Haptic dental simulators are gaining recognition for training dental students. However, there needs to be more evidence of their pedagogical effectiveness. The primary aims were to (1) identify the published studies related to the application of virtual reality (VR) and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training of dental students, (2) recognize the outcome criteria used in the published studies, and (3) determine the subjective evaluation of VR and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training by the students. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to find scholarly articles that assessed the utilization of VR and haptics in training students in restorative dentistry. The investigation was performed via seven online databases: Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, Science Direct Freedom Collection, Latin American & Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), EMBASE, and MEDLINE. Of the 268 potential articles assessed, 22 met the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrated feasibility and acceptability. Additionally, there was improved motor skill acquisition and retention and less time for dental restoration after haptic virtual reality training. With the rising evidence of efficacy and increased utilization of digital technologies, virtual reality, and haptics has a role in improving students’ education outcomes.

Haptic dental simulators are gaining recognition for training dental students. However, there needs to be more evidence of their pedagogical effectiveness. The primary aims were to (1) identify the published studies related to the application of virtual reality (VR) and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training of dental students, (2) recognize the outcome criteria used in the published studies, and (3) determine the subjective evaluation of VR and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training by the students. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to find scholarly articles that assessed the utilization of VR and haptics in training students in restorative dentistry. The investigation was performed via seven online databases: Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, Science Direct Freedom Collection, Latin American & Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), EMBASE, and MEDLINE. Of the 268 potential articles assessed, 22 met the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrated feasibility and acceptability. Additionally, there was improved motor skill acquisition and retention and less time for dental restoration after haptic virtual reality training. With the rising evidence of efficacy and increased utilization of digital technologies, virtual reality, and haptics has a role in improving students’ education outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of Genki, a computer-aided detection (CADe) software, in detecting tuberculosis (TB) using chest radiography in a mobile TB screening program in Chennai, India.Materials and Methods: Genki, an AI-based CADe software, was employed in four mobile diagnostic units in remote areas of Chennai, India for screening TB. Patients from remote areas of Chennai who visited the vans and registered in the screening program underwent chest radiography, and the acquired X-ray scans were analyzed using Genki, which provided an assessment of each scan as either “TB suggestive” or “TB not suggestive”. Subsequently, sputum or swab from the patients with “TB suggestive” results was collected to confirm the diagnosis.Results: In total, 25,598 patients were screened between January and December 2022. When the annotations from the expert radiologists were considered to be true, Genki demonstrated an aggregated sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 96.9%, and accuracy of 96.9% in detecting TB from chest X-ray scans of the screened population. Furthermore, it exhibited a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of >95%, >94%, and >94%, respectively, for both sexes (male and female) and all age groups (14–35, 36–60, and ≥61 years).Conclusion: Genki demonstrated excellent value as a TB screening tool in remote locations in Chennai, India. Employing a CADe-based approach for systematic TB screening is cost-effective and reduces workload in high-burden and low-resource settings.

Haptic dental simulators are gaining recognition for training dental students. However, there needs to be more evidence of their pedagogical effectiveness. The primary aims were to (1) identify the published studies related to the application of virtual reality (VR) and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training of dental students, (2) recognize the outcome criteria used in the published studies, and (3) determine the subjective evaluation of VR and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training by the students. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to find scholarly articles that assessed the utilization of VR and haptics in training students in restorative dentistry. The investigation was performed via seven online databases: Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, Science Direct Freedom Collection, Latin American & Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), EMBASE, and MEDLINE. Of the 268 potential articles assessed, 22 met the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrated feasibility and acceptability. Additionally, there was improved motor skill acquisition and retention and less time for dental restoration after haptic virtual reality training. With the rising evidence of efficacy and increased utilization of digital technologies, virtual reality, and haptics has a role in improving students’ education outcomes.

Haptic dental simulators are gaining recognition for training dental students. However, there needs to be more evidence of their pedagogical effectiveness. The primary aims were to (1) identify the published studies related to the application of virtual reality (VR) and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training of dental students, (2) recognize the outcome criteria used in the published studies, and (3) determine the subjective evaluation of VR and haptic technology in the restorative dentistry training by the students. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to find scholarly articles that assessed the utilization of VR and haptics in training students in restorative dentistry. The investigation was performed via seven online databases: Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, PubMed, Science Direct Freedom Collection, Latin American & Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), EMBASE, and MEDLINE. Of the 268 potential articles assessed, 22 met the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrated feasibility and acceptability. Additionally, there was improved motor skill acquisition and retention and less time for dental restoration after haptic virtual reality training. With the rising evidence of efficacy and increased utilization of digital technologies, virtual reality, and haptics has a role in improving students’ education outcomes.

Introduction: Calorie restriction is the main strategy for loosing body weight in obese individuals. However, persistence to this strategy is a major challenge. Ghrelin, a hormone that influences an individual to consume food by modulating the feelings of hunger. This effect may be influenced by the % fat composition of a meal. Materials and Methods: Twelve young male participants with normal BMI, were administered in random order one of 2 isocaloric meals after an overnight fast. The 2 meals contained either 31 or 52% fat. After a 7 day gap, cross-over of the participants was carried out and they consumed the other meal similarly. Ghrelin levels were measured after fasting and 1 hour after diet consumption. An appetite rating on a visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure perceived hunger and satiety before and after the meal. Results: When compared to the baseline values, an average of 34% and 20% decrease in ghrelin levels were noted after the high-fat meal (p<0.025), and low-fat meal respectively. Analysis of the VAS showed that feelings of hunger decreased, while feelings of satiety increased after the meal, however there was no difference between the two meals. Conclusion: Thus, within this study group, though the feelings of hunger and satiety was comparable, consumption of isocaloric high fat caused ghrelin levels to decrease within one hour post meal. This shows that manipulation of % fat of the diet can achieve lower post-meal ghrelin levels.

Methods: Patients who received single-level ADR or CS between January 2008 and December 2018 were included. Data collected was preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively (6, 12, 24 months). Demographic information, surgical information, complications, follow-up surgery, and outcome ratings (Japanese Orthopaedic Association [JOA], Neck Disability Index [NDI], Visual Analog Scale [VAS] neck and arm, 36-item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36], EuroQoL-5 Dimension [EQ-5D]) were gathered. The radiological assessment included motion segment height, adjacent disc height, lordosis, cervical lordosis, T1 slope, the sagittal vertical axis C2–7, and adjacent level ossification development (ALOD). Results: Fifty-eight patients were included (ADR: 37 and CS: 21). At 6 months, both groups’ JOA, VAS, NDI, SF-36, and EQ-5D scores significantly improved, and the positive trends persisted at 2 years. Noted no significant difference in the enhancement of clinical scores except for the VAS arm (ADR: 5.95 vs. CS: 3.43, p =0.001). Radiological parameters were comparable except for the progression of ALOD of the subjacent disc (ADR: 29.7% vs. CS: 66.9%, p =0.02). No significant difference in adverse events or severe complications seen. Conclusions ADR and CS obtain good clinical results for symptomatic single-level cervical DDD. ADR demonstrated a significant advantage over CS in the improvement of VAS arm and reduced progression of ALOD of the adjacent lower disc. No statistically significant difference of dysphonia or dysphagia between the two groups were seen, attributed to their comparable zero profile.

Objective: The primary objective was to assess beta-cell function of recently-diagnosed young-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) individuals using basal and stimulated C-peptide levels. The secondary objective was to examine the association between C-peptide with metabolic factors and diabetes complications. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted for young-onset T2DM individuals aged 18-35 years with a disease duration of not more than 5 years. Plasma C-peptide was measured before and after intravenous glucagon injection. Demographic data, medical history and complications were obtained from medical records and clinical assessment. Continuous data were expressed as median and interquartile range (IQR). Categorical variables were described as frequency or percentage. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with C-peptide levels. Results: 113 participants with young-onset T2DM with a median (IQR) age of 29.0 (9.5) years and 24 (36) months were included in this study. The median (IQR) basal and stimulated C-peptide was 619 (655) pmol/L and 1231 (1024) pmol/L. Adequate beta-cell function was present in 78-86% of the participants based on the basal and stimulated C-peptide levels. We found hypertension, obesity and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) to be independently associated with higher C–peptide levels. In contrast, females, smokers, those on insulin therapy and with longer duration of disease had lower C–peptide levels. Conclusion Most recently diagnosed young-onset T2DM have adequate beta-cell function. Elevated C-peptide levels associated with obesity, hypertension and diabetic kidney disease suggest insulin resistance as the key driving factor for complications.
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; C-Peptide

Peptide therapeutics are found to be an emerging and attractive class of treatment due to their highly specific and safe nature. Hence twenty plant peptides were subjected to screening by molecular docking against the envelope protein of the dengue virus using Clus Pro, Patch Dock, and HADDOCK servers. Physicochemical parameters, allergenicity, and toxicity profile of the plant peptides were estimated by Protparam analysis, AllergenFP, and ToxinPred web servers. Six potential compounds namely Ginkbilobin, Cycloviolin-D, Circulin-B, Circulin-A, Cycloviolacin-013, and Circulin-C showed the highest binding energy with both nonallergenic and nontoxic properties. They also exhibited desirable half-lives extending to 30 hrs except for Ginkbilobin, which showed the least half-life of 4.4 hours and non-polar activity. The residues of Ala-4 of Ginkbilobin; Arg-30 of Cycloviolin D; Arg-29 of Circulin A and C interacted with the Try 101 of the domain II of Envelope protein, implying the possible inhibition of the insertion process of the trimeric E protein during fusion with the host cells. Thus, the identified plant peptides could serve as potential leads upon further subjection to in vitro studies.