38 research outputs found

    From the Caterpillar to the Butterfly: social entrepreneurship as a new social force in China

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    Age-Related Medicine

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    A meeting organised by the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences focussed on the challenges of developing medicines for older adults. International experts discussed the complexity introduced by polypharmacy and multiple morbidities and how the risk–benefit ratio of a medicine changes as an individual ages. The way in which regulatory authorities are encouraging the development of age-appropriate medicines was highlighted. Examples were provided of the difficulties faced by the older population with some medicinal products and suggestions given as to how the pharmaceutical scientist can build the requirements of the older population into their development of new medicines, as well as improvements to existing ones

    From the Caterpillar to the Butterfly: Social Entrepreneurship as a New Social Force in China.

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    This mainly explorative study examines the nature and environmental conditions of Social Entrepreneurship in China. It makes use of the theory of the network society, which allows to analyze the relationship of three mutually related elements: the global network, the changing role of the nationstate, and the question of identity. The last factor is, as will be argued, closely related to social movements, such as Social Entrepreneurship. The theory will help to provide an idea of how and why Social Entrepreneurship is constructing itself in the current Chinese and global setting. This setting will be described in more detail in terms of the Chinese cultural setting, the structure of civic society, and the Chinese political environment. The combination of these insights in turn will lead to a description of the status quo. In that part, the emerging market of Social Entrepreneurship in China and the specific and important role of the internet will be investigated in more detail. In a last part, the insights will be re-examined in order to analyze the crucial factors of a future failure or success of the movement. The conclusion will contain some concrete recommendations for members of the movement in China and elsewhere

    An Investigation into the Relationship between Xanthan Gum Film Coating Materials and Predicted Oro-Esophageal Gliding Performance for Solid Oral Dosage Forms

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    Oral drug therapy is generally provided in the form of solid oral dosage forms (SODF) that have to be swallowed and move throughout the oro-esophageal system. Previous studies have provided evidence that the oro-esophageal transit of SODF depends on their shape, size, density, and surface characteristics. To estimate the impact of SODF surface coatings during esophageal transit, an in vitro system was implemented to investigate the gliding performance across an artificial mucous layer. In this work, formulations comprised of different slippery-inducing agents combined with a common film forming agent were evaluated using the artificial mucous layer system. Xanthan gum (XG) and polyethylene glycol 1500 (PEG) were applied as film-forming agents, while carnauba wax (CW), lecithin (LE), carrageenan (CA), gellan gum (GG) and sodium alginate (SA), and their combination with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), were applied as slippery-inducing components. All tested formulations presented lower static friction (SF) as compared to the negative control (uncoated disc, C, F0), whereas only CW/SLS-based formulations showed similar performance to F0 regarding dynamic friction (DF). The applied multivariate analysis approach allowed a higher level of detail to the evaluation and supported a better identification of excipients and respective concentrations that are predicted to improve in vivo swallowing safety

    Better Medicines for Older Patients: Considerations between Patient Characteristics and Solid Oral Dosage Form Designs to Improve Swallowing Experience

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    Oral drug administration provided as solid oral dosage forms (SODF) remains the major route of drug therapy in primary and secondary care. There is clear evidence for a growing number of clinically relevant swallowing issues (e.g., dysphagia) in the older patient population, especially when considering the multimorbid, frail, and polymedicated patients. Swallowing impairments have a negative impact on SODF administration, which leads to poor adherence and inappropriate alterations (e.g., crushing, splitting). Different strategies have been proposed over the years in order to enhance the swallowing experience with SODF, by using conventional administration techniques or applying swallowing aids and devices. Nevertheless, new formulation designs must be considered by implementing a patient centric approach in order to efficiently improve SODF administration by older patient populations. Together with appropriate SODF size reductions, innovative film coating materials that can be applied to SODF and provide swallowing safety and efficacy with little effort being required by the patients are still needed. With that in mind, a literature review was conducted in order to identify the availability of patient centric coating materials claiming to shorten esophageal transit times and improve the overall SODF swallowing experience for older patients. The majority of coating technologies were identified in patent applications, and they mainly included well-known water soluble polymers that are commonly applied into pharmaceutical coatings. Nevertheless, scientific evidence demonstrating the benefits of given SODF coating materials in the concerned patient populations are still very limited. Consequently, the availability for safe, effective, and clinically proven solutions to address the increasing prevalence of swallowing issues in the older patient population is still limited
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