An osteological study of morphometry of hard palate and its importance

Background: The hard palate is an essential part of human skull, the detailed knowledge of which plays an important role in the passive articulation of speech.Methods: The present study was conducted on 65 dry skulls from the department of anatomy, MVJMC & RH, Bangalore. With vernier caliper, palatine length, palatine breadth and heights were measured. Palatine index and palatine height index were calculated.Results: Mean palatine length was 48.47 ± 4.66 mm. Mean palatine breadth was 36 ± 4.41 mm and height was 8.62 ± 2.76 mm. According to the palatine index range, 66% of the hard palate belongs to leptostaphyline, 18.5% belongs to mesostaphyline and 15. 5% was brachystaphyline. As per palatine height index, 72.3% of hard palate showed chamestaphyline followed by 26.1% orthostaphyline and 1.6% hypistaphyline.Conclusions: These observations can be utilised for ethnic and racial classification of crania, anthropological studies, fabricating complete maxillary dentures for edentulous patients and performing certain surgical procedures in hard palate & soft palate

A Deep Learning Approach for Malnutrition Detection

The timely detection of malnutrition in children is of paramount importance, as it allows for early intervention and treatment. This proactive approach not only prevents further health deterioration but also fosters proper growth, minimizing the long-term consequences of malnutrition, such as stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and increased vulnerability to diseases. Our work encompasses the creation of a new dataset comprising images of children in Healthy, Undernourished, Stunting, and Wasting categories. The core objective is to assess the deep learning model performance in classifying these children images. The experimentation is carried out by varying epochs, batch size, optimizers AdamW, Adamax, and RMSprop; and different values of the learning rate 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, and 0.0001 during model training. The model is trained on image dataset constructed by cleaning images generated by the stable diffusion model. The model is tested on randomly selected child images from websites. The model successfully classified two classes with 95% accuracy, 97.6% F1 score, precision 97.6%, and 97.6% recall with Adam optimizers, 0.0001 learning rate, and Batch size 4. Additionally, for the four-class categorization scenario, the study broadens the classification. The model achieved 88.87% accuracy, 90.3% recall, 90.2% precision, and an F1 score of 90% for four-class categorization with AdamW optimization, 0.0001 learning rate, and batch size 6. These results are satisfactory for prediction of malnutrition category in children

“Nanodentistry”- The Next Big Thing Is Small

Nanotechnology has revolutionized the field of dentistry with tremendous potential to provide the comprehensive oral health care using the nanomaterials, advanced clinical tools and devices. The new era of dentistry will encompass precisely regulated analgesia, tooth renaturalization, complete cure for hypersensitivity and rapid orthodontic treatment. Many novel nanotechnology products are on the way and new treatment modalities are also proposed. Nanotechnology has increased the hope for better oral health care delivery and improved maintenance through the ongoing research in diagnosis, cure and prevention of oral diseases. This review article provides an insight about the importance and possible applications of nanotechnology in the field of dentistry

Impact of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium multidimensional approach on central line-associated bloodstream infection rates in adult intensive care units in eight cities in India

SummaryObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) multidimensional infection control approach on central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates in eight cities of India.MethodsThis was a prospective, before-and-after cohort study of 35650 patients hospitalized in 16 adult intensive care units of 11 hospitals. During the baseline period, outcome surveillance of CLABSI was performed, applying the definitions of the CDC/NHSN (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Healthcare Safety Network). During the intervention, the INICC approach was implemented, which included a bundle of interventions, education, outcome surveillance, process surveillance, feedback on CLABSI rates and consequences, and performance feedback. Random effects Poisson regression was used for clustering of CLABSI rates across time periods.ResultsDuring the baseline period, 9472 central line (CL)-days and 61 CLABSIs were recorded; during the intervention period, 80898 CL-days and 404 CLABSIs were recorded. The baseline rate was 6.4 CLABSIs per 1000 CL-days, which was reduced to 3.9 CLABSIs per 1000 CL-days in the second year and maintained for 36 months of follow-up, accounting for a 53% CLABSI rate reduction (incidence rate ratio 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.31–0.70; p=0.0001).ConclusionsImplementing the six components of the INICC approach simultaneously was associated with a significant reduction in the CLABSI rate in India, which remained stable during 36 months of follow-up

Association of Vegetable and Animal Flesh Intake with Inflammation in Pregnant Women from India

In pregnant women, studies are lacking on the relationship of vegetable and animal flesh (poultry, red meat and seafood) intake with inflammation, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a cohort study of pregnant women receiving antenatal care at BJ Medical College in Pune, India. The dietary intake of pregnant women was queried in the third trimester using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Twelve inflammatory markers were measured in plasma samples using immunoassays. Only 12% of the study population were vegetarians, although animal flesh intake levels were lower compared to Western populations. In multivariable models, higher intakes of total vegetables were associated with lower levels of the T-helper (Th) 17 cytokine interleukin (IL)-17a (p = 0.03) and the monocyte/macrophage activation marker soluble CD163 (sCD163) (p = 0.02). Additionally, higher intakes of poultry were negatively associated with intestinal fatty-acid binding protein (I-FABP) levels (p = 0.01), a marker of intestinal barrier dysfunction and Th2 cytokine IL-13 (p = 0.03), and higher seafood was associated with lower IL-13 (p = 0.005). Our data from pregnant women in India suggest that a higher quality diet emphasizing vegetables and with some animal flesh is associated with lower inflammation. Future studies should confirm these findings and test if modulating vegetables and animal flesh intake could impact specific aspects of immunity and perinatal health

Effects of Pregnancy and Isoniazid Preventive Therapy on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Interferon Gamma Response Assays in Women With HIV

CITATION: Weinberg, A. et al. 2021. Effects of Pregnancy and Isoniazid Preventive Therapy on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Interferon Gamma Response Assays in Women With HIV. Clinical infectious diseases, 73(9): e3555–e3562. doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1083The original publication is available at https://academic.oup.com/cid/Background Pregnancy is accompanied by immune suppression. We hypothesized that Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific inflammatory responses used to identify latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) lose positivity during pregnancy. We also hypothesized that isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) may revert LTBI diagnoses because of its sterilizing activity. Methods 944 women with human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) participating in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study comparing 28 weeks of IPT antepartum versus postpartum, were tested by QuantiFERON-gold-in-tube (QGIT) antepartum and by QGIT and tuberculin skin test (TST) at delivery and postpartum. Serial QGIT positivity was assessed by logistic regression using generalized estimating equations. Results From entry to delivery, 68 (24%) of 284 QGIT-positive women reverted to QGIT-negative or indeterminate. Of these, 42 (62%) recovered QGIT positivity postpartum. The loss of QGIT positivity during pregnancy was explained by decreased interferon gamma (IFNγ) production in response to TB antigen and/or mitogen. At delivery, LTBI was identified by QGIT in 205 women and by TST in 113 women. Corresponding numbers postpartum were 229 and 122 women. QGIT and TST kappa agreement coefficients were 0.4 and 0.5, respectively. Among QGIT-positive women antepartum or at delivery, 34 (12%) reverted to QGIT-negative after IPT. There were no differences between women who initiated IPT antepartum or postpartum. Conclusions Decreased IFNγ responses in pregnancy reduced QGIT positivity, suggesting that this test cannot reliably rule out LTBI during pregnancy. TST was less affected by pregnancy, but had lower positivity compared to QGIT at all time points. IPT was associated with loss of QGIT positivity, the potential clinical consequences of which need to be investigated.https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/73/9/e3555/5877271?login=truePublishers versio

An overview of Neem (Azadirachta indica) and its potential impact on health

Global health and medical practice seek to merge alternative medicine with evidence-based medicine for a better understanding of the metabolic process and its effects in the human body. An example is the use of complementary medicine like phytotherapy. Azadirachta indica (Neem), a tree originally from India and Myanmar, called by many “The village pharmacy” or “Divine tree” because of its many health properties. In recent times, Neem-derived extracts have been shown to work from anywhere from insect repellent, to supplements to lower inflammation, diabetic control, and even to combat cancer. Herein, we state the health benefits found in diverse compounds and extracts derived from Neem, highlighting the mechanisms and pathways in which Neem compounds produce their effects, while warning that the improper and unstandardized conditions to produce extracts can lead to health issues, particularly certain compounds might have damaging effects on the liver and kidneys

Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)—giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life—is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2018 across 94 LMICs mapped to policy-relevant administrative units (for example, districts), quantify subnational inequalities and their changes over time, and estimate probabilities of meeting the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) of ≥70% EBF prevalence by 2030. While six LMICs are projected to meet the WHO GNT of ≥70% EBF prevalence at a national scale, only three are predicted to meet the target in all their district-level units by 2030

Morphometric study of atypical lumbar vertebrae and its physiological correlation

Background: The fixation of lumbar spine is needed for various spinal problems such as fracture in lumbar spine, resection of tumors in vertebral bodies, gross spondylolisthesis, and lumbar instabilities. Majority of pedicle morphometric studies are based on white population in different parts of the world, whereas only a few studies are available on Indian population. Objective: To report the results of a morphometric study of adult atypical lumbar vertebrae’s pedicles and correlate them physiologically to provide morphometric inputs for the use of this vertebral component in implants fixation in the population of Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 20 dry human atypical lumbar vertebrae obtained from Department of Anatomy, Shyam Shah Medical College, Rewa (Madhya Pradesh, India). Pedicle vertical height (h) and pedicle width (w) were measured with the help of a sliding vernier caliper. Results: Positive correlations have been found between height and width of dry human lumbar vertebrae. Conclusion: Results indicated that in Rewa region of central India, 15-mm Steffee pedicle screw can be used safely for atypical lumbar vertebrae