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.
This paper presents an enhancement technique for tracking and regulating the blood glucose level for diabetic patients using an intelligent auto-tuning Proportional-Integral-Derivative PID controller. The proposed controller aims to generate the best insulin control action responsible for regulating the blood glucose level precisely, accurately, and quickly. The tuning control algorithm used the Dolphin Echolocation Optimization (DEO) algorithm for obtaining the near-optimal PID controller parameters with a proposed time domain specification performance index. The MATLAB simulation results for three different patients showed that the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed control algorithm in terms of fast gene
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The aim of this research is to estimate the parameters of the linear regression model with errors following ARFIMA model by using wavelet method depending on maximum likelihood and approaching general least square as well as ordinary least square. We use the estimators in practical application on real data, which were the monthly data of Inflation and Dollar exchange rate obtained from the (CSO) Central Statistical organization for the period from 1/2005 to 12/2015. The results proved that (WML) was the most reliable and efficient from the other estimators, also the results provide that the changing of fractional difference parameter (d) doesn’t effect on the results.
Tanuma and Zubair formations are known as the most problematic intervals in Zubair Oilfield, and they cause wellbore instability due to possible shale-fluid interaction. It causes a vast loss of time dealing with various downhole problems (e.g., stuck pipe) which leads to an increase in overall well cost for the consequences (e.g., fishing and sidetrack). This paper aims to test shale samples with various laboratory tests for shale evaluation and drilling muds development. Shale's physical properties are described by using a stereomicroscope and the structures are observed with Scanning Electron Microscope. The shale reactivity and behavior are analyzed by using the cation exchange capacity testing and the capillary suction test is
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In our article, three iterative methods are performed to solve the nonlinear differential equations that represent the straight and radial fins affected by thermal conductivity. The iterative methods are the Daftardar-Jafari method namely (DJM), Temimi-Ansari method namely (TAM) and Banach contraction method namely (BCM) to get the approximate solutions. For comparison purposes, the numerical solutions were further achieved by using the fourth Runge-Kutta (RK4) method, Euler method and previous analytical methods that available in the literature. Moreover, the convergence of the proposed methods was discussed and proved. In addition, the maximum error remainder values are also evaluated which indicates that the propo
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This paper aims to find new analytical closed-forms to the solutions of the nonhomogeneous functional differential equations of the nth order with finite and constants delays and various initial delay conditions in terms of elementary functions using Laplace transform method. As well as, the definition of dynamical systems for ordinary differential equations is used to introduce the definition of dynamical systems for delay differential equations which contain multiple delays with a discussion of their dynamical properties: The exponential stability and strong stability
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This research presents a new algorithm for classification the
shadow and water bodies for high-resolution satellite images (4-
meter) of Baghdad city, have been modulated the equations of the
color space components C1-C2-C3. Have been using the color space
component C3 (blue) for discriminating the shadow, and has been
used C1 (red) to detect the water bodies (river). The new technique
was successfully tested on many images of the Google earth and
Ikonos. Experimental results show that this algorithm effective to
detect all the types of the shadows with color, and also detects the
water bodies in another color. The benefit of this new technique to
discriminate between the shadows and water in fast Matlab pro
The variety of clean energy sources has risen, involving many resources, although their fundamental principles remain consistent in terms of energy generation and pollution reduction. The using of hydropower system for energy production also has a dynamic impact in which it utilizes to harness the water for the purpose of energy production. As it is important to overcome the problem of accidents in the highway and rural areas in the case of server rainfall and flood by implementation a smart system that used for energy production. This paper aims to develop a controlled hydropower system installed in the drainage sinks allocated in highway roads used for producing. The proposed system consists of storage unit represented by pipes used for t
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Flexible job-shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is one of the instances in flexible manufacturing systems. It is considered as a very complex to control. Hence generating a control system for this problem domain is difficult. FJSP inherits the job-shop scheduling problem characteristics. It has an additional decision level to the sequencing one which allows the operations to be processed on any machine among a set of available machines at a facility. In this article, we present Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm with Harmony Search for solving the flexible job shop scheduling problem. It is based on the new harmony improvised from results obtained by artificial fish swarm algorithm. This improvised solution is sent to comparison to an overall best
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The research aimed at finding out the effect of functional rotation on the tax performance of the employees of the General Authority for Taxes through the five-meter questionnaire prepared according to the required data. The data obtained from the research sample were analyzed. The results showed a significant effect of recycling In the tax performance, and this is evident from the proportion of his contribution to the interpretation of the total variation, which is a good indicator of the impact of functional rotation in the performance of the body sample research.