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Introduction and aim. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and premalignant disorders (PMDs) are becoming common in India as the use of tobacco in different forms is increasing from a young age, and the prevalence of this disease is becoming more common in middle age. Identifying disease at earlier stages is an important measure for limiting disease incidence and improving patient prognosis. The micronuclei count can be a valid biomarker for screening suspected patients and can be helpful in educating patients about the discontinuation of treatment, diagnosing the disease in its early stages and planning a treatment for a better prognosis. Different stains that are nuclear specific can be used to identify micronuclei. The aim was to establish diagnostic efficacy of various staining techniques in OSCC and potentially malignant disorders on oral brush cytology smears with observation of micronuclei as a valid biomarker for evaluation of the disease. Material and methods. Exfoliative cytology was done with oral brush and smears are obtained from 25 oral squamous cell carcinoma, 25 leukoplakia, 25 lichen planus, 25 oral sub mucous fibrosis patients and 15 samples with no disease. Each smear was stained with five different stains Papanicolaou (PAP), hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), toluidine blue, Leishman and Giemsa (LG) cocktail and Feulgen and observed for staining efficacy of micronuclei and cellular structures. Results. The best stain to observe DNA content as micronuclei is Feulgen which gives clear and crisp details of micronuclei without giving any false count as it is nuclear specific stain. PAP can be the second choice stain. Micronuclei count is definitely increased in OSCC and PMDs compared to samples without disease confirming its use as biomarker. Conclusion. Micronuclei count in oral brush cytology smears is a valid biomarker for evaluation of premalignant disorders and OSCC and can be used for detection of disease in individuals and for screening purposes of large populations at risk. Feulgen stain is best to study DNA content as micronuclei, on the other hand PAP can be used in large sampling investigations where there is lack of armamentarium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dental pulp calcifications or pulp stones are calcified structures found in dental pulp, mostly around or enclosing a blood vessel. The formation of these calcifications begins with concentric layers of calcified tissue within which remnants of necrotic and calcified cells may be present. The calcifications of thrombi in blood vessels, called phleboliths, may also serve as nidi for denticles. In metabolic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension or poor periodontal health, there are obvious changes in blood vessels and vascularization. In our study, we observed histopathological sections of dental pulp and correlated systemic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension with poor periodontal health and dental pulp stones. Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate the histopathology of dental pulp stones, their distribution among various age groups and sexes and to identify any correlations between pulp stone formation and systemic diseases such as type II diabetes and hypertension. Materials and Methods: Samples from 100 patients with metabolic diseases such as type II diabetes and hypertension were collected. The pulp was extirpated from the teeth that were undergoing root canal treatment, and the teeth were extracted. The collected pulp sample was fixed in 10% formaline neutral buffer, subjected to routine histopathological procedures and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The pulp of teeth extracted for orthodontic treatment was considered a control for patients with no metabolic disease. Results: There was a definite relationship between increased pulp stones and metabolic diseases such as type II diabetes and hypertension; likewise, poor periodontal health was significantly related to pulp stones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a severe respiratory disorder syndrome which originated in Wuhan city as a global public health emergency, and the pandemic declaration by the WHO was made on March 11, 2020. Persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 are frequently asymptomatic, yet they have high respiratory viral loads, and they are major purveyors of viral spread. These factors have led to the current explosion of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Vaccines could play an important role by preventing severe diseases and increasing population immunity and reducing the ongoing health crisis. There is wealth of information for the review available since it is a current topic of interest. Initially, Google Scholar was utilized to take an initial sample of what types of articles are available. We searched other databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, and COCHRANE LIBRARY for research articles published up to March 2021, with no language restrictions. We found seven peer-reviewed publications available on the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: AZD1222 (AstraZeneca/University of Oxford), a ChAdOx1-based vaccine with a reported efficacy of 70.4% and two mRNA-based vaccines: BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech) with a reported efficacy of 95% and mRNA-1273 (Moderna/NIAID) with a reported efficacy of 94.1%. Internet was used as a source because of its limitless networking of resources. Sources used from the internet were written by professionals in their fields and published on reliable sites, in referred publications, or on professional organization sites. The cited references were within the last 2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]