Effect of binary and ternary solid dispersions prepared by fusion method on the dissolution of poorly water soluble diacerein

The poor solubility of drug substances in water and their low dissolution rate in aqueous G.I.T fluid often leads to insufficient bioavailability. The present investigation is an attempt to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of diacerein (a poorly soluble drug) by solid dispersion technique. Binary solid dispersions were made using PEG-4000 or PEG-6000 as carriers with varying drug: carrier ratios 1:1, 1:3 and 1:5. Also ternary solid dispersions were made using PEG-4000 and Pluronic F-68 at ratios 1:5:1, 1:5:2 and 1:5:3. Nine formulae were prepared and evaluated for saturated solubility, In-vitro drug release. Solid state characterization including DSC, FTIR, XRD and SEM is also carried out. All formulae showed marked significant improvement in the solubility and dissolution rate of the drug. The interaction studies showed no interaction between the drug and any of the used carriers. Formula SD9 (1:5:3; drug: PEG-4000: Pluronic F-68) showed the best dissolution profile with about 44.73% of the drug being released in the first 5 minutes and more than 79 % of the drug being released in the first 15 minutes. Also this formula showed the highest dissolution rate of 6.66 %/min. It was concluded that combination of PEG-4000 and Pluronic F-68 can be well utilized to improve the solubility of poorly soluble drugs

Effect of binary and ternary solid dispersions prepared by fusion method on the dissolution of poorly water soluble diacerein

The poor solubility of drug substances in water and their low dissolution rate in aqueous G.I.T fluid often leads to insufficient bioavailability. The present investigation is an attempt to improve the solubility and dissolution rate of diacerein (a poorly soluble drug) by solid dispersion technique. Binary solid dispersions were made using PEG-4000 or PEG-6000 as carriers with varying drug: carrier ratios 1:1, 1:3 and 1:5. Also ternary solid dispersions were made using PEG-4000 and Pluronic F-68 at ratios 1:5:1, 1:5:2 and 1:5:3. Nine formulae were prepared and evaluated for saturated solubility, In-vitro drug release. Solid state characterization including DSC, FTIR, XRD and SEM is also carried out. All formulae showed marked significant improvement in the solubility and dissolution rate of the drug. The interaction studies showed no interaction between the drug and any of the used carriers. Formula SD9 (1:5:3; drug: PEG-4000: Pluronic F-68) showed the best dissolution profile with about 44.73% of the drug being released in the first 5 minutes and more than 79 % of the drug being released in the first 15 minutes. Also this formula showed the highest dissolution rate of 6.66 %/min. It was concluded that combination of PEG-4000 and Pluronic F-68 can be well utilized to improve the solubility of poorly soluble drugs

Correction:Quantitative distribution of patient-derived leukemia clones in murine xenografts revealed by cellular barcodes

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.</p

Turning ‘defeat’ into ‘victory’:The Power of Discourse on the 1973 War in Egypt

The article examines the construction of the 1973 war as a legitimating discourse in Egypt. After an analysis of formal texts (for example, school textbooks), semi-formal texts (for example, the Ahram newspaper) and informal texts (for example, songs scripted to commemorate the event), the article finds a pattern which constructed the war as a ‘massive, consistent and unquestionable’ victory for Egypt under the rule of Anwar Sadat (1971–81). Based on critical discourse analysis of these previously untapped texts over the eight years of Sadat's rule after the war and drawn on primary sources and interviews, the article traces the genealogy and operationalization of discourse through exploring linguistic and extra-linguistic features synchronized towards the efficacy, durability and credibility of this process. The essay finds that the discourse retains an appearance of coherence, since it is always so closely attuned to its broader state-controlled political context. Rather than inferring from this coherence that the discourse is as historically ‘truthful’ as any other, this study provides hard evidence that it relies instead upon intentional falsehoods

Locating Religion in Victory-Making:The 1973 War Discourse in Egypt

Most of the literature on the Arab–Israeli war in 1973 takes material gains and military advances as measurements that indicate victory or defeat. Accordingly, based on the magnitude of weaponry used and the associated tactics employed, scholarly works declare Egypt or Israel the winner. This article moves away from such ‘materialistic’ accounts of the war’s conclusion by exploring a similarly significant victory-maker: the use of the discourse of religion. By looking at previously untapped official and semi-official texts from the war’s onset through the eight years of President Anwar Sadat’s rule, the article finds this discourse to be composed of three thematic structures. These structures cohere into patterns that facilitated an account of the war as a massive and unquestionable Egyptian ‘victory’. The study also addresses how the interplay of language and religion was so closely attuned to the broader context that included the use of authoritarianism in politics and in the media as well as a so-called Islamic revival. Rather than supposing that the religious references in this discourse may have been in some way truthful, I show that it relied on a set of intentional falsehoods

Constructing State, Territory, and Sovereignty in the Syrian Conflict

The article argues that sovereignty claims and counterclaims are still very much at work in international and civil conflicts involving state actors. Focusing on the case of the Syrian conflict, the article engages in methodological triangulation using Critical Discourse Analysis and international relations theories. It finds that the sovereignty-first narrative adopted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and its external allies such as Russia, has built an ‘effective’ discourse that has been adopted in a coherent, consistent, and resonant manner, as well as a ‘credible’ discourse which combined words with actions (i.e. performatives and constatives of sovereignty). The effectiveness and credibility of the sovereignty-first narrative is also judged by the absence of effective and credible contending narratives demonstrated by the tepid application of concepts like the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) by the United States and its European allies. In making these comparisons, the Syrian conflict can be contextualised by relating it to the Arab Spring and geopolitical shifts in international affairs. It is within this contextualisation that the article demonstrates broader claims about the endurance of the ‘territorial state’ in the Middle East

The Legitimating Power of Discourse:Constructing the 1973 War under Mubarak

In this article, I examine a corpus of texts that address the 1973 war; these texts cover the period from 1981 to 2011, marking the beginning and end of Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Utilizing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), I explore how Mubarak’s regime employed the war to legitimize its power and defend its policies by deploying longstanding culturally-embedded ‘macro themes’. These macro themes refer to the war as an overwhelming and undisputed ‘Egyptian victory’ and, more significantly, they portray Mubarak himself as ‘war personified/war personalized’. The analysis of linguistic and extra-linguistic features in al-Ahram newspaper (the mouthpiece of the state), among other media texts on the war, show how the discursive construction was made consistent, coherent and resonant in a managed context that characterized the political and media landscapes. Depending on unique access to those who produced, edited and even censored the texts under analysis, this method unravels a complex set of cultural messages and conventions about the war, and fills a lacuna in the literature by offering insight into the deliberate and well-coordinated process of shaping and reshaping a specific discourse for a specific purpose