Vitamins are the organic compounds required by the human body and are considered as vital nutrients needed in specific amounts. They cannot be synthesized in a sufficient amount by the human body; so, they must be obtained from the diet. Thirteen different types of vitamins are known that are classified by their biological and chemical activity. Each one of them has a specific role in our body. Folic acid has a vital role in cell growth and development through many reactions and processes that occur in the body, e.g. histidine cycle, serine and glycine cycle, methionine cycle, thymidylate cycle, and purine cycle. When the body becomes deficient in folic acid, all cycles that are mentioned above will become ineffective and lead to many problems, in addition to other problems such as megaloblastic anemia, cancer, and neural tube defects. Vitamin B12 has a vital role in cell growth and development through many reactions and processes that occur in the body. When the level becomes elevated or lower than the normal, the whole process will collapse because each process is linked to another. Deficiencies can be treated by increasing their consumption in diet or by supplement intake.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Water is one of the most important elements for all forms of life and is indispensable to the maintenance of life on the earth. Safe drinking water is the important need for every human being. Water may be contaminated by natural sources or by industrial effluents. One such contaminant is fluoride. The problem of excess fluoride in ground water was detected in many states of India. Till 1999, 17 states have been identified with the problem of excess fluoride in ground water sources. Several materials like aluminium salts, calcined alumina, magnesia, lime, activated carbon sulphonated carbonaceous materials, and ion exchange resins have been screened for their utility in defluoridation of water. On the basis of results and extensive investigations, different researchers had developed a simple and economical domestic defluoridation processes. This article attempts to critical review of the past work on defluoridation studies by using conventional and unconventional materials, and to compile the various pros and cons of these defluoridation methods including Nalgonda, Activated Alumina, bone char, fly ash, brick, and reverse osmosis.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Aim: The present study was done to evaluate the oral health status of cement factory workers. Materials and Methods: A cross- sectional study was carried out at Sirohi, Rajasthan. A total of 90 study subjects were included. They were all males who were in the age group of 20-58 years and are permanent employees of the cement factory. For recording the oral hygiene status and dental caries status, The Oral Hygiene Index Simplified (Greene and Vermillion, 1964) and The DMFT Index (Henry T. Klein, Carrole E. Palmer, Knutson J. W., 1938) are used, respectively. Wasting diseases were also recorded. Chi-square was used to find association of dental caries, oral hygiene status, oral lesions and wasting diseases with age, education, brushing habit, frequency of brushing and tobacco use. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Tooth wear was seen among 50% of the study subjects. Forty percent of the subjects had adverse habit. Significant association of wasting diseases was found with age (P = 0.004), education (P = 0.022) and adverse habit (P = 0.014). Adverse habit was also significantly associated with oral lesions (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Most of the factory workers had dental caries and poor oral hygiene. Fifty percent had tooth wear. So, there is a need of oral health education and motivation for these workers along with oral health care facilities in the premises.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Bifid mandibular canals are often unrecognized. The detection of these anatomical variations is important because of its clinical implications. Special attention has to be paid in surgical procedures involving the lower jaw. Purpose of the present article is to provide an extensive review of literature of this anatomical variation and also we present one such case report.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Background: Hamstring injuries are common among athletes and recreationally active people. The goal of the study was to determine if the Hamstrong device was effective in reducing the activity of the hamstring muscles during isometric knee exercise. Materials and Methods: Electrodes were placed on the biceps femoris and semitendinosus in a bipolar configuration on the left leg of all the subjects (N = 12) in order to monitor muscle activity during the experimental procedure. The test involved isometrically holding 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60% of the participant's pre-determined maximum isometric force at 90° and 135° knee extension with and without the Hamstring apparatus. The raw electromyography (EMG) signal was low-pass filtered and amplified prior to being interpreted. Results: There was a significant difference in the signal from the biceps femoris determined via surface electromyography (sEMG) at 90 degrees of knee extension using 30% of peak isometric force as the load (P = 0.043). Additionally in the biceps femoris there were differences in the sEMG signal at 135 degrees of knee extension using 15% (P = 0.0492) and 30% (P = 0.0358) of peak isometric force. In the semitendinosus muscle, there was a significant difference in sEMG signal at 15° of knee extension with 60% of peak isometric force (P = 0.0025). Overall, clinical inferences revealed that the device could be considered 71.4% beneficial or substantially positive to 10.9% for reducing the EMG signal associated with isometric exercise in the biceps femoris (biceps femoris mean: With device 0.319 mV ± 0.13 and without device 0.361 mV ± 0.14). Similarly, six out of eight conditions resulted in lower muscle activation from the semitendinosus with the apparatus. For the semitendinosus muscle, the range was from 43.9% beneficial to 0.1% beneficial (semitendinosus mean: With device 0.327 mV ± 0.09 and without device 0.339 mV ± 0.09). Conclusion: The reduction in electrical activity of the biceps femoris and the semitendinosus during the isometric hold with the Hamstring apparatus suggests that the elastic hamstring assistance device effectively assists in knee flexion and could potentially be used for rehabilitation purposes.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]

Clinical laboratory tests form one of the major components of evidence-based medicine. Results obtained for the cases referred carry variations due to biological parameters including the effect of age, pre-analytical errors, analytical errors, as well as interpretation of the results obtained. In the present study, some of these concerns have been addressed with a view to prepare the physician to understand, interpret, as well as choose the required tests for a specific case in question.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]