Comparison of antifungal efficacy of commercially available denture cleanser and the extract of Turbinaria conoides seaweed against Candida albicans adherent to acrylic denture base resin: An in vitro study.

Aim: One of the main factors responsible for the development of Candida albicans on the surface of denture is improper maintenance of dentures. Denture hygiene can be achieved by regular cleansing of dentures using an appropriate denture cleanser. The aim of the study is to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of commercially available denture cleanser and the extract of Turbinaria conoides seaweed against C. albicans adherent to the surface of denture base resin. Settings and Design: This was an in vitro experimental study. Materials and Methods: Twenty-four Acrylic resin samples of dimension 10-mm radius and 2-mm thickness was randomly divided into two groups. The denture base resin was coated with C. albicans. The colonies present on the surface of each denture base resin were evaluated by serial dilution method. Group A was treated with commercially available denture cleanser and Group B was treated with extract of seaweed T. conoides. The colonies were then evaluated using serial dilution. Statistical Analysis Used: The colony count values obtained by serial dilution were tabulated. These values were statistically analysed using t-test. Results: Reduction of colony count is more in T. conoides than commercially available Fittydent; the difference was statistically significant with a mean difference of 65 at dilution 10-2 and 29.25 at dilution 10-3 using t-test with P < 0.001. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this in vitro study, it was proved that the extract of T. conoides seaweed and commercially available denture cleanser Fittydent was effective in reducing the colony count of C. albicans. T. conoides seaweed is statistically significant than commercially available Fittydent.

Evaluation of dimensional stability, compressive resistance, and detail reproduction of thermoplastic resin (BDIMPRESS), elastomeric and composite bite registration material: An in vitro study.

Aim: The fabrication of an accurate prosthesis depends mainly on precise recording of the maxillo-mandibular relationship of the patient and transferring it to the articulator. BDIMPRESS is a new thermoplastic material that has been proposed as a potential material to be used as an inter-occlusal registration, but there has been no literature evidence regarding its application as a bite registration. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the dimensional stability, detail reproduction, and compressive resistance of new interocclusal recording material with other two commonly used materials. Settings and Design: In Vitro Comparative study. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted according to ADA Specification standards of testing for dimensional stability, detail reproduction and compressive resistance. Specimens were prepared for three different materials (Thermoplastic resin, Polyvinyl siloxane, and Bis- acrylic) with 12 samples each. Statistical Analysis Used: One way ANOVA was done for statistical analysis. Results: Polyvinyl siloxane material was dimensionally stable (mean at 1 hr: 24.928 mm; 24 hrs: 24.919 mm & 48 hrs: 24.912 mm) followed by Bis- acrylic material (mean at 1 hr: 24.851 mm; 24 hrs: 24.825 mm & 48 hrs: 24.815 mm). On one way ANOVA, strong significance was observed between groups (P = 0.00). Thermoplastic resin showed higher amount of detail reproduction with 10 (out of 12 samples) samples showing satisfactory results. While bis- acrylic material showed the least compressive resistance (Strain %: 0.484%; Displacement- 0.0990mm). One-way ANOVA showed presence of significance between the groups (P = 0.024). Conclusion: Polyvinyl siloxane showed superior dimensional stability, thermoplastic resin showed better detail reproduction and bis- acrylic showed high resistance to compression over other materials.

GC-MS analysis, antidiabetic and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of pluteus cervinus: an in vitro and in silico approach.

Pluteus cervinus is a mushroom species that demands a systematic study of its medicinal values. This study aims to explore the mycochemical contents of Pluteus cervinus extract, and evaluate their anti-diabetic and antioxidant potency. Twelve organic compounds were identified using Gas Chromatogram-Mass Spectroscopy(GC-MS) analysis of the methanolic extract. All the mycochemicals identified were evaluated for their drug-likeness, pharmacokinetics and bioactivity using admetSAR and molinspiration webservers. The extract was evaluated for the inhibitory effect of α-amylase and DPPH free radical scavenging ability. To further support the anti-diabetic and antioxidant characteristic, in silico molecular docking analysis was done for all the identified mycochemicals. It was found that, 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-tetrahydropyran-4-ylmethyl]-acetamide, one of the compounds in the extract shares structural similarity and comparable docking binding energy with natural α-amylase inhibitor. Further, the 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-tetrahydropyran-4-ylmethyl]-acetamide also showed high binding energy with Human peroxiredoxin 5 and has a structural relationship with natural antioxidants containing tetrahydropyran derivatives.

Squamous cell carcinoma and dental implants: A systematic review of case reports.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death world-wide. Apart from the most common etiopathological factors related to cancer, at times very rare causes such as irritant or foreign body induced carcinogenesis is not to be overlooked. To systematically review case reports concerned with the association between dental implants and oral squamous cell carcinoma. A Medline (PubMed), Cochrane database, and Google Scholar search was conducted of dental article published in English related to case reports concerned with oral squamous cell carcinoma occurring around dental implants from 2000 to 2014. Twenty articles were retrieved, which included 20 rare case reports which were systematically reviewed and the results were obtained pertaining to age, clinical symptoms, habits, previous history of cancer, potentially malignant disorders, systemic illness, and local factors. It is imperative to identify promptly persisting inflammation associated with implants. Since malignancy may disguise as periimplantitis, especially in patients who are at risk with contributing prominent predisposing factors.

Robotics and medicine: A scientific rainbow in hospital.

The journey of robotics is a real wonder and astonishingly can be considered as a scientific rainbow showering surprising priceless power in the era of future technologies. The astonishing seven technologies discussed in this paper are da Vinci Robotic surgical system and sperm sorters for infertility, Veebot for blood investigation, Hanako the robotic dental patient for simulating the dental patient and helping a trainee dentist, RP-7 robot who is around-the-clock physician connecting the physician and patient, Robot for Interactive Body Assistance (RIBA) who is a RIBA serving as a nurse, Bushbot serving as a brilliant surgeon, and Virtibot helping in virtual autopsy. Thus, robotics in medicine is a budding field contributing a great lot to human life from before birth to afterlife in seven forms thus gracefully portraying a scientific rainbow in hospital environment.

Finite Element Modeling of scattered electromagnetic waves for stroke analysis.

Stroke has become one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and about 800 in every 100,000 people suffer from stroke each year. The occurrence of stroke is ranked third among the causes of acute death and first among the causes for neurological dysfunction. Currently, Neurological examinations followed by medical imaging with CT, MRI or Angiography are used to provide better identification of the location and the type of the stroke, however they are neither fast, cost-effective nor portable. Microwave technology has emerged to complement these modalities to diagnose stroke as it is sensitive to the differences between the distinct dielectric properties of the brain tissues and blood. This paper investigates the possibility of diagnosing the type of stroke using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The object of interest is a simulated head phantom with stroke, created with its specifying material characteristics like electrical conductivity and relative permittivity. The phantom is then placed in an electromagnetic field generated by a dipole antenna radiating at 1 GHz. The FEM forward model solver computes the scattered electromagnetic field by finding the solution for the Maxwell's wave equation in the head volume. Subsequently the inverse scattering problem is solved using the Contrast Source Inversion (CSI) method to reconstruct the dielectric profile of the head phantom.

Development of an autonomic portable single-board computer based high resolution NIRS device for microcirculation analysis.

Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) is a wellestablished non-invasive technique for measuring metabolic changes in biological tissue. In this paper we describe the design and development of an autonomic portable single board computer based high resolution NIRS device, which allows quantification of these changes. The sensor-patch consisting of 8LEDs and 2photo-detectorsprovides8 channels for each detector, offering increased depth resolution for monitoring microcirculatory activity..NIRS data is acquired with a sampling rate of about 2Hz per channel using the data acquisition board which consists of a 16 bit ADC, a LED driver and programmable gain amplifiers. The components on the data acquisition board are controlled via the Advantech's PCM-3355L SBC based on Windows XP platform. The software was created using Visual Basic 6.0 and Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0. It offers optionally a real time 'monitoring' and a static data (offline) visualization mode. The most unique feature of the system is its ability to auto-calibrate itself i.e. Adopt the intensity of the LEDs output light to different experimental conditions, e.g. local melanin content, density of the tissue, and emitter-detector distances. To validate the device various experiments have been carried out such as measurements on resting and working gastrocnemius and biceps muscle in ambulatory situations. The achieved results confirmed adequate performance and reliability of the device.

Effects of environment and education on knowledge and attitude of nursing students towards leprosy.

The objective of this cross-sectional comparative study was to find the effects of environment and education on knowledge and attitude of nursing students towards leprosy. Data were collected, using a pretested questionnaire, from the first year and third year students of a School of Nursing attached to a leprosy specialty hospital and also from a comparable School of Nursing attached to a general hospital. The results showed that trainees acquired more knowledge on leprosy during training in both schools of nursing. However, those trained in leprosy hospital environment had higher knowledge and attitude scores than those trained in general hospital environment. The attitude of the trainees attached to leprosy hospital was favourable even before they had formal training in leprosy. Those trained in the general hospital showed more favourable attitude after training compared to before training. School of Nursing attached to leprosy hospital provided an atmosphere conducive to learning and understanding more about leprosy. The trainees retained what was learnt because of regular association with patients affected by leprosy. For employment in hospital or community based services or research related to leprosy, nurses trained in a leprosy hospital would have added value of knowledge and attitude.

Photoluminescence electron-transfer quenching of rhenium(I) complexes with organic sulfides.

Electron-transfer(ET) from organic sulfides to excited state rhenium(I)-based heteroleptic tricarbonyl complexes [Re(bpy)(CO)(3)(py)](+) (I) and [Re(bpy)(CO)(3)(ind))](+) (II) in acetonitrile solution is facile and luminescence quenching constants, k(q), are in the range 10(5)-10(8) M(-1)s(-1). The detection of the sulfide radical cation in this system using time-resolved absorption spectroscopy is a direct evidence for the ET nature of the reaction. The k(q) values for the quenching of Re(I)-complexes with organic sulfides are analyzed with a scheme involving rate controlling electron transfer process. The measured rate constants for the electron transfer (ET) reaction are close to the values calculated from Marcus theory.

Micellar catalysis on the electron transfer reactions of iron(III)-polypyridyl complexes with organic sulfides-importance of hydrophobic interactions.

The oxidation of organic sulfides with iron(III)-polypyridyl complexes [Fe(NN)3]3+ proceeds through an electron transfer mechanism and an increase in the methanol content in the methanol-water mixture favors the reaction. The reaction is catalyzed by both the anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and the cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The micellar catalysis in the presence of SDS is accounted for in terms of strong binding of the cationic oxidant with the anionic surfactant and the development of positive charge on sulfur center of substrate in the transition state. The micellar catalysis observed on the reaction involving a trication, [Fe(NN)3]3+, in the presence of CTAB indicates the importance of hydrophobic interaction between the micelle and hydrophobic ligand of [Fe(NN)3]3+. The micellar catalysis is explained in terms of a pseudophase ion exchange model.

Community action success in public health: are we using a ruler to measure a sphere?

The Community Action and Public Health study explored how Ontario public health practitioners interpret and implement guidance in community action. In-depth interviews were conducted with 107 public health professionals and community members in 6 Ontario health units. This report briefly describes the study methods and presents results pertaining to the measurement of success based on interviews with 67 public health professionals. Data substantiate the view that evaluation methodologies employing quantitative measures of epidemiological outcomes inadequately capture "success" in community action, possibly attributable to an unproductive dichotomization of "process" and "outcome". Results suggest two kinds of "success": a) changes related to stated goals and targets; and b) more iterative and process-oriented changes, including necessary but often undocumented shifts in relationships, structures, social conditions and processes. In order to legitimize and validate results that might otherwise pass unrecognized, we suggest a methodology that records project "milestones" as successes in their own right.