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Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common but complex metabolic disorder affecting various systems in the body. Oral cavity is no exception as this chronic condition exerts a huge impact on oral health. Salivary dysfunction has been reported to be a frequent oral complication in type 2 diabetics which in turn leads to an array of oral complications because oral health is to a greater extent dependent on the quality and quantity of saliva. Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the salivary flow rate and prevalence of subjective symptoms of xerostomia in diabetics and nondiabetics. Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 100 type 2 diabetic patients and 50 nondiabetic subjects. Random nonfasting plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin levels were used to determine the diabetic status of the individuals. Unstimulated saliva was collected using 'Spit technique'. Stimulated saliva was collected using 2% citric acid. Unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rate (USFR and SSFR) was calculated for every patient and expressed as ml/min. Xerostomia was evaluated using a multi-item inventory comprising 19 questions. Results: In our study, both whole unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rates were decreased in diabetics compared to nondiabetics and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.000). A greater percentage of diabetic patients perceived xerostomia symptoms compared to nondiabetics. Conclusion: Type 2 diabetics have higher prevalence of xerostomia and significantly reduced salivary flow rate compared to nondiabetics. Alterations in salivary flow create an imbalance in the homeostasis of oral environment leading to spectrum of oral ailments in these individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short story "Dharana" (Live the Role) by T. Srivalli Radhika is presented.

Abstract: A series of rare-earth neodymia supported vanadium oxide catalysts with various V2O5 loadings ranging from 3 to 15wt.% were prepared by the wet impregnation method using ammonium metavanadate as the vanadium precursor. The nature of vanadia species formed on the support surface is characterized by a series of different physicochemical techniques like X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), BET surface area, diffuse reflectance UV–vis spectroscopy (DR UV–vis), thermal analysis (TG-DTG/DTA) and SEM. The acidity of the prepared systems were verified by the stepwise temperature programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD) and found that the total acidity gets increased with the percentage of vanadia loading. XRD and FTIR results shows the presence of surface dispersed vanadyl species at lower loadings and the formation of higher vanadate species as the percentage composition of vanadia is increased above 9wt.%. The low surface area of the support, calcination temperature and the percentage of vanadia loading are found to influence the formation of higher vanadia species. The catalytic activity of the V2O5-Nd2O3 catalysts was probed in the liquid phase hydroxylation of phenol and the result show that the present catalysts are active at lower vanadia concentrations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The morphology of the root and root canal system plays a significant role in the treatment outcome of endodontic procedures. The necessity of clear and high contrast images for tissues like bone and teeth has made the usage of newer imaging techniques inevitable. This is a rare case report wherein, the permanent posterior dentition of both arches was single rooted. While sporadic cases of single rooted teeth have been reported, it is rare for all the premolars and molars to show such variation. This rare clinical observation has been enhanced by Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT), which provides a clear image with added benefits of 3D (Three Dimensional) image reconstruction, low dosage and rapid scan time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) include a variety of lesions and conditions which display an increased risk for malignant transformation to oral cancer. As the incidence and prevalence of OPMD are highly increasing in India, its early detection and prevention is the need of the hour. Early diagnosis of such disorders is necessary to prevent the malignant transformation. Many advanced diagnostic techniques are used to predict their progression and to assess the risk of malignant transformation. Management of symptoms of OPMDs is necessary for the overall well-being of the patient. This short communication provides an overview and the importance of early diagnosis and prevention of OPMDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basal cell adenoma is a rare benign salivary gland neoplasm exhibiting an isomorphic basaloid tumour cell pattern, commonly occurring in the parotid. Membranous variant warrants separate consideration because of its recurrence and rate of malignant transformation. We report a case of membranous type basal cell adenoma occurring in minor salivary gland in a 61-year-old female patient. The histopathological diagnosis was supported by immunohistochemical analysis and serum Carcinoembryonic antigen level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypercementosis is an abnormal thickening of cementum which may be generalized or localized. Localized hypercementosis is usually characterized by nodular enlargement of apical third of root. Hypercementosis in the form of multiple cemental spikes distributed throughout the entire length of root is a very rare finding. In this article, we report such a rare manifestation of localized hypercementosis affecting right maxillary third molar in a 24-year-old male. This finding was an accidental observation following a difficult extraction procedure as the spikes were not evident in the orthopantamogram. It is imperative that every dental practitioner be aware of several presentations of hypercementosis and ensure that such an entity is considered in the differential diagnosis of difficult extraction procedures as an Intraoral Periapical (IOPA) radiograph or even an Orthopantamogram (OPG) could not differentiate the root morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver doped polyaniline/silica and polyaniline/silica nanocomposite were prepared nontoxic methodology from naturally available rice husk silica. The synthesized materials were characterized by XRD, TG-DSC, FT-IR, SEM and TEM analysis. The formation of polyaniline in salt form exist in benzenoid and quinoid forms. The thermal analysis shows that Ag doped pani/rice husk ash composite is higher thermal stability compared to bulk pani prepared in this study. The UV-Vis absorption spectra of Ag-Pan/RHA, shows two absorption bands obtained (~250-300 and ~ 400-500) is due to polymer in contact with silver nanoparticles. Ft-Raman results provide the bands at 1426 and 1519 cm-1 are due to the C=N stretching vibrations in quinonoid diimine and in polyaniline, a strong band appears at 1598 cm-1 due to the C-C stretching vibration of the benzenoid-like rings. SEM analysis shows the flaky shape morphology for polyaniline and Ag-polyaniline/silica composite forms the petals of flowers morphologies for silver doped nanocomposite. TEM images are confirming the silver nanoparticle incorporation in polymer matrix. Electrochemical activity test of the prepared materials shows the result of promising activity towards supercapacitor applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano crystalline form of nickel zinc ferrites (NiZn-Fe2O4) is prepared by high temperature calcination method at various proportion of Nickel and Zinc ions into the spinel structure of ferrites. The crystalline phase of as prepared NiZn-ferrites materials is characterized by XRD and TEM analysis. The magnetic properties of as prepared materials were analyzed by SQUID (superconducting quantum interface device) magnetometer. The broadening in XRD pattern due to nanoparticle formation in the crystalline phase of Ni-Zn-ferrites materials. TEM images are showing spherical and rectangular shapes of aggregated particle formation for Zn (0.6) Ni (0.4) Fe (2.0))4 composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of cheiloscopy (the study of lip prints) and dermatoglyphics (the study of fingerprints) in screening diabetic patients., Materials and Methods: The study sample comprised 100 individuals in the age group of 17-60 years, of which fifty were diabetics and fifty controls who reported to the Department of Oral Medicine, Thai Moogambigai Dental College and Hospital. Lip prints were collected and categorized based on the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi system. Fingerprint patterns were obtained and classified according to the Henry's system of classification., Results: Type II and IV lip print patterns were predominant in diabetic patients and Type I lip print patterns in controls. The difference was statistically significant. There was no significant difference in fingerprint patterns between the study groups. Gender-wise analysis for lip print and fingerprint patterns did not yield significant results., Conclusion: Cheiloscopy is a potential screening tool for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Dermatoglyphics cannot be used as a screening tool in type 2 diabetes mellitus., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences.)

Aim: The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of an herbal mouthwash containing red ginseng extract with different brands of commercially available chemical mouthwashes., Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of herbal mouthwash (Dr. Dental care liquid) in reducing the oral bacterial count and compare it with the efficacy of commercially available mouthwashes such as Rexidine, Listerine and Colgate Plax., Materials and Methods: The study includes sixty normal individuals (aged 18-24 years) who were divided into four groups of 15 individuals each. The participants of each group were given four different mouthwashes (Dr. Dental Care liquid, Colgate Plax, Listerine and Rexidine) and asked to use it twice daily for 5 days. Saliva samples were collected before the use of mouthwash and also after 5 days of using the mouthwashes. Culture and microscopic examination of salivary samples was done, and oral bacterial load present in the saliva samples was counted before and after the mouth rinse use., Results: The results were compared using Wilcoxon sign-rank test. Among the four mouthwashes, the herbal mouthwash, Dr. Dental care liquid exhibited maximum efficacy in reducing the amount of bacteria followed by Colgate Plax, Listerine and Rexidine., Conclusion: The herbal mouthwash, Dr. Dental care liquid, contains red ginseng extract, a herb with immense medicinal values. In this study, the herbal mouth rinse exhibited increased antibacterial action compared with other commercially available chemical mouth rinses. Hence, we conclude that the ginseng-containing herbal mouthwash can be considered as a safe and effective oral hygiene aid., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Purpose: To assess awareness, barriers, and misconceptions related to eye donation in people with corneal disease as compared to controls in a population setting., Materials and Methods: A population-based study was conducted in 25 randomly selected clusters of Rural Gurgaon, Haryana, India, as part of the CORE (Cornea Opacity Rural Epidemiological) study. In addition to ophthalmic examination, knowledge and perceptions regarding eye donation were assessed through a validated questionnaire. The questionnaire captured the sociodemographic factors influencing awareness regarding eye donation in participants with corneal disease and twice the number of age- and gender-matched controls recruited from the same study clusters. Descriptive statistics were computed along with multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine associated factors for awareness of eye donation., Results: In the CORE study, 452 participants had corneal opacities on ocular examination. Of these, 442 were assessed for eye donation awareness. Additionally, 884 age- and gender-matched controls were recruited. The mean age of cases and controls was 60.9 ± 15.5 and 59.6 ± 14.3 years, respectively. Awareness of eye donation in cases and controls was 46.4% (n = 205 of 442) and 52.3% (n = 462 of 884), respectively (P = 0.044). Educational status was an important factor determining knowledge about eye donation in both cases and controls (P = < 0.001). Major barriers reported for not pledging eyes were lack of willingness (36.7%) and ignorance (15.3%). Common misconceptions like eyes could be donated before death or even after 24 h of death and that any type of blindness could be treated with corneal transplantation were prevalent., Conclusions: The study demonstrated that although there is substantial awareness about eye donation, there are numerous barriers in this population that need to be resolved to improve donation rates. Additional efforts are needed to translate this awareness into actual eye donation in both cases with corneal disease and controls.

In this paper, we investigate the dissipativity and passivity of Markovian jump stochastic neural networks involving two additive time-varying delays. Using a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional with triple and quadruple integral terms, we obtain delay-dependent passivity and dissipativity criteria for the system. Using a generalized Finsler lemma (GFL), a set of slack variables with special structure are introduced to reduce design conservatism. The dissipativity and passivity criteria depend on the upper bounds of the discrete time-varying delay and its derivative are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities, which can be efficiently solved through the standard numerical software. Finally, our illustrative examples show that the proposed method performs well and is successful in problems where existing methods fail.

In this paper, based on the knowledge of memristor-based recurrent neural networks (MRNNs), the model of the stochastic MRNNs with discrete and distributed delays is established. In real nervous systems and in the implementation of very large-scale integration (VLSI) circuits, noise is unavoidable, which leads to the stochastic model of the MRNNs. In this model, the delay interval is decomposed into two subintervals by using the tuning parameter α such that 0 < α < 1. By constructing proper Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and employing direct delay decomposition technique, several sufficient conditions are given to guarantee the dissipativity and passivity of the stochastic MRNNs with discrete and distributed delays in the sense of Filippov solutions. Using the stochastic analysis theory and Itô's formula for stochastic differential equations, we establish sufficient conditions for dissipativity criterion. The dissipativity and passivity conditions are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities, which can be easily solved by using Matlab Tools. Finally, three numerical examples with simulations are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

The activation of telomerase represents an early step in carcinogenesis. Increased telomerase expression in malignant tumors suggests that telomerase inactivation may represent a potential chemotherapeutic target. In this work, existing anticancer drugs were docked against telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) using a Lamarckian genetic algorithm (LGA). Autodock's scoring function was applied to each of the molecules in order to identify the inhibitor with the strongest pharmacological action. The structural insights provided by this study regarding binding poses and possible interactions, free energies of binding, and drug scores aided in the identification of potential inhibitory compounds. The ranks of the various ligands investigated were based on the final docked energy values. Among nine selected compounds, vindesine, temsirolimus, and cyclosporine were found to be more potent TERT inhibitors than the standard inhibitor, curcumin.

Tuberculosis (TB) and breast cancer are common diseases in developing countries. Their coexistence in the breast and axillary lymph nodes is, however, rare. It can lead to overstaging of the breast cancer. Treatment compliance may also be difficult when two major illnesses exist. Five cases of coexistent breast cancer and TB are presented with regard to presentation and outcome, with a review of the literature.