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Purpose: Intra-operative radiotherapy (IORT) has been used as a tool to provide a high-dose radiation boost to a limited volume of patients with fixed tumors with a likelihood of microscopically involved resection margins, in order to improve local control. Two main techniques to deliver IORT include high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, termed 'intra-operative brachytherapy' (IOBT), and electrons, termed 'intra-operative electron radiotherapy' (IOERT), both having very different dose distributions. A recent paper described an improved local recurrence-free survival favoring IOBT over IOERT for patients with locally advanced or recurrent rectal cancer and microscopically irradical resections. Although several factors may have contributed to this result, an important difference between the two techniques was the higher surface dose delivered by IOBT. This article described an adaptation of IOERT technique to achieve a comparable surface dose as dose delivered by IOBT. Material and methods: Two steps were taken to increase the surface dose for IOERT: 1. Introducing a bolus to achieve a maximum dose on the surface, and 2. Re-normalizing to allow for the same prescribed dose at reference depth. Conclusions: We describe and propose an adaptation of IOERT technique to increase surface dose, decreasing the differences between these two techniques, with the aim of further improving local control. In addition, an alternative method of dose prescription is suggested, to consider improved comparison with other techniques in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hydrogel containing viologen-based hyperbranched polyamide amines with dual drug loading capacity. • Wearable Patch (Patch-DT) uses hydrogel as the drug-carrying cathode and magnesium flakes as the anode. • Patch-DT enables release of two drugs simultaneously, overcoming the limitations of monotherapy. • Visible drug monitoring through wearable Patch's electrochromic properties. Wearable drug delivery systems (DDS) have made significant advancements in the field of precision medicine, offering precise regulation of drug dosage, location, and timing. The performance qualities that wearable DDS has always strived for are simplicity, efficiency, and intelligence. This paper proposes a wearable dual-drug synergistic release patch. The patch is powered by a built-in magnesium battery and utilizes a hydrogel containing viologen-based hyperbranched polyamidoamine as both a cathode material and an integrated drug reservoir. This design allows for the simultaneous release of both dexamethasone and tannic acid, overcoming the limitations of monotherapy and ensuring effective synergy for on-demand therapy. In a mouse model with praziquimod-induced psoriasis, the patch demonstrated therapeutic efficacy at a low voltage. The inflammatory skin returned to normal after 5 days with the on-demand release of dual drugs. This work provides a promising treatment option considering its straightforward construction and the therapeutic advantages of dual-drug synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Accurate dose calculation and delivery is critical in treating cancers in radiation therapy. Although high accuracy has been achieved, significant uncertainties or errors still exist in radiation therapy, especially brachytherapy. Various types of uncertainty have been investigated, such as organ filling and organ motion. But interfraction dose variations (IDVs) from the prescribed dose in high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR) resulting from clinical considerations have not been widely discussed. Understanding what IDVs look like and whether or not they would affect clinical outcomes is important to improve the effectiveness of HDR brachytherapy and quality of cervical cancer treatment. We found IVDs followed a left-skewed distribution in our previous study, and we continued to discuss their potential effect on clinical outcomes in this project. In this study, we found that IDVs would reduce tumor control probability and increase treatment failure rate, but a dose escalation could be a remedy for such an effect. Meeting dose prescription is critical to control tumors in radiation therapy. Interfraction dose variations (IDVs) from the prescribed dose in high dose rate brachytherapy (HDR) would cause the target dose to deviate from the prescription but their clinical effect has not been widely discussed in the literature. Our previous study found that IDVs followed a left-skewed distribution. The clinical effect of the IDVs in 100 cervical cancer HDR patients will be addressed in this paper. An in-house Monte Carlo (MC) program was used to simulate clinical outcomes by convolving published tumor dose response curves with IDV distributions. The optimal dose and probability of risk-free local control (RFLC) were calculated using the utility model. The IDVs were well-fitted by the left-skewed Beta distribution, which caused a 3.99% decrease in local control probability and a 1.80% increase in treatment failure. Utility with respect to IDV uncertainty increased the RFLC probability by 6.70% and predicted an optimal dose range of 83 Gy–91 Gy EQD2. It was also found that a 10 Gy dose escalation would not affect toxicity. In conclusion, HRCTV IDV uncertainty reduced LC probabilities and increased treatment failure rates. A dose escalation may help mitigate such effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objectives Structuring the diagnostic section of the medical record ( MR) improves diagnosis and communication between doctors. However, little is known about the therapeutic section of the MR. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the extent to which MRs are structured for therapeutic information, to determine which therapeutic data registrars and clinical consultants consider should be recorded in the MR and to what extent registrars record this information themselves. Methods A multicentre observational study was carried out in the internal medicine outpatient clinics of five teaching hospitals in the Netherlands. Preformatted structure, importance and actual recording of therapeutic information was compared with a reference list of 35 therapeutic items based on the WHO Guide to Good Prescribing (e.g. drug name, indication for drug). Results The preformatted structure of four paper MRs and one electronic MR was assessed. Eight of the 35 therapeutic items were listed in the paper MRs and 18 items in the electronic MR. Registrars and consultants agreed on the importance of recording most of the therapeutic items in the MR, 25 and 27 out of the 35 items, respectively; however, registrars recorded only 11 of the 35 items in the paper MR and 20 of the 35 items in the electronic MR. Conclusions The structure and content of paper and electronic MRs are not adequate. While both registrars and consultants agree on the importance of recording therapeutic items in the MR, registrars fail to record most of this information in practice. The results of this study can be used as starting point for the discussion regarding the necessity of structured recording of therapeutic information in the MR and its possible benefits with regard to medication safety and training of the new generation of prescribers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warfarin has a narrow therapeutic window and high intra- and inter-individual variability. Considering that many published papers on genotype-guided dosing are derived from European populations, the aim of this study was to investigate novel genetic variants associated with the variability of stable warfarin dose in the Korean population with cardiac valve replacement, using the GWAS approach. This retrospective cohort study was performed from January 1982 to December 2020 at the Severance Cardiovascular Hospital of Yonsei University College of Medicine. GWAS was performed to identify associations between genotypes and the warfarin maintenance dose, by comparing the allele frequency of genetic variants between individuals. Then, the extent of genetic and non-genetic factors on the dose variability was determined by multivariable regression analysis. The study enrolled 214 participants, and the most robust signal cluster was detected on chromosome 16 around VKORC1. Followed by VKORC1, three novel variants (NKX2-6 rs310279, FRAS1 rs4386623, and FAM201A rs1890109) showed an association with stable warfarin dose requirement in univariate analysis. The algorithm was constructed by using multivariable analysis that includes genetic and non-genetic factors, and it could explain 58.5% of the variations in stable warfarin doses. In this variability, VKORC1 rs9934438 and FRAS1 rs4386623 accounted for 33.0% and 9.9%, respectively. This GWAS analysis identified the fact that three novel variants (NKX2-6 rs310279, FRAS1 rs4386623, and FAM201A rs1890109) were associated with stable warfarin doses. Additional research is necessary to validate the results and establish personalized treatment strategies for the Korean population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Burns & Fire Disasters is the property of Euro-Mediterranean Council for Burns & Fire Disasters and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper proposes a fuzzy-GPC based on a mathematical model of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to determine the drug dosage and control the progression of the illness. For this purpose, a Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy model is generated to identify the nonlinear behavior of HIV. The parameters of HIV are estimated by the least square error (LSE) estimation method. Moreover, three scenarios are proposed to control HIV. In scenario 1, according to TS fuzzy model, generalized Predictive Control (GPC) is designed for a daily base drug therapy. Scenario 2 and 3 are more practical. In scenario 2, since the biological behavior of patients are different, the variation in the patients biology is taken into account by generating data according to a group of patients with varying parameters in their mathematical model. In senario3, since daily diagnosis of patients health is costly, it is assumed that a patient information is available every month, and drug dosage is determined each month. As a result of which, the sample time of the measurement increases to 30 make it a multi-rate system. The result shows that the TS fuzzy models the mathematical model of HIV very well, and in all scenarios, the proposed controller has a good performance and the number of healthy cells are controlled in acceptable amount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aphasia research uses the length of time within rehabilitation sessions as the main measure of dosage. Few papers detail therapeutic ingredients or outline the number of times these were delivered over the treatment period. The present observational study identified therapeutic ingredients in the Very Early Rehabiltiation in SpEech (VERSE) trial and explored the dosage provided using a model of cumulative intervention intensity (CII). Therapists video recorded one therapy session per week and 53 (12%) randomly selected therapy videos were analysed. The videos were coded for number of error productions, self-corrections and type and frequency of therapist cueing. The Western Aphasia Battery Revised-Aphasia Quotient (WABR-AQ) was used for measuring patient outcome with total verbal utterances (p < 0.001) and cues used with success (p < 0.001) being independent positive predictors of WABR-AQ score at six months post stroke and hypothesized as key therapeutic ingredients. The CII was calculated by counting identified therapeutic ingredients and multiplying this by the number of sessions completed. Collectively, the key ingredients occurred on average 504 times per session and over 10,000 times per participant during the treatment period. This paper reports a novel approach for identifying key treatment ingredients and detailing the dosage delivered within an early aphasia rehabilitation trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, the commonly used treatment methods for chronic respiratory diseases are drug, oxygen, interventional and atomization therapy. Atomization therapy is the most widely used because of its characteristics of fast effect, high local drug concentration, less drug dosage, convenient application and few systemic adverse reactions. In this paper, the mechanism, characteristics, commonly used drugs and clinical application of atomization therapy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: Teverelix drug product (DP) is a gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist in development for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer in whom androgen deprivation therapy is indicated. The aim of this paper is to present the results of five Phase 2 studies that assessed the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy and safety of different loading dose regimens of teverelix DP. Methods: Five single-arm, uncontrolled clinical trials were conducted in patients with advanced prostate cancer. The five different loading dose regimens of teverelix DP tested were (a) a single 90 mg subcutaneous (SC) injection of teverelix DP given on 3 consecutive days (Days 0, 1 and 2); (b) a single 90 mg intramuscular (IM) injection of teverelix DP given 7 days apart (Days 0 and 7); (c) a single 120 mg SC injection of teverelix DP given on 2 consecutive days (Days 0 and 1); (d) 2 × 60 mg SC injections of teverelix DP given on 3 consecutive days (Days 0, 1 and 2), and (e) 2 × 90 mg SC injections of teverelix DP given on 3 consecutive days (Days 0, 1 and 2). The primary efficacy parameter was the duration of action of an initial loading dose regimen in terms of suppression of testosterone to below the castration level (0.5 ng/mL). Results: Eighty-two patients were treated with teverelix DP. Two regimens (90 mg and 180 mg SC on 3 consecutive days) had a mean duration of castration of 55.32 days and 68.95 days with >90% of patients having testosterone levels < 0.5 ng/mL at Day 28. The mean onset of castration for the SC regimens ranged from 1.10 to 1.77 days, while it was slower (2.4 days) with IM administration. The most common adverse event (AE) was injection site reaction. No AEs of severe intensity were reported. Conclusions: Teverelix DP is safe and well tolerated. Castrate levels of testosterone can be rapidly achieved following the subcutaneous injection of teverelix DP on 3 consecutive days. Streamlining of the administration of the loading dose and identifying a suitable maintenance dose will be investigated in future trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Due to the increasing resistance of Helicobacter pylori, there is a need for novel antibiotic treatment protocols. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta‐analysis in order to determine the effectiveness and safety of rifabutin triple therapy for H. pylori infection. Methods: We performed a systematic review of prospective clinical trials with a treatment arm consisting of proton pump inhibitor, amoxicillin, and rifabutin and a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Results: Thirty‐three prospective studies including 44 datasets were identified. Meta‐analysis of four RCTs for rescue treatment found no difference between treatment groups (odds ratio [OR] 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.437–1.791, I2 = 68.1%, P = 0.733). Only one RCT compared rifabutin therapy with control for first‐line treatment of H. pylori infection (OR 3.78, 95% CI 2.44–5.87, P < 0.0001). Treatment was more likely to be successful in Asian versus non‐Asian populations (81.0% vs 72.4%, P = 0.001) and when daily amoxicillin dose was ≥ 3000 mg or proton pump inhibitor dose was ≥ 80 mg or treatment duration was 14 days (80.6% vs 66.0%, P = 0.0001). The overall event rate for adverse effects was 24.8% (729/2937) (95% CI 0.23–0.26), and the pooled OR for adverse effects in the treatment versus control group was 0.93 (95% CI 0.50–1.75) (I2 = 79.76, P = 0.82). Conclusion: Evidence for the effectiveness of rifabutin for the first‐line treatment of H. pylori infection in adults is limited, and studies comparing rifabutin with conventional first‐line treatments are lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The daily recordings of treatment by patients with congenital hemophilia with inhibitors and their caregivers were assessed as part of the Dosing Observational Study in Hemophilia (DOSE) to understand the patterns of bypassing agent use and health-related quality of life. Methods: Frequently bleeding patients prescribed recombinant activated factor VII as first-line therapy were eligible. Participants recorded daily paper diaries for at least 90 days and until at least four bleeding episodes had occurred. Web-based entry was optional. Assessment included bleeding status, work or school day status, bleeding episode, treatment, impact on planned activities, and health-related quality of life. Results: Diaries were completed by 18 adults and 19 caregivers (21 children). A total of 4063 diary days and 194 bleeding episodes over 491 bleed days were recorded. A small proportion of diary days were bleed days (8.2%) or treatment days (8.2%). Half the bleed days were not planned work or school days for patients (53%) or caregivers (48%). An exact agreement was observed between electronic and paper records for 93% of the reviewed health-related quality of life measurements. Conclusion: Daily diary completion by patients and caregivers is feasible and provides insight into the impact of congenital hemophilia with inhibitors on daily activities and overall quality of life. Positive participation and completion rates were supported by frequent patient contact made by independent patient support liaison personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ternary mixture under study is a recent hepatitis‐C antiviral medicine composed of three new directly acting antiviral drugs, namely, ombitasvir, paritaprevir, and ritonavir. They are co‐formulated as a single‐dose combined tablet dosage form. With more than 170 million infected patients worldwide, a large production scales of antivirals medicine is expected, and hence, new simple and fast methodologies are required to cover millions of analyses that are done routinely in the different pharmaceutical quality control and research laboratories. Ultraviolet spectrophotometry represents sensitive, fast, and cheap tool of analysis in all research and quality control laboratories that can cover the massive quality control of these regimens. However, the simultaneous determination of these three drugs using multivariate chemometric methods represents a high challenge as their spectra are strongly overlapping besides the large difference in their potency within the same tablet. In this research paper, four new different multivariate chemometric methods were developed for their simultaneous determination, namely, classical least square (CLS), principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS), and genetic algorithm‐partial least squares (GA‐PLS) techniques. The validated methods do not require extraction, separation, or derivatization steps. A comparative study was conducted among the four developed methods. All methods provided satisfactory results, whereas GA‐PLS showed better analytical performance as it had the lowest error with good higher correlation coefficient. The methods were applied in the simultaneous determination of the three drugs in pure form and in their combined tablet dosage form. The comparison confirmed agreement of the values obtained for all techniques. Ombitasvir, paritaprevir, and ritonavir are coformulated as a single‐dose combined tablet dosage form. In this research paper, four new different multivariate chemometric methods were developed for their simultaneous determination, namely, classical least square (CLS), principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS), and genetic algorithm‐partial least squares (GA‐PLS) techniques. The methods were applied in the simultaneous determination of the three drugs in pure form and in their combined tablet dosage form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug resistance in cancer treatments is a frequent problem that, when it arises, leads to failure in therapeutic efforts. Tumor heterogeneity is the primary reason for resistance emergence and a precise treatment design that takes heterogeneity into account is required to postpone the rise of resistant subpopulations in the tumor environment. In this paper, we present a mathematical framework involving clonal evolution modeling of drug‐sensitive and drug‐resistant clones. Using our framework, we examine delaying the rise of resistance in heterogeneous tumors during control phase of therapy in a containment treatment approach. We apply pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PKPD) modeling and show that dosage strategies can be designed to control the resistant subpopulation. Our results show that the drug dosage and schedule determine the relative dynamics of sensitive and resistant clones. We present an optimal control problem that finds the dosing strategy that maximizes the delay in resistance emergence for a given period of containment treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In medical treatments, a fundamental dilemma often arises: on the one hand, an increase in a drug’s dose could lead to a stronger, therapeutic treatment response, but on the other hand this could also lead to increased toxicity risks. In this paper, we propose to solve this dilemma using a Nash bargaining approach. To do so, we reformulate the tradeoff problem in an equivalent form as a dilemma between a drug’s beneficial response and the drug’s safety, where the dilemma then becomes a two-objective problem with safety and response as the objectives. Using a general receptor response model, we show that the set of all feasible outcomes associated with a drug’s treatment is characterized as a convex set, which allows the dilemma to be solved as a bargaining problem between the two objectives. The Nash bargaining solution (NBS) is found in closed form, and interesting properties associated with the solution are presented. In particular, it is shown that one can interpret the NBS as corresponding to a treatment giving the maximal expected safe treatment response associated with the drug. Moreover, the condition when the NBS coincides with the maxmin solution for the two objectives is derived. Two approaches to control the NBS solution are then presented: first, by means of assigning bargaining powers to objectives; second, by means of assigning an upper-bound on the drug’s dosage. The obtained NBS are compared with the dosage returning maximal drug response efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Third Colloquium on Particulate Matter and Human Health addressed the roles that inhaled particle dosimetry plays in understanding the potential health risks of human populations exposed to particulate air pollution. Nineteen papers, including posters, were presented that addressed particle deposition and clearance in both humans and laboratory animals. The effects of age, gender, and illness were addressed, as well as ultrafine particles and correlations between particle deposits and tissue pathology. The papers and related discussions also illuminated some important gaps in knowledge, such as the accuracy of dosimetry predictions for individuals; the underrepresentation of susceptible populations; the movement of deposited particles to nonlung tissues and organs; and the accuracy of extrapolations across species. Although current dosimetric information is useful for understanding the effects of particulate air pollution, several unsolved problems remain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge for drug dosing schedules is the ability to learn an optimal control policy even when there is a paucity of accurate information about the systems. Artificial intelligence has great potential for shaping a smart control policy for the dosage of drugs for any treatment. Motivated by this issue, in the present research paper a Caputo–Fabrizio fractional-order model of cancer chemotherapy treatment was elaborated and analyzed. A fix-point theorem and an iterative method were implemented to prove the existence and uniqueness of the solutions of the proposed model. Afterward, in order to control cancer through chemotherapy treatment, a fuzzy-reinforcement learning-based control method that uses the State-Action-Reward-State-Action (SARSA) algorithm was proposed. Finally, so as to assess the performance of the proposed control method, the simulations were conducted for young and elderly patients and for ten simulated patients with different parameters. Then, the results of the proposed control method were compared with Watkins's Q-learning control method for cancer chemotherapy drug dosing. The results of the simulations demonstrate the superiority of the proposed control method in terms of mean squared error, mean variance of the error, and the mean squared of the control action—in other words, in terms of the eradication of tumor cells, keeping normal cells, and the amount of usage of the drug during chemotherapy treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have synthesised SBA-S4, as a mesoporous silica-based sorbent, via template method by functionalization of SBA-15 using the tetra-sulphide group. The prepared structure was applied to remove Crystal Violet (CV) and Methyl Green (MG) dyes with 100% efficiency. The obtained adsorbent, after and before the modification, was characterised by several techniques to explore textural properties, functional groups, and morphology. Design-Expert was applied to find the optimal values of adsorbent dosage, the solution pH, and the concentration of each dye as experimental variables. It was found that the isotherm model and kinetic rate order fitted Langmuir and pseudo-second-order, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of the studied sorbent was 67.6 and 39.4 mg g−1 for CV and MG, respectively. The results also showed that SBA-S4 had high efficiency for eliminating the studied analytes in tap water, well water, and river water as real matrix samples. Reusability and regeneration studies indicated that the studied sorbent can be applied more than 5 cycles with a negligible loss of efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Natural Fibers is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we have considered a tumour-immune model with the dosage effect of the targeted chemotherapeutic drug and its efficacy. The chemotherapeutic drug efficacy is characterized via way of means of its impact on the abnormal size of beginning tumours. In pharmacology, the effectiveness of a drug is a very important factor in developing a dosage for any disease. With these points of view regarding drug efficacy, we present a four compartmental mathematical model, viz, the population of tumour cells, T (t) , CD8 T-killer cells, E k (t) , CD4 T-helper cells, E h (t) , and the amount of targeted chemotherapeutic drug, C (t) , in the bloodstream, at any time t. A qualitative analysis of the proposed model, including the existence and boundedness of the model has been described here. The dynamics of the system are presented by examining the admissibility and stability of the system at trivial, dead, tumour-free, and co-existing equilibrium points with their respective biological significance. The conditions for the local stability of all equilibrium points are derived by using the Jacobian matrix and Routh–Hurwitz's criterion. Numerical calculations have been performed using the Multi-step Differential Transformation Method (Ms-DTM), and are presented and discussed briefly in terms of graphs. We have expressed that the model is suitable for the tumour removal with the passage of time, regardless of the initial population or tumour size. Also, the amount the dosage of the drug with an assigned numerical value for its efficacy is one of the important factors in the treatment. The efficacy term is included to see the effect of drug dosages in CD8 T-killer cells and CD4 T-helper cells compartment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of tricyclic copolymer latex (AMPS) can effectively improve the carbonation resistance of sulphoaluminate cement. This paper investigated polymer AMPS and polycarboxylic acid to modify sulphoaluminate cement materials by exploring the carbonation level of sulphoaluminate cement paste and mortar and the strength before and after carbonation. Then, the optimal dosage of polymer and polycarboxylic acid was obtained so that the carbonation resistance of sulphoaluminate cement reached the best state. The compressive strength was significantly improved by adding AMPS for sulphoaluminate cement paste and mortar. After carbonation, the strength decreased and combined with the carbonation level; it was concluded that the carbonation resistance of sulphoaluminate cement materials was the best when the optimal dosage of AMPS and polycarboxylic acid was 5% and 1.8%, respectively. Due to the addition of AMPS, the hydrated calcium aluminosilicate (C-A-S-H) and hydrated calcium silicate (C-S-H) gels, generated by the hydration of sulphoaluminate cement and the surface of unreacted cement particles, are wrapped by AMPS particles. The water is discharged through cement hydration. The polymer particles on the surface of the hydration product merge into a continuous film, which binds the cement hydration product together to form an overall network structure, penetrating the entire cement hydration phase and forming a polymer cement mortar with excellent structural sealing performance. To prevent the entry of CO2 and achieve the effect of anti-carbonation, adding polycarboxylic acid mainly improves the sample's internal density to achieve the anti-carbonation purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tofacitinib, a potent JAK inhibitor, has gained increasing interest, in recent years, among dermatologists for the management of refractory alopecia areata. Despite a growing number of studies on its safety and efficacy, there is still a lack of clarity, especially in the pediatric population, in treatment considerations such as proper dosage, treatment duration, side‐effect profile, and therapeutic strategies to guide clinicians. Methods: Multiple databases were systematically searched. Following the PRISMA diagram, of a pool of 601 papers, seven met a checklist of inclusion criteria. These were observational studies including a total of 59 patients from four to 19 years of age. Results: In the evaluated studies, tofacitinib was administered either orally at a 2.5 to 15 mg daily (mostly 5 mg twice a day) dosage for 2 to 38 months or in the form of a 2% topical solution for 3–17 months. Metanalysis showed that 49% (95% CI: 29%–69%, I2 = 59.94%) of patients experienced a reversal of alopecia after a minimum of 3 to 9 months of therapy. Fifty‐five percent (95% CI: 23%–86%, I2 = 75.07%) and 41% (95% CI: 23%–59%, I2 = 0.00%) showed Good/complete and partial response rates, respectively. Oral administration was significantly more efficacious than topical application (73% vs 23%, p‐Value = 0.04). Few side effects such as diarrhea and mild liver transaminases abnormalities were noted in several patients. Conclusion: Results of this review suggest that tofacitinib at 2.5–15 mg daily (especially 5 mg twice daily) oral formulation or 2% topical solution can be regarded as a viable alternative or adjunct to the conventional treatment options for moderate to severe forms of alopecia areata in children owing to its acceptable efficacy and side‐effect profile. However, uncertainties continue to exist around treatment strategies including initial and maintenance dosages, route of administration, dose adjustments, the timing of tapering or discontinuation, and associated treatment modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the side effects of drug therapy in the process of cancer treatment are reduced by designing two optimal non‐linear controllers. The related gains of the designed controllers are optimised using genetic algorithm and simultaneously are adapted by employing the Fuzzy scheduling method. The cancer dynamic model is extracted with five differential equations, including normal cells, endothelial cells, cancer cells, and the amount of two chemotherapy and anti‐angiogenic drugs left in the body as the engaged state variables, while double drug injection is considered as the corresponding controlling signals of the mentioned state space. This treatment aims to reduce the tumour cells by providing a timely schedule for drug dosage. In chemotherapy, not only the cancer cells are killed but also other healthy cells will be destroyed, so the rate of drug injection is highly significant. It is shown that the simultaneous application of chemotherapy and anti‐angiogenic therapy is more efficient than single chemotherapy. Two different non‐linear controllers are employed and their performances are compared. Simulation results and comparison studies show that not only adding the anti‐angiogenic reduce the side effects of chemotherapy but also the proposed robust controller of sliding mode provides a faster and stronger treatment in the presence of patient parametric uncertainties in an optimal way. As a result of the proposed closed‐loop drug treatment, the tumour cells rapidly decrease to zero, while the normal cells remain healthy simultaneously. Also, the injection rate of the chemotherapy drug is very low after a short time and converges to zero. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revolutionary changes of deep reinforcement learning are leading to high-performing intelligent solutions in multiple fields, including healthcare. At the moment, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are common types of treatments for cancer, however, both therapies are usually radical procedures with undesirable side effects. There is an increasing number of evidence that patient-based optimal schedule has a significant impact in increasing efficiency and survival, and reducing side effects during both therapies. To apply artificial intelligence in therapy optimization, an adequate model of tumor growth incorporating the effect of the treatment is mandatory. A method on training a controller for dosage and scheduling, reinforcement learning can be applied, where a well-chosen agent rewarding function is key to achieve optimal behavior. In this survey paper, some selected tumor growth models, reinforcement learning based solutions and especially agent reward functions are reviewed and compared, providing a summary on state of the art approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of targeted transport and improvement of the release profile of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is a current trend in the development of oral medicinal products (MP). A well-known way to implement this concept is to obtain floating gastroretentive delivery systems that provide a long stay of the dosage form (DF) on the surface of the stomach contents. The nomenclature of excipients (Es) of a polymeric nature used in the technology of obtaining floating drug delivery systems (FDDS) is discussed. Based on the data presented in research papers, the most widely used groups of polymers, their properties, and their purpose in various technological approaches to achieving buoyancy have been determined. In addition, ways to modify the release of APIs in these systems and the Es used for this are described. The current trends in the use of polymers in the technology of floating dosage forms (FDF) and generalized conclusions about the prospects of this direction are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earth-based mortars are again taking their place as building materials for plastering, rendering and repairing earth walls, not only in a sustainable context but also in terms of efficiency. Nevertheless, scientific understanding of these mortars is still scarce. This present paper reports on an experimental study, conducted at the laboratory of the university center of El-Bayadh, concerning the study of the hydro-mechanical characteristics of mortars based raw and stabilized earth. In doing so, mortars prepared with clay-sand soil, treated with cement (C) (6%, 8% and 10%), lime (L) (4%, 6% and 8%) and mortars treated with both binders (4% C+2% L, 5% C +4% L, 8% C+6% L) taking into account control mortars of raw earth, are investigated. Compressive and tensile percentage strengths, total absorption, and swelling are determined. Therefore, the obtained results in the case of total absorption test, showed significant erosion in the mortars specimens weakly stabilized with cement and those without added stabilizer. Indeed, it was observed during the swelling test that the mortars specimens weakly stabilized with cement were fragile to the erosive water and showed deterioration, especially at the edges. Furthermore, increasing the cement content from 6% to 10%, the water absorption percentage was reduced by 30%. It appears that the composition that led to a better behavior towards water is the mixed combination (8% cement + 6% lime). However, stabilization with cement confers a higher strength compared to lime powder. In fact, the maximum resistances were obtained for high cement dosages (8 and 10% respectively) and the 4% lime dosage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The microsporidium Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae is an emergent and highly virulent pathogen of the European honey bee. The study of this parasite and the development of new therapies is difficult due to the seasonality of the disease in nature, with a short period of availability of infected individuals for investigation. In this paper, we present and characterize an easy and convenient method for V. ceranae cultivation using artificially infected worker bees under laboratory conditions. Nosemosis type C is a dangerous and widespread disease of the adult European honey bee Apis mellifera and is caused by the spore-forming intracellular parasite Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae. The search for new ways of therapy for this disease is complicated due to the seasonal availability of V. ceranae-infected insects as well as the lack of a developed system for the pathogen's cultivation. By carrying out trials which used different infectious dosages of the parasite, spore storage protocols, host age, and incubation temperatures, we present a simple, safe, and efficient method of V. ceranae propagation in artificially infected worker bees in the laboratory. The method is based on feeding the groups of adult worker bees with microsporidian spores and insect maintenance in plastic bottles at 33 °C. The source of the spores originated from the cadavers of infected insects from the previous round of cultivation, in which the infective spores persist for up to six months. An analysis of five independent cultivation rounds involving more than 2500 bees showed that the proposed protocol exploiting the dosage of one million spores per bee yielded over 60 million V. ceranae spores per bee, and most of the spore samples can be isolated from living insects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the multiple drug administration from therapeutic reasons it is important to maintain the concentration in the blood plasma in an appropriate range. In the present paper an optimization approach is developed to determine drug dosage regimen to achieve the desired plasma concentrations after application from depot, i.e. oral, muscular, subcutant. The developed methodology allows the optimization of both the dose and the dosage interval. Performance of the developed methodology is evaluated by computing bias and precision of the estimated trough and peak drug concentrations that are reached after dosage regimen determinations. This article focuses on an optimal impulsive control of compartment model to individualise dosage regimens of Amikacin in the context of extended dosage intervals. Amikacin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic used to treat various bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fringe‐Field Switch (FFS) mode cell with Photo alignment technology have been widely used in many kinds of devices due to its excellent performance of LC display. In this paper, the local area cell parameter, include cell gap, pre‐tilt angle and twist angle of dosage have been compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and objective: Immunosuppression is the main goal in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, and solid organ and tissue transplantation. However, due to a lack of liquid‐form medications, it is challenging to achieve adequate immunosuppression when the patient is using enteral feeding tubes. It is necessary to transform solid oral medications into other forms for administration. Besides that, the occupational risk should be considered, and safety‐handling measures should be taken. This review aimed to investigate the available evidence regarding the use of immunosuppressive drugs through enteral feeding tubes, focusing on the administration technique, efficacy and treatment safety. Methods: We performed an integrative review using the databases PubMed, LILACS, SciELO, Cochrane and Google Scholar, including papers published between 1997 and 2017 in Portuguese, English and Spanish. We excluded editorials, theoretical reflections, abstracts presented at events, dissertations, theses, monographs and studies with extemporaneous formulations administered only by the oral route. In addition, we investigated the references of the included papers, as well as pharmaceutical guides, books and package inserts of selected drugs for additional evidence. Information and recommendations found were analysed and classified according to the GRADE system. Results and discussion: Fifty papers were identified, and 14 met the selection criteria. Among the assessed immunosuppressive drugs, we observed that tacrolimus, mycophenolic acid derivatives and azathioprine were the most studied, and they have more guided recommendations regarding their use through enteral feeding tubes. We noted the need for personal protective equipment for the conversion of the solid oral dosage forms, along with special caution during administration, due to occupational hazard. Other important factors identified were the position of the tube and interactions with the enteral nutrition, because they may compromise absorption, bioavailability and serum blood levels of immunosuppressive agents. However, the studies found have methodological limitations and poor quality, and this was taken into consideration during the classification of the evidence. What is new and conclusion: The lack of information about the administration of immunosuppressive drugs through enteral feeding tubes should not be a limiting factor, considering the need for treatment of patients in these circumstances. Risks and benefits must be carefully analysed, and factors regarding compounding and administration through the enteral tube must be considered before beginning treatment. Hence, more primary studies are necessary for better fundamental clinical management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) is the most common microdeletion in humans with over 180 phenotypic expressions. Approximately 30–40% of affected individuals will develop psychosis and 25% meet the criteria for schizophrenia. Despite this, pharmacotherapy for managing psychosis in 22q11.2DS is poorly understood and 22q11.2DS psychosis is frequently labelled as treatment resistant. The objectives of this paper are to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of pharmacotherapy for 22q11.2DS psychosis and evaluate the evidence for treatment resistance. Method: A systematic search was performed using CINAHL, The Cochrane Library (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Cochrane Clinical Answers), EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection from inception to December 2022. It yielded 39 case reports, 6 case series and 1 retrospective study which met the inclusion criteria. Results: Based on the current literature, individuals with 22q11.2DS psychosis experience a greater rate of medical co-morbidities such as cardiac arrhythmias, seizures and movement disorders, which complicate pharmacotherapy. Poor tolerability rather than poor clinical response motivates the switching of antipsychotics, which may explain the labelling of treatment resistance in the literature. Conclusion: There are insufficient data to recommend a single antipsychotic for 22q11.2DS psychosis. Nonetheless, with proactive management of co-morbidities, antipsychotic medication in 22q11.2DS psychosis is an effective treatment commonly resulting in improvement in quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most drugs, there is a concentration below for which the drug is ineffective and a concentration above for which the drug is dangerous. In this paper, we will study how the dosage and dosing intervals can be modified to ensure a safe, yet efficient level of the drug in the bloodstream using calculus. In particular, we will study the concentration of a drug over time and its dosing schedule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results from the numerical and experimental evaluation of the effect of various parameters on the properties of basalt fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (BCCs). The parameters considered in this study are the fly ash-portland cement content ratio, sand-binder ratio, water-binder ratio, and dosage of basalt fibers. The mixtures investigated were designed using the Taguchi method, and the corresponding compressive strength and permeability properties were investigated. Findings from this study show that the use of basalt fiber at a dosage of 2% is optimum to achieve good strength and permeability properties. Optimized results also show a good correlation with experimental results. The optimized composite with compressive strength, sorption, and porosity of 26.1 MPa, 0.4 mm, and 4.81%, respectively, experimentally yielded a corresponding 24.6 MPa, 0.32 mm, and 4.03% for compressive strength, sorption, and porosity, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of adhesive joint strength with consideration of the inaccuracy of the hardener dosage, in the context of evaluating the degradation of joints when used either at ambient or elevated temperatures. The butt joint strength characteristics were assessed for two types of adhesives—rigid and flexible—and two curing scenarios—with and without heat curing. An excess hardener was shown to be significantly more unfavourable than its deficiency, which can ultimately be considered as a recommendation for forming epoxy adhesive joint assemblies. In order to fully understand the relationship between the analysed mechanical properties of the material and the influence of component ratio excesses and heating, a process of fitting basic mathematical models to the obtained experimental data was also performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sinomenine (SIN), a natural product, has been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in China for thousands of years. SIN has been developed for the treatment of RA by way of tablets and injections, but both dosage forms have been associated with severe adverse reactions. Making SIN into liposomes-in-hydrogel biomaterials for external use has a good slow-release effect and can play an important role in avoiding the first-pass effect, gastrointestinal reaction, and increasing the local action time of drugs. SIN-loaded liposomes were formed by the thin-film dispersion method, then SIN-loaded liposomes-in-hydrogels were prepared by combining the SIN-L with hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels. In this paper, the basic characteristics, In vitro and Ex vivo release, and antioxidant activity of SIN-loaded liposomes-in-hydrogels were studied. The results showed that SIN-loaded liposomes-in-hydrogels have good sustained-release and antioxidant effects, and the preparation is expected to be a good biomaterial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effectiveness of steel fibers in low dosage or volume fraction, 0.17% and 0.34%, as a mean to enhance the post-cracking web-shear strength of precast hollow-core slabs. The experimental campaign includes 26 specimens, 200 and 300 mm thick, tested in three series. Series I and II investigated the influence of fiber-volume fraction. Series III focused on evaluating the interdependency between the prestressed strand transfer length and post-cracking web-shear strength. The shear performance was assessed in terms of: 1) post-cracking strength; 2) toughness index; and 3) crack width. The test results showed improvements in all three performance indexes: post-cracking web-shear and toughness indexes increased by up to 90% and 50%, respectively, at three times the cracking deflection, while crack widths decreased by down to 80% when using 0.34%. Despite the increase in the post-cracking web-shear strength, no increase in the peak shear strength was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser-driven ion beams have gained considerable attention for their potential use in multidisciplinary research and technology. Preclinical studies into their radiobiological effectiveness have established the prospect of using laser-driven ion beams for radiotherapy. In particular, research into the beneficial effects of ultrahigh instantaneous dose rates is enabled by the high ion bunch charge and uniquely short bunch lengths present for laser-driven ion beams. Such studies require reliable, online dosimetry methods to monitor the bunch charge for every laser shot to ensure that the prescribed dose is accurately applied to the biological sample. In this paper, we present the first successful use of an Integrating Current Transformer (ICT) for laser-driven ion accelerators. This is a noninvasive diagnostic to measure the charge of the accelerated ion bunch. It enables online estimates of the applied dose in radiobiological experiments and facilitates ion beam tuning, in particular, optimization of the laser ion source, and alignment of the proton transport beamline. We present the ICT implementation and the correlation with other diagnostics, such as radiochromic films, a Thomson parabola spectrometer, and a scintillator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Pesticide Science / Nongyaoxue Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Pesticide Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Pesticide Science / Nongyaoxue Xuebao is the property of Chinese Journal of Pesticide Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In the practical application of water treatment, the Fenton reaction usually works at a lower pH. To overcome the above shortcomings, a Fenton-like reaction system with copper sulfate as a catalyst was proposed. In this paper, quinoline was used as the target pollutant and the effects of catalyst dosage, H2O2 dosage, reaction temperature, and initial concentration of quinoline and pH on the removal effect were investigated, and the evolution in pH and hydroxyl radical concentration during reaction, as well as the possible catalytic mechanism and degradation pathway were clarified. The results show that under a catalyst dosage of 0.4 g·L-1, a H2O2 dosage of 196 mmol·L-1, a quinoline concentration of 100 mg·L-1 and a temperature of 75°C, the removal of quinoline and total organic carbon (TOC) reaches 99.5% and 87.2% in 65 min, respectively. Furthermore, the copper sulfate-driven homogeneous Fenton system exhibits a superior adaptability to pH in the range of 3.8 to 8.8. In the degradation of quinoline, ·OH radicals may attack the nitrogen ring and the benzene ring in sequence. The work provides a technical support for the treatment of organic wastewater, and shows promising in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society is the property of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper investigated the influence of water-borne epoxy resin emulsion (WER) dosage on the properties of modified emulsified asphalt and analyzed the modification mechanism of WER on emulsified asphalt. Water-borne epoxy modified emulsified asphalt was used to prepare MS-2 micro-surfacing mixture, and dispersed demulsifier was introduced to improve the construction performance of the mixture. The best content of each component and the best asphalt -aggregate ratio were obtained through orthogonal test. The results show that 6% water-borne epoxy emulsion asphalt has the best compatibility and storage stability. With the increase of water-borne epoxy content, the low-temperature performance of water-borne epoxy emulsion asphalt becomes worse and the anti-aging performance increases. The optimum asphalt-aggregate ratio of MS-2 micro-surfacing is 7.5%. When the added water is 3%, the cement content is 1%, and the dispersed demulsifier content is 0.25%, the prepared micro-surfacing has good water damage resistance, rutting resistance, tensile strength and cohesiveness, which can meet the normal use requirements of pavement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current dose-finding designs for phase I clinical trials can correctly select the MTD in a range of 30-80% depending on various conditions based on a sample of 30 subjects. However, there is still an unmet need for efficiency and cost saving.Methods: We propose a novel dose-finding design based on Bayesian stochastic approximation. The design features utilization of dose level information through local adaptive modelling and free assumption of toxicity probabilities and hyper-parameters. It allows a flexible target toxicity rate and varying cohort size. And we extend it to accommodate historical information via prior effective sample size. We compare the proposed design to some commonly used methods in terms of accuracy and safety by simulation.Results: On average, our design can improve the percentage of correct selection to about 60% when the MTD resides at a early or middle position in the search domain and perform comparably to other competitive methods otherwise. A free online software package is provided to facilitate the application, where a simple decision tree for the design can be pre-printed beforehand.Conclusion: The paper proposes a novel dose-finding design for phase I clinical trials. Applying the design to future cancer trials can greatly improve the efficiency, consequently save cost and shorten the development period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lead–zinc ore is a typical low-grade complex polymetallic sulphide ore. Its typical mineralogy is characterized by a high content of cryptocrystalline graphite, low content of lead, zinc, and copper, and fine grain size. However, the aggregation size of sulfide mineral aggregations is coarse, and the symbiotic relationship is relatively simple. Conventional process treatment requires the fine grinding of ore into mineral monomer dissociations followed by preferential flotation, but this method has a poor sorting index and high production cost. In this paper, the grain size of the sulfide mineral aggregates determined by mineralogical studies is used to determine the fineness of the grinding, so that the liberation degree of the sulfide ore in the coarse grinding product reaches 70%, and each flotation process is used to collect rough concentrate. In the first step of flotation, the carbon in lead–zinc sulfide ore was removed by adding #2 oil to the flotation tank at a dosage of 40 g/t. In the second flotation process, the pH was adjusted to 7.2, the dosage of isopropyl xanthate was 20 g/t, the dosage of #2 oil was 30 g/t; the flotation reagent in the third step was isopropyl xanthate, and the dosage was 7.5 g/t, with a #2 oil of 15 g/t. Each flotation process concentrate is collected. Finally, the grades of lead and zinc in the final concentrate were 1.6% and 5.71%, respectively. In addition, the recoveries of lead and zinc were 91.78% and 92.07%, respectively. The yield of tailings was 50.6%. By the flotation of sulfide aggregates, a large number of gangues are avoided to participate in fine grinding, which helps to reduce the energy consumption of the mill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, addressing issues of the steel slag cementing, such as low activity and poor stability problem, calcium, aluminum and other components were introduced to reconstruct the steel slag with adding different proportions of MnO2 and analyzed using XRD, EDS, heat of hydration and activity index. And the study focuses on the effect of MnO2 doping on mineral formation and mechanical properties of reconstructed steel slag. The results show that at high temperatures, the doping of MnO2 can improve the ease of burning of reconstituted steel slag, and the effect of increasing the doping is significant. The incorporation of MnO2 promotes the formation of C4AF minerals, reduces the content of MgO, and has little influence on the formation of C2S. Mn3+ is easy to replace Fe3+ in C4AF to form solid solution. MnO2 can obviously promote the hydration of reconstructed steel slag, which shows that the acceleration period is advanced and the induction period is shortened. The gelling activity index increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of MnO2 dosage. When the dosage was 2.0%,the gelling activity was the best, the 90d compressive strength was 104.95 MPa, and the activity index was about 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of specific data about the efficacy and safety of medications administered via feeding tubes, although there is a general awareness that not all drug formulations are suitable. Aims and objectives: To overview the current situation with solid medications administered through feeding tubes in the Tartu University Hospital intensive care units. To evaluate the availability of information on the suitability of drug formulations for administration via feeding tubes. Design: This was a descriptive retrospective document analysis study. Methods: During visits to the intensive care units, medication data for current patients were collected from paper medical charts and nurses. In addition, package information leaflets, summaries of product characteristics, and two practical handbooks were used for evaluating the medicines' suitability for administration via feeding tubes. A request for information was also sent to manufacturers or marketing authorization holders. Results: In 3 months, data were collected from 113 intensive care patients' medical charts. A total of 306 medication administrations via feeding tubes were documented and analysed, 67% of which were solid oral dosage forms. Exactly 91.2% of these were conventional tablets. After the analysis of information availability, 88% of the medications were classified as suitable for administration via feeding tubes, but only 48% had the manufacturer‐provided information. Conclusion: This study showed that the information about the suitability of formulations administration through a feeding tube is not readily available for almost half of the medications. The manufacturers seem to have the relevant information, but it is not always added to their medications' official information, putting these patients at higher risk for errors. Relevance to Clinical Practice: This study shows that if there is no clear statement about administration through feeding tubes on official manufacturers' information, this should be sought directly from manufacturers or marketing authorization holders, and the data could be incorporated into local guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forest Engineering is the property of Forest Engineering Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)