128 research outputs found
Injectable In Situ Forming Microparticles: A Novel Drug Delivery System
Pharmaceutical formulation research has recently been focusing on delivery systems which provide long therapeutic effects and reduced side effects, and involving simplified production stages and facilitated application process. In situ forming microparticle (ISM) systems, one of the latest approach in this field, offer a new encapsulation technique and meet the objectives stated above. Factors such as the carrier used to form the multiparticles, amount and type of drug and the vehicle type can be taken as the main performance criteria for these systems. Ongoing studies have shown that this new multiparticulate drug delivery system is suitable for achieving new implant delivery system with low risk of dose-dumping, capable of being modulated to exhibit varying release patterns, reproducible, easily applicable and welltolerated compared with classically surgical implants.Keywords: Injectable, In situ forming, Microparticle system, Controlled drug delivery
Injectable in situ forming microparticles: A novel drug delivery system
Pharmaceutical formulation research has recently been focusing on delivery systems which provide long therapeutic effects and reduced side effects, and involving simplified production stages and facilitated application process. In situ forming microparticle (ISM) systems, one of the latest approach in this field, offer a new encapsulation technique and meet the objectives stated above. Factors such as the carrier used to form the multiparticles, amount and type of drug and the vehicle type can be taken as the main performance criteria for these systems. Ongoing studies have shown that this new multiparticulate drug delivery system is suitable for achieving new implant delivery system with low risk of dose-dumping, capable of being modulated to exhibit varying release patterns, reproducible, easily applicable and welltolerated compared with classically surgical implants. © Pharmacotherapy Group
Interaction imaging with amplitude-dependence force spectroscopy
Knowledge of surface forces is the key to understanding a large number of
processes in fields ranging from physics to material science and biology. The
most common method to study surfaces is dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Dynamic AFM has been enormously successful in imaging surface topography, even
to atomic resolution, but the force between the AFM tip and the surface remains
unknown during imaging. Here, we present a new approach that combines high
accuracy force measurements and high resolution scanning. The method, called
amplitude-dependence force spectroscopy (ADFS) is based on the
amplitude-dependence of the cantilever's response near resonance and allows for
separate determination of both conservative and dissipative tip-surface
interactions. We use ADFS to quantitatively study and map the nano-mechanical
interaction between the AFM tip and heterogeneous polymer surfaces. ADFS is
compatible with commercial atomic force microscopes and we anticipate its
wide-spread use in taking AFM toward quantitative microscopy
Interface and electronic characterization of thin epitaxial Co3O4 films
The interface and electronic structure of thin (~20-74 nm) Co3O4(110)
epitaxial films grown by oxygen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on MgAl2O4(110)
single crystal substrates have been investigated by means of real and
reciprocal space techniques. As-grown film surfaces are found to be relatively
disordered and exhibit an oblique low energy electron diffraction (LEED)
pattern associated with the O-rich CoO2 bulk termination of the (110) surface.
Interface and bulk film structure are found to improve significantly with
post-growth annealing at 820 K in air and display sharp rectangular LEED
patterns, suggesting a surface stoichiometry of the alternative Co2O2 bulk
termination of the (110) surface. Non-contact atomic force microscopy
demonstrates the presence of wide terraces separated by atomic steps in the
annealed films that are not present in the as-grown structures; the step height
of ~ 2.7 A corresponds to two atomic layers and confirms a single termination
for the annealed films, consistent with the LEED results. A model of the (1 *
1) surfaces that allows for compensation of the polar surfaces is presented.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
The Brain Health Index: Towards a combined measure of neurovascular and neurodegenerative structural brain injury
Background:
A structural magnetic resonance imaging measure of combined neurovascular and neurodegenerative burden may be useful as these features often coexist in older people, stroke and dementia.
Aim:
We aimed to develop a new automated approach for quantifying visible brain injury from small vessel disease and brain atrophy in a single measure, the brain health index.
Materials and methods:
We computed brain health index in N = 288 participants using voxel-based Gaussian mixture model cluster analysis of T1, T2, T2*, and FLAIR magnetic resonance imaging. We tested brain health index against a validated total small vessel disease visual score and white matter hyperintensity volumes in two patient groups (minor stroke, N = 157; lupus, N = 51) and against measures of brain atrophy in healthy participants (N = 80) using multiple regression. We evaluated associations with Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Exam Revised in patients and with reaction time in healthy participants.
Results:
The brain health index (standard beta = 0.20–0.59, P < 0.05) was significantly and more strongly associated with Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Exam Revised, including at one year follow-up, than white matter hyperintensity volume (standard beta = 0.04–0.08, P > 0.05) and small vessel disease score (standard beta = 0.02–0.27, P > 0.05) alone in both patient groups. Further, the brain health index (standard beta = 0.57–0.59, P < 0.05) was more strongly associated with reaction time than measures of brain atrophy alone (standard beta = 0.04–0.13, P > 0.05) in healthy participants.
Conclusions:
The brain health index is a new image analysis approach that may usefully capture combined visible brain damage in large-scale studies of ageing, neurovascular and neurodegenerative disease
Controversies in the Use of MIGS
Abstract
Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) has fulfilled an unmet need in the management of glaucoma. This chapter highlights some controversial issues regarding the use of MIGS in clinical practice, including (1) whether there is sufficient evidence to advocate combining MIGS with cataract surgery over cataract surgery alone, (2) the merits and drawbacks of different approaches to trabecular bypass and canal-based MIGS procedures, (3) the effect of MIGS on endothelial cell loss, (4) suprachoroidal MIGS devices and whether there is still a role for these procedures, and (5) a comparison between subconjunctival MIGS and trabeculectomy. Several questions are still left unanswered and hopefully, further research and more clinical experience with these new technologies will help improve surgical outcomes for patients
Carnosine Prevents Apoptosis of Glomerular Cells and Podocyte Loss in STZ Diabetic Rats
Background/Aims: We identified carnosinase-1 (CN-1) as risk-factor for diabetic nephropathy (DN). Carnosine, the substrate for CN-1, supposedly is a protective factor regarding diabetic complications. In this study, we hypothesized that carnosine administration to diabetic rats might protect the kidneys from glomerular apoptosis and podocyte loss. Methods: We examined the effect of oral L-carnosine administration (1g/kg BW per day) on apoptosis, podocyte loss, oxidative stress, AGEs and hexosamine pathway in kidneys of streptozotocin-induced diabetic Wistar rats after 3 months of diabetes and treatment. Results: Hyperglycemia significantly reduced endogenous kidney carnosine levels. In parallel, podocyte numbers significantly decreased (-21% compared to non-diabetics,
- …