Recent Results on Nonlinear Elliptic Free Boundary Problems

In this paper we give an overview of some recent and older results concerning free boundary problems governed by elliptic operators

Effect of Polymer Hydration on the Kinetic Release of Drugs: A Study of Ibuprofen and Ketoprofen in HPMC Matrices

Samples of drug/hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) mixtures and matrices (drug/HPMC mixtures plus excipients) were allowed to equilibrate in closed chambers with defined relative humidities (RHs). Their water uptake and drug release were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry/thermogravimetric analysis and dissolution studies, respectively. Analysis of the thermal behaviors of the drug/HPMC mixtures and of the polymer alone, as functions of RH, leads to the conclusion that most of the hydration water is retained by the polymer, and points to the occurrence of different types of hydration water, from the strongly polymer-bound water molecules at RH values up to 81%, to the almost “free water” for RH values close to 100%. In addition, application of the Korsmeyer model to the dissolution results leads to the conclusion that the rate determining dissolution processes are predominantly of the fickian type.http://www.informaworld.com/10.1081/DDC-12001820

Mediterranean visceral leishmaniasis in immunocompetent children. Report of two cases relapsed after specific therapy

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is endemic in areas bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia) where it is caused by Leishmania infantum and is transmitted by the bite of a hematophagous sandfly belonging to Phlebotomus spp.; the dog constitutes the main reservoir of infection. Two cases of VL in immunocompetent children are described. Both patients lived in endemic areas for leishmaniasis (Sicily) and at admission were febrile, pale and had splenomegaly. In both patients anti-leishmania antibodies were present and a definitive diagnosis was confirmed by demonstration of leishmania parasites by microscopy or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the bone marrow aspirates. The use of PCR performed on peripheral blood has been reported to be highly sensitive for the diagnosis and follow-up of children with VL. One patient was treated with N-dimethylglucamine, Glucantim, the other one with liposomal Amphotericin B (AmBisome). Both had symptomatic relapses 3 months later, and recovered following re-treatment with AmBisome administered intravenously at a dosage of 3 mg/Kg for ten consecutive days. The patients were monitored for one year after treatment was complete

Otello, ossia Il moro di Venezia [Texto impreso] = Otelo, ó sea El moro de Vencia : ópera seria en tres actos

Texto en italiano y castellanoEn portada : Para representarse en el teatro de la ciudad de Valenci

Regularity of the free boundary in two-phase problems for linear elliptic equations

In this paper we complete the study of the regularity of the free boundary in two-phase problems for linear elliptic operators started in [M.C. Cerutti, F. Ferrari, S. Salsa, Two-phase problems for linear elliptic operators with variable coefficients: Lipschitz free boundaries are C1,γ , Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal. 171 (2004) 329–348]. In particular we prove that Lipschitz and flat free boundaries (in a suitable sense) are smooth. As byproduct, we prove that Lipschitz free boundaries are smooth in the case of quasilinear operators of the form div(A(x, u)∇u) with Lipschitz coefficients

Regularity of the Solutions for Parabolic Two-Phase Free Boundary Problems

In this paper we start to develop the regularity theory of general two-phase free boundary problems for parabolic equations. In particular we consider uniformly parabolic operators in nondivergence form and we are mainly concerned with the optimal regularity of the viscosity solutions. We prove that under suitable nondegenerate conditions the solution is Lipschitz across the free boundary