Evaluation of the efficacy of transdermal administration of maropitant in managing vomiting in cats

Background: Antiemetic maropitant is a widely used medication for treating acute and chronic vomiting in cats. It is available as tablets or injectable solution (Cerenia®). With the oral and injectable routes being especially difficult to pursue in cats experiencing vomiting and nausea, the transdermal administration might be an efficient alternative. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the antiemetic effect of maropitant administered via the transdermal route in cats. Case Description: There were 8 cats enrolled in this study, weighing between 2 and 7 kg, more than 6 months old, and experiencing at least 2 episodes of vomiting in the last 72 hours. Compounded transdermal maropitant was prepared using finely ground Cerenia® tablets, dissolved in propylene glycol and incorporated in the commercial liposomal base Pentravan® (Fagron®, Thiais, France). The uniformity of content was determined using the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The product was administered at a dosage of 4 mg/cat once a day (QD), applied on the inner pinna of the ear for five consecutive days. Monitoring and evaluation of vomiting frequency and nausea were performed. A significant decrease in vomiting frequency was observed in 6 of the 8 enrolled cats. A reduction in nausea, associated with an improvement of appetite, was observed in some cases. Conclusion: Transdermal application of maropitant to cats experiencing vomiting seems to be efficient and a good alternative to existing oral medication, taking into account the difficulty of oral administration in these cases. This work provides preliminary clinical results of the efficacy of transdermal maropitant in cats. Further studies are necessary to determine dosing and pharmacokinetics

Characterization Study of CO2, CH4, and CO2/CH4 Hydroquinone Clathrates Formed by Gas–Solid Reaction

Hydroquinone (HQ) is known to form organic clathrates with some gaseous species such as CO2 and CH4. This work presents spectroscopic data, surface and internal morphologies, gas storage capacities, guest release temperatures, and structural transition temperatures for HQ clathrates obtained from pure CO2, pure CH4, and an equimolar CO2/CH4 mixture. All analyses are performed on clathrates formed by direct gas–solid reaction after 1 month’s reaction at ambient temperature conditions and under a pressure of 3.0 MPa. A collection of spectroscopic data (Raman, FT-IR, and 13C NMR) is presented, and the results confirm total conversion of the native HQ (α-HQ) into HQ clathrates (β-HQ) at the end of the reaction. Optical microscopy and SEM analyses reveal morphology changes after the enclathration reaction, such as the presence of surface asperities. Gas porosimetry measurements show that HQ clathrates and native HQ are neither micro- nor mesoporous materials. However, as highlighted by TEM analyses and X-ray tomography, α- and β-HQ contain unsuspected macroscopic voids and channels, which create a macroporosity inside the crystals that decreases due to the enclathration reaction. TGA and in situ Raman spectroscopy give the guest release temperatures as well as the structural transition temperatures from β-HQ to α-HQ. The gas storage capacity of the clathrates is also quantified by means of different types of gravimetric analyses (mass balance and TGA). After having been formed under pressure, the characterized clathrates exhibit exceptional metastability: the gases remain in the clathrate structure at ambient conditions over time scales of more than 1 month. Consequently, HQ gas clathrates display very interesting properties for gas storage and sequestration applications

CO2–Hydroquinone Clathrate: Synthesis, Purification, Characterization and Crystal Structure

Organic clathrate compounds, particularly those formed between hydroquinone (HQ) and gases, are supramolecular entities recently highlighted as promising alternatives for applications such as gas storage and separation processes. This study provides new insights into CO2–HQ clathrate, which is a key structure in some of the proposed future applications of these compounds. We present a novel synthesis and purification of CO2–HQ clathrate monocrystals. Clathrate crystals obtained from a single synthesis and native HQ are characterized and compared using Raman/Fourier transform infrared/NMR spectroscopies, optical microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis coupled to mass spectrometry. The molecular structure of the clathrate has been resolved by X-ray diffraction analysis, and detailed crystallographic information is presented for the first time

Creating innovative composite materials to enhance the kinetics of CO 2 capture by hydroquinone clathrates

This study addresses both the preparation of a reactive medium composed of porous particles impregnated with hydroquinone (HQ), an organic compound capable of forming gas clathrates, and an evaluation of the kinetic performance of these composite materials for CO2 capture. Two types of porous silica particles of different sizes and pore diameters were tested. The porous particles were impregnated with HQ by a dry impregnation (DI) method in a fluidized bed, and by a wet impregnation (WI) method. The impregnation effectiveness of the two methods is discussed, and the reactivity of the composite materials formed in terms of CO2 capture and storage capacity is studied experimentally. The experimental results showed that the HQ adheres well on the silica without any chemical modification of the deposit’s structure. We demonstrated that the impregnation technique plays a very important role in the kinetics of CO2 capture. A series of experiments performed using a magnetic suspension balance at 3.0 MPa and 323 K showed that the silica-based impregnated particles reversibly capture and store CO2, and that the CO2 capture kinetics are significantly enhanced compared to the results obtained with pure powdered HQ. Finally, we demonstrated that CO2 capture is faster with dry-impregnated particles

Automated Non-Sterile Pharmacy Compounding: A Multi-Site Study in European Hospital and Community Pharmacies with Pediatric Immediate Release Propranolol Hydrochloride Tablets.

Pharmacy compounding, the art and science of preparing customized medications to meet individual patient needs, is on the verge of transformation. Traditional methods of compounding often involve manual and time-consuming processes, presenting challenges in terms of consistency, dosage accuracy, quality control, contamination, and scalability. However, the emergence of cutting-edge technologies has paved a way for a new era for pharmacy compounding, promising to redefine the way medications are prepared and delivered as pharmacy-tailored personalized medicines. In this multi-site study, more than 30 hospitals and community pharmacies from eight countries in Europe utilized a novel automated dosing approach inspired by 3D printing for the compounding of non-sterile propranolol hydrochloride tablets. CuraBlend <sup>®</sup> excipient base, a GMP-manufactured excipient base (pharma-ink) intended for automated compounding applications, was used. A standardized study protocol to test the automated dosing of tablets with variable weights was performed in all participating pharmacies in four different iterative phases. Integrated quality control was performed with an in-process scale and NIR spectroscopy supported by HPLC content uniformity measurements. In total, 6088 propranolol tablets were produced at different locations during this study. It was shown that the dosing accuracy of the process increased from about 90% to 100% from Phase 1 to Phase 4 by making improvements to the formulation and the hardware solutions. The results indicate that through this automated and quality controlled compounding approach, extemporaneous pharmacy manufacturing can take a giant leap forward towards automation and digital manufacture of dosage forms in hospital pharmacies and compounding pharmacies

Effects of a fishing closure area on the structure and diversity of a continental shelf fish assemblage in the NW Mediterranean Sea

Bottom trawling is the most extensive fishing activity affecting the continental shelf in Mediterranean waters. This gear has caused negative effects on the communities and topography of the seafloor. Temporal or spatial fishing closures have been proposed as strategies to reduce the disturbances caused by overfishing and for biodiversity recovery and restoration of ecosystems. The present study used various indicators to analyze and compare the differences between the demersal fish assemblages in a fishing closure area (FCA) established by the fishers of the Roses port (NW Mediterranean) and those on a fishing ground (FG) to assess the efficiency of this strategy two years after the cessation of fishing. Our findings demonstrated a noticeable increase in the abundance and biomass of all species in the FCA, especially species of small and medium size. Thus, our findings demonstrated that there were detectable shifts in the community (composition, rank abundance plots, ABC curves and diversity metrics) in a short time, evidencing slight disturbance effects on ecosystems. The present study also showed positive effects on the population structure, which had an increase in larger individuals, although the pattern varied between species. In particular, the European hake stock showed an increase in recruits, and the presence of large adults supported the suitability of this protection measure. Consequently, long time periods are not necessary to perceive noticeable benefits in terms of biodiversity recovery and ecosystem restoration in some deep marine ecosystems, and monitoring from the first year of fishing cessation is very important.Postprin

Contribution of DOSY NMR to the study of polymer systems : Chain ends groups, control architectures and self-assembly

La Résonance Magnétique Nucléaire RMN DOSY (Diffusion Ordered SpectroscopY) 1H est une technique permettant de mesurer les coefficients de diffusion des espèces en solution. Elle permet ainsi d’obtenir des informations structurales de par sa dimension RMN conventionnelle mais également des informations physico-chimiques telles que la taille de la (macro)molécule ou encore la formation d’agrégats. L’objectif de ces travaux a été d’examiner comment les méthodes de RMN (RMN 1D ,2D et DOSY), permettent de fournir des informations sur la caractérisation des matériaux polymères. La première partie de ce travail souligne l’intérêt de la RMN pour la caractérisation de la microstructure de quelques matériaux polymères en s’attardant plus particulièrement sur l’exploration de leurs extrémités de chaînes. La RMN s’est en effet révélée très performante pour établir le lien entre extrémité de chaîne et méthode de polymérisation appliquée. Le deuxième volet de ces travaux concerne l’étude de quelques architectures complexes (type dibloc et tribloc) et la mise en évidence du caractère contrôlé d’une copolymérisation radicalaire grâce à la RMN diffusionnelle. Nous avons également vu comment déterminer la masse moyenne en poids (Mw) par une simple mesure du coefficient d’autodiffusion. Finalement, l’ensemble des travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit a été valorisé grâce à l’étude des interactions par RMN diffusionnelle. Plus particulièrement la RMN DOSY 1H a permis d’observer des phénomènes de micellisation, d’agrégation, d’encapsulation et de relargage de molécules de principe actif.Diffusion Ordered Spectroscopic Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (DOSY NMR 1H) makes it possible to determine physicochemical data such diffusion coefficients. While typical NMR data on the structure of molecules can be obtained, this technique also permits determinations of the physicochemical characteristics, such as molecular sizes or aggregate formation. The objective of this work was to examine how various NMR methodologies, specifically, 1 and 2 dimensional DOSY NMR, can be applied to the characterization of polymers. The first part of the manuscript relates the NMR characterization of some polymeric materials with a special interest in chain-end groups. In particular, we demonstrate the relationships between chain-ends and the polymerization methods employed. In a second part, the potential of the DOSY technique is used to determine controlled features of a radical polymerization resulting in di- and triblock architectures. Molecular weights are also determined by self-diffusion coefficient measurements. The results presented herein demonstrate that diffusional NMR can be effectively employed to understand interactions in polymeric structures. Indeed, DOSY 1H-NMR provides new interesting results concerning micellization, aggregation, encapsulation phenomena and the release of active molecules

La gestión espacial de la pesquería de merluza en el Mediterráneo catalán: Simulación del efecto de diferentes alternativas de gestión en base del Modelo InVEST

Trabajo final presentado por Meryeme Khoukh para el Máster en Gestión Pesquera Sostenible de la Universidad de Alicante, realizado bajo la dirección del Dr. Francesc Maynou Hernández del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC).-- 121 pages, 52 figures, 10 tables, 10 annexes[EN] Hake (Merluccius merluccius) is one of the most important demersal species in the Mediterranean ecosystem.This species of an important commercial values hows a growth overexploitation with catches basically focused on juveniles. Considering the interest of spatial management for the sustainability of Mediterranean fisheries, this study assesses the benefit of closing a shallow area to fishing (essential habitat for hake recruits) and the consequences of diversespatial and non-spatial management scenarios applied to the hake fishery, precisely in the province of Girona (Ports of Blanes and Palamós) [...][ES] La merluza (Merluccius merluccius) es una de las especies demersales más importantes del ecosistema demersal Mediterráneo. Esta especie de valor comercial importante padece una sobreexplotación de crecimiento con capturas básicamente centradas en los juveniles. Considerando el interés de la gestión espacial para la sostenibilidad de las pesquerías del Mediterráneo, el presente trabajo evalúa el beneficio de cerrar un área de poca profundidad a la pesca (hábitat esencial de reclutas de merluza) y las consecuencias de diversos escenarios de gestión espacial y non espacial aplicados a la pesquería de merluza, precisamente, en la provincia de Girona (Puertos de Blanes y Palamós). [...][FR] Le merlu (Merluccius merluccius) représente l’une des principales espèces demersales exploitées en Méditerranée. Cette espèce de grand intérêt commercial est soumise à une surexploitation de croissance où les juvéniles dominent la composition des captures. Etant donné l’intérêt de la gestion spatiale pour la durabilité des pêcheries Méditerranéennes, cette étude a pour objectif d’évaluer les bénéfices de l’application d’une fermeture spatiale au niveau d’une zone de pêche peu profonde, représentant un habitat essentiel des recrues de merlu ainsi que les conséquences de divers scénarios de gestion (spatiale et non spatiale) appliqués à cette pêcherie au niveau de la province de Gérone (Ports de Blanes et Palamós). [...]Peer Reviewe