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The aim of the study was to analyze zygomatic air cell defect (ZACD) incidence using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and validity of panoramic radiograph as a comparative method of ZACD diagnostics. The connection between ZACD incidence, age, left/right temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and comorbidity with diagnosis of TMJ disorder was analyzed. Panoramic radiographs and MRIs of 140 TMJs of 70 consecutive patients with previously confirmed TMJ diagnosis were compared in the study. A grading system (4-point scale from ‘0’ for absence to ‘3’ for most extended pneumatization) was used to determine low signal on MRIs as pneumatization of temporal bone. ZACD was diagnosed in 22 joints of 15 patients (incidence, 20.4%), with seven patients having bilateral appearance. In the joints of nine patients, ZACD was identified as extensive according to the grading scale. The validity of ZACD findings on panoramic radiographs compared with MRI findings yielded 0.45 sensitivity and 0.98 specificity. There was no relation (p>0.05) between comorbidity of ZACD and TMJ disorder, either by age or side of the body. More prevalent ZACD in our MRI analysis than in other researches based on panoramic radiographs could be explained by the expected superimposed osseous structures in the area of articular eminence.

The purpose was to evaluate dental caries experience in different male subpopulations of Croatian Army recruits and dental students, and subsequently, smoking habits related to the level of education and place of residence. Croatian army recruits (n=248; mean age 20.2) and male dental students (n=56; mean age 21.5) were evaluated according to DMFT and FST indices, divided according to age and place of residence, and interviewed about their dietary habits and smoking of tobacco. In the subpopulation of recruits, the median value of DMFT was 6 and of FST index 25. A statistically significant difference was recorded between DT and FST index (p

Forensic odontology is the application of dentistry within the criminal justice system. Forensic expertise, including dental identification, mostly relies on dental records. We explored the practice of maintaining dental records among Croatian dentists, as well as their knowledge of legal regulations and the application of dental records in forensic odontology. In all, 145 dentists participated in an online survey. Questions covered general information on dentists, maintenance of dental records, and knowledge of legal requirements and forensic odontology. Overall, 70% of dentists obtain and archive written informed consents, while 87% record dental status. Generally, non-carious dental lesions and developmental dental anomalies were not recorded. About 72% of dentists record filling material and surfaces. Only 32% of dentists know the legal requirements for keeping records, whereas 21% have no knowledge of forensic odontology and its purpose. The survey revealed different practices in the maintenance of dental records, including significant flaws and lack of awareness of its forensic importance. This obvious need for additional education on proper maintenance of dental records could be met by including forensic odontology in compulsory undergraduate courses and postgraduate dental education. Establishing national and international standards in dental charting would comply with contemporary trends in health care and the requirements of forensic expertise.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of splint treatment for therapy of osteoarthritis of temporomandibular joint, and to compare the level of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory,STAI) and clinical characteristics between 16 patients and 20 asymptomatic dental school students. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used for all subjects. Dental students showed a statistically signiicant higher capacity of mouth opening (p

New, simple, cost effective, accurate and reproducible UV-spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for the estimation of sodium usnate in pharmaceutical preparations. Sodium usnate was estimated at 290 nm in water and phosphate buffer (pH 3):methanol (11:20 V/V). Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range of 0.1–5 μg·cm−3 (r = 0.997) in water and 1–12 μg·cm−3 (r = 0.999) in the phosphate buffer:methanol. The apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell’s sensitivity coefficient were found to be 3.16×104 dm3·mol−1·cm−1 and 11.58 ng·cm–2/0.001 A in water and 3.72×104 dm3·mol−1·cm−1 and 9.83 ng·cm–2/0.001 A in phosphate buffer:methanol, respectively, indicating the high sensitivity of the proposed methods. These methods were tested and validated for various parameters according to ICH guidelines. The detection and quantitation limits were found to be 0.0721 and 0.2163 μg·cm–3 in water and 0.163, 0.489 μg·cm−3 in phosphate buffer:methanol, respectively. The proposed methods were successfully applied for the determination of sodium usnate in pharmaceutical preparations. The results demonstrated that the procedure is accurate, precise and reproducible (R.S.D. < 2 %).

A selective, precise and stability-indicating, modified high performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of sodium picosulfate both as a bulk drug and in formulations was developed and validated. As the method could effectively separate the drug from its degradation product, it can be employed as a stability-indicating one. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a ZORBAX Eclipse XDB C-18 analytical column. The mobile phase consisted of phosphate buffer (pH 7):acetonitrile (85:15 v/v). The absorbance was monitored with a DAD detector at 263 nm. The flow rate was 1.5 mL min-1. Statistical analysis proved the method is repeatable, selective, and accurate for estimation of sodium picosulfate in the presence its degradation product. Forced degradation studies were performed on bulk sample of sodium picosulfate using heat (25, 40, 60 and 80 °C) and oxidation (0.1, 0.5 and 1% v/v hydrogen peroxide). The proposed method was successfully applied, with excellent recovery, to the analysis of a pharmaceutical formulation (Sodium picosulfate, Zdravlje-Actavis, Serbia)

A new procedure for the analytical control of a pharmaceutical formulation by high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) is proposed. It allows the simultaneous determination of the major compounds in the formulation of the active compound (sodium picosulfate) and the degradation product (impurity), which slowly degrades by hydrolysis with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide, at different temperatures. Separation of sodium picosulfate from the degradation product was performed using the ZORBAX Eclipse XDB C-18 column, with a mobile phase consisting of phosphate buffer (pH = 7) : acetonitrile 85:15 v/v. The method was validated using the HPLC procedure, evaluating selectivity, accuracy, linearity and precision. The proposed method was successfully applied, with excellent recovery, to the analysis of a pharmaceutical formulation (Sodium picosulfate, Zdravlje-Actavis, Serbia) containing sodium picosulfate.

Simple, accurate and reproducible UV-spectrophotometric method was developed and validated for the estimation of phenylephrine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical nasal drops formulations. Phenylephrine hydrochloride was estimated at 291 nm in 1 mol⋅dm-3 sodium hydroxide (pH 13.5). Beer’s law was obeyed in the concentration range of 10–100 μg⋅cm−3 (r2 = 0.9990) in the sodium hydroxide medium. The apparent molar absorptivity was found to be 1.63×103 dm3⋅mol−1⋅cm−1. The method was tested and validated for various parameters according to the ICH (International Conference on Harmonization) guidelines. The detection and quantitation limits were found to be 0.892 and 2.969 μg⋅cm−3, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of phenylephrine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical nasal drops formulations. The results demonstrated that the procedure is accurate, precise and reproducible (relative standard deviation < 1 %), while being simple, cheap and less time consuming, and hence can be suitably applied for the estimation of phenylephrine hydrochloride in different dosage forms.

This paper presents the experimental results for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of two active components in nasal solutions. The resolution of two-component mixtures of timazolin and phenylephrine has been accomplished by using partial least-squares. The method comprised of the absorptivity measurement in a nasal solution at wavelengths of 265 and 272 nm, respectively. Notwithstanding the presence of two components and their high degree of spectral overlap, they have been determined simultaneously with high accuracy and precision, with no interference, rapidly and without resorting to extraction procedures using non aqueous solvents. This method was tested and validated for various parameters according to ICH guidelines. The results demonstrated that the procedure is accurate, precise and reproducible (relative standard deviation

Carbon atoms can form structures in one, two and three dimensions due to their unique chemical versatility. In terms of thermal conductivity, carbon polymorphs cover a wide range from very low values with amorphous carbon to very high values with diamond, carbon nanotubes and graphene. Schwarzites are a class of three-dimensional fully covalent sp ^2 -bonded carbon polymorphs, with the same local chemical environment as graphene and carbon nanotubes, but negative Gaussian curvature. We calculate the thermal conductivity of a (10,0) carbon nanotube, graphene and two schwarzites with different curvature, by molecular dynamics simulations based on the Tersoff empirical potential. We find that schwarzites present a thermal conductivity two orders of magnitude smaller than nanotubes and graphene. The reason for such large difference is explained by anharmonic lattice dynamics calculations, which show that phonon group velocities and mean free paths are much smaller in schwarzites than in nanotubes and graphene. Their reduced thermal conductivity, in addition to tunable electronic properties, indicate that schwarzites could pave the way towards all-carbon thermoelectric technology with high conversion efficiency.

Impaired phosphodiesterase (PDE) function and mitochondrial Ca 2 + (i.e., [Ca 2+ ]m) lead to multiple health syndromes by an unknown pathway. Here, we fluorescently monitor robust [Ca 2+ ]m efflux mediated by the mitochondrial Na + /Ca 2+ exchanger NCLX in hippocampal neurons sequentially evoked by caffeine and depolarization. Surprisingly, neuronal depolarization-induced Ca 2+ transients alone fail to evoke strong [Ca 2+ ]m efflux in wild-type (WT) neurons. However, pre-treatment with the selective PDE2 inhibitor Bay 60-7550 effectively rescues [Ca 2+ ]m efflux similarly to caffeine. Moreover, PDE2 acts by diminishing mitochondrial cAMP, thus promoting NCLX phosphorylation at its PKA site. We find that the protection of neurons against excitotoxic insults, conferred by PDE2 inhibition in WT neurons, is NCLX dependent. Finally, the administration of Bay 60-7550 enhances new object recognition in WT, but not in NCLX knockout (KO), mice. Our results identify a link between PDE and [Ca 2+ ]m signaling that may provide effective therapy for cognitive and ischemic syndromes., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Miliary tuberculosis (TB) usually presents with atypical clinical manifestations; thus it is often recognized only at autopsy., Objectives: Our objectives were to study the frequency of MT diagnosed at autopsy and determine clinical diagnoses that masked TB, as well as causes of death and comorbidities., Design: Retrospective study of all autopsies performed between 2008 and 2014., Setting: Institute of Pathology, Belgrade, Serbia., Subjects and Methods: in subjects where autopsy showed the presence of MT that was not recognized clinically, we recorded the clinical diagnoses (presumed causes of death) as reported in autopsy request forms, as well as actual cause of death and comorbidities as determined at autopsy., Main Outcome Measures: Clinically unrecognized MT., Results: The total number of autopsies in this period was 6206. thirty-five individuals showed clinically unrecognized MT (0.56% of all autopsies, age: 62.2 [17.2] years, M:F=2:3). Common clinical diagnoses masking pulmonary MT were exacerbation of COPD (25%) and pulmonary thromboembolism (25%), with common radiological presentation of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates (56.3%). Dominant clinical diagnoses in patients with generalized MT were adult respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, gastrointestinal bleeding and meningoencephalitis. Disseminated MT was often associated with secondary anemia or thrombocytopenia (15.8%) and recent surgery (15.8%). Frequent comorbidities included chronic renal failure and malignancies, whereas MT was a dominant cause of death., Conclusion: Greater awareness of MT is needed to improve recognition in clinical settings. In particular, MT should be considered in patients with atypical clinical presentation and diffuse pulmonary infiltrates on chest X-ray, particularly if they have chronic renal failure, malignancy, hematological disorders or a history of recent surgery., Limitations: None.