Protective and susceptibility effects of hSKCa3 allelic variants on juvenile myoclonic epilepsy

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Child′s dental fear: Cause related factors and the influence of audiovisual modeling

Background: Delivery of effective dental treatment to a child patient requires thorough knowledge to recognize dental fear and its management by the application of behavioral management techniques. Children′s Fear Survey Schedule - Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) helps in identification of specific stimuli which provoke fear in children with regard to dental situation. Audiovisual modeling can be successfully used in pediatric dental practice. Aim: To assess the degree of fear provoked by various stimuli in the dental office and to evaluate the effect of audiovisual modeling on dental fear of children using CFSS-DS. Materials and Methods: Ninety children were divided equally into experimental (group I) and control (group II) groups and were assessed in two visits for their degree of fear and the effect of audiovisual modeling, with the help of CFSS-DS. Results: The most fear-provoking stimulus for children was injection and the least was to open the mouth and having somebody look at them. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall mean CFSS-DS scores between the two groups during the initial session (P > 0.05). However, in the final session, a statistically significant difference was observed in the overall mean fear scores between the groups (P < 0.01). Significant improvement was seen in group I, while no significant change was noted in case of group II. Conclusion: Audiovisual modeling resulted in a significant reduction of overall fear as well as specific fear in relation to most of the items. A significant reduction of fear toward dentists, doctors in general, injections, being looked at, the sight, sounds, and act of the dentist drilling, and having the nurse clean their teeth was observed

Effectiveness of new vibration delivery system on pain associated with injection of local anesthesia in children

Aim: Pain is highly subjective and it is neurologically proven that stimulation of larger diameter fibers - e.g., using appropriate coldness, warmth, rubbing, pressure or vibration - can close the neural "gate" so that the central perception of itch and pain is reduced. This fact is based upon "gate control" theory of Melzack and Wall. The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of vibration stimuli on pain experienced during local anesthetic injections. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients aged 6-12 years old of both the genders with Frankel′s behavior rating scale as positive and definitely positive requiring bilateral local anesthesia injections for dental treatment were included in the split-mouth cross over design. Universal pain assessment tool was used to assess the pain with and without vibration during the administration of local anesthesia and the results obtained were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results: Local anesthetic administration with vibration resulted in significantly less pain (P = 0.001) compared to the injections without the use of vibe. Conclusion: The results suggest that vibration can be used as an effective method to decrease pain during dental local anesthetic administration

Dynamized Preparations in Cell Culture

Although reports on the efficacy of homeopathic medicines in animal models are limited, there are even fewer reports on the in vitro action of these dynamized preparations. We have evaluated the cytotoxic activity of 30C and 200C potencies of ten dynamized medicines against Dalton's Lymphoma Ascites, Ehrlich's Ascites Carcinoma, lung fibroblast (L929) and Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell lines and compared activity with their mother tinctures during short-term and long-term cell culture. The effect of dynamized medicines to induce apoptosis was also evaluated and we studied how dynamized medicines affected genes expressed during apoptosis. Mother tinctures as well as some dynamized medicines showed significant cytotoxicity to cells during short and long-term incubation. Potentiated alcohol control did not produce any cytotoxicity at concentrations studied. The dynamized medicines were found to inhibit CHO cell colony formation and thymidine uptake in L929 cells and those of Thuja, Hydrastis and Carcinosinum were found to induce apoptosis in DLA cells. Moreover, dynamized Carcinosinum was found to induce the expression of p53 while dynamized Thuja produced characteristic laddering pattern in agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA. These results indicate that dynamized medicines possess cytotoxic as well as apoptosis-inducing properties

Differently Environment Stable Bio-Silver Nanoparticles: Study on Their Optical Enhancing and Antibacterial Properties

<div><p>Generally, limited research is extended in studying stability and applicational properties of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) synthesized by adopting ‘green chemistry’ protocol. In this work, we report on the synthesis of stable Ag NPs using plant-derived materials such as leaf extract of Neem (<i>Azadirachta indica</i>) and biopolymer pectin from apple peel. In addition, the applicational properties of Ag NPs such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and antibacterial efficiencies were also investigated. As-synthesized nanoparticles (NPs) were characterized using various instrumentation techniques. Both the plant materials (leaf extract and biopolymer) favored the synthesis of well-defined NPs capped with biomaterials. The NPs were spherical in shape with an average particle size between 14-27 nm. These bio-NPs exhibited colloidal stability in most of the suspended solutions such as water, electrolyte solutions (NaCl; NaNO₃), biological solution (bovine serum albumin), and in different pH solutions (pH 7; 9) for a reasonable time period of 120 hrs. Both the bio-NPs were observed to be SERS active through displaying intrinsic SERS signals of the Raman probe molecule (Nile blue A). The NPs were effective against the <i>Escherichia coli</i> bacterium when tested in nutrient broth and agar medium. Scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (SEM and HRTEM) images confirmed cellular membrane damage of nanoparticle treated <i>E. coli</i> cells. These environmental friendly template Ag NPs can be used as an antimicrobial agent and also for SERS based analytical applications.</p> </div

Electron microscopy images of bio-Ag NPs exposed <i>E. coli</i> cells.

<p>SEM images of <i>E. coli</i> cells treated with (a-c) <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs and (d-f) pectin Ag NPs. HRTEM images <i>E. coli</i> cells treated with (g-i) <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs and (j-l) pectin Ag NPs.</p

Colloidal stability of pectin Ag NPs in different media.

<p>Time dependent UV-Vis absorbance spectra and zeta (HDD and ζ potential value) measurements of pectin Ag NPs dispersed in different media. Pectin Ag NPs dispersed in (a-b; e-f) NaCl, (c-d; g-h) NaNO₃, (i-j; m-n) BSA, (k; o) pH 7 and (l; p) pH 9.</p

Colloidal stability of bio-silver nanoparticles in water.

<p>(a) UV-Vis absorbance spectra, and (b) HDD and ζ potential values of <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs. (c) UV-Vis absorbance spectra and (d) HDD and ζ potential values pectin Ag NPs.</p

Colloidal stability of <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs in different media.

<p>Time dependent UV-Vis absorbance spectra and zeta (HDD and ζ potential value) measurements of <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs dispersed in different media. <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs dispersed in (a-b; e-f) NaCl, (c-d; g-h) NaNO₃, (i-j; m-n) BSA, (k; o) pH 7 and (l; p) pH 9.</p

Silver nanoparticles characterization.

<p>(a) UV-Vis absorbance spectrum, (b) TEM image (inset SAED pattern) and (c) size distribution histogram pattern of (i) <i>A. indica</i> Ag NPs and (ii) pectin Ag NPs.</p