Detection and chemical profiling of medicine counterfeits by Raman spectroscopy and chemometrics

Raman spectroscopy combined with chemometrics has recently become a widespread technique for the analysis of pharmaceutical solid forms. The application presented in this paper is the investigation of counterfeit medicines. This increasingly serious issue involves networks that are an integral part of industrialized organized crime. Efficient analytical tools are consequently required to fight against it. Quick and reliable authentication means are needed to allow the deployment of measures from the company and the authorities. For this purpose a method in two steps has been implemented here. The first step enables the identification of pharmaceutical tablets and capsules and the detection of their counterfeits. A nonlinear classification method, the Support Vector Machines (SVM), is computed together with a correlation with the database and the detection of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) peaks in the suspect product. If a counterfeit is detected, the second step allows its chemical profiling among former counterfeits in a forensic intelligence perspective. For this second step a classification based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and correlation distance measurements is applied to the Raman spectra of the counterfeits.

History of homoeopathy and its institutions in America : their founders, benefectors, faculties, officers, hospitals alumni, etc.with a record of achievement of its representatives in the world of medicine

UANL

Peer Tutors in the School of Medicine

Since 2003 the School of Medicine at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia, offers to the students a program named Peer Tutors. The program’s objectives are: to generate a social interaction mechanism that favors knowledge construction side by side with advanced peers; to promote the development of ethical, moral and coexistence oriented values through an academic experience, and to generate a space to explore specific academic interests and teacher´s potential. This article presents the theoretic frame that supports the importance of social interaction in knowledge construction, as well as some indicators that allow a first appraisal of the program. Several achievements that account for the synergic value of an experience that not only fulfills the function of initiating a process of teaching formation and academic support, but that also builds a proactive attitude before learning, are highlighted.

Loudness discomfort levels: A retrospective study comparing data from Pascoe (1988) and Washington University School of Medicine

Loudess discomfort levels (LDLs) were gathered from three Washington University School of Medicine sites, for a total of 325 subjects (total ears=454). These levels were compared to mean LDLs reported by Pascoe (1988). The results revealed that the mean LDL measured at WUSM (ie., the IHAFF procedure) is significantly different that the LDL reported by Pascoe (1988).