formed the sample size of this study. Study subjects were categorized into three groups: Group I (third molar surgeries using ozonated water), Group II (third molar surgeries with normal saline irrigation), and Group III (third molar surgeries using povidone-iodine irrigation). Parameters studied postoperatively were alveolar osteitis (dry socket), pain, trismus, and infection after a week interval. All data obtained were entered in Microsoft Excel 2007 worksheets and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) as a statistical tool was employed. A P value of < 0.01 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: It was found that ozonated water provided the best statistically proven results with comparison to normal saline and povidone-iodine in reducing the incidence of alveolar osteitis or dry socket and pain. No statistically significant difference was observed in the incidence of trismus and infection rate among three studied groups. CONCLUSION: Ozonated water is the best irrigating solution when compared to normal saline and povidone-iodine in terms of reduction in pain and dry socket after a 1-week duration.

Coexistence of hyperparathyroidism and peripheral giant cell granuloma of the jaw: A rare case report.

Peripheral giant cell granuloma (PGCG) known as "giant cell epulis" is a benign, reactive exophytic gingival lesion that accounts for less than 10% of all gingival lesions. PGCG affects females more than males with middle age predilection. Till now the etiology of PGCG remains unclear but various factors that can cause PGCG include poor oral hygiene, food impaction, following an extraction, dry mouth, hormonal disturbance, and hyperparathyroidism. The reported recurrence rate of the lesion is 5.0%-70.6%. The present case report describes the rare case of PGCG with primary hyperparathyroidism in a male patient with a history of swelling in the mandibular anterior region.

Development of co-culture yeast fermentation for efficient production of biobutanol from rice straw: A useful insight in valorization of agro industrial residues.

Escalating environmental concerns and petroleum demands leads into the present study. In this investigation delignification of rice straw was optimized by NaOH and H2SO4 pretreatment using L16 Taguchi orthogonal array. NaOH pretreatment revealed higher delignification as compared to H2SO4 and; further subjected to separate enzymatic hydrolysis and co-fermentation (SHCF) using RSM as the SHCF demonstrated a maximum glucose and xylose yield of 575 and 205 mg/g. Further, butanol concentration of 4.32 g/L was achieved from 20 g/L of sugar loadings by co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia sp. at 72 h of incubation time which was 79.25% higher as compared to monocultures of Pichia sp. Scale-up experiments with higher sugar loadings (90 g/L) demonstrated a butanol concentration of 13.3 g/L. The release of amino acids in co-culture and monoculture systems demonstrated that the addition of S. cerevisiae promoted the butanol synthesis pathway which led to higher butanol concentration.

Assessment of diagnostic accuracy of a direct digital radiographic-CMOS image with four types of filtered images for the detection of occlusal caries.

BACKGROUND: Digital imaging has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and make quantitative diagnoses. In the recent decades, software for radiographic analysis has been investigated and developed for the detection of lesions and the quantitative assessment of the depth of a caries lesion. In addition, the accuracy of diagnosis may also be enhanced by programs that filter the images. These programs can adjust the brightness and contrast, determine the gray level, invert the shades of gray, and apply pseudocolors. Few studies compared different types of digital images in the diagnosis of changes in the tooth crown. AIM: The main aim of this study was to assess the the diagnostic accuracy of a direct digital radiography (DDR)-CMOS image with four types of filtered images for the detection of occlusal caries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty randomly selected patients' teeth were clinically examined and digitally radiographed. Radiographed images are converted into four filter images with the help of software. Filtered images were then selected for inter- and intraobserver examination and the result was subjected to statistical analysis. CONCLUSION: DDR-CMOS and negative image were found to be more useful in diagnosing occlusal caries.

Goldenhar Syndrome: A rare case report.

Goldenhar Syndrome or oculoauriculovertebral spectrum is a complex syndrome characterized by an association of maxillomandibular hypoplasia, deformity of the ear, ocular dermoid and vertebral anomalies and the most severe form of hemifacial microsomia. Here, we describe a 26-year-old male patient with unilateral hemifacial microsomia, preauricular ear tags, macrosomia on the right side of the face.