A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF QUALITY CONTROL TESTING OF MEFENAMIC ACID TABLETS IN IRAQ

Objective: This research was performed to assess the quality of different marketed tablets having mefenamic acid (500 mg). The selected tablets are produced by numerous companies and presented in the Iraqi pharmaceutical marketplace. Methods: Different batches of mefenamic acid conventional tablets were exposed for several tests of quality control. These evaluation tests include hardness, weight variation, friability, disintegration time, drug content, and drug dissolution profile. The properties of these quality tests were made conferring to the specification of USP-pharmacopeia. Results: The data of this study indicate that each tablet of mefenamic acid batches conformed to the requirement of USP pharmacopeia, the hardness was (6.87-8.06 Kg/cm2), and the drug content results were (90.666-99.214%) within USP limitation. The data of disintegration time and weight uniformity were agreeable with pharmacopeia and the in vitro release assay showed that the release of each mefenamic acid marketed tablet was highest than (80 %) in 45 min, which reproducing compliance with the USP pharmacopeia's limitation. Conclusion: From this study, it was proved that all of the marketed brands of mefenamic acid tablets meet the standard character in the USP pharmacopeia for in vitro quality control tests

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Preparation and Evaluation of Hydrogel Containing Prednisolone Nanoparticles

Currently, nanoparticles technology is well known and it used to augment the rate of drug dissolution and considerably increased bioavailability. Nanoparticles have been combined with hydrogel to form nanoparticle-hydrogel hybrid system as a substitute to conventional dosage forms. The goal of this study is to prepare an effective hydrogel form containing prednisolone nanoparticles as a hybrid biomaterial system for transdermal application. Six hydrogel formulations containing prednisolone nanoparticles were prepared and characterized for particle size, entrapment efficiency, physical appearance, pH, drug content, spreadability test, viscosity, in-vitro drug release and ex-vivo diffusion. The results showed that the all preparations in the nanometer size and the drug content of prednisolone in hydrogel was ranged from 96.24% to 99.15% and there was a significant enhancement (p<0.05) in drug release and permeation from the prepared nanoparticles -hydrogel formulas when compared with plain hydrogel of prednisolone. From this study, it can be concluded that nanoparticle-hydrogel system could be a possible drug delivery technology for transdermal application of prednisolone drug

Reducing the Reactive Powder Concrete Weight by Using Building Waste as Replacement of Cement

The ability of reducing the high weight of reactive powder concrete (RPC) by decreasing the cement content using waste demolished building material to produce the eco-friendly sustainable RPC was the main goal of the experimental lab investigation. The collecting, crushing and grinding to high fineness the powder waste of clay brick, window glass and terrazzo tile constituted the best way to dispose without the need for a waste sanitary landfill. Nine RPC mixtures with 5, 10 and 15% partial replacement of cement weight in addition to control mix were prepared to investigate the strength. The slight enhancement strength of the RPC containing 5% of very fine powder clay brick or window glass or terrazzo tile as cement weight replacement cement up to (4.9,4.2,4.5)% - – brick, (2,1.8,1.6)% - – glass and (1.5,0.5,0.8)% - – tile for (compressive-flexural –tensile), respectively, at 28 days compared to the control mix. The percentage of 10% still yielded acceptable strength results, while 15% presented the starting of reduction of (compressive-flexural –tensile) strength

Experimental Investigation of Coiled Tubing Buckling Effect on Annular Frictional Pressure Losses

Coiled tubing (CT) technology has been widely used in oilfield operations, including workover applications. This technology has achieved considerable economic benefits; however, it also raises new challenges. One of the main challenges that were encountered while using this technology is the buckling of the CT string. It can occur when the axial compressive load acting on the CT string exceeds the critical buckling loads, especially in highly deviated/horizontal and extended reach wells. Moreover, this issue becomes more critical when using non-Newtonian fluids. Therefore, the major focus of this study is to identify the frictional pressure loss of non-Newtonian fluids in an annulus with a buckled inner tubing string. In the present study, a laboratory-scale flow loop was used to investigate the influence of various buckling configurations (i.e., sinusoidal, transitional, and helically) of the inner pipe on the annular frictional pressure losses while circulating non-Newtonian drilling fluids. The experiments were conducted on a horizontal well setup with a non-rotating buckled inner pipe string, considering the impact of steady-state isothermal of laminar, transition, and turbulent flow regions on frictional pressure losses. Six different Herschel-Bulkley fluids were utilized to examine the dependence of pressure losses on fluid rheological properties (i.e., yield stress, consistency index, and flow behavior index). Experiments showed potential to significantly decrease the frictional pressure losses as the axial compressive load acting on the inner pipe increases. The effect of buckling was more pronounced when fluids with higher yield stress and higher shear-thinning ability were used. In addition, by comparing the non-compressed and the compressed inner pipe, an additional reduction in frictional pressure losses occurred as the axial compressive load increased. However, the effect of the compressed inner pipe was insignificant for fluids with a low yield stress, consistency index, and high-flow-behavior index, especially in the laminar region. The information obtained from this study will contribute toward providing a more comprehensive and meaningful interpretation of fluid flow in the vicinity of a buckled coiled tubing string. In the same manner, accurate knowledge of the predicted friction pressure will improve safety and enhance the optimization of coiled tubing operations

Virulence surveillance of wheat black stem rust fungus

General survey for wheat rust diseases in Iraqi fields was done during the seasons of 2010, 2011 and 2012. The survey covered different fields in southern, middle and northern regions. Results of the first season indicated that most of Iraqi cultivars such as Tmmoze2, IPA 99 and Mexipak showed different types of susceptibility to both yellow and leaf rust infection. Disease severity increased when the conditions were favorable for infections with using susceptible cultivars. The severity of leaf rust was less in the north region comparing with the middle and south regions. Most of the introduced cultivars such as Sham6 and Cimmyto showed susceptible reaction to yellow and leaf rust. Yellow rust was in epiphytotic form at the Iraqi-Syrian-Turkish triangle where the disease severity was 100%. Low disease severity of stem rust was observed on some cultivars (1-5%), except for the cultivar Mexipak which showed 40%S in Najaf. Rusts at season of 2011 were restricted mostly in Baghdad and the yellow rust was dominant. The AUDPC of 15 wheat cultivars showed that Sawa and Sali were highly susceptible to the three types of rusts while Babil113 and Tamoze2 were resistant. No rusts were detected at season 2012

Stoma-free Survival After Rectal Cancer Resection With Anastomotic Leakage: Development and Validation of a Prediction Model in a Large International Cohort.

Objective:To develop and validate a prediction model (STOMA score) for 1-year stoma-free survival in patients with rectal cancer (RC) with anastomotic leakage (AL).Background:AL after RC resection often results in a permanent stoma.Methods:This international retrospective cohort study (TENTACLE-Rectum) encompassed 216 participating centres and included patients who developed AL after RC surgery between 2014 and 2018. Clinically relevant predictors for 1-year stoma-free survival were included in uni and multivariable logistic regression models. The STOMA score was developed and internally validated in a cohort of patients operated between 2014 and 2017, with subsequent temporal validation in a 2018 cohort. The discriminative power and calibration of the models' performance were evaluated.Results:This study included 2499 patients with AL, 1954 in the development cohort and 545 in the validation cohort. Baseline characteristics were comparable. One-year stoma-free survival was 45.0% in the development cohort and 43.7% in the validation cohort. The following predictors were included in the STOMA score: sex, age, American Society of Anestesiologist classification, body mass index, clinical M-disease, neoadjuvant therapy, abdominal and transanal approach, primary defunctioning stoma, multivisceral resection, clinical setting in which AL was diagnosed, postoperative day of AL diagnosis, abdominal contamination, anastomotic defect circumference, bowel wall ischemia, anastomotic fistula, retraction, and reactivation leakage. The STOMA score showed good discrimination and calibration (c-index: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.66-0.76).Conclusions:The STOMA score consists of 18 clinically relevant factors and estimates the individual risk for 1-year stoma-free survival in patients with AL after RC surgery, which may improve patient counseling and give guidance when analyzing the efficacy of different treatment strategies in future studies