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Abstract Salmonella Typhi is a human restricted pathogen with a significant number of individuals as asymptomatic carriers of the bacterium. Salmonella infection can be effectively controlled if a reliable method for identification of these carriers is developed. In this context, the availability of whole genomes of carrier strains through high- throughput sequencing and further downstream analysis by comparative genomics approaches is very promising. Herein we describe the genome sequence of a Salmonella Typhi isolate representing an asymptomatic carrier individual during a prolonged outbreak of typhoid fever in Kelantan, Malaysia. Putative genomic coordinates relevant in pathogenesis and persistence of this carrier strain are identified and discussed.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and treatment needs of pregnant women visiting the Osmania Government Maternity Hospital in Hyderabad, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted for about 5 months, encompassing 606 pregnant women. In the clinical oral examination, the community periodontal index (CPI), loss of attachment (LOA), dentition status, and treatment needs were recorded using the World Health Organization 1997 pro forma. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22.0. Results: On periodontal examination, 279 (46%) subjects had calculus (Code "2"), and 219 (36.1%) respondents presented with shallow pockets (Code "3") on probing. Furthermore, more than half of the study participants (353; 58.3%) had an LOA of 4–5 mm (Code "1"). Women in the third trimester had a significantly (P < 0.001) higher mean number of sextants affected with CPI Code "1" (1.94 ± 1.08), Code "3" (1.03 ± 1.14), Code "4" (0.09 ± 0.37), and LOA Code "2" (0.13 ± 0.40). Likewise, study participants who conceived three or more times had a significantly higher mean number of sextants affected by CPI Code "3" (1.09 ± 1.14; P < 0.001), LOA Code "1" (2.22 ± 1.53; P < 0.001), and LOA Code "2" (0.12 ± 0.36; P = 0.02). The mean decayed missing filled teeth (3.91 ± 3.25, 4.00 ± 3.24) and decayed teeth (3.83 ± 3.25, 3.96 ± 3.24) showed a significant (P = 0.0001) relationship with women in the third trimester, those who conceived three or more times. Based on treatment needs, 420 (69.3%) teeth are in need of one surface filling, 217 (35.8%) teeth require two or more surface fillings, and pulp care and restoration were needed in 213 (35.1%) teeth. On a note, a greater percentage of the participants (84%) had never been to the dentist. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the need to structure preventive oral health education programs at regular intervals targeting expecting women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The world's population is in a demographic transition with a rising ageing population. Tooth loss is frequent among older people resulting in the replacement of natural teeth using complete or partial dentures. YouTube™ is the second most popular website in the world and is being increasingly used to access health care information. The aim of this study is to evaluate the usefulness and reliability of the information in YouTube™ videos regarding denture care. Methods: The YouTube™ website was used to systematically search for videos using the keyword 'denture care'. Videos meeting the eligibility criteria were assessed separately by two independent researchers. The usefulness of the videos was assessed using the Global Quality Assessment Scale and a customized usefulness scoring scheme. Based on these scores, the usefulness of the videos was categorized as low, medium and high. A modified DISCERN tool (mDISCERN) was used for assessing reliability with scores ranging from 0 to 5. Other video characteristics like source/ownership of the videos, duration, views, likes, dislikes, number of days posted, like ratio, view ratio, interaction index and Video Power Index were also obtained. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Kruskal‐Wallis test, Spearman correlation test and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: A total of 120 videos were included. Based on the usefulness score, the usefulness of 65.8% of videos were classified as low, 32.5% were medium and 1.6% had high usefulness. The mDISCERN score for 74.2% of videos was 2 or below 2 indicating that the majority of videos had low reliability. Video characteristics did not differ significantly according to the usefulness of videos. Videos uploaded by dentists or dental hygienists had significantly higher usefulness scores (p < 0.001) in comparison to videos uploaded by other sources. However, reliability scores did not differ based on the sources of the videos. Video reliability was found to have a significant (B = 2.08, p < 0.001) positive association with video usefulness. Conclusion: YouTube™ cannot be recommended as the only source of information for denture care as most videos received low usefulness and reliability ratings in our study. Dentists and dental health professionals could take an active part in enhancing denture care‐related content on YouTube™ and enable patients to have adequate and reliable knowledge of denture hygiene practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is a significant determinant of ovarian reserve. It is still not clear about the rate at which AMH declines with t age and varies across populations. Aim: The present study examined the AMH levels specific to the North and South Indian populations and attempted to establish an age-dependent reference parametrically. Settings and Design: This was a prospective study in a tertiary centre. Materials and Methods: Serum samples were collected apparently from 650 infertile women (327 from North and 323 from South Indians). AMH was measured using an electrochemiluminescent technique. Statistical Analysis Used: Comparison of the AMH data between North and South regions was done by independent t-test. For each age, seven empirical percentiles (3th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th) were applied. AMH nomograms for the 3th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, 90th and 95th percentiles were produced using the lambda-mu-sigma method. Results: AMH levels remarkably decreased with increasing age in the North Indian population, but in the South Indian population, they did not decline beyond 1.5 ng/mL. Further, in the North Indian population, AMH levels were significantly higher in the age group of 22-30 years (4.4 ng/mL) than in the South Indian population (2.04 ng/mL). Conclusion: The present study suggests a major geographical difference in mean AMH levels according to their age and ethnic background, regardless of their subjacent pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of female schoolteachers toward cervical cancer. Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 256 Government female schoolteachers aged 22–60 years in Salem city, Tamil Nadu. A self-administered questionnaire which assessed the levels of knowledge (6 items) and attitude (4 items) regarding cervical cancer was employed and responses were recorded on a three-point Likert scale. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0. Results: Overall adequate knowledge and good attitude regards to cervical cancer was observed among 60% and 66.8% of schoolteachers, respectively. Participants in the age range of 31–45 years (p = 0.007), primary schoolteachers (p = 0.004) and Hindus (p = 0.001) displayed significantly adequate levels of knowledge compared to their respective counterpart. Likewise, based on attitude subjects possessing postgraduation (p = 0.001) and middle schoolteachers (p = 0.009) had significant good attitude scores. Significant linear correlation was observed knowledge with class teacher (r = 0.136, P = 0.03) and religion (r = 0.208, P = 0.001) whereas attitude with qualification (r = 0.165, P = 0.008) and class teacher (r = 0.206, P = 0.001) which are positive predictors. Moreover, knowledge had a significant positive correlation with attitude (r = 1.000, P = 0.000). Conclusion: Primary care physicians partnering network with schoolteachers having adequate knowledge and good attitude acts as a workforce to support cervical cancer screening and human papillomavirus vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rehabilitation of distal extension cases is one of the common challenges in dentistry as fabrication of fixed prosthesis is impossible. For the prosthetic rehabilitation of distal extension, implant-supported prosthesis, cast partial denture, and precision attachment prosthesis can be used. Precision attachment helps in the distribution of masticatory forces, minimizes trauma to abutments and soft tissues, improves the esthetics, and retains proprioception and thus better comfort to the patient. This case report presents the fabrication of precision attachment to retain maxillary and mandibular partial dentures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, an important human pathogen, is associated with gastroenteritis and transmitted through partially cooked seafood. It has become a major concern in the production and trade of marine food products. The prevalence of potentially virulent and pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus in raw seafood is of public health significance. Here we describe the genome sequence of a V. parahaemolyticus isolate of crustacean origin which was cultured from prawns in 2008 in Selangor, Malaysia (isolate PCV08-7). The next generation sequencing and analysis revealed that the genome of isolate PCV08-7 has closest similarity to that of V. parahaemolyticus RIMD2210633. However, there are certain unique features of the PCV08-7 genome such as the absence of TDH-related hemolysin (TRH), and the presence of HU-alpha insertion. The genome of isolate PCV08-7 encodes a thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH), an important virulence factor that classifies PCV08-7 isolate to be a serovariant of O3:K6 strain. Apart from these, we observed that there is certain pattern of genetic rearrangements that makes V. parahaemolyticus PCV08-7 a non-pandemic clone. We present detailed genome statistics and important genetic features of this bacterium and discuss how its survival, adaptation and virulence in marine and terrestrial hosts can be understood through the genomic blueprint and that the availability of genome sequence entailing this important Malaysian isolate would likely enhance our understanding of the epidemiology, evolution and transmission of foodborne Vibrios in Malaysia and elsewhere. Keywords: Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Genomics, Malaysia, Seafood, Comparative genomics, Author(s): Suma Tiruvayipati[sup.1,2] , Subha Bhassu[sup.1,3] , Narender Kumar[sup.2] , Ramani Baddam[sup.2] , Sabiha Shaik[sup.2] , Anil Kumar Gurindapalli[sup.2] , Kwai Lin Thong[sup.1,4] and Niyaz Ahmed[sup.1,2] Background Vibrio parahaemolyticus inhabits [...]

Escherichia coli, a ubiquitous commensal/pathogenic member from the Enterobacteriaceae family, accounts for high infection burden, morbidity, and mortality throughout the world. With emerging multidrug resistance (MDR) on a massive scale, E. coli has been listed as one of the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) priority pathogens. Understanding the resistance mechanisms and underlying genomic features appears to be of utmost importance to tackle further spread of these multidrug-resistant superbugs. While a few of the globally prevalent sequence types (STs) of E. coli, such as ST131, ST69, ST405, and ST648, have been previously reported to be highly virulent and harboring MDR, there is no clarity if certain ST lineages have a greater propensity to acquire MDR. In this study, large-scale comparative genomics of a total of 5,653 E. coli genomes from 19 ST lineages revealed ST-wide prevalence patterns of genomic features, such as antimicrobial resistance (AMR)-encoding genes/mutations, virulence genes, integrons, and transposons. Interpretation of the importance of these features using a Random Forest Classifier trained with 11,988 genomic features from whole-genome sequence data identified ST-specific or phylogroup-specific signature proteins mostly belonging to different protein superfamilies, including the toxin-antitoxin systems. Our study provides a comprehensive understanding of a myriad of genomic features, ST-specific proteins, and resistance mechanisms entailing different lineages of E. coli at the level of genomes; this could be of significant downstream importance in understanding the mechanisms of AMR, in clinical discovery, in epidemiology, and in devising control strategies. IMPORTANCE With the leap in whole-genome data being generated, the application of relevant methods to mine biologically significant information from microbial genomes is of utmost importance to public health genomics. Machine-learning methods have been used not only to mine, curate, or classify the data but also to identify the relevant features that could be linked to a particular class/target. This is perhaps one of the pioneering studies that has attempted to classify a large repertoire of E. coli genome data sets (5,653 genomes) belonging to 19 different STs (including well-studied as well as understudied STs) using machine learning approaches. Important features identified by these approaches have revealed ST-specific signature proteins, which could be further studied to predict possible associations with the phenotypic profiles, thereby providing a better understanding of virulence and the resistance mechanisms among different clonal lineages of E. coli.

Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131) is a pandemic clone associated with multidrug-resistant, extraintestinal infections, attributable to the presence of the CTX-M-15 extended-spectrum β-lactamase gene and mutations entailing fluoroquinolone resistance. Studies on subclones within E. coli ST131 are critically required for targeting and implementation of successful control efforts. Our study comprehensively analyzed the genomic and functional attributes of the H30-Rx subclonal strains NA097 and NA114, belonging to the ST131 lineage. We carried out whole-genome sequencing, comparative analysis, phenotypic virulence assays, and profiling of the antibacterial responses of THP1 cells infected with these subclones. Phylogenomic analysis suggested that the strains were clonal in nature and confined entirely to a single clade. Comparative genomic analysis revealed that the virulence and resistance repertoires were comparable among the H30-Rx ST131 strains except for the commensal ST131 strain SE15. Similarly, seven phage-specific regions were found to be strongly associated with the H30-Rx strains but were largely absent in the genome of SE15. Phenotypic analysis confirmed the virulence and resistance similarities between the two strains. However, NA097 was found to be more robust than NA114 in terms of virulence gene carriage (dra operon), invasion ability (P < 0.05), and antimicrobial resistance (streptomycin resistance). RT(2) gene expression profiling revealed generic upregulation of key proinflammatory responses in THP1 cells, irrespective of ST131 lineage status. In conclusion, our study provides comprehensive, genome-inferred insights into the biology and immunological properties of ST131 strains and suggests clonal diversification of genomic and phenotypic features within the H30-Rx subclone of E. coli ST131., (Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.)