Trace Elements in Dentistry: A Review

As human body needs in and around two thirds of all the elements so as to maintain the health and our human body contains elements which are well known as abundant elements as well as trace elements. Due to biological and chemical reactions, trace elements, being part of a few enzymesare very important. They work not in collaboration with proteins but definitely with other co-enzymes. At earlier stage dental profession was involved with the field of trace elements and their association with dental disease. So, understanding of these trace elements is essential and significant for disease control as well as for optimal health

ALSA and PISA Quantifiable Tool for Diabetic Patients: A Clinical Study

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a well known risk factor for Periodontitis and the severity of the periodontal disease is often represented as non-continuous variables that quantify the amount of affected periodontal tissue in partial manner. So, Attachment Loss Surface Area (ALSA) and the Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area (PISA) Index have been introduced in order to find out diseased condition in true sense.AIM: To find out comparison between diabetic and non diabetic patients by using the Attachment Loss Surface Area (ALSA) and the Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area (PISA) Index.MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study was done in department of Periodontology and Implantology among 60 diabetic and 40 non diabetic patients who attended the OPD of general hospital. Clinical examination with ALISA, PISA and Plaque Index was recorded and collected data was subject to statistical analysis.RESULTS: It was found that no statistical difference exists between both of the groups. (p <0.05)CONCLUSION: It was concluded through this study that though as such no difference was found but ALISA and PISA both the parameters can be used to find out the progress of periodontal condition

Analysis of IoT and Blockchain Technology for Agricultural Food Supply Chain Transactions

The Block chain is a peer to peer, distributed ledger in which members must establish consensus to record every new input and transactions that are stored by all members. Over the last decade, block chain technology has grown in popularity, attracting interest from a wide range of industries, including finance, manufacturing, energy, and government sectors, health, and agriculture supply chains, land registrations, and digital identifications (IDs). Block chain facilitates better opportunities and benefits in agriculture, as well as building trust between farmers and consumers and allowing the creation of reliable food supply chains. The Chapter discusses how block chain and smart contracts can improve productivity, transparency, and traceability in agricultural insurance, smart farming, and agricultural food supply chain transactions (AFSC). By applying Block chain agri-food supply chain tracking was made easy and won the trust from different stakeholders, which was a real benefit to the real heroes of the country. The consumer can research the history of a product they are thinking about buying and consume food in their cart, learning about the entire process from planting to harvesting, transporting, and selling. Food fraud may be reduced by using the traceability and integrity of financial information to detect untrustworthy intermediaries and business practices that exploit both independent farmers and cooperatives. The agricultural industry will be transformed by block chain for supply chain management. All phases of the agriculture supply chain are being simplified, enhancing food safety and preventing the sale of counterfeit goods. Access to agricultural finance services for farmers and companies could also be facilitated by the technology. This Paper presents a review and research challenges on the existing block chain based IoT applications in the agriculture domain where maximum research focuses on food supply chain and its security of Internet of things with Block chain. The chapter presents how block chain and smart contracts can increase productivity, transparency and traceability could be very effective in Agricultural insurance, smart farming, transactions of agricultural food supply chains

Lockdown and Insomnia among Undergraduate Healthcare Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Insomnia is a risk factor for various physical and mental disorders as well can affect the academic performance of a student(s). AIM: To assess the prevalence of insomnia among university going students (medical, dental and nursing streams) in the South Asian continent during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemicMATERIALS AND METHOD: The present study was conducted amongst 743 medical, dental and nursing undergraduate students residing in South Asia using convenience sampling. Data was collected using a pre-tested and pre-validated questionnaire [the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS)] using google forms and had a total of 8 questions (score range 0-3) . Final scores (the individual AIS score) were obtained by adding the scores for each question (range 0 -24). The higher the score was, the worse was the sleep quality; students with score of ≥ 6 were considered insomniac. Data Analysis was done using SPSS version 21.012 by using the independent samples t-test, and multiple logistic regression.RESULTS: A total of 921 entries were recorded, out of which 743 were complete and hence, were included in the study (response rate: 80.7%). Insomnia was reported in 421 (56.7%) students, out of which, the highest was seen among dental (62.7%), followed by medical (59.8%) and nursing (45.3%) undergraduates. The highest range of AIS was observed among females (6-22) and dental students (6-21). Gender differences revealed a significant association among females in both range obtained (t-test) (p=0.03) as well as the multiple linear regression analyzing insomnia in relation to gender (p=0.03).CONCLUSION: There is a need to regularly assess insomnia among students and to take preventive measures incase of high prevalence is found among them, especially while pursuing academics online and from their homes due to the pandemic

Bulk Superconductivity in Bismuth-oxy-sulfide Bi4O4S3

Very recent report [1] on observation of superconductivity in Bi4O4S3 could potentially reignite the search for superconductivity in a broad range of layered sulphides. We report here synthesis of Bi4O4S3 at 5000C by vacuum encapsulation technique and basic characterizations. Detailed structural, magnetization, and electrical transport results are reported. Bi4O4S3 is contaminated by small amounts of Bi2S3 and Bi impurities. The majority phase is tetragonal I4/mmm space group with lattice parameters a = 3.9697(2){\AA}, c = 41.3520(1){\AA}. Both AC and DC magnetization measurements confirmed that Bi4O4S3 is a bulk superconductor with superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of 4.4K. Isothermal magnetization (MH) measurements indicated closed loops with clear signatures of flux pinning and irreversible behavior. The lower critical field (Hc1) at 2K, of the new superconductor is found to be ~39 Oe. The magneto-transport R(T, H) measurements showed a resistive broadening and decrease in Tc (R=0) to lower temperatures with increasing magnetic field. The extrapolated upper critical field Hc2(0) is ~ 310kOe with a corresponding Ginzburg-Landau coherence length of ~100{\AA} . In the normal state the {\rho} ~ T2 is not indicated. Our magnetization and electrical transport measurements substantiate the appearance of bulk superconductivity in as synthesized Bi4O4S3. On the other hand same temperature heat treated Bi is not superconducting, thus excluding possibility of impurity driven superconductivity in the newly discovered Bi4O4S3 superconductor.Comment: 12 pages Text + Fig

Self-Reported Obesity Status of School Teachers Teaching In Various Schools of District Panchkula, Haryana, India

INTRODUCTION: Being overweight and obese are a major concern across the globe, as it impact one’s quality of life.AIM: To assess the self-reported Obesity status of private school teachers teaching in various schools of district Panchkula, Haryana, IndiaMATERIALS AND METHOD: A Descriptive, cross sectional study, questionnaire based study was conducted among school teachers of Panchkula District, Haryana, India using self-reported 10 item-questionnaire. The data was duly entered into Microsoft excel wherein descriptive statistics were applied and then, regression analysis to find differences if any, was applied using SPSS version 21.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk NY)RESULTS: Of a 500 questionnaires distributed, 417 were fit for data entry (response rate 83.4%) with a majority of the study subjects being females (220,52.7%), and 97.1% of the teachers taught in private schools. The overall prevalence of obesity 15.1% was reported based on self-reported BMI. A non-significant p value of .006.(Regression analysis) between males and females with respect to their self-reported BMI was observed.CONCLUSION: Efforts are required to be directed to prevent obesity among schoolteachers, who act as role-models for their students

Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in children with histomorphological review

Rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS) are aggressive malignant neoplasm of mesenchymal origin, related to skeletal muscle lineage. These are the most common soft tissue tumors in children. The diagnosis is made by microscopic analysis and ancillary techniques like immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, cytogenetics and molecular biology. We encountered a case of a 03 years old child who presented with a tender, reddish, soft swelling over cheek for three weeks. The FNAC was reported as a small round cell tumor, Probably Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET). The biopsy of tumor revealed a small round cell tumor with an alveolar pattern. Tumor giant cells were absent and mitotic figures were infrequent. Hence, differentials of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and PNET were rendered. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) demonstrated desmin positivity. Thus, a final diagnosis of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma was offered

Effect of drip irrigation on growth and yield of onion (Allium cepa L.)

Drip irrigation is one of the essential, advanced and innovative irrigation methods over surface irrigation. In view of this, an experiment was conducted to study the efficiency of drip irrigation system over surface irrigation in onion during Rabi 2013-14 and 2014-15 and Kharif 2014 and 2015. The results revealed that drip irrigation system performed superior over surface irrigation system in terms of superior plant morphology, yield and quality of bulb. Drip irrigation recorded maximum plant height (66.37 cm & 61.88), number of leaves (9.23 & 8.00) and neck thickness (1.62 cm & 1.30 cm) in both Rabi and Kharif seasons. The bulb equatorial and polar diameter, higher gross yield as well as marketable yield obtained in drip irrigation system. In drip, gross yield and marketable yield increased 18.16% and 24.49%, respectively over surface irrigation method and better water use efficiency and also saved 29.36% and 27.12% water during Rabi and Kharif seasons, respectively

Teamwork delivers biotechnology products to Indian small-holder crop-livestock producers: Pearl millet hybrid “HHB 67 Improved” enters seed delivery pipeline

HHB 67, released in 1990 by CCS Haryana Agricultural University, is one such single-cross pearl millet hybrid. HHB 67 is highly popular because of its extra-early maturity (it needs less than 65 days from sowing to grain maturity) and is now grown on over 500 000 ha in Haryana and Rajasthan, India. Recent surveys have indicated that this hybrid is starting to succumb to downy mildew (DM; caused by the pseudo-fungus Sclerospora graminicola), showing up to 30% incidence in farmers' fields. By rapidly adopting hybrid "HHB 67 Improved", farmers in Haryana and Rajasthan can avoid grain production losses of Rs36 crores (US$8 million) which would be expected in the first year of a major DM outbreak on the original HHB 67