Tag: nevin manimala

Int J Dent Hyg. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/idh.12509. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The use of local probiotics in the therapy of periodontitis is reflected in their ability to antagonize periodontopathogens and modulate the immune response of the host to the presence of pathogenic microorganisms. The aim of this study was to investigated the use of local probiotics in the treatment of periodontitis as an adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planning (SRP).

METHODS: The study involved 80 patients diagnosed with periodontitis. All participants underwent SRP therapy. Semi-solid probiotic was then locally applied to the periodontal pocket in randomly selected patients for the test group (40 of them). The other 40 patients were in the control group. Clinical parameters including periodontal pocket depth (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP) and plaque index (PI) were measured at baseline, and at 7 and 30 days after treatment.

RESULTS: Seven days after the applied therapy in the test and control group, there was a significant decrease in the values or BOP (p<0.001), while the values of other parameters did not show a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). One month after the therapy in both groups, there was a statistically significant difference in the values of all clinical parameters (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of this pilot study, it can be said that, during periodontal treatment, topical application of probiotics in combination with SRP increases the effectiveness of conventional non-surgical therapy of periodontitis.

PMID:33964104 | DOI:10.1111/idh.12509

Mol Ecol Resour. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13415. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Adaptive genetic variation is a function of both selective and neutral forces. To accurately identify adaptive loci, it is thus critical to account for demographic history. Theory suggests that signatures of selection can be inferred using the coalescent, following the premise that genealogies of selected loci deviate from neutral expectations. Here, we build on this theory to develop an analytical framework to identify Loci under Selection via explicit Demographic models (LSD). Under this framework, signatures of selection are inferred through deviations in demographic parameters, rather than through summary statistics directly, and demographic history is accounted for explicitly. Leveraging on the property of demographic models to incorporate directionality, we show that LSD can provide information on the environment in which selection acts on a population. This can prove useful in elucidating the selective processes underlying local adaptation, by characterising genetic trade-offs and extending the concepts of antagonistic pleiotropy and conditional neutrality from ecological theory to practical application in genomic data. We implement LSD via Approximate Bayesian Computation and demonstrate, via simulations, that LSD has i) high power to identify selected loci across a large range of demographic-selection regimes, ii) outperforms commonly applied genome-scan methods under complex demographies, and iii) accurately infers the directionality of selection for identified candidates. Using the same simulations, we further characterise the behaviour of isolation-with-migration models conducive to the study of local adaptation under regimes of selection. Finally, we demonstrate an application of LSD by detecting loci and characterising genetic trade-offs underlying flower colour in Antirrhinum majus.

PMID:33964107 | DOI:10.1111/1755-0998.13415

BJU Int. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/bju.15443. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if a risk score for prostate cancer (PC) lifetime risk can be used to optimize triaging of patients with a negative prostate biopsy, but under sustained suspicion of PC.

METHODS AND PATIENTS: In this prospective clinical study, we included, and risk scored patients who had a cancer-negative transrectal ultrasound guided (TRUS) prostate biopsy, but elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA), a suspicious prostate digital rectal examination and/or a positive family history (FH) of PC. The risk score estimated individual lifetime risk of PC, based on a polygenic risk score (33 single nucleotide polymorphisms), age, and FH of PC. Patients were followed, under urologic supervision, for up to 4 years with annual controls, always including PSA measurements. Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and/or prostate biopsy was performed at selected annual controls depending on risk score and at the urologist’s/patient’s discretion, which means that the follow-up differed based on the risk score.

RESULTS: We included 429 patients. After risk scoring, 376/429 (88%) patients were allocated to a normal-risk group (<30% PC lifetime risk) and 53/429 (12%) to a high-risk group (≥30% PC lifetime risk). The high-risk group had significantly different follow-up, with more biopsy and mpMRI sessions compared to the normal-risk group. PC was detected in 89/429 (21%) patients, with 67/376 (18%) patients diagnosed in the normal-risk group and 22/53 (42%) in the high-risk group. There was no statistically significant difference in the cumulative incidence of PC between the normal-risk group and the high-risk group after 4 years of follow-up. Currently, 67/429 (16%) patients are still being followed in this ongoing study.

CONCLUSION: In a 4-year perspective our PC lifetime risk score did not demonstrate significant prognostic value for triaging patients, with a negative TRUS-biopsy and sustained suspicion of PC.

PMID:33964113 | DOI:10.1111/bju.15443

J Biomed Mater Res A. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.37207. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Statistical methods were used to provide insight into a polymer complex system composed of lysozyme and alginate to quantify the effects of such parameters as pH, and ionic composition of the mixing solution on the properties of the complexes including composition, particle diameter, and zeta potential. Various crosslinkers (calcium, barium, iron[III], and bovine serum albumin), were used with lysozyme for complex formation to investigate the effect of crosslinker charge density on protein release kinetics, modelled using ktⁿ . Multivariate statistical analysis showed that the kinetic parameters associated with the release were, not surprisingly highly dependent on the ionic strength of the release media, with higher ionic strength leading to faster release. The release parameter k was also shown to depend on the protein properties (size, ionic strength) while n was slightly, but not statistically dependent on the charge density of the crosslinker demonstrating that the nature of the crosslinker had minimal impact on drug release. The multivariate statistical has the potential to be used for optimization of the complexes and prediction of physical properties and degradation rates.

PMID:33964114 | DOI:10.1002/jbm.a.37207

Int Endod J. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/iej.13547. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: To create an irreversible pulpitis gene signature from microarray data of healthy and inflamed dental pulps, followed by a bioinformatics approach using connectivity mapping to identify therapeutic compounds that could potentially treat pulpitis.

METHODOLOGY: The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, an international public repository of genomics datasets, was searched for human microarray datasets assessing pulpitis. An irreversible pulpitis gene expression signature was generated by differential expression analysis. The statistically significant connectivity map (ssCMap) method was used to identify compounds with a highly correlating gene expression pattern. qPCR was used to validate novel pulpitis genes. An ex vivo pulpitis model was used to test the effects of the compounds identified, and the level of inflammatory cytokines was measured with qPCR, ELISA and multiplex array. Means were compared using the t-test or ANOVA with the level of significance set at p≤0.05.

RESULTS: Pulpitis gene signatures were created using differential gene expression analysis at cutoff points p=0.0001 and 0.000018. Top upregulated genes were selected as potential pulpitis biomarkers. Among these, IL8, IL6 and MMP9 were previously identified as pulpitis biomarkers. Novel up-regulated genes; chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 21 (CCL21), metallothionein 1H (MT1H) and aquaporin 9 (AQP9) were validated in the pulp tissue of teeth clinically diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis using qPCR. ssCMap analysis identified fluvastatin (Statin) and dequalinium chloride (Quaternary ammonium) as compounds with the strongest correlation to the gene signatures (p=0.0001). Fluvastatin reduced IL8, IL6, CCL21, AQP9 (p<0.001) and MMP9 (p<0.05) in the ex-vivo pulpitis model, while dequalinium chloride reduced AQP9 (p<0.001) but had no significant effect on the other biomarkers.

CONCLUSIONS: AQP9, MT1H and CCL21 were identified and validated as novel biomarkers for pulpitis. Fluvastatin and dequalinium chloride identified by the ssCMap as potential therapeutics for pulpitis reduced selected pulpitis biomarkers in an ex vivo pulpitis model. In vivo testing of these licensed drugs is warranted.

PMID:33964033 | DOI:10.1111/iej.13547

Clin Cardiol. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1002/clc.23622. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV2 has affected more than 73.8 million individuals. While SARS-CoV2 is considered a predominantly respiratory virus, we report a trend of bradycardia among hospitalized patients, particularly in association with mortality.

METHODOLOGY: The multi-center retrospective analysis consisted of 1053 COVID-19 positive patients from March to August 2020. A trend of bradycardia was noted in the study population. Absolute bradycardia and profound bradycardia was defined as a sustained heart rate < 60 BPM and < 50 BPM, respectively, on two separate occasions, a minimum of 4 h apart during hospitalization. Each bradycardic event was confirmed by two physicians and exclusion criteria included: less than 18 years old, end of life bradycardia, left AMA, or taking AV Nodal blockers. Data was fetched using a SQL program through the EMR and data was analyzed using SPSS 27.0. A logistic regression was done to study the effect of bradycardia, age, gender, and BMI on mortality in the study group.

RESULTS: 24.9% patients had absolute bradycardia while 13.0% had profound bradycardia. Patients with absolute bradycardia had an odds ratio of 6.59 (95% CI [2.83-15.36]) for mortality compared with individuals with a normal HR response. The logistic regression model explained 19.6% (Nagelkerke R² ) of variance in the mortality, correctly classified 88.6% of cases, and was statistically significant X² (5)=47.10, p < .001. For each year of age > 18, the odds of dying increased 1.048 times (95% CI [1.25-5.27]).

CONCLUSION: The incidence of absolute bradycardia was found in 24.9% of the study cohort and these individuals were found to have a significant increase in mortality.

PMID:33964035 | DOI:10.1002/clc.23622

Int J Numer Method Biomed Eng. 2021 May 8:e3496. doi: 10.1002/cnm.3496. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Diabetes is a faction of metabolic ailments distinguished by hyperglycemia which is the consequence of a defect ,in the action of insulin, insulin secretion, or both and producing various abnormalities in the human body. In recent years, the utilization of intelligent systems has been expanded in disease classification and numerous researches have been proposed. In this research article, a variant of Convolutional Neural Network i.e. Functional Link Convolutional Neural Network (FLCNN) is proposed for the diabetes classification. The main goal of this article is to find the potential of a computationally less complex deep learning network like FLCNN and applied the proposed technique on a real dataset of diabetes for classification. This article also presents the comparative studies where various other machine learning techniques are implemented and outcomes are compared with the proposed FLCNN network. The performance of each classification techniques have been evaluated based on standard measures and also validated with a non-parametric statistical test such as Friedman. Data for modelling diabetes classification is collected from Bombay Medical Hall, Upper Bazar, Ranchi, India. Accuracy achieve by the proposed classifier is more than 90 percent which is closer to the other state-of-the-art implemented classifiers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:33964103 | DOI:10.1002/cnm.3496

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-14263-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

In the present study, we analyzed variations in bacterial community structure along a salinity gradient in a tropical monsoonal estuary (Cochin estuary [CE]), on the southwest coast of India, using Illumina next-generation sequencing (NGS). Water samples were collected from eight different locations thrice a year to assess the variability in the bacterial community structure and to determine the physico-chemical factors influencing the bacterial diversity. Proteobacteria was the most dominant phyla in the estuary followed by Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. Statistical analysis indicated significant variations in bacterial communities between freshwater and mesohaline and euryhaline regions, as well as between the monsoon (wet) and nonmonsoon (dry) periods. The abundance of Betaproteobacteria was higher in the freshwater regions, while Alphaproteobacteria and Epsilonproteobactera were more abundant in mesohaline and euryhaline regions of the estuary. Gammaproteobacteria was more abundant in regions with high nutrient concentrations. Various bacterial genera indicating the presence of fecal contamination and eutrophication were detected. Corrplot based on Pearson correlation analysis demonstrated the important physico-chemical variables (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and inorganic nutrients) that influence the distribution of dominant phyla, class, and genera. The observed spatio-temporal variations in bacterial community structure in the CE were governed by regional variations in anthropogenic inputs and seasonal variations in monsoonal rainfall and tidal influx.

PMID:33963997 | DOI:10.1007/s11356-021-14263-0

Braz J Microbiol. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1007/s42770-021-00517-z. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Brazil has a herd of over 9 million goats, and the northeast of Brazil is home to over 93% of this herd. Caprine mycoplasmosis are widely disseminated worldwide, being highly contagious with high rates of morbidity and mortality, causing considerable economic loss to goat herders. In addition, there has been a lack of research using molecular testing to monitor the health and detect Mollicutes in this herd in Brazil. Therefore, the aim of this study is to associate animal management with the presence of the caprine origin Mollicutes in goats, in the southwest region of the state of Bahia, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted on twelve farms, and statistical analyses were performed to identify associations between the presence of Mollicutes and the management of goats. Molecular testing identified Mollicutes class, Mycoplasma agalactiae (Ma) and M. conjunctivae (Mc), in the samples analyzed. Statistical associations were observed between animals from intensive livestock facilities and the presence of Mollicutes in nasal samples and dairy ranch animals and the presence of Mollicutes in ocular samples and animals from extensive ranching sites and positive results of Mollicutes in genital samples. We conclude that mycoplasmas are present in goat herds in the southwestern region of Bahia, which supports the need for more focused studies of mycoplasmas throughout the country. Our research also demonstrated the presence of two important opportunistic bacteria, Mc and Ma, and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that M. conjunctivae was detected in Brazilian goats by molecular testing.

PMID:33964005 | DOI:10.1007/s42770-021-00517-z

Mycoses. 2021 May 8. doi: 10.1111/myc.13299. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Onychomycosis is the general term to define fungal nail infections that arise from dermatophytes, non-dermatophytic molds, and yeasts. Thiol/disulfide homeostasis is a new indicator of oxidative stress. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of thiol/disulfide balance in the pathogenesis of onychomycosis.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study included adult patients with onychomycosis who were admitted to the dermatology department and healthy adult volunteers without any dermatologic or systemic condition. The patients and controls were evaluated in terms of native thiol, total thiol, and disulfide levels, and disulfide/native thiol, disulfide/total thiol, and native thiol/total thiol ratios. The possible association between these parameters and clinical subtypes of onychomycosis and demographic characteristics was also investigated.

RESULTS: A total of 52 patients with onychomycosis and 50 healtyh subjects were enrolled in the study. The patient group showed lower levels of total thiol, native thiol, and native thiol/total thiol ratio, and higher ratios of disulfide/native thiol and disulfide/total thiol. No statistically significant relationship was found between the parameters, clinical subtypes of onychomycosis, and demographic characteristics (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION: Patients with onychomycosis showed a shifted thiol/disulfide homeostasis towards oxidative stress with a reduction in thiols and an increase in disulfide/native thiol, and disulfide/total thiol ratios. These findings may indicate the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of onychomycosis.

PMID:33964024 | DOI:10.1111/myc.13299