Clobetasol propionate (CP) is a super potent corticosteroid widely used to treat various skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. However, its utility for topical application is hampered due to its common side effects, such as skin atrophy, steroidal acne, hypopigmentation, and allergic contact dermatitis. Microsponge is a unique three-dimensional microstructure particle with micro and nano-meters-wide cavities, which can encapsulate both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs providing increased efficacy and safety. The aim of the current study is to prepare and optimize clobetasol-loaded microsponges. The emulsion solvent diffusion method is used for the preparation of ethylcellulose (EC)-based microsponges. The impact of various formulation variables on microsponge's properties includes; drug: polymer ratio, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) quantities, the volume of external phase, and stirring rates investigated. The microsponges were characterized in terms of particle size, product yield, CP entrapment %, and in-vitro drug release behavior. The results report that increasing EC concentration led to a significant increase in particle size, with a decrease in product yield and drug entrapment %. Increasing stirring speed or external aqueous volume or PVA w/v % caused a non-significant decrease in production yield and CP entrapment % but showed a significant decrease, and increase in particle size, respectively. Finally, it was concluded that the ability to use ethylcellous as a Msg polymer matrix to prepare uniform, highly porous particles was confirmed by microscope observation and compatibility with CP.
Some research reports that cognitive grammar (CG) theory has good contributions to teaching English as a foreign language. In this research, the researchers seek to apply this theory and its principles when teaching the simple present tense to Iraqi students who face difficulties in differentiating between the multiple usages of this tense. To achieve this objective, the researchers have conducted an experimental study on a group of 60 Iraqi students in the University of Baghdad, College of Education for Women. Langacker’s (2003) theory has been adopted in the analysis of the cognitive relations to understand the common and different connections of these usages of the simple present. The study has concluded that the cognitive grammar t
... Show MoreArabic text categorization for pattern recognitions is challenging. We propose for the first time a novel holistic method based on clustering for classifying Arabic writer. The categorization is accomplished stage-wise. Firstly, these document images are sectioned into lines, words, and characters. Secondly, their structural and statistical features are obtained from sectioned portions. Thirdly, F-Measure is used to evaluate the performance of the extracted features and their combination in different linkage methods for each distance measures and different numbers of groups. Finally, experiments are conducted on the standard KHATT dataset of Arabic handwritten text comprised of varying samples from 1000 writers. The results in the generatio
... Show MoreThis study assessed the advantage of using earthworms in combination with punch waste and nutrients in remediating drill cuttings contaminated with hydrocarbons. Analyses were performed on day 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 of the experiment. Two hydrocarbon concentrations were used (20000 mg/kg and 40000 mg/kg) for three groups of earthworms number which were five, ten and twenty earthworms. After 28 days, the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration (20000 mg/kg) was reduced to 13200 mg/kg, 9800 mg/kg, and 6300 mg/kg in treatments with five, ten and twenty earthworms respectively. Also, TPH concentration (40000 mg/kg) was reduced to 22000 mg/kg, 10100 mg/kg, and 4200 mg/kg in treatments with the above number of earthworms respectively. The p
... Show MoreThe fetal heart rate (FHR) signal processing based on Artificial Neural Networks (ANN),Fuzzy Logic (FL) and frequency domain Discrete Wavelet Transform(DWT) were analysis in order to perform automatic analysis using personal computers. Cardiotocography (CTG) is a primary biophysical method of fetal monitoring. The assessment of the printed CTG traces was based on the visual analysis of patterns that describing the variability of fetal heart rate signal. Fetal heart rate data of pregnant women with pregnancy between 38 and 40 weeks of gestation were studied. The first stage in the system was to convert the cardiotocograghy (CTG) tracing in to digital series so that the system can be analyzed ,while the second stage ,the FHR time series was t
... Show MoreThe development of microcontroller is used in monitoring and data acquisition recently. This development has born various architectures for spreading and interfacing the microcontroller in network environment. Some of existing architecture suffers from redundant in resources, extra processing, high cost and delay in response. This paper presents flexible concise architecture for building distributed microcontroller networked system. The system consists of only one server, works through the internet, and a set of microcontrollers distributed in different sites. Each microcontroller is connected through the Ethernet to the internet. In this system the client requesting data from certain side is accomplished through just one server that is in
... Show MoreAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is an age-related progressive and neurodegenerative disorder, which is characterized by loss of memory and cognitive decline. It is the main cause of disability among older people. The rapid increase in the number of people living with AD and other forms of dementia due to the aging population represents a major challenge to health and social care systems worldwide. Degeneration of brain cells due to AD starts many years before the clinical manifestations become clear. Early diagnosis of AD will contribute to the development of effective treatments that could slow, stop, or prevent significant cognitive decline. Consequently, early diagnosis of AD may also be valuable in detecting patients with dementia who have n
... Show MoreMost below-knee prostheses are manufactured in Iraq without considering the fast progress in smart prostheses, which can offer movements in the desired directions according to the type of control system designed for this purpose. The proposed design appears to have the advantages of simplicity, affordability, better load distribution, suitability for subjects with transtibial amputation, and viability in countries with people having low socio-economic status. The designed prosthetics consisted of foot, ball, and socket joints, two stepper motors, a linkage system, and an EMG shield. All these materials were available in the local markets in Iraq. The experimental results showed t
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