Prevalence and associated factors of dental anxiety among adults attending public outpatient dental clinic in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka.

Background: Dental anxiety has become a major concern for both dental practitioners and patients and prevents a significant proportion of people from attending dental clinics. The present study aimed to determine dental anxiety and associated factors among adult patients attending a public outpatient dental clinic in a base hospital, in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 adults aged 18 to 75 years awaiting dental treatment.

Use of agrochemicals resulted in anemia and inflammation among farmers in Fako Division, Cameroon.

The use of agrochemicals as plant growth regulators, pesticides, and soil fertilizers can result in insults among farmers and other non-targeted organisms. The adverse effects of agrochemicals are of global concern, though limited studies have delineated their toxicity on blood cells and inflammatory parameters in Fako division in Cameroon. This study examined the impact of occupational exposure on haematological and inflammatory parameters among farmers in Fako division.

Current Advances in Diagnosis, Therapeutics, and Surgical Interventions for the Management of Refractory Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD): An Update.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic illness characterized by complications arising from the reflux of stomach contents, which significantly lower the quality of life, increase morbidity, and increase medical expenses associated with treating the condition. The main goal of treatment in GERD is symptomatic relief, relapse prevention, and healing of erosive esophagitis. The treatment mainly involves lifestyle changes to control acid production and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) as the first line of treatment.

Establishment of Cephalometric Hard Tissue Profile among Bengali and Caucasian Populations for Orthognathic Surgery.

The study aimed to compare cephalometric hard tissue profile values and analysis between Bengali and Caucasian populations. The study included 100 individuals (50 males, 50 females) aged 18-35. Subjects having class I molar occlusions and well-balanced facial profiles were included in the study.

Genetic heterogeneity in the Typhi Vi capsule locus: a population genomic study from Fiji.

Typhoid fever is endemic in many parts of the world and remains a major public health concern in tropical and sub-tropical developing nations, including Fiji. To address high rates of typhoid fever, the Northern Division of Fiji implemented a mass vaccination with typhoid conjugate vaccine (Vi-polysaccharide conjugated to tetanus toxoid) as a public health control measure in 2023. In this study we define the genomic epidemiology of Typhi in the Northern Division prior to island-wide vaccination, sequencing 85% (=419) of the total cases from the Northern and Central Divisions of Fiji that occurred in the period 2017-2019.

Factors influencing vaccine acceptance in pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter study from West Bengal, India.

Influenza, COVID-19, tetanus, pertussis and hepatitis B pose increased risk for pregnant women and infants and could be mitigated by maternal immunization. In India Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) and COVID-19 vaccines are recommended during pregnancy, while influenza and tetanus-acellular pertussis-diphtheria (Tdap) vaccines are not. We conducted a multicenter study from November 2021 to June 2022 among pregnant women ( = 172) attending antenatal clinics in three public hospitals in West Bengal, to understand the factors that influence women's decisions to get vaccinated during pregnancy.

Clinical Evaluation of Diode Laser as an Adjunct to Scaling and Root Planing in Patients With Chronic Periodontitis and Type II Diabetes Mellitus: A Split-Mouth Study.

Introduction:  The primary goal of periodontal therapy is to arrest the inflammatory disease process which is done by non-surgical and surgical therapies in order to reduce the microorganisms. The outcome of periodontal therapy may not reveal the desired results owing to inaccessible areas for instrumentation, pathogenicity, resistance of the microorganisms, or even due to compromised host response to the treatment. Thus, adjunctive laser therapy has been proposed as a novel treatment modality in the treatment of periodontal disease.

Osteomyelitis Masquerading as Cellulitis: A Case Report.

Osteomyelitis, a significant global healthcare issue, often results from infections related to open fractures, surgery, or conditions like diabetic foot ulcers. This report describes a case of osteomyelitis in a 62-year-old female with various pre-existing health conditions. The patient initially presented with swelling, pain, and difficulty walking in the right lower extremity, accompanied by systemic symptoms.

Myotubularin-related protein 6 is an ion channel-associated pro-leishmanial phosphatase.

Residing obligatorily as amastigotes within the mammalian macrophages, the parasite Leishmania donovani inflicts the potentially fatal, globally re-emerging disease visceral leishmaniasis (VL) by altering intracellular signaling through kinases and phosphatases. Because the phosphatases that modulate the VL outcome in humans remained unknown, we screened a human phosphatase siRNA-library for anti-leishmanial functions in THP-1, a human macrophage-like cell line. Of the 251 phosphatases, the screen identified the Ca-activated K-channel-associated phosphatase myotubularin-related protein-6 (MTMR6) as the only phosphatase whose silencing reduced parasite load and IL-10 production in human macrophages.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of diabetes in patients with and without sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy from two secondary eye care centres in India.

Background/aims: Good knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of diabetes influence its control and complications. We examined the KAP of diabetes in patients with sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) and non-sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (NSTDR) attending two different referral hospitals in India.

Methods: 400 consecutive patients (mean age = 58.

Efficacy and safety of Link Natural Sudarshana, an Ayurvedic herbal preparation in COVID-19 patients: A phase II multicenter double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: In vitro and in vivo studies have shown anti-viral and immunomodulatory actions in components of many traditional medicines. Various constituents of traditional medicines have been found to be effective against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in several clinical trials and in-silico studies. Sudarshana cúrna, a polyherbal Ayurvedic medicine, has been used over thousands of years for a variety of infectious fevers.

Laryngeal Schwannoma Triggered Life-threatening Acute Airway Obstruction- A Rare Case Report with Review of Literature.

Schwannoma in larynx is a rare presentaion. Laryngeal schwannomas are characterstically slow growing benign tumour usually arising from false cord and aryepiglottic fold with globus sensation being the most common presentation. Seldom it can present as stridor which need immediate intervention for survival of the patient.

A Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Different Beverages on Colour Stability and Surface Micromorphology of Nanocomposite Restorative Material.

Aim: This investigation was carried out to evaluate the color stability of a nanocomposite restorative material and the erosive potential of carbonated soft drinks (Coca-Cola; The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, Georgia, United States) and packaged orange juice (Real Fruit Power Orange; Dabur Ltd, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India) on its surface micromorphology.

Materials And Methods: Sixty discs (2mm thick and 10mm diameter) of nanocomposite material (Herculite Précis; KaVo Kerr, Brea, California, United States) were prepared using a silicon cylindrical mold. Initially, all the specimens were stored in artificial saliva in five Petri dishes; 12 specimens in each dish.

Unresolved laboratory issues of the heterozygous state of β-thalassemia: a literature review.

Although considered a mild clinical condition, many laboratory issues of the carrier state of β-thalassemia remain unresolved. Accurate laboratory screening of β-thalassemia traits is crucial for preventing the birth of a β-thalassemia major child. Identification of carriers in the laboratory is affected by factors that influence red cell indices and HbA2 quantification.

Predictors of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) Towards Family Planning (FP) Among Pregnant Women in Fiji.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the predictors of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) towards Family Planning (FP) among pregnant Fijian women.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over two months in 2019 with adult pregnant women attending the Antenatal Clinic (ANC) at Ba Mission Hospital (BMH), Fiji. Data was collected using a self-administrated questionnaire.

Challenges, best practices, and lessons learned from oral cholera mass vaccination campaign in urban Cameroon during the COVID-19 era.

Background: Since 1971, Cameroon has been facing an ever-growing series of cholera epidemics; despite all the efforts made by the government to address this substantial public health problem. In 2020, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cameroon recorded a high cholera case fatality rate of 5.3% following epidemics noted in the South, Littoral, and South-West regions which is far higher than the 1% World Health Organization acceptable rate.

Burden of atrial fibrillation among adults with heart failure in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in adults with heart failure (HF) and summarise the all-cause mortality ratio among adult patients with coexisting HF and AF in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Setting: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional and cohort studies with primary data on the prevalence and incidence of AF among patients with HF and the all-cause mortality ratio among patients with HF and AF in SSA. We combined text words and MeSH terms to search MEDLINE, PubMed and Global Health Library through Ovid SP, African Journals Online and African Index Medicus from database inception to 10 November 2021.

Assessment of Parental Perceptions of Socio-Psychological Factors, Unmet Dental Needs, and Barriers to Utilise Oral Health Care in Autistic Children.

Introduction:  Parents' participation is crucial in the dental health intervention of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Parenting children with ASD is extremely stressful and challenging. Parents and other caregivers have a responsibility to care for and raise children with ASD.

Utility of anthropometric measures to identify small for gestational age newborns: A study from Eastern India.

Introduction: Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) is one of the important factors for neonatal mortality. Early identification and necessary intervention of these newborns is crucial to increase their chances of survival and reduce long-term disabilities. However, in low- and middle-income countries a large portion of pregnant women are unaware of their accurate gestational age (GA) due to the limited availability of ultrasonography.

Prevalence, complications and factors associated with severely elevated blood pressure in patients with hypertension: a cross-sectional study in two hospitals in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Introduction: severely elevated blood pressure significantly increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in hypertensive Black patients. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, complications and factors associated with severe high blood pressure in hypertensive patients in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study in the outpatient and cardiology units of two teaching hospitals in Yaoundé.

Detection of IncX1 Plasmid-Mediated Gene in an Indian Hospital Sewage Water Using Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing: A First Report.

Colistin is used against a multitude of multidrug-resistant and extremely drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. The emergence of colistin resistance is highly concerning as it may lead to the failure of this last-resort antibiotic. Since the identification of first mobile colistin resistance () genes, several variants of genes have been reported, but still there are limited studies detecting genes in hospital sewage water.

Geographic distribution of metabolic syndrome and its components in the general adult population: A meta-analysis of global data from 28 million individuals.

Aims: Better knowledge of the global metabolic syndrome (MetS) prevalence and its components is a prerequisite to curb the related burden.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, Africa Journal Online, Global Index Medicus up to May 23, 2021. Prevalence pooling was done with a random-effects meta-analysis.

Improving Diabetes Care: A Fijian Diabetes Service Improvement Study.

Background: Achieving good outcomes in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients' needs a decent integrated care service with access to resources. The Fiji Islands has one of the highest rates of diabetes disease burden and has available resources to alleviate the diabetic disease pandemic in its population, yet patient outcomes are getting worse. We hypothesize that a dysfunction in health-care delivery system may be accentuating the diabetic disease process; therefore, this service evaluation study was conducted to provide insight into the management of T2DM in a secondary care clinic setting.

Awareness and preparedness of dentists at handling medical emergencies in Delhi-National Capital Region - A cross-sectional survey.

Context: A medical emergency (ME) may come as a surprise during our busy appointment schedules. Whether or not the office has prepared for this emergency generally decides how it will turn out.

Aim: This cross-sectional survey aimed to evaluate the awareness and preparedness of dentists at handling MEs in a dental office.