Development and Validation of Spectrophotometric Methods for the Estimation of Mesalamine in Tablet Dosage Forms

Three simple and sensitive visible spectrophotometric methods (A, B, and C) have been developed for the quantitative estimation of mesalamine in bulk drug and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Methods were based on the formation of colored chromogens, which were measured at 552 nm, 440 nm, and 494 nm, respectively. The results obtained with the proposed methods were found to be unsatisfactory with the labeled amounts when the tablet dosage forms were analyzed

Association between gender and receipt of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in stroke patients from Puerto Rico

Introduction: Stroke is the fifth principal cause of death in the United States and Puerto Rico and a prime cause of adult disability. Women tend to have worse outcomes post-stroke. Initial diagnoses and management of stroke include the use of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans. MRI scans are more sensitive and more specific than CT scans. Still, CT scans are used more commonly. Whether differences in the choice of imaging techniques exists for gender and whether that can be a potential reason for gender differences in post-stroke outcomes it is yet unknown. The study is directed to evaluate the association between gender and receipt of a MRI in stroke patients in the Puerto Rico population. Methods: We did a secondary analysis of data collected from patients who suffered from a stroke and who participated in the Puerto Rican Cardiovascular Surveillance System (PRCSS) in 2007, 2009 and 2011. The main independent variable was gender (male and female). The dependent variable will be receipt of a MRI (alone or in combination with any other imaging modality as recorded in the medical charts). Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess for the independent associations. P-value < 0.05 for a two tailed test was considered to be statistically significant. SPSS software was used for analysis. Results: A total of 1,950 patients suffered from an ischemic stroke and participated at the PRCSS. We excluded 595 patients due to BMI ≥35 (n=135) or no recorded BMI (n=460). MRI was used for 50% of participants. Women were 85% less likely to receive a MRI compared to men in both the unadjusted (OR-0.85, 95% CI=0.11-0.20, p-value <0.001) and after adjusting for BMI, age, marital status, hypertension, and transient ischemic attacks (TIA) (OR=0.15; 95%CI: 0.11-0.20). No other variables assessed had significant independent association with the receipt of a MRI. Conclusions: We found evidence of gender disparities in the receipt of MRI during hospitalization for stroke in patients in the Puerto Rico. Women were less likely to receive MRI compared to men. Further research on potential reasons for such dispairites, increasing awareness, and testing intervention as to decrease these potential disparities are needed

Long-term outcomes after using retrievable vena cava filters in major trauma patients with contraindications to prophylactic anticoagulation

Purpose To investigate the long-term outcomes of using vena cava filters to prevent symptomatic pulmonary embolism (PE) in major trauma patients who have contraindications to prophylactic anticoagulation. Methods This was an a priori sub-study of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving long-term outcome data of 223 patients who were enrolled in Western Australia. State-wide clinical information system, radiology database and death registry were used to assess long-term outcomes, including incidences of venous thromboembolism, venous injury and mortality beyond day-90 follow-up. Results The median follow-up time of 198 patients (89%) who survived beyond 90 days was 65 months (interquartile range 59–73). Ten patients (5.1%) died after day-90 follow-up; and four patients developed venous thromboembolism, including two with symptomatic PE, all allocated to the control group (0 vs 4%, p = 0.043). Inferior vena cava injuries were not recorded in any patients. The mean total hospitalization cost, including the costs of the filter and its insertion and removal, to prevent one short- or long-term symptomatic PE was A$284,820 (€193,678) when all enrolled patients were considered. The number of patients needed to treat (NNT = 5) and total hospitalization cost to prevent one symptomatic PE (A$1,205 or €820) were, however, substantially lower when the filter was used only for patients who could not be anticoagulated within seven days of injury. Conclusion Long-term complications related to retrievable filters were rare, and the cost of using filters to prevent symptomatic PE was acceptable when restricted to those who could not be anticoagulated within seven days of severe injury

In-situ microstructural control of A6082 alloy to modify second phase particles by melt conditioned direct chill (MC-DC) casting process - A novel approach

© 2021 The Authors. Controlling the formation of noncompact second phase particles during direct chill (DC) casting of aluminium alloys with grain refiner addition remains challenging, as it results in energy intensive homogenisation and deformation problems. In this work, we employed a novel strategy in the DC casting of A6082 alloy to produce billets with a fine-scale dispersion of second phase particles. The strategy involves maintaining 2–7 °C above alloy liquidus as a thermal condition in the sump by in-situ melt conditioning (MC) using a rotor-stator high-shear device operated at a critical rotation speed. As a result, in-situ control of solidification behaviour is achieved to precisely tailor the as-cast microstructure. The billet grain refinement is attained by MC-DC casting without the deliberate addition of chemical grain refiners. The microstructure of the MC-DC cast billet at the critical rotation speed showed a fine-scale dendritic structure with refined secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS). The solidification front proceeded with a shallow sump and a corresponding shorter solidification time, higher cooling rate, higher temperature gradient, and smooth solidification rate profile. The ideal fine-scale dendrites with low SDAS divided the remaining eutectic liquid into fine-scale and isolated liquid pockets, resulting in fine-scale, compact morphology, and uniform distribution of second phase particles in the as-cast microstructure. The MC-DC casting process showed the ability to increase the cast house production rate by increasing the casting speed without bleeding the billet. The present approach could be beneficial for eliminating or reducing the homogenisation practice and may also introduce significant flexibility in using recycled Al alloys in the industry.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK and Constellium (UK) STEP Al prosperity partnership grant (EP/S036296/1)

SCOTCH − Search for Clandestine Optically Thick Compact H ii regions: II

In this study we present 18-24 GHz and high-angular-resolution (0.5 arcsec) radio wavelength Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) follow-up observations towards a sample of 39 HC H ii region candidates. These objects, taken from a sample hosting 6.7 GHz methanol masers, were chosen due to the compact and optically thick nature of their continuum emission. We have detected 27 compact radio sources and constructed their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) over the 5–24 GHz range to determine the young H ii region’s physical properties, i.e., diameter, electron density ne, emission measure, Lyman continuum flux NLy and turnover frequency νt. The flux measurements are fitted for 20 objects assuming an ionisation-bounded H ii region with uniform density model. For the remaining 7 objects that lack constraints spanning both their optically thick and thin regimes, we utilise relations from the literature to determine their physical properties. Comparing these determined parameters with those of known hypercompact (HC) and ultracompact (UC) H ii regions, we have identified 13 HC H ii regions, 6 intermediate objects that fall between HC H ii and UC H ii regions, 6 UC H ii regions and one radio jet candidate which increases the known population of HC H ii regions by ∼50 per cent. All the young and compact H ii regions are embedded in dusty and dense clumps and ∼80 per cent of the HC H ii regions identified in this work are associated with various maser species (CH3OH, H2O and OH). Four of our radio sources remain optically thick at 24 GHz; we consider these to be amongst the youngest HC H ii regions

A multi-vendor, multi-center study on reproducibility and comparability of fast strain-encoded cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging

Myocardial strain is a convenient parameter to quantify left ventricular (LV) function. Fast strain-encoding (fSENC) enables the acquisition of cardiovascular magnetic resonance images for strain-measurement within a few heartbeats during free-breathing. It is necessary to analyze inter-vendor agreement of techniques to determine strain, such as fSENC, in order to compare existing studies and plan multi-center studies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate inter-vendor agreement and test-retest reproducibility of fSENC for three major MRI-vendors. fSENC-images were acquired three times in the same group of 15 healthy volunteers using 3 Tesla scanners from three different vendors: at the German Heart Institute Berlin, the Charité University Medicine Berlin-Campus Buch and the Theresien-Hospital Mannheim. Volunteers were scanned using the same imaging protocol composed of two fSENC-acquisitions, a 15-min break and another two fSENC-acquisitions. LV global longitudinal and circumferential strain (GLS, GCS) were analyzed by a trained observer (Myostrain 5.0, Myocardial Solutions) and for nine volunteers repeatedly by another observer. Inter-vendor agreement was determined using Bland-Altman analysis. Test-retest reproducibility and intra- and inter-observer reproducibility were analyzed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficients of variation (CoV). Inter-vendor agreement between all three sites was good for GLS and GCS, with biases of 0.01-1.88%. Test-retest reproducibility of scans before and after the break was high, shown by ICC- and CoV values of 0.63-0.97 and 3-9% for GLS and 0.69-0.82 and 4-7% for GCS, respectively. Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility were excellent for both parameters (ICC of 0.77-0.99, CoV of 2-5%). This trial demonstrates good inter-vendor agreement and test-retest reproducibility of GLS and GCS measurements, acquired at three different scanners from three different vendors using fSENC. The results indicate that it is necessary to account for a possible bias (< 2%) when comparing strain measurements of different scanners. Technical differences between scanners, which impact inter-vendor agreement, should be further analyzed and minimized.DRKS Registration Number: 00013253. Universal Trial Number (UTN): U1111-1207-5874

Efficacy and safety of cumaru syrup as complementary therapy in mild persistent asthma: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study

Amburana cearensis is a medicinal plant known as "cumaru". It is used in Northeast Brazil in the treatment of respiratory diseases. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, with the aim of evaluating the efficacy and safety of cumaru syrup as complementary therapy in mild persistent asthma. The study consisted of 3 phases, pre-treatment, treatment and post-treatment. The primary efficacy outcome was comparison of the changes reported by patients of the cumaru and placebo groups after treatment, using the "Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire" (AQLQ). The secondary outcome was the effect of cumaru syrup on lung function based on spirometry. The results showed that in the cumaru group, the proportion of patients who had global improvement in asthma symptoms was significantly greater (61.90%, P=0.0009) than in the placebo group (9.52%). Only the spirometric parameters Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) showed significant intergroup differences in post-treatment (P0.05). Adverse events were reported by 3 patients (14.29%) in the cumaru group and 3 patients (14.29%) in the placebo group. All adverse events were considered non-serious and mild.Amburana cearensis é uma planta medicinal conhecida como "cumaru". No Nordeste do Brasil é usada no tratamento de doenças respiratórias. Este é um estudo randomizado, duplo-cego e controlado por placebo, com o objetivo de avaliar a eficácia e segurança do xarope de cumaru como terapia complementar da asma persistente leve. O estudo consistiu de três fases, pré-tratamento, tratamento e pós-tratamento. A variável primária para determinação da eficácia foi a comparação das mudanças referidas pelos pacientes dos grupos cumaru e placebo após o tratamento, usando o "Questionário sobre Qualidade de Vida na Asma" (QQVA). A variável secundária foi o efeito do xarope de cumaru na função pulmonar baseado na espirometria. Os resultados mostraram que no grupo cumaru, a proporção de pacientes com melhora global dos sintomas da asma foi significativamente maior (61,90%, P=0.0009) que no grupo placebo (9,52%). Somente os parâmetros espirométricos, capacidade vital forçada (CVF) e volume expiratório forçado no primeiro segundo (VEF1), mostraram diferença intergrupo significtivas no pós-tratamento (P0.05). Eventos adversos foram reportados por 3 pacientes (14,29%) no grupo cumaru e 3 (14,29%) no grupo placebo. Todos os eventos adversos foram não sérios e leves

Top A_FB at the Tevatron vs. charge asymmetry at the LHC in chiral U(1) flavor models with flavored Higgs doublets

We consider the top forward-backward (FB) asymmetry at the Tevatron and top charge asymmetry at the LHC within chiral U(1)^\prime models with flavor-dependent U(1)^\prime charges and flavored Higgs fields, which were introduced in the ref. [65]. The models could enhance not only the top forward-backward asymmetry at Tevatron, but also the top charge asymmetry at LHC, without too large same-sign top pair production rates. We identify parameter spaces for the U(1)^\prime gauge boson and (pseudo)scalar Higgs bosons where all the experimental data could be accommodated, including the case with about 125 GeV Higgs boson, as suggested recently by ATLAS and CMS.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, figures and discussion adde

Spatial regulation of the glycocalyx component podocalyxin is a switch for prometastatic function

The glycocalyx component and sialomucin podocalyxin (PODXL) is required for normal tissue development by promoting apical membranes to form between cells, triggering lumen formation. Elevated PODXL expression is also associated with metastasis and poor clinical outcome in multiple tumor types. How PODXL presents this duality in effect remains unknown. We identify an unexpected function of PODXL as a decoy receptor for galectin-3 (GAL3), whereby the PODXL-GAL3 interaction releases GAL3 repression of integrin-based invasion. Differential cortical targeting of PODXL, regulated by ubiquitination, is the molecular mechanism controlling alternate fates. Both PODXL high and low surface levels occur in parallel subpopulations within cancer cells. Orthotopic intraprostatic xenograft of PODXL-manipulated cells or those with different surface levels of PODXL define that this axis controls metastasis in vivo. Clinically, interplay between PODXL-GAL3 stratifies prostate cancer patients with poor outcome. Our studies define the molecular mechanisms and context in which PODXL promotes invasion and metastasis