Introduction: Methadone hydrochloride (MDN) is an effective pharmacological substitution treatment for opioids dependence, adopted in different countries as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programmes. However, MDN can exacerbate the addiction problem if it is abused and injected intravenously, and the frequent visits to the MMT centres can reduce patient compliance. The overall aim of this study is to develop a novel extended-release capsule of MDN using the sol-gel silica (SGS) technique that has the potential to counteract medication-tampering techniques and associated health risks and reduce the frequent visits to MMT centres. Methods: For MDN recrystallisation, a closed container method (CCM) and hot-stage method (HSM) were conducted, and MDN crystals were characterised using the polarised light microscope (PLM). MDN crystal thickness was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy (CM) to establish a relationship between MDN crystals thickness and their birefringence colours using the Michel-Levy Birefringence Colour Chart. The experimental series was continued to produce novel silica-based MDN formulations A and B capsules by adding MDN powder at the end and beginning of the SGS process, respectively. The silica-based MDN formulations were characterised by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), SEM, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), PLM and mean grey value (MGV) analyses. The in vitro release studies (n=3) for the silica-based MDN formulations and pure MDN capsules were conducted in a phosphate buffer solution (pH= 7.2) for 7 days. Stability studies were conducted for 1 month by keeping the silica-based MDN capsules under 25°C and 57% RH. Results: The optimal method to produce large numbers of MDN crystals was the CCM, and MDN crystals were characterised as diamond shaped with an intrinsic angle of 62o. The SEM surpassed the CM in measuring MDN crystal thickness, and Mann-Whitney U Test showed statistically significant differences between SEM and confocal thickness measurements (U= 1283, p < 0.05) as the SEM exhibited thinner diamond crystals (6.62 ± 2.9 µm) than the CM measurements (9.6 ± 4.6µm). According to the Michel-Levey birefringence colour chart (using the SEM mean thickness of MDN crystals and their retardation value of 428 nm), most of MDN crystals demonstrated a yellow colour. The FT-IR, SEM, DSC, MGV and PLM analyses of both silica-based MDN formulations revealed that MDN was successfully incorporated inside the silica network producing amorphous material (with no appearance of the melting peak of pure MDN at 233.4°C) with evidence of no physical or chemical interaction between sol-gel silica and MDN. However, the TGA analysis revealed a significantly greater amount of MDN was loaded inside the silica-based MDN formulation B compared to A (t = 2.80, p = 0.009, n=6), as 28.3 ± 0.6 mg of MDN was loaded in the former while 25.6 ± 0.7 mg in the latter. In addition, the silica-based MDN formulation B released 10% more MDN after 7 days than formulation A, and both formulations were stable when stored for 1 month under 57% RH and 25°C. Conclusion: The novel combined use of SEM and PLM techniques shows a potential for the identification of MDN in forensic science as it established a range of birefringence colours of MDN crystals. Moreover, the new silica-based MDN formulation B can help to deter MDN abuse and increase patient adherence to MMT due to its potential to sustain MDN release and reduce the frequent visits to MDN treatment centres.
Introduction: Selenium is an essential trace element involved in different physiological functions of the human body. An inverse relationship between serum selenium levels and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia has been reported. cervical intraepithelial neoplasia is regarded as a potentially premalignant transformation of squamous cells of the cervix. Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between the serum level of selenium and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Methods: A case-control study was conducted at Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Iraqi National Cancer Research Center in the University of Baghdad during the period from July 2021 to July 2022. A convenient sample of 100 women was enrolled in the current study and included
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Cyclophosphamide (CP) is a cytotoxic alkylating agent it's used associated with different side effects including lung toxicity. Vitamin B2 and vitamin B12 have lung-protective effects. This study was designed to evaluate lung-protective effects of both vitamins against lung toxicity induced by cyclophosphamide. seventy healthy adult albino male and female rats divided into seven groups each group containing ten rats were used in the present study and treated for seven days. On day eight rats were sacrificed and serum was obtained for glutathione and total antioxidant capacity measurement and lung extracted for immunohistochemical study; both vitamins significantly (P<0.05) increased glutathione and total antioxidant capacity in compar
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The - M ultiple mixing ratios of -transitions from levels of 56Fe populated in 56 56 Fe n n Fe ( , ) reactions are calculated by using const. S.T.M. This method has been used in other works [3,7] but with pure transition or with transitions that can be considered as pure transitions، in our work we used This method for mixed - transitions in addition to pure - transitions. The experimental angular distribution coefficients a2 was used from previous works [1] in order to calculet - values. It is clear from the results that the - values are in good agreement or consistent, within associated errors, with those reported previously [1]. The discrepancies that occur are due to inaccuracies existing in the expe
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Abstract
Due to the lack of previous statistical study of the behavior of payments, specifically health insurance, which represents the largest proportion of payments in the general insurance companies in Iraq, this study was selected and applied in the Iraqi insurance company.
In order to find the convenient model representing the health insurance payments, we initially detected two probability models by using (Easy Fit) software:
First, a single Lognormal for the whole sample and the other is a Compound Weibull for the two Sub samples (small payments and large payments), and we focused on the compoun
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(2)
This paper suggesting a new modern method to evaluate the performance of hotel industry at Jordan instead of the classical method used by the industry and that is Bench Marking , this method can be done by comparing the performance of hotel industry at two serial years which helps in calculating a standard performance .
The industry can use this standard to identify the variance, which make the evaluation of performance easier and support the efforts to develop the hotel industry at all levels and enable to give high quality services to customers.
The study believed that this situation would not be achieved unless the hotel industry will app
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The expansion of building blocks at the expense of agricultural land is one of the main problems causing climate change within the urban area of a city. The research came to determine these indicators, as a study was conducted on the expansion of the building blocks in three municipalities in the city of Baghdad for a period of four decades extended in the form of time cycles for the period (1981-2021) and using ArcMap GIS 10.7 technology. Then, the impact of this expansion on temperature rates was evaluated, as they are the most important climatic elements due to their significant effect on the rest of the elements. The results showed a clear, direct relationship between the increase in urban expansion rates and the corresponding r
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T-cell activation and alteration of cytokine levels are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the profile of circulating T-lymphocyte subsets and related cytokines during asthmatic attacks is still unclear. We compared the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines Interleukine-18( IL-18) and Interleukine-12(IL-12), T-helper 2 (Th2) cytokine Interleukine-13(IL-13 ) and Immunoglobuline-E ( IgE) in 27 asthmatic children and 21 sex and age matched healthy control subjects. Serum cytokines and IgE concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum IL-13 , IL-18 and IgE concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic patients than normal control subjects ( IL-13: median 9.73 versus 4.43 pg/ml, P&l
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(2)
In this study, Yogurt was dried and milled, then shaked with distilled water to remove the soluble materials, then again dried and milled. Batch experiments were carried out to remove hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions. Different parameters were optimized such as amount of adsorbent, treatment time, pH and concentration of adsorbate. The concentrations of Cr6+ in solutions are determined by UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Maximum percentage removal of Cr6+ was 82% at pH 2. Two equilibrium adsorption isotherms mechanisms are tested Langmuir and Freundlich, the results showed that the isotherm obeyed to Freundlich isotherm. Kinetic models were applied to the adsorption of Cr6+ ions on the adsorbents, ps
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The present paper aims at evaluating the vailability quality and future horizons of potable water in the city of Shatra as a model. This is done in accordance with certain subjective and objective factors alongside the classification map of Shatra as a residential area. This system follows geographical studies specialized in urban construction. The problem of the present paper as well as the data approaching that problem have been chosen from the records of 2018. The researcher offered (919) questionnaire forms to be answered by a sample of dwellers in that area. Besides, the researcher also followed lab analysis of water samples collected from districts in the city of Shatra. GIS technology was also used to arrive at the real water shar
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