In vitro dissolution profile of primaquine tablets available for malaria treatment in Brazil

A ineficácia clínica de muitos medicamentos tem servido de alerta para estudos mais profundos sobre os componentes da formulação, processos empregados e características físico-químicas dos fármacos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a liberação in vitro de comprimidos de fosfato de primaquina disponíveis no Brasil para tratamento da malária, e o desenvolvimento de novas formulações de liberação convencional. Embora os comprimidos de fosfato de primaquina estudados tenham sido aprovados pelos critérios propostos pela Farmacopéia Americana (2006) para o teste de dissolução, não apresentaram desempenho adequado para o perfil de dissolução, mostrando retenção do fármaco durante a liberação. Os resultados indicam a existência de problemas nos comprimidos de fosfato de primaquina analisados, podendo sugerir como um dos fatores responsáveis pelo aparecimento de resistência dos parasitas.The clinical inefficacy of many medications has served to highlight the need for deeper studies on the formulation components, processes used and physicochemical characteristics of drugs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the in vitro release of primaquine phosphate from tablets available in Brazil for treating malaria, and the development of new formulations for conventional release. Although the primaquine phosphate tablets studied had been approved according to the criteria proposed by the United States Pharmacopoeia (2006) for the dissolution test, they did not present adequate dissolution performance characteristics, in that there was drug retention during the release process. The results indicate the existence of problems in the primaquine phosphate tablets analyzed, and it may suggest that this is one of the factors responsible for the appearance of parasite resistance

Physicochemical and dissolution profile characterization of pellets containing different binders obtained by the extrusion-spheronization process

Com a finalidade de se avaliar o comportamento de diferentes polímeros empregados como aglutinantes em pellets de pequeno diâmetro para uso oral foram preparadas formulações contendo paracetamol e um dos seguintes polímeros: PVP, PEG 1500, hidroxipropilmetilcelulose e metilcelulose por apresentarem diferentes propriedades aglutinantes. Os pellets foram obtidos pelo processo de extrusão/esferonização e secagem em leito fluidizado. Para avaliar a liberação do fármaco, empregou-se o método 3 da Farmacopeia Americana, também conhecido como Bio-Dis e o método preconizado pela mesma farmacopeia para comprimidos de paracetamol. Os pellets foram avaliados, ainda, com relação à granulometria, friabilidade, densidade verdadeira e teor. Os resultados indicaram que os diferentes aglutinantes empregados são capazes de afetar a produção e algumas das características físico-químicas dos pellets e o ensaio de dissolução revelou que as formulações comportam-se como produtos de liberação imediata. Os pellets obtidos apresentaram características de liberação favoráveis para a obtenção de comprimidos de liberação instantânea. O aparato 3 da Farmacopeia Americana demonstrou ser um método com melhor capacidade discriminatória entre as formulações, quando comparado com o método da cesta.With the purpose of evaluating the behavior of different polymers employed as binders in small-diameter pellets for oral administration, we prepared formulations containing paracetamol and one of the following polymers: PVP, PEG 1500, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and methylcellulose, and we evaluated their different binding properties. The pellets were obtained by the extrusion/spheronization process and were subsequently subjected to fluid bed drying. In order to assess drug delivery, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) apparatus 3 (Bio-Dis) was employed, in conjunction with the method described by the same pharmacopeia for the dissolution of paracetamol tablets (apparatus 1). The pellets were also evaluated for granulometry, friability, true density and drug content. The results indicate that the different binders used are capable of affecting production in different ways, and some of the physicochemical characteristics of the pellets, as well as the dissolution test, revealed that the formulations acted like immediate-release products. The pellets obtained presented favorable release characteristics for orally disintegrating tablets. USP apparatus 3 seems to be more adequate for discriminating among formulations than the basket method

Aconselhamento e testagem voluntária para o HIV durante a assistência pré-natal

OBJECTIVE: Voluntary HIV counseling and testing are provided to all Brazilian pregnant women with the purpose of reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission. The purpose of the study was to assess characteristics of HIV testing and identify factors associated with HIV counseling and testing. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out comprising 1,658 mothers living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Biological, reproductive and social variables were obtained from mothers by means of a standardized questionnaire. Being counseling about HIV testing was the dependent variable. Confidence intervals, chi-square test and hierarchical logistic model were used to determine the association between counseling and maternal variables. RESULTS: Of 1,658 mothers interviewed, 1,603 or 96.7% (95% CI: 95.7-97.5) underwent HIV testing, and 51 or 3.1% (95% CI: 2.3-4.0) were not tested. Four (0.2%) refused to undergo testing after counseling. Of 51 women not tested in this study, 30 had undergone the testing previously. Of 1,603 women tested, 630 or 39.3% (95% CI: 36.9-41.7) received counseling, 947 or 59.2% (95% CI: 56.6-61.5) did not, and 26 (1.6%) did not inform. Low income, lack of prenatal care, late beginning of prenatal care, use of rapid testing, and receiving prenatal in the public sector were variables independently associated with a lower probability of getting counseling about HIV testing. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings confirmed the high rate of prenatal HIV testing in Porto Alegre. However, women coming from less privileged social groups were less likely to receive information and benefit from counseling.OBJETIVO: O aconselhamento e teste voluntário para o HIV foram instituídos no Brasil para todas as gestantes com o objetivo de reduzir a transmissão materno-infantil do vírus. O objetivo do estudo é verificar as características de testagem do HIV e identificar os fatores associados com a oportunidade da gestante ser aconselhada para esse teste. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal que incluiu 1.658 mães residentes em Porto Alegre, RS. Variáveis biológicas, reprodutivas e sociais foram obtidas utilizando-se um questionário padronizado. Ser aconselhada para o teste de detecção do HIV foi a variável dependente. Para determinar os fatores associados à oportunidade de aconselhamento foram utilizados intervalos de confiança de 95%, o teste de qui-quadrado e uma análise multivariada utilizando o modelo hierarquizado. RESULTADOS: De um total de 1.658 mulheres entrevistadas, 1.603 ou 96,7% (IC 95%, 95,7%-97,5%) foram testadas para o HIV, 51 ou 3,1% (IC 95%, 2,3%-4,0%) não foram testadas e quatro (0,2%) se negaram a fazer o teste. Das 51 não-testadas, 30 haviam feito o teste previamente. Das 1.603 mulheres testadas durante a gestação, 630 ou 39,3% (IC 95%, 36,9%-41,7%) foram aconselhadas sobre o teste, 947 ou 59,1% não o foram (IC 95%, 56,6%-61,5%) e 26 (1,6%) não informaram. Baixa renda, não ter acesso ao pré-natal, iniciá-lo tardiamente, uso do teste rápido, e realizar o pré-natal no setor público estavam independentemente associados a uma menor probabilidade de ser aconselhada. CONCLUSÃO: O estudo confirmou uma alta taxa de testagem para o HIV. As gestantes provenientes de grupos sociais menos privilegiados foram aconselhadas em menor freqüência para a realização do teste de HIV

Pare Certo -Fiscalização Automática de Vagas de Estacionamento Reservadas

ABSTRACTIn Brazil, public and private parking lots have to reserve 2% of theirparking spaces for people with physical disabilities (PCD).However, since those spots are seldom monitored properly, somedrivers with no mobility issues deliberately use them. To preventsuch abuses, this work proposes the use of a surveillance devicecalled Pare Certo to monitor reserved parking spaces. By using acamera and computer vision algorithms, Pare Certo captures theimage of a car and recognizes its license plate. In case the vehicle isnot entitled to use reserved spots, the device will beep until thevehicle is removed and, in case the offender ignores the warning, anotification with the vehicle data will be sent via wi-fi to an officerwho can take the appropriate measures. A prototype was built tovalidate the concepts developed in this project and performedsatisfactorily in the tests performed

Phenology and Seasonal Ecosystem Productivity in an Amazonian Floodplain Forest

everal studies have explored the linkages between phenology and ecosystem productivity across the Amazon basin. However, few studies have focused on flooded forests, which correspond to c.a. 14% of the basin. In this study, we assessed the seasonality of ecosystem productivity (gross primary productivity, GPP) from eddy covariance measurements, environmental drivers and phenological patterns obtained from the field (leaf litter mass) and satellite measurements (enhanced vegetation index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer/multi-angle implementation correction (MODIS/MAIAC)) in an Amazonian floodplain forest. We found that ecosystem productivity is limited by soil moisture in two different ways. During the flooded period, the excess of water limits GPP (Spearman’s correlation; rho = −0.22), while during non-flooded months, GPP is positively associated with soil moisture (rho = 0.34). However, GPP is maximized when cumulative water deficit (CWD) increases (rho = 0.81), indicating that GPP is dependent on the amount of water available. EVI was positively associated with leaf litter mass (Pearson’s correlation; r = 0.55) and with GPP (r = 0.50), suggesting a coupling between new leaf production and the phenology of photosynthetic capacity, decreasing both at the peak of the flooded period and at the end of the dry season. EVI was able to describe the inter-annual variations on forest responses to environmental drivers, which have changed during an observed El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) year (2015/2016)

Evaluation of kaolin and bauxite from the Amazonian region addition on mechanical-, physical-, chemical properties and microstructural characterization of red ceramic industry clay of Manaus metropolitan region

The present work investigated properties of red ceramic from the Amazonian region after the addition of kaolinand bauxite mixture with 0, 10, 20 and 30%wt. in red ceramic industry clay. Assessed mechanical propertieswere flexural strength and Young's modulus. The assessed physical properties were density and porosity.The microstructural images were assessed with SEM and OM microscopies. The fired samples XRD, the rawmaterials XRF and the XRD were made for chemical composition and present phases assessments. Sampleswere manufactured by uniaxial compaction and fired at 1200°C and 1250°C. Samples without the mixture ofkaolin/bauxite presented higher assessed properties, with approximately 32 MPa of flexural strength and 12%of porosity with 2.3 g/cm³ density. Although the initial idea of this work was to add the mixture of kaolin/bauxite in the red ceramic industry clay for improving assessed properties of red ceramic fired parts, thered ceramic industry clay without addition presented better properties. Such properties were attributed to thehigh aluminous materials content in the raw material. This behaviour is correlated to the fact that bauxitefrom this region presents 55%wt. of iron oxide content with aluminium oxide content lower than 25%wt.Additionally, the assessed properties of the ceramic industry parts fired at 1250°C presented this material aspromising material for ceramic products with a better added value.Keywords: Red Ceramic Industry, Red Ceramic Raw Materials, Characterization

O quanto as gestantes soropositivas para o vírus da imunodeficiência humana adquirida (HIV) são orientadas quanto à alimentação de seus recém-nascidos?

14