Use of odontotropic material in treatment of traumatic pulpitis in experiment

The problem of diagnosis and effective treatment of one of the most common complications of dental caries, such as pulpitis, including pediatric patients, is still quite relevant at the present time. Considering anatomy-physiological and age-related features of temporary and permanent teeth in children, the rapid and aggressive course of the carious process in poorly mineralized hard tissues due to the untimely and incomplete “maturation” of them, it is beyond any doubts that scientists and practitioners involved in pediatric dentistry deal with such complications in the clinic much more often than when dealing with adults. A particularly risky group are those who develop decompensated caries, according to classification by T.F. Vinogradova. Therefore, the search for more advanced methods of diagnosis and treatment of both acute and chronic inflammation of pulp, especially with the preservation of its viability, is logical and relevant in modern dentistry. Existing methods for the biological treatment of pulpitis have their positive aspects, but possible complications up to necrosis or pulp gangrene in remote terms indicate the need for improvement both the choice of a more effective method with clear indications for its use, and the technology and material of odontotropic direction. The aim of the work was to study the results of treatment of pulpitis in experimental animals by using tricalcium silicate cement for its further application in the clinic. An experimental study was conducted on 18 animals (9-month-old male rabbits, Dutch breed) in vivarium setting to obtain information on the morphogenetic mechanisms of regeneration of living tissues and cells of dental pulp in which traumatic pulpitis was induced artificially. By the nature of odontotropic material, four groups of experimental animals were divided into: group I (control) – traumatic pulpitis was treated without special odontotropic paste, group II - treatment of pulpitis with material based on calcium hydroxide, group III - material with trioxide aggregate, group IV - material with tricalcium silicate. Every two, four, and six weeks from the moment the animals were introduced into the experiment, the damaged teeth were removed and treated in a certain way and, after special treatment, were amenable to histological examination. In the pulp tissue, the state of its main components was studied: stroma, cellular elements and blood vessels of the microvasculature. After excretion of animals from the experiment on the 2nd and 6th weeks tissues of tooth were fixed in 10% formalin. Fixed in formalin tissue has been routine proceeding after decalcification in acetic acid with making histological slides which were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), according to van Gieson, Mallory, PAS-reaction was performed. The slides were studied with the microscope “Olympus BX-41” and followed interpretation by “Olympus DP-soft version 3.2”, which was used for morphometric study. Statistical comparison was performed using Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis. The accepted level of significance was p<0.05. Studying the state of the pulp in the phase of acute traumatic pulpitis in dynamic observation for a month and half period, at the end of the second, fourth and sixth week the possibility of a stable restoration of the viability of the pulp as well as all its components was clearly proven. If at the beginning of a morphological study, pulp injury was accompanied by clear signs of aseptic inflammation, both cellular, vascular and stromal formations, then after a month and a half there were signs of a clear restoration of pulp viability in the biological treatment of artificial pulpitis of the second, third and fourth study groups. The most significant dynamic signs of microscopic formations of the pulp were noted in animals of the forth study group treated with odontotropic paste with tricalcium silicate. The ability of this paste to complete tissue restoration in a short time period was provn. Therefore, it should be noted that artificially induced pulpitis in experimental animals is accompanied by significant breakages in the viability of the main components of pulp tissue, such as stromal fibers, microvasculature vessels and cellular elements. Filling and odontotropic materials in pastes for capping of the damaged pulp, such as calcium hydroxide, trioxide aggregate and tricalcium silicate, have full potential for restoring the viability of injured pulp, but with varying degree of effectiveness. According to histological research, biological material with tricalcium silicate is the most effective one for restoration of the pulp in a short time period.

Resurveys Reveal Potential Population Increases of the Himalayan Griffon in Central West Nepal

ABSTRACT The Himalayan Griffon (Gyps himalayensis) is listed as near threatened and its populations are poorly monitored. During late May and early June of 2013, 2014, and 2016, we resurveyed transects that were originally sampled 2002–2006. These transects were within the Annapurna region of Nepal. From 2010 through 2020, we also monitored a breeding colony of Himalayan Griffons within the Arghakhanchi District of Nepal. The number of non-adults, adults, and total Himalayan Griffons counted along the transects approximately doubled from the previous counts. At the colony, the number of breeding pairs and young fledged increased during the study (yearly growth rate [r] = 0.049 and 0.089, respectively). The number of offspring fledged per breeding pair also increased (r = 0.040). Our results are encouraging, but we only surveyed a small portion of the global population and over a relatively short time period. We recommend expanded and coordinated population monitoring for this species across its range.

Artificial Intelligence in the Pharmacy Profession

The scientist named ‘John McCarthy' used the term "Artificial Intelligence" for the very first time in 1956. Previously, it is only limited to engineering field, but in the recent years, it is briefly introduced into the other fields like pharma, healthcare, business, public sector etc. This review article presented to help as a short presentation of AI for the doctors and pharmacists. Here we describe the AI in various field of medical care, its advantage as well as disadvantages in pharmacy, and its tools. It is greatly advanced into the decision-making, problem solving and critical thinking and having applications in various fields like business, pharmacy, health care, and engineering as well. Now the robots are using in the various medical procedures as they are more trustworthy for doctors, as they are more advanced in their work, as they can do any task within the short time period and effectively than humans. This is concluded that AI is the new evolving field in every sector, even in pharmacy, and it need more development for updating the current scenario as well as for new researches.

SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant: is it really more deadly? A population-level observational study.

Background: In 2021 a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which came to be called the alpha variant, spread around the world. There were conflicting reports on this COVID-19 variant strain's potentially increased lethality. In Israel, this strain became predominant in a very short time period. Methods: COVID-19 mortality and case fatality rates were examined in Israel in terms of weekly and cumulative numbers. Results: COVID-19 case fatality rates in Israel rose quickly at the beginning of the pandemic and peaked in May 2020. The highest crude mortality came later in the second and third waves, but case the case fatality rates did not rise in 2021 with the increasing dominance of the alpha variant. Conclusions: Based on the results of examining case-fatality and mortality rates, we concluded that while the alpha variant of the virus raised mortality, in line with the fact that it is more infectious than wild-type, once this strain was caught by patients in Israel, it was not more likely to kill them than the original strain.

Assessment of Land Administration in Ecuador Based on the Fit-for-Purpose Approach

Land administration is established to manage the people-to-land relationship. However, it is believed that 70% of the land in developing countries is unregistered. In the case of Ecuador, the government has an ambitious strategy to implement a national cadaster on the full territory in a short time period. Therefore, the objective of this study was the assessment of land administration in Ecuador based on the fit-for-purpose approach as an assessment framework. A literature review was performed on the topic of land administration, including guidelines for improvement and assessment frameworks. The basic concept of fit-for-purpose land administration was reviewed with the three frameworks, which are: spatial, legal, and institutional. Interviews and focus group discussions were performed in Ecuador for collecting primary and secondary data about land administration in this country. Results from these activities are presented and discussed using the structure of the basic concept of fit-for-purpose land administration with the three frameworks. It was found that during the field data collection precise land survey of fixed boundaries was performed and around 55–60 attributes per parcel were collected as a part of the field land survey in Ecuador. Based on the findings, discussions were developed, and a score table was created identifying which principles should be addressed if rapid mapping and land registration are desired by the government of Ecuador to be implemented on the whole territory in a short time period. Finally, the paper ends with conclusions and recommendations.

CONSTRAINTS EXPERIENCED BY MUSHROOM GROWERS IN ADOPTING IMPROVED MUSHROOM PRODUCTION PRACTICES IN PUSA, BIHAR

Mushrooms (vegetarian meat/vegetable beef stick) is becoming fast popular because of its short time period between cultivation and harvesting; less initial investment and can be grown with locally available resources. Though more technology is available for boosting mushroom production, the yield so far achieved is not high. Hence, an attempt is made to find out the constraints faced by mushroom growers in adoption of improved mushroom production practices. Samastipur district of Bihar was purposively selected for the study because, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, a pioneer in mushroom production technology is located in the study area. 120 respondents from six villages of Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar forms the respondents of the present study. Primary data was collected from the mushroom growers and the responses were subjected to statistical analysis. The results indicated that unavailability of quality spawn, unavailability of skilled labor, absence of technical guidance, high transport cost, unavailability of storage facilities, high cost of spawn and long distance market were the most problematic constraints faced by the mushroom growers. Thus, it can be concluded that adequate extension service should be made available to make mushroom cultivation popular, market and marketing of the products.

Political ideology and vaccination willingness: implications for policy design

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments to impose major restrictions on individual freedom in order to stop the spread of the virus. With the successful development of a vaccine, these restrictions are likely to become obsolete—on the condition that people get vaccinated. However, parts of the population have reservations against vaccination. While this is not a recent phenomenon, it might prove a critical one in the context of current attempts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the task of designing policies suitable for attaining high levels of vaccination deserves enhanced attention. In this study, we use data from the Eurobarometer survey fielded in March 2019. They show that 39% of Europeans consider vaccines to cause the diseases which they should protect against, that 50% believe vaccines have serious side effects, that 32% think that vaccines weaken the immune system, and that 10% do not believe vaccines are tested rigorously before authorization. We find that—even when controlling for important individual-level factors—ideological extremism on both ends of the spectrum explains skepticism of vaccination. We conclude that policymakers must either politicize the issue or form broad alliances among parties and societal groups in order to increase trust in and public support for the vaccines in general and for vaccines against COVID-19 in particular, since the latter were developed in a very short time period and resulted—in particular in case of the AstraZeneca vaccine—in reservations because of the effectiveness and side effects of the new vaccines.

Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica Coated Gold Nanorods Loaded with Methylene Blue and Its Potentials in Antibacterial Applications

In this work, the successful preparation and characterization of gold nanorods (AuNRs) coated with a mesoporous silica shell (AuNRs@Simes) was achieved. Conjugation with methylene blue (MB) as a model drug using ultrasound-stimulated loading has been explored for further application in light-mediated antibacterial studies. Lyophilization of this conjugated nanosystem was analyzed using trehalose (TRH) as a cryogenic protector. The obtained stable dry formulation shows potent antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria after a simple post-treatment irradiation method with a red laser during a short time period.

COVID-19: From viral infection to pulmonary failure

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus which promoted a worldwide pandemic outbreak in 2020. The virus is highly infectious and is able to contaminate a lot of people in a short time period. The disease promoted by the virus, named COVID-19, can cause different symptoms such as fever, cough, muscle pain, headache, prostration, diarrhea, neurological complications, dermic manifestations, pulmonary impairment, dyspnea, coagulopathies, organ failure, and death. Here, we show how the infection occurs and the major characteristics observed in the lungs of patients with COVID-19. In addition, we explored the immunological activation in this environment by the virus and some treatments used in the severe phase of the disease.

“…we have to think first what we are going to feed our children before we have them …”: Rwandan women use family planning to provide a better life for their children

Use of modern contraception in Rwanda has risen dramatically over a short time period. To better understand contraceptive users’ motivations for family planning services in Rwanda, 32 in-depth interviews with contraceptive users and eight focus groups with 88 family planning providers were conducted in Rwanda’s Musanze and Nyamasheke districts. Study participants noted how family planning is critical for providing a better life for children. Family planning gives mothers independence from childcare to work in order to provide for their children’s wellbeing. Family planning presented an opportunity for generational upward mobility and was perceived as a way to contribute positively to society.