SOLID DISPERSION TECHNIQUE TO ENHANCE THE SOLUBILITY AND DISSOLUTION OF FEBUXOSTAT AN BCS CLASS II DRUG

Objective: The present study was aimed to enhance the solubility of poorly water-soluble drug (BCS Class II) Febuxostat using water-soluble polymers.Methods: Pre-formulation studies like drug excipient compatibility studies by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopyDifferential scanning calorimetry and determination of saturation solubility of drug individually in various media like distilled water and pH 7.4 phosphate buffer. Solid dispersions of Febuxostat was prepared using Polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000) (fusion method) and Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP K30) (solvent evaporation method) in various ratios like 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 separately. The formulated solid dispersions were evaluated for percentage yield, drug content and in vitro dissolution studies.Results: From the results of pre-formulation studies it was revealed that there was no interaction between drug and excipients and the pure drug was poorly soluble in water. The percentage yield of all formulations was in the range of 54-78 %, and drug content was in the range of 43-78 mg. The solid dispersion containing polyvinylpyrrolidone K 30 in 1:4 ratio showed the highest amount of drug release at the end of 30 min than other formulations.Conclusion: Finally it was concluded that solid dispersion prepared with PVP K-30 in 1:4 ratio by solvent evaporation method was more soluble than by fusion method

Longevity of immediate rehabilitation with direct metal-wire reinforced composite fixed partial dentures.

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to analyze the longevity of direct metal-wire reinforced composite fixed partial dentures (MRC-FPD) and factors influencing their survival and success. METHODS Within one private practice 513 MRC-FPD were directly applied. The preparation of a proximal cavity in abutment teeth was not limited. MRC-FPD were reinforced by one to three metal-wires. At the last follow-up MRC-FPD were considered successful, if they were still in function without any need of therapy. MRC-FPD were considered as survived, if they were repaired or replaced. Multi-level Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between clinical factors and time. RESULTS Mean follow-up period (range) was 59(2-249) months. Seventy-three bridges did not survive (cumulative survival rate(CSR):86%) and further 129 bridges had received a restorative follow-up treatment (CSR:61%). AFR was 2.2% for survival and 8.6% for success. In multivariate analysis MRC-FPD with> 1 wire showed a up to 2.3x higher failure rate than MRC-FPD with one wire(p ≤ 0.023). Dentist's experience in designing MRC-FDP (p ≤ 0.017), patient's caries risk (p ≤ 0.040) and bruxism (p = 0.033) significantly influenced the failure rate: the more experience, the lower caries risk and bruxism, the lower the failure rate. SIGNIFICANCE For directly prepared metal-wire reinforced composite bridges high survival and moderate success rates were observed. MRC-FPD might, thus, be an immediate, short- and medium-term solution for replacing missing teeth. However, several factors on the levels of practice (dentist's experience in designing MRC-FDP), patient (bruxism, caries risk) and restoration (number of wires) were identified as significant predictors for the failure rate. The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS-ID: DRKS00021576)

A MARKOVIAN TWO COMMODITY QUEUEING–INVENTORY SYSTEM WITH COMPLIMENT ITEM AND CLASSICAL RETRIAL FACILITY

This paper explores the two-commodity (TC) inventory system in which commodities are classified as major and complementary items. The system allows a customer who has purchased a free product to conduct Bernoulli trials at will. Under the Bernoulli schedule, any entering customer will quickly enter an orbit of infinite capability during the stock-out time of the major item. The arrival of a retrial customer in the system follows a classical retrial policy. These two products' re-ordering process occurs under the $(s, Q)$ and instantaneous ordering policies for the major and complimentary items, respectively. A comprehensive analysis of the retrial queue, including the system's stability and the steady-state distribution of the retrial queue with the stock levels of two commodities, is carried out. The various system operations are measured under the stability condition. Finally, numerical evidence has shown the benefits of the proposed model under different random situations

Adherence and Acceptability of Telehealth Appointments for High Risk Obstetrical Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background:Telehealth has been successfully implemented for the delivery of obstetrical care. However, little is known regarding the attitudes and acceptability of patients and providers in high risk obstetrics and if implementation improves access to care in non-rural settings. Objective:The study aims to: 1) Describe patient and provider attitudes toward telehealth for delivery of high risk obstetrical care in a large health care system with both urban and suburban settings. 2) Determine if implementation of a telehealth model improves patient adherence to scheduled appointments in this patient population.Study DesignTwo self-administered surveys were designed. The first survey was sent to all high-risk obstetrical patients who received a telehealth visit between March 1, 2020 and May 30, 2020. The second survey was designed for providers who participated in these visits. We also compared the attended, cancelled and no show visit rates before (March 1-May 30, 2019) and after (March 1-May 30, 2020) telehealth implementation, as well as telehealth versus in person visits in 2020. We reviewed scheduled high-risk prenatal care appointments, diabetes education sessions, and genetic counseling and Maternal- Fetal Medicine consultations. Results:A total of 91 patient surveys and 33 provider surveys were analyzed. Overall, 86.9% of patients were satisfied with the care they received and 78.3% would recommend telehealth visits to others. 87.8% of providers reported having a positive experience using telehealth, and 90.9% believed that telehealth improved patients\u27 access to care. When comparing patient and provider preference regarding future obstetrical care after experiencing telehealth, 73.8% of patients desired a combination of in person and telehealth visits during their pregnancy. However, a significantly higher rate of providers preferred in-person visits (56% vs 23% respectively). When comparing visits between 2019 and 2020, there was a significantly lower rate of no-show appointments, patient-cancelled appointments, and patient same-day cancellations with the implementation of telehealth. There was also a significantly lower rate of patient-cancelled appointments, and patient same-day cancellations with those receiving telehealth visits compared to in person visits in 2020. Conclusion:Implementation of telehealth in high risk obstetrics has the potential to improve access to high risk obstetrical care, by reducing the rate of missed appointments. Both patients and providers surveyed expressed a high rate of satisfaction with telehealth visits and a desire to integrate telehealth into the traditional model of high risk obstetrical care

A finite source perishable inventory system with second optional service and server interruptions

In this article, a service facility inventory system with server interruptions and a nite number of sources are considered. The inventory is replenished according to (s; S) ordering policy. Using the matrix methods, the stationary distribution of the stock level, server status and waiting area level is obtained in the steady state case. The Laplace-Stieltjes transform of the waiting time of the tagged customer is derived. Many impartment system performance measures are derived and the total expected cost rate is computed under a suitable cost structure. The results are illustrated numerically.The second author research was supported by DST PURSE Phase II for newly recruited faculty of University of Madras (no. DST-PURSE PHASE II/ 2014/ 686).http://orion.journals.ac.zaam2016Industrial and Systems Engineerin

P-91: Parametric Evaluation of Computer Displays for Optimized Display Data Transmission

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Maximum likelihood drift estimation for a threshold diffusion

We study the maximum likelihood estimator of the drift parameters of a stochastic differential equation, with both drift and diffusion coefficients constant on the positive and negative axis, yet discontinuous at zero. This threshold diffusion is called drifted Oscillating Brownian motion.For this continuously observed diffusion, the maximum likelihood estimator coincide with a quasi-likelihood estimator with constant diffusion term. We show that this estimator is the limit, as observations become dense in time, of the (quasi)-maximum likelihood estimator based on discrete observations. In long time, the asymptotic behaviors of the positive and negative occupation times rule the ones of the estimators. Differently from most known results in the literature, we do not restrict ourselves to the ergodic framework: indeed, depending on the signs of the drift, the process may be ergodic, transient or null recurrent. For each regime, we establish whether or not the estimators are consistent; if they are, we prove the convergence in long time of the properly rescaled difference of the estimators towards a normal or mixed normal distribution. These theoretical results are backed by numerical simulations

The Exomars Climate Sounder (EMCS) Investigation

The ExoMars Climate Sounder (EMCS) investigation is developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Principal Investigator J. T. Schofield) in collaboration with an international scientific team from France, the United Kingdom and the USA. EMCS plans to map daily, global, pole-to-pole profiles of temperature, dust, water and CO2 ices, and water vapor from the proposed 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (EMTGO). These profiles are to be assimilated into Mars General Circulation Models (MGCMs) to generate global, interpolated fields of measured and derived parameters such as wind