Need for Oral Health Policy in India

Dental diseases are a significant public health menace having a substantial impact on the quality of life which in turn affects the daily performance and general life satisfaction. There is a vast difference in health status including the oral health between urban and rural population of India and in other developing countries. The existing situation demands the formulation and implementation of National Oral Health Policy in India in order to expand the oral health care to make it more affordable, and reachable. An extensive literature search was conducted using various search engines in order to include relevant information in the review. Number of keywords and their combinations were used in order to extract appropriate data. Finally 24 out of 35 articles were selected upon detailed reading. The present paper focusses on some of the important subjects that can be considered while formulation of a National Oral Health Policy for the benefits of both the dental profession and community as a whole. There is a need of dental health planners and policy makers that have relevant qualifications and training in public health dentistry to understand the unique needs and resources for the development of an effective oral health policy. Professional dental organizations can also support government programs to provide basic oral health needs of extensive underserved population of this country.Keywords: Developing country, India, Mobile dentistry, Oral policy, Partnershi

Cardiovascular response to acute cold stress in non-obese and obese healthy adults

Background: Obesity is a global epidemic with important health care and financial implications. The cold pressor test (CPT) which is considered to be a sympathy-excitatory manoeuvre is a simple, noninvasive and validated test. The objective of this study was to assess and compare the cardiovascular response to cold pressor test in non-obese and obese healthy adults.Methods: The study included 400 subjects, of which the study group included 200 adults who had body mass index (BMI) of more than 30 Kg/m2 and 200 non-obese adults were enrolled as controls with BMI less than 25 kg/m2. The study was conducted for a period of two months. CPT was used to assess cardiac response to acute cold exposure in the present study. Baseline systolic and diastolic blood pressure recording was done using mercury sphygmomanometer during resting condition and following cold pressor test. The results were expressed as mean, standard deviation, and data were analyzed using ANOVA test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The mean change in systolic blood pressure before and after cold pressor test (CPT) was less in obese (7.12 ± 5.28) as compared to non-obese subjects (10.38 ±6.35). This was statistically significant which indicates impaired sympathetic function in otherwise healthy obese.Conclusion: The study concluded that blood pressure response to cold pressor test was reduced in obese compared to non-obese subjects indicating reduced sympathetic activity in healthy obese adults.Keywords: cold pressor test, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass inde

Non-Syndromic Oligodontia in permanent dentition: A case report

Tooth agenesis is one of the most common congenital anomalies seen in humans. Although absence of one or more teeth is common but absence of multiple teeth is rare. Oligodontia is a rare developmental anomaly,involving agenesis of six or more permanent teeth, excluding the third molars. The reported prevalence of oligodontia in permanent dentition is 0.14%. Oligodontia can present as an isolated condition or as a partof a syndrome. The present case report highlights a unique case of non syndromic oligodontia, with agenesis of four permanent incisors, left permanent canine and right second premolar in the mandibular arch andits management with a novel fixed functional prosthetic appliance. Prosthetic rehabilitation is an urgent need for these kind of patients so that they do not suffer from masticatory and esthetic problems which can eventually lower the self esteem of individuals.Key words: Mandible, Permanent dentition, Nonsyndromic, Agenesis, Oligodonti

Cellular adaptations to hypoxia and acidosis during somatic evolution of breast cancer

Conceptual models of carcinogenesis typically consist of an evolutionary sequence of heritable changes in genes controlling proliferation, apoptosis, and senescence. We propose that these steps are necessary but not sufficient to produce invasive breast cancer because intraductal tumour growth is also constrained by hypoxia and acidosis that develop as cells proliferate into the lumen and away from the underlying vessels. This requires evolution of glycolytic and acid-resistant phenotypes that, we hypothesise, is critical for emergence of invasive cancer. Mathematical models demonstrate severe hypoxia and acidosis in regions of intraductal tumours more than 100 m from the basement membrane. Subsequent evolution of glycolytic and acid-resistant phenotypes leads to invasive proliferation. Multicellular spheroids recapitulating ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) microenvironmental conditions demonstrate upregulated glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) as adaptation to hypoxia followed by growth into normoxic regions in qualitative agreement with model predictions. Clinical specimens of DCIS exhibit periluminal distribution of GLUT-1 and Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) indicating transcriptional activation by hypoxia and clusters of the same phenotype in the peripheral, presumably normoxic regions similar to the pattern predicted by the models and observed in spheroids. Upregulated GLUT-1 and NHE-1 were observed in microinvasive foci and adjacent intraductal cells. Adaptation to hypoxia and acidosis may represent key events in transition from in situ to invasive cancer

GLUT 5 Is Not Over-Expressed in Breast Cancer Cells and Patient Breast Cancer Tissues

F18 2-Fluoro 2-deoxyglucose (FDG) has been the gold standard in positron emission tomography (PET) oncologic imaging since its introduction into the clinics several years ago. Seeking to complement FDG in the diagnosis of breast cancer using radio labeled fructose based analogs, we investigated the expression of the chief fructose transporter-GLUT 5 in breast cancer cells and human tissues. Our results indicate that GLUT 5 is not over-expressed in breast cancer tissues as assessed by an extensive immunohistochemistry study. RT-PCR studies showed that the GLUT 5 mRNA was present at minimal amounts in breast cancer cell lines. Further knocking down the expression of GLUT 5 in breast cancer cells using RNA interference did not affect the fructose uptake in these cell lines. Taken together these results are consistent with GLUT 5 not being essential for fructose uptake in breast cancer cells and tissues

High-Capacity Conductive Nanocellulose Paper Sheets for Electrochemically Controlled Extraction of DNA Oligomers

Highly porous polypyrrole (PPy)-nanocellulose paper sheets have been evaluated as inexpensive and disposable electrochemically controlled three-dimensional solid phase extraction materials. The composites, which had a total anion exchange capacity of about 1.1 mol kg−1, were used for extraction and subsequent release of negatively charged fluorophore tagged DNA oligomers via galvanostatic oxidation and reduction of a 30–50 nm conformal PPy layer on the cellulose substrate. The ion exchange capacity, which was, at least, two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reached in electrochemically controlled extraction, originated from the high surface area (i.e. 80 m2 g−1) of the porous composites and the thin PPy layer which ensured excellent access to the ion exchange material. This enabled the extractions to be carried out faster and with better control of the PPy charge than with previously employed approaches. Experiments in equimolar mixtures of (dT)6, (dT)20, and (dT)40 DNA oligomers showed that all oligomers could be extracted, and that the smallest oligomer was preferentially released with an efficiency of up to 40% during the reduction of the PPy layer. These results indicate that the present material is very promising for the development of inexpensive and efficient electrochemically controlled ion-exchange membranes for batch-wise extraction of biomolecules

The Economics of 1.5°C Climate Change

The economic case for limiting warming to 1.5°C is unclear, due to manifold uncertainties. However, it cannot be ruled out that the 1.5°C target passes a cost-benefit test. Costs are almost certainly high: The median global carbon price in 1.5°C scenarios implemented by various energy models is more than US$100 per metric ton of CO2 in 2020, for example. Benefits estimates range from much lower than this to much higher. Some of these uncertainties may reduce in the future, raising the question of how to hedge in the near term. Maintaining an option on limiting warming to 1.5°C means targeting it now. Setting off with higher emissions will make 1.5°C unattainable quickly without recourse to expensive large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR), or solar radiation management (SRM), which can be cheap but poses ambiguous risks society seems unwilling to take. Carbon pricing could reduce mitigation costs substantially compared with ramping up the current patchwork of regulatory instruments. Nonetheless, a mix of policies is justified and technology-specific approaches may be required. It is particularly important to step up mitigation finance to developing countries, where emissions abatement is relatively cheap

Quantitative characterization of metabolism and metabolic shifts during growth of the new human cell line AGE1.HN using time resolved metabolic flux analysis

For the improved production of vaccines and therapeutic proteins, a detailed understanding of the metabolic dynamics during batch or fed-batch production is requested. To study the new human cell line AGE1.HN, a flexible metabolic flux analysis method was developed that is considering dynamic changes in growth and metabolism during cultivation. This method comprises analysis of formation of cellular components as well as conversion of major substrates and products, spline fitting of dynamic data and flux estimation using metabolite balancing. During batch cultivation of AGE1.HN three distinct phases were observed, an initial one with consumption of pyruvate and high glycolytic activity, a second characterized by a highly efficient metabolism with very little energy spilling waste production and a third with glutamine limitation and decreasing viability. Main events triggering changes in cellular metabolism were depletion of pyruvate and glutamine. Potential targets for the improvement identified from the analysis are (i) reduction of overflow metabolism in the beginning of cultivation, e.g. accomplished by reduction of pyruvate content in the medium and (ii) prolongation of phase 2 with its highly efficient energy metabolism applying e.g. specific feeding strategies. The method presented allows fast and reliable metabolic flux analysis during the development of producer cells and production processes from microtiter plate to large scale reactors with moderate analytical and computational effort. It seems well suited to guide media optimization and genetic engineering of producing cell lines

Haptoglobin and Sickle Cell Polymorphisms and Risk of Active Trachoma in Gambian Children

BACKGROUND: Susceptibility and resistance to trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness, have been associated with a range of host genetic factors. In vitro studies of the causative organism, Chlamydia trachomatis, demonstrate that iron availability regulates its growth, suggesting that host genes involved in regulating iron status and/or availability may modulate the risk of trachoma. The objective was to investigate whether haptoglobin (Hp) haplotypes constructed from the functional polymorphism (Hp1/Hp2) plus the functional promoter SNPs -61A-C (rs5471) and -101C-G (rs5470), or sickle cell trait (HbAS, rs334) were associated with risk of active trachoma when stratified by age and sex, in rural Gambian children. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In two cross sectional surveys of children aged 6-78 months (n = 836), the prevalence of the clinical signs of active trachoma was 21.4%. Within boys, haplotype E (-101G, -61A, Hp1), containing the variant allele of the -101C-G promoter SNP, was associated with a two-fold increased risk of active trachoma (OR = 2.0 [1.17-3.44]). Within girls, an opposite association was non-significant (OR = 0.58 [0.32-1.04]; P = 0.07) and the interaction by sex was statistically significant (P = 0.001). There was no association between trachoma and HbAS. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that genetic variation in Hp may affect susceptibility to active trachoma differentially by sex in The Gambia