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.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Infantile haemangioma one of the most common tumour of new borns , a safe and effective treatment options are under ongoing research . OBJECTIVE: The authors show the effectiveness and safety of low dose propranolol as a method for infantile haemangioma treatment . METHOD: In this study twenty- four patients with infantile haemangioma in different anatomical locations were treated with oral propranolol and the result were assessed in a retrospective analysis of the results patients were kept on 0.25 mg/kg/day for one month , then on 0.5mg/kg/day in 2 divided doses for another one month , in the third month the dose will be increased to 1 mg/kg/day in 2 divided doses , then the propranolol were given in a maintenance do
... Show MoreBackground: Phytotherapy is the usage of herbal species with medicinal properties for the management of various diseases. Gingivitis and periodontitis are diseases that involve the role of both the bacteria and the host immune response. Over the years, various researches have shown the importance of herbal products in the management of periodontal diseases. Aims of the study: To evaluate the efficacy of locally applied Salvia officinalis gel as adjunctive in the treatment of chronic periodontitis. Subjects and methods: Fourteen patients (10 males and 4 females) with chronic periodontitis were enrolled in the present study with total number of twenty-eight periodontal pockets utilizing a split mouth design, the pockets were divided i
... Show MoreThe researcher attempts to diagnose the level of the effect of strategic thinking skills (intuition, meditation, creativity) of the managers in the Ministry of Health in Iraq and some of its institutions in the formulation of human resources management: (selection, training, incentivence , performance appraisal (Recognizing the importance of the subjects studied, and because of the importance of the expected results of th
... Show More
The practice by the administration of human resources on effectiveness of organization crisis as two knowledge fields , it were be until now as center for many studies, but the collect it, study of relation between them ,and The role of practices by the administration of human resources on effectiveness of organization crisis administration were considered a new study and first according to the available and showing studies at this field .
The problem of this research was specified by answer for the question that deal for size of consciousness at the ministry of interior for import of&nbs
... Show More
In recent years, data centre (DC) networks have improved their rapid exchanging abilities. Software-defined networking (SDN) is presented to alternate the impression of conventional networks by segregating the control plane from the SDN data plane. The SDN presented overcomes the limitations of traditional DC networks caused by the rapidly incrementing amounts of apps, websites, data storage needs, etc. Software-defined networking data centres (SDN-DC), based on the open-flow (OF) protocol, are used to achieve superior behaviour for executing traffic load-balancing (LB) jobs. The LB function divides the traffic-flow demands between the end devices to avoid links congestion. In short, SDN is proposed to manage more operative configur
... Show More
(16)
(13)
(4)
(1)
For the duration of the last few many years many improvement in computer technology, software program programming and application production had been followed with the aid of diverse engineering disciplines. Those trends are on the whole focusing on synthetic intelligence strategies. Therefore, a number of definitions are supplied, which recognition at the concept of artificial intelligence from exclusive viewpoints. This paper shows current applications of artificial intelligence (AI) that facilitate cost management in civil engineering tasks. An evaluation of the artificial intelligence in its precise partial branches is supplied. These branches or strategies contributed to the creation of a sizable group of fashions s
... Show MoreProduced water is accompanied with the production of oil and gas especially at the fields producing by water drive or water injection. The quantity of these waters is expected to be more complicated problem with an increasing in water cut which is expected to be 3-8 barrels water/produced barrel oil.Produced water may contain many constituents based on what is present in the subsurface at a particular location. Produced water contains dissolved solids and hydrocarbons (dissolved and suspended) and oxygen depletion. The most common dissolved solid is salt with concentrations range between a few parts per thousand to hundreds parts per thousand. In addition to salt, many produced waters also contain high levels of heavy metals like zinc, bari
... Show More
(4)