Annex Publishers

This study aimed to investigate the existence of the golden proportion between the widths of the maxillary anterior teeth in individuals with an aesthetic smile. This study was conducted on 120 subjects (60 women and 60 men), with ages ranging from 18 to 25 years. Those subjects whose natural smile did not show any visual tension with regards to the study and their own criteria were selected as having aesthetic smile. An image measurement program was used to measure the apparent mesio-distal widths of six maxillary anterior teeth on the scanned photographs of these subjects. Individual measurements of each maxillary anterior tooth were taken and the golden proportion was compared. The existence of the golden proportion was investigated in the width ratios of maxillary anterior teeth.

Recent literature has suggested that junior doctors’ knowledge of ionising radiation is inadequate. Advances in technology and availability have led to of these investigations being readily requested. Exposure is associated with adverse risks especially malignancy; therefore in accordance with the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulation (IR(ME)R), clinicians should be aware of radiation doses and their legal responsibility as referrers.

The occurrence of cystic echinococcosis (CE) at a national level or in large regional areas is an issue difficult to determine in a cost-effective way, integrating both human and animal data, and thus leading to effective control measures. In Portugal, the abattoirs in north Douro region receive a large percentage of heads of cattle from the whole country which makes them ideal places for the implementation of a surveillance system for this zoonosis. Data was obtained for cattle slaughtered in 9 abattoirs in north region of Douro River, with visible CE-like cysts at meat inspection. An excel database was constructed with the records of condemned viscera due to hydatid cysts in cattle for 2008, 2009, 2010, and the first half of 2011. Most of the cysts were found in the lungs and livers (23.5%), only in livers (21.5%) or only in lungs (18.1%). Individual information concerning each animal contributed to the depiction of a distribution map by regions of the occurrence of positive cases in Portugal. From the 149 cases registered, it was possible to identify the place of infection in 93 cases (62.4%), in which the rate of distribution was 21 (22.6%) in the north, 14 (15.1%) in the center, 57 (61.3%) in Alentejo and 1 case (1.1%) in Algarve. This distribution of cases coincides with the location of human and animal cases reported before, with special focus on the Alentejo and in the northeast of the country.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the encapsulation performance of Croscarmellose sodium, a superdisintegrant in a low-dose, poor-solubility drug formulation and the in-vitro dissolution performance of the Piroxicam capsules. Preparation, characterization and evaluation of the effects of the different concentrations of carmellose sodium and the amount of dried starch on in-vitro dissolution of Piroxicam capsules. Piroxicam was chosen for its very low solubility in biological fluids, which result in poor systemic bioavailability after oral administration. Piroxicam can be categorized as Class II drugs according to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System.