5,393 research outputs found

    2014 ACSSC Program

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    Developing Implants for Ophthalmic Drug Delivery and Flow Modulation

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    Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Surgical interventions are frequently necessary to lower the intraocular pressure (IOP) and do so by creating a new channel for aqueous humour to drain into the subconjunctival space. This channel can be formed by performing a glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS) or by implanting a glaucoma drainage device (GDD). However, excessive scarring at the surgical site blocks aqueous outflow, elevates IOP, and results in treatment failure. Drugs injected locally to control scarring rapidly clear from the subconjunctiva, and current implants are susceptible to a foreign body response. This work investigated strategies that could improve the outcomes of these current glaucoma interventions. First, drug-eluting spacers were formulated using established biocompatible materials to prolong drug release in conditions representing the subconjunctival space post-GFS or GDD implantation. Of these formulations, the spacer containing non-ionic surfactant, Brij 98, at a concentration of 1.25% w/v was able to prolong the release of dexamethasone from poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) pHEMA hydrogels significantly longer (>30 days) than hydrogels containing no surfactant (<7 days) at therapeutically relevant drug concentrations in vitro. Next, engineering principles were applied to inflated elastomeric membranes, which provided novel insights into considerations needed to design a novel ophthalmic drug delivery pump. Pocket geometry and material properties had a significant impact on internal pressure and subsequent pump function. Modelling data supports the feasibility of elastomeric pumps for prolonged subconjunctival drug delivery. Finally, an alternative mechanism of IOP control was investigated. Novel and established hydrogel formulations were evaluated for aqueous permeability and mechanical integrity. Despite evidence to suggest the feasibility of hydrogels to modulate aqueous flow, the in vitro permeability of hydrogel candidates was determined to be too low to maintain optimal IOP. Furthermore, hydrogel permeability tended to negate its mechanical integrity, making them unsuitable candidate materials for GDD development

    ShapeClip: towards rapid prototyping with shape-changing displays for designers

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    This paper presents ShapeClip: a modular tool capable of transforming any computer screen into a z-actuating shape-changing display. This enables designers to produce dynamic physical forms by "clipping" actuators onto screens. ShapeClip displays are portable, scalable, fault-tolerant, and support runtime re-arrangement. Users are not required to have knowledge of electronics or programming, and can develop motion designs with presentation software, image editors, or web-technologies. To evaluate ShapeClip we carried out a full-day workshop with expert designers. Participants were asked to generate shape-changing designs and then construct them using ShapeClip. ShapeClip enabled participants to rapidly and successfully transform their ideas into functional systems

    Vaginal Formulations for Prevention of Sexual Transmission of HIV

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    According to UNAIDS, as there is still no effective vaccine against HIV, pre-exposure prophylasis (PrEP) is necessary to reduce its incidence. Sexual transmission rate is higher from men to women in developing countries and vertical transmission may also occur from mother to child. Hence, vaginal formulations are an interesting proposal for the protection of women, preventing the virus from infecting vagina through different mechanisms. Several drugs, such as Dapivirine, Tenofovir or Maraviroc, have been assessed and showed to be effective in this field. These microbicides are included in different dosage forms able to release the drug once in contact with the vaginal medium. Innovative excipients are being employed for the development of different systems trying to get an easier posology through control release and high comfortability, thus leading to a better compliance. In this line, several formulations have been developed and tested, such as rings, tablets, gels or films. Some of them are nowadays in clinical trials, such as a Tenofovir gel or a Dapivirine vaginal ring. The aim of this chapter is to synthetize the research and findings in the field of the development and assessment of vaginal formulations in the PrEP of HIV sexual transmission

    Sensing Systems for Respiration Monitoring: A Technical Systematic Review

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    Respiratory monitoring is essential in sleep studies, sport training, patient monitoring, or health at work, among other applications. This paper presents a comprehensive systematic review of respiration sensing systems. After several systematic searches in scientific repositories, the 198 most relevant papers in this field were analyzed in detail. Different items were examined: sensing technique and sensor, respiration parameter, sensor location and size, general system setup, communication protocol, processing station, energy autonomy and power consumption, sensor validation, processing algorithm, performance evaluation, and analysis software. As a result, several trends and the remaining research challenges of respiration sensors were identified. Long-term evaluations and usability tests should be performed. Researchers designed custom experiments to validate the sensing systems, making it difficult to compare results. Therefore, another challenge is to have a common validation framework to fairly compare sensor performance. The implementation of energy-saving strategies, the incorporation of energy harvesting techniques, the calculation of volume parameters of breathing, or the effective integration of respiration sensors into clothing are other remaining research efforts. Addressing these and other challenges outlined in the paper is a required step to obtain a feasible, robust, affordable, and unobtrusive respiration sensing system

    3D PRINTING FOR THE FUTURE OF PHARMACEUTICALS DOSAGES FORMS

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    With the rapid pace of development in industrial sector, the pharma sector and researchers involved are equally contributing in developing the latest technology for the growth and development. The computer-aided designs and manufacturing that provides 3 Dimensional printed dosage forms is the new step being taken into consideration. With the FDA approval to first 3D printed tablet in August 2015, Spritam, 3 Dimensional printing (3DP) has become the all new method for preparation of drug delivery system. 3D printing has the capability of dispensing the drug more accurately, precisely, and the layer by layer assembly helps in forming complex composition and geometries. 3D printing enables the preparation of personalised dosage form and tailored release profiles. 3D printing can be seen as future of solid dosage forms produced on demand, with customised dose and possibly lower in cost. It can help in reducing side effects caused by excessive doses. This review highlights the 3D printing technology and its applications in growth of pharmaceutical sector. An overview of reviews was conducted to locate published literature between 2000 and 2017

    Studies on the aqueous film coating of tablets using model systems.

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    SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D42579/82 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

    In-situ, near real-time acquisition of particle movement in rotating drum coating equipment

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    The uniformity of coating applied to large particles and tablets in rotating-drum coating devices is of significant interest to the Pharmaceutical Industry, especially when the coating contains active material or provides a sustained release barrier for drug transport in a functional coat. As tablets move around the coating drum, they periodically spend time at the surface of the avalanching layer and pass through the spray zone. During this time they receive amounts of coating solution proportional to both the time spent in the spray zone and the area exposed to the spray. The purpose of this research was to quantify parameters that characterize the movement of tablets through the spray region. The three parameters of greatest interest are (1) Circulation time (taucirc), defined as the time between successive particle sightings at the surface of the bed (2) Surface exposure time (tausurface), defined as the time that a particle spends at the surface of the bed within the spray zone during each pass (3) Surface area of the tablet projected toward the spray source (nozzle) during each pass through the spray zone (A tab).;In order to measure these parameters, a digital imaging system was developed and implemented to analyze images of the surface of the tumbling tablet bed. A single white tracer particle was introduced into a bed of black tablets. The tracer particle location and movement at the surface of the bed were analyzed using machine-vision software at a framing rate of 25 Hz. Data for tau circ and tausurface were compared on a qualitative level with previous studies, and similar decreasing trends have been observed in both sets of data with increasing drum speeds, drum loadings, and tablet size. Atab and surface velocities (Vy) were also estimated for the movement of tablets through the spray zone in the rotating drum. This study proves that machine vision software and digital imaging can be applied successfully to the acquisition of tablet movement on the surface of moving beds in rotating drum coating equipment. The independent variables drum speed, drum loading, and tablet size showed significant effects (p\u3c0.05 ANOVA) on the dependent parameters, tau circ, tausurface, A tab and Vy. However baffles were not significant for the circulation times, but influenced the other parameters. Linear regression models were calculated for the dependent parameters assuming linear effects of all the independent variables

    Novel Smart N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator with Real-time Adaptive Fit Functionality and Wireless Humidity Monitoring for Enhanced Wearable Comfort

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    The widespread emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed our lifestyle, and facial respirators have become an essential part of daily life. Nevertheless, the current respirators possess several limitations such as poor respirator fit because they are incapable of covering diverse human facial sizes and shapes, potentially diminishing the effect of wearing respirators. In addition, the current facial respirators do not inform the user of the air quality within the smart facepiece respirator in case of continuous long-term use. Here, we demonstrate the novel smart N-95 filtering facepiece respirator that incorporates the humidity sensor and pressure sensory feedback-enabled self-fit adjusting functionality for the effective performance of the facial respirator to prevent the transmission of airborne pathogens. The laser-induced graphene (LIG) constitutes the humidity sensor, and the pressure sensor array based on the dielectric elastomeric sponge monitors the respirator contact on the face of the user, providing the sensory information for a closed-loop feedback mechanism. As a result of the self-fit adjusting mode along with elastomeric lining, the fit factor is increased by 3.20 and 5 times at average and maximum respectively. We expect that the experimental proof-of-concept of this work will offer viable solutions to the current commercial respirators to address the limitations.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, submitted for possible publicatio

    New generation of interactive platforms based on novel printed smart materials

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    Programa doutoral em Engenharia Eletrónica e de Computadores (área de Instrumentação e Microssistemas Eletrónicos)The last decade was marked by the computer-paradigm changing with other digital devices suddenly becoming available to the general public, such as tablets and smartphones. A shift in perspective from computer to materials as the centerpiece of digital interaction is leading to a diversification of interaction contexts, objects and applications, recurring to intuitive commands and dynamic content that can proportionate more interesting and satisfying experiences. In parallel, polymer-based sensors and actuators, and their integration in different substrates or devices is an area of increasing scientific and technological interest, which current state of the art starts to permit the use of smart sensors and actuators embodied within the objects seamlessly. Electronics is no longer a rigid board with plenty of chips. New technological advances and perspectives now turned into printed electronics in polymers, textiles or paper. We are assisting to the actual scaling down of computational power into everyday use objects, a fusion of the computer with the material. Interactivity is being transposed to objects erstwhile inanimate. In this work, strain and deformation sensors and actuators were developed recurring to functional polymer composites with metallic and carbonaceous nanoparticles (NPs) inks, leading to capacitive, piezoresistive and piezoelectric effects, envisioning the creation of tangible user interfaces (TUIs). Based on smart polymer substrates such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), among others, prototypes were prepared using piezoelectric and dielectric technologies. Piezoresistive prototypes were prepared with resistive inks and restive functional polymers. Materials were printed by screen printing, inkjet printing and doctor blade coating. Finally, a case study of the integration of the different materials and technologies developed is presented in a book-form factor.A última década foi marcada por uma alteração do paradigma de computador pelo súbito aparecimento dos tablets e smartphones para o público geral. A alteração de perspetiva do computador para os materiais como parte central de interação digital levou a uma diversificação dos contextos de interação, objetos e aplicações, recorrendo a comandos intuitivos e conteúdos dinâmicos capazes de tornarem a experiência mais interessante e satisfatória. Em simultâneo, sensores e atuadores de base polimérica, e a sua integração em diferentes substratos ou dispositivos é uma área de crescente interesse científico e tecnológico, e o atual estado da arte começa a permitir o uso de sensores e atuadores inteligentes perfeitamente integrados nos objetos. Eletrónica já não é sinónimo de placas rígidas cheias de componentes. Novas perspetivas e avanços tecnológicos transformaram-se em eletrónica impressa em polímeros, têxteis ou papel. Neste momento estamos a assistir à redução da computação a objetos do dia a dia, uma fusão do computador com a matéria. A interatividade está a ser transposta para objetos outrora inanimados. Neste trabalho foram desenvolvidos atuadores e sensores e de pressão e de deformação com recurso a compostos poliméricos funcionais com tintas com nanopartículas (NPs) metálicas ou de base carbónica, recorrendo aos efeitos capacitivo, piezoresistivo e piezoelétrico, com vista à criação de interfaces de usuário tangíveis (TUIs). Usando substratos poliméricos inteligentes tais como fluoreto de polivinilideno (PVDF) ou politereftalato de etileno (PET), entre outos, foi possível a preparação de protótipos de tecnologia piezoelétrica ou dielétrica. Os protótipos de tecnologia piezoresistiva foram feitos com tintas resistivas e polímeros funcionais resistivos. Os materiais foram impressos por serigrafia, jato de tinta, impressão por aerossol e revestimento de lâmina doctor blade. Para terminar, é apresentado um caso de estudo da integração dos diferentes materiais e tecnologias desenvolvidos sob o formato de um livro.This project was supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, within the doctorate grant with reference SFRH/BD/110622/2015, by POCH – Programa Operacional Capital Humano, and by EU – European Union
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