GABA quantitation using MEGA-PRESS: Regional and hemispheric differences.

PURPOSE: To measure in vivo brain gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) concentrations, and assess regional and hemispheric differences, using MR spectroscopy (1 H-MRS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: GABA concentrations were measured bilaterally in the frontal cortex (FC), parietal cortex (PC), and occipital cortex (OC) of 21 healthy young subjects (age range 20-29 years) using 3 Tesla Philips scanner. A univariate general linear model analysis was carried out to assess the effect of region and hemisphere as well as their interaction on GABA concentrations while controlling for sex and gray matter differences. RESULTS: Results indicated a significant regional dependence of GABA levels [F(2,89) = 11.725, P < 0.001, ηp2 = .209] with lower concentrations in the FC compared with both PC (P < 0.001) and OC (P < 0.001) regions. There was no significant hemispheric differences in GABA levels [F(1,89) = .172; P = 0.679; ηp2 = .002]. CONCLUSION: This study reports the concentrations of GABA in the FC, PC, and OC brain regions of healthy young adults. GABA distribution exhibits hemispheric symmetry, but varies across regions; GABA levels in the FC are lower than those in the PC and OC. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1619-1623.

Automatic landmark correspondence detection in medical images with an application to deformable image registration.

Purpose: Deformable image registration (DIR) can benefit from additional guidance using corresponding landmarks in the images. However, the benefits thereof are largely understudied, especially due to the lack of automatic landmark detection methods for three-dimensional (3D) medical images. Approach: We present a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), called DCNN-Match, that learns to predict landmark correspondences in 3D images in a self-supervised manner. We trained DCNN-Match on pairs of computed tomography (CT) scans containing simulated deformations. We explored five variants of DCNN-Match that use different loss functions and assessed their effect on the spatial density of predicted landmarks and the associated matching errors. We also tested DCNN-Match variants in combination with the open-source registration software Elastix to assess the impact of predicted landmarks in providing additional guidance to DIR. Results: We tested our approach on lower abdominal CT scans from cervical cancer patients: 121 pairs containing simulated deformations and 11 pairs demonstrating clinical deformations. The results showed significant improvement in DIR performance when landmark correspondences predicted by DCNN-Match were used in the case of simulated ( p = 0 e 0 ) as well as clinical deformations ( p = 0.030 ). We also observed that the spatial density of the automatic landmarks with respect to the underlying deformation affect the extent of improvement in DIR. Finally, DCNN-Match was found to generalize to magnetic resonance imaging scans without requiring retraining, indicating easy applicability to other datasets. Conclusions: DCNN-match learns to predict landmark correspondences in 3D medical images in a self-supervised manner, which can improve DIR performance.

Attitude and practices of parents toward their children's oral health care during COVID-19 pandemic.

RATIONALE: The impact of COVID-19 has affected billions of people affecting nearly all domains of life, including patient's healthcare needs. Due to constrained dental services during lockdown, pediatric dental needs were severely compromised therefore, parental attitude and practices of maintaining child's oral hygiene impose significant impact on child's oral hygiene. AIM: This study aims to assess the attitude and practices of parents toward their children's oral health care during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: The present cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 120 parents selected randomly from the outpatient department after obtaining informed consent. A structured questionnaire was used to assess attitude and practice of parents toward their child's oral hygiene during lockdown in COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: The overall attitude and practice score of parents in maintaining their child's oral hygiene was low, with mean value of 2.36 ± 1.36 and 2.51 ± 1.50, respectively. 60.8% of parents reported the need of dental treatment for their child during the lockdown period whereas 50.8% parents contacted the dentist during this period; majority (37.5%) of which reported due to toothache. 68.3% of parents would like to visit nearby dental hospital for emergencies during lockdown period. Only 33.3% of parents took extra efforts to maintain their child's oral hygiene while 45% made dietary changes in their child's diet to prevent tooth decay. CONCLUSION: The overall attitude and practices of the parents were poor toward the oral health of their children during the lockdown period in COVID-19 pandemic. There is urgent need of increasing awareness among parents regarding the importance of maintaining their child's oral health. The inability to see the doctor should at least encourage better home practice measures for future. The concept of tele-dentistry is very new and will be the need of the coming modern times.

Dealing with "Coronavirus Pandemic": A Dental Outlook.

An emergent pneumonia outbreak, denoted as coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO) originated in Wuhan City, in late December 2019 and spread at an alarming rate to become a pandemic affecting more than 200 countries. The COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which is highly contagious and is associated with a high mortality rate. The current COVID-19 outbreak has created a major havoc among every strata of the society with a detrimental impact on healthcare professionals, including dentists limiting their capabilities at large. The transmission of virus through aerosols produced by high- and low-speed handpieces, ultrasonic scalers, air/water syringes, or an infected patient coughing, and even when taking intraoral radiographs has made it difficult for dental personnel to provide even the most basic services to the needful. The virus survives on environmental surfaces for extended periods of time, including metal and plastic surfaces commonly found in dental offices making it utmost necessary to follow the precautions and recommendations issued by various organizations in order to contain its spread. This article aims to provide the latest knowledge encompassing the various aspects of COVID-19 to pediatric dentists in India. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Goswami M, Sharma S, Kumar G, et al. Dealing with "Coronavirus Pandemic": A Dental Outlook. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(3):269-278.

Attitude and practices of parents toward their children's oral health care during COVID-19 pandemic

Rationale: The impact of COVID-19 has affected billions of people affecting nearly all domains of life, including patient's healthcare needs. Due to constrained dental services during lockdown, pediatric dental needs were severely compromised therefore, parental attitude and practices of maintaining child's oral hygiene impose significant impact on child's oral hygiene. Aim: This study aims to assess the attitude and practices of parents toward their children's oral health care during COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: The present cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 120 parents selected randomly from the outpatient department after obtaining informed consent. A structured questionnaire was used to assess attitude and practice of parents toward their child's oral hygiene during lockdown in COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The overall attitude and practice score of parents in maintaining their child's oral hygiene was low, with mean value of 2.36 ± 1.36 and 2.51 ± 1.50, respectively. 60.8% of parents reported the need of dental treatment for their child during the lockdown period whereas 50.8% parents contacted the dentist during this period; majority (37.5%) of which reported due to toothache. 68.3% of parents would like to visit nearby dental hospital for emergencies during lockdown period. Only 33.3% of parents took extra efforts to maintain their child's oral hygiene while 45% made dietary changes in their child's diet to prevent tooth decay. Conclusion: The overall attitude and practices of the parents were poor toward the oral health of their children during the lockdown period in COVID-19 pandemic. There is urgent need of increasing awareness among parents regarding the importance of maintaining their child's oral health. The inability to see the doctor should at least encourage better home practice measures for future. The concept of tele-dentistry is very new and will be the need of the coming modern times.