Introduction: Afghan refugees in Pakistan is the third largest refugee community in the world. However, till date, information about their oral health and disease burden is very limited. The current is aimed to assess self-reported oral health status, practices, dental care access and associated factors among Afghan refugees in district Peshawar, Pakistan. Material & Methods: This pilot, cross sectional study was conducted on 644 adult Afghan refugees residing in district Peshawar from June to September 2020. Socio-demographic characteristics and data on selfreported oral health status, oral hygiene habits and dental care access was collected using self-reported oral health questionnaire. Statistical tests were applied to determine association between self-reported oral health status and participants characteristics using SPSS. Results: Of all the respondents, majority (79.3%) were Pashtun by ethnicity and 41.6% did not obtain any formal education. Nearly all (97.2%) of them reported cleaning their teeth regularly, at least once a day with tooth brush and tooth paste being the commonest cleansing agents. More than half participants (58.1%) rated their oral health good/very good and 68.0% were satisfied with their dental appearance. Tooth ache and sensitivity were the most commonly reported oral problems. 28.7% of the participants never visited dentist in their life. Most of the participants (82.6%) felt need of dental care in the past one year but could not get it due to financial constraints. Significant association were found between self-rated oral health and age, marital status, country of birth, formal education and dentist visit (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Afghan refugees in Pakistan have poor self-reported oral health status. Access to dental care and oral health promotion and educations programs are crucial to improve oral health of this vulnerable population.
To develop a whitening agent, cytotoxicity of the soluble collagen isolated from Todarodes pacificus (CIT) was evaluated. CIT tested for cytotoxicity on human dermal fibroblast (CCD-986sk) was exhibited very low cytotoxicity. Because tyrosinase is the key enzyme for melanin biosynthesis, the use of various tyrosinase inhibitors is a common practice for whitening purpose in cosmetics. Tyrosinase inhibitory activity and melanin production assay were measured to confirm the whitening effect. The inhibitory effect of MMP-1 in UV-irradiated human dermal fibroblast was also performed. CIT showed strong inhibition potency on tyrosinase by 51.5% at 0.2 mg/mL which increased the inhibition by increasing the concentration of CIT, and showed 69.1% inhibition at 1.0 mg/mL. CIT showed strong inhibition effect on melanin production with 82% at 1.0 mg/mL. The CIT also reduced about 76% expression of MMP-1 in UV-irradiated CCD-986sk cell at 1.0 mg/mL. From the preliminary observations, we suggest that the collagen isolated from CIT could be a potential source of natural skin-whitening and anti-aging agents for the photo-damaged skin.
Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees over the last several decades. Due to poor socioeconomic status, food insecurity and inadequate access to health care, these refugees are considered to be at high risk of malnutrition. Previous studies on nutritional assessment of high-risk populations (refugees) have focused mainly on women and children (0-59 months). The current study aims to assess nutritional status of adolescent Afghan refugees; the population who are equally vulnerable to malnutrition and its consequences. In this cross sectional study, the nutritional status of 206 adolescent (10-19 years old) Afghans boys and girls living in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan was assessed using standard methods. The results indicate a prevalence of stunting, thinness, and overweight and obesity at 35.3%, 4.4% and 14.8%, respectively. Furthermore, there was a significantly high prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies (vitamin D, 80.5%; vitamin B12, 41.9%; and folate, 28.2%); and anemia (10.1%). Together, these findings indicate that this vulnerable population group suffers from the double burden of malnutrition and are thus at serious risk of impaired psychosocial cognitive development, general ill-health and diminished wellbeing. This study therefore highlights the urgent need to include adolescents in regular screening and intervention programs of such at-risk populations.
Introduction: Oral health is an integral component of one’s general health and overall wellbeing. Oral diseases are a common occurrence across the globe and require community based preventive improve oral health at population level. Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) survey is an important pre-requisite before launching community based oral health promotion programs.
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess oral health knowledge, attitude and practice of families residing in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Methodology: It was a cross sectional study, conducted on 200 participants residing in a suburban locality of District Peshawar. Data was collected using a modified structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: Oral health related knowledge of the participants about specific dental problem was not satisfactory. Regular dental checkup is uncommon and dental pain is the main reason for visiting dentist (65%). Dental fear and anxiety is also common (61%). About 98% of participants reported to brush their teeth and tooth paste and brush is the most common tool for cleansing teeth (73%).
Conclusion: Oral health knowledge about dental disease and oral care seeking behavior of the population is not satisfactory thereby requiring awareness campaigns to improve oral hygiene and health.
This study was performed to investigate anticancer activities and immuno modulatory activities in the several parts of the A. mono and A. okamotoanum. The cytotoxicity of 1 of the water extracts on normal human lung cell(HEL299) was concentration. The secretion of the IL-6 and of human immune B and T cells was increased with all extracts of A. mono and A. okamotoanum. All extracts of. A. mono and A. okamotoanum increased NK cell growth. The results showed that the barks and woods extracts of A. mono and A. okamotoanum had useful biological activities. In addition, bark of A. okamotoanuim showed the highest anticancer and immune activities.
RNA silencing, named as co-suppression or post transcriptional gene silencing (PTGS) was found in transgenic plants which was the result of cellular mRNA degradation and silencing of gene expression. RNA interference (RNAi) is a specific technique using only a few double stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules to stop the expression which has made it one of the important areas in molecular biology. By introducing a gene into the host genome which is highly homologous to an endogenous gene, the RNA silencing is initiated. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is cut by the enzyme “Dicer” producing small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which combine with RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). RISC, a protein complex, binds one strand of siRNA with mRNA of native target gene for destruction, resulting in gene silencing. The mechanism of RNAi offers a quick and easy way to determine the function of a gene. In this review, we discuss the history, components, mechanism and the application of RNA interference.
A quantitative analysis of the soil relations of the tree species of Indiana was made using the General Land Office original survey records and the Indiana soil survey reports. The bearing trees recorded on the GLO records were located on modern county soil maps to identify the soil upon which each bearing tree was situated. Eleven soil characteristics of probable influence on trees were studied: thickness of the A and B horizons and solum, amount of nitrogen, pH, textural proportions, depth of leaching, available water capacity, and water intake rate. These factors were determined for the sites of 70,240 bearing trees. The random pairs and closest individual methods were applied to determine species and stand attributes. A separate multiple regression was run by computer for three dependent variables (importance value, basal area per acre, and mean basal area) for each of 45 tree species using the 11 soil characteristics as independent variables. The results of the regressions were interpreted by using a Deletion—probability Index, the average of the step at which a variable was deleted in the regression and the probability level at deletion. The indices were plotted on circular graphs which showed the relative influence of each soil factor on each species. For tree species in general, the most influential soil attributes proved to be depth of the soil horizons, percentage of nitrogen, and percentage of clay, in that order.
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