Zirconia as A Core Material - A Literature Review

 Teeth that have become severely compromised by decay, large failing restorations, or fracture most often require full-coverage crowns to restore them to their original form and function. A core buildup is a restoration placed in a badly broken down or grossly decayed tooth to restore the bulk of the coronal portion of the tooth. This facilitates the subsequent restoration by means of an indirect extra coronal restoration. The strength of the tooth can be enhanced with intracoronal support. It should have compressive strength to resist intraoral forces and flexural strength to prevent core dislodgement during function. It should also have sufficient flexural strength, biocompatibility, resistance to leakage of oral fluids at the core-tooth interface, ease of manipulation, and ability to bond to remaining tooth structure. The primary purpose of a core build- up is to replace enough missing tooth structure to permit the creation of ideal retention and resistance form in the crown preparation. Materials used for core restoration after endodontic treatment include amalgam, resin composites, zirconia to name a few. The aim of this review is to evaluate the use of zirconia as a core material by assessing the studies available in comparison to other core materials

WINNING THE COVID WAR AS RESPONSIVE MALAYSIAN CITIZEN: SOCIAL CONFORMITY, SOCIAL COMPLIANCE AND SOCIAL OBEDIENCE

Covid-19 (also known as Coronavirus) was detected initially at Wuhan, China has spread to over 200 countries across the globe. This deadly virus is a threat to mankind as it has killed more than 300,000 and infected more than 5 million people globally. Declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), momentum is accelerating to speed the development of coronavirus vaccines. Research indicated that this virus is airborne; a person on close contact may get infected from the droplets produced from the infected person during sneezing or coughing. As the virus is given medical attention to cure the infection, equal attention is given to the social aspect to break the chain of COVID. Prevention measures become crucial where many countries have taken unprecedented measures to stop the spreading of the virus by implementing lockdown and social distancing. Lockdown and social distancing are out of norm social conducts, thus adapting them instantaneously and adhering to them at all times are indeed incredible. This study explores social conformity, social compliance and social obedience of responsive citizen in Malaysian context to win the war against COVID.&nbsp

IFNγ-Dependent Tissue-Immune Homeostasis Is Co-opted in the Tumor Microenvironment

Homeostatic programs balance immune protection and self-tolerance. Such mechanisms likely impact autoimmunity and tumor formation, respectively. How homeostasis is maintained and impacts tumor surveillance is unknown. Here, we find that different immune mononuclear phagocytes share a conserved steady-state program during differentiation and entry into healthy tissue. IFNγ is necessary and sufficient to induce this program, revealing a key instructive role. Remarkably, homeostatic and IFNγ-dependent programs enrich across primary human tumors, including melanoma, and stratify survival. Single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) reveals enrichment of homeostatic modules in monocytes and DCs from human metastatic melanoma. Suppressor-of-cytokine-2 (SOCS2) protein, a conserved program transcript, is expressed by mononuclear phagocytes infiltrating primary melanoma and is induced by IFNγ. SOCS2 limits adaptive anti-tumoral immunity and DC-based priming of T cells in vivo, indicating a critical regulatory role. These findings link immune homeostasis to key determinants of anti-tumoral immunity and escape, revealing co-opting of tissue-specific immune development in the tumor microenvironment. Keywords: dendritic cells; homeostasis; differentiation; IFNγ; tumor microenvironment; melanoma tolerance; immunotherapy; suppressor-of-cytokine-signaling 2 (SOCS2); tissue mononuclear phagocyte

Genetic Enhancement Perspectives and Prospects for Grain Nutrients Density

Diet-induced micronutrient malnutrition continues to be a major challenge globally, especially in the developing world. With the ever-increasing population, it becomes a daunting task to feed millions of mouths with nutritious food. It is time to reorient agricultural systems to produce quality food to supply the calorie and nutrient requirements needed by the human body. Biofortification is the process of improving micronutrients density by genetic means. It is cheaper and sustainable and complements well with the nutrient supplementation and fortification— the short-term strategies that are currently deployed to address the micronutrient malnutrition. Sorghum is one of the important food crops globally, adapted to semi-arid tropics, and there is increased awareness on its nutritional importance. Further, there is great opportunity to improve sorghum for nutritional quality. This chapter deals about the genetic enhancement perspectives and prospects for improving the nutritional quality with main emphasis on grain micronutrient density in sorghum

Stress, depression, and anxiety of female adolescents of higher senior secondary school: A cross-sectional comparative study of humanities, commerce, and science streams

A cross-sectional, representative sample from adolescent girls of higher senior secondary schools was collected for the study. We analyzed the data from 600 Punjabi Indian female adolescents (200 from humanities, 200 from commerce, and 200 from science stream) aged 15–17 years who were randomly selected from government and private schools. The symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed by the DAS questionnaire. Overall prevalence was 50.8%, 58.7%, and 68% for depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. A significant difference was reported for depression (.000), anxiety (.000), and stress (.002) between adolescents of three streams. The results of the study point out that there is a necessity for some interventions to educate adolescent girls about the negative effects of stress, depression, and anxiety on their body

Perylene-3-ylmethanol : fluorescent organic nanoparticles as a single-component photoresponsive nanocarrier with real-time monitoring of anticancer drug release

We report for the first time the use of perylene-3-ylmethanol fluorescent organic nanoparticles as a drug delivery system. In the present system, perylene-3-ylmethanol nanoparticles performed four important roles: (i) “nanocarriers” for drug delivery; (ii) “phototriggers” for the drug release; (iii) fluorescent chromophores for cell imaging; and (iv) detectors for real time-monitoring of drug release. In vitro biological studies revealed that the newly developed perylene-3-ylmethanol nanoparticles exhibit good biocompatibility and cellular uptake as well as efficient photoregulated anticancer drug release ability. Such fluorescent organic nanoparticles may open up new perspectives for designing a new class of promising photoresponsive nanocarriers for drug delivery

COVID-19 Vaccination: An Observational Study on Postvaccination Infections and Side-effects

Introduction: Given the mortality and morbidity caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the lack of therapeutic options, the need for vaccines has become inevitable. Knowledge about covid infection after vaccination and vaccine-related side-effects are essential to educate people and avoid myths about vaccination. Aim: To evaluate the side-effects and incidence of COVID-19 in vaccinated people, and to compare the side-effect profile and postvaccination incidence of the infection. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, email-based, survey was done from 1st July 2021 to 31st July 2021 at Guntur Medical College, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. A total of 920 people were sent emails about the details and questionnaire of the study. All COVID-19 vaccinated and those who were more than 18 years of age were included in this study. A total of 506 subjects responded. Total 18 questions in the English language were there. The questions were about demographics, co-morbidities, the name of vaccine taken, postvaccination adverse effects, and COVID-19 positivity. Results: Of the 506 vaccinated subjects, 287 (56.71%) received Covaxin®, 203 (40.11%) received Covishield® and 16 (3.16%) received other vaccines (BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine-8, Sputnik V-3, Spikevax-5). The mean age of the participants was 37 years, and 45.2% (229) were females and 54.8% (277) were males. Side-effects were reported by 73.1%, and 65.17% of individuals after the first and second doses of Covaxin®, respectively, compared to 84.7% and 62.5% after Covishield®. Local pain and tiredness were the most common symptoms after Covaxin® and Covishield®. Conclusion: Local pain and tiredness were the most common side-effects of Covaxin® and Covishield® vaccines. The number of participants in other vaccine groups was very minimal to study and compare their effects. Overall, the vaccines are safe and seem to show protection, although mild side-effects can be observed, which are usually non fatal. No difference in the incidence of infections was observed between vaccine groups

Analyzing the Factors Contributing to Bacterial Contamination of Domestic Water Sources in Estuarine Islands of Coastal Karnataka, India

Contamination of domestic water sources is a major concern in estuarine islands of coastal Karnataka. Awareness about practices for waste management and protection of water sources on these islands is poor. Using water having bacterial presence for domestic purposes can lead to various health risks in humans. The research investigates various factors leading to bacterial contamination of domestic water sources at Mudukudru island of Swarna river, in the Udupi district of Karnataka. Samples were collected during the Pre-monsoon (December–May) and Monsoon (June–September) seasons from 43 wells of individual houses on the island. The total concentration of bacteria, in the water samples was determined from microbial analysis. The multiple tube, most probable number (MPN), fermentation technique was adopted to determine the total coliform in the samples. Factors like the presence or absence of well lining, well housing, wellhead above or below ground level, the distance of well from sewage pits, and the distance of livestock from the wells were correlated. The results indicated bacterial contamination in 32 wells during the monsoon as compared to pre-monsoon data, with the total coliform count exceeding the standard of 500 MPN/100 mL. A significant relation between total coliform count in the water samples and the absence of well lining with sanitary protection is observed with p -value  = .00 ( p  ⩽ .05) and wells located near (<10.0 m) to sewage pit with p -value ⩽ .05, were recorded respectively during both the seasons of sampling. The study highlights the major factors leading to bacterial contamination of wells on the island. Awareness about the planning of domestic wells through community-driven programs and hygiene education can be beneficial for the sustainable future of these islands

Perylene-3-ylmethanol: Fluorescent Organic Nanoparticles as a Single-Component Photoresponsive Nanocarrier with Real-Time Monitoring of Anticancer Drug Release

We report for the first time the use of perylene-3-ylmethanol fluorescent organic nanoparticles as a drug delivery system. In the present system, perylene-3-ylmethanol nanoparticles performed four important roles: (i) “nanocarriers” for drug delivery; (ii) “phototriggers” for the drug release; (iii) fluorescent chromophores for cell imaging; and (iv) detectors for real time-monitoring of drug release. In vitro biological studies revealed that the newly developed perylene-3-ylmethanol nanoparticles exhibit good biocompatibility and cellular uptake as well as efficient photoregulated anticancer drug release ability. Such fluorescent organic nanoparticles may open up new perspectives for designing a new class of promising photoresponsive nanocarriers for drug delivery