136 research outputs found
Advanced Technologies for Oral Controlled Release: Cyclodextrins for oral controlled release
Cyclodextrins (CDs) are used in oral pharmaceutical formulations, by means of inclusion complexes formation, with the following advantages for the drugs: (1) solubility, dissolution rate, stability and bioavailability enhancement; (2) to modify the drug release site and/or time profile; and (3) to reduce or prevent gastrointestinal side effects and unpleasant smell or taste, to prevent drug-drug or drug-additive interactions, or even to convert oil and liquid drugs into microcrystalline or amorphous powders. A more recent trend focuses on the use of CDs as nanocarriers, a strategy that aims to design versatile delivery systems that can encapsulate drugs with better physicochemical properties for oral delivery. Thus, the aim of this work was to review the applications of the CDs and their hydrophilic derivatives on the solubility enhancement of poorly water soluble drugs in order to increase their dissolution rate and get immediate release, as well as their ability to control (to prolong or to delay) the release of drugs from solid dosage forms, either as complexes with the hydrophilic (e.g. as osmotic pumps) and/ or hydrophobic CDs. New controlled delivery systems based on nanotechonology carriers (nanoparticles and conjugates) have also been reviewed
New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April, 2019)
The Collective Article on “New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records” offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article presents new biodiversity data information on 18 taxa (14 alien, 3 native and 1 cryptogenic species)
belonging to 5 Phyla that are reported for 11 different countries listed according to their geographic position from the western to the
eastern Mediterranean Sea. Algeria: the alien green alga Caulerpa taxifolia var. distichophylla and the heterobranchs Aplysia dactylomeda and Aplysia punctata are first reported from the entire country. France: a new record of the alien hydroid Porpita porpita is
reported from the Corsican Sea, representing the second record of the species in the western Mediterranean Sea. Tunisia: the alien
fish Scatophagus argus is reported from the Gulf of Gabès, probably representing an aquarium release. Italy: the well-established
Mediterranean alien bivalve Malleus regula is first reported from the entire country. Slovenia: the alien marine bivalve Xenostrobus
securis is reported for the first time from the entire country. Croatia: the alien gastropod Biuve fulvipunctata is reported for the
first time from the country but also from the entire Adriatic Sea. Montenegro: the alien bivalve Rapana venosa is reported for the
first time from the Montenegrin waters. Albania: the well-established alien fish Lagocephalus sceleratus and the rare native shark
Rhizoprionodon acutus are reported for the first from the entire country. Greece: the rare native ray Leucoraja circularis is reported
for the first time from the Argolikos Gulf and for the first time for the entire country its identification is confirmed morphologically
and molecularly; additional records of the alien nomad jellyfish Rhopilema nomadic document its expanding distribution, while the
occurrence and the alien fishes Sillago suezensis and Pomadasys stridens are reported for the first time from Hellenic waters. Turkey:
additional records of the Egyptian Prawn Metapenaeopsis aegyptia are reported with some biological information. Cyprus: the alien
fish Variola louti is reported for the first time for the entire Mediterranean Sea, probably released from an aquarium, while the alien
moon crab Matuta victor is reported for the first time from the entire country
Flexible Working in the UK and its Impact on Couples' Time Coordination
The ability to combine work with quality time together as a family is at the heart of the
concept of work-life balance. Using previously unexploited data on couples work
schedules we investigate the effect of flexible working on couples coordination of their
daily work schedules in the UK. We consider three distinct dimensions of flexible
working: flexibility of daily start and finish times (flexitime), flexibility of work times
over the year (annualized hours), and generalized control of working hours. We show
that having flexitime at work increases a couples amount of coordination of their daily
work schedules by a half to one hour, which is double the margin of adjustment enjoyed
by couples with no flexitime. The impact is driven by couples with children. In contrast
to flexitime, the other two forms of flexible working do not seem to increase
synchronous time. Our results suggest that having flexitime plays an important role in
relaxing the work scheduling constraints faced by families with young children, and that
effective flexible working time arrangements are those that increase the workers and
not the employers flexibility
Unpublished Mediterranean and Black Sea records of marine alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species
To enrich spatio-temporal information on the distribution of alien, cryptogenic, and neonative species in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a collective effort by 173 marine scientists was made to provide unpublished records and make them open access to the scientific community. Through this effort, we collected and harmonized
a dataset of 12,649 records. It includes 247 taxa, of which 217 are Animalia, 25 Plantae and 5 Chromista, from 23 countries surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Chordata was the most abundant taxonomic group, followed by Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Annelida. In terms of species records, Siganus luridus, Siganus rivulatus,
Saurida lessepsianus, Pterois miles, Upeneus moluccensis, Charybdis (Archias) longicollis, and Caulerpa cylindracea were the most numerous. The temporal distribution of the records ranges from 1973 to 2022, with 44% of the records in 2020–2021. Lethrinus borbonicus is reported for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, while Pomatoschistus quagga, Caulerpa cylindracea, Grateloupia turuturu, and Misophria pallida are first records for the Black Sea; Kapraunia schneideri is recorded for the second time in the Mediterranean and for the first time in Israel; Prionospio depauperata and Pseudonereis anomala are reported for the first time from the Sea of Marmara. Many first country records are also included, namely: Amathia verticillata (Montenegro), Ampithoe valida (Italy), Antithamnion amphigeneum (Greece), Clavelina oblonga (Tunisia and Slovenia), Dendostrea cf. folium (Syria), Epinephelus fasciatus (Tunisia), Ganonema farinosum (Montenegro), Macrorhynchia philippina (Tunisia), Marenzelleria neglecta (Romania), Paratapes
textilis (Tunisia), and Botrylloides diegensis (Tunisia)
Pain and Frailty in Hospitalized Older Adults
Introduction: Pain and frailty are prevalent conditions in the older population. Many chronic diseases are likely involved in their origin, and both have a negative impact on quality of life. However, few studies have analysed their association. Methods: In light of this knowledge gap, 3577 acutely hospitalized patients 65 years or older enrolled in the REPOSI register, an Italian network of internal medicine and geriatric hospital wards, were assessed to calculate the frailty index (FI). The impact of pain and some of its characteristics on the degree of frailty was evaluated using an ordinal logistic regression model after adjusting for age and gender. Results: The prevalence of pain was 24.7%, and among patients with pain, 42.9% was regarded as chronic pain. Chronic pain was associated with severe frailty (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.38–2.07). Somatic pain (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.23–2.07) and widespread pain (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 0.93–2.78) were associated with frailty. Osteoarthritis was the most common cause of chronic pain, diagnosed in 157 patients (33.5%). Polymyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and other musculoskeletal diseases causing chronic pain were associated with a lower degree of frailty than osteoarthritis (OR = 0.49, 95%CI 0.28–0.85). Conclusions: Chronic and somatic pain negatively affect the degree of frailty. The duration and type of pain, as well as the underlying diseases associated with chronic pain, should be evaluated to improve the hospital management of frail older people
Sex-Differences in the Pattern of Comorbidities, Functional Independence, and Mortality in Elderly Inpatients: Evidence from the RePoSI Register
Background: The RePoSi study has provided data on comorbidities, polypharmacy, and sex dimorphism in hospitalised elderly patients. Methods: We retrospectively analysed data collected from the 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 data sets of the RePoSi register. The aim of this study was to explore the sex-differences and to validate the multivariate model in the entire dataset with an expanded follow-up at 1 year. Results: Among 4714 patients, 51% were women and 49% were men. The disease distribution showed that diabetes, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, and malignancy were more frequent in men but that hypertension, anaemia, osteoarthritis, depression, and diverticulitis disease were more common in women. Severity and comorbidity indexes according to the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS-s and CIRS-c) were higher in men, while cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and disability in daily life measured by the Barthel Index (BI) were worse in women. In the multivariate analysis, BI, CIRS, and malignancy significantly increased the risk of death in men at the 1-year follow-up, while age was independently associated with mortality in women. Conclusions: Our study highlighted the relevance and the validity of our previous predictive model in the identification of sex dimorphism in hospitalised elderly patients underscoring the need of sex-personalised health-care
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