Abstract:Background: In view of the increasing popularity of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), it is imperative that medical students, the health professionals of tomorrow, possess adequate knowledge on the topic. Objectives: This is a descriptive study designed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of medical students about CAM and to capture their perceptions and opinions about its integration into the medical curriculum. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was done on 198 medical students selected randomly from a Pakistani medical college. Associations between different variables were tested using the χ2-test of significance. Results: Among the 198 participants, a majority believed that some of the CAM modalities are useful; they lacked knowledge, however, about their safety and efficacy. Most of the students believed that it should be used in conjunction with conventional medicine and that, if given adequate training, they would incorporate it in their future medical practice. One-third of the respondents voted in favor of incorporation of CAM into the medical curriculum. Conclusion: Despite being aware of the usefulness of CAM only a few medical students had pursued further knowledge. In order to prepare the medical students of today to better fulfill their duties as tomorrow's physicians, consideration should be given to incorporating CAM in the medical curriculum.

Background & Objective: Ameloblastomas have been analyzed histologically for diagnostics and its sub-classification; however, the analysis carried out so far does not provide any authentic evidence regarding prognosis of Ameloblastoma. Subject categorization is still a topic of debate. The purpose of this study was to determine the immuno-expression of markers such as MMP-9 and E-Cadherin in different sub-types of ameloblastoma and establish their correlation with histological variants. Methods: Analytical study of 71 cases of ameloblastoma was conducted in AFIP Rawalpindi, between January to June, 2019. Samples were taken from different intraoral sites including the patients with tumor of ameloblast. The tumor was sub classified histologically on the basis of WHO classification. ‘Chi Square’ Test was applied to find the association of MMP-9 and E-Cadherin with histological variants of ameloblastoma. P-value ≤ 0.05 were found statistically significant. Results: On histopathological sub-classification, 52.1% were diagnosed as follicular type, 23.9% were plexiform type, 14.1% were Acanthomatous type and 9.9% were of unicystic ameloblastoma. 80% of the total Acanthomatous type and 59% of the total plexiform had strong immuno-expression, which was significantly different from follicular type MMP-9 (p ≤ 0.05). All cases of unicystic ameloblastoma and 67.6% of follicular type showed strong immuno-expression significantly different from 20% of Acanthomatous type and 59% of plexiform type E-Cadherin (p ≥ 0.05). On the other hand, when statistical analysis was carried out, an inverse relation between MMP-9 and E-cadherin was observed. Conclusion: The effect of MMP-9 and E-cadherin in ameloblastoma is aggressive in nature and effectiveness was seen in subtypes of ameloblastoma. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4465 How to cite this:Farhan F, Niazi Z, Masood S, Abbas B. Immunohistochemical Expression of MMP-9 and E-Cadherin in subtypes of Ameloblastoma. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(1):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.1.4465 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objectives: To assess difference in oral hygiene status among right- and left-handed individuals using different dental indices. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted among two hundred and ninety-six students aged between 18 to 25 years. Data was collected using convenience sampling technique. Handedness was ascertained by using Edinburgh handed scale. Students were provided questionnaire to be filled about oral hygiene practices and oral examination was performed to assess DMFT, Plaque Index, Gingival Index and Oral Hygiene Index Simplified. Data was analyzed using SPSS software version 21. Results: The study showed that 16.2% of the participants were males and 83.8% were females. Out of these 90.55% were right-handed and 9.5% were left-handed. It was observed that scores of left-handed individuals were higher with mean DMFT score (0.06), OHI-S score (1.71) and PI score (1.11) when compared to right-handed people. However, greater GI score was seen in right-handed (0.44). Conclusion: This study concluded that individuals who are right-handed have better oral hygiene as seen by their better DMFT, OHI-S and PI scores and therefore lower frequency of dental caries. Practical implication: The difference in oral hygiene status among right- and left-handed highlights the need to focus on manual dexterity that effects brushing efficiency and ultimately oral hygiene performance. Keywords: Gingival health, Oral hygiene, Dental caries, Right- and Left-handedness, Manual dexterity

Background: The gene interaction network is a set of genes interconnected by functional interactions among the genes. The gene interaction networks are studied to determine pathways and regulatory mechanisms in model organisms. In this research, the enrichment study of bone cancer-causing genes is undertaken to identify several hub genes associated to the development of bone cancer. Materials and Methods: Data on bone cancer is obtained from mutated gene samples; highly mutated genes are selected for the enrichment analysis. Due to certain interactions with each other the interaction network model for the hub genes is developed and simulations are produced to determine the levels of expression. For the array analyses, a total of 100 tumor specimens are collected. Cell cultures are prepared, RNA is extracted, cDNA arrays probes are generated, and the expressions analysis of Hub genes is determined. Results: Out of cDNA array findings, only 7 genes: CDKN2A, AKT1, NRAS, PIK3CA, RB1, BRAF, and TP53 are differentially expressed and shown as significant in the development of bone tumors, approximately 15 pathways have been identified, including pathways for non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, and glioma, consisting of all the identified 7 genes. After clinical validations of tumor samples, the IDH1 and TP53 gene revealed significant number of mutations similar to other genes. Specimens analysis showed that RB1, P53, and NRAS are amplified in brain tumor, while BRAF, CDKN2A, and AKT1 are amplified in sarcoma. Maximum deletion mutations of the PIK3CA gene are observed in leukemia. CDKN2A gene amplifications have been observed in virtually all tumor specimens. Conclusion: This study points to a recognizable evidence of novel superimposed pathways mechanisms strongly linked to cancer.

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