The extrusion of continuous lengths of YBa2Cu3O7-x wire using hydroxypropyl methylcellulose

Wires of YBa2Cu3O7-x were fabricated by extrusion using a hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) binder. As little as 2 wt.% binder was added to an oxide prepared by a novel co-precipitation process, to produce a plastic mass which readily gave continuous extrusion of long lengths of wire in a reproducible fashion. Critical temperatures of 92K were obtained for wires given optimum high-temperature heat treatments. Critical current densities greater than 1000 A cm-1 were measured at 77.3K using heat treatments at around 910°C for 10h. These transport critical current densities, measured on centimeter-long wires, were obtained with microstructures showing a relatively dense and uniform distribution of randomly oriented, small YBa2Cu3O7-x grains. © 1993.

The effect of topical adrenergic and anticholinergic agents on the choroidal thickness of young healthy adults

The human choroid is capable of rapidly changing its thickness in response to a variety of stimuli. However little is known about the role of the autonomic nervous system in the regulation of the thickness of the choroid. Therefore, we investigated the effect of topical parasympatholytic and sympathomimetic agents upon the choroidal thickness and ocular biometrics of young healthy adult subjects. Fourteen subjects (mean age 27.9 ± 4 years) participated in this randomized, single-masked, placebo-controlled study. Each subject had measurements of choroidal thickness (ChT) and ocular biometrics of their right eye taken before, and then 30 and 60 min following the administration of topical pharmacological agents. Three different drugs: 2% homatropine hydrobromide, 2.5% phenylephrine hydrochloride and a placebo (0.3% hydroxypropyl methylcellulose) were tested in all subjects; each on different days (at the same time of the day) in randomized order. Participants were masked to the pharmacological agent being used at each testing session. The instillation of 2% homatropine resulted in a small but significant increase in subfoveal ChT at 30 and 60 min after drug instillation (mean change 7 ± 3 μm and 14 ± 2 μm respectively; both p < 0.0001). The parafoveal choroid also exhibited a similar magnitude, significant increase in thickness with time after 2% homatropine (p < 0.001), with a mean change of 7 ± 0.3 μm and 13 ± 1 μm (in the region located 0.5 mm from the fovea center), 6 ± 1 μm and 12.5 ± 1 μm (1 mm from the fovea center) and 6 ± 2 μm and 12 ± 2 μm (1.5 mm from the fovea center) after 30 and 60 min respectively. Axial length decreased significantly 60 min after homatropine (p < 0.01). There were also significant changes in lens thickness (LT) and anterior chamber depth (ACD) (p < 0.05) associated with homatropine instillation. No significant changes in choroidal thickness, or ocular biometrics were found after 2.5% phenylephrine or placebo at any examination points (p > 0.05). In human subjects, significant increases in subfoveal and parafoveal choroidal thickness occurred after administration of 2% homatropine and this implies an involvement of the parasympathetic system in the control of choroidal thickness in humans.

Interfacial Phenomena in Pharmaceutical Low Moisture Content Powder Processing

Powders are essential materials in the pharmaceutical industry, being involved in majority of all drug manufacturing. Powder flow and particle size are central particle properties addressed by means of particle engineering. The aim of the thesis was to gain knowledge on powder processing with restricted liquid addition, with a primary focus on particle coating and early granule growth. Furthermore, characterisation of this kind of processes was performed. A thin coating layer of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose was applied on individual particles of ibuprofen in a fluidised bed top-spray process. The polymeric coating improved the flow properties of the powder. The improvement was strongly related to relative humidity, which can be seen as an indicator of a change in surface hydrophilicity caused by the coating. The ibuprofen used in the present study had a d50 of 40 μm and thus belongs to the Geldart group C powders, which can be considered as challenging materials in top-spray coating processes. Ibuprofen was similarly coated using a novel ultrasound-assisted coating method. The results were in line with those obtained from powders coated in the fluidised bed process mentioned above. It was found that the ultrasound-assisted method was capable of coating single particles with a simple and robust setup. Granule growth in a fluidised bed process was inhibited by feeding the liquid in pulses. The results showed that the length of the pulsing cycles is of importance, and can be used to adjust granule growth. Moreover, pulsed liquid feed was found to be of greater significance to granule growth in high inlet air relative humidity. Liquid feed pulsing can thus be used as a tool in particle size targeting in fluidised bed processes and in compensating for changes in relative humidity of the inlet air. The nozzle function of a two-fluid external mixing pneumatic nozzle, typical for small scale pharmaceutical fluidised bed processes, was studied in situ in an ongoing fluidised bed process with particle tracking velocimetry. It was found that the liquid droplets undergo coalescence as they proceed away from the nozzle head. The coalescence was expected to increase droplet speed, which was confirmed in the study. The spray turbulence was studied, and the results showed turbulence caused by the event of atomisation and by the oppositely directed fluidising air. It was concluded that particle tracking velocimetry is a suitable tool for in situ spray characterisation. The light transmission through dense particulate systems was found to carry information on particle size and packing density as expected based on the theory of light scattering by solids. It was possible to differentiate binary blends consisting of components with differences in optical properties. Light transmission showed potential as a rapid, simple and inexpensive tool in characterisation of particulate systems giving information on changes in particle systems, which could be utilised in basic process diagnostics.

Rapid authentication of ginseng species using microchip electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection

Ginseng is one of the most expensive Chinese herbal medicines and the effectiveness of ginseng depends strongly on its botanical sources and the use of different parts of the plants. In this study, a microchip electrophoresis method coupled with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-short tandem repeats (STR) technique was developed for rapid authentication of ginseng species. A low viscosity hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) solution was used as the sieving matrix for separation of the amplified STR fragments. The allele sizing of the amplified PCR products could be detected within 240 s or less. Good reproducibility and accuracy of the fragment size were obtained with the relative standard deviation for the allele sizes less than 1.0% (n = 11). At two microsatellite loci (CT 12, CA 33), American ginseng had a different allele pattern on the electropherograms compared with that of the Oriental ginseng. Moreover, cultivated and wild American ginseng can be distinguished on the basis of allele sizing. This work establishes the feasibility of fast genetic authentication of ginseng species by use of microchip electrophoresis.

In vitro release of bovine serum albumin from alginate/HPMC hydrogel beads

In recent years, the use of swelling polymeric matrices for the encapsulation and controlled release of protein drugs has received significant attention. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the release of albumin, a model protein from alginate/hydroxypropyl-methylcellulose (HPMC) gel beads. A hydrogel system comprised of two natural, hydrophilic polymers; sodium alginate and HPMC was studied as a carrier of bovine serum albumin (BSA) which was used as a model protein. The morphology, bead size and the swelling ratio were studied in different physical states; fully swollen, dried and reswollen using scanning electron microscopy and image analysis. Finally the effect of different alginate/HPMC ratios on the BSA release profile in physiological saline solution was investigated. Swelling experiments revealed that the bead diameter increases with the viscosity of the alginate solution while the addition of HPMC resulted in a significant increase of the swelling ratio. The BSA release patterns showed that the addition of HPMC increased the protein-release rate while the release mechanism fitted the Peppas model. Alginate/HPMC beads prepared using the ionic gelation exhibited high BSA loading efficiency for all formulations. The presence of HPMC increased the swelling ability of the alginate beads while the particle size remained unaffected. Incorporation of HPMC in the alginate gels also resulted in improved BSA release in physiological saline solution. All formulations presented a non-Fickian release mechanism described by the Peppas model. In addition, the implementation of non-parametric tests showed significant differences in the release patterns between the alginate/HPMC and the pure alginate beads, respectively.

Freeze-dried, mucoadhesive system for vaginal delivery of the HIV microbicide, dapivirine: Optimisation by an artificial neural network

Dapivirine mucoadhesive gels and freeze-dried tablets were prepared using a 3 x 3 x 2 factorial design. An artificial neural network (ANN) with multi-layer perception was used to investigate the effect of hydroxypropyl-methylcellulose (HPMC): polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) ratio (XI), mucoadhesive concentration (X2) and delivery system (gel or freeze-dried mucoadhesive tablet, X3) on response variables; cumulative release of dapivirine at 24 h (Q(24)), mucoadhesive force (F-max) and zero-rate viscosity. Optimisation was performed by minimising the error between the experimental and predicted values of responses by ANN. The method was validated using check point analysis by preparing six formulations of gels and their corresponding freeze-dried tablets randomly selected from within the design space of contour plots. Experimental and predicted values of response variables were not significantly different (p > 0.05, two-sided paired t-test). For gels, Q(24) values were higher than their corresponding freeze-dried tablets. F-max values for freeze-dried tablets were significantly different (2-4 times greater, p > 0.05, two-sided paired t-test) compared to equivalent gets. Freeze-dried tablets having lower values for X1 and higher values for X2 components offered the best compromise between effective dapivirine release, mucoadhesion and viscosity such that increased vaginal residence time was likely to be achieved. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Construction of Drug–Polymer Thermodynamic Phase Diagrams Using Flory–Huggins Interaction Theory: Identifying the Relevance of Temperature and Drug Weight Fraction to Phase Separation within Solid Dispersions

Amorphous drug-polymer solid dispersions have the potential to enhance the dissolution performance and thus bioavailability of BCS class II drug compounds. The principle drawback of this approach is the limited physical stability of amorphous drug within the dispersion. Accurate determination of the solubility and miscibility of drug in the polymer matrix is the key to the successful design and development of such systems. In this paper, we propose a novel method, based on Flory-Huggins theory, to predict and compare the solubility and miscibility of drug in polymeric systems. The systems chosen for this study are (1) hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate HF grade (HPMCAS-HF)-felodipine (FD) and (2) Soluplus (a graft copolymer of polyvinyl caprolactam-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol)-FD. Samples containing different drug compositions were mixed, ball milled, and then analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The value of the drug-polymer interaction parameter ? was calculated from the crystalline drug melting depression data and extrapolated to lower temperatures. The interaction parameter ? was also calculated at 25 °C for both systems using the van Krevelen solubility parameter method. The rank order of interaction parameters of the two systems obtained at this temperature was comparable. Diagrams of drug-polymer temperature-composition and free energy of mixing (?G mix) were constructed for both systems. The maximum crystalline drug solubility and amorphous drug miscibility may be predicted based on the phase diagrams. Hyper-DSC was used to assess the validity of constructed phase diagrams by annealing solid dispersions at specific drug loadings. Three different samples for each polymer were selected to represent different regions within the phase diagram

Gelatin-based films containing hydrophobic plasticizers and saponin from Yucca schidigera as the surfactant

The aim of this study was to evaluate the incorporation of hydrophobic plasticizers (acetyltributyl citrate - ATB, tributyl citrate - TB and acetyltriethyl citrate - ATC) in a matrix of gelatin, using the saponin extracted from Yucca schidigera (yucca) as emulsifier, in the production of biodegradable emulsified films using the casting technique. High levels of hydrophobic plasticizers were incorporated, reaching up to 75% of plasticizer in relation to the protein (w/w) for ATB and TB, and up to 60% for ATC. The minimum values of water vapor permeability were 0.08, 0.07 and 0.06 g mm m(-2) h(-1) kPa(-1) for ATB, TB and ATC respectively, with no significant differences (p > 0.05). The water solubility of the films ranged from 21% to 59.5%. Although the WVP decreased, both scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy indicated that the incorporation of the hydrophobic plasticizers did not occur homogeneously in the film matrix. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of surfactants on the functional properties of gelatin-polysaccharide-based films

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of surfactants sodium stearoyl lactate (SSL) and sucrose ester (SE) on the functional properties of films produced with polysaccharides mixtures (methylcellulose/glucomannan/pectin in 1/4/1 ratio, respectively) and gelatin. The films were produced by the casting method and characterized for their water vapor permeability (WVP), mechanical (tensile strength and elongation to break point), morphological and optical properties. Films with low WVP were obtained with surfactants. Addition of SE to the films with polysaccharide/gelatin ratio of 90/10 showed improved mechanical properties. Films presented smooth surfaces with micro voids and lumpiness, depending on the surfactant tested. Surfactants increased the opacity of the films by a factor of 1-3%. All film properties were dependent on the surfactant affinity for the biopolymer matrix. SE presented more affinity for biopolymer matrix containing high polysaccharide proportion, and SSL presented more affinity for polymer matrix containing high gelatin proportion. The addition of surfactants decreased the water vapor permeability of the films, increasing their hydrophobic character.

Inulin and maltodextrin can replace fat in baked savoury legume snacks

A baked yellow split pea cracker was developed with fat replacement (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) using inulin, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and maltodextrin. Effects of fat replacement on physical (water activity, moisture content, colour and hardness), nutritional properties and consumer acceptance (nine-point hedonic rating) of snacks were investigated. Water activity (0.15-0.32) and moisture (1.28-3.16%) readings were consistent, and products were considered shelf stable. High levels of fat replacement (100%) were detrimental to snack colour and hardness. Snacks with 75% fat replacement using inulin and maltodextrin received similar mean overall acceptability scores (6.40 ± 1.36 and 6.26 ± 1.37, respectively) to the control and a similar commercial product. These snacks were eligible to claim that they were a 'good source' of protein (requirement; ≥10 g per serve) and an 'excellent source' of dietary fibre (requirement; ≥7 g per serve) while providing 'reduced' fat content (≤25% than reference food) based on the Australian Food Standards Code.

Evaluation of the Genotoxicity of Chitosan Nanoparticles for Use in Food Packaging Films

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Enteric coated magnetic HPMC capsules evaluated in human gastrointestinal tract by AC biosusceptometry

Purpose. To employ the AC Biosusceptometry (ACB) technique to evaluate in vitro and in vivo characteristics of enteric coated magnetic hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) capsules and to image the disintegration process.Materials and Methods. HPMC capsules filled with ferrite (MnFe2O4) and coated with Eudragit (R) were evaluated using USP XXII method and administered to fasted volunteers. Single and multisensor ACB systems were used to characterize the gastrointestinal (GI) motility and to determine gastric residence time (GRT), small intestinal transit time (SITT) and orocaecal transit time (OCTT). Mean disintegration time (t (50)) was quantified from 50% increase of pixels in the imaging area.Results. In vitro and in vivo performance of the magnetic HPMC capsules as well as the disintegration process were monitored using ACB systems. The mean disintegration time (t (50)) calculated for in vitro was 25 +/- 5 min and for in vivo was 13 +/- 5 min. In vivo also were determined mean values for GRT (55 +/- 19 min), SITT (185 +/- 82 min) and OCTT (240 +/- 88 min).Conclusions. AC Biosusceptometry is a non-invasive technique originally proposed to monitoring pharmaceutical dosage forms orally administered and to image the disintegration process.

Development of Novel Guava Puree Films Containing Chitosan Nanoparticles

One of the overall goals of industries is to use packages that do not cause environmental problems at disposal time, but that have the same properties as the conventional ones. The goal of this study is to synthesize edible films based on hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) with guava puree and chitosan (CS) nanoparticles. This was divided into two stages, the first is the synthesis of chitosan nanoparticles and the second is the production of the films. For the nanoparticles, average size and zeta potential measurements were performed. The characterizations of mechanical and thermal properties, solubility and water vapor permeability tests were conducted in the films. It was observed that when the nanoparticles were added to HPMC and guava puree films, they improved their mechanical and thermal properties, as well as decreased the films solubility and permeability. The potential application of the films prepared would be in edible films with flavor and odor to extend the shelf life of products.

Barrier and Mechanical Properties of Clay-Reinforced Polymeric Nanocomposites

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Sistemas multiparticulados revestidos para liberação colônica de metronidazol

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)