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BACKGROUND: Forensic odontology is a subfield of forensics that can assist in determining age, gender, and other demographic factors. OBJECTIVE: The focus of this research is to ascertain age by tooth volume ratio of permanent maxillary canines using a CBCT scan. METHODS: In this retrospective investigation, 1000 CBCT images were gathered and focused on only fully developed maxillary canines. For each of the maxillary canines, the researchers measured and calculated the volume of the pulp chamber, root canal, and entire tooth using the ITK Snap programme. The pulp volume to tooth volume ratio was computed. The equation AGE = 59.208 - (583.652 x pulp volume/tooth volume) was then used to compute age. The samples were divided into 5 age groups; 13–20, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50, and 51–60. The age was calculated for samples in each group and it was compared to the actual age. RESULTS: Between individuals' actual age and computed age, the study discovered a statistically significant positive association. While groups 3, 4, and 5 demonstrated positive but weaker correlations (r = 0.854, r = 0.658, and r = 0.612, respectively), groups 1 and 2 displayed statistically significant strong positive correlations (r = 0.987 and r = 0.923, respectively). The average total discrepancy between the age that was computed and the actual age was 2.45 1.344. CONCLUSION: The study found a statistically significant positive correlation between computed age and actual age, with the younger age groups 1 (13–20) and 2 (21–30) showing the strongest relationships. This underlines its potential success in court, particularly when dealing with young criminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the planned introduction of visual literacy into the New Secondary School Curriculum can play a crucial role in enabling students to think critically and creatively in Hong Kong's highly visual landscape. As Hong Kong's educational system remains entrenched in long-established and conventional pedagogies, the primacy given to the written word is in sharp contrast with the pragmatic roles that visual images play in students' day-to-day life. Hong Kong is well-known for its extremely high level of Internet/broadband penetration and media saturation, yet visual literacy is still in a state of infancy in Hong Kong. Therefore, from a curricular standpoint, as Hong Kong society relies to a greater degree than ever before on visual communication strategies, it is vital that visual literacy be integrated as part of the new curriculum under the current educational reforms. As contemporary Hong Kong culture becomes increasingly dependent on the visual environment, developing visual literacy to enhance students' learning can be an important step in the future towards a more successful implementation and development of the New Secondary School Curriculum.

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are known to harbour subsets of cells known as tumour-initiating cells (TICs), which are responsible for the maintenance, invasiveness and recurrence of GBMs. Conventional chemotherapeutics act on rapidly dividing cells, sparing the TICs and result in tumour relapse. Resveratrol (RES) has shown chemopreventive effects in all the major stages of cancer including initiation, promotion and progression, but poor physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties limit its use as a free drug. Hence we developed a liposomal formulation of RES (RES-L) to eradicate both the bulk tumour cells and TICs in GBMs. Since both these subpopulations of cells are known to over-express transferrin receptors, we developed transferrin-targeted RES-L (Tf-RES-L) to enhance tumour-specific delivery. We studied the effects of RES on neurospheres (NS) used as an in vitro model to study TICs derived from GBM cell lines. Free RES and RES formulations inhibited the anchorage-independent growth of GBM neurospheres. The NS-derived cells expressed TfRs and the Tf-targeted liposomes showed a significantly higher association with NS versus the non-targeted liposomes. Finally an increased activation of caspases 3/7 was seen when NS were treated with RES formulations. Together, these studies advocate for further investigations with RES-L and the use Tf to target the TIC populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the planned introduction of visual literacy into the New Secondary School Curriculum can play a crucial role in enabling students to think critically and creatively in Hong Kong's highly visual landscape. As Hong Kong's educational system remains entrenched in long-established and conventional pedagogies, the primacy given to the written word is in sharp contrast with the pragmatic roles that visual images play in students' day-to-day life. Hong Kong is well-known for its extremely high level of Internet / broadband penetration and media saturation, yet visual literacy is still in a state of infancy in Hong Kong. Therefore, from a curricular standpoint, as Hong Kong society relies to a greater degree than ever before on visual communication strategies, it is vital that visual literacy be integrated as part of the new curriculum under the current educational reforms. As contemporary Hong Kong culture becomes increasingly dependent on the visual environment, developing visual literacy to enhance students' learning can be an important step in the future towards a more successful implementation and development of the New Secondary School Curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent trends in drug delivery indicate a steady increase in the use of targeted therapeutics to enhance the specific delivery of biologically active payloads to diseased tissues while avoiding their off-target effects. However, in most cases, the distribution of therapeutics inside cells and their targeting to intracellular targets still presents a formidable challenge. The main barrier to intracellular delivery is the translocation of therapeutic molecules across the cell membrane, and ultimately through the membrane of their intracellular target organelles. Another prerequisite for an efficient intracellular localization of active molecules is their escape from the endocytic pathway., Areas Covered: Pharmaceutical nanocarriers have demonstrated substantial advantages for the delivery of therapeutics and offer elegant platforms for intracellular delivery. They can be engineered with both intracellular and organelle-specific targeting moieties to deliver encapsulated or conjugated cargoes to specific sub-cellular targets. In this review, we discuss important aspects of intracellular drug targeting and delivery with a focus on nanocarriers modified with various ligands to specifically target intracellular organelles., Expert Opinion: Intracellular delivery affords selective localization of molecules to their target site, thus maximizing their efficacy and safety. The advent of novel nanocarriers and targeting ligands as well as exploration of alternate routes for the intracellular delivery and targeting has prompted extensive research, and promises an exciting future for this field.