A critical comparison between dosage forms in traditional Persian pharmacy and those reported in current pharmaceutical sciences

There were many natural pharmaceutical dosage forms cited by Persian pharmacists and physicians in the historical pharmacopeias (Qarabadins). This work aimed to perform a comprehensive study on “Qarābādin-e-Sālehi” (1765 A.D.), one of the main Persian pharmaceutical manuscripts defining traditional dosage forms. All traditional dosage forms as well as their definitions, descriptions and considerations were extracted by reviewing “Qarābādin-e-Sālehi”. Then, the textbook of “Aulton's Pharmaceutics; the design and manufacture of medicines” was considered to compare the medieval knowledge of pharmaceutics with current ones. Overall, there were 226 different dosage forms which have been cited in traditional Persian pharmacy. Since many of them were related to the preparation method, the final list of dosage form was shortened to nearly 60 items including solid, semisolid, liquid and gaseous forms. On the other hand, almost 40 forms with oral, topical, nasal, parenteral, vaginal and rectal routes of administration are mentioned as current dosage forms. Some of the dosage forms are similar or as the same in traditional and current pharmacy. But, there were too many novel dosage forms in traditional Persian pharmacy. There were 11 types of traditional nasal forms whereas, this route is still known as a novel route of administration. Also 5 different ophthalmic dosage forms have been cited in the textbook. Many of traditional dosage forms were designed according to the medical purposes. Several current dosage forms have roots in the historical definitions and can be found in Persian medicine. However, there are forgotten traditional dosage forms which can be modified and optimized in pharmacy nowadays

Robust filtering for a class of nonlinear stochastic systems with probability constraints

This paper is concerned with the probability-constrained filtering problem for a class of time-varying nonlinear stochastic systems with estimation error variance constraint. The stochastic nonlinearity considered is quite general that is capable of describing several well-studied stochastic nonlinear systems. The second-order statistics of the noise sequence are unknown but belong to certain known convex set. The purpose of this paper is to design a filter guaranteeing a minimized upper-bound on the estimation error variance. The existence condition for the desired filter is established, in terms of the feasibility of a set of difference Riccati-like equations, which can be solved forward in time. Then, under the probability constraints, a minimax estimation problem is proposed for determining the suboptimal filter structure that minimizes the worst-case performance on the estimation error variance with respect to the uncertain second-order statistics. Finally, a numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010–19: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BACKGROUND: Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. METHODS: The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk–outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. FINDINGS: Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4·45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4·01–4·94) deaths and 105 million (95·0–116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44·4% (41·3–48·4) of all cancer deaths and 42·0% (39·1–45·6) of all DALYs. There were 2·88 million (2·60–3·18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50·6% [47·8–54·1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1·58 million (1·36–1·84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36·3% [32·5–41·3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20·4% (12·6–28·4) and DALYs by 16·8% (8·8–25·0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34·7% [27·9–42·8] and 33·3% [25·8–42·0]). INTERPRETATION: The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden

The Big-five personality traits and their link to problematic and compensatory Facebook use: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Social networking sites are widespread worldwide, and Facebook is the leading platform in terms of the number of users, laying the ground for potential problematic use. However, problematic Facebook use does not occur for most users but only for a minority. Previous research has found an association between the Big-five personality traits and problematic Facebook use, but the direction of these associations remains controversial. We aimed to fill this gap in knowledge through a systematic review and meta-analysis comprising 425 effect-sizes (78 studies) and 39,930 individuals (females = 33 % to 89 %; age range = 17 to 48 years). Extraversion and neuroticism were associated with higher daily and weekly hours spent on Facebook, while conscientiousness was negatively associated with higher daily hours and not weekly hours. However, when time spent on Facebook was assessed by validated questionnaires, different patterns of associations were observed. Except for the non-significant role of extraversion, the other personality traits were negatively associated with problematic Facebook use, while neuroticism was positively associated. When using different assessment tools was considered, extraversion remained non-significant, but different association patterns were observed. Moreover, for compensatory Facebook use, all personality traits were negatively associated with it, whereas neuroticism exhibited a positive association. Different patterns of associations in terms of strength and direction were observed depending on samples and measures characteristics; thus, definitive conclusions on the direction of the associations are impossible to draw at present. A more robust conceptualization and assessment of problematic Facebook use, as well as time spent on it, is required. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. [Abstract copyright: Crown Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organochlorine pesticides removal from groundwater by citrus coal and uv/o3: A hybrid pilot-scale study

In this laboratory-scale study, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) reduction using citrus coals and O3 assisted by solar UV as an integrated treatment of groundwater under visible UV to reach sustainable development were traced. The experimental parameters were set up throughout standard methods and analysis protocols. The best performance of citrus coal was observed at a reaction time of 90 min, pH: 6.5, adsorption bed height = 40 cm, initial OCPs concentration, respectively, as 100 µg/L for alachlor (ALC), α (±)-BHC, atrazine (ATZ), and α-chlordane, 150 µg/L for methoxychlor, 50 µg/L for heptachlor, and 90 µg/L for dieldrin. The best performance of citrus coal was observed at a reaction time of 90 min, pH: 6.5, adsorption bed height 40 cm, initial OCPs concentration of 100 µg/L for ALC, α (±)-BHC, ATZ, and α-chlordane, 150 µg/L for methoxychlor, 50 µg/L for heptachlor, and 90 µg/L for dieldrin. Under the above-mentioned operating conditions, the removal rates were estimated at more than 75 for all these compounds. The adsorption outputs were fitted to the Freundlich model with the average R2 > 0.97, while for the Langmuir model this value was >0.86. Thereby, it is concluded that OCPs adsorption occurs on a heterogeneous surface by multilayer sorption. With regard to Kf (1/n) parameter, for the Freundlich adsorption model, the order of OCPs adsorption was appeared to be methoxychlor > dieldrin > heptachlor > α-chlordane > ALC > α (±)-BHC > ATZ. The optimum variables for UV/O3 were obtained as 0.4 mg/L ozone, pH = 9, and 35 min reaction time, so that, more than 98 of these substances were degraded from the solution under this condition. The reaction kinetics were fitted with R2 value of more than 0.9 for most OCPs. The kinetic reaction constants (k) in pH values of 7 and 9.5 were higher than other ranges for all OCPs. The progress of pH at the alkaline area improved the pseudo-first-order constants. The kinetic model indicated that the reaction rates will be restricted by the initial pH value and the concentration of OH�. This evidence was well-established by monitoring dissolved O2 at the various pH ranges during the experiment runs. Eight intermediates were detected by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry detection with chemical formula as C14 H20 ClNO3, C13 H16 ClNO3, C14 H18 ClNO4, �NHCH(CH3 )2, �NHCOCH3, �NH2, C13 H9 ClO, and C7 H5 ClO from the samples taken in the non-optimized UV/O3 effluent. However, all of them disappeared in the final effluent at the optimized condition. Altogether, this integrated strategy helped to remove OCPs more than 86 on average, with residues less than 1 µg/L and even 0.05 µg/L in some cases. Due to the generation of a large amount of citrus wastes (46,000 ton/y) in the north of Iran and the abundance of solar energy especially solar UV in the middle east, this hybrid approach to treat groundwater contaminated with agricultural OCPs as a type of EDCs can be an effective alternative for conventional and current removal strategies to provide safety and treat groundwater by this agricultural compound. © 2021 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved