An Overview of Management of Cancer Approach with Medical and Dental Considerations

This review emphasizes about making the members of the professional Colleges aware of some important aspects of oral cancer in particular & cancer of body in general and its impact on the Dental Surgeons to be a part of the weapon against fighting this devastating disease. Cancer is the major public health problem affecting developed and developing countries. Therefore this review focusses on cancer management by taking into mind dental and medical considerations

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Future Challenges and Recommendations for Dental Settings

The novel coronavirus outbreak is a contagious disease affecting the countries around the world. The quick advancing nature of pandemic has gripped the entire community making it a public health emergency. Infection control preventive measures are necessary to prevent it from further spreading. Medical practitioners, health care workers and Dentists are at high risk of acquiring and transmission of infection. The virus transmission occurs through respiratory tract, aerosols and droplets. Clinical manifestations of virus vary from mild to severe sickness. This review article mainly emphasizes on all the information collected to date on the virus, and future recommendations for dental settings to manage the further spread of this virus

A randomized, double-blind, positive-controlled, Phase-II clinical trial to evaluate efficacy and safety of Fuke Qianjin capsule in Pakistani patients with pelvic inflammatory disease

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a frequently occurring gynecological disorder mainly caused by the inflammation of a woman’s upper genital tract. Generally, antibiotics are used for treating PID, but prolonged use poses potential risks of gut bacterial imbalance, bacterial resistance, super bacteria production, and associated adverse reactions. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has shown unique advantages in various ailments and has received widespread clinical research attention. Fuke Qianjin (FUKE) capsule is an approved National Medical Products Administration (NMPA License No. Z20020024) Chinese herbal prescription that has been widely used individually or in combination with other Western medicines for the treatment of various gynecological inflammatory diseases, including chronic cervicitis, endometritis, and chronic PID.Aim: This clinical trial was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of FUKE capsule in mild-to-moderate symptomatic PID patients.Materials and methods: This phase 2, randomized, double-blind, positive controlled clinical trial was conducted in mild-to-moderate symptomatic PID patients at a single center in Pakistan from 21 September 2021 to 11 March 2022. Eligible female participants were randomly assigned to a test and a control group with a ratio of 1:1. The test group subjects received two metronidazole (METRO) tablets and one doxycycline hyclate (DOXY) simulant at a time, twice daily for 14 days, and two Fuke Qianjin (FUKE) capsules, three times a day after a meal for 28 days. Subjects in the control group received two METRO tablets and one DOXY tablet at a time, twice daily for 14 days, and two FUKE simulant capsules, three times a day after meal for 28 days. The primary efficacy outcome was an improvement in pelvic pain symptoms assessed through a visual analog scale (VAS). The secondary outcomes were the improvement in secondary efficacy symptoms like local physical signs, clinical assessment of leucorrhea and cervical secretions through laboratory examination, and improvement in the maximum area of pelvic effusion assessed through gynecological ultrasound after the treatment. The safety outcomes were assessed through vital signs, laboratory tests, electrocardiogram findings, and adverse events/serious adverse events.Results: A total of 198 subjects with active PID were randomly assigned to a test group (n = 99) and a control group (n = 99). The baseline characteristics of the subjects in the two groups were similar. In the intention-to-treat analysis, the primary efficacy was 84.9% for the test group and 71.6% for the control group, with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0370; 95% CI −0.2568 to −0.0088). The secondary clinical efficacy was 88.4% for the test group and 82.7% for the control group, with no significant difference (p = 0.2977; 95% CI −0.1632 to 0.0501). The improvement in local physical signs was 95.8% for the test group and 76.9% for the control group, with no significant difference (p = 0.0542; 95% CI −0.3697 to −0.0085). The inter-group non-inferiority comparison showed that the upper limit of the 95% CI was less than 0.15 and thus met the non-inferiority requirements of the test group to the control group. The results of clinical signs of leucorrhea and cervical secretions showed that there was no difference in the rate of improvement between the test and control groups, indicating that FUKE was non-inferior to DOXY. A total of 14 adverse events in eight subjects were observed in the trial, with an incidence rate of 4.7%. Four subjects in each group experienced seven adverse events with 4.5% and 4.8% incidence rates of adverse reactions in the test and control groups, with no statistically significant differences (p = 0.2001). No serious adverse events occurred in the trial.Conclusion: The results of this trial indicate that the test drug (Fuke Qianjin capsule) is non-inferior to the control drug (doxycycline hyclate tablet) in treating mild-to-moderate PID patients with comparable efficacy, safety, and tolerability to the control drug.Clinical Trial Registration:www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04723069

Enhancement of poison bait acceptance through taste additives in short-tailed mole rat, Nesokia indica (Gray) infesting datepalm orchards in Nok-kundi and Mashkale in province Balochistan, Pakistan

This study was planned to enhance the poison bait acceptance in short-tailed mole rat, Nesokia indica (Gray) by using different food additives. Chemical control is the most effective method for rat control but only difficulty is that rodents shy rapidly the poison bait. To overcome the drawback of bait shyness and to save food from rodents, led to the development of highly palatable formulation using taste additives (bait enhancers). Ten taste additives namely dates, egg, milk powder, brown sugar, yeast, glycerin, animal fat, fish meal, sunflower oil and minced meat were incorporated 5% by weight individually in a bait base made of broken rice and wheat flour. Under no-choice test, rats showed more preference to date additive bait as compared to other additives. Under paired choice test (two feeds), baits with date, animal fat and milk powder were more preferred. Similar trends were recorded in multiple feed choice tests. Date additive bait, which showed the most preferred from choice tests significantly, enhanced the acceptability by 69.21% and 62.09% of bait containing brodifacoum and bromadialone. The study revealed that the addition of 5% date in poison bait can be useful in enhancing bait acceptance by rats, reducing colossal losses to date-palm

The Impact of Sun Drying on the Occurrence of Aflatoxin in Red Chilies

A major challenge in post-harvest protection of chilies is its rapid drying to prevent quality deterioration as a result of fungal contamination. The speed and efficiency of drying is crucial as the improper and prolonged drying may eventually initiate the buildup of mycotoxins. This research demonstrated levels of aflatoxin in samples at different stages of drying with the objective to assess the efficiency of the common practice of on-farm sun drying in Pakistan. The results indicated that there was no significant pre-harvest contamination of aflatoxins in chilies grown at different locations under study. Sun drying of the harvested chilies over a post drying stage reduced average moisture content from 69.70% to 9.87%, but also led to a gradual increase in the level of aflatoxins. The correlation between the observed increase in aflatoxin levels and the length of the drying period was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05) at all the locations investigated. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to optimizing the post-harvest drying process to minimize the levels of aflatoxin in chilies

The Impact of Sun Drying on the Occurrence of Aflatoxin in Red Chilies

A major challenge in post-harvest protection of chilies is its rapid drying to prevent quality deterioration as a result of fungal contamination. The speed and efficiency of drying is crucial as the improper and prolonged drying may eventually initiate the buildup of mycotoxins. This research demonstrated levels of aflatoxin in samples at different stages of drying with the objective to assess the efficiency of the common practice of on-farm sun drying in Pakistan. The results indicated that there was no significant pre-harvest contamination of aflatoxins in chilies grown at different locations under study. Sun drying of the harvested chilies over a post drying stage reduced average moisture content from 69.70% to 9.87%, but also led to a gradual increase in the level of aflatoxins. The correlation between the observed increase in aflatoxin levels and the length of the drying period was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05) at all the locations investigated. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to optimizing the post-harvest drying process to minimize the levels of aflatoxin in chilies

Persistence and Degradation of Imidacloprid in Wheat Crop

Present study was conducted to investigate the levels and persistence of imidacloprid residues in wheat grains and straw of field crop samples grown from treated seed and foliar application. Objective of the study was to assess the best practices that may be used to produce safe grains and straw. Residual uptake of imidacloprid was measured after seed treatments at four dosage levels of seed. Each sample of 25g treated seed was sown in a separate 5ft2 plot.The absorption of imidacloprid residues was investigated by spraying the crops with 1ml and 5ml of 6 mgmL-1 solution of 200SL Confidor (imidacloprid). The results helped in determining the maximum allowable limits of imidacloprid application (foliar or seed treatment) on wheat, which would prevent the residues from exceeding the MRL. The quantitative determination of imidacloprid suggested that the lowest seed treatment level (i.e. 0.015g/25g seed) may be used to produce a residues-free crop

Persistence and Degradation of Imidacloprid in Wheat Crop

Present study was conducted to investigate the levels and persistence of imidacloprid residues in wheat grains and straw of field crop samples grown from treated seed and foliar application. Objective of the study was to assess the best practices that may be used to produce safe grains and straw. Residual uptake of imidacloprid was measured after seed treatments at four dosage levels of seed. Each sample of 25g treated seed was sown in a separate 5ft2 plot.The absorption of imidacloprid residues was investigated by spraying the crops with 1ml and 5ml of 6 mgmL-1 solution of 200SL Confidor (imidacloprid). The results helped in determining the maximum allowable limits of imidacloprid application (foliar or seed treatment) on wheat, which would prevent the residues from exceeding the MRL. The quantitative determination of imidacloprid suggested that the lowest seed treatment level (i.e. 0.015g/25g seed) may be used to produce a residues-free crop

Periodontal bone substitutes application techniques and cost evaluation: A review

Bioactive Materials have been used since decades but the researches on these materials are still continuing in phase. This material got extra ordinary attention by the scientist and researchers. Bioactive material has ability to bind itself chemically with natural bone tissues. Bioactive materials bring revolution in the field of bone repair and implantology. Bioactive materials have also ability to effect on gene activation of osteoblastic cells that enhance proliferation, resulting rapid bone formation. At last the techniques through which bioactive materials are used to deposits on the implant, to create bond between implants and the bone. Cost evaluation is the very essential part that classifies the use of material commercially