Dental Patient’s Knowledge and Awareness Regarding Effects of Smoking on Oral Health among Smokers and Nonsmokers: A Comparative Study

Aims and objectives: The aim of the present study is to examine the difference in dental patient’s knowledge and awareness regarding effects of smoking on oral health betweensmokers and nonsmokers. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was carried out among 199 dental patients from Sri Aurobindo Institute of Dental Science, Indore. A self-prepared questionnaire was used to assess the awareness regarding the effects of smoking on oral health. Chi-square test and multiple linear logistic regression model was applied using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software. Results: The prevalence of smoking was 22.6%. Fewer smokers and tobacco users than nonusers thought that oral health and smoking are related (28.0 vs 63.3%, p = 0.009). Multiple linear logistic regression was used to assess the association of each variable with awareness, which showed that smokers are less aware of the oral health effects of smoking than the nonsmokers. Conclusion: Smoking and tobacco using subjects are significantly less aware of the oral health effects of smoking as compared to nonsmokers. Comparative studies in other populations may be warranted to ascertain the validity of these results

Cassia auriculata: Aspects of Safety Pharmacology and Drug Interaction

Safety pharmacology studies help in identifying preclinical adverse drug reactions. We carried out routine safety pharmacology with focus on cardiovascular variables and pharmacokinetic herb-drug interaction studies on rats fed with standardized traditional hydro-alcoholic extract and technology-based supercritical extract of Cassia auriculata for 12 weeks. Our studies indicate that both these extracts are pharmacologically safe and did not show any significant adverse reactions at the tested doses. The traditional hydro-alcoholic extract did not show any significant effect on pharmacokinetics; however, the technology-based supercritical extract caused a significant reduction in absorption of metformin. Our results indicate the need to include pharmacokinetic herb-drug interaction studies as evidence for safety especially for technology-based extracts

Finger Millet:A "Certain" Crop for an "Uncertain" Future and a Solution to Food Insecurity and Hidden Hunger under Stressful Environments

Crop growth and productivity has largely been vulnerable to various abiotic and biotic stresses that are only set to be compounded due to global climate change. Therefore developing improved varieties and designing newer approaches for crop improvement against stress tolerance have become a priority now-a-days. However, most of the crop improvement strategies are directed toward staple cereals such as rice, wheat, maize etc., whereas attention on minor cereals such as finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.] lags far behind. It is an important staple in several semi-arid and tropical regions of the world with excellent nutraceutical properties as well as ensuring food security in these areas even during harsh environment. This review highlights the importance of finger millet as a model nutraceutical crop. Progress and prospects in genetic manipulation for the development of abiotic and biotic stress tolerant varieties is also discussed. Although limited studies have been conducted for genetic improvement of finger millets, its nutritional significance in providing minerals, calories and protein makes it an ideal model for nutrition-agriculture research. Therefore, improved genetic manipulation of finger millets for resistance to both abiotic and biotic stresses, as well as for enhancing nutrient content will be very effective in millet improvementpublishersversionPeer reviewe

Tetrazine derived mononuclear RuII(acac)2(L) (1), [RuII(bpy)2(L)](ClO4)2 (2) and [RuII(bpy)(L)2](ClO4)2 (3) (L = 3-amino-6-(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine, acac = acetylacetonate, bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine): syntheses, structures, spectra and redox properties

Mononuclear ruthenium complexes of tetrazine derived L, RuII(acac)2(L) (1), [RuII(bpy)2(L)](ClO4)2 (2) and [RuII(bpy)(L)2](ClO4)2 (3) (L = 3-amino-6-(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine, acac = acetylacetonate and bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) were prepared. The free L exists as a dimeric entity in the solid state via hydrogen bonding interactions involving L and water molecules present in the crystal lattice. 1 exhibits unusually strong bonds from RuII to coordinating pyrazolyl-N (2.040(2) Å) and especially to tetrazine-N (1.913(2) Å). The RuIII/RuII couples of 1–3 appeared at 0.28, 1.34 and 1.50 V versus SCE, respectively. The tetrazine and bpy-based reductions were observed at −1.33 (1); −0.55 and −1.55/−1.75/−1.98 (2); −0.47/−0.78 and −1.80/−2.02 V (3), respectively. 1, 2 and 3 displayed two MLCT bands each, corresponding to dπ(RuII) → π* (L, tetrazine) and dπ(RuII) → π* (acac or bpy or L) transitions. 1+ and 2+ showed rhombic EPR spectra at 110 and 4 K, respectively and 1−, 2− and 3− exhibited multiple line EPR spectra at 300 K. 1–3 exhibited moderately strong emission spectra in EtOH–MeOH glass at 77 K.© Elsevie

Severe asthma in children: Description of a large multidisciplinary clinical cohort

Background: Children with severe asthma have substantial morbidity and healthcare utilization. Pediatric severe asthma is a heterogeneous disease, and a multidisciplinary approach can improve the diagnosis and management of these children. Methods: We reviewed the electronic health records for patients seen in the Severe Asthma Clinic (SAC) at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh between August 2012 and October 2019. Results: Of the 110 patients in whom we extracted data, 46% were female, 48% were Black/African American, and 41% had ≥1 admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) for asthma. Compared to patients without a PICU admission, those with ≥1 PICU admission were more likely to be non-White (64.4% vs. 41.5%, p = 0.031) and more atopic (eosinophil count geometric mean = 673 vs. 319 cells/mm3 , p = 0.002; total IgE geometric mean = 754 vs. 303 KU/L, p = 0.003), and to have lower pre-bronchodilator FEV1 (58.6% [±18.1%] vs. 69.9% [±18.7%], p = 0.002) and elevated FeNO (60% vs. 22%, p = 0.02). In this cohort, 84% of patients were prescribed high-dose ICS/LABA and 36% were on biologics. Following enrollment in the SAC, severe exacerbations decreased from 3.2/year to 2.2/year (p < 0.0001); compared to the year before joining the SAC, in the following year the group had 106 fewer severe exacerbations. Conclusions: This large cohort of children with severe asthma had a high level of morbidity and healthcare utilization. Patients with a history of PICU admissions for asthma were more likely to be nonwhite and highly atopic, and to have lower lung function. Our data support a positive impact of a multidisciplinary clinic on patients with severe childhood asthma

Epigenome-wide effects of vitamin D on asthma bronchial epithelial cells

Vitamin D is a nutrient and a hormone with multiple effects on immune regulation and respiratory viral infections, which can worsen asthma and lead to severe asthma exacerbations. We set up a complete experimental and analytical pipeline for ATAC-Seq and RNA-Seq to study genome-wide epigenetic changes in human bronchial epithelial cells of asthmatic subjects, following treatment of these cells with calcitriol (vitamin D3) and Poly (I:C)(a viral analogue). This approach led to the identification of biologically plausible candidate genes for viral infections and asthma, such as DUSP10 and SLC44A1

Exploring Potent Fungal Isolates from Sanitary Landfill Soil for In Vitro Degradation of Dibutyl Phthalate

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP) is one of the most extensively used plasticizers for providing elasticity to plastics. Being potentially harmful to humans, investigating eco-benign options for its rapid degradation is imperative. Microbe-mediated DBP mineralization is well-recorded, but studies on the pollutant’s fungal catabolism remain scarce. Thus, the present investigation was undertaken to exploit the fungal strains from toxic sanitary landfill soil for the degradation of DBP. The most efficient isolate, SDBP4, identified on a molecular basis as Aspergillus flavus, was able to mineralize 99.34% dibutyl phthalate (100 mg L−1) within 15 days of incubation. It was found that the high production of esterases by the fungal strain was responsible for the degradation. The strain also exhibited the highest biomass (1615.33 mg L−1) and total soluble protein (261.73 µg mL−1) production amongst other isolates. The DBP degradation pathway scheme was elucidated with the help of GC-MS-based characterizations that revealed the formation of intermediate metabolites such as benzyl-butyl phthalate (BBP), dimethyl-phthalate (DMP), di-iso-butyl-phthalate (DIBP) and phthalic acid (PA). This is the first report of DBP mineralization assisted with A. flavus, using it as a sole carbon source. SDBP4 will be further formulated to develop an eco-benign product for the bioremediation of DBP-contaminated toxic sanitary landfill soils

Valence-state analysis through spectroelectrochemistry in a series of quinonoid-bridged diruthenium complexes [(acac)<SUB>2</SUB>Ru(&#956;-L)Ru(acac)<SUB>2</SUB>]<SUP>n</SUP> (n=+2, +1, 0, -1, -2)

The quinonoid ligand-bridged diruthenium compounds [(acac)2Ru(&#956;-L2-)Ru(acac)2] (acac-=acetylacetonato=2,4-pentanedionato; L2-=2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzoquinone, 1; 3,6-dichloro-2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzoquinone, 2; 5,8-dioxido-1,4-naphthoquinone, 3; 2,3-dichloro-5,8-dioxido-1,4-naphthoquinone, 4; 1,5-dioxido-9,10-anthraquinone, 5; and 1,5-diimido-9,10-anthraquinone, 6) were prepared and characterized analytically. The crystal structure analysis of 5 in the rac configuration reveals two tris(2,4-pentanedionato)ruthenium moieties with an extended anthracenedione-derived bis(ketoenolate) p-conjugated bridging ligand. The weakly antiferromagnetically coupled {RuIII(&#956;-L2-)RuIII} configuration in 1-6 exhibits complicated overall magnetic and EPR responses. The simultaneous presence of highly redox-active quinonoid-bridging ligands and of two ruthenium centers capable of adopting the oxidation states +2, +3, and +4 creates a large variety of possible oxidation state combinations. Accordingly, the complexes 1-6 exhibit two reversible one-electron oxidation steps and at least two reversible reduction processes. Shifts to positive potentials were observed on introduction of Cl substituents (1&#8594;2, 3&#8594;4) or through replacement of NH by O (6&#8594;5). The ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) absorptions in the visible region of the neutral molecules become more intense and shifted to lower energies on stepwise reduction with two electrons. On oxidation, the para-substituted systems 1-4 exhibit monocation intermediates with intervalence charge transfer (IVCT) transitions of RuIIIRuIV mixed-valent species. In contrast, the differently substituted systems 5 and 6 show no such near infrared (NIR) absorption. While the first reduction steps are thus assigned to largely ligand-centered processes, the oxidation appears to involve metal-ligand delocalized molecular orbitals with variable degrees of mixing

2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzoquinonediimine (H<SUB>2</SUB>L<SUP>2</SUP>-), a hydrogen-bonding noninnocent bridging ligand related to aminated topaquinone: different oxidation state distributions in complexes [{(bpy)<SUB>2</SUB>Ru}<SUB>2</SUB>(&#956;-H<SUB>2</SUB>L)]<SUP>n</SUP> (n=0,+,2+,3+,4+) and [{(acac)<SUB>2</SUB>Ru}<SUB>2</SUB>(&#956;-H<SUB>2</SUB>L)]<SUP>m</SUP> (m=2-,-,0,+,2+)

The symmetrically dinuclear title compounds were isolated as diamagnetic [(bpy)2Ru(&#956;-H2L)Ru(bpy)2](ClO4)2 (1-(ClO4)2) and as paramagnetic [(acac)2Ru(&#956;-H2L)Ru(acac)2] (2) complexes (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine; acac-=acetylacetonate=2,4-pentanedionato; H2L=2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzoquinonediimine). The crystal structure of 2.2 H2O reveals an intricate hydrogen-bonding network: Two symmetry-related molecules 2 are closely connected through two NH(H2L2-)...O(acac-) interactions, while the oxygen atoms of H2L2- of two such pairs are bridged by an (H2O)8 cluster at half-occupancy. The cluster consists of cyclic (H2O)6 arrangements with the remaining two exo-H2O molecules connecting two opposite sides of the cyclo-(H2O)6 cluster, and oxido oxygen atoms forming hydrogen bonds with the molecules of 2. Weak antiferromagnetic coupling of the two ruthenium(III) centers in 2 was established by using SQUID magnetometry and EPR spectroscopy. Geometry optimization by means of DFT calculations was carried out for 12+ and 2 in their singlet and triplet ground states, respectively. The nature of low-energy electronic transitions was explored by using time-dependent DFT methods. Five redox states were reversibly accessible for each of the complexes; all odd-electron intermediates exhibit comproportionation constants Kc&gt;108. UV-visible-NIR spectroelectrochemistry and EPR spectroscopy of the electrogenerated paramagnetic intermediates were used to ascertain the oxidation-state distribution. In general, the complexes 1n+ prefer the ruthenium(II) configuration with electron transfer occurring largely at the bridging ligand (&#956;-H2Ln-), as evident from radical-type EPR spectra for 13+ and 1+. Higher metal oxidation states (iii, iv) appear to be favored by the complexes 2m; intense long-wavelength absorption bands and RuIII-type EPR signals suggest mixed-valent dimetal configurations of the paramagnetic intermediates 2+ and 2-