Genetic differentiation of Indian dromedary and Bactrian camel populations based on mitochondrial ATP8 and ATP6 genes.

Camelids are acknowledged worldwide to endure hostile conditions prevalent in the hot as well cold deserts across the globe. Adaptations to climatic extremes have been associated with mitochondrial protein variants such as ATP8 and ATP6 in different species. The camel genetic resources of India are represented by 9 breeds of dromedary camels which inhabit hot arid and semi-arid zones of the country and a small population of Bactrian camels found in the cold desert of Ladakh. In this study, within and between breed genetic diversity in Indian dromedaries and their divergence from Bactrian camels was investigated based on ATP8/6 genes. Sequence analysis of a mitochondrial DNA fragment encompassing ATP8 and ATP6 genes identified 15 haplotypes in the dromedaries of India and 3 haplotypes in Bactrian camels. The values of haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity were 0.647 and 0.00187 in the former and 0.679 and 0.00098, respectively in the latter. AMOVA analysis revealed 97.81% variance between the two species. Median-Joining network delineated three distinct mitochondrial haplogroups for Camelus dromedarius, Camelus ferus and Camelus bactrianus. Clear demarcation of the old world (Dromedary and Bactrian camels) and new world camelids (Alpaca, llama, guanaco and vicugna) was evident through the phylogenetic analysis.

Blood Donation - Are We Willing? - a Cross-Sectional Study Among Dental Students.

BACKGROUND: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards blood donation among a cohort of dental students. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included all the undergraduate and post-graduate dental students of Panineeya Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital. A self-administered questionnaire comprised of four parts. The first part gathered socio-demographic data. The subsequent parts consisted of 11-knowledge questions (K1-11), 11attitude questions (A1-11), and the fourth part evaluated the practice of blood donation (P1-11). p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Around 63.7% responded correctly to the question that blood donation causes transmission of infection to the donor with the use of infected needles (K5), whereas only 3.8% knew that anemics, diabetics, hypertensives, and pregnant women cannot donate blood (K9). Most of the participants had positive attitudes towards blood donation except that only 23.7% thought it is not a religious duty (A5). Overall, when the practice regarding blood donation was asked, the majority of the participants (78.2%) had never donated blood, which was significant based on gender and year of study (p = 0.0001). The mean percentage of correct knowledge was significantly higher in males (24.52 ± 14.01; p = 0.03) but surprisingly a more positive attitude towards blood donation was seen among females (76.25 ± 18.27; p = 0.0007). Likewise, based on the year of study, a significant difference was observed for correct knowledge and positive attitude. CONCLUSIONS: The present study reveals less than satisfactory blood donation practice among dental students and highlights the need for educational programs.

Dental teaching faculty involvement in research activities.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine personal and professional factors in determining the research activity and research culture among dental teaching faculty members in Hyderabad City, Telangana. Materials and Method: Two dental schools with ongoing dental undergraduate and postgraduate programmes were included in the study. The Research and Development (R&D) Culture Index Questionnaire comprising 16 items was employed for this study. Also, self-reported research activity undertaken in the past twelve months was recorded. The association of demographic variables and professionally related variables with the perception of R&D culture and participation in research activities was assessed using the Chi-square test. A P value was set at 0.05. Results: Of the one-hundred and fifteen faculty members who participated in the study, seventy-four (64.4%) worked in the government sector and forty-one (35.6%) in privately funded dental college. The mean age of the study population was 34.11 + 7.13 years. The majority of them presented a paper or poster at the conference (66.1%; 76) followed by publishing paper in peer-review journal (42.6%; 49) and grant application for research (6.1%; 7), and authoring of a textbook was undertaken by only 2.6% of the study population. Males (61.1%; P = 0.04) and those employed in private dental college (65.8%; P = 0.02) had significantly high levels of overall perception than their respective counterparts. Conclusion: Our study concludes that this study population has a positive perception (50.32 + 6.95) towards research with the majority of them having done a paper or poster publication (66.1%) in the last one year.

Mitochondrial DNA diversity divulges high levels of haplotype diversity and lack of genetic structure in the Indian camels.

Camels represent an important genetic resource of the desert ecosystems of India, with the dromedary and Bactrian camels inhabiting the hot and cold deserts, respectively. This study is the first attempt to investigate mitochondrial DNA based genetic diversity in the Indian camel populations and explores their relationship in the context of global genetic diversity of all the three large camel species (Camelus ferus, Camelus bactrianus and Camelus dromedaries). A mitochondrial DNA fragment encompassing part of cytochrome b gene, tRNAThr, tRNAPro and the beginning of the control region was amplified and analyzed in 72 dromedary and 8 Bactrian camels of India. Sequence analysis revealed that the haplotype and nucleotide diversity (Hd: 0.937 and π: 0.00431) in the Indian dromedaries was higher than the indices reported so far for the dromedary or Bactrian camels across the globe. The corresponding values in the Indian Bactrian camels were 1.000 and 0.00393, respectively. Signals of population expansion were evident in the dromedaries of India on the basis of mismatch analysis and Fu's Fs values. The analysis of molecular variance attributed most of the genetic variance (92.15%) between the dromedary, wild Bactrian and domestic Bactrian camels indicating separate maternal origins. The existence of three mitochondrial lineages in the old world camels (C. bactrianus: Lineage A; C. ferus: Lineage B and C. dromedarius: Lineage C) was also substantiated by the topology of the Median-Joining network.

Multi-modal Medical Image Fusion Algorithm Based on Spatial Frequency Motivated PA-PCNN in the NSST Domain.

BACKGROUND: Image fusion has been grown as an effectual method in diseases related diagnosis schemes. METHODS: In this paper, a new method for combining multimodal medical images using spatial frequency motivated parameter-adaptive PCNN (SF-PAPCNN) is suggested. The multi- modal images are disintegrated into frequency bands by using decomposition NSST. The coefficients of low frequency bands are selected using maximum rule. The coefficients of high frequency bands are combined by SF-PAPCNN. METHODS: In this paper, a new method for combining multimodal medical images using spatial frequency motivated parameter-adaptive PCNN (SF-PAPCNN) is suggested. The multi-modal images are disintegrated into frequency bands by using decomposition NSST. The coefficients of low frequency bands are selected using maximum rule. The coefficients of high frequency bands are combined by SF-PAPCNN. RESULTS: The fused medical images is obtained by applying INSST to above coefficients. CONCLUSION: The quality metrics such as entropy ENT, fusion symmetry FS, deviation STD, mutual information QMI and edge strength QAB/F are used to validate the efficacy of suggested scheme.

Virus containment box for retinopathy of prematurity screening and laser.

PURPOSE: Health care workers are susceptible to contracting infection with COVID-19 by aerosol transmission. This is a risk while examining and/or treating an un-sedated neonate in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening and treatment. But screening for neonates for ROP and treating with laser, when required, should not be delayed to avoid the blindness. We describe a cost-effective method of containing aerosols generated during such a procedure in an un-sedated baby. METHODS: An acrylic transparent containment box was prepared to accommodate an average-sized infant. The box had four walls and a roof. The floor was open to place the container box over the baby. The walls have two types of openings, large ones to allow passage of hands to examine the baby, small ones to enable passage of oxygen tubing when required. A simulation was created to examine the impact of aerosol spray on examining healthcare personnel. RESULTS: The cost of the acrylic box was negligible. It could be assembled locally with available acrylic sheets and craftsmen. It was not difficult to examine the baby inside the box, and the simulation demonstrated that it protected the health personnel from the aerosol contamination. CONCLUSION: The described method is likely to increase healthcare personnel's confidence not to delay or deny ROP screening and laser treatment and save the babies from blindness.

Investigation and comparison of colon specificity of novel polymer khaya gum with guar gum.

To investigate the colon specificity of novel natural polymer khaya gum and compare with guar gum. Release profile of tablets was carried out in presence and absence of rat cecal contents. The fast disintegrating core tablets of budesonide, were initially prepared by direct compression technique. Later, these tablets were coated with khaya gum or guar gum. After suitable pre compression and post compression evaluation, these tablets were further coated using Eudragit L-100 by dip coating technique. X-ray images were taken to investigate the movement, location and the integrity of the tablets in different parts of gastro intestinal tract in rabbits. The release profiles revealed that khaya gum or guar gum, when used as compression coating, protected the drug from being released in the upper parts of the gastro intestinal tract to some extent but the enteric coated formulations completely protected the drug from being released in the upper parts of the gastro intestinal tract, and released the drug in the colon by bacterial degradation of gums. It was found that both the polysaccharide polymers exhibited different release profiles in presence and absence of rat cecal contents. However, further enteric coat helped in targeting the drug to colon very effectively. Better dissolution models revealed the colon specificity of polysaccharides and alone can not be used either for targeting the drug to the colon or for sustaining or controlling the release of drug.

Oral health knowledge among a cohort of pregnant women in south India: A questionnaire survey.

AIM: To assess oral health knowledge of pregnant women visiting Government Maternity Hospital, Hyderabad. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 606 pregnant women aged 18-40 years old. Oral health knowledge of respondents was assessed using the 14-item self-administered questionnaire and responses were recorded on a dichotomous scale (yes/no). The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) package version 20.0. RESULTS: Overall inadequate knowledge regards to oral health was observed among 55.8% pregnant women. Based on knowledge regarding tooth decay, 71.6% of study participants believed that every painful tooth has to be removed and 81% of respondents were unaware of brushing with fluoridated toothpaste prevents tooth decay. Similarly, with respect to gum disease, 77.7% of subjects were not aware of gum disease and around 49.8% unacquainted that bleeding during tooth brushing indicates gum problems. It is enriching to observe, 94.1% of respondents felt oral health is important for general health. On the other hand, a quite alarmingly high percentage (73.9%) of subjects does not know the relationship between oral health and pregnancy. Furthermore, 91.1% and 65.5% of participants were ignorant that pregnancy can increase the tendency of gums to swell or bleed and poor oral health affect their unborn baby, respectively. More than three-fourths of the study participants (84%) had never visited dentist. CONCLUSION: The study highlights limited knowledge allied to oral health among pregnant women and problem-oriented dental visits indicating an urge among this group to scale up their knowledge.

Melanoma Is Skin Deep: A 3D Reconstruction Technique for Computerized Dermoscopic Skin Lesion Classification.

Melanoma mortality rates are the highest amongst skin cancer patients. Melanoma is life threating when it grows beyond the dermis of the skin. Hence, depth is an important factor to diagnose melanoma. This paper introduces a non-invasive computerized dermoscopy system that considers the estimated depth of skin lesions for diagnosis. A 3-D skin lesion reconstruction technique using the estimated depth obtained from regular dermoscopic images is presented. On basis of the 3-D reconstruction, depth and 3-D shape features are extracted. In addition to 3-D features, regular color, texture, and 2-D shape features are also extracted. Feature extraction is critical to achieve accurate results. Apart from melanoma, in-situ melanoma the proposed system is designed to diagnose basal cell carcinoma, blue nevus, dermatofibroma, haemangioma, seborrhoeic keratosis, and normal mole lesions. For experimental evaluations, the PH2, ISIC: Melanoma Project, and ATLAS dermoscopy data sets is considered. Different feature set combinations is considered and performance is evaluated. Significant performance improvement is reported the post inclusion of estimated depth and 3-D features. The good classification scores of sensitivity = 96%, specificity = 97% on PH2 data set and sensitivity = 98%, specificity = 99% on the ATLAS data set is achieved. Experiments conducted to estimate tumor depth from 3-D lesion reconstruction is presented. Experimental results achieved prove that the proposed computerized dermoscopy system is efficient and can be used to diagnose varied skin lesion dermoscopy images.

Effect of Frequency and Duration of Tobacco Use on Oral Mucosal Lesions ­ A Cross-Sectional Study among Tobacco Users in Hyderabad, India

Purpose: Tobacco use is one of the most important risk factors for the development of oral mucosal lesions including oral pre-cancer and cancer. The type and location of the lesion varies with the type of tobacco used, the way it is used, and the frequency and duration of use. Hence, the present study aimed to determine the effect of frequency and duration of tobacco use on oral mucosal lesions among tobacco users in Hyderabad city. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 280 tobacco users who were categorized into smokers, chewers and mixed groups according to the habit. One forty subjects diagnosed with Oral Mucosal Lesions, designated as cases and One forty lesion free controls, frequency matched for age, gender, habit and family income were assessed. The study protocol included a visual oral soft tissue examination and a questionnaire-based interview. Statistical analysis was done using Chi square test and t- test. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done to assess the association of the variables with lesions. Results: Oral submucous fibrosis (18%) was the most common oral mucosal lesion followed by Leukoplakia (14%) and Smoker's palate (12%). Dose-response relationships were observed for both duration and frequency of habits on the risk of oral mucosal lesions. However, it was significant only for frequency of the habit. A significant positive correlation was observed between occurrence of lesion and those with no education (p=0.005). Conclusion: The study revealed that frequency and duration of tobacco use was associated with the risk of oral mucosal lesions.

Clinical effects of photodynamic and low-level laser therapies as an adjunct to scaling and root planing of chronic periodontitis: A split-mouth randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: There are limited clinical experiments addressing the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and low-level laser therapy (LLLT) as an adjunct to conventional scaling and root planing (SRP) alone. AIM: The aim of this clinical trial was to evaluate the clinical effects of adjunctive use of PDT, combination of PDT with LLLT as adjunct to conventional SRP alone in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a single-centered randomized and controlled clinical trial, 24 patients (15 males and 9 females) with untreated chronic periodontitis were randomly assigned in a split-mouth design into three treatment groups which included Group I: SRP only, Group II: SRP and PDT (1% methylene blue [MB] solution), and Group III: SRP, PDT, and LLLT. Clinical parameters such as plaque index, gingival index, modified sulcular bleeding index, probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) were measured at baseline, 1, 3, and 6 months after therapy. RESULTS: Within each group, significant improvements (P < 0.001) were found for all variables in 6-month follow-up compared with baseline. The improvement in clinical parameters was significantly greater in Group III compared to Group I and Group II. The mean PD (mm) reduction from baseline to 6 months in Group I was 2.50 ± 0.54, Group II was 2.57 ± 0.53, and Group III was 3.14 ± 0.50. The mean CAL (mm) gain from baseline to 6 months in Group I was 2.63 ± 0.47, Group II was 2.55 ± 0.44, and Group III was 3.07 ± 0.55. CONCLUSION: In patients with chronic periodontitis, a combination of a single application of PDT (using a 980 nm laser and MB) and LLLT provide additional benefit to SRP in terms of clinical parameters 6 months following the intervention.

Self-Reported Obstacles to Regular Dental Care among Information Technology Professionals.

INTRODUCTION: Good oral health is important for an individual as well as social well-being. Occupational stress and work exhaustion in Information Technology (IT) professionals may influence the oral health and oral health related quality of life. AIM: To assess and compare self-reported obstacles for regular dental care and dental visits among IT professionals based on age, gender, dental insurance and working days per week. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,017 IT professionals to assess the self-reported obstacles to regular oral health care in Hyderabad city, Telangana, India. The Dental Rejection of Innovation Scale (DRI-S) was employed in this study. Comparison between means of DRI-S based on variables was done using t-test and ANOVA. The association between variables and DRI-S was determined using Chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 1017 participants comprising of 574 (56%) males and 443 (44%) females participated in the study. As age increased, a significant increase in mean DRI-S scores was seen for total and individual domains except for the "Situational" domain wherein higher mean score (9.42±2.5; p=0.0006) was observed among 30-39 years age group. Even though females reported higher mean scores for total and individual domains when compared to males, nevertheless significant difference was seen only for total (p=0.03) and "Lack of Knowledge" (p=0.001) domain. CONCLUSION: Self-reported obstacles to regular dental care was more with increasing age, increased number of working days per week, irregular dental visits and absence of dental insurance facility.

Solvent extraction studies on the mixed ligand complexes of lanthanides with antipyrine and perchlorate.

Lanthanide ions are found to form colourless mixed-ligand complexes with antipyrine in presence of perchlorate at pH 4.0, and these are quantitatively extractable into nitrobenzene. The composition of the extracted species is shown to be metal:antipyrine:perchlorate = 1:6:3. The variation of the extraction constants with atomic number of the lanthanides is attributed to the "tetrad effect".

Direct photometric titration of tellurium.

A direct photometric titration method has been developed for the determination of tellurium. Tellurium(IV) is titrated with potassium dichromate in 2-6M nitric acid (or 1-4M perchloric acid) at 380-430 nm (blue-violet filter). Selenium(IV) does not interfere.

Extraction and spectrophotometric determination of vanadium(V) with 8-hydroxyquinoline.

The extraction and spectrophotometric determination of vanadium (V) with oxine is investigated at higher acidities than described previously. Under these conditions, n-butanol and other alcohols are found to exert a synergic effect on the extraction of vanadium into benzene. In the presence of alcohol only a 6-fold ligand excess is needed for quantitative extraction in a single operation, the acidity of the aqueous medium being 0.05M with respect to sulphuric or phosphoric acid. The interference of iron(III) in the spectrophotometric determination of vanadium is suppressed by the addition of pyrophosphate. Beer's law is obeyed up to 14.0 mug of vanadium/ml and the sensitivity is 0.008 mug of vanadium/cm(2) at 390 mmu. The composition of the extracted species is found to be vanadium:oxine:n-butanol = 1:2:2.

Studies on the synthesis and biological activity of 3-arylaminomethyl-5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thione derivatives.

3-arylaminomethyl-5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thiones were prepared by reaction of 5-(3-pyridyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-thione with formaldehyde and appropriate alky and aryl amines in ethanol, as potential biological active agents. These new synthesized Mannich bases were screened for their antimicrobial, antifungal and antiinflammatory activities.

Synthesis and biological activity of a novel series of 4-[2'-(6'-nitro)benzimidazolyl]benzoyl amino acids and peptides.

A series of new 4-[2'-(6'-nitro)benzimidazolyl]benzoyl amino acids and peptides have been synthesized by coupling the 4-[2'-(6'-nitro)benzimidazolyl]benzoic acid with amino acid methyl esters/dipeptides using DCC as the coupling agent. All the synthesized compounds were found to exhibit potent anthelmintic activity along with moderate antimicrobial activity.

Stereoselective synthesis of spiro[tetrahydropyran-3,3'-oxindole] derivatives employing Prins cascade strategy.

A variety of aldehydes undergo smooth coupling with 4-hydroxy-N-methyl-2-methylene-N-phenylbutanamide in the presence of BF3·OEt2 under ambient conditions to produce the corresponding spiro-oxindole derivatives in good yields with excellent selectivity. It is an entirely new strategy to construct the spirocycles in a one-pot operation through a Prins cascade process.

Synthesis, spectral characterization and antimicrobial activity of substituted thiazolyl derivatives of 2-quinolones.

A series of new 3-(2-substituted amino/substituted hydrazino-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)-4-hydroxy-1-methyl/phenylquinolin-2 (1H)-one hydroiodide 3a-3f and 4a-4f derivatives were prepared by heating 3-Acetyl-4-hydroxy-1-methyl/phenyl quinolin-2 (1H)-one 2a-2b with substituted thiourea and substituted thiosemicarbazide in presence of iodine in n-butanol. The title compounds were characterized on the basis of IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and Mass spectral (MS) studies. Further title compounds were evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal by Agar diffusion assay method where as antitubercular activity by Micro-plate Alamar Blue Assay (MABA). Among 12 synthesized novel compounds 3a, 3b, 4d exhibited promising antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. 3a, 3b, 3e, 4d, 4e showed good antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger. 3a, 3d, 4d showed good antitubercular activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv strain.

Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation of a novel series of 5-(substituted)aryl-3-(3-coumarinyl)-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolines as novel anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents.

A novel series of 5-(substituted)aryl-3-(3-coumarinyl)-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolines (3a-l) were synthesized by reacting various substituted 3-aryl-1-(3-coumarinyl)propan-1-ones (2a-l) with phenylhydrazine in the presence of hot pyridine. Structures of all new synthesized compounds were characterized on the basis of elemental analysis and spectral data (IR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR). The title compounds were screened for in vivo anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities at a dose of 200 mg/kg b.w. Among the 12 prepared compounds, Compounds 3d, e, i and j exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity in model of acute inflammation such as carrageenan-induced rat edema paw while compounds 3d and e showed considerable activity in model of chronic inflammation such as adjuvant-induced arthritis and were compared with diclofenac (13.5 mg/kg b.w.) as a standard drug. These compounds were also found to have significant analgesic activity in the acetic acid induced writhing model and antipyretic activity in yeast-induced pyrexia model along with minimum ulcerogenic index.