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Every t-dynamic proper n-coloring of a graph G describes a shadow allocation of any (n,t+1)-threshold secret sharing scheme based on G, so that, after just one round of communication, each participant can either reconstruct the secret, or obtain a different shadow from each one of his/her neighbors. Thus, for just one round of communication, this scheme is fair if and only if the threshold is either less than or equal to the minimum degree of G, or greater than or equal to its maximum degree. Despite that the dynamic coloring problem has widely been dealt with in the literature, a comprehensive study concerning this implementation in cryptography is still required. This paper delves into this topic by focusing on the use of extended neighborhood coronas for modeling communication networks whose average path lengths are small even after an asymptotic growth of their center and/or outer graphs. Particularly, the dynamic coloring problem is solved for any extended neighborhood corona with center path or star, for which we establish optimal shadow allocations of any (fair) threshold secret sharing scheme based on them. Some bounds are also established for the dynamic chromatic number of any extended neighborhood corona.

Background/purposePoor oral hygiene and periodontal disease have been identified as potential risk factors for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present study aimed to determine the association between periodontitis and COVID-19 severity, nature of symptoms, mortality, and hospital stay.MethodsIn total, 163 COVID-19-positive patients (men: 93; women: 70) were categorized into two groups: the control group, consisting of 120 patients with asymptomatic or mild symptoms, and the case group, consisting of 43 patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms. The severity of periodontal disease, oral hygiene status (OHI), pocket depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP), number of decayed/missing/filled teeth, mortality, duration of stay in the hospital, oxygen requirement, and nature of COVID-19 symptoms were assessed in both groups. The association between periodontitis and COVID-19 was analyzed with other confounding factors such as age, sex, comorbidities, oral hygiene, and smoking status.ResultsThe presence of periodontitis increases the severity of COVID-19 by 3.7 times (p = 0.002). A statistically significant difference was noted for symptoms such as dizziness (p = 0.036), running nose/cold (p = 0.009), and headache (p = 0.005) in the presence of periodontitis. The risk estimate for death associated with periodontitis was 1.03. Additionally, the average duration of stay was longer for individuals with periodontitis than for those in the control group.ConclusionThere is a positive association between periodontal disease and COVID-19. Periodontitis increases the severity of COVID-19 and alters the symptoms. Hence, periodontal disease management should be an integral part of managing patients with coronavirus infection.

Introduction Mid-day meal programmes (MDM) were introduced in India to improve school attendance, nutritional status and educational outcomes of school children. Numerous primary studies have examined the impact of the MDM programmes on both nutritional and educational outcomes in various settings across the country. However, synthesising the findings from these studies has been challenging. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic review to assess the effects of MDM programmes on the nutritional and academic outcomes of school children in India.Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted, and relevant studies published between 1997 and 2022 were included. Two reviewers independently conducted study selection, data extraction and risk of bias assessment. The results were synthesised descriptively.Results The systematic review included 31 studies. Among them, 16 studies focused on academic outcomes, while 18 studies reported children’s nutritional status. Studies on MDM Scheme (MDMS) in children show mixed results on nutritional outcomes. While some studies show marginal improvements in height and weight measurements, others show no significant improvement. Regular MDMS access improves enrollment, attendance and retention rates for children, with lower dropout rates and higher academic achievement. However, its impact on academic performance remains unclear.Conclusion The MDM programme in India was effective in improving the academic achievement and a few nutritional outcomes of school children, underscoring the importance of sustaining MDM programmes in India.Protocol registration number The review was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023391776). Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023391776.

Background: COVID-19 infection is associated with neurological manifestations, including various types of movement disorders (MD). A thorough review of individual patients with COVID-19-induced MD would help in better understanding the clinical profile and outcome of these patients and in prognostication. Objective: We conducted an individual patient-systematic review to study the clinical and imaging profile and outcomes of patients with COVID-19-associated MD. Methods: A systematic literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases was conducted by two independent reviewers. Individual patient data COVID from case reports and case series on COVID-19-associated MD, published between December 2019 and December 2022, were extracted and analyzed. Results: Data of 133 patients with COVID-19-associated MD from 82 studies were analyzed. Mean age was 55 ± 18 years and 77% were males. A mixed movement disorder was most commonly seen (41%); myoclonus-ataxia was the most frequent (44.4%). Myoclonus significantly correlated with age (odds ratio (OR) 1.02 P = 0.03, CI 1-1.04). Tremor had the longest latency to develop after SARS-CoV-2 infection [median (IQR) 21 (10-40) days, P = 0.009, CI 1.01-1.05]. At short-term follow-up, myoclonus improved (OR 14.35, P value = 0.01, CI 1.71-120.65), whereas parkinsonism (OR 0.09, P value = 0.002, CI 0.19-0.41) and tremor (OR 0.16, P value = 0.016, CI 0.04-0.71) persisted. Conclusion: Myoclonus-ataxia was the most common movement disorder after COVID-19 infection. Myoclonus was seen in older individuals and usually improved. Tremor and parkinsonism developed after a long latency and did not improve in the short-term.

Introduction: For a successful prosthodontic rehabilitation, accurate and economic shade selection methods are warranted. Shade selection with digital cameras and various commonly used digital displays can be suggested as an alternative to expensive colorimetric instruments and inaccurate visual shade selection. To digitalize prosthetic rehabilitation, standards need to be set on minimum digital specifications required to capture and communicate accurate shade selection. This study aimed to establish a minimum specification required for a digital image, to achieve the most accurate result in prosthodontic shade selection, using digital photography. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 dental professionals with normal color vision. Sixteen shade tabs were randomly selected from two commonly used shade guides and were photographed using four different commonly used digital cameras under standardized settings. After dividing the shade tabs into four groups randomly, the images were displayed on four different outputs. Participants were made to match the outputs to a complete set of shade guide. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the proportion of correct responses. Chi-square test was used to test for the presence of statistical association between the groups. Results: For digital shade evaluation, output from the compact camera (Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) with an effective output of 14 megapixel showed higher number of responses in terms of accuracy, in comparison with other devices which produced digital outputs with a higher pixel density. The shades were identified best on outputs with a higher pixel density of 2560 × 1600-pixel resolution, followed by full HD LCD display (1920 × 1080-pixel resolution). Conclusion: This study recommends digital photography using a 14-MP camera as a minimum specification for shade selection. For display outputs, laptops with a screen resolution of at least 1920 × 1080, calibrated in standard red, green, blue color space is recommended for visual shade selection.

Byline: Kanchana. Pillai, Shubham. Misra, Govinda. Siripurapu, Aminu. Aliyar, Priyanka. Bhat, Roopa. Rajan, Achal. Srivastava, Vinay. Goyal, Anil. Venkitachalam, Divya. Radhakrishnan Background: COVID-19 infection is associated with neurological manifestations, including [...]

Background: The field of endodontics is greatly evolving with the brisk entry of not just new materials but also numerous technology-based advances. Factors governed by the practitioner such as the canal preparation technique, the disinfection regimes followed, the standard of obturation, and the quality of coronal and apical seal all in turn greatly influence the prognosis of the endodontic treatment. Objective: To assess the attitude concerning the materials and techniques used during endodontic treatment among the endodontists in Kerala. Materials and Methods: An online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was done among endodontists in Kerala. The questionnaire assessed several key aspects of endodontic practice. A comparison was made based on the nature of practice and years of practice. Results: A total of 165 responses were obtained. A high percentage of participants (>75%) routinely employed preoperative radiographs. A combination of apex locators along with radiographs was most preferred for working length determination, and calcium hydroxide was the most preferred root canal sealant. Almost half of the endodontists did not use any form of magnification. Conclusion: Despite several booming advances in technology, endodontists still do not strictly follow the implementation of important regimes such as the incorporation of magnification or use of a rubber dam in their practice, which still needs to be meticulously incorporated into practice, which would raise the standards of clinical practice.

Background: A large number of trials has been conducted using curcumin as the main ingredient in mouth rinses, topical oral gel, subgingival irrigant, locally delivered gel and locally delivered chips to reduce gingival inflammation and probing pocket depth. However, the results of these trials vary and are debatable. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of oral curcumin products as compared to the routinely used ones in reducing gingival inflammation and probing pocket depth in adults. Methods: Electronic databases such as Pubmed/Medline and Cochrane Library and hand searching was done for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which yielded 148 results, of which 27 RCTs compared curcumin products with routinely used ones. Meta-analysis was conducted to check for plaque reduction, gingival inflammation and pocket depth. Results: 963 participants in the 27 RCT studies were considered for a systematic review. We found that for a long-term evaluation of probing pocket depth in nine studies each with 400 participants, there was a statistically significant difference in the reduction when curcumin topical gel was used as compared with the control [SMD −0.87, 95% CI: −1.31 to −0.43]. However, in the evaluation of short-term plaque and gingival scores, we found no statistically significant differences in the reduction when curcumin mouth rinse was used [SMD −0.76, 95% CI: −2.25 to 0.73] and [MD: −0.09, 95% CI: −0.29 to 0.10]. Conclusion: Curcumin topical and local delivery gel, mouth rinses and sub-gingival irrigants were found to be equally effective compared to the routinely used agents for reduction of plaque and gingival inflammation. Curcumin local delivery gel had greater reduction in probing pocket depth.

Objectives: Probiotics are promising adjuncts to non‐surgical periodontal therapy (scaling and root planing (SRP)) for managing gingival and periodontal diseases. Probiotics are considered alternatives to antibiotics, especially with the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Hence, the present systematic review aims to generate evidence on the role of probiotics compared to antimicrobial agents for managing periodontal diseases (gingivitis and periodontitis). Method: Six electronic databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, EBSCO, Cochrane, Clinical Trial Registry) were searched to collect studies comparing the effect of probiotics with antibiotics for periodontal disease. In total, 5530 articles were retrieved from all databases, of which 1891 were included for title and abstract screening. After screening, a total of ten clinical studies were included for data extraction and analysis. Probing pocket depth (PPD), Clinical attachment loss (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and microbial profile were recorded. Results: Probiotics showed a significant reduction in the PPD and CAL compared to antibiotics. Antibiotics were more effective in reducing the PI and GI. A combination of probiotics and antibiotics superior compared to probiotics and antibiotics alone. Conclusion: Probiotics can be used as an alternative to antibiotics, however, a combination is more effective for managing periodontal disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Rajesh. Benny, Rakeshsingh. Singh, Anil. Venkitachalam, Rakesh. Lalla, Amit. Shah, Vyankatesh. Bolegave, Ashutosh. Shetty, Keyur. Panchal, Jitendra. Choudhary, Anita. Mathew, Manoj. Hunnur, Kishore. Shetty Background: COVID-19 causes a hypercoagulable [...]