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.
This research aims to examine the relationship between hydrothermal alteration and mineralization (ore mineralogy) in the study area and geological structures in the deformation mechanism. The hydrothermal alteration was determined based on petrographic analysis, and ore mineralogy which was determined based on the ore microscopic analysis. The deformation mechanism is determined by paleo stress analysis using win-tensor, and the direction of principal stress on joints/veins and faults is calculated by the right-dihedron method. Hydrothermal alteration includes silicification, argillic, propylitic, and phyllic alterations; and ore mineralogy consists of stibnite, cinnabar, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, covellite, hematite, and a
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the researchers Sought to determine the impact of the customer contact (Within a client contact there are two times, first is the total time required to create a service and within it there is contact time while the second time is the time of client contact ؛ where means a time that records the physical presence of the customer during the process of service) on operations performance by concentrate attention on the cost (labor productivity) and quality (patient ratio to the doctor) and speed (cycle time) and flexibility (the flexibility range) , as well as ruling out variable of innovation because of impossibility to measure this variable in the Specialty Center for Dental in al-alwia due to the center is lacking of mechanisms t
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Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of post-abortion family planning counseling program on nurses and midwives' practices and to predict the variables which may effect on their practices Methodology: A quasi experimental study was conducted from 23th April 2017 to 14th March 2018 in three governorates in Middle Euphrates of Iraq: (Holy Karbala, Al - Najef Al Ashraf and Babylon) on nurses and midwives who work at maternity hospitals. Systematic random sampling was used to select 122 nurses and midwives, (60) of them for study group and (62) for control group. A checklist is an instrument that evaluate the practices which included 50 items. Validity of content was determined through reviewing it by (16) experts and reliability of to
... Show MoreThis study is prospective in nature, It consider
110 patients with vertigo who were assessed
between April and December 2010 at E.N.T out
patient department of otolarygiology, in Al
Diwania teaching hospital, in Diwania city,
Iraq. The study is designed to assess the
incidence of vestibular and non vestibular
vertigo and their association with
tinnitus,hearing loss,migraine in Young adult
and elderly.All patients were assessed by
questionary method and by pure tone
Audiometry.
Results: the incidence of vestibular vertigo was
69.1% while non vestibular vertigo is 30.9 %,
vestibular vertigo was inversely related to the
age while non vestibular vertigo directly related
to the age
The percen
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Abstract
A series of new 4(3H)-quinazolinone derivatives (S1-S4) were synthesized and characterized by FTIR,1HNMR and 13CNMR .Their cytotoxic activity against a set of human cancer cell lines MCF-7 (breast) and A549 (lung) was evaluated using MTT assay. To detect their selectivity toward cancer cells, the compounds were also tested against epithelial cells derived from normal human fibroblast (NHF). Methotrexate (MTX) was used as a reference for comparison . All the tested compounds exhibited toxicity against the normal cells lower than cancer cells. All the tested compounds displayed higher cytotoxicity against lung cancer cell line (A549) than MTX with the most
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The effect of thermal treatment on optical constants of pure PMMA and with addition (15 and 35) ml of coumarin at different temperatures (100, 110 and 120) C0 for 1 hour were investigated. Cast method used to prepares films of pure PMMA and PMMA with (15 and 35) of coumarin. UV/VIS spectrometer technique used to measure the absorption spectra for these films. The optical constant (absorption spectra and absorption coefficient) don’t changes after applied temperatures in pure PMMA film but the optical constant (absorption spectra and absorption coefficient) in PMMA with (15 and 35) ml of coumarin increased with applied temperatures. The optical energy gap of pure PMMA and PMMA with (15 and 35) ml of coumarin sl
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Out of 150 clinical samples, 50 isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae were identified according to morphological and biochemical properties. These isolates were collected from different clinical samples, including 15 (30%) urine, 12 (24%) blood, 9 (18%) sputum, 9 (18%) wound, and 5 (10%) burn. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) assay revealed that 25 (50%) of isolates were resistant to gentamicin (≥16µg/ml), 22 (44%) of isolates were resistant to amikacin (≥64 µg/ml), 21 (42%) of isolates were resistant to ertapenem (≥8 µg/ml), 18 (36%) of isolates were resistant to imipenem (4- ≥16µg/ml), 43 (86%) of isolates were resistant to ceftriaxone (4- ≥64 µg/ml), 42 (84%) of isolates were resistant to ceftazidime (1
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Carrageenan extract is a compound of sulfated polyglycan that is taken out from red seaweeds. Being hydrocolloid in nature, carrageenan has gelling, emulsifying and thickening properties allowing it to be commonly used in the oral healthcare products and cosmetics. Due to its bioactive compounds, carrageenan has been shown to have antimicrobial, antiviral, and antitumor properties. The purpose of this work is to study the probable use of carrageenan on the diseases that are related to oral cavity and on the genomic DNA in in vitro experimental model
In this study, the effects of k-carrageenan on four different cell lines related to the cancer and normal cells which cultured on selective media were done. Moreover, the eff
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