Patient Satisfaction and Oral Health-related Quality of Life (ohrqol) of Edentulous People after Mandibular Denture Relining With a Soft-liner Material: A Pilot Study

Background: Oral health-related quality of life indicators have been effectively used to assess the influence of a range of dental treatments and interventions on patient satisfaction and acceptance. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the relining of mandibular dentures with a soft-liner material, using the Oral Health Assessment Index (OHIP-14). Methods: Forty-two full denture wearers were selected from patients who attended 9 private prosthetic clinics in New South Wales, Australia. All participants had their lower dentures relined with a soft-liner material, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Oral health-related quality of life was evaluated before and 1 month after relining using the Oral Health Assessment Index questionnaire. A simple descriptive quantitative analysis of the survey results was undertaken, including a comparison of median scores using the Wilcoxon paired test and binomial probability test. Results: In all the outcome variables measured, there was a noticeable positive effect from the denture relining. Specifically, mandibular denture relining with a silicon-based soft-liner material has a positive impact on patient satisfaction and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of edentulous patients. Conclusion: Patient satisfaction and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of edentulous patients can be significantly improved by the use of soft-liner materials

The Kalanchoe genome provides insights into convergent evolution and building blocks of crassulacean acid metabolism

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a water-use efficient adaptation of photosynthesis that has evolved independently many times in diverse lineages of flowering plants. We hypothesize that convergent evolution of protein sequence and temporal gene expression underpins the independent emergences of CAM from C3 photosynthesis. To test this hypothesis, we generate a de novo genome assembly and genome-wide transcript expression data for Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi, an obligate CAM species within the core eudicots with a relatively small genome (~260 Mb). Our comparative analyses identify signatures of convergence in protein sequence and re-scheduling of diel transcript expression of genes involved in nocturnal CO2 fixation, stomatal movement, heat tolerance, circadian clock, and carbohydrate metabolism in K. fedtschenkoi and other CAM species in comparison with non-CAM species. These findings provide new insights into molecular convergence and building blocks of CAM and will facilitate CAM-into-C3 photosynthesis engineering to enhance water-use efficiency in crops

Exploring the Efficacy of Using an Online Survey to Measure Functional Literacy Among College Students

This research study was conducted to examine the efficacy of using an online survey to assess the literacy proficiency of college students in an area of the United States with historically low socioeconomic status. Two research questions were written to guide the study: R1. What is the factor structure of the Online Collegiate Literacy Scale? R2. What relationship exists between literacy and college students from areas of the United States with a high concentration of poverty? A literacy measure was created and evaluated in three steps: writing and pretest by subject matter experts; pilot test; and data collection and data analysis. The study was created and administered in Qualtrics®. Once data were collected, they were used to examine the factor structure of the literacy assessment through an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). A four-factor model was suggested by the EFA, and the factors were identified as the ability to locate information; the ability to understand what is being asked; the ability to access prior knowledge; and the ability to reflect and evaluate. Subsequently, a hierarchical multiple regression was performed to determine whether the predictor variables of family income, age, race, level of education, high school grade point average, parents’ level of education were correlated with literacy proficiency. Two of the predictor variables were statistically significant with literacy proficiency, and they explained 8% of the variance in scores. The factor’s Z scores were then included in the regression analysis based on a review of literature. An additional 80% of variance in the test scores was predicted by the Z scores, indicating a strong correlation between literacy scores and the four factors denoted by the EFA

Planting Date Effects on Cotton Lint Yield and Fiber Quality in the U.S. Southern High Plains

Cotton planting date effects in the U.S. Southern High Plains (SHP) were evaluated based on 11 years of May-planted and June-planted irrigated variety trials. Multiple cultivars planted in each year’s trial allowed for the calculation of 153 yield effects and 162 effects in 5 fiber quality parameters. Yield and quality effects were considered in the context of related changes in total growing season degree days (GDDS) and total cool hours (CHRS) during a boll formation period 80 to 110 days after planting. May planting increased GDDS and significantly increased yields in 8 of 10 years that comparisons could be made. Micronaire and fiber elongation were the most sensitive quality parameters to planting date. June planting resulted in increased CHRS every year and a significantly higher incidence of low micronaire in 7 of 11 years. In 7 of 11 years May planting significantly reduced fiber elongation relative to June planting. Analysis of SHP temperature data show that late-April to early-May planting dates may increase yield and micronaire by maximizing GDDS and minimizing CHRS. Although this practice may be optimal to the SHP environment it may also require high-vigor seed and pre-planting irrigation. Adapting genetics to an early planting strategy might include selecting for improved seed vigor and cold germination with acceptable yield and fiber quality traits

Stories from the Greenhouse—A Brief on Cotton Seed Germination

Seed germination is the basis for the proliferation of sexual-reproducing plants, efficient crop production, and a successful crop improvement research program. Cotton (Gossypium spp.), the subject of this review, can be often sensitive to germination conditions. The hardness of the cotton seed coat, storage, extreme temperatures, and dormancy are some of the factors that can influence cotton seed germination. Research programs conducting studies on exotic and wild cotton species are especially affected by those hurdles. Here, we briefly review the challenges of cotton seed germination and some of the approaches our cotton breeding program explored throughout the years

Phosphorylation of Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2 by Heme-Regulated Inhibitor Kinase-Related Protein Kinases in Schizosaccharomyces pombe Is Important for Resistance to Environmental Stresses

Protein synthesis is regulated by the phosphorylation of the α subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) in response to different environmental stresses. One member of the eIF2α kinase family, heme-regulated inhibitor kinase (HRI), is activated under heme-deficient conditions and blocks protein synthesis, principally globin, in mammalian erythroid cells. We identified two HRI-related kinases from Schizosaccharomyces pombe which have full-length homology with mammalian HRI. The two HRI-related kinases, named Hri1p and Hri2p, exhibit autokinase and kinase activity specific for Ser-51 of eIF2α, and both activities were inhibited in vitro by hemin, as previously described for mammalian HRI. Overexpression of Hri1p, Hri2p, or the human eIF2α kinase, double-stranded-RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR), impeded growth of S. pombe due to elevated phosphorylation of eIF2α. Cells from strains with deletions of the hri1(+) and hri2(+) genes, individually or in combination, exhibited a reduced growth rate when exposed to heat shock or to arsenic compounds. Measurements of in vivo phosphorylation of eIF2α suggest that Hri1p and Hri2p differentially phosphorylate eIF2α in response to these stress conditions. These results demonstrate that HRI-related enzymes are not unique to vertebrates and suggest that these eIF2α kinases are important participants in diverse stress response pathways in some lower eukaryotes

NOTE AGRONOMY AND SOILS Growth and Physiological Responses of Five Cotton Genotypes to Sodium Chloride and Sodium Sulfate Saline Water Irrigation

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the salt tolerance of five cotton genotypes [three Gossypium hirsutum L. (DN 1, DP 491, and FM 989) and two G. barbadense L. (Cobalt and Pima S-7)] under NaCl or Na 2 SO 4 salinity conditions at similar osmotic potentials (100 mM NaCl vs. 70 mM Na 2 SO 4 and 150 mM NaCl vs. 111 Na 2 SO 4 ). To investigate whether the addition of calcium sulfate could alleviate the deleterious salinity effect, two more treatments were prepared by adding 10 mM CaSO 4 to 150 mM NaCl and 111 mM Na 2 SO 4 solutions. All genotypes had significant growth reduction in all salt treatments as compared to their respective controls. Whereas Upland and Pima cotton did not differ in response to salt, DP 491 had lower growth reduction as compared to other genotypes and was therefore more salt tolerant. Salt type did not affect the growth of FM 989 and Pima S-7; however, dry weight (DW) of all organs were reduced to a greater extent by NaCl than by Na 2 SO 4 in most organs in Pima Cobalt, shoot and total DW in DP 491, and root DW in DN 1. The addition of CaSO 4 alleviated some detrimental effects in DN 1 caused by NaCl and in Pima Cobalt caused by Na 2 SO 4 . The five genotypes also responded to salt treatments differently in that DN 1 and DP 491 had higher Na + and Cl -concentrations and higher leaf osmotic potentials than the other three genotypes except for higher Cl -concentrations in Cobalt. These results indicated that diversity of salt-tolerant mechanisms existed among the five cotton genotypes