In Vitro Effects of Four Porcelain Surface Treatment Methods on Adhesion of Lactobacilli Acidophilus

Objective: Adhesion of Lactobacillus acidophilus (L. acidophilus) to dental porcelain surface may lead to gingival inflammation and secondary caries. Surface roughness is among the factors affecting this adhesion. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of four different  surface treatment methods on adhesion of L. acidophilus to dental porcelain.Methods: Sixty specimens (3x10mm) were fabricated of Noritake porcelain and divided into 4 groups (n=15) treated with one of the following four surface finishing techniques:    1. Auto-glazing;2. Over-glazing; 3. Polishing with Kenda kit and 4. No surface treatment (non-glazed specimens). Specimens were inoculated with bacterial suspension containing 1x106colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL) and L. acidophilus adhesion to the surfaces was evaluated using a spectrophotometer. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD test.Results: The mean bacterial adhesion was 0.1440 (0.00429) to auto-glazed specimens, 0.0750 (0.00256) to over-glazed specimens, 0.1800 (0.00325) to polished specimens and 0.7064 (0.00408) to the non-glazed specimens. The differences in this regard among groups were statistically significant (p<0.001).Conclusion: Over-glazed specimens caused the lowest and non-glazed specimens caused the highest bacterial adhesion. The glazed surfaces caused less adhesion than the polished surface

بررسی کارایی بیومس قارچ آسپرژیلوس ترئوس در حذف کروم (VI) از محلولهای آبی: مطالعات ایزوترم و سینتیک جذب

Background and Aims: Chromium (VI) is one of the very toxic heavy metals and is known as a carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic agent. In this study, the ability of dead Aspergillus Terreus fungus biomass in the removal of chromium (VI) from aqueous solutions was investigated.Materials and Methods: The suspension of AspergillusTerreus was cultivated in Potato Dextrose Agar and Potato Dextrose Broth mediums. The biomass was then boiled in 0.5 N NaOH solution. The ability of obtained biomass to absorb Chromium (VI) was studied with respect to various variables including time (15 to 120 min), pH (3 to 11), chromium (VI) concentration (20 to 120 mg/L) and absorbent dosage (0.1 to 0.8 g). Chromium concentration was determined using an atomic absorption of. All ethical issues and citations were taken into consideration in conducting the study.Results: Results showed that the maximum removal of chromium (89%) was obtained at contact time 90 min, pH=7, chromium concentration 20 mg/L and adsorbent dosage 0.6 g. The adsorption isotherm was best fitted by Freundlich with a high correlation coefficient (R2=0.952). Furthermore, the adsorption kinetics fitted well to the pseudo-first-order model with a correlation coefficient of 0.9775.Conclusion: The results of present study indicated that the studied variables have an incredible effect on sorption efficiency, as in the optimum condition, the biomass of AspergillusTerreus obtained an acceptable efficiency and adoration capacity compared to other adsorbents. So, this compound can be introduced as a practical natural adsorbent for chromium removal and also other heavy metals form aqueous solutions.زمینه و اهداف: یکی از فلزات بسیار سمی در فاضلابهای صنعتی کروم شش ظرفیتی (VI) میباشد که بعنوان یک عامل کارسینوژن، موتاژن و تراتوژن شناخته میشود. در این مطالعه توانایی بیومس مرده تولید شده از قارچ آسپرژیلوس ترئوس در حذف کروم (VI) از محیطهای آبی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت  مواد و روشها: سوسپانسیون قارچ آسپرژیلوس ترئوس در محیط های کشت پوتیتو دکستروز آگار و پوتیتو دکستروز براث کشت داده و سپس در محلول 0.5نرمال NaOH جوشانده شد. توانایی جذب بیومس حاصل برای متغیرهای زمان 15) تا 120 دقیقه(، 3) pH تا (11، غلظت کروم 20)(VI) تا  (120 mg/L و دوز جاذب 0.1) تا 0.8g) مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. از دستگاه جذب اتمی مدل Varian جهت سنجش کروم(VI) استفاده شد. موازین اخلاقی در انجام این پژوهش و استفاده از منابع رعایت گردید یافته ها : نتایج نشان داد که فرآیند جذب در زمان تماس 90 دقیقه، pH برابر با 7 ، غلظت آلاینده20 mg/L و دوز جاذب 0/6 g، دارای راندمان حذف برابر با 89 درصد میباشد. همچنین فرآیند جذب از ایزوترم فرندلیخ با R2=0.952 و سینتیک شبه درجه اول با R2=0.9775 پیروی می نماید. نتیجه گیری: نتایج نشان داد که متغیرهای مورد مطالعه اثر قابل توجهای در راندمان جذب دارند، بطوریکه در شرایط بهینه، بیومس قارچ آسپرژیلوس ترئوس دارای راندمان و ظرفیت جذب قابل قبولی در حذف کروم (VI) در مقایسه با سایر جاذبها است. در نتیجه میتوان این ترکیب را بعنوان یک جاذب طبیعی جهت حذف کروم (VI ) و سایر فلزات سنگین از محیطهای آبی معرفی کر

Effects of Microbial Transglutaminase and Fermentation Type on Improvement of lysine Availability in Wheat Bread: A Response Surface Methodology

Background and objective: Lysine-glutamine crosslink formation catalyzed by microbial transglutaminase is supposed to affect improvement of lysine availability in wheat bread. Present study is done to investigate the effect of microbial transglutaminase and fermentation type in improvement of the lysine availability of wheat bread.Material and methods: Lysine-fortified wheat breads were formulated using response surface methodology with composite-face central design. Statistical models were used to predict the impact of defatted soy flour level (0-50% w w-1), microbial transglutaminase level (0-1.6% w w-1) and fermentation type (yeast or mixed fermentation based on sourdough). Further information was provided on the individual role of independent variables in nutritional and structural characteristics of optimized formulation and blank and control samples. Experiments were carried out in triplicate and the mean values were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s test.Results and conclusion: The suggested formula contained 26.64% w w-1 of defatted soy flour and 0.55% w w-1 of microbial transglutaminase, which was fermented using sourdough-based mixed fermentation and provided 0.16 mg 100 g-1 of available lysine and 2.09 cm3 g-1 of specific volume. The highest lysine chemical score (22.79±0.16), essential amino acid index (35.31±0.37) and biological value (26.79±0.02) and the lowest lysine loss during the baking process seen in optimized formulation verified the effectiveness of microbial transglutaminase in lysine fortification of defatted soy flour/wheat breads (P≤0.05). Considering rheology parameters and textural analysis, microbial transglutaminase treatment increased elastic modulus and β-sheet structure. These structural changes decreased final products digestibility, which can increase using mixed fermentation based on sourdough.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

Efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment paradigm of many cancers, however, its effectiveness in prostate cancer patients is still under question. In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, we sought for assessing the efficacy and safety of Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in patients with prostate cancer. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases were searched on Aguste 19, 2022. Thirty five studies met the eligibility criteria. The median overall survival (mOS) of all treatments was 14.1 months, with the longest and shortest mOS was seen among patients who received anti-CTLA-4 monotherapy and anti-PD-1/PD-L1+anti-CTLA-4 regimen at 24.9 and 9.2 months, respectively. Noteworthy, all types of adverse events had the lowest incidence in the anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy group. Considering the ICI monotherapy regimens, we found that fatigue, diarrhea, and infusion reaction had the highest incidence rates. Future studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of novel combination therapies with ICIs are warranted

The unfinished agenda of communicable diseases among children and adolescents before the COVID-19 pandemic, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BACKGROUND: Communicable disease control has long been a focus of global health policy. There have been substantial reductions in the burden and mortality of communicable diseases among children younger than 5 years, but we know less about this burden in older children and adolescents, and it is unclear whether current programmes and policies remain aligned with targets for intervention. This knowledge is especially important for policy and programmes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to use the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 to systematically characterise the burden of communicable diseases across childhood and adolescence. METHODS: In this systematic analysis of the GBD study from 1990 to 2019, all communicable diseases and their manifestations as modelled within GBD 2019 were included, categorised as 16 subgroups of common diseases or presentations. Data were reported for absolute count, prevalence, and incidence across measures of cause-specific mortality (deaths and years of life lost), disability (years lived with disability [YLDs]), and disease burden (disability-adjusted life-years [DALYs]) for children and adolescents aged 0-24 years. Data were reported across the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and across time (1990-2019), and for 204 countries and territories. For HIV, we reported the mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) as a measure of health system performance. FINDINGS: In 2019, there were 3·0 million deaths and 30·0 million years of healthy life lost to disability (as measured by YLDs), corresponding to 288·4 million DALYs from communicable diseases among children and adolescents globally (57·3% of total communicable disease burden across all ages). Over time, there has been a shift in communicable disease burden from young children to older children and adolescents (largely driven by the considerable reductions in children younger than 5 years and slower progress elsewhere), although children younger than 5 years still accounted for most of the communicable disease burden in 2019. Disease burden and mortality were predominantly in low-SDI settings, with high and high-middle SDI settings also having an appreciable burden of communicable disease morbidity (4·0 million YLDs in 2019 alone). Three cause groups (enteric infections, lower-respiratory-tract infections, and malaria) accounted for 59·8% of the global communicable disease burden in children and adolescents, with tuberculosis and HIV both emerging as important causes during adolescence. HIV was the only cause for which disease burden increased over time, particularly in children and adolescents older than 5 years, and especially in females. Excess MIRs for HIV were observed for males aged 15-19 years in low-SDI settings. INTERPRETATION: Our analysis supports continued policy focus on enteric infections and lower-respiratory-tract infections, with orientation to children younger than 5 years in settings of low socioeconomic development. However, efforts should also be targeted to other conditions, particularly HIV, given its increased burden in older children and adolescents. Older children and adolescents also experience a large burden of communicable disease, further highlighting the need for efforts to extend beyond the first 5 years of life. Our analysis also identified substantial morbidity caused by communicable diseases affecting child and adolescent health across the world. FUNDING: The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence for Driving Investment in Global Adolescent Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe