Evaluation and Comparison of Nutritional Status According to Area of Residence and Type of Institute, its Effect on Plaque and Gingival Status: A Comparative Longitudinal Study.

Need of the study: Schoolchildren constitute about 113.8 million (2000-2001 census) population of India and around 11,413,000 comprises schoolchildren in Rajasthan (2000-2001 census), with overall 2.4% children suffering from dietary inadequacies. In the causation of nutritional deficiency diseases, dietary inadequacies have been considered a predominant etiological factor. To overcome such dietary problems and initiate any programs for improvement in general and oral health status, the present study was undertaken in the form of a dietary record of five consecutive days among schoolchildren belonging to different geographical areas. Aim: To evaluate and compare nutritional status according to area of residence and type of institution and its possible effect on plaque and gingival status among 12-15-year-old schoolchildren of Jaipur. Materials and methods: The list of schools was collected using simple random technique in both rural and urban areas of Jaipur city. Overall, four schools were drawn randomly from the selected area (two from government and two from private). Results: In the urban area, nutrient scores (NS) were higher compared to rural areas, irrespective of the season. In contrast to this, plaque and gingival scores were higher in private schools of rural areas. Conclusion: There is a need for awareness regarding applied nutrition among schoolchildren, irrespective of the area. How to cite this article: Gaur AG, Sharma M, Sharma R, et al. Evaluation and Comparison of Nutritional Status According to Area of Residence and Type of Institute, its Effect on Plaque and Gingival Status: A Comparative Longitudinal Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2023;16(S-3):S233-S239.

Quantifying Dietary Diversity by Using Food Group Scores among Schoolchildren of Jaipur: A Seasonal Longitudinal Study.

NEED OF THE STUDY: Most dentists are concerned that their patients are consuming a record number of sugar-filled sodas, sweetened fruit drinks, and other stuff that affect their oral environment. Children are invariably the victims of these foodstuffs. These items generally have very little nutritional value, albeit their commercial value. Thus, dietary habits and the choice of food among children and teens are important factors that determine how quickly they may develop oral diseases. Thus, to design good intervention programs and preventive strategies, information on food habits and dietary intake of the target population is very important. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: To determine dietary diversity using food group score (FGS) among 12-15 years schoolchildren of urban and rural areas of Jaipur. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Jaipur district is divided into 13 Tehsils. Based on a simple random number table, Bhanpur (Rural) and Central Jaipur (Urban) were selected for the present study. Food group scores were calculated from the 5-day diet diary of the study subjects. RESULTS: Scores were found to be higher in winters as compared to the summer season and this difference is observed to be highly statistically significant. Scores were found to be higher in urban schoolchildren as compared to rural and the difference was highly statistically significant among urban schoolchildren in winters. Scores were found to be higher among private schoolchildren as compared to government and this difference was highly statistically significant among schoolchildren belonging to urban areas. CONCLUSION: There is a need for nutritional counseling and basic oral health care in the study area irrespective of the season. The dietary diversity of children is determined by social, psychological, and economic factors. Thus, counseling should be given accordingly in conjunction with a team of health professionals including physicians, dieticians, and dentists under the supervision of parents, guardians, and schoolteachers and management. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Gaur A, Sharma M, Sharma R. Quantifying Dietary Diversity by Using Food Group Scores among Schoolchildren of Jaipur: A Seasonal Longitudinal Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(3):376-382.

Retracted Article: A bio-based piezoelectric nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting using nanohybrid of poly(vinylidene fluoride).

A bio-based piezoelectric egg shell membrane (ESM) is used for energy harvesting applications in the form of two and three-component nanohybrids. A bio-waste piezo-filler in a piezoelectric polymer matrix was designed through an induced ß-phase nucleation in the matrix using an organically modified two-dimensional nanoclay. Structural alteration (α to ß-phase) in the presence of the nanoparticles was also manifested by morphological changes over spherulite to a needle-like morphology; thus, these nanohybrid materials are suitable for energy harvesting applications. ESM-based nanogenerators were fabricated with local ordering of piezo phases, as revealed via atomic force microscopy, leading to the generation of mostly electroactive phases in the whole nanohybrid. The voltage outputs from the optimized device were measured to be ∼56 and 144 V in single and multiple stacks (five), respectively, with corresponding power densities of 55 µW cm-2 and 100 µW cm-2. The efficiency of the device was verified using a variety of body movements, e.g. bending, twisting, walking, and foot tapping, causing mechanical energy dissipation, which eventually transformed into energy storage. The underlying mechanism of high conversion of energy is explained by the synergistically induced piezo-phase in the polymer matrix together with the floppy piezo-filler. The mechanical stability, durability and repeated energy conversion of the hybrid device make it a robust nanogenerator. The biocompatibility of the nanogenerator was verified through cellular studies, demonstrating its appropriate use in powering biomedical devices/implants.

Variation in Salivary Parameters and its Correlation with Plaque and Gingival Status among 12 to 15 Years Schoolchildren of Rural and Urban Jaipur City in Winter and Summer Seasons.

BACKGROUND: Saliva circulating in the mouth at any given time is termed as whole saliva and comprises of mixtures of secretions from major and minor salivary glands and traces from gingival crevicular fluid. This saliva in the form of unstimulated/stimulated salivary parameters governs the overall homeostatic mechanism of mouth. AIM: To evaluate variation in salivary parameters and its correlation with plaque and gingival status among 12 to 15 years schoolchildren of rural and urban Jaipur city in winter and summer season. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate unstimulated/stimulated salivary parameters amongst 12 to 15 years schoolchildren of rural and urban Jaipur city in winter and summer using GC saliva check buffer kit by GC America Inc. To correlate unstimulated/ stimulated salivary parameters with plaque and gingival status among 12 to 15 years schoolchildren of rural and urban Jaipur city in winters and summer season. METHODOLOGY: Eighty schoolchildren of age group between 12 and 15 years were included in this study. They were divided into two groups, group 1-comprised of schoolchildren belonging to rural area and group 2-comprised of schoolchildren belonging to urban area. Each group was further divided into government and private schoolchildren, comprising of 10 subjects in each of the two schools. Study participants underwent clinical examination, and examination of salivary samples for qualitative and quantitative analysis of unstimulated/stimulated salivary parameters in winter and summer season. RESULTS: No difference in resting salivary flow rate was observed between the two seasons but was found to be comparatively higher among urban schoolchildren as compared to rural. Viscosity of saliva increases in winter as compared to summer among rural schoolchildren. Saliva quantity was found to be very low in summer as compared to winter among rural schoolchildren. Salivary buffering capacity was found to be lower in winter season irrespective of the difference in area. Salivary pH scores were found to be higher in summer as compared to winter among both rural and urban schoolchildren, and this difference was statistically significant (<0.05). Mean plaque scores were found to be higher in winter as compared to summer. Positive correlation (+0.063) was observed between pH and plaque scores in winter season. Positive correlation (+0.045) was observed between pH and gingival scores in winter season. CONCLUSION: There is a need for dietary counseling and basic oral health care in the study area irrespective of the season. Food consumption patterns differ significantly in winter as compared to summer thereby affecting the oral clearance rate which directly or indirectly affects unstimulated and stimulated salivary patterns and plaque and gingival status. How to cite this article: Gaur A, Anup N, Sharma R. Variation in Salivary Parameters and its Correlation with Plaque and Gingival Status among 12 to 15 Years Schoolchildren of Rural and Urban Jaipur City in Winter and Summer Seasons. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2012;5(1):39-48.

Mutans Streptococci Colonization in Relation to Feeding Practices, Age and the Number of Teeth in 6 to 30-Month-Old Children: An in vivo Study.

BACKGROUND: Early childhood caries has been characterized as first affecting the primary maxillary anterior teeth, followed by the involvement of the primary molars. Other terms for dental caries in preschool children, which inappropriately may imply cause for the disease, includes baby bottle tooth decay, nursing caries, milk bottle syndrome, baby bottle caries, nursing bottle mouth and nursing mouth. AIM: To explore the relationships of feeding practices, age and number of teeth present with mutans streptococci colonization in infants. DESIGN AND SETTING: A comparative clinical study conducted on 160 children aged from 6 to 30 months in the Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital in collaboration with Child Health Institute and Research Center and Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Baseline data collection included: (i) Parents of the infants were asked open ended questions about the baby feeding practices, (ii) The age of the subjects were obtained from the immunization register maintained at Child Health Institute and Research Center and were grouped into group I (6-11 months), group II (12-17 months), group III (18-23 months) and group IV (24-30 months), (iii) Clinical examination of children was done by using mouth mirror and explorer in flash light.(6) For each child number and location of erupted teeth was recorded, (iv) Microbial screening for mutans streptococci involved sampling of saliva from each child was performed by placing a sterile wooden tongue blade on the dorsum of the tongue and the number of colony forming units (CFU) were recorded. RESULTS: According to feeding practices, 34 children were in breastfed category, 39 were in baby bottle category and 87 children reported no bottle usage. Out of 160 children examined, a total 142 children were colonized with mutans streptococci. 18 children were found to be colonized with low colony forming units, 78 children were found to be colonized with moderate colony forming units and 64 children were colonized with high colony forming units. In baby bottle group, all of 39 subjects were reported to have sweetened milk, sugar in the bottle. CONCLUSION: Among different feeding practices, all the three subgroups viz breastfed children, children with nursing bottle usage and children with no bottle usage, all have shown mutans streptococci acquisition. But breastfed children have shown least number of high colony forming units, which is increased in the case of children using nursing bottle and is maximum in the children who were neither breastfed nor fed with nursing bottle. Percentage of children colonized with mutans streptococci increases with age and as the number of teeth increase, number of colony forming units were also found to be increasing. How to cite this article: Sharma R, Prabhakar AR, Gaur A. Mutans Streptococci Colonization in Relation to Feeding Practices, Age and the Number of Teeth in 6 to 30-Month-Old Children: An in vivo Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2012;5(2): 124-131.

The water-deficit stress- and red-rot-related genes in sugarcane.

Sugarcane is an important international commodity as a valuable agricultural crop especially in developing countries. Sequencing was carried out to generate >35,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from healthy as well as red-rot-infected tissue of Indian subtropical variety of sugarcane. Subsequent clustering with existing sugarcane ESTs in public databases identified 4,087 clusters, including 85 clusters that preferentially express upon Colletotrichum falcatum (red-rot) infection, which were previously unreported. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR profiling of selected EST clusters identified several sugarcane clusters that show differential expression in response to biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Twenty-five stress-related clusters showed >2-fold relative expression during water-deficit stress in sugarcane. Similarly, EST clusters could be identified, which exhibit association with red-rot disease when assessed in red-rot-susceptible and red-rot-resistant varieties of sugarcane. Such EST clusters are good candidates for in-depth analysis to elucidate stress-responsive pathways in sugarcane and facilitate genetic manipulation to tailor this crop for tolerance to various stresses.

Sequence analysis of the long arm of rice chromosome 11 for rice-wheat synteny.

The DNA sequence of 106 BAC/PAC clones in the minimum tiling path (MTP) of the long arm of rice chromosome 11, between map positions 57.3 and 116.2 cM, has been assembled to phase 2 or PLN level. This region has been sequenced to 10x redundancy by the Indian Initiative for Rice Genome Sequencing (IIRGS) and is now publicly available in GenBank. The region, excluding overlaps, has been predicted to contain 2,932 genes using different software. A gene-by-gene BLASTN search of the NCBI wheat EST database of over 420,000 cDNA sequences revealed that 1,143 of the predicted rice genes (38.9%) have significant homology to wheat ESTs (bit score >/= 100). Further BLASTN search of these 1,143 rice genes with the GrainGenes database of sequence contigs containing bin-mapped wheat ESTs allowed 113 of the genes to be placed in bins located on wheat chromosomes of different homoeologous groups. The largest number of genes, about one-third, mapped to the homoeologous group 4 chromosomes of wheat, suggesting a common evolutionary origin. The remaining genes were located on wheat chromosomes of different groups with significantly higher numbers for groups 3 and 5. Location of bin-mapped wheat contigs to chromosomes of all the seven homoeologous groups can be ascribed to movement of genes (transpositions) or chromosome segments (translocations) within rice or the hexaploid wheat genomes. Alternatively, it could be due to ancient duplications in the common ancestral genome of wheat and rice followed by selective elimination of genes in the wheat and rice genomes. While there exists definite conservation of gene sequences and the ancestral chromosomal identity between rice and wheat, there is no obvious conservation of the gene order at this level of resolution. Lack of extensive colinearity between rice and wheat genomes suggests that there have been many insertions, deletions, duplications and translocations that make the synteny comparisons much more complicated than earlier thought. However, enhanced resolution of comparative sequence analysis may reveal smaller conserved regions of colinearity, which will facilitate selection of markers for saturation mapping and sequencing of the gene-rich regions of the wheat genome.