Oral Health in 12- and 15-Year-Old Children in Serbia: A National Pathfinder Study.

The aim of the paper is to present the oral health profile of 12- and 15-year-old schoolchildren in Serbia. Basic Methods for Oral Health Surveys of the WHO were implemented to record: Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth/Surfaces Index (DMFT/DMFS), gingival bleeding, enamel fluorosis and other structural anomalies, dental erosion, dental trauma, and oral mucosal lesions. In addition, Silness and Löe plaque index and orthodontic status were assessed. A total of 36% of 12-year-olds and 22% of 15-year-olds in Serbia were caries-free. The mean DMFT was 2.32 ± 2.69 for 12-year-olds and 4.09 ± 3.81 for 15-year-olds. DMFT was made up largely by the decayed component. Gingival bleeding was present in 26% of examined 12-year-old and 18% of 15-year-old children. Dental plaque was observed in 63% of both 12- and 15-year-olds. Fluorosis, structural anomalies, dental erosion, dental trauma, and oral mucosal lesion were rarely detected. Low prevalence of malocclusions was found. Oral disease is still a common public health problem among schoolchildren in Serbia. A significant increase in the prevalence of caries disease between 12- and 15-year-old groups implies that preventive care for adolescents requires special attention. Corrective actions and reforms to the current school-based oral health prevention program are needed to further improve oral health in Serbian children

Nasal morphological characteristics of the serbian population

The aim of this study was to determine the nasal parameters in the population of central Serbia and to compare them with those determined in earlier studies in different populations. The research was conducted on 496 randomly selected persons (262 males and 234 females), aged 18-65 years. The measured parameters were nasal height and nasal breadth and the standard spreading caliper with scale was used for measurements. There were significant differences in the nasal parameters between male and female subjects. The nasal breadth was 34.72 mm in females, and in the male population it was 36.7 mm. The mean values of nasal height were 52.6 mm and 54.32 mm in females and males, respectively. The nasal index in females and males was 66.01 and 67.56, respectively, and the mean value of the nasal index of all respondents was 66.78. After conducting the research it was concluded that the dominant nasal type in the population of the central part of Serbia is leptorrhine. The present study showed the existence of sexual dimorphism in nasal morphology. The data obtained in our study may be useful in anthropological and forensic research, as well as in cosmetic planning and reconstructive surgery

MDCT: Angiography of anatomical variations of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery

The aim of this study was to detect and describe the existence and incidence of anatomical variations of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery. The study was conducted on 150 persons, who underwent abdominal Multi- Detector Computer Tomography (MDCT) angiography, from April 2010 until November 2012. CT images were obtained with a 64-row MDCT scanner in order to analyze the vascular anatomy and anatomical variations of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery. In our study, we found that 78% of patients have a classic anatomy of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery. The most frequent variation was the origin of the common hepatic artery from the superior mesenteric artery (10%). The next variation, according to frequency, was the origin of the left gastric artery direct from the abdominal aorta (4%). The arc of Buhler as an anastomosis between the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery, was detected in 3% of cases, as was the presence of a common trunk of the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery (in 3% of cases). Separate origin of the splenic artery and the common hepatic artery was present in 2% of patients. The MDCT scanner gives us an insight into normal anatomy and variations of the abdominal blood vessels, which is very important in the planning of surgical interventions, especially transplantation, as well as in the prevention of complications due to ischemia

Anthropometric study of the facial index in the population of Central Serbia

The aim of this study was to determine the craniofacial parameters in the population of the central part of Serbia. The research was conducted on 700 persons (360 males and 340 females), aged 18-65 years, selected randomly. The measured parameters were morphological facial height and breadth. The standard spreading caliper with scale was used for the measurement of facial parameters. There were significant differences in the facial parameters of male compared to female subjects in all observed parameters. The mean value of the morphological facial height in the study population was 116.8 mm ± 7.28, maximum facial breadth 124.12 mm ± 8.44, while the mean value of the total facial index was 93.68 ± 6.86. The total facial index was calculated according to the formula and the obtained results were analyzed statistically using the t-test. The dominant phenotype in the studied population was leptoprosopic. The data obtained in our study may be useful in anthropological research, forensics, genetic research, as well as in medical clinical practice

Analysis of three-dimensional interface corner cracks

© 2019, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Belgrade. The growth of an interfacial crack, from the straight corner along the joint plane between the two long plates made of different materials is considered in this paper. Three different shapes of the crack front are analyzed: the concave, triangular and the quarter circular shape. Results are presented for variations of the normalized stress intensity factors of all the three crack loading Modes, As well as the normalized phase angles and the normalized energy release rate, all in terms of an angle, which measures the distance from the symmetry plane

Optimization and Prediction of Ibuprofen Release from 3D DLP Printlets Using Artificial Neural Networks

The aim of this work was to investigate effects of the formulation factors on tablet printability as well as to optimize and predict extended drug release from cross-linked polymeric ibuprofen printlets using an artificial neural network (ANN). Printlets were printed using digital light processing (DLP) technology from formulations containing polyethylene glycol diacrylate, polyethylene glycol, and water in concentrations according to D-optimal mixture design and 0.1% w/w riboflavin and 5% w/w ibuprofen. It was observed that with higher water content longer exposure time was required for successful printing. For understanding the effects of excipients and printing parameters on drug dissolution rate in DLP printlets two different neural networks were developed with using two commercially available softwares. After comparison of experimental and predicted values of in vitro dissolution at the corresponding time points for optimized formulation, the R2 experimental vs. predicted value was 0.9811 (neural network 1) and 0.9960 (neural network 2). According to difference f1 and similarity factor f2 (f1 = 14.30 and f2 = 52.15) neural network 1 with supervised multilayer perceptron, backpropagation algorithm, and linear activation function gave a similar dissolution profile to obtained experimental results, indicating that adequate ANN is able to set out an input–output relationship in DLP printing of pharmaceutics

Antimicrobial Treatment of <i>Serratia marcescens</i> Invasive Infections: Systematic Review

Background: Serratia marcescens (SM) is a Gram-negative pathogen discovered by Italian pharmacist, Bizio, in 1819. According to the literature, S. marcescens is resistant to a wide range of antibiotics, including penicillin, cephalosporin, tetracycline, macrolide, nitrofurantoin, and colistin. We conducted a systematic review of published reports, determined what invasive infections could cause SM, and established the most appropriate antibiotic therapy. Methods: We registered this systematic review on the PROSPERO registry of systematic reviews–meta-analyses before we started our research (registration number CRD42022323159). The online searches of published studies were implemented via MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EBSCO, Scopus, Google Scholar, SCIndex, and the registry of clinical studies of human participants (ClinicalTrials.gov). Results: Our study included 32 published articles (9 case series and 23 case reports). There were 57 individual cases, respectively. The oldest patient was 97 years and the youngest patient was a newborn. S. marcescens was, in most cases, isolated from blood followed by urine and cerebrospinal fluid. In most cases, sensitivity was tested to cotrimoxazole (from 27 isolates, 10 showed resistance) followed by gentamicin (from 26 isolates, 3 showed resistance) as well as amikacin (from 21 isolates, none showed resistance). Patients died from an infection in 21 cases (31%). Conclusions: Treatment of SM infections should include carbapenems or aminoglycosides in combination with third-generation (and eventually fourth-generation) cephalosporin. Cotrimoxazole should be considered in cases of uncomplicated urinary infections