Non-Syndromic Unilateralsupplemental Maxillary Central Incisor: A Case Report

Background: Supernumerary teeth are developmental anomaly. There are various theories explaining their occurrence. Maxilla is more commonly affected and males have higher predilection than females for having supernumerary teeth.Case Details: The present case is presented with three permanent central incisors, all of them with normal morphology. On clinical and radiographic examination, it was identified as a case of nonsyndromic unilateral left supplemental maxillary central incisor. Treatment plan involved extraction of the supplemental tooth followed by orthodontic treatment to correct the malalignment of the teeth.Conclusion: The presence of supplemental teeth of normal morphology is quite a rare condition and are commonly associated with various syndromes but, in rare cases, they also exists as non-syndromic forms. Supernumerary teeth can cause aesthetic or functional problems, especially when situated in the maxillary anterior region. Complications related to the phenomenon can be minimized by early detection and by carrying out a comprehensive treatment protocol.Keywords: supplemental, central inciso

Is Plaque Removal Efficacy of Toothbrush Related to Bristle Flaring? A 3-month Prospective Parallel Experimental Study

Background: Toothbrushes are over-the-counter products; therefore, no special instruction is given to users when they purchase. There are scarce published studies that have investigated about how often toothbrushes should be replaced. Thus, this study aimed to verify the impact of the Progressive Toothbrush Bristle Flaring on plaque control efficacy of toothbrush.Materials and Methods: Thirty six subjects were randomly selected and underwent complete oral prophylaxis 10 days prior to the Baseline plaque recording. All subjects were provided with new similar toothbrushes and were divided into two groups. New Brush Group changed toothbrush every month and Old month Group used single toothbrush for the whole period of the study. Both groups were assessed for plaque accumulation every month using Turesky et al, (1970) modification of the Quigley and Hein (1962) plaque index. Toothbrush head was photographed and assessed by measuring the brushing surface area on standardized photographs using National Institutes of Health Image Analysis Program (USA).Results: Both groups showed similar plaque scores at the 40th day; progressive increase in the plaque scores in group without changing the toothbrush were recorded at the 70th and 100th days. As toothbrush flaring increased, the plaque scores also increased in the Old Brush Group. Highest plaque accumulation was recorded in Mandibular Lingual aspects in Old Brush Group.Conclusion: Progressive increase was seen in the plaque scores with increase in toothbrush bristle flaring.Keywords: Toothbrush, Efficacy of Toothbrush, Bristle Flaring, Plaque Remova

Prevalence of Traumatic Dental Injuries to Anterior Teeth of 12-Year-Old School Children in Kashmir, India

Background: Traumatic dental injuries to anterior teeth are a significant public health problem, not only because their prevalence is relatively high, but also because they have considerable impact on children’s daily lives. Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) cause physical and psychological discomfort, pain and other negative impacts, such as tendency to avoid laughing or smiling, which can affect social relationships. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries to anterior teeth among 12-year-old school children in Kashmir, India. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in private and government schools of India among 1600 schoolchildren aged 12 years. In addition to recording of the type of trauma (using Ellis and Davey classification of fractures, 1970), over jet, Angle’s molar relation and lip competence were also recorded. The socioeconomic status and academic performance of the study subjects were registered. The data obtained were compiled systematically and then statistically analyzed. The statistical significance for the association between the traumatic injury and the variables was analyzed using the chi-square test. Logistic regression was used to identify potential risk predictors of TDIs. Results: The overall prevalence of TDI to anterior teeth was found to be 9.3%. The TDI to anterior teeth in male was more than female, but the difference was statistically nonsignificant (P < 0.01). Falls and sports were the most common causes of trauma in the present study. The highest potential risk factor for the occurrence of trauma was over jet. Academic performance was found to be significantly associated to TDI to anterior teeth, when analyzed in a multiple regression model. Conclusions: It was concluded that the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries was 9.3%. Traumatic dental injuries among children exhibit complex interaction between the victims’ oral conditions and their behavior. Therefore, prevention should consider a number of characteristics such as oral predisposing factors, environmental determinants and human behavior. It is recommended that specific and proper public places for leisure and sports activities, with impact-absorbing surfaces around the items on which children are most likely to fall, should be provided

Lactate Dehydrogenase and β-Glucuronidase as Salivary Biochemical Markers of Periodontitis Among Smokers and Non-Smokers

Objectives: This study aimed to establish lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and β-glucuronidase as salivary biomarkers of periodontitis among smokers and non-smokers. Methods: This cross-sectional case-control study was conducted at the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, between January and June 2017. A total of 200 participants were divided into four groups based on their periodontal and smoking statuses. Unstimulated mixed saliva samples were collected to estimate LDH and β-glucuronidase levels. In addition, total protein was estimated using Lowry’s method. Results: There was a significant increase in enzyme activity in the periodontitis groups compared to the non-periodontitis groups (P <0.001). However, significantly lower enzyme activity was observed among smokers, irrespective of periodontal status (P <0.001). Nevertheless, a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated the diagnostic potential of both enzymes to be fair-to-excellent. Conclusion: Although smoking was found to significantly alter enzyme activity, LDH and β-glucuronidase were reliable salivary biomarkers of periodontitis among both smokers and non-smokers. Keywords: Periodontitis; Biomarkers; Saliva; Lactate Dehydrogenase; beta-Glucuronidase; Smoking; Tobacco Use; India

Recent technologies for nutrient removal and recovery from wastewaters: A review

Water scarcity and its pollution has become a concern in recent times. The disposal of nutrient-rich (nitrogen and phosphorous) wastewater is also one of the main cause of water pollution through eutrophication, reduced dissolved oxygen that poses threat to aquatic ecosystems. As a result, nutrient removal has become a mandate apart from the removal of organics. However, the removal of nutrients from sewage is a challenging task. Conversely, conventional biological treatment processes provide little relief in nutrient removal. The treated effluents from conventional biological processes do not achieve the stringent nutrient removal disposal standard limits and become primary cause of pollution in the receiving water bodies. This has stressed upon the need for eco-friendly, low-energy and cost-efficient nutrient removal treatment technologies. Various biological treatment combinations or variants are in use for the efficient removal of nutrients. The biological processes in itself or in combination with chemical processes are preferred over technologies based solely on physico-chemical processes for its treatment performance at lower cost. This review summarizes the existing treatment processes and their possible up-gradation with the aim to accomplish the marked effluent standards for the nutrients. The concept of conventional systems and advanced systems for nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) removal which are already developed or under development are deeply discussed. Further, the challenges of each treatment systems are abridged. Finally, the possible suggestions for the modification/retrofitting of existing treatment systems for achieving stringent disposal standards are pointed out

Dural lymphatics regulate clearance of extracellular tau from the CNS

BackgroundAlzheimer's disease is characterized by two main neuropathological hallmarks: extracellular plaques of amyloid- (A) protein and intracellular aggregates of tau protein. Although tau is normally a soluble monomer that bind microtubules, in disease it forms insoluble, hyperphosphorylated aggregates in the cell body. Aside from its role in AD, tau is also involved in several other neurodegenerative disorders collectively called tauopathies, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), some forms of frontotemporal dementia, and argyrophilic grain disease (AGD). The prion hypothesis suggests that after an initial trigger event, misfolded forms of tau are released into the extracellular space, where they spread through different brain regions, enter cells, and seeding previously normal forms. Thus understanding mechanisms regulating the clearance of extracellular tau from the CNS is important. The discovery of a true lymphatic system in the dura and its potential role in mediating A pathology prompted us to investigate its role in regulating extracellular tau clearance.MethodsTo study clearance of extracellular tau from the brain, we conjugated monomeric human tau with a near-infrared dye cypate, and injected this labeled tau in the parenchyma of both wild-type and K14-VEGFR3-Ig transgenic mice, which lack a functional CNS lymphatic system. Following injection we performed longitudinal imaging using fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) and quantified fluorescence to calculate clearance of tau from the brain. To complement this, we also measured tau clearance to the periphery by measuring plasma tau in both groups of mice.ResultsOur results show that a significantly higher amount of tau is retained in the brains of K14-VEGFR3-Ig vs. wild type mice at 48 and 72h post-injection and its subsequent clearance to the periphery is delayed. We found that clearance of reference tracer human serum albumin (HSA) was also significantly delayed in the K14-VEGFR3-Ig mice.ConclusionsThe dural lymphatic system appears to play an important role in clearance of extracellular tau, since tau clearance is impaired in the absence of functional lymphatics. Based on our baseline characterization of extracellular tau clearance, future studies are warranted to look at the interaction between tau pathology and efficiency of lymphatic function.Peer reviewe

Mixed Variational-like Inclusion Involving Yosida Approximation Operator in Banach Spaces

This paper deals with the study of mixed variational-like inclusions involving Yosida approximation operator (MVLIYAO) and η-proximal mapping in Banach spaces. It is investigated that (MVLIYAO) is equivalent to fixed point problems in Banach spaces. Using this equivalence, a new iterative algorithm is proposed to find the solution of (MVLIYAO). A numerical example is provided to support our main result by using the MATLAB program

Evaluation of mass transfer evapotranspiration models under semiarid conditions using MCDM approach

The selection of suitable reference evapotranspiration (ETo) models in case of climatic data scarcity is a challenging task as it plays a pivotal role in agriculture and water resource management. Therefore, the research work deals with selecting the appropriate mass transfer reference evapotranspiration model using multi criteria decision technique (MCDM) in a semi-arid region of the southern part of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia i.e., Abha. The ten mass transfer methods with ten criteria (statistical indices) using available weather parameters from 1980 to 2018 have been illustrated in this study. Models were calibrated (1980-2006) and validated for the period (2007-2018). The objective weight was computed by criteria importance through inter criteria correlation (CRITIC) method and performance score by weighted sum model (WSM), weighted product model (WPM), weighted aggregates sum product assessment (WASPAS) and evaluation based on distance from average solution (EDAS) methods which in turn rank the evapotranspiration method. The rankings obtained from MCDM techniques were validated with ranking by GPI method using spearman ranking coefficient. The result from MCDM shows that Saif model is the best model and that also GPI yielded same result. The methodology applied in this study can be adopted in any other region which in turns proved to be beneficial for crop cultivators, crop advisors, researchers, and water resource management

Enhanced Energy Storage Performance by Relaxor Highly Entropic (Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2La0.2Bi0.2)TiO3 and (Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2Mg0.2Bi0.2)TiO3 Ferroelectric Ceramics

Dielectric ceramic capacitors have attained considerable attention due to their energy storage performance in the field of advanced high/pulsed power capacitors. For such a purpose, configurationally disordered composite material engineering, with the substitution of suitable oxide cations at a single lattice site have demonstrated a strong dielectric relaxor phase with the ability to show high performance capacitive properties. Herein, two prominent high-entropy ceramics systems (Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2A0.2Bi0.2)TiO3, (with A = La and Mg) were fabricated to evaluate their structural, ferroelectric and dielectric properties. XRD patterns and Rietveld refinement of the XRD analysis confirmed the cubic structure Pm3&macr;m space group of the ceramics. The relative dielectric analysis of Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2La0.2Bi0.2TiO3 (BNKLBT) and Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2Mg0.2Bi0.2TiO3 (BNKMBT) ceramics were demonstrated with relaxor ferroelectric behavior having diffusion coefficients of 1.617 and 1.753, respectively. Moreover, BNKLBT and BNLMBT ceramics presented better stored energy density (1.062 J/cm3 and 0.8855 J/cm3, respectively) and high energy conversion efficiency (80.27% and 82.38%, respectively) at an electric field of 100 kV/cm. The results clearly demonstrate that such high-entropy configured ceramics have the potential to be used in efficient energy storage devices

Enhanced Energy Storage Performance by Relaxor Highly Entropic (Ba_0.2Na_0.2K_0.2La_0.2Bi_0.2)TiO₃ and (Ba_0.2Na_0.2K_0.2Mg_0.2Bi_0.2)TiO₃ Ferroelectric Ceramics

Dielectric ceramic capacitors have attained considerable attention due to their energy storage performance in the field of advanced high/pulsed power capacitors. For such a purpose, configurationally disordered composite material engineering, with the substitution of suitable oxide cations at a single lattice site have demonstrated a strong dielectric relaxor phase with the ability to show high performance capacitive properties. Herein, two prominent high-entropy ceramics systems (Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2A0.2Bi0.2)TiO3, (with A = La and Mg) were fabricated to evaluate their structural, ferroelectric and dielectric properties. XRD patterns and Rietveld refinement of the XRD analysis confirmed the cubic structure Pm3¯m space group of the ceramics. The relative dielectric analysis of Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2La0.2Bi0.2TiO3 (BNKLBT) and Ba0.2Na0.2K0.2Mg0.2Bi0.2TiO3 (BNKMBT) ceramics were demonstrated with relaxor ferroelectric behavior having diffusion coefficients of 1.617 and 1.753, respectively. Moreover, BNKLBT and BNLMBT ceramics presented better stored energy density (1.062 J/cm3 and 0.8855 J/cm3, respectively) and high energy conversion efficiency (80.27% and 82.38%, respectively) at an electric field of 100 kV/cm. The results clearly demonstrate that such high-entropy configured ceramics have the potential to be used in efficient energy storage devices