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ABSTRACT: Aim: This study aims to identify and evaluate the methods of oral health education (OHE) used by dental professionals in Chennai, India. Materials and Method: A cross-sectional survey was performed among 357 dentists to assess the standard technique for providing OHE. A 15-item questionnaire consisting of demographic variables and preferred method of OHE was distributed to the participants as Google Form. The collected data were tabulated and analyzed using descriptive analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: Most participants (63.4%) reported the lecture method as the standard technique for delivering OHE. Among the study participants, 80% employed OHE aids, predominantly models (33.2%), pamphlets (16.8%), and AV projections (16.5%). Conclusion: The lecture method predominates among dental professionals for its perceived effectiveness and versatility. These findings underscore the importance of tailored educational strategies in oral health promotion, informed by demographic considerations and practitioner preferences, to enhance public health outcomes globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many tall buildings are being constructed in different Indian cities to cater to the demand generated by the large number of people migrating from rural areas to urban centres. The safety of such tall buildings is ensured by designing them for dynamic loads, viz. wind and earthquake. To withstand these loads, computation of the natural period becomes essential. The current Indian seismic code IS 1893 (2016) has outlined a few empirical expressions based on different structural systems to compute the natural period. These expressions have been developed using data obtained from experiments per-formed on low to midrise buildings. Thus, verifying their applicability for tall structures before using them is important. To achieve this, in the present study ambient vibration testing was done on 28 reinforced concrete (RC) tall buildings in the Indian cities of Hyderabad and Mumbai, whose heights ranged from 50 to 150 m. These tests' natural periods were compared with existing Indian and international codes. Based on the comparison, a novel empirical expression of RC tall buildings is proposed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Antibiotics are routinely used in dental practice to treat microbial diseases. However, the spread of drug resistant pathogens has drawn researchers' interest to find out new antimicrobial agents against oral microbial diseases. Aim: To compare the anti-microbial activity of clove oil, cinnamon oil, turmeric oil, nutmeg oil, and peppermint oil against oral pathogens. Materials and Methods: It was an in-vitro study. The organisms used in this study were Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis. Agar Well Diffusion Method was used to assess the anti-microbial efficacy of the five essential oils against oral pathogens. Five discs/concentration/microorganism were used in the study. The zone of inhibition was measured after incubation. Kruskal Wallis Test was used to compare the difference in the anti-microbial activity of the oils. Results: The mean zone of inhibition of clove oil against Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans, and Enterococcus faecalis was highest at 100 μL (29.8 mm, 44.75 mm, 40.33 mm, respectively), cinnamon oil was highest at 100 μL (39.8 mm, 40.33 mm, 40 mm, respectively), turmeric oil was highest at 100 μL (41.8 mm, 40.50 mm, 40 mm, respectively), peppermint oil was highest at 100 μL (41.8 mm, 27.16 mm, 17 mm, respectively) and nutmeg oil against was highest at 100 μL (24 mm, 24.83 mm, 9.3 mm, respectively). Conclusion: Clove oil, cinnamon oil, turmeric oil, nutmeg oil, and peppermint oil had anti-microbial activity against oral pathogens. Based on the findings, the most effective oil against Streptococcus mutans was turmeric oil and peppermint oil. The most effective oil against Candida albicans and Enterococcus faecalis was clove oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study describes the interdependency between earthquake ground motion parameters and seismic damage to various buildings. A novel ranking procedure between energy, damage and seismic risk has been proposed for buildings subjected to ground motions. Correlation analysis was done between damage to buildings, energy and total energy to confirm the trend of parameters and their influence on total energy ranking. It was found that high peak ground acceleration (PGA) or high energy alone may not lead to extensive damage to the buildings. However, they were affected by the predominant frequency, duration of ground motion and amplitude. A correlation study was performed using over 300 ground motions datasets. It was found that the seismic damage of low-rise buildings had a moderate correlation with root mean square acceleration, characteristic intensity, sustained maximum acceleration and effective design acceleration. Also, a weak correlation was observed between seismic damage of high-rise, tall buildings and (V/H)PGA, Arms. The damage and seismic risk rankings may help change Government policies for retrofitting buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pit and fissures are approximately eight times vulnerable than the smooth surface caries lesion. Sealants are effective in preventing, arresting, and progression of pit-and-fissure occlusal caries lesions. The failure of sealant resin-based retention is mainly attributed to the moisture contamination. To overcome this drawback, UltraSeal XT® hydro, a moisture-friendly sealant, has been introduced. Aim: This study aimed to compare and evaluate the retention, cariostatic effect, and discoloration of conventional Clinpro™ 3M™ ESPE™ and hydrophilic UltraSeal XT® sealants among 12 to 15-year-old schoolchildren for 3 months. Materials and Methods: A single-blinded, randomized, split-mouth clinical trial was conducted among thirty schoolchildren aged 12-15 years. Sealants used in the present study were Group I -- Clinpro™ and Group II -- UltraSeal XT® hydro. Sealants were provided in the school by two operators based on the computer-generated random sequence and the study participants were evaluated after 3 months for sealant coverage, caries incidence, and discoloration using Color, Coverage and Caries sealant evaluation system. Sealant coverage between the two sealants was compared using Mann--Whitney U-test and Z-test for proportions. Results: A total of 47 teeth (78.3%) with UltraSeal XT® Hydro had the sealant covering in all the fissures compared to Clinpro™ 3M™ ESPE™ which was 46.7% (28 teeth) and the difference was observed to be statistically significant. Conclusion: Hydrophilic UltraSeal XT® Hydro yielded better sealant coverage (retention) compared to the conventional Clinpro™ 3M™ ESPE™. No difference was observed with regard to cariostatic effect and discoloration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the flexural strength of a commercially available, heat polymerized acrylic denture base material could be improved using reinforcements. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 specimens (65 mm × 10 mm × 3 mm) were fabricated; the specimens were divided into three groups with 10 specimens each. They were Group 1 - conventional denture base resins, Group 2 - high impact denture base resins, and Group 3 - glass reinforced denture base resins. The specimens were loaded until failure on a three-point bending test machine. An one-way analysis of variance was used to determine statistical differences among the flexural strength of three groups. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21.0© (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA) and the results were obtained. Results: The flexural strength values showed statistically significant differences among experimental groups (P < 0.005). Conclusion: Within the limitations of the study polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) reinforced with glass fibers showed the highest flexural strength values this was followed by PMMA reinforced with butadiene styrene, and the least strength was observed in the conventional denture base resins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A continuous exposure or contact to latex products may sensitize the human body by causing mild to fatal reactions. Despite the availability of the literature, medical personnel are still unaware of the implications of the use of latex materials. The increased awareness to prevent the transmission of infectious blood borne pathogens has lead to increased usage of medical gloves among health care workers. This increased usage of medical gloves, along with improved methods in diagnosing latex allergy, has been the reason for the rise in the number of reported cases. This has lead to recognition of latex allergy as a serious medical concern. Patients in high-risk groups must be assessed carefully, so that appropriate protocols can be used to protect them from contact with latex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbal drugs are frequently considered to be less toxic and also free from side effects, than synthetic ones. Hence, the present study was designed to investigate one such combination of herbal drugs, Asystasia gangetica and Morus indica for their antidiabetic and antioxidant potential against alloxan-induced diabetes in albino rats. The effect of both individual and a combination of Asystasia gangetica and Morus indica on blood glucose and liver glycogen were studied in the diabetic rats. The study also assessed for the effect of selected plant extracts for their effect on Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH) and Lipid peroxidation (LPO) in the homogenates of the pancreas. The results of the present study attests significant antidiabetic and antioxidant potential for the selected plants individually and also in combination as a prominent decrease in blood glucose and liver glycogen was observed in the rats treated with the extracts of the selected plants. Similarly, the levels of the protective antioxidant enzymes like SOD, CAT and GSH were increased along with decrease in the LPO levels. The present study provides a scientific evidence for antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of Asystasia gangetica and Morus indica. Further studies to isolate bioactive compounds will pave the way to identify potential lead compounds for developing safe and efficacious antidiabetic agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research in Knowledge Mining deal with the basic models like clustering, classification, regression, association rule mining and so on. In the process of quest for knowledge most of the knowledge mining algorithms end up in generating global knowledge while losing focus on the local knowledge. This happens oftenly due to two reasons. First reason is due to dimensionality reduction. The problem of dimensionality reduction has been viewed as the reduction of features to the maximum extent possible while being able to retain the information conveyed by the data set. But most of the dimensionality reduction techniques reduce the dimensions keeping only the retention of global knowledge in mind while compromising with the loss of local knowledge. Second reason is due to optimized feature selection for making a global classification while not being bothered about the intra class relationship. In this paper we present methodologies using wavelet transform for overcoming the loss of local knowledge along the process of mining. First we propose a discrete wavelet transform based multi resolution approach to capture the local knowledge along the process of dimensionality reduction and also being capable of representing the global knowledge with few number of wavelet coefficients. A comparison with PCA has also been made here, which strongly supports our technique using discrete wavelet transform to produce more number of local knowledge and also no/minimum misleading information. Secondly we propose continuous wavelet transform based multiresolution approach for knowledge mining through a novel histogram distance measure. Along both this approach we also propose methodologies for capturing knowledge packets from different sources and integrating this knowledge for generating a comprehensive knowledge base. In the first part knowledge packets are generated along individual sources, filtered and then integrated. In the second part, summing the distances between the objects when observed from different sources does the integration and then the knowledge is mined from overall distance matrix to obtain comprehensive knowledgebase. These foundational techniques are illustrated with a set of '8-O-X' spatial dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Dental caries is the most common chronic disease of childhood that interferes with normal nutrition intake, speech, and daily routine activities. Dental caries affects people of all ages with the highest priority risk group being school-going children. Hence, this cross-sectional study helps to determine the prevalence and to compare the dental caries experience among 5- to 12-year-old school-going children of Chandigarh using dft/DMFT and SiC index., Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted among 3354 school children in the age group of 5 to 12 years. The subjects were selected from four randomly selected schools in Chandigarh. Independent t -test and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare the mean difference at 5% significance level ( P < 0.05)., Results: The prevalence of dental caries was found to be 46.9% with a mean dft and DMFT score of 1.36 ± 2.16 and 0.28 ± 0.80, respectively. The SiC index score for primary and permanent dentition were 3.53 ± 2.53 and 0.85 ± 1.20, respectively. The dft scores declined progressively as the age advanced whereas the DMFT scores increased from 5 to 12 years., Conclusion: Caries prevalence was high in primary than permanent dentition. Comparison between dft/DMFT and SiC indices indicated there is a subgroup that presented with a higher caries rate., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)

Introduction: Oral cavity harbors wide variety of microorganisms; these are considered crucial for the dental caries initiation and progression. Plaque-induced caries is a local disease; therefore, dentifrices are the most ideal vehicle for the daily delivery of antibacterial agents. In recent years, alternatives to fluorides such as green tea, probiotic, and chlorhexidine (CHX) toothpastes have been proposed to possess antiplaque and anticariogenic properties., Aim: To compare the effectiveness of probiotic, green tea, and CHX- and fluoride-containing dentifrices on oral microbial flora., Materials and Methods: A double-blinded, parallel group, randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted among healthy adults. Fifty-two individuals were randomly allocated to four groups ( n = 13): Group I - green tea dentifrice, Group II - fluoridated dentifrice, Group III - CHX dentifrice, and Group IV - probiotic dentifrice. Plaque and saliva samples were evaluated for Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus at baseline and 15 th and 30 th days of follow-up. Paired t -test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare the mean differences of plaque and salivary S. mutans counts at two and three time periods. Wilcoxon signed-rank and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare the mean Lactobacillus count in plaque and saliva samples at two and three time periods, respectively., Results: The mean S. mutans and Lactobacillus counts in plaque and saliva samples were significantly reduced by all the treatment groups at the 30 th day of follow-up. However, Group III showed the highest reduction and was found to be statistically significant ( P < 0.05)., Conclusion: All the four groups exhibited antimicrobial activity by bringing about a significant reduction in the mean S. mutans and Lactobacillus colony counts at the 30 th day of follow-up. Among all the preventive modalities, Group III (CHX dentifrice) showed better results compared to other groups., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2019 Contemporary Clinical Dentistry.)

Background: The World Health Organization considers sealing the pit and fissures as a primary preventive measure and is one of the most effective, least invasive means to ensure the complete protection of the occlusal surface from the carious phenomenon. In vitro tests play a vital role in providing the necessary information regarding the efficacy of newer brands of sealants in a short period. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the viscosity and length of resin tag of conventional and hydrophilic sealant on permanent molars., Materials and Methods: Twenty extracted third molars were randomly divided into two groups: Group I: Conventional sealant (Clinpro 3M ESPE) and Group II: Hydrophilic sealant (UltraSeal XT Hydro). Occlusal surfaces of each tooth were pretreated with the acid etchant, and the respective sealants were placed. Both the groups were then subjected to thermocycling and sectioned longitudinally. The sectioned tooth specimens were examined under scanning electron microscope for resin tag length measurements. Viscosities were evaluated using an Anton Paar viscometer. Independent t -test was used to compare the difference in mean resin tag length of Group I and Group II sealants., Results: Viscosity measurements of Group I and Group II were found to be 0.9 mega Pascal (MPa) and 0.7 MPa and the mean resin tag length of Group II (10.03 ± 1.00 μm) was found to be higher than Group I (7.46 ± 0.95 μm) and was found to be significant statistically ( P = 0.001)., Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that Group II sealant exhibited lower viscosity and formed resin tag of sufficient length than that of Group I sealants. Therefore, hydrophilic sealant showed better results as compared to a conventional sealant., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Herbal drugs are frequently considered to be less toxic and also free from side effects, than synthetic ones. Hence, the present study was designed to investigate one such combination of herbal drugs, Asystasia gangetica and Morus indica for their antidiabetic and antioxidant potential against alloxan-induced diabetes in albino rats. The effect of both individual and a combination of Asystasia gangetica and Morus indica on blood glucose and liver glycogen were studied in the diabetic rats. The study also assessed for the effect of selected plant extracts for their effect on Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH) and Lipid peroxidation (LPO) in the homogenates of the pancreas. The results of the present study attests significant antidiabetic and antioxidant potential for the selected plants individually and also in combination as a prominent decrease in blood glucose and liver glycogen was observed in the rats treated with the extracts of the selected plants. Similarly, the levels of the protective antioxidant enzymes like SOD, CAT and GSH were increased along with decrease in the LPO levels. The present study provides a scientific evidence for antidiabetic and antioxidant potential of Asystasia gangetica and Morus indica. Further studies to isolate bioactive compounds will pave the way to identify potential lead compounds for developing safe and efficacious antidiabetic agents.

Background: Long-term follow-up of patients who underwent arterial switch operation for complete transposition of great arteries with anatomic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) has rarely been brought into the focus., Methods: Of 299 patients who underwent an arterial switch operation between January 1991 and January 2001, 23 patients had anatomic LVOTO. Age ranged from 4 days to 18 years (median 90 days) and weight ranged from 2.6 to 35 kg (median 4.3 kg). Surgical management included arterial switch operation, closure of ventricular septal defect wherever indicated, and excision of LVOTO., Results: Among patients with preoperative LVOTO there were 2 early deaths and 8 patients had mild neoaortic regurgitation at the time of discharge. Follow-up ranged from 8 months to 9 years (mean 60 +/- 12 months). In 4 patients who had mild neoaortic regurgitation at discharge, the regurgitation progressed to moderate or severe degree after a follow-up of 22 to 72 months. In 1 patient mild mitral regurgitation present at the time of discharge progressed to severe mitral regurgitation. This patient subsequently underwent double valve replacement., Conclusions: Presence of preoperative anatomical LVOTO in patients undergoing arterial switch operation predicts high incidence of postoperative neoaortic regurgitation.