Accelerating pharmaceutical tablet development by transfer of compaction equipment across types and scales

openRoller compaction is a key unit operation in a dry granulation line for pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing. However, determining the optimal settings for a roller compactor (RC) typically requires extensive material-consuming experimental campaigns. This amount of material, in particular if active pharmaceutical ingredients are involved, may not be available during development phases, or may be very expensive. For this reason, a compactor simulator (CS) is usually employed to emulate the behaviour of compacted powders at a much smaller scale, with significant savings of materials, time, and money. However, the experimental conditions at which a CS shall be run to obtain a product with assigned specifications are different from those required to obtain the same product from a full-scale RC. How to find these conditions is an open issue. In this study, historical data from both CS and RC experiments are used to develop a transfer methodology that allows the experimenter to obtain optimal RC setup from the CS experimental results solely. The developed correlation, which has been applied to six different pharmaceutical powder blends, successfully captures the differences between the two equipment scales. Implementing this transfer methodology can result in reliable prediction of RC machine settings, thus enabling significant resource, time and money savings.Roller compaction is a key unit operation in a dry granulation line for pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing. However, determining the optimal settings for a roller compactor (RC) typically requires extensive material-consuming experimental campaigns. This amount of material, in particular if active pharmaceutical ingredients are involved, may not be available during development phases, or may be very expensive. For this reason, a compactor simulator (CS) is usually employed to emulate the behaviour of compacted powders at a much smaller scale, with significant savings of materials, time, and money. However, the experimental conditions at which a CS shall be run to obtain a product with assigned specifications are different from those required to obtain the same product from a full-scale RC. How to find these conditions is an open issue. In this study, historical data from both CS and RC experiments are used to develop a transfer methodology that allows the experimenter to obtain optimal RC setup from the CS experimental results solely. The developed correlation, which has been applied to six different pharmaceutical powder blends, successfully captures the differences between the two equipment scales. Implementing this transfer methodology can result in reliable prediction of RC machine settings, thus enabling significant resource, time and money savings

Radiolarian biostratigraphy of middle-upper Jurassic pelagic siliceous successions of western Sicily and the Southern Alps (Italy)

A rich radiolarian fauna of Middle-Late Jurassic age has been recovered from pelagic siliceous succesions in Western Sicily and the Southern Alps ( Italy ). The crucial complement to this research in the occurrence of ammonites in the same stratigraphical sections: such occurrence allows a good calibration of the radiolarian biozones. This paper represents the PhD research of the author. In Western Sicily six stratigraphical sections have been described and sampled: Fornazzo Strada, Fornazzo Cava, Castello Inici, Balata di Baida, Favignana (all belonging to Trapanese Plateau), and Sant'Anna ( Sicano Basin ). In the Southern Alps two stratigraphical sections have been described and sampled (Cava Vianini and Ceniga), and the previously studied radiolarian assemblages of the Coston delle Vette section have been added for the biostratigraphical analysis. The three Alpine sections belong to Trento Plateau. Most successions represent the intermediate pelagic siliceous member (Rosso Ammonitico Medio coded as RAM) of the Rosso Ammonitico Fm. Except at Sant'Anna and Coston delle Vette localities. The time-equivalent facies of the Rosso Ammonitico Medio is a basinal succession at Sant'Anna and the Fonzaso Fm. at Coston delle Vette. The radiolarian assemblages of the following sections have been studied for the first time: Fornazzo Strada, Fornazzo Cava, Castello Inici, Balata di Baida, Favignana and Cava Vianini. The radiolarian preservation is generally moderate and it is very good in some samples. A new regional radiolarian zonation for the Middle-Late Jurassic is presented in this paper. The biochronology has been carried out by means of Unitary Associations method and the software BioGraph. The stratigraphical distribution of 99 taxa in 67 samples from 9 sections constitutes the database for the definition of 16 Unitary Associations, which have been afterwards grouped in 6 Unitary Association Zones (UAZ-SA). The UAZones range as follows: UAZ A (?early-middle Bath. to early Calll. pars), UAZ B (early Call. pars-early Oxf.), UAZ C (middle Oxf.), UAZ D (?middle-?late Oxf.), UAZ E (?late Oxf.-early Kimm. pars), UAZ F (early Kimm. pars-late KImm.). These biozones are tied to chronostratigraphy by means of the ammonites found in the studied successions and in the under- and overlying sediments. The stratigraphical correlation of the Sicilian and Alpine sections through the UAZ-SA reveals a significant diachronism for the lower as well as for the upper boundary of the Middle-Upper Jurassic pelagic siliceous facies both between Western Sicily and the Southern Alps, and within the same paleogeographical domain. The new zonation by UAZ-SA has been compared with the zonation by UAZ95 of Baumgartner et al. (1995a) in order to discuss a tentative recalibration of some UAZ95 through the ammonites found in the studied sections. By means of the UAZ-SA it has also been discussed the chronostratigraphical assignment of the Ceniga and Sant'Anna sections in comparison to the previous authors. The Ceniga section (Trento Plateau, Southern Alps ) is now referred to ?middle Oxfordian-early Kimmeridgian pars (UAZ-SA D-E). The Sant'Anna section ( Sicano Basin , Western Sicily ) is now assigned to ?late Oxfordian-late Kimmeridgian (UAZ-SA E-F). Furthemore, for some taxa (such as Podocapsa amphitreptera Foreman, Tetratrabs bulbosa Baumgartner, Tetratrabs zealis (Ozvoldova) and Acanthocircus trizonalis diacranacanthus (Squinabol), emend. Foreman) are suggested different ranges with respect to those stated in Baumgartner et al. 1995. Concerning the systematics, 7 new species of radiolarian (4 Nassellaria and 3 Spumellaria) have been discovered in the studied sections, and already described in separate papers. The main feature of most radiolarian assemblages is the extraordinary abundance of Syringocapsids (Nassellaria). Sponge spicules are also abundant and well diversified in most samples: such assemblages are typical of proximal or relatively shallow water environments. The radiolarian zonation by UAZ-SA undoubtedly contributes to the Jurassic biozonation. The high resolution sampling of sections that crop out in a restricted geographical area results in more Unitary Associations and better defined UAZzones. The radiolarian data of this research will increase the database of the INTERRAD Jurassic-Cretaceous Working Group and will contribute to create new better-defined radiolarian biozones for the Jurassic Mediterranean Tethys

Economic analysis of a photovoltaic investment project

Il lavoro si propone di analizzare una possibilità di investimento nel fotovoltaicodi un'azienda italiana. Dopo aver esplorato la situazione attuale del mercato a livello globale, europeo ed italiano, verranno discusse le normative e la fattibilità di un investimento nel fotovoltaicoope

Assessing and Monitoring the Sustainability in Rural World Heritage Sites

In 2002, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established the importance of the sustainability and the need of management plans for the safeguard of cultural heritage. No models, rules or specific definitions have been provided for this purpose. By 2014, UNESCO had recognized 16 rural landscapes as cultural heritage sites. This paper aims to understand the management systems adopted by the rural World Heritage Sites over time in order to identify the best practices, strategies, actions and measures applied for the conservation of their universal value with a particular focus on sustainability. A comparative study, analyzing the management plans for these sites, was conducted. The drawing up of site management plans for such rural landscapes is a difficult process. In fact, private and public authorities and several stakeholders are involved, and all of them should participate actively in the decision making process. To ensure the sustainability of these sites, it is important to evaluate several parameters and to design an integrated plan. We focused on assessing and monitoring sustainability in rural World Heritage Sites, and our results could be useful for the implementation of existing plans and processes for drawing up management plans for future UNESCO cultural heritage

Studio di pre-ottimizzazione strutturale di una testa video

Il lavoro di tesi consiste nello studio e pre-ottimizzazione di una testa video costituita da poliammide caricata. In primis si sono analizzate tutte le caratteristiche dei ploimeri caricati con fibre corte e stampati ad iniezione, si sono testati modelli di studio e si è eseguita l'ottimizzazione agli elementi finiti proponendo un modello semplificato. infine si sono eseguiti dei test sperimentali per validare modelli e risultati.openEmbargo temporaneo per motivi di segretezza e/o di proprietà dei risultati e informazioni di enti esterni o aziende private che hanno partecipato alla realizzazione del lavoro di ricerca relativo alla tes

L'azienda "Eataly" e il suo marketing interculturale e traduzione tedesca della brochure aziendale e del sito ufficiale = Die Firma "Eataly" und ihr interkulturelles Marketing und Übersetzung ins Deutsche von Broschüre und Website

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War on Terror: un bilancio

The War on Terror concept has justified several military interventions during the first fifteen years of the 21st century and consequently has led to an evolution of US strategic thinking. The aim of this paper is to outline, first, some elements of their terror strategy that inevitably influenced western military operations in the short term; secondly, to analyze geopolitical theaters of war (particularly Iraq) where theWar onTerror has developed.The War on Terror concept has justified several military interventions during the first fifteen years of the 21st century and consequently has led to an evolution of US strategic thinking. The aim of this paper is to outline, first, some elements of their terror strategy that inevitably influenced western military operations in the short term; secondly, to analyze geopolitical theaters of war (particularly Iraq) where theWar onTerror has developed

Inequity in the provision of and access to palliative care for cancer patients. Results from the Italian survey of the dying of cancer (ISDOC)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The palliative services and programs have been developed with different intensity and modalities in all countries. Several studies have reported that a geographic variation in the availability and provision of palliative care services between and within countries exists, and that a number of vulnerable groups are excluded from these services. This survey estimates the distribution of places of care for Italian cancer patients during the last three months of their lives, the proportion receiving palliative care support at home and in hospital, and the factors associated with the referral to palliative care services.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a mortality follow-back survey of 2,000 cancer deaths identified with a 2-stage probability sample, representative of the whole country. Information on patients' experience was gathered from the non-professional caregiver through an interview, using an adapted version of the VOICES questionnaire. A section of the interview concerned the places of care and the palliative care services provided to patients. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the determinants of palliative care service use.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Valid interviews were obtained for 67% of the identified caregivers (n = 1,271). Most Italian cancer patients were cared for at home (91%) or in hospital (63%), but with substantial differences within the country. Only 14% of Italian cancer patients cared for at home against 20% of those admitted to hospital, received palliative care support. The principal determinants identified for receiving these service were: an extended interval between diagnosis and death (P = 0.01) and the caregiver's high educational level (P = 0.01) for patients at home; the low patient's age (P < 0.01) and the caregiver's high educational level (P = 0.01) for patients in hospital.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In Italy palliative care services are not equally available across the country. Moreover, access to the palliative care services is strongly associated with socio demographic characteristics of the patients and their caregivers. Italian Policy-makers need to equalise palliative care provision and access across the country to meet the needs of all cancer patients.</p

A construção do mote na terapia comunitária integrativa

The author, coordinator of TCendo.sp – teaching and development, an integrative community therapy former pole in the city of São Paulo since 2002, realized that therapists have a great difficulty in the formulation of the motto, not withstanding their experience. Then, she created a methodology devised to overcome this difficulty. The result of this job was presented at the Brazilian and International Integrative Community Therapy (TCI) Congress. The motto can be understood as a phrase or word, metaphoric or not, formulated by the therapist with the aid of a question, during the questioning phase of the TCI. The objective of motto’s formulation is presenting a synthesis of the dramatic situation experienced by the protagonist of the therapy, when the operationalization happens through. The therapist needs an analytical attitude to formulate the motto that will enable him to elucidate and resolve the problem situation. This involves some steps: searching for keywords, checking them, motto’s elaboration, and its presentation to the group. Motto’s formulation alone has a substantial therapeutic impact, so it must be deliberately used to precipitate changes in all the participants of the therapy, also the therapist.A autora, coordenadora do TCendo.sp – ensino e desenvolvimento, polo formador de terapia comunitária integrativa na cidade de São Paulo desde 2002, em sua atividade de formadora se deparou com a dificuldade na utilização do mote pelos terapeutas comunitários, independentemente da sua experiência. Assim, criou uma metodologia para superar esta dificuldade, cujo resultado foi apresentado no Congresso Brasileiro e Internacional de Terapia Comunitária Integrativa (TCI) 2015, na cidade de Ouro Preto em Minas Gerais, Brasil. O mote pode ser entendido como uma frase ou palavra, metafórica ou não, formulada pelo terapeuta comunitário como uma pergunta, durante a fase de problematização da TCI, cujo objetivo é refletir a síntese da situação dramática vivida pelo protagonista na roda. É através do mote que ocorre a operacionalização da terapia comunitária. A sua formulação exige do terapeuta uma atitude analítica, que permita o pleno esclarecimento da situação-problema e a sua resolução. Para tanto, compreende algumas etapas: a busca de palavras chaves, sua checagem, a elaboração e sua apresentação ao grupo. A formulação do mote, por si só, tem um substancial impacto terapêutico, devendo ser utilizada deliberadamente para desencadear mudanças em todos os participantes da roda de TCI, inclusive o terapeuta