Dental Practitioners Perceptions of Preventive Measures for Pediatric Patients

Background: Dental caries may be a progressive, cumulative oral disease which becomes more intricate to treat with advancement . It's a serious oral illness across various countries. In India, the prevalence of cavities is 31.5-89% which indicates it is a serious public health problem posing an excellent challenge to community and dental professionals . But intervention at primary level can reduce this problem. Hence, the aim is to determine dental practitioners' perceptions of preventive measures for pediatric patients. Materials and methods: The sample size used for the study is 105. A self structured questionnaire is being prepared and uploaded in Google forms. A questionnaire in Google forms is being circulated among the sample study population and at the end of the survey, all the data were collected and the data has been analysed by using the software IBM SPSS. Descriptive statistics were expressed by means of number, frequency, and percentage. The Chi-square test was used to find the association between variables. Result: The present study reported that 55.34% of MDS graduates and 13% of BDS graduates suggest the use of pit and fissure sealants in your routine dental practices.The present 56% of MDS graduates and 13% of BDS graduates know about the usage of space maintainers.Chi square test was done and association was found to be statistically not significant(Chi square value is 1.41; p> 0.05) Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that MDS graduates had a better perception towards the use of preventive measures for pediatric patients for the prevention of dental caries

FETAL CARDIAC STRUCTURE DETECTION FROM ULTRASOUND SEQUENCES

Fetal heart abnormalities are the most common congenital anomalies and are also the leading cause of infant mortality related to birth defects. More than one-third of all malformations found after delivery are congenital heart defects. The prenatal detection of fetal cardiac structure is difficult because of its small size and rapid movements but is important for the early and effective diagnosis of congenital cardiac defects. A novel method is proposed for the detection of fetal cardiac structure from ultrasound sequences. An initial pre-processing is done to remove noise and enhance the images. An effective K means clustering algorithm is applied to the images to segment the region of interest. Finally an active appearance model is proposed to detect the structure of fetal heart

Towards a molecular level understanding of chrome tanning: Interplay between collagen structure and reactivity

Content: Synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique was applied to leather research to understand the changes in molecular-level collagen structure during tanning and denaturation (shrinkage), which can help reduce the environmental impact from the extensive chrome usage. Based on SAXS results from realtime denaturation experiments on leather samples, we established a mechanistic model of chrome tanning indicated by the structural changes of collagen. It suggests that only a low level of chromium species is effectively involved in the cross-linking with collagen, which highlights the overuse of chrome during conventional tanning processes. Any extra amount of chrome added, however, can support the stabilisation of collagen possibly via a non-covalent mechanism. Such mechanism points towards a more environment-friendly tanning method by using suitable supplementary reagents to benefit tanning effect non-covalently instead of chrome. By pre-treating with complexing agents such as sodium formate and disodium phthalate, as well as nanoclay (sodium montmorillonite), the uniformity through bovine hide collagen matrix were improved significantly. These pre-treatments effectively reduce the reactivity of chromium during its cross-linking reaction with collagen while retaining its bound water. However, collagen pre-treated with a covalent cross-linker (glutaraldehyde) results in a decrease in both chromium-collagen cross-linking and bound water while improving uniformity. These molecular-level insights can be developed into metrics to guide us towards a more sustainable future for the leather industry. The coating on collagen fibrils can provide a pseudo-stabilisation effect of increasing the heat resistance of collagen. A group of tanning experiments were also conducted in situ on the SAXS beamline to observe the different mechanisms of free-of-chrome alternative tannages as potential replacements. Overall, synchrotron SAXS provides valuable information about collagen structure changes that could lead to more efficient use of chrome (or other tanning agents) in the global leather tanning industry. Take-Away: 1. Kinetics of hydrothermal denaturation and collagen crosslinking mechanism proceed through different pathways 2. Alternative chemistries to enhance chrome uptake at low offers. 3. The role of collagen structure studies in understanding tanning mechanim

Partial characterization of toxins associated with stem end rot of mango caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae

In this study, the toxicity of liquid culture media from different isolates of Lasiodiplodia theobromae was characterized and some properties of the toxic metabolites were distinguished. In this work toxin producing ability of L. theobromae was revealed by studying the physical parameters viz., osmotic potential, toxin concentration, pH, temperature and biological parameter like host specificity and wilting index. The obtained results showed that the optimal toxin-production conditions for L. theobromae in potato dextrose broth under pH 6.0, at 25-35°C for 7 days. The liquid culture from all isolates were toxic to mango plants and induced the rapid wilting. The toxin obtained from the liquid culture has thermal, acid base stability and a broad range of toxicity to main host and non-host plants. Moreover, the direct bioassay for two components of the liquid filtrates precipitated by ethanol showed that the active ingredient of the toxin is a kind of non protein substance, which was further endorsed by the papain hydrolysis analysis. Our results confirmed the chemical nature of toxic compound elucidating the favorable environmental conditions for toxin production of L. theobromae and proved potential role of toxic metabolites in the mechanism of disease development

Enzyme changes during seed storage in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

A change in enzyme activity in seeds due to ageing is a topic of scientific importance. Vigour is essentially a physiological phenomenon influenced by the reserved metabolites, enzyme activities and growth regulators. The exact cause of loss of seed vigour and viability is still unknown as deterioration of seed is a complex process. In the presence of oxygen, ageing of seed can lead to peroxidative changes in polyunsaturated fatty acids. The free radical -induced non-enzymatic peroxidation, which has the potential to damage membrane, is likely to be a primary cause of deterioration of stored seeds. Certain anabolic enzymes help in maintaining viability while some catabolic enzymes decrease viability. The seed catalase and peroxidase activity seem to be decreased during storage. The results revealed that the peroxidase enzyme activity decreased from 0.236 to 0.444 OD 10 min-1 when storage period increased. A decrease in catalase activity from 0.454 to 0.444 ?g H2O2 mg-1 min-1 followed by a small increase from 0.434 to 0.452 ?g H2O2 mg-1 min-1 was observed during storage. But the activity of lipase enzyme increased from 0.236 to 0.231 meq min-1g-1 of sample when the storage period was increased. The study would help to know the deterioration pattern of stored groundnut seeds