Search

In this study, an in-depth comparison was made between batch and continuous direct compression using similar compression set-ups. The overall material processability and final tablet quality were compared and evaluated. Correlations between material properties, process parameters and final tablet properties were made via multivariate data analyses. In total, 10 low-dosed (1% w/w) and 10 high-dosed (40% w/w) formulations were processed, using a total of 10 different fillers/filler combinations. The trials indicated that the impact of filler type, drug load or process settings was similar for batch and continuous direct compression. The main differentiator between batch and continuous was the flow dynamics in the operating system, where properties related to flow, compressibility and permeability played a crucial role. The less consistent flow throughout a batch process resulted in a significantly higher variability within the tablet press (σCF) and for the tablet quality responses (σMass, σTS). However, the better controlled blending procedure prior to batch processing was reflected in a more consistent API concentration variability. Overall, the comparison showed the benefits of selecting appropriate excipients and process settings to achieve a specific outcome, keeping in mind some key differentiators between both processes.

In addition to physical and chemical properties of citrus fruit, its quality depends on antioxidant compounds such as ascorbic acid, phenols, flavonoids and antioxidant enzymes. Flavonoids group, especially flavonoid glycosides are dominant in citrus, which prevent chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this experiment, the total flavonoids, naringin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, quercetin and catechin were measured in the mature and ripe fruits of six citrus varieties (Thomson, Siavaraz, Moro, Sanguinello, Tarocco and Page) by HPLC analysis. The results showed that all cultivars had high level of total flavonoid at the ripening stage. The amount of naringin was highest in 'Thomson' and 'Tarocco' (with 452.8 and 824.8 μgg-1 respectively) at maturity phase. Hesperidin accumulation was higher in blood oranges than blond varieties. The Sanguinello and Siavaraz had the highest value of neohesperidin especially in ripe fruits. The pulp of Tarocco had the highest level of catechin with 24.36 μgg-1 followed by Siavaraz with 10.6 μgg-1 at ripening stage. The Quercetin levels were higher in immature fruits selected from Thomson, Siavaraz and Tarocco varieties. Among the studied varieties, 'Tarocco' variety showed higher levels of flavonoid compounds at the ripened or mature stage.

In this study, the new mobile robot structure with N parallel axles was designed and developed, as well as its motion equations derived. It uses several parallel axes, which increase its mobility at different surface conditions compared to similar ones. The number of parallel axes in such robotic systems makes studies of the effect of slip mandatory due to the increase in the wheels' contact area. These effects make a difference in the mobile robot kinematic constraints equations. On the other hand, added parallel axels prepare the capability for motion on rough and uneven surfaces. But the mobile platform requires a suspension system to reduce the effects of oscillations due to the floor. Finally, the dynamics model of a mobile robot obtains by considering the effect of wheels' slips, suspension, and parallel axles using Lagrange equations. The concluded model is simulated for a two-axis mobile robot with four wheels in different surface conditions. It can be seen that the deviation of the robot is eminent, besides that the wheel's slips affect the system performance based on the oor conditions. Consequently, the robot deviation on ice is less than that on loose gravel, while the mentioned deviation on loose gravel is twice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urinary tract Infections is the most frequently diagnosed kidney and urologic diseases and Escherichia coli is the most common pathogen found in urinary tract infections. The most frequent serogroups determined in the P- fimbriated strains belonged to one of the six serogroups O1, O2, O4, O6, O7, O18. In E. coli strains, the P fimbriae are considered an essential virulence factor causing pyelonephritis the pap operon encodes for the p fimbriae adhesion. Methods: 130 E. coli strains were isolated from 130 patients with UTI, symptoms and bacteriuria >105 CFU/ml. All of the isolated E. coli were serotyped using 13 different O-antisera. The DNA was released from whole organisms by boiling. Pap gene was detected in all isolated strains using PCR. Pap1 and pap2 25-mer primers were used for PCR and DNA target segment were 328 bp. Results: Serogroups O6(23.84%), O18(12.30%) and O15(6.93%) were the predominant serogroups, respectively. The 44 strains (33.86%) were non-typeable and 61% strains in this study were positive for the pap operon. Conclusion: The pap operon investigated in this study was particularly present in strains belonging to 4 sero-groups most frequently detected in uropathogenic E. coli. Urinary tract infection are caused by a limited number of uropathogenic E.coli strains that predominant possess the pap adhesion-encoding operons.

Aim: To compare shock wave-enhanced emission photoacoustic streaming (SWEEPS) with sonic- and ultrasonically activated irrigation systems in removing Enterococcus faecalis biofilm from the root canal system. Methodology: Fifty human single-canalled mandibular premolars were included in the study. After access cavity preparation, the root canals were prepared to a standardized size and taper. Then, the entire root surface was covered with two layers of resin, and the root apices were sealed before sterilization. All root canals were inoculated with E. faecalis biofilm, and the samples were incubated aerobically for 2 weeks at 37 °C. Biofilm formation was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. All samples were randomly divided into five groups ( n = 10 each) based on their irrigation activation method as A (no treatment or negative control), B (no irrigation or positive control), C (sonically activated irrigation (SAI)), D (ultrasonically activated irrigation (UAI)), and E (needle irrigation activated by an Er: YAG laser device using a SWEEPS quartz tip (SWEEPS)). Then, dentine chips were retrieved, vortexed, and diluted for colony-forming unit counts. Data were analysed using analysis of variance and post-hoc Tukey tests (α = 5%). Results: All methods could significantly reduce E. faecalis biofilm compared with control so that the UAI, SWEEPS, and SAI groups indicated a 23.54%, 14.89%, and 7.81% biofilm reduction, respectively. UAI demonstrated a significantly more effective reduction of E. faecalis biofilm than SAI ( p = 0.004). Conclusions: All irrigation activation methods significantly reduced E. faecalis biofilm, with ultrasonic use being the most effective.

Introduction: The pharmaceutical industry is gradually changing batch-wise manufacturing processes to continuous manufacturing processes, due to the advantages it has to offer. The final product quality and process efficiency of continuous manufacturing processes is among others impacted by the properties of the raw materials. Existing knowledge on the role of raw material properties in batch processing is however not directly transferable to continuous processes, due to the inherent differences between batch and continuous processes., Areas Covered: A review is performed to evaluate the role of excipient properties for different unit operations used in continuous manufacturing processes. Unit operations that will be discussed include feeding, blending, granulation, final blending, and compression., Expert Opinion: Although the potency of continuous manufacturing is widely recognized, full utilization still requires a number of challenges to be addressed effectively. An expert opinion will be provided that discusses those challenges and potential solutions to overcome those challenges. The provided overview can serve as a framework for the pharmaceutical industry to push ahead process optimization and formulation development for continuous manufacturing processes.

Continuous Direct Compaction (CDC) has emerged as a promising route towards producing solid dosage forms while reducing material, development time and energy consumption. Understanding the response of powder processing unit operations, especially blenders, is crucial. There is a substantial body of work around how lubrication via batch blender operation affects tablet critical quality attributes such as hardness and tensile strength. But, aside from being batch operations, the design of these blenders is such that they operate with low-shear, low-intensity mixing at Froude number values significantly below 0.4 (Froude number Fr being the dimensionless ratio of inertial to gravitational forces). The present work explores the performance of a mini-blender which has a fundamentally different mode of operation (static vessel with rotating blades around a mixing shaft as opposed to rotating vessel with no mixing shaft). This difference allows a substantially wider operating range in terms of speed and shear (and Fr values). The present work evaluates how its performance compares to other blenders studied in the literature. Tablet compaction data from blends produced at various intensities and regimes of mixing in the mini-blender follow a common trajectory. Model equations from literature are suitably modified by inclusion of the Froude number Fr, but only for situations where the Froude number was sufficiently high (1 < Fr). The results suggest that although a similar lubrication extent plateau is eventually reached it is the intensity of mixing (i.e. captured using the Froude number as a surrogate) which is important for the lubrication dynamics in the mini-blender, next to the number of revolutions. The degree of fill or headspace, on the other hand, is only crucial to the performance of common batch blenders. Testing using alternative formulations shows the same common trend across mixing intensities, suggesting the validity of the approach to capture lubrication dynamics for this system., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Bernhard Meir reports a relationship with Gericke AG that includes: employment. Sara Fathollahi reports a relationship with DFE Pharma GmbH & Co. KG that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of the current study was to investigate the frequency of variations of the extensor tendons of the carpus and digits in the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) with a reexamination of their insertions as well as the morphometric measurements of the tendons and the brachioradialis muscle. In total, we investigated 68 paired thoracic limbs of the domestic dog (16 females and 18 males) which were fixed in a 10% formalin solution., Results: The extensor carpi radialis (ECR) tendons showed striking variations in both splitting and insertion sites. In 4.4% of dissections, ECR had three tendons. Of these tendons, the extra tendon either attached independently on the fourth metacarpal bone (one right) or joined its counterpart tendon at the distal end (cross-connections) (one bilateral). It is worth mentioning that one of the ECR tendons split into two or three slips which inserted on the first, second, third, or fourth metacarpal bone in 11 (16.2%) of the specimens. In addition, we found a long tendinous slip originating from the ECR tendons to digit II or III in 7.4% of the distal limbs. The most common type of contribution to digit III was a third tendon of the extensor digiti I et II (ED III) joining the extensor digitorum lateralis (EDL III) with a frequency of 17.6%. In other types of variations, the contribution to digit III was incomplete. A part of the abductor pollicis longus (APL) deep to the superficial part of the flexor retinaculum seemed to continue up to the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) tendon., Conclusions: The rare intraspecific variations of the extensor tendons of the manus described in the current research are valuable from both clinical and phylogenetic perspectives. Nonetheless, their functional importance needs more studies., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

This paper proposes a feed rate control strategy for a novel volumetric micro-feeder, which can accomplish low-dose feeding of pharmaceutical raw materials with significantly different powder properties. The developed feed-forward control strategy enables a constant feed rate with a minimum deviation from the set-point, even for materials that are typically difficult to accurately feed (e.g., due to high cohesion or low density) using conventional continuous feeders. Density variations observed during the feeding process were characterized via a displacement feed factor profile for each powder. The characterized effective displacement density profile was applied in the micro-feeder system to proactively control the feed rate by manipulating the powder displacement rate (i.e., computing the feed rate from the powder displacement rate). Based on the displacement feed factor profile, the feed rate can be predicted during the feeding process and at any feed rate set-point. Three pharmaceutically relevant materials were used for the micro-feeder evaluation: di-calcium phosphate (large-particle system, high density), croscarmellose sodium (small-particle system, medium density), and barium sulfate (very small-particle <10 μm, high density). A significant improvement in the feeding performance was achieved for all investigated materials. The feed rate deviation from the set-point and its relative standard deviation were minimal compared to operations without the control strategy., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and low-dose excipients, or excipients with very low density, are notoriously hard to feed with currently available commercial technology. The micro-feeder system presented in this work is capable of feeding low-dose rates of powders with different particle sizes and flow properties. Two different grades of lactose, di-calcium phosphate, croscarmellose sodium, silicon dioxide, a spray-dried intermediate, and an active ingredient were studied to vary material properties to test performance of the system. The current micro-feeder system is a volumetric feeder combined with a weighing balance at the outlet that measures feeder output rates. Feeding results are shown as a so-called "displacement-feed factor" curve for each material. Since the powder mass and volume are known in the micro-feeder system, in this work, we characterized an observed density variation during processing via a "displacement-feed factor" profile for each of the fed powders. This curve can be later used for calibrating the system to ensure an accurate, constant feed rate and in addition predicting feeding performance for that material at any feed rate. There is a relation between powder properties and feeding performance. Powders with finer particles and higher compressibility show densification during their feeding process. However, powders with larger particles and lower compressibility show both "densification" and "powder bed expansion," which is the manifestation of dilation and elastic recovery of particles during the micro-feeding process. Through the application of the displacement-feed factor, it is possible to provide precise feeding accuracy of low-dose materials.

Objectives: Landmines remain a potential public health concern in the western and southern border regions of Iran. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related consequences of landmine explosions in Kurdistan Province during the past 4 decades., Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Kurdistan Province of Iran in 2016-2017. The data gathering process was questionnaire based. Survivors, or a member of the deceased's family, were interviewed, and 410 questionnaires were completed. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive or analytical tests in SPSS software V.22., Results: Antipersonnel landmines caused death immediately after the explosion 32.1% of the time, and 67.9% survived with various disabilities, such as blindness, deafness, and limb amputation. Sixty-three percent of the injuries were related to limb amputation, which was the most prevalent injury among survivors. The adjusted regression test revealed a significant relationship between severity of injury and variables such as living in the villages, education, and occupation (P-value < 0.05)., Conclusions: Recognizing the mined areas and intensifying clearance measures are crucial for Kurdistan Province. Providing landmine awareness programs is likely to yield useful results in reducing casualties. Also, landmine survivors should have access to physical and social rehabilitation programs.

Background: Constructions in informal settlements not respected any applying rules, regulations of urban planning, and building codes with high population density, are the municipality challenge. We aimed to identify level of buildings seismic vulnerability and population at risk in Tehran's Farahzad informal settlement in 2017., Methods: In this observational cross-sectional study, residential buildings were assessed for seismic performance of constructions. We screened 160 buildings according to Iranian national guidelines by Rapid Seismic Visual Screening Method as a tool to calculate and determine Level of Retrofitting (L R ) scores of buildings. We also interviewed residents of the buildings to collect data regarding socio-demographic data, individual disability status, Disaster Assessment of Readiness and Training (DART) regarding household disaster preparedness, and time occupancy in the buildings., Results: Overall, 160 buildings with 209 households and 957 individuals were surveyed. 97.5% of buildings were formed of heavy construction materials. None of them were categorized as engineered buildings and L R of residential buildings ranged from 82.4% to 163.8% with a mean 117.9%. L R scores of more than 100% were capped as 100%. Vulnerable groups of the sample population include under-five years old (8.7%), 60 yr old and above (6.7%), and 9.1% of households had at least one disabled member. 16.7% of households were living in homes with dense area. The DART score for 94.3% of surveyed households was zero., Conclusion: Disaster managers in Tehran municipality must design and implement a comprehensive risk reduction plan in poor urban areas as vulnerable regions for earthquake hazard., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests., (Copyright© Iranian Public Health Association & Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

Context: Information, specific tendencies, and skills are needed to provide oral care for the elderly population, and these skills should be learned in dental schools., Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the status of geriatric dentistry education and meeting the standards of facilities in dental schools in Iran., Settings and Design: In this cross-sectional study, sampling was done by census method, and all the 18 dental schools with a history of ≥6 years of establishment were selected., Materials and Methods: A checklist was prepared in two sections, including geriatric dentistry education (existence of specific education module, considered time, specific department, specific faculty members, continuing courses for dentists, relationship with geriatric nursing houses, referral system, and specific clinics) and facilities and was distributed among dental schools. The collected data were input into SPSS (Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) and analyzed descriptively., Results: After a regular follow-up, 11 dental schools returned the completed checklists. Eight (72%) of them had specific geriatric dentistry education module. Only one (9%) had specific faculty member, continuing educational course, mobile clinic, and regular connection with geriatric nursing houses. None of the dental schools had specific department, specific clinic for delivering care, and a referral system from hospitals to the schools. There were no dental schools with a special transportation system for the elderly and the staff to accompany the patients without attendants., Conclusion: The status of geriatric dental education in Iran seems not adequate. Furthermore, dental schools are not equipped with necessary facilities for delivering care to the elderly., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Background: To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.6 in Iran, we need to have a comprehensive understanding of the distribution of risky behaviours regarding road-traffic injuries at national and sub-national levels. Little is known about the road-use vulnerability patterns of road-traffic injuries in Iran. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of self-reported human risk factors in road-traffic injuries using the findings from a large-scale cross-sectional study based on the World Health Organization's stepwise approach to surveillance of non-communicable diseases (STEPs)., Methods: A cross-sectional survey study in 2016 assessed the road-use pattern and prevalence of risky behaviours of people more than 18 years old. In this study, we planned to recruit 31 050 individuals as a representative sample at national and provincial levels. In practice, 30 541 individuals (3105 clusters) from urban and rural areas of Iran were selected. Basic socio-demographic data, major behavioural risk factors such as seatbelt and helmet non-compliance, drunk driving and occupant in a car with a drunk driver were assessed through baseline interviews gathered through an Android tablet-based questionnaire., Results: The overall prevalence of seatbelt and helmet compliance was 75.2% (95% confidence interval: 74.7-75.7) and 13.9% (13.4-14.5), respectively, at the national level. The prevalence of risk-taking behaviours such as drink driving was 0.5% (0.4-0.6) and for being an occupant in a car with a drunk driver was 3.5% (3.2-3.8). At the provincial level, the highest age-standardized prevalence of seatbelt compliance (89.6%) was almost 1.5 times higher than the lowest provincial prevalence (58.5%). In 63% of provinces, the lowest prevalence of seatbelt compliance was observed among people aged 18-24 years old., Conclusions: In Iran, existing disease-prevention and health-promotion programmes should be expanded to target vulnerable subgroups that have more prevalent human risk factors for road-traffic injuries. Further research is required to investigate the context-specific proximal human risk factors and vulnerability patterns in Iran., (© The Author(s) 2019; all rights reserved. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association.)

In this paper, the optical force between two circular plasmonic wires of submicrometer diameter (0.3 μm) with nanometer surface-to-surface distances (3-30 nm) interacting with radiation of a complex point source (λ≈0.2 μm) is numerically studied. Calculations (which are based on the Müller integral equations and the Maxwell stress tensor) show that an attractive optical force with a number of distinct peaks is created in distances 3-10 nm. However, for plasmonic-dielectric and plasmonic-reflector double-wires, the optical force has no such peaks. Comparisons reveal that the peaks are originated from the excitation of coupled surface plasmon polaritons in the gap region between the plasmonic wires.

Robust and accurate powder micro-feeding (<100mg/s) and micro-dosing (<5 mg) are major challenges, especially with regard to regulatory limitations applicable to pharmaceutical development and production. Since known micro-feeders that yield feed rates below 5mg/s use gravimetric feeding principles, feed rates depend primarily on powder properties. In contrast, volumetric powder feeders do not require regular calibration because their feed rates are primarily determined by the feeder's characteristic volume replacement. In this paper, we present a volumetric micro-feeder based on a cylinder piston system (i.e., a powder pump), which allows accurate micro-feeding and feed rates of a few grams per hours even for very fine powders. Our experimental studies addressed the influence of cylinder geometries, the initial conditions of bulk powder, and the piston speeds. Additional computational studies via Discrete Element Method simulations offered a better understanding of the feeding process, its possible limitations and ways to overcome them. The powder pump is a simple yet valuable tool for accurate powder feeding at feed rates of several orders of magnitude., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Precise and effective feeding of small powder quantities remains a challenge in many fields, including pharmaceutical development and production. This paper demonstrates that a simple feeding principle can be applied to accomplish stable micro feeding (<100mg/s) and describes a gravimetric powder feeding system with a vibratory sieve mounted on a chute. Feeding was induced via vertical vibrations that can be adjusted within a broad range of frequencies and amplitudes. The feeding system was studied using different frequencies, amplitudes, sieves and powder properties. Feeding was characterized by means of a dynamic scale and high-speed camera recordings. The feeding system provided effective powder feeding even in a range of 1-2mg/s. It was shown that powder properties require special attention when the vibratory sieve-chute system operates at higher feed rates (or feeding times >30min), i.e., feeding at a higher throughput. A combination of discrete element method (DEM) simulations and compartment population balance model (PBM) was used to incorporate the proposed micro feed system into a continuous powder mixer (Gerike GCM250; Gerike Holding LTD., Regensdorf, Switzerland). It illustrates how oscillating feeding rates (the latter is a characteristic of the studied micro feeding system) affect the content uniformity of low dose blends, i.e., powder mixtures with a relatively low fraction of active pharmaceutical ingredient., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This paper describes a powder dosing system with a vibratory sieve mounted on a chute that doses particles into a capsule. Vertical vibration occurred with a broad range of frequencies and amplitudes. During dosing events, the fill weight was accurately recorded via a capacitance sensor, covering the capsules and making it possible to analyze filling characteristics, that is, the fill rates and their robustness. The range of frequencies and amplitudes was screened for settings that facilitated reasonable (no blocking, no spilling) fill rates for three lactose powders. The filling characteristics were studied within this operating space. The results reveal similar operating spaces for all investigated powders. The fill rate robustness varied distinctly in the operating space, which is of prime importance for selecting the settings for continuous feeding applications. In addition, we present accurate dosing studies utilizing the knowledge about the filling characteristics of each powder., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

β-Thalassemia (β-thal) is a hereditary autosomal disorder with decreased or absent β-globin chain synthesis. Two hundred and one unrelated β-thal carriers, attending the Kermanshah Medical Genetics Laboratory, Kermanshah, Iran, were investigated for β-globin gene mutations by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) and direct sequencing. Eighteen different mutations were identified in these subjects. Four of the mutations accounted for about 75.0% of the studied cases. IVS-II-1 (G>A) was the most frequent (45.8%) followed by codons 8/9 (+G) (15.9%), IVS-I-110 (G>A) (8.0%), IVS-I-6 (T>C) (5.5%), IVS-I-1 (G>A) (3.5%) and codon 44 (-C) (3.5%); the remaining 12 mutations were present with a frequency less than 3.0%. The mean corpuscular volume (MCV) values for males and females were 63.7 ± 3.7 and 63.2 ± 3.2 fL, respectively, while these values were 19.3 ± 1.6 and 19.3 ± 1.4 pg for mean corpuscular hemoglobin (Hb) (MCH). The mean Hb A2 values for males and females were 4.4 ± 0.5 and 4.1 ± 0.6%, respectively. This study provides a distribution guide for β-thal mutations in Kermanshah Province, West Iran.