Oral Health Practice, Incidence of Dental Caries, and Plaque Index of Visually Impaired Students: A Basis for the Development of Oral Hygiene Braille Manual: a Basis for the Development of Oral hygiene Braille Manual

Oral health is an integral part of a person’s holistic health but it still an alarming health concernin the Philippines. This research focused on visually impaired students. Blind patients have ahigher prevalence of dental caries because they cannot envision the plaque and caries in theiroral cavity and would often struggle to obtain dental care due to their increased anxiety.This is a cross-sectional observational study that aimed to produce an oral hygiene braillemanual based on the extent of oral health practice, incidence of dental caries, and plaque indexof the visually impaired students in a local school that caters for visually impaired. Thequestionnaire form has 3 parts: (1) consent form (2) demographic questions: sight impairment,primary care giver’s income, age, gender (3) and questions concerning their oral hygienepractice. Results were correlated with the student’s caries and plaque using the following index: Decayed Missing Filled Teeth(DMFT)/Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) .Seventeen (17) students participated in the study, ranging from grade levels 1-10 and agesfrom 8-21 years old. Eight (8) out of seventeen (17) participants have low-vision while the restare totally blind. The participants’ monthly family income ranges from below 10,000-20,000php. All correlations were statistically non-significant. But since Oral health practices,plaque index, and caries incidence were fair there is a need for prevention to aim for good oralhealth practice hence, the creation of a manual focused on preventive dentistryThis pilot research had limitations that might have lead to the non-significant results of thestudy such as: limited sample size, Hawthorne effect and limitation of index used. Therefore,the author recommends future researchers to improve the survey questionnaires and use a moreaccurate index to a larger sample size

Integrating complementary methods to improve diet analysis in fishery‐targeted species

Developing efficient, reliable, cost‐effective ways to identify diet is required to understand trophic ecology in complex ecosystems and improve food web models. A combination of techniques, each varying in their ability to provide robust, spatially and temporally explicit information can be applied to clarify diet data for ecological research. This study applied an integrative analysis of a fishery‐targeted species group—Plectropomus spp. in the central Great Barrier Reef, Australia, by comparing three diet‐identification approaches. Visual stomach content analysis provided poor identification with ~14% of stomachs sampled resulting in identification to family or lower. A molecular approach was successful with prey from ~80% of stomachs identified to genus or species, often with several unique prey in a stomach. Stable isotope mixing models utilizing experimentally derived assimilation data, identified similar prey as the molecular technique but at broader temporal scales, particularly when prior diet information was incorporated. Overall, Caesionidae and Pomacentridae were the most abundant prey families (>50% prey contribution) for all Plectropomus spp., highlighting the importance of planktivorous prey. Less abundant prey categories differed among species/color phases indicating possible niche segregation. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the extent of taxonomic resolution provided by molecular techniques, and, like other studies, illustrates that temporal investigations of dietary patterns are more accessible in combination with stable isotopes. The consumption of mainly planktivorous prey within this species group has important implications within coral reef food webs and provides cautionary information regarding the effects that changing resources could have in reef ecosystems

Integrating complementary methods to improve diet analysis in fishery-targeted species

Developing efficient, reliable, cost-effective ways to identify diet is required to understand trophic ecology in complex ecosystems and improve food web models. A combination of techniques, each varying in their ability to provide robust, spatially and temporally explicit information can be applied to clarify diet data for ecological research. This study applied an integrative analysis of a fishery-targeted species group—Plectropomus spp. in the central Great Barrier Reef, Australia, by comparing three diet-identification approaches. Visual stomach content analysis provided poor identification with ~14% of stomachs sampled resulting in identification to family or lower. A molecular approach was successful with prey from ~80% of stomachs identified to genus or species, often with several unique prey in a stomach. Stable isotope mixing models utilizing experimentally derived assimilation data, identified similar prey as the molecular technique but at broader temporal scales, particularly when prior diet information was incorporated. Overall, Caesionidae and Pomacentridae were the most abundant prey families (\u3e50% prey contribution) for all Plectropomus spp., highlighting the importance of planktivorous prey. Less abundant prey categories differed among species/color phases indicating possible niche segregation. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the extent of taxonomic resolution provided by molecular techniques, and, like other studies, illustrates that temporal investigations of dietary patterns are more accessible in combination with stable isotopes. The consumption of mainly planktivorous prey within this species group has important implications within coral reef food webs and provides cautionary information regarding the effects that changing resources could have in reef ecosystems

Nitroglycerin for treatment of retained placenta: a randomized, placebo-controlled, multicentre double blind trial in the UK

Funding: The GOT-IT trial was funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR; https://www.nihr.ac.uk) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Program in response to a specific commissioned grant call (Project number 12/29/01). The following co-authors were grant holders: FCD, GM, MP, JB, GS, JL, JN and JEN. The funders played no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. This work was undertaken in the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health which is funded by MRC Centre grant (MRC G1002033). Data Availability: The GOT-IT Trial contains a centrally-managed cross centre dataset which is available, upon request, from the Digital Curation Centre within the University of Edinburgh. Data requests can be made at [email protected] reviewedPublisher PD

Glyceryl trinitrate to reduce the need for manual removal of retained placenta following vaginal delivery:the GOT-IT RCT

Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 23, No. 70. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Genomic acquisition of a capsular polysaccharide virulence cluster by non-pathogenic Burkholderia isolates.

BACKGROUND: Burkholderia thailandensis is a non-pathogenic environmental saprophyte closely related to Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of the often fatal animal and human disease melioidosis. To study B. thailandensis genomic variation, we profiled 50 isolates using a pan-genome microarray comprising genomic elements from 28 Burkholderia strains and species. RESULTS: Of 39 genomic regions variably present across the B. thailandensis strains, 13 regions corresponded to known genomic islands, while 26 regions were novel. Variant B. thailandensis isolates exhibited isolated acquisition of a capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis gene cluster (B. pseudomallei-like capsular polysaccharide) closely resembling a similar cluster in B. pseudomallei that is essential for virulence in mammals; presence of this cluster was confirmed by whole genome sequencing of a representative variant strain (B. thailandensis E555). Both whole-genome microarray and multi-locus sequence typing analysis revealed that the variant strains formed part of a phylogenetic subgroup distinct from the ancestral B. thailandensis population and were associated with atypical isolation sources when compared to the majority of previously described B. thailandensis strains. In functional assays, B. thailandensis E555 exhibited several B. pseudomallei-like phenotypes, including colony wrinkling, resistance to human complement binding, and intracellular macrophage survival. However, in murine infection assays, B. thailandensis E555 did not exhibit enhanced virulence relative to other B. thailandensis strains, suggesting that additional factors are required to successfully colonize and infect mammals. CONCLUSIONS: The discovery of such novel variant strains demonstrates how unbiased genomic surveys of non-pathogenic isolates can reveal insights into the development and emergence of new pathogenic species.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

The Core and Accessory Genomes of Burkholderia pseudomallei: Implications for Human Melioidosis

Natural isolates of Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp), the causative agent of melioidosis, can exhibit significant ecological flexibility that is likely reflective of a dynamic genome. Using whole-genome Bp microarrays, we examined patterns of gene presence and absence across 94 South East Asian strains isolated from a variety of clinical, environmental, or animal sources. 86% of the Bp K96243 reference genome was common to all the strains representing the Bp “core genome”, comprising genes largely involved in essential functions (eg amino acid metabolism, protein translation). In contrast, 14% of the K96243 genome was variably present across the isolates. This Bp accessory genome encompassed multiple genomic islands (GIs), paralogous genes, and insertions/deletions, including three distinct lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-related gene clusters. Strikingly, strains recovered from cases of human melioidosis clustered on a tree based on accessory gene content, and were significantly more likely to harbor certain GIs compared to animal and environmental isolates. Consistent with the inference that the GIs may contribute to pathogenesis, experimental mutation of BPSS2053, a GI gene, reduced microbial adherence to human epithelial cells. Our results suggest that the Bp accessory genome is likely to play an important role in microbial adaptation and virulence

Enhancing 3D printability of pureed food by addition of hydrocolloids

In order to encourage dysphagia patients to increase their food and liquid intake, 3D printing can be employed to shape broccoli puree into more appetizing 3D structures. However, most pureed food inks require the addition of thickening or gelling agents so that the printed structure can hold its shape after the printing process. Edible hydrocolloids are therefore a perfect candidate for such an application. In this review, we looked at recent scientific work in the 3D food printing community with an emphasis on how researchers modified their starting food materials to make them printable. Some examples of such additives include starch, pectin, gelatin, nanocellulose fibres, alginate and also carrageenan. Furthermore, we want to share results of our own preliminary study, where a mixture of low-acyl gellan gum (LG) and locust bean gum (LB) was added to broccoli puree to enhance 3D printability. 3-step oscillatory strain tests were then conducted to mimic the rheology changes at the printing nozzle. It was found that when using a mixture of LG and LB, a 49.6% drop in storage modulus (G’) could be achieved upon application of 10% strain. Upon removal of the strain, a 65.1% recovery of G’ could be achieved. The visual appearance of the broccoli puree with this mixture of hydrocolloids was also deemed to be the closest to the originally intended 3-cm cube shape. Future work will include further optimising the mixing ratio in smaller steps and also, minimising the total hydrocolloid content while retaining acceptable printability and print fidelity, with minimal taste compromise.NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore)Published versio

Comparison of existing 3D food printers

3D food printing is a new area of research and development, where there have been several-kinds of 3D food printers developed and used. However, most of these 3D printers are yet mature to be able to overcome the restrictions encountered. Therefore, this paper provides a review on existing 3D food printers by comparing their advantages, limitations as well as future looks up.Published versio