Development of clozapine tablets by direct compression - analysis of pharmaceutical equivalence by dissolution profiles

The aim of this work was to develop clozapine tablets that can be classified as a pharmaceutical equivalent to a reference brand product. Tablets were produced by direct compression and dissolution tests were realized in order to evaluate the dissolution profiles. The results show that the tablets can be classified as immediate release dosage forms due to clozapine fast release, and such release was dependent on the amount of sodium croscarmelose in the formulation. Analysis of f1 and f2 factors was frustrated due to the fast drug release; the tablets were analyzed by the dissolution efficiency and the dissolution curve shape. The dissolution efficiency was higher than 98 % and the analysis of the dissolution shape curve showed that the tablets from one batch of the developed formulations were similar to the reference brand product. The clozapine tablets obtained in this study can be considered as pharmaceutically equivalent to the reference brand product.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Development of clozapine tablets by direct compression - analysis of pharmaceutical equivalence by dissolution profiles

The aim of this work was to develop clozapine tablets that can be classified as a pharmaceutical equivalent to a reference brand product. Tablets were produced by direct compression and dissolution tests were realized in order to evaluate the dissolution profiles. The results show that the tablets can be classified as immediate release dosage forms due to clozapine fast release, and such release was dependent on the amount of sodium croscarmelose in the formulation. Analysis of f1 and f2 factors was frustrated due to the fast drug release; the tablets were analyzed by the dissolution efficiency and the dissolution curve shape. The dissolution efficiency was higher than 98 % and the analysis of the dissolution shape curve showed that the tablets from one batch of the developed formulations were similar to the reference brand product. The clozapine tablets obtained in this study can be considered as pharmaceutically equivalent to the reference brand product.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Ground reaction forces of Olympic and World Championship race walkers.

Abstract Race walking is an Olympic event where no visible loss of contact should occur and the knee must be straightened until midstance. The purpose of this study was to analyse ground reaction forces of world-class race walkers and associate them with key spatiotemporal variables. Nineteen athletes race walked along an indoor track and made contact with two force plates (1000 Hz) while being filmed using high-speed videography (100 Hz). Race walking speed was correlated with flight time (r = .46, p = .049) and flight distance (r = .69, p = .001). The knee's movement from hyperextension to flexion during late stance meant the vertical push-off force that followed midstance was smaller than the earlier loading peak (p < .001), resulting in a flattened profile. Athletes with narrower stride widths experienced reduced peak braking forces (r = .49, p = .046), peak propulsive forces (r = .54, p = .027), peak medial forces (r = .63, p = .007) and peak vertical push-off forces (r = .60, p = .011). Lower fluctuations in speed during stance were associated with higher stride frequencies (r = .69, p = .001), and highlighted the importance of avoiding too much braking in early stance. The flattened trajectory and consequential decrease in vertical propulsion might help the race walker avoid visible loss of contact (although non-visible flight times were useful in increasing stride length), while a narrow stride width was important in reducing peak forces in all three directions and could improve movement efficiency

Determination of galangin in commercial extracts of Alpinia officinarum by RP-HPLC-DAD

Alpinia officinarum has been used by long time in the traditional medicine and several commercial extracts containing it are available on the market. In this paper a reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (RP-HPLC-DAD) method for Alpinia officinarum preparations was proposed using galangin as a marker. The quantification was undertaken by a combination of RP-HPLC-DAD. The LC system employed a Gemini Phenomenex RP-18 column with phosphoric acid, tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile as mobile phase and detection at 267 nm. The method validation was throughout satisfactory. The determination coefficient was r2 = 0.998 with LOD 0.48 µg mL-1 and LOQ 1.59 µg mL-1 The results of precision (RSD < 2.82) and accuracy (99.9 %, 100.4 %, 102.2 %) with . RSD less than 2.7 %, were satisfactory. The analytical method was applied to commercial extracts, and was suitable to provide qualitative and quantitative information for the quality control to commercial preparations.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Start of SPIDER operation towards ITER neutral beams

Heating Neutral Beam (HNB) Injectors will constitute the main plasma heating and current drive tool both in ITER and JT60-SA, which are the next major experimental steps for demonstrating nuclear fusion as viable energy source. In ITER, in order to achieve the required thermonuclear fusion power gain Q=10 for short pulse operation and Q=5 for long pulse operation (up to 3600s), two HNB injectors will be needed [1], each delivering a total power of about 16.5 MW into the magnetically-confined plasma, by means of neutral hydrogen or deuterium particles having a specific energy of about 1 MeV. Since only negatively charged particles can be efficiently neutralized at such energy, the ITER HNB injectors [2] will be based on negative ions, generated by caesium-catalysed surface conversion of atoms in a radio-frequency driven plasma source. A negative deuterium ion current of more than 40 A will be extracted, accelerated and focused in a multi-aperture, multi-stage electrostatic accelerator, having 1280 apertures (~ 14 mm diam.) and 5 acceleration stages (~200 kV each) [3]. After passing through a narrow gas-cell neutralizer, the residual ions will be deflected and discarded, whereas the neutralized particles will continue their trajectory through a duct into the tokamak vessels to deliver the required heating power to the ITER plasma for a pulse duration of about 3600 s. Although the operating principles and the implementation of the most critical parts of the injector have been tested in different experiments, the ITER NBI requirements have never been simultaneously attained. In order to reduce the risks and to optimize the design and operating procedures of the HNB for ITER, a dedicated Neutral Beam Test Facility (NBTF) [4] has been promoted by the ITER Organization with the contribution of the European Union\u2019s Joint Undertaking for ITER and of the Italian Government, with the participation of the Japanese and Indian Domestic Agencies (JADA and INDA) and of several European laboratories, such as IPP-Garching, KIT-Karlsruhe, CCFE-Culham, CEA-Cadarache. The NBTF, nicknamed PRIMA, has been set up at Consorzio RFX in Padova, Italy [5]. The planned experiments will verify continuous HNB operation for one hour, under stringent requirements for beam divergence (< 7 mrad) and aiming (within 2 mrad). To study and optimise HNB performances, the NBTF includes two experiments: MITICA, full-scale NBI prototype with 1 MeV particle energy and SPIDER, with 100 keV particle energy and 40 A current, aiming at testing and optimizing the full-scale ion source. SPIDER will focus on source uniformity, negative ion current density and beam optics. In June 2018 the experimental operation of SPIDER has started

Moderate aerobic exercise (brisk walking) increases bone density in cART-treated persons

Moderate intensity aerobic activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome in the general population and has a potential in preventing bone loss. We evaluated the effects of brisk walking, with or without strength exercise, on bone mineral density in HIV-infected treated persons. Twenty-eight HIV-infected, cART-treated, sedentary subjects with VL&#60;50 c/mL were enrolled in a 12-week exercise program, consisting of 3 outdoor sessions/week of 60 min walking at 67&#x2013;70% of HR (heart rate) max&#x00B1;30 min circuit training at 65% of 1-RM (repetition maximum). Subjects were examined at baseline (BL) and 12 weeks (W12) by 6-minute walking test (6MWT) and by counting the number of repetitions for each strength exercise; and by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to evaluate lumbar spine and femoral bone mineral density with t- and z-scores - in addition to morphometric (BMI, waist, hip and leg circumference) and blood examination (cytometry, fasting total, HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin; AST/ALT, ALP, gGT, creatinine, CPK, HbA1c; CD4+ and CD8+, plasma HIV-RNA). Differences over time were tested by Wilcoxon-signed rank test and between groups by Mann-Whitney test. Twenty-seven (96%) participants (19M, 8F; median 48 y-o, IQR 43&#x2013;54; median CD4+624/&#x00B5;L, IQR 478&#x2013;708; ART with PI: 13 patients, with NNRTI: 7 patients, and including TDF: 15 patients) completed the 12-week program with a median adherence of 61% (IQR 50&#x2013;70): 18 in the &#x2018;walk only&#x2019; only group and 9 in the &#x2018;walk and strength&#x2019; group. At W12, participants showed significant improvement of distance by 6MWT (Table), and of performance in all strength exercises (crunch p=0.023, lat machine p=0.016, chest press p=0.016, leg extension p=0.016, sitting calf p=0.008, leg press p=0.016). DEXA spine z-score improved significantly in the whole group, and femoral z-scores in the &#x2018;walk only&#x2019; group. There was no z-score difference at BL between patients with/out PIs, NNRTIs or TDF. However, spine z-score improved significantly in patients receiving TDF. At W12 BMI, waist circumference, and LDL also improved significantly in the whole group, whereas no significant changes were observed for the other variables, The above 12-week program improved fitness and bone density in HIV-infected treated subjects, in addition to some morphometric variables and serum LDL. Brisk walking, with or without strength exercise, might help control the long-term consequences of cART

Physical education should be taught by &#8216;squadre&#8217; or &#8216;classi&#8217; methods? The students opinions

AIM: The aim of this study was to analyse the student feeling about Physical Education (PE) and its teaching with two different methods:\u2018classi\u2019 or \u2018squadre\u2019. Originally, PE in the high school using student gender separation (\u2018squadre\u2019) was thought. However, since 1997 any single school chooses a different method, introducing the \u2018classi\u2019 method, lessons with male and female together. During this age, boys and girls have the most important growth, with physical and psychological changes, which are sometimes lived as problematic. This process ends with the complete maturation in men and women, with the well-known physiological and anthropometrical differences.1 METHODS: 515 students in their 4th and 5th years of three scientific high schools have been enrolled in the study. 169 practiced PE with \u2018squadre\u2019 methods (SQ), 168 with \u2018classi\u2019 but had a previous experience with \u2018squadre\u2019 (SC) and 178 with \u2018classi\u2019 (CL). Student\u2019s feeling about PE was collected by questionnaire with open and closed questions that examined positive and negative aspects of PE \u2018per se\u2019 and in relation to its teaching method. Aspects related to fatigue have been separately examined because it can be positive and/or negative. Statistical analysis has been performed on percentages using G test. RESULTS: Most of the students consider PE useful, but percentages are statistically different in the groups (96%SQ, 81%SC, 70%CL, p &lt;0.001), the positive feeling are more frequent than negative (68%SQ, 81%SC, 70%CL), whereas CL presents the highest number of negative (24% p&lt; 0.001). The fatigue sensation has been reported more in SQ than in CL (22%SQ, 7%SC, 6%CL p &lt;0.001). PE returned an increase in wellness (68%SQ, 52%SC, 39%cl p&lt; 0.001), motor skills (79%SQ, 54%SC, 63%CL p&lt; 0.001) and friendships (75%SQ, 72%SC, 77%CL). Motivation, indeed, is more increased in SQ 62% than 46%SC and 40%CL (p&lt; 0.001). The positive aspects reported by students regarding their PE methods were 80%SQ, 51%SC, 62%CL, whereas the negative were 20%SQ, 49%SC, 38%CL (p &lt;0.001) respectively. CONCLUSION: Students considered PE useful and with many positive aspects, but \u2018classi\u2019 students reported minor gain in motor skills and motivation than SQ, this last aspect could cause a negative approach to sport activity out of the school. SQ and CL students thinking to PE wrote more positive aspects than negative, even if qualitatively different. Instead, SC student reported the same percentage, where the negative were the positive considering the previous \u2018squadre\u2019 experience. Fatigue was more present in SQ answers, probably because given tasks and workouts can be harder when working with the same gender. In light of these results PE taught by \u2018squadre\u2019 seems to be more appropriate for students learning and satisfaction

Mechanical and metabolic power in accelerated running–Part II: team sports

Purpose: This manuscript is devoted to discuss the interplay between velocity and acceleration in setting metabolic and mechanical power in team sports. Methods: To this aim, an essential step is to assess the individual Acceleration-Speed Profile (ASP) by appropriately analysing training sessions or matches. This allows one to estimate maximal mechanical and metabolic power, including that for running at constant speed, and hence to determine individual thresholds thereof. Results: Several approaches are described and the results, as obtained from 38 official matches of one team (Italian Serie B, season 2020–2021), are reported and discussed. The number of events in which the external mechanical power exceeded 80% of that estimated from the subject’s ASP (# burst) was 1.61 times larger than the number of accelerations above 2.5 m s−2 (# acc). The difference was largest for midfielders and smallest for attackers (2.30 and 1.36 times, respectively) due to (i) a higher starting velocity for midfielders and (ii) a higher external peak power for attackers in performing # burst . From the energetic perspective, the duration and the corresponding metabolic power of high-demanding phases (# MPE) were essentially constant (6 s and 22 W kg−1, respectively) from the beginning to the end of the match, even if their number decreased from 28 in the first to 21 in the last 15-min period, as a consequence of the increased recovery time between # MPE from 26 s in the first to 37 s in the last 15-min period. Conclusion: These data underline the flaws of acceleration counting above fixed thresholds

Lifetime assessment of the modified grounded grid in the negative ion source SPIDER

In a nuclear fusion reactor, some components of the system are subjected to huge thermal loads. These components, such as grids, neutralizers, calorimeters, ducts, divertors, blankets etc. have to be actively cooled in order to avoid damage, functionality problems and specially to ensure their reliability. The design process of such components requires taking into account several physical phenomena, with the goal of not only satisfying the functionality conditions, but also with a focus on the structural verifications and component lifetime. For assessment of the structural design for components in ITER, the ITER Structural Design Criteria for In-vessel Components (SDC-IC) represent the reference verification criteria. The aim of this work is to investigate the relationship between the cooling system performance and the fatigue life. In this work a generalized framework for the evaluation of cooling system components is presented, taking into account the necessary input parameters, performing numerical analyses, division of component into several interest regions and assessing the fatigue life. The performed numerical analyses are a set of coupled CFD and thermo-structural analyses. A case study is presented for a critical component, the Grounded Grid (GG), inside the SPIDER beam source experiment at Consorzio RFX, Padova, Italy. The presented test case includes cooling system effectiveness analysis, assessment of the temperature distribution on housing during operations, mapping the pressure distribution inside the cooling system and finally assessment of the maximum number of allowed cycles