Candida albicans is an opportunistic fungal organism frequently detected in the oral cavity of children with severe early childhood caries (S-ECC). Previous studies suggested the cariogenic potential ...of C. albicans, in vitro and in vivo, and further demonstrated its synergistic interactions with Streptococcus mutans. In combination, the 2 organisms are associated with higher caries severity in a rodent model. However, it remains unknown whether C. albicans influences the composition and diversity of the entire oral bacterial community to promote S-ECC onset. With 16s rRNA amplicon sequencing, this study analyzed the microbiota of saliva and supragingival plaque from 39 children (21 S-ECC and 18 caries-free CF) and 33 mothers (17 S-ECC and 16 CF). The results revealed that the presence of oral C. albicans is associated with a highly acidogenic and acid-tolerant bacterial community in S-ECC, with an increased abundance of plaque Streptococcus (particularly S. mutans) and certain Lactobacillus/Scardovia species and salivary/plaque Veillonella and Prevotella, as well as decreased levels of salivary/plaque Actinomyces. Concurrent with this microbial community assembly, the activity of glucosyltransferases (cariogenic virulence factors secreted by S. mutans) in plaque was significantly elevated when C. albicans was present. Moreover, the oral microbial community composition and diversity differed significantly by disease group (CF vs. S-ECC) and sample source (saliva vs. plaque). Children and mothers within the CF and S-ECC groups shared microbiota composition and diversity, suggesting a strong maternal influence on children’s oral microbiota. Altogether, this study underscores the importance of C. albicans in association with the oral bacteriome in the context of S-ECC etiopathogenesis. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to examine how fungal-bacterial interactions modulate the onset and severity of S-ECC, potentially leading to novel anticaries treatments that address fungal contributions.
As the most common chronic disease in preschool children in the United States, early childhood caries (ECC) has a profound impact on a child’s quality of life, represents a tremendous human and ...economic burden to society, and disproportionately affects those living in poverty. Caries risk assessment (CRA) is a critical component of ECC management, yet the accuracy, consistency, reproducibility, and longitudinal validation of the available risk assessment techniques are lacking. Molecular and microbial biomarkers represent a potential source for accurate and reliable dental caries risk and onset. Next-generation nucleotide-sequencing technology has made it feasible to profile the composition of the oral microbiota. In the present study, 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing was applied to saliva samples that were collected at 6-mo intervals for 24 mo from a subset of 56 initially caries-free children from an ongoing cohort of 189 children, aged 1 to 3 y, over the 2-y study period; 36 children developed ECC and 20 remained caries free. Analyses from machine learning models of microbiota composition, across the study period, distinguished between affected and nonaffected groups at the time of their initial study visits with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.71 and discriminated ECC-converted from healthy controls at the visit immediately preceding ECC diagnosis with an AUC of 0.89, as assessed by nested cross-validation. Rothia mucilaginosa, Streptococcus sp., and Veillonella parvula were selected as important discriminatory features in all models and represent biomarkers of risk for ECC onset. These findings indicate that oral microbiota as profiled by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing is predictive of ECC onset.
Pregnancy initiates a temporary transition in the maternal physiological state, with a shift in the oral microbiome and a potential increase in frequency of oral diseases. The risk of oral disease is ...higher among populations of Hispanic and Black women and those with lower socioeconomic status (low SES), demonstrating a need for intervention within these high-risk populations. To further our understanding of the oral microbiome of high-risk pregnant women, we characterized the oral microbiome in 28 nonpregnant and 179 pregnant low-SES women during their third trimester living in Rochester, New York. Unstimulated saliva and supragingival plaque samples were collected cross-sectionally, followed by assessment of the bacterial (16S ribosomal RNA) and fungal (18S ITS) microbiota communities. Trained and calibrated dentists performed oral examinations to determine the number of decayed teeth and plaque index. Initially, plaque from 28 nonpregnant women and 48 pregnant women were compared; these data showed significant differences in bacterial abundances based on pregnancy status. To further our understanding of the oral microbiome within the pregnant population, we next examined the oral microbiome within this population based on several variables. Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus oralis, and Lactobacillus were associated with a greater number of decayed teeth. The composition of fungal communities differed between plaque and saliva, demonstrating 2 distinct “mycotypes” that were represented by a greater abundance of Candida in plaque and Malassezia in saliva. Veillonella rogosae, a common oral bacterium, was negatively associated with both plaque index and salivary Candida albicans colonization by culture data. This was further emphasized by in vitro inhibition of C. albicans by V. rogosae. Identification of interactions between the bacterial or fungal oral communities revealed that V. rogosae was positively associated with the oral commensal Streptococcus australis and negatively with the cariogenic Lactobacillus genus, suggesting V. rogosae as a potential biomarker of a noncariogenic oral microbiome.
This article presents a novel active-mode indirect solar dryer consisting of highly efficiency through-flow evacuated tube collector for air heating. A DC fan powered with solar photovoltaic (PV) ...module is provided for forced air flow through this dryer. The dehydration chamber is of tray type with loading capacity of 6 kg–45 kg depending on the drying product. The dryer was evaluated to dry fenugreek leaves (Trigonella foenum-graecum) and turmeric (Curcuma longa) in semi-continuous mode; and respective overall thermal efficiency was found to be 34.1% and 23.6%. The respective thermal efficiency in open sun drying (OSD) was 5.7% and 5.4%. The quality of dried fenugreek leaves and turmeric was found better than OSD. Economics of the solar dryer indicate the capital cost is negligible in comparison to cumulative present worth of life cycle savings. The values are 211,262 INR (1 US$ = 74.57 INR) and 229,152 INR respectively for fenugreek leaves and turmeric; and capital cost of the dryer is only 50,000 INR. The low value of payback period also confirms economic viability of this dryer. The generalized economic curves have also been plotted.
•Developed a novel active-mode indirect solar dryer for agricultural products.•Quality of dried product better than open sun drying.•Economically feasible as indicated by life cycle savings and payback period.
•To study the progressive development in solar thermal air heating systems.•To study and review the possible ways to augment the performance of solar air heating systems.•To review the best ...performing solar air heating systems along with their limitations.
The use of solar air heaters (SAH) for the collection and effective utilization of solar radiations for thermal applications is widely reported in the literature. The current article aimed to present a comprehensive literature review on history, fundamentals and the latest advancement reported in the field of solar thermal air heating systems. Various designs of solar collectors viz, evacuated tube, flat plate, multiple passages, a cross-section of the flow passage, etc. are reported and discussed. Techniques which are used for performance enhancement of SAHs such as artificial roughness, fins, baffles, vortex generators, etc. are discussed and a comparative performance assessment has been carried to identify thermohydraulic performance parameter to select the optimum configuration that can be further used for applications. A few key recommendations are also concluded from the literature for the effective design and implementation of the SAHs.
•There is a lack of knowledge on the zoonotic disease(s) in the livestock farmers in Punjab, India.•Lower level of formal education impedes the farmer’s knowledge on zoonotic diseases.•Efforts should ...be made to educate the Punjabi livestock farmers on zoonotic diseases.
Zoonotic diseases cause significant health and economic impact in developing countries such as India. Many zoonotic diseases are prevalent in the livestock and as an occupational zoonosis in the livestock farmers in India. Lack of knowledge on the disease transmission, prevention and control measures is a potential high risk for the occurrence of zoonotic diseases in the livestock and its keepers in India. We conducted this study to understand knowledge, attitude and practices of livestock farmers regarding zoonoses. Five villages from each of the 22 districts of the state were conveniently selected (n = 110). Farmers available at village community sites were enrolled in the study and requested to complete a custom designed questionnaire (n = 558). In addition, livestock farmers attending basic livestock husbandry training were also surveyed (n = 301). Data from questionnaires was used to create three index variables: (a) knowledge score; (b) attitude score and (c) practice score. Association between demographic and other explanatory variables with knowledge score was evaluated using linear regression analyses. Similarly, the association between knowledge and attitude score with practice score was evaluated. Of the 859 participants, 685 (80%) livestock farmers had heard the term ‘zoonoses’ but only 345 (40%), 264 (31%) and 214 (25%) farmers were aware of the zoonotic nature of tuberculosis, Japanese encephalitis and taeniosis, respectively. For practices, 23% farmers reported consumption of raw milk and only 10% and 8% livestock farmers ever got their animals tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis, respectively. The low level of education and being a cattle farmer were negatively associated with the farmer’s knowledge on zoonotic diseases. The attitude score was positively associated with the practice score of the participants. The results indicate need for educating the livestock farmers particularly those with a low level of education to reduce the health and economic impact of zoonotic diseases in India.
A walk-in type solar greenhouse dryer supplemented with solar air heating system has been developed with an objective of sustainable development. One of its novel features is the use of an evacuated ...tube solar air heating system with the greenhouse dryer to achieve required drying temperature for different products in north India plains. This dryer was tested in laboratory in both batch and semi-continuous mode for turmeric (Curcuma longa). The open sun drying was used as control. The thermal efficiency of the dryer for batch and semi-continuous drying obtained are 18.5% and 22.5% respectively. Drying time in comparison to open sun drying has been found to be 55% approximately. The quality of dried turmeric obtained using this dryer is superior to open sun drying in terms of polishing loss, curcumic content, volatile oil content and colour. Its energy payback period and cost payback period were estimated as 2.95 and 1.10 years, respectively, which is very low as compared to its life of 20 years. In the entire lifetime, the CO2 mitigation was found to be 209.21 tons, which proves its suitability.
•Developed evacuated tube solar collector assisted greenhouse dryer.•Drying time reduced to 55% of the open sun drying.•Different economic indicators proved economic viability of this dryer.•Dryer adopted by large number of users.
Purpose
Cognitive impairment after critical illness is common and debilitating. We developed a cognitive therapy program for critically ill patients and assessed the feasibility and safety of ...administering combined cognitive and physical therapy early during a critical illness.
Methods
We randomized 87 medical and surgical ICU patients with respiratory failure and/or shock in a 1:1:2 manner to three groups: usual care, early once-daily physical therapy, or early once-daily physical therapy plus a novel, progressive, twice-daily cognitive therapy protocol. Cognitive therapy included orientation, memory, attention, and problem-solving exercises, and other activities. We assessed feasibility outcomes of the early cognitive plus physical therapy intervention. At 3 months, we also assessed cognitive, functional, and health-related quality of life outcomes. Data are presented as median (interquartile range) or frequency (%).
Results
Early cognitive therapy was a delivered to 41/43 (95 %) of cognitive plus physical therapy patients on 100 % (92–100 %) of study days beginning 1.0 (1.0–1.0) day following enrollment. Physical therapy was received by 17/22 (77 %) of usual care patients, by 21/22 (95 %) of physical therapy only patients, and 42/43 (98 %) of cognitive plus physical therapy patients on 17 % (10–26 %), 67 % (46–87 %), and 75 % (59–88 %) of study days, respectively. Cognitive, functional, and health-related quality of life outcomes did not differ between groups at 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions
This pilot study demonstrates that early rehabilitation can be extended beyond physical therapy to include cognitive therapy. Future work to determine optimal patient selection, intensity of treatment, and benefits of cognitive therapy in the critically ill is needed.
Low cost solar air heater Gill, R.S.; Singh, Sukhmeet; Singh, Parm Pal
Energy conversion and management,
05/2012, Letnik:
57
Journal Article
Recenzirano
► Single glazed low cost solar air heater is more efficient during summer while double glazed is better in winter. ► For the same initial investment, low cost solar air heaters collect more energy ...than packed bed solar air heater. ► During off season low cost solar air heater can be stored inside as it is light in weight.
Two low cost solar air heaters viz. single glazed and double glazed were designed, fabricated and tested. Thermocole, ultraviolet stabilised plastic sheet, etc. were used for fabrication to reduce the fabrication cost. These were tested simultaneously at no load and with load both in summer and winter seasons along with packed bed solar air heater using iron chips for absorption of radiation. The initial costs of single glazed and double glazed are 22.8% and 26.8% of the initial cost of packed bed solar air heater of the same aperture area. It was found that on a given day at no load, the maximum stagnation temperatures of single glazed and double glazed solar air heater were 43.5°C and 62.5°C respectively. The efficiencies of single glazed, double glazed and packed bed solar air heaters corresponding to flow rate of 0.02m3/s-m2 were 30.29%, 45.05% and 71.68% respectively in winter season. The collector efficiency factor, heat removal factor based on air outlet temperature and air inlet temperature for three solar air heaters were also determined.
Abstract Radioembolization with yttrium-90 microspheres offers an alternative treatment option for patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). However, the rarity and ...heterogeneity of ICC makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions about treatment efficacy. Therefore, the goal of the current study is to systematically review the existing literature surrounding treatment of unresectable ICCs with yttrium-90 microspheres and provide a comprehensive review of the current experience and clinical outcome of this treatment modality. We performed a comprehensive search of electronic databases for ICC treatment and identified 12 studies with relevant data regarding radioembolization therapy with yttrium-90 microspheres. Based on pooled analysis, the overall weighted median survival was 15.5 months. Tumour response based on radiological studies demonstrated a partial response in 28% and stable disease in 54% of patients at three months. Seven patients were able to be downstaged to surgical resection. The complication profile of radioembolization is similar to that of other intra-arterial treatment modalities. Overall survival of patients with ICC after treatment with yttrium-90 microspheres is higher than historical survival rates and shows similar survival to those patients treated with systemic chemotherapy and/or trans-arterial chemoembolization therapy. Therefore, the use of yttrium-90 microspheres should be considered in the list of available treatment options for ICC. However, future randomized trials comparing systemic chemotherapy, TACE and local radiation will be required to identify the optimal treatment modality for unresectable ICC.
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