Production of eco-friendly PHB-based bioplastics by Pseudomonas aeruginosa CWS2020 isolate using poultry (chicken feather) waste.

Nowadays, the accumulation of non-degradable plastics and other disposed wastes leads to environmental pollution across the world. The production of eco-friendly and cost-effective poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) could be a better alternative to conventional petroleum-based plastics and prevent environmental pollution. Besides, the area in and around Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India is well known for poultries, currently facing the number of environmental issues due to the accumulation of chicken feather waste. This study focused on the production of eco-friendly PHB by recycling poultry (chicken feather) waste as the substrate. The native PHB producers were screened from the chicken waste disposal site in Namakkal by Sudan black B staining method. Further, the potent bacterial isolate was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCBI accession MF18889) by phenotypic and genotypic characteristics. The PHB production media with chicken feather waste was statistically optimized by response surface methodology. The dry weight of PHB produced under optimized condition (15.96 g/L chicken feather waste, 37 °C temperature, 19.8 g/L glucose and 6.85 pH) was found to be 4.8 g/L. Besides, PHB was characterized and confirmed by thin-layer chromatography, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Thus, this study concludes that poultry waste could be a complex nitrogen source for improving the growth of PHB producers and substantially increasing the yield of PHB, and it will be an eco-friendly and low-cost production in bioprocess technology.

Knowledge and Awareness of Oral Manifestations of Diabetes Mellitus and Oral Health Assessment among Diabetes Mellitus Patients- A Cross Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Diabetes mellitus has increased rapidly throughout the world. The objectives of our study were to assess the knowledge and awareness about oral manifestations of diabetes, among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, their risk for developing oral diseases due to complications associated with diabetes mellitus, and at same time, to perform an oral examination to detect these oral symptoms, if present any, along with the recording of Decayed Missing Filled Teeth Index (DMFT) and Community Periodontal Index (CPI) index. METHODOLOGY: Structured questionnaires consisting of 12 different statements on the knowledge base of oral manifestations of diabetes mellitus were distributed to 447 Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Following this oral examination, brushing and dental visit history were noted, and CPI index and DMFT indices were recorded in all the patients. RESULTS: Results showed that the knowledge about oral manifestations of diabetes mellitus was poor with a mean value of 4.92 out of a possible score of 12. Among the study subjects, the average score of men was 4.42 while that of females, was 5.41. These scores, when subjected to statistical analysis, were highly significant. (P value- 0.005) Subjects also showed significantly high DMFT (P value <0.001) and CPI scores (P value- 0.270). CONCLUSION: Our study concluded that there is a significant lack of knowledge about oral manifestations of diabetes mellitus among patients and hence steps have to be taken to increase their awareness through various outreach programs. All health professionals need to work together for promoting better oral health so that oral complications of diabetes can be brought under control.

Effectiveness of Theobromine on Enamel Remineralization: A Comparative In-vitro Study.

Background Remineralizing agents demonstrate potential to reverse early carious lesions. Theobromine containing dentifrices claim to remineralize enamel lesions effectively. The aim of this in-vitro study was to evaluate and compare the remineralization potential of dentifrices containing theobromine, 0.21% sodium fluoride (NaF) with functionalized tricalcium phosphate (f-TCP) and amine fluoride on artificial enamel caries. Materials and methods Sound extracted human premolars were demineralized to produce deep artificial carious lesions. The teeth were sectioned longitudinally and allocated to three treatment groups with nine specimens in each group: Group A (NaF + f-TCP), Group B (amine fluoride), and Group C (theobromine). The specimens were then subjected to pH cycling for seven days. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) was utilized to record the patterns of demineralization and remineralization. One-way ANOVA and paired t-test were used to analyze changes in lesion depth. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results All three dentifrices effectively remineralized artificial carious lesions (paired t-test, p<0.001). Of the groups, Group A (54.97%) reported the highest percentage change in lesion depth values followed closely by Group B (51.51%) and Group C (31.71%), respectively. Conclusion Within this in-vitro study, theobromine containing dentifrice was effective in remineralizing lesions of enamel. However, theobromine demonstrated less remineralization potential in comparison to dentifrices containing NaF + f-(TCP) and amine fluoride.

Toluidine Blue Staining in Identification of a Biopsy Site in Potentially Malignant Lesions: A Case-control Study.

OBJECTIVE: Oral cancer is a significant threat to public health all over the world, especially in Southeast Asia. At the present time, screening of oral cancer, its premalignant stages as well as its early detection, is still largely based on visual examination of the mouth. Visual examination is highly subjective and hence lacks the specificity and sensitivity. The objective of this study was to determine the usefulness of toluidine blue in marking a biopsy site in potentially malignant disorders. METHODS: In this study, a total of 500 patients were screened. The study was a case-control study which included 17 lesion cases and 23 normal controls. Toluidine blue staining was taken into consideration to identify clinically doubtful oral potentially malignant lesions and to compare the clinical evaluation with toluidine blue stain followed by a punch biopsy and histological evaluation. SPSS Statistics version 16.0 and Chi-square test were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: The most common site for potentially malignant lesions was found to be the buccal mucosa. The sensitivity of toluidine blue was found to be 88.89%, while specificity was found to be 74.19%. The positive predictive and negative predictive values were 50% and 97.83%, respectively. P = 0.000672 was considered statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The results seem to be promising, but many such studies have to be done at larger scales to exactly help us in identifying the capability of toluidine blue in the long run.