SiO/Si interferometers designed for on-site botulinum neurotoxin serotypes B and C quantification and biological activity assessment.

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT), the agent causing botulism, exhibit the highest potency among bacterial toxins and pose a significant threat to both humans and animals. The current in vivo method (mouse lethality assay, MLA) is inappropriate for real-time and pen-side assessment of the occurring outbreak or case. Herein, we describe a reflective-based biosensor capable of detecting the toxin's type and activity state by competitive immunoassay and endopeptidase activity, respectively.

Comparative Evaluation of Buccal Exfoliated Cells in Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus and Healthy Controls: A Cytomorphometric Analysis.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is the third most frequent cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Patients with diabetes exhibit a variety of oral symptoms, and hence the early detection of this condition can be addressed by a dentist.

Aim: The current study aimed to study the cytomorphometric alterations of buccal exfoliated cells in individuals with type II diabetes mellitus.

CD44 Expression in Oral Lichen Planus and Related Lesions-An Immunohistochemical Study.

Background: Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) is a cell surface adhesion protein involved in the progression and metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. The current study aims to evaluate the expression of CD44 in oral lichen planus and related lesions and thereby assess the relative risk of malignant transformation of these lesions.

Materials And Methods: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 10 oral lichen planus (Group 1), 10 oral lichenoid lesions (Group 2), 8 with oral lichen planus with dysplasia (Group 3), and 5 with lichenoid dysplasia (Group 4) were included in the study.

Assessment of Urostomy Parastomal Herniation Forces Using Incisional Prevention Strategies with an Abdominal Fascia Model.

Background: Approximately 10 000 patients undergo cystectomy/ileal conduit annually in the USA, of whom over 70% subsequently develop a parastomal hernia (PSH). Still, no well-established "best" practice for stoma creation to prevent a PSH exists.

Objective: To measure the relationship between incision size/type/material and axial tension force (ATF) as a surrogate for herniation force, using several models to mimic abdominal fascia.

Porous silicon Fabry-Pérot interferometer designed for sensitive detection of aflatoxin B in field crops.

Herein, a label-free sensing platform was designed for accurate, rapid and selective detection of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a potent mutagenic and carcinogenic substance in food and feedstuff. Minute AFB1 residues were assessed by competitive immunoassay facilitated on porous silicon Fabry-Pérot interferometer. The immunocomplex formation was biochemically amplified by enzymatic reaction products infiltrating the porous void and alternating the reflectivity spectra in correlation to the AFB1 content.

A case of acute myocardial infarction in paced rhythm. Utility of the Barcelona algorithm.

We describe the case of a 70-year-old man with a pacemaker implant who presented to us with atypical chest pain. His admission ECG did not satisfy the criteria for myocardial infarction according to standard Sgarbossa criteria, and Smith modified Sgarbossa criteria. However, we applied the recently developed Barcelona algorithm, which is used to diagnose acute myocardial infarction in the presence of intrinsic left bundle branch block.

Elucidating the mutational impact in causing Niemann-Pick disease type C: an approach.

Niemann-Pick disease type C is a rare autosomal recessive of lysosomal storage disorder characterized by impaired intracellular lipid transport and has a tendency to accumulate the fatty acids and glycosphingolipids in a variety of neurovisceral tissues. This work includes computational tools to deciphere the mutational effect in NPC protein. The study initiated with the collection of 471 missense mutations from various databases, which were then analyzed using computational tools.

Development of Tough Hydrogel Phantoms to Mimic Fibrous Tissue for Focused Ultrasound Therapies.

Tissue-mimicking gels provide a cost-effective medium to optimize histotripsy treatment parameters with immediate feedback. Agarose and polyacrylamide gels are often used to evaluate treatment outcomes as they mimic the acoustic properties and stiffness of a variety of soft tissues, but they do not exhibit high toughness, a characteristic of fibrous connective tissue. To mimic pathologic fibrous tissue found in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and other diseases that are potentially treatable with histotripsy, an optically transparent hydrogel with high toughness was developed that is a hybrid of polyacrylamide and alginate.

Botulinum Neurotoxin C Dual Detection through Immunological Recognition and Endopeptidase Activity Using Porous Silicon Interferometers.

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are the most potent toxins known in nature produced by strains, which can cause life-threatening diseases in both humans and animals. The latter is of serious environmental and economic concern, resulting in high mortality, production losses, and rejection of contaminated animal feed. The available mouse assay is inadequate for real-time and on-site assessment of outbreaks.

In Situ Decorated Ni Metallic Layer with CoS-Layered Thin Films via a Layer-by-Layer Strategy Using Pulsed Laser Deposition for Enhanced Electrocatalytic OER.

The catalytic activity of 3d-transition-metal-based electrocatalysts has exhibited considerable enhancements in electrocatalytic water splitting via pioneering modulations in the active sites. To overcome the energy loss because of the mechanic steps involved in a complex oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the electrode surface with only a few layers would be an advantage over multilayers for the ease of the electrolyte interaction and gas evolution. Here, for the first time, thin films of CoS are prepared on a carbon cloth via a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique via layer-by-layer deposition of Ni that tend to give Ni-CoS thin films.

Prevalence of thyroid disorders among patients with diabetes in rural South India.

Background & Aims: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and thyroid disorders are the most common endocrine disorders in clinical practice. Unrecognized thyroid disorders have an adverse effect on metabolic functions. The aim of the study is to demonstrate the prevalence of thyroid disorders in individuals with diabetes mellitus.

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) incidence in cattle and buffaloes and its associated farm-level economic costs in endemic India.

The study investigated the important epidemiological parameters and farm-level economic costs of FMD incidence in cattle and buffaloes during 2013-14 to 2015-16 in various states of India. Multistage random sampling procedure was adopted for the primary survey and data was collected through face-to-face personal interview from 18,609 cattle and buffalo rearing farm households from 123 districts across twelve states and one Union Territory. Besides epidemiological parameters, different farm-level direct and indirect loss associated with FMD was assessed at disaggregated level (states) by employing deterministic mathematical models.

Inflammatory biomarker detection in milk using label-free porous SiO interferometer.

N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase (NAGase) is an established indicative biomarker released upon damage or necrosis of tubular epithelial cells in both humans and animals, indicating severe nephrological disorders and bovine mastitis (BM), respectively. The latter is the most common and costly disease in dairy cattle associated with production losses, elevated somatic cell counts and deteriorated health status. Herein, we report on a reflective based assay for early diagnosis of BM through the analysis of NAGase inherent content found in whole milk samples using a miniaturized optical transducer.

Porous Silicon Fabry-Pérot Interferometer for -Acetyl-β-d-Glucosaminidase Biomarker Monitoring.

Bovine mastitis (BM) is a prominent inflammatory disease affecting the dairy industry worldwide, originated by pathogenic agent invasion onto the mammary gland. Early detection of new BM cases is of high importance for infection control within the herd. Conventional analytical techniques lack the ability to detect BM-predicting biomarkers, used as analytical indicators for health status evaluation, in real time or outside the laboratory boundaries.

Deceiving SARS-CoV-2 molecular-tropism clues - A combinational contemporary strategy.

Several attempts to control the dreadfulness of SARS-CoV-2 are still underway. Based on the literature evidences we have speculated a prospective contemporary remedy, which was categorized into Specificity, Remedy, and a Conveyor. In which, pros and cons were discussed and inferred the possible alternatives.

Molecular modelling analysis of T219A mutant envelope protein revealed novel virulence enhancing factors in Dengue virus isolated from Kerala state, India.

Dengue virus (DENV) is an emerging health threat and its envelope glycoprotein E, is involved in the anchoring and fusion mechanisms. Anchoring followed by conformational changes of E-protein are responsible for the fusion and entry of DENV into host. The variation in the conformation of the E-protein due to mutations, results in its altered binding with antibodies (Abs) and also its receptors.

Green Light-Responsive CO-Releasing Polymeric Materials Derived from Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an important biological gasotransmitter in living cells. Precise spatial and temporal control over release of CO is a major requirement for clinical application. To date, the most reported carbon monoxide releasing materials use expensive fabrication methods and require harmful and poorly designed tissue-penetrating UV irradiation to initiate the CO release precisely at infected sites.

The use of analytic hierarchy process for measuring the complexity of medical diagnosis.

Diagnostic complexity is an important contextual factor affecting a variety of medical outcomes. Existing measurements of diagnosis complexity either rely on crude proxies or use fine-grained measures that employ indicators from proprietary data that are not readily available. Hence, the study of this important construct in fields such as medical informatics has been hampered by the difficulty of measuring diagnostic complexity.

Comparative Evaluation of the Strength of Denture Base Resin repaired with Glass Fiber-reinforced Acrylic Resin: An in vitro Study.

Aim: The present study aimed at evaluating and comparing the transverse strength of heat polymerizing acrylic resin samples repaired using glass fiber-reinforced autopolymerizing acrylic resin with varying gap widths at the fracture site.

Materials And Methods: Heat polymerizing acrylic resin samples of dimensions 65 * 10 * 2.5 mm each were fabricated.

Partial Edentulousness in a Rural Population Based on Kennedy's Classification: Epidemiological Study.

Introduction: Edentulousness falls in a special category among the various conditions of dental origin. A simple estimation of the partial edentulous condition is a rough indication of the prevalence of dental diseases and success or failure of dental care.

Methodology: In this study a cross sectional survey was carried out among 1000 patients of rural population in JKK Nataraja Dental College, Komarapalayam, Namakkal District, Tamilnadu, India.

Evaluating the Correlation between Anteroposterior and Mediolateral Compensatory Curves and their Influence on Dentoskeletal Morphology-An In vitro CBCT Study.

Introduction: To date, many orthodontist corrects malocclusion based on patients aesthetic concern and fails to correct the compensatory curves. This scenario is due to less insight on understanding relationship of compensatory curves and its correlation in treatment prognosis.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the curve of Spee, curve of Monson and curve of Wilson, their influence on dentoskeletal morphology and their contribution to occlusal stability.

Evaluation to prevent the Physical Changes in Colored Elastomeric Modules when exposed to various Dietary Media.

Aim And Objective: The aim of the study is to analyze and compare the variation of lumen size and thickness of the elastomeric colored modules when immersed in four selected dietary media.

Materials And Methods: Sample size of 40 modules on each color - such as red, blue, green, and black - was taken and immersed in four dietary media (artificial saliva, coke mixed with artificial saliva, turmeric mixed with artificial saliva, and coffee mixed with artificial saliva). Beakers containing different dietary media and color modules are kept in the incubator at 37°C for 72 hours.

Evaluation of stenosis severity of coronary calcified lesions using transluminal attenuation gradient: clinical application of 320-row volume CT.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of transluminal attenuation gradient (TAG) in diagnosing the stenosis degree of difficult lesions to accurately assess the degree of luminal stenosis using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA).

Methods: A total of 130 patients consecutively received CCTA and coronary angiography (CAG). The average transluminal Hounsfield units (HU) of the regions of interest were consecutively measured at an interval of 5 mm from the ostium to the distal level, followed by the calculation of TAG.

Henoch-Schönlein purpura as a rare cause of an acute abdomen.

A 52-year-old man presented with a purpuric rash affecting his legs and hypertension. He was diagnosed with Henoch-Schönlein purpura and discharged with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Three weeks later, he presented again with loss of appetite and vomiting before developing abdominal pain with pyrexia of 38.

Effect of Ablation Rate on the Microstructure and Electrochromic Properties of Pulsed-Laser-Deposited Molybdenum Oxide Thin Films.

Molybdenum trioxide (MoO) is a well-known electrochromic material. In the present work, n-type α-MoO thin films with both direct and indirect band gaps were fabricated by varying the laser repetition (ablation) rate in a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) system at a constant reactive O pressure. The electrochromic properties of the films are compared and correlated to the microstructure and molecular-level coordination.