Search results

Introduction: The Mental foramen is one of two funnel-like openings located on the antero- lateral aspect of the body of the mandible. There are variations in it's anatomical position in different individuals of different populations. Such variations can cause difficulty in diagnosis of peri-apical lesions. It may result in failure of regional anaesthesia during clinical and surgical procedures required to be administered in the mandibular and mental region. Aims And Objectives: This study was performed to determine the position and bilateral positional symmetry of mental foramen on a digital orthopantomogram (OPG) of the population visiting Government Dental Hospital, Jamnagar. The objective was to document the frequency of location of mental foramen in relation with several teeth in close possible proximity to the mental foramen on digital panoramic radiographs. Materials And Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Jamnagar. Radiographic study of mental foramen of 1270 participants was carried out by analysing their digital orthopantomographs. Mental foramina were analysed with respect to their positions and bilateral symmetry.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pathogen has spread rapidly across the world, causing high numbers of deaths and significant social and economic impacts. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus with a suggested zoonotic origin with the potential for cross-species transmission among animals. Antarctica can be considered the only continent free of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, concerns have been expressed regarding the potential human introduction of this virus to the continent through the activities of research or tourism to minimise the effects on human health, and the potential for virus transmission to Antarctic wildlife. We assess the reverse-zoonotic transmission risk to Antarctic wildlife by considering the available information on host susceptibility, dynamics of the infection in humans, and contact interactions between humans and Antarctic wildlife. The environmental conditions in Antarctica seem to be favourable for the virus stability. Indoor spaces such as those at research stations, research vessels or tourist cruise ships could allow for more transmission among humans and depending on their movements between different locations the virus could be spread across the continent. Among Antarctic wildlife previous in silico analyses suggested that cetaceans are at greater risk of infection whereas seals and birds appear to be at a low infection risk. However, caution needed until further research is carried out and consequently, the precautionary principle should be applied. Field researchers handling animals are identified as the human group posing the highest risk of transmission to animals while tourists and other personnel pose a significant risk only when in close proximity (< 5 m) to Antarctic fauna. We highlight measures to reduce the risk as well as identify of knowledge gaps related to this issue. ; This work is an outcome of the Working Group of Wildlife Health Monitoring of the SCAR Expert Group of Birds and Marine Mammals. AB is supported by the Spanish Research Agency project (CTM2015-64720). AG is supported by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA PREEMPT Cooperative Agreement No. D18AC00031). The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the US government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. AV is supported by National Science Foundation (USA) Polar program (award # 1947040). CRM is supported by Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System. IMOS is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). It is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as Lead Agent. JID is supported by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) and Universidad Nacional de La Plata UNLP (N#859). VM is supported by National Science Foundation (USA) Polar program (PLR 1543459). TB is supported by CNRS, French Polar Institute Project ECOPATH (IPEV 1151), ZATA and OSU OREME. DGA is supported by INACH T-23-19 project. ; Peer reviewed

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV; family Nanoviridae, genus Babuvirus) is a multi-component single-stranded DNA virus, which infects banana plants in many regions of the world, often resulting in large-scale crop losses. We analyzed 171 banana leaf samples from fourteen countries and recovered, cloned, and sequenced 855 complete BBTV components including ninety-four full genomes. Importantly, full genomes were determined from eight countries, where previously no full genomes were available (Samoa, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the USA [HI]). Accounting for recombination and genome component reassortment, we examined the geographic structuring of global BBTV populations to reveal that BBTV likely originated in Southeast Asia, that the current global hotspots of BBTV diversity are Southeast Asia/Far East and India, and that BBTV populations circulating elsewhere in the world have all potentially originated from infrequent introductions. Most importantly, we find that rather than the current global BBTV distribution being due to increases in human-mediated movements of bananas over the past few decades, it is more consistent with a pattern of infrequent introductions of the virus to different parts of the world over the past 1,000 years. ; Peer Review

Funding Information: E.M.A. gratefully acknowledges funding by the U.K. Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); this research was funded by the BBSRC Institute Strategic Programme Gut Microbes and Health BB/R012490/1 and its constituent projects BBS/E/F/000PR10353 and BBS/E/F/000PR10356. A.J.D. is supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12014/3). B.E.D. is supported by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Vidi grant 864.14.004. B.H. is supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office—NKFIH (NN128309). N.J.K. is partially supported by core funding provided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, UK. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. This work was supported in part through Laulima Government Solutions, LLC prime contract with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Contract No. HHSN272201800013C. J.H.K. performed this work as an employee of Tunnell Government Services (TGS), a subcontractor of Laulima Government Solutions, LLC under Contract No. HHSN272201800013C. A.R.M. is a Program Director at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); the statements and opinions expressed herein are made in a personal capacity and do not constitute endorsement by NSF or the government of the United States. H.M.O was supported by the University of Helsinki and Academy of Finland by funding for FINStruct and Instruct Centre FI, part of Biocenter Finland and Instruct-ERIC. D.L.R. is supported by the U.K. Medical Research Council (MC_UU_1201412). R.J.O. and D.B.S. are supported by the Wellcome Trust (WT108418AIA). S.S. acknowledges partial support from the Special Research Initiative (MAFES), Mississippi State University, and from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture, Hatch Project 1021494. Except for Donald M. Dempsey, R. Curtis Hendrickson, Richard J. Orton and Donald B. Smith, the authors were members of the ICTV Executive Committee during the relevant period. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the US Department of Health and Human Services, or of the institutions and companies affiliated with the authors. Publisher Copyright: © 2021, This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply. ; This article reports the changes to virus taxonomy approved and ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) in March 2021. The entire ICTV was invited to vote on 290 taxonomic proposals approved by the ICTV Executive Committee at its meeting in October 2020, as well as on the proposed revision of the International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature (ICVCN). All proposals and the revision were ratified by an absolute majority of the ICTV members. Of note, ICTV mandated a uniform rule for virus species naming, which will follow the binomial 'genus-species' format with or without Latinized species epithets. The Study Groups are requested to convert all previously established species names to the new format. ICTV has also abolished the notion of a type species, i.e., a species chosen to serve as a name-bearing type of a virus genus. The remit of ICTV has been clarified through an official definition of 'virus' and several other types of mobile genetic elements. The ICVCN and ICTV Statutes have been amended to reflect these changes. ; publishersversion ; inpress

In March 2020, following the annual International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) ratification vote on newly proposed taxa, the phylum Negarnaviricota was amended and emended. At the genus rank, 20 new genera were added, two were deleted, one was moved, and three were renamed. At the species rank, 160 species were added, four were deleted, ten were moved and renamed, and 30 species were renamed. This article presents the updated taxonomy of Negarnaviricota as now accepted by the ICTV. © 2020, This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply. ; Peer reviewed

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted routine hospital services globally. This study estimated the total number of adult elective operations that would be cancelled worldwide during the 12 weeks of peak disruption due to COVID-19. Methods: A global expert response study was conducted to elicit projections for the proportion of elective surgery that would be cancelled or postponed during the 12 weeks of peak disruption. A Bayesian β-regression model was used to estimate 12-week cancellation rates for 190 countries. Elective surgical case-mix data, stratified by specialty and indication (surgery for cancer versus benign disease), were determined. This case mix was applied to country-level surgical volumes. The 12-week cancellation rates were then applied to these figures to calculate the total number of cancelled operations. Results: The best estimate was that 28 404 603 operations would be cancelled or postponed during the peak 12 weeks of disruption due to COVID-19 (2 367 050 operations per week). Most would be operations for benign disease (90·2 per cent, 25 638 922 of 28 404 603). The overall 12-week cancellation rate would be 72·3 per cent. Globally, 81·7 per cent of operations for benign conditions (25 638 922 of 31 378 062), 37·7 per cent of cancer operations (2 324 070 of 6 162 311) and 25·4 per cent of elective caesarean sections (441 611 of 1 735 483) would be cancelled or postponed. If countries increased their normal surgical volume by 20 per cent after the pandemic, it would take a median of 45 weeks to clear the backlog of operations resulting from COVID-19 disruption. Conclusion: A very large number of operations will be cancelled or postponed owing to disruption caused by COVID-19. Governments should mitigate against this major burden on patients by developing recovery plans and implementing strategies to restore surgical activity safely.