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.
A transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) is characterized by the application of medications onto the skin's surface to deliver drugs at a controlled and predefined rate through the skin. Spanlastics, an elastic nanovesicle capable of transporting various pharmacological substances, shows promise as a drug delivery carrier. It offers numerous advantages over traditional vesicular systems applied topically, including enhanced stability, flexibility in penetration, and improved targeting capabilities. This study aims to develop meloxicam (MX)-loaded spanlastics gel as skin delivery carriers and to look into the effects of formulation factors like Tween80, Brij 35, and carbopol concentration on the properties of spanlastics gel, like pH, drug
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Darifenacin hydrobromide (DH) is the more recent uroselective M3 receptor antagonist for treating uncomplicated overactive bladder (OAB). This study was aimed to formulate DH as fast dissolving buccal films (FDBFs) using a solvent casting method to enhance patient’s compliance.
Films were prepared by using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a film forming polymer. Different types and concentrations of superdisintegrants (croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate, indion 414) were used to select the best formula by studying the physicochemical properties of the films, disintegration time (DT) and percent drug release.
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This study involves the design of 24 mixtures of fiber reinforced magnetic reactive powder concrete containing nano silica. Tap water was used for 12 of these mixtures, while magnetic water was used for the others. The nano silica (NS) with ratios (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3) % by weight of cement, were used for all the mixtures. The results have shown that the mixture containing 2.5% NS gives the highest compressive strength at age 7 days. Many different other tests were carried out, the results have shown that the carbon fiber reinforced magnetic reactive powder concrete containing 2.5% NS (CFRMRPCCNS) had higher compressive strength, modulus of rupture, splitting tension, str
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Heterocyclic polymers / silica nanocomposite one of important materials because of excellent properties such as thermal , electrical , and mechanical properties , so that hybrid nanomaterial are widely used in many fields, in this paper nanocomposite had prepared by modification of silica nanoparticals by using acrylic acid and functionalized the surface of nanoparticles, and using free Radical polymerization by AIBN as initiators and anhydrous toluene as solvent to polymerize functionalize silica nanoparticles with heterocyclic monomers to prepare heterocylic polymers / silica nanocomposite and study electrical conductivity , The nanocomposite which had prepared characterized by many analysis technique to study thermal properties such
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In this study, mesoporous silica (MPS) is made using the sol-gel method from a cheap source (Na2SiO3) using the surfactant hydroxycetyl hydroxyethyl dimonium chloride as a template. The task is the adsorption-based removal of the medication metoprolol (MP) at concentrations between 10 and 50 ppm. Variables such as: contact time, dose of adsorbent, starting concentration of adsorbate, and adsorption temperature were studied which show the equilibrium time and adsorbent dose are 40 min and 0.05 g respectively. The Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models were fitted to the data obtained from the experiments. Comparing the outcomes showed that, of the four investigated isotherm models, the Freundlich equation m
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Many consumers of electric power have excesses in their electric power consumptions that exceed the permissible limit by the electrical power distribution stations, and then we proposed a validation approach that works intelligently by applying machine learning (ML) technology to teach electrical consumers how to properly consume without wasting energy expended. The validation approach is one of a large combination of intelligent processes related to energy consumption which is called the efficient energy consumption management (EECM) approaches, and it connected with the internet of things (IoT) technology to be linked to Google Firebase Cloud where a utility center used to check whether the consumption of the efficient energy is s
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