Introduction: Methadone hydrochloride (MDN) is an effective pharmacological substitution treatment for opioids dependence, adopted in different countries as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programmes. However, MDN can exacerbate the addiction problem if it is abused and injected intravenously, and the frequent visits to the MMT centres can reduce patient compliance. The overall aim of this study is to develop a novel extended-release capsule of MDN using the sol-gel silica (SGS) technique that has the potential to counteract medication-tampering techniques and associated health risks and reduce the frequent visits to MMT centres. Methods: For MDN recrystallisation, a closed container method (CCM) and hot-stage method (HSM) were conducted, and MDN crystals were characterised using the polarised light microscope (PLM). MDN crystal thickness was determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal microscopy (CM) to establish a relationship between MDN crystals thickness and their birefringence colours using the Michel-Levy Birefringence Colour Chart. The experimental series was continued to produce novel silica-based MDN formulations A and B capsules by adding MDN powder at the end and beginning of the SGS process, respectively. The silica-based MDN formulations were characterised by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), SEM, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), PLM and mean grey value (MGV) analyses. The in vitro release studies (n=3) for the silica-based MDN formulations and pure MDN capsules were conducted in a phosphate buffer solution (pH= 7.2) for 7 days. Stability studies were conducted for 1 month by keeping the silica-based MDN capsules under 25°C and 57% RH. Results: The optimal method to produce large numbers of MDN crystals was the CCM, and MDN crystals were characterised as diamond shaped with an intrinsic angle of 62o. The SEM surpassed the CM in measuring MDN crystal thickness, and Mann-Whitney U Test showed statistically significant differences between SEM and confocal thickness measurements (U= 1283, p < 0.05) as the SEM exhibited thinner diamond crystals (6.62 ± 2.9 µm) than the CM measurements (9.6 ± 4.6µm). According to the Michel-Levey birefringence colour chart (using the SEM mean thickness of MDN crystals and their retardation value of 428 nm), most of MDN crystals demonstrated a yellow colour. The FT-IR, SEM, DSC, MGV and PLM analyses of both silica-based MDN formulations revealed that MDN was successfully incorporated inside the silica network producing amorphous material (with no appearance of the melting peak of pure MDN at 233.4°C) with evidence of no physical or chemical interaction between sol-gel silica and MDN. However, the TGA analysis revealed a significantly greater amount of MDN was loaded inside the silica-based MDN formulation B compared to A (t = 2.80, p = 0.009, n=6), as 28.3 ± 0.6 mg of MDN was loaded in the former while 25.6 ± 0.7 mg in the latter. In addition, the silica-based MDN formulation B released 10% more MDN after 7 days than formulation A, and both formulations were stable when stored for 1 month under 57% RH and 25°C. Conclusion: The novel combined use of SEM and PLM techniques shows a potential for the identification of MDN in forensic science as it established a range of birefringence colours of MDN crystals. Moreover, the new silica-based MDN formulation B can help to deter MDN abuse and increase patient adherence to MMT due to its potential to sustain MDN release and reduce the frequent visits to MDN treatment centres.
The international business environment faces many challenges, including the intensity of competition, the speed of expansion, and control of the market. This leads to its shadow on the local business environment, which prompted many economic units to adopt modern strategies, including mergers and acquisitions, for expansion and prosperity. The research was conducted to verify the role of internal audit in the governance of strategy operations (Mergers and acquisitions) and its reflection on management decisions and making them efficient and effective. Internal auditing is the independent variable related to the other variable, the governance of strategic operations and its impact on management decisions for strategic operations as a depende
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The press release plays an important role in understanding and recognizing the policy of governments by the public in managing the state, especially in times of crises, as it helps to clarify the position of the government and its decisions.In addition, it is considered as one of the most important tools of communication between the government and its public at the present time.
In light of the technical developments and adopting modern mechanisms in transferring of what is issued by the government, the press release has been edited and published electronically; and helps in the success of this transfer speed and knowledge of the reactions of the masses towards the implications,In a crisis like the Basrah crisis in particular, the Ira
The research aims to verify the Role of Internal Auditing in Assessing the Risks of Strategic Operations (Acquisition) and then reflect on management decisions. Since all corporations wish to expand, growth and domination of the market may expose them to multiple risks that lead to failure. The research assumes two main hypotheses. First, there is no role for internal audit in evaluating the strategic operations (acquisition). Second, there is no relationship between internal auditing in assessing the risks of strategic operations (Acquisition) and management decisions. The data was collected by using a questionnaire distributed to a group of private bank employees. The statistical analysis regarding research rejected the two hyp
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Objective : The present study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of short wave diathermy and
ultrasound therapy for the management of patients with knee osteoarthritis
Methodology : all patients who referred to the Medical Rehabilitation Unit in Baghdad Teaching
Hospital and Sadr A!-Qanat Center. The period of the study was from October 2004 to April 2005, total
number of patients was 24 (9 male and 15 female). Age range of patients was 42-70 years. Complete
clinical and radiological examinations were achieved on all patients and referred to the Medical
Rehabilitation Unit for physiotherapy. Short wave diathermy and ultrasound therapy were applied on
all patients.
Results : Demographic distribution revealed th
The selective information broadcasting service is one of the important services in libraries and information centers, as it is the link between the source and the beneficiary and between related sources, as it links similar sources through keywords and then sends them to beneficiaries, which contributes to reducing the time and effort spent by beneficiaries in obtaining sources or information. Therefore, the application of this service is an important matter and gives a positive indicator in the progress of the library towards the integration of its services. From this standpoint, this research came to answer some questions, including: 1. What are the outlets for beneficiaries (the research community) in obtaining information sources? 2. Wh
... Show MoreKnowledge management contribute to the overall private university libraries to develop libraries for the purpose of creating human and technological resources by investing research and development, as well as education and training for life.
This study followed the methodology of the descriptive and historical pillars of knowledge management for the years 1990 to the present day in 2017, depending on statistical figures obtained by the researchers from the General Secretariat of the Central Library at the University of Baghdad, and the Human Resources Division, which specialized human resources training after 2004 (and before those years from 1982 until 2002, where the continuing education was committee of the fixed committees are wor
The principal objective of this study is to demonstrate how green quality management and product life cycle costing may help an organization gain a competitive advantage. Green quality management's influence on increasing product quality and meeting environmental criteria, as well as tracking the activities of product life cycle before, during, and after production, is demonstrated. Orienting these activities toward the production of eco-friendly products that fulfill the needs of customers, hence increasing organization's market share. We found from our study that proposed framework can help organizations improve their competitiveness. Green quality management contributes to environmental protection and the provision of high-qualit
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there is a need to use the teardown Technique in a various fields and different motives and used often by economic units as a technique to help other techniques for example, used by some economic units for the analysis of other economic units of products in order to work on the development of products and look for opportunities to improve product quality and avoid product errors competitor or reduce its costs, in addition to the services provided by quality control is used ISO 17025 integration with unassembled analysis to adjust the quality of the product by comparing the pieces produced with designed models that are also the product as a whole compared with the original design
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The environmental cost management focus on continuous improvement of processes and the various activities of the organization in order to improve the environmental performance by producing an environmentally friendly products lead to a competitive advantage for the organization and supports the activities of their sustainability.
The study was carried out in Bagel cement factory, one of the pioneer projects in Yemen in manufacturing field, The study found the need to develop a separate section for environmental management in order to put plans and environmental policies and the introduction of a special division in the Department of costs cares about Management practices cost and measure environmental costs, also give solu
... Show MoreThe advancements in horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing have been historically proven as the most viable technologies in the exploitation of unconventional resources (e.g., shale and tight gas reservoirs). However, the number of fractures, well timing, and arrangement pattern can have a significant impact on the project economy. Therefore, such design and operating parameters need to be efficiently optimized for obtaining the best production performance from unconventional gas reservoirs. In this study, the process of selecting the optimal number of fractures was conducted on a section of a tight gas reservoir model (based on data from the Whicher Range (WR) tight gas field in Western Australia). Then, the optimal number
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