Introduction: Cosmetics have been utilized by most of the people irrespective of their race, gender, or age to beautify, modify, or improve the physical appearance. Many cosmetic products contain heavy metals as ingredients or impurities. Recent research has reported that these metals can cause many types of health and skin problems. Aims: The aim of this study is to detect the levels of heavy metals in some cosmetic products that are available in cosmetic shops around the city of Benghazi. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five of cheap facial cosmetic products that are widely in demand in cosmetic shops in Benghazi were collected in April 2016. The samples included eight kohl, seven eyeliners, and ten lipsticks. Metals including iron, copper, chromium, zinc, lead, and cadmium were analyzed in the selected samples using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer after suitable digestion process. Results: Our results indicated that iron and copper were detected in all samples with concentration ranges varying from 0.5 to 124.5 mg/kg for iron and 1.8–51.4 mg/kg for copper. The concentration ranges of chromium, zinc, cadmium, and lead were varied from 0.0 to 7.25 mg/kg, 0.0 to 22.75, 0.0 to 125.0 mg/kg, and 0.0 to 20.25 mg/kg, respectively. Conclusions: The results showed that the selected metals were detected in most of the samples at varying concentrations. Kohl samples have the highest concentration of the analyzed metals. According to the maximum allowed limits recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for toxic metals in cosmetics, there was only one sample that had lead concentration higher than the maximum limit recommended by the WHO. In addition, there were twenty samples that had concentrations of cadmium above the WHO legislation limits.

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The purpose of this review is to examine the current Libyan medical education system, look at its positive and negative aspects, and to provide suggestions and recommendations that could help improve the quality of the system today. The current Libyan medical education system has aged, and unfortunately, cannot meet both societal needs and the new requirements from the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME). The WFME issued a strong statement to all international medical schools to meet its new accreditation standards by 2023 in order for them to be recognized internationally. Lacking almost 70% of the international standards, Libyan medical schools will require considerable amount of time and resources to solve the issue. The process of changing and updating the system will involve all parts of the learning environment, including students, teachers, curriculums, resources, research, and governing bodies.

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Aims: The aims of the present study were to evaluate the level of Libyan patients' expectations of and satisfaction with fixed prostheses (crowns, veneers, fixed partial denture, and dental implants). A further aim was to explore the level of patient's awareness and application of oral hygiene care pertaining to the fixed prosthesis. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey. Self-reported questionnaires were administered to 320 patients wearing fixed prosthesis. The questions explored patient's subjective perception of and satisfaction with treatment outcome concerning esthetics, phonation, and masticatory function. In addition to questions related to their applied oral hygiene measures. Descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation coefficient tests were undertaken between the examined variables. P value was set at P < 0.05. Results: The majority (80.9%) of the patients were satisfied with their prosthesis; 78.4% were fulfilled with their chewing function; 85.3% were pleased with the esthetics; and 39.4% were satisfied by their speech. The fixed prosthesis met the expectations or partial expectations of 82.8% of the participants. Only 9.3% of the sample did not follow proper oral health care. There were moderate but significant correlation between the level of patients' expectations with and satisfaction from their prostheses (r = 0.387, P < 0.0001). Furthermore, the weak correlation between patient satisfaction and their application of oral hygiene measures was significant (r = 0.130, P = 0.020). Conclusions: Several factors (masticatory function, esthetic, and patient expectations) were correlated with the overall patients' satisfaction with their prosthesis. Dentist should continue to emphasize on the significance of maintaining good oral hygiene practice to improve patient satisfaction with their prostheses.

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Introduction: Solid dosage forms are the most commonly used dosage form for drug delivery, and tablets are more popular than capsules because of its lower production cost, minimal potential of content tampering, and the large number of designs of tablets for various applications. Aims: The aim of this work is to redesign amoxicillin hard gelatin capsules (HGCs), commonly filled into HGCs, into tablet dosage form by employing preformulation principles. Materials and Methods: Amoxicillin capsules were obtained from the local market for this purpose. Experiments included studies on flowability and effect of compression force, followed by addition of excipients, production of tablets by direct compression, and evaluation employing standard methods of friability, hardness, disintegration, dissolution, and simulation of release kinetics. Results: The flowability of powder was estimated using Carr's index, Hausner ratio, angle of repose, and bulk density. The flowability was found poor for amoxicillin alone or with starch but improved with talc. Compression force was found to be a significant factor on friability, hardness, and disintegration. The disintegration time was rapid in case of tablets containing starch compared to amoxicillin powder compressed alone. It was essential to include small amounts of disintegrant and a lubricant to optimize tablet properties. Dissolution rates for the prepared tablets were found to be acceptable, while some formulations showed a slow release profiles corresponding to their slow disintegration. Release kinetics was found to follow both the zero-order and matrix models. Conclusion: Amoxicillin capsules can be modified to a tablet dosage form with simple handling of preformulation properties.

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Background and Objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. Understanding the barriers to successful childhood TB treatment is vital to curbing the scourge of childhood TB. This study examined the outcomes and factors that influence the outcomes of childhood TB treatment in a South-East Nigerian tertiary hospital. Methods: A 10-year review of the medical records of under-15 year olds, who received anti-TB treatment at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, was carried out. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: Majority of the 501 childhood TB cases were new (89.6%) and pulmonary (73.3%) TB cases. TB-HIV coinfection occurred in 42.5% of cases. The rate of successful treatment was 62.9%. About 57.5% completed treatment, 5.4% were cured, 7.0% were transferred out, 21.4% were lost to follow-up, 0.4% had treatment failure while 8.4% died. Majority (61.6%) of deaths or loss to follow-up occurred during the first 2 months of treatment. Factors significantly associated with treatment outcomes were ascertainment of HIV status (P = 0.049), disease site (P = 0.013), nutritional status (P = 0.039), Mantoux test result (P = 0.002), and period of treatment (P = 0.005). Conclusion: Findings indicate high rate of unsuccessful childhood TB treatment outcomes. Efforts should be intensified to ensure improved outcomes through proactive search for childhood TB cases, early diagnosis and treatment, as well as adherence to and completion of treatment. Special attention should be given to high-risk groups including those with unknown HIV status, extrapulmonary TB, and severe malnutrition. It is imperative to determine the HIV status of all childhood TB cases.

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