Endocrine disruptors and obesity: a current review on environmental obesogens

Obesity represents an important public health concern because it substantially increases the risk of multiple chronic diseases and thereby contributing to a decline in both quality of life and life expectancy. Besides unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and genetic susceptibility, environmental pollutants also contribute to the rising prevalence of obesity epidemic. An environmental obesogen is defined as a chemical that can alter lipid homeostasis to promote adipogenesis and lipid accumulation whereas an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) is defined as a synthetic chemical that can interfere with the endocrine function and cause adverse health effects. Many obesogens are EDCs that interfere with normal endocrine regulation of metabolism, adipose tissue development and maintenance, appetite, weight, and energy balance. An expanding body of scientific evidence from animal and epidemiological studies has begun to provide links between exposure to EDCs and obesity. Despite the significance of environmental obesogens in the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, the contribution of synthetic chemical exposure to obesity epidemic remains largely unrecognised. Hence, the purpose of this review is to provide a current update on the evidences from animal and human studies on the role of fourteen environmental obesogens in obesity, a comprehensive view of the mechanisms of action of obesogens and current green and sustainable chemistry strategies to overcome chemical exposure to prevent obesity. Designing of safer version of obesogens through green chemistry approaches requires a collaborative undertaking to evaluate the toxicity of endocrine disruptors using appropriate experimental methods, which will help in developing a new generation of inherently safer chemicals

Faculty experience and reliability of assessing narrative reports using rubrics: Report from a dental school in India

Background: Assessment drives learning is a well-known adage. If the assessment is subjective, it can under/overestimate the student's performance and thus impair the learning process. Rubrics help standardize the assessment by giving guidelines to both the assessor and the student and minimize subjectivity. Methodology: A mixed method design was employed to identify the inter- and intra-rater reliability of assessing narrative reports and explore the faculty perceptions on using rubrics for the assessment of narrative reports. Results: The inter-rater reliability scores were 0.08 without the use of rubrics and 0.93 with the use of rubrics demonstrating a statistically significant-excellent reliability when rubrics were used. The intra- and inter-examiner mean total assessment scores showed a statistically significant variation when rubrics were not used while the variation was reduced with the use of rubric. The two examiners who were part of the study welcomed the use of rubrics for assessment. They concurred that rubrics gave the assessor the schema and minimized the subjectivity of the assessment. Although the time taken for assessment was initially longer with a rubric scale, subsequently, the time taken was reduced. The assessors felt that they were now in a position to give richer constructive feedback to students. They felt that the students should also know the rubric scale beforehand so that it sets the expectations and helps the student to set self-determined learning goals. Conclusion: The use of rubrics improves inter- and intra-rater reliability of assessment scores. It gives a direction to the examiners and helps categorizing the student performance with minimal subjectivity

Effectiveness of amine fluoride mouthwash in preventing white spot lesions during fixed orthodontic therapy - A randomized control trial

Background and Aim: One of the main reasons that patients seek orthodontic treatment is aesthetics. Unfortunately, treatment with fixed orthodontic appliances can at times increase the chances of developing white spot lesions on the surfaces of teeth, thus creating a new aesthetic issue for the patient. The prevalence of white spot lesions (WSL) reported after treatment varies from 2% to 97%, and these lesions can occur despite increased attention to hygiene. Hence the aim of this study was to assess the effect of Amine fluoride mouthwash in preventing white spot lesions during fixed orthodontic therapy. Materials and Methods: Study participants were randomly divided into two groups (Group A – experimental 25 patients and Group B – control 25 patients). The pre-intervention and post-intervention intra-oral digital photographs were analysed by using ImageJ software to assess the percentage of the facial surface affected on the teeth (10 maxillary teeth), which had white spot lesions. Results: The mean value of WSLs showed significant difference between the experimental and control groups. Mean values of WSL in the experimental group decreased from 2 to 1.54 with a mean difference of 0.46 after 6 months of follow-up which indicated that amine fluoride mouthwash was effective in preventing WSLs during fixed orthodontic treatment. Conclusion: WSLs scores were significantly reduced in patients who received the mouthwash when compared to patients who followed standard oral hygiene regimen with fluoridated toothpaste only. In clinical practice, amine fluoride mouthwash is an effective method for the prevention of WSLs during fixed orthodontic treatment

s-triazine degrading bacterial isolate <em>Arthrobacter</em> sp AK-YN10, a candidate for bioaugmentation of atrazine contaminated soil

International audienceThe Arthrobacter sp. strain AK-YN10 is an s-triazine pesticide degrading bacterium isolated from a sugarcane field in Central India with history of repeated atrazine use. AK-YN10 was shown to degrade 99 % of atrazine in 30 h from media supplemented with 1000 mg L-1 of the herbicide. Draft genome sequencing revealed similarity to pAO1, TC1, and TC2 catabolic plasmids of the Arthrobacter taxon. Plasmid profiling analyses revealed the presence of four catabolic plasmids. The trzN, atzB, and atzC atrazine-degrading genes were located on a plasmid of approximately 113 kb. The flagellar operon found in the AK-YN10 draft genome suggests motility, an interesting trait for a bioremediation agent, and was homologous to that of Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus. The multiple s-triazines degradation property of this isolate makes it a good candidate for bioremediation of soils contaminated by s-triazine pesticides