Prevalence and correlates of dental caries among 2-5 years children with special reference to breastfeeding in Kamrup District, Assam.

Background: Dental caries among children is one of the most common health-related issues worldwide. Aim: To find out the prevalence of dental caries among 2-5 years old children in Kamrup district of Assam with reference to breastfeeding and associated variables. Materials and Methods: In this community-based cross-sectional study, 1439 children were examined from 15 wards of Kamrup Metro and four randomly chosen blocks of Kamrup Rural. Children were examined to assess the mean decayed/filled primary teeth (dmft) index, and a self-administered validated questionnaire was given to the mothers to collect data on the practice of breastfeeding initiation, its duration, and dental hygiene habits. Results: Dental caries prevalence was found to be higher in urban areas (54.6%) than rural areas (45.4%). The frequency of using toothpaste was highest among the tooth-cleaning materials. A significant difference in caries prevalence was observed among the children, those who brushed twice a day, and those who did not brush (P = 0.039). The difference was significant in the mean dmft of children from the upper socioeconomic class (P = 0.023) compared with the other classes. A significant difference was also observed between breastfeeding duration (P = 0.010), exclusive and nonexclusive breastfeeding, time of initiation of breastfeeding within 12 h (P < 0.001), and alternative feeding with caries prevalence (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Dental caries were higher in urban localities and upper socioeconomic classes. Breastfeeding initiation and duration may play an important role in the causation of dental caries. No significant association was found between colostrum, prelacteal feeding, and caries prevalence.

Metal catalyst-free selective acetosyringone synthesis from rice straw lignin.

In recent decades, due to abundance (second most abundant natural polymer after cellulose) and sustainability, lignin has attracted much interest from different researchers to use as a raw material for producing various value-added materials such as polymer and fuel. In addition to that, the aromatic structure of lignin makes it a suitable candidate for producing platform chemicals with aromatic rings. As a result, lignin depolymerization has become an interesting process to derive different phenolic monomers like vanillin, acetosyringone, and guaiacol. Among them, due to the bioactive characteristics and efficiency of acetosyringone in plant regulatory systems, the production of acetosyringone from lignin has been presented in this work. A green and cost-effective method was developed for the selective formation of acetosyringone via depolymerization of isolated rice straw lignin (RSL) by using metal catalyst-free conditions in the biphasic medium and described. The RSL was characterized with various spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR, solid-state 13C NMR, XPS, and TGA. The selectivity of synthesized acetosyringone during depolymerization of RSL was checked from GC-MS analysis. The molecular structure and purity of acetosyringone isolated from preparative thin layer chromatography (TLC) were confirmed with the help of 1H NMR and HRMS, respectively.

Role of Doppler Waveforms in Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension and Its Correlation With Perinatal Outcome.

Objectives The present study aims to measure the role of Doppler waveforms in pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and its relationship with the perinatal outcome. Methods We have studied 50 pregnant women with PIH with gestational age (GA) 30-40 weeks for Umbilical Artery (UmA), Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) and Uterine Artery (UtA) Doppler waveforms. Comparison between the various Doppler indices, i.e., Pulsatility Index (PI), Resistive Index (RI) and S/D ratio, with the severity of the disease and the perinatal outcomes were evaluated using appropriate statistical tests considering a threshold value of p-value <0.05 as significant. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version-16 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, USA) and MedCalc software (MedCalc Software Ltd, Ostend, Belgium) were used for data analysis. Results Half (50%) of the cases attributed to the 26 to 30 years age group were at 38 to 40 weeks of gestation. Out of the 50 patients, 68% were primigravida, and 74% had severe PIH. Mean UmA PI, mean MCA PI, mean MCA RI, and mean Cerebro Placental Ratio (CPR) were differed significantly among mild and severe PIH patients (p-value<0.05). Perinatal outcomes in 33 (66%) cases were adverse. The abnormal UmA RI, MCA RI, MCA PI, MCA S/D were significantly linked with poor pregnancy outcomes (p-value <0.05). PIH cases with the presence of early diastolic notch of UtA (p-value <0.01), abnormal PI CPR (p-value <0.001) and S/D CPR (p-value <0.003) were observed to have more adverse outcomes. PI CPR had the highest sensitivity (84.8%), and the existence of early diastolic notch of UtA and MCA-PI were most specific in diagnosing adverse perinatal outcomes. Conclusion CPR-PI is a valuable indicator of adverse perinatal outcomes in PIH. Doppler studies of multiple vessels may help manage high-risk pregnancies as it may provide helpful information about the fetus at risk of hypoxia and placental insufficiency.

Antibacterial property of Azadirachta indica, Ocimum sanctum, and Vitex negundo against oral microbes.

CONTEXT: Plant extracts are used in folklore medicine from time immemorial to treat different oral diseases. Chemical constituents extracted from these natural resources are gifted with huge opportunities. AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the antibacterial property of Azadirachta indica (Neem), Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi), and Vitex negundo (Pochotia) against oral microorganisms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plant extract was prepared with hot continuous extraction method by the Soxhlet Apparatus. Microorganisms isolated from the oral cavity and identified by Vitek-2. Bacterial inoculums poured and spread into Mueller Hinton plates. Plant extract was poured into prepared wells taking ciprofloxacillin as the positive control and dimethyl sulfoxide as the negative control. The experiment was performed in duplicates with two different concentrations of the extract and mean value of inhibition zone was calculated. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Paired t-test, analysis of variance, and regression analysis. RESULTS: Isolated microorganisms were Klebsiella oxytoca, Kochuria kristinae, Acinetobacter boumani, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Streptococcus gordonii, Enterococcus faecalis, and Bacillus subtilis. Higher zone of inhibition was observed against E. faecalis by V. negundo followed by A. indica. Among the aqueous and acetone group, in the aqueous group, the regression models of K. kristinae and B. subtilis have been found to be statistically significant (P= < 0.05), whereas, in the acetone group, the regression model of B. subtilis has been found to be statistically significant (P = < 0.05). CONCLUSION: All the three plants showed antibacterial potency against the isolated organisms. Acetone group showed better efficacy than the aqueous extract group.