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.
(1)
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
... Show More
(1)
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
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
Objective(s): The aim of this study is to assess licensed indigenous midwives’ knowledge concerning prevention and
management of postpartum hemorrhage in Baghdad City.
Methodology: A descriptive analytic study is conducted on a purposive "non-probability" sample of one hundred
licensed indigenous midwives who were selected what represents 26% of the target population, during period from
March, 5
th to May, 10th,
2008. The study is conducted at the two settings of Ministry of Health (Baghdad health
directorate in Al-Karhk and Al-Risafa) sector during their annual renewed license for midwifery practice. The
questionnaire form is consisted of three parts which included demographic data, knowledge concerning prevent
The most important contemporary issues which related to the survey of the influence of communication development technology to land use sustainability. The research aims to explain the changes that happened in the quality & land use activities performance by understanding the transformations due to modern technology and its impact on current uses and its impact on changing functional relationships between those uses to create new combinations or hybrid uses.Research will follow the analytical descriptive approach in presenting the problem of research. Research has several conclusions & recommendations, one of conclusions is the change of the place concept and its relation to changing the concept of land use and its sustai
... Show MoreThe current research aims to verify the impact of digital leadership as an independent variable, in the effectiveness of crisis management as a response variable through centralizing strategic vigilance in the faculties of the University of Baghdad and its departments, and to investigate the level of interest of its leaders and subordinates in research variables, as well as coming up with recommendations that contribute to strengthening the practices of the three variables. In the university under study, and based on the researcher’s interest to diagnose the influence relationship between the variables, because of their importance in the university’s headquarters and its members on the one hand, and its refl
... Show More
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of environmental management accounting information (EMAI) on the design process of environmental and sustainable products of Iraqi industrial companies. This process has five different sub-processes: research process, analysis process, conceptual design process, detailed design process and design production process. The study uses the quantitative approach as the questionnaire was designed and distributed to 87 quality managers, production managers, design managers and financial managers. The MANOVA analysis shows that EMAI has a positive and significant effect on three of these processes, namely research process, analysis process and detailed design process, while EMAI has an insi
... Show More
(1)
Abstract
The research aims to diagnose the reality of applying the eighth requirement (operation) of the business continuity management system according to the international standard (ISO 22301: 2019), in the General Tax Authority, which is related to planning, implementing and controlling specific processes and procedures to address risks and opportunities, and the research adopted the checklist of the standard ( ISO 22301: 2019), in obtaining information, to measure the extent of application and documentation, the percentages and the weighted arithmetic mean were relied upon, and the research reached a set of result
... Show MoreThe 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 More