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Fungi have been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. This study, based on 35 historical written sources and 581 in-depth semi-structured interviews from eight countries in the western borderlands of the former Soviet Union, investigates the medicinal use of fungi by local communities. We compared the taxa and uses obtained from fieldwork and historical sources with works that advocated fungi use within Soviet herbals, representing the centralised medical system. During fieldwork, we identified eight locally used fungi and one lichen. The highest numbers of medicinal uses were documented in Russia, Estonia and Ukraine. Studies published before the Soviet era listed 21 fungal taxa and one lichen species used in the study region. However, only six of these taxa were mentioned as used by people in our field studies (Amanitamuscaria, Boletusedulis, Lycoperdon, Morchella, Phallusimpudicusand Cetrariaislandica). Notably, these same six taxa were consistently endorsed in Soviet herbals. Of the remaining three taxa recorded in the fieldwork, none were mentioned in historical written sources. However, they were promoted either in Soviet herbals (Inonotusobliquus, Kombucha) or later popular publications (Cantharelluscibarius). This highlights the significant influence of written sources on the use of fungi for medicinal purposes within the studied local communities.

The chemical, physical, and morphologic characteristics of the implant surface play a fundamental role during the osteointegration process. Implant design is of paramount importance in determining implant primary stability and implant ability to sustain loading during and after osteointegration. LASER treatment of the surface allows defining the precise parameters of roughness to obtain a regular and repeatable surface in total absence of contamination.

The importance of evaluating drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic (DMPK) properties very early in the drug discovery process in order to reduce attrition during development is now well recognised. In this paper we illustrate an approach for PK screening that provides a range of parameters that would not be available from conventional PK profiling. In combination with an assessment of physicochemical and in vitroproperties, the in vivoPK protocol described provides better mechanistic understanding of the PK behaviour of a compound or class of compounds. The higher level of interpretation and use of in vitroand in vivodata better describe the disposition properties and give an estimation of the biophase concentration of the drug, providing a clear guidance for the design of higher quality molecules. Moreover, the collection of a broader set of in vivoand in vitroPK data improves the predictability of the DMPK science and it can allow an integrated safety risk assessment.

Investigations on the relationship between facial morphology and the mechanical advantage of the masticatory muscles (the ratio between the muscular and the bite force moment arms) have been focused on the vertical facial parameters, while the sagittal position of the jaws have received limited attention. In this study, the relationships between the mechanical advantage of the masseter muscle and the two parameters describing vertical and sagittal (corrected subspinal-nasion-supramentale (ANB*) angle) facial morphology were analysed in 468 pre-treatment lateral cephalograms of orthodontic patients (209 males, 259 females) aged 6–50 years. The condylar point was digitised in 90 cephalograms, its relationship to articulare was estimated, and used to estimate the position of anterior condylion in all the other radiographs. Masseter muscle mechanical advantage was, on average, 79.5 ± 6.1%, ranging between 53 and 94%. No sex-related characteristics were found. A moderate effect of age was found (r = 0.19), with a certain increment in the mean mechanical advantage in adults. No relationship with the corrected ANB* angle was found (r = 0.099), while a significant effect of the posterior-to-anterior facial height ratio was detected (r = 0.542). The lack of correlation between the mechanical advantage of masseter muscle and corrected ANB* angle might be explained by: (1) when the occlusal point moves (dependent upon Angle skeletal classification), the ramus width might concomitantly modify, and both arms change; (2) the present assessment analysed only the lateral two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional structure: the retroposition of occlusal point also involves a modification of line slope, and a subsequent reduction of its projection and arm. The corrected ANB* angle was computed as: ANB* = original ANB angle + 0.5 a (81.5° -SNA angle) + 0.25 × (32° - SN-GoMe angle).