Antibacterial Profile in vitro and in vivo of New 1,4-Naphthoquinones Tethered to 1,2,3-1H-Triazoles against the Planktonic Growth of Streptococcus mutans

The cariogenic processes are mainly caused by the bacterium Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) and consist of the demineralization of the tooth that occurs when the acid production overcomes the natural repair or if a problem occurs in the last one. In this work, we performed the synthesis of twenty-one 1,4-naphthoquinones tethered to 1,2,3-1H-triazoles (8a-8k and 9a-9j), antibacterial evaluation against the S. mutans in vitro and the acute toxicity of the better ones in vivo. We observed strong inhibition results in the disc diffusion test ranging, the halos of inhibitions, from 18.66 (± 0.57) to 29 (± 2.64) mm, and good values in the minimum inhibitory concentration (5 to 50 μg), for the compounds 9e, 9h, 9i and 9j. Furthermore, they do not have a cytotoxic effect at the concentrations tested. Besides that, in the in vivo test, they show some slight alteration in the histopathological analyses and the biochemistry. Thus, we found four potential candidates to become instruments for the treatment of cavities.

Comparison of hematological parameters between single and twin pregnancies in Dorper ewes during gestation, lambing, and postpartum

ABSTRACT: The hematopoietic system changes during the pregnancy to carry fetal development and maternal needs. This study compared the hematological parameters between ewes with single and twin pregnancies during gestation, delivery, and postpartum. The experiment was conducted on 60 healthy pregnant Dorper ewes that were divided into two experimental groups: Group 1 (G1), with single pregnancies (n=30), and Group 2 (G2), with twin pregnancies (n=30). Blood samples were collected from all ewes at different times: immediately before fixed-time artificial insemination (AI); on day 30, 90, 120, 130, and 140 of pregnancy; immediately after delivery; and at 24h and 48h postpartum. Statistical analysis compared the two groups at different times (P<0.05). Mild, normocytic, and hypochromic anemia was detected in all ewes from AI time and throughout pregnancy from both groups, but did not prove to be of clinical relevance. In the peripartum stage (from the 140th day of pregnancy to 48h postpartum), the ewes with twin pregnancies (G2) exhibited higher erythrogram values and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio than did ewes with single pregnancies (G1). This indicated a greater hematopoietic adaptation in the body during the development of two fetuses. Except for the eosinophil numbers, all leukogram parameters were influenced by pregnancy in a similar way in both groups, and was characterized mainly by leukocytosis with neutrophilia during peripartum due to the high presence of endogenous cortisol at delivery. Thus, these findings showed that pregnancy was a stressful physiological event that increased the leukocyte count with a slight alteration in the erythrogram of Dorper ewes.

When the barn-owl feasted on bats, an approach to taphonomic analysis

Small vertebrates are a key proxy for paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction, but a previous taphonomic analysis of the paleontological assemblage is needed before facing this kind of approach. Works concerning taphonomy of preyed small vertebrates are abundant in the literature, but chiropters are not usually included as they are only rarely predated. Here we analysed the content of two barn-owl (Tyto alba) pellets that exclusively contained bat remains. Our aim is to assess the effects of digestion inflicted by this predator on certain bat skeletal elements, specifically mandibles and lower teeth. All bat remains were assigned to Pipistrellus sp. They mostly presented slight alteration of the mandible and non-altered enamel, which is an expected result based on previous literature concerning this type of predator. Nevertheless, a few specific specimens showed much more intense alteration. This is most probably due to predator-related factors, although a higher degree of age-related tooth-wear in a specific bat cannot be dismissed.

Small intestinal flora graft alters fecal flora, stool, cytokines and mood status in healthy mice

Fecal microbiota transplantation is widely used. Large intestinal microbiota (LIM) is more similar to fecal microbiota than small intestinal microbiota (SIM). The SIM communities are very different from those of LIM. Therefore, SIM transplantation (SIMT) and LIM transplantation (LIMT) might exert different influences. Here, healthy adult male C57Bl/6 mice received intragastric SIMT, LIMT, or sterile PBS administration. Microbiota graft samples were collected from small/large intestine of healthy mice of the same age, sex, and strain background. Compared with PBS treatment, SIMT increased pellet number, stool wet weight, and stool water percentage; induced a fecal microbiota profile shift toward the microbial composition of the SIM graft; induced a systemic anti-inflammatory cytokines profile; and ameliorated depressive-like behaviors in recipients. LIMT, however, induced merely a slight alteration in fecal microbial composition and no significant influence on the other aspects. In sum, SIMT, rather than LIMT, affected defecation features, fecal microbial composition, cytokines profile, and depressive-like behaviors in healthy mice. This study reveals the different effects of SIMT and LIMT, providing an interesting clue for further researches involving gut microbial composition change.

Prevalence of Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction in Various Dental Patients According to the Different Types of Dental Treatments

BACKGROUND Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is mostly prone to various dysfunctions or abnormalities, even with a slight alteration in its normal function. Dental treatments in particular are known to cause stresses on this joint causing complications such as pain, tenderness, restricted movement, clicking sound etc. It can become severe with time and interfere in the daily living activities and affect the quality of life (QOL). Hence, this study was done to focus on a few common dental conditions to determine their effects on TMJ. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of TMJ dysfunction in dental patients with varying treatment durations. METHODS A total of 130 male and female dental patients who underwent /were undergoing various dental treatments were included, on the basis of age (18 - 45). The total number of samples were collected from 6 categories i.e., endodontic, orthodontic, cleaning / scaling, tooth extraction, filling, multiple treatments. FONSECA’S questionnaire was used as an outcome measure to determine the TMJ dysfunction. RESULTS Based on the assessment of all the 6 categories, major dysfunction was seen in the patients who underwent multiple treatments (86 %) followed by orthodontic (75 %), endodontic (73 %), tooth extraction (70 %), dental tooth filling (65 %) and the least was seen in patients of scaling / cleaning (61 %). CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of TMJ dysfunction has shown significant positive results in dental patients among which 71.5 % of them have shown mild to severe TMJ dysfunction and 29.5 % have shown negative results. KEY WORDS TMJ Dysfunction, FONSECA’s Questionnaire, Orthodontic, Endodontic, Cleaning, Scaling, Tooth Extraction

Changing Rainfall and Swinging Tea Production: The Correlates and Perception of Social Ecology of Tea Garden

Tea is the second most commonly consumed beverages, after water, across the globe. However, the quality and aroma of the produce largely depends on different climatic factors like temperature, rainfall, altitude etc. Even a slight alteration in these climatic factors, affects the quality and production adversely. Climate change, a global challenge, is a big threat to the tea industry as well as its workers. With degraded quality and swinging production due to changing rainfall and temperature, hundreds of tea gardens have been closed down in the past few decades, putting livelihood of thousands of tea workers to question. This paper attempts to find how the changing rainfall and swinging tea production varies with the profile characteristics of the tea workers. The study was conducted in the Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Dooars districts of West Bengal with 90 randomly selected tea workers from nine randomly selected tea gardens, three each belonging to three different altitudes. All the results has been analyzed using statistical tools of correlation coefficient, multiple and stepwise regression and path analysis. The results shows that treatment and mobility are two important variable explaining the variation in perception on change in rainfall and perception on tea production respectively. It has also been found that variables like income, treatment and garments have been reliable predictors for estimating the change in rainfall whereas the variable mobility exhibits a positive and significant relationship with perceived change in tea production. The regression analysis showed that treatment has explained 19.4 per cent of total variation in case of perceived change in rainfall and mobility has explained 16 per cent of total variance in case of perceived change in tea production.

MEDICINAL PLANTS OF SELECTED WETLANDS IN PANNISSERY AREA, THRISSUR DISTRICT, KERALA–A PRELIMINARY SURVEY

Objective: Wetlands are vital ecosystem which provides livelihoods for millions of people who live within around them. Man depends on wetlands for most of his needs from time immemorial. The present study is a preliminary step for the identification of valuable medicinal plants in the wetlands of Pannissery area. This attempt was made since it is equally important to understand the traditional medicines and beliefs as well as to have scientific awareness for protection and conservation of the sewetlands. Methods: Frequent field visits were carried out from September 2018 to January 2019 to collect different Wetland medicinal plants in Pannissery area, Kandanassery Panchayath, Thrissur district. Plants were collected carefully with hand and identified by using the standard literature such as Flora of the Presidency of Madras by J. S. Gamble, 1915-1936. The collected plants were authenticated by a plant Taxonomist Dr. Udayan. P. S. from the Post Graduate and Research Department of Botany, Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur. Results: A slight alteration of the wetland may result in the disappearance or the extinction of these plants [1]. Conclusion: This will ultimately result in large scale economic loss in terms of the medicinal product. Apart from the loss of plants, this will also result in the loss of local knowledge on the medicinal properties of these plants which very often can't be retrieved. An attempt has been made to document some of the little known medicinal properties of wetland plants used by local community.

A Slight Alteration

Noam Chomsky and Robert Berwick proposed that a slight alteration in our neural networks allowed a great change, like a push-down stack. Philip Pilkington argues that the computer analogy is imprecise.

Avulsed permanent incisor – replantation after two days of the trauma: report of a case

Tooth avulsion is a complex injury that affects the pulp tissue, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone. It is more frequent in children aged 7 to 11 years. The prognosis is directly related to the period during which the tooth is outside the socket; there is consensus in the literature that the shorter this period, the higher will be the possibility of pulp revascularization and reattachment of periodontal ligament fibers. The need of maintenance of the avulsed tooth in an adequate medium is also known. This study reports a case of complex replantation after avulsion, in which the care was provided 48 hours after the trauma and the tooth was kept dry by the patient, thus suggesting a treatment option for these cases. The avulsed tooth was cleaned and submitted to endodontic treatment; a rigid retainer was used for 7 days and the calcium hydroxide dressing was constantly replaced for 12 months. After 28 months, the tooth exhibited clinical aspect of normality and the radiographic examination revealed a slight alteration at the apical portion of the root. It was concluded that this treatment planning may be a good option in cases of tooth avulsion with late replantation; even though the conditions of care were unfavorable and contraindicated by the scientific literature and the prognosis was impaired, a considerable benefit was achieved for the patient, since the treatment allowed its immediate reintegration to the social relationships, as well as maintenance of facial growth and development.

Power Consumption, Mixing Time, and Oxygen Mass Transfer in a Gas-Liquid Contactor Stirred with a Dual Impeller for Different Spacing

Multiple or dual impellers are widely implemented in stirred contactors used in various biological processes like fermentation, water treatment, and pharmaceutical production. The spacing between impellers is considered as a crucial factor in designing of these types of contactors resulting in variation of oxygen mass transfer, mixing time, or power consumption for such biological system. A study of three parts was conducted to characterize the effect of the spacing between impellers on the most important parameters that related to biological contactor performance: oxygen mass transfer coefficientklafrom the gas phase (air) to the liquid phase (water), mixing time, and power consumption for different operating rotational speeds (1.67–3.33 rps) and for three different spacing positions. The used impellers system in the study is a dual impeller system which consists of an inverted and bladed rotated cone (IBRC) and a pitched-blade up-flow propeller (PBPU). The experimental results showed that the shorter spacing (the lower PBPU in a higher position) is more convenient, as the achieved oxygen mass transfer coefficient has showed an improvement in its values with lower mixing time and with a slight alteration in power consumption.