BACKGROUND: Paracetamol (PC) is one of the most widely used analgesic and antipyretic drugs and has recently been integrated into the supportive therapy of COVID-19. Pharmaceuticals containing methionine (MT) with PC may contribute to avoid hepatotoxicity and eventual PC overdose-dependent death.

OBJECTIVE: The current work purposes to develop and validate two chromatographic methods for the simultaneous determination of MT and PC in the presence of two PC impurities (4-nitrophenol [NP] and 4-aminophenol [AP]).

METHOD: Two chromatographic methods were established and validated according to the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. The first one was an RP-HPLC/UV method based on applying a "dual-mode" gradient elution. The separation was realized via varying both the composition of the ternary mobile phase (acetonitrile-methanol-water) and its flow rate. This strategy enabled a relatively rapid analysis with a satisfactory resolution, although the investigated compounds exhibit a significant difference in lipophilicity. The second one relied on TLC-densitometry, where the optimum separation was realized using a quaternary mobile phase system composed of butanol-dioxane-toluene-methanol (8:2.5:3.5:0.3, by volume). Both methods were monitored at 220 nm.

RESULTS: The developed methods were proven to be robust, accurate, specific, and appropriate for the routine analysis of PC in its pure form or in pharmaceutical formulations with MT in quality control laboratories.

CONCLUSIONS: The corresponding methods are suitable to determine MT and PC in the presence of PC impurities.

HIGHLIGHTS: The study achieves the analysis of MT and PC in the presence of PC impurities via the application of HPLC and TLC-densitometry methods.

A new nonlinear finite element model is provided for the nonlinear flutter response of shape memory alloy (SMA) hybrid
composite plates under the combined effect of thermal and aerodynamic loads. The nonlinear governing equations for
moderately thick rectangular plates are obtained using first-order shear-deformable plate theory, von Karman straindisplacement
relations and the principle of virtual work. To account for the temperature dependence of material properties,
the thermal strain is stated as an integral quantity of thermal expansion coefficient with respect to temperature.
The aerodynamic pressure is modeled using the quasi-steady first-order piston theory. Newton-Raphson iteration
method is employed to obtain the thermal post-buckling deflection, while the linearized updated mode method is implemented
in predicting the limit-cycle oscillation at elevated temperatures. Numerical results are presented to show the
thermal buckling and flutter characteristics of SMA hybrid composite plates, illustrating the effect of the SMA volume fraction
and pre-strain value on the aero-thermo-mechanical response of such plates.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) represents a deadly aggressive phenotype of breast cancer (BC) with a unique clinicopathological presentation and low survival rate. In fact, obesity represents an important risk factor for BC. Although several studies have identified different cellular-derived and molecular factors involved in IBC progression, the role of adipocytes remains unclear. Cancer-associated adipose tissue (CAAT) expresses a variety of adipokines, which contribute to tumorigenesis and the regulation of cancer stem cell (CSC). This research investigated the potential effect of the secretome of CAAT explants from patients with BC on the progression and metastasis of the disease.

METHODS: This study established an ex-vivo culture of CAAT excised from IBC (n = 13) vs. non-IBC (n = 31) patients with obesity and profiled their secretome using a cytokine antibody array. Furthermore, the quantitative PCR (qPCR) methodology was used to validate the levels of predominant cytokines at the transcript level after culture in a medium conditioned by CAAT. Moreover, the impact of the CAAT secretome on the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cells with stem cell (CSC) markers was studied in the non-IBC MDA-MB-231 and the IBC SUM-149 cell lines. The statistical differences between variables were evaluated using the chi-squared test and unpaired a Student's t-test.

RESULTS: The results of cytokine array profiling revealed an overall significantly higher level of a panel of 28 cytokines secreted by the CAAT ex-vivo culture from IBC patients with obesity compared to those with non-IBC. Of note, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and monocyte chemo-attractant protein 1 (MCP-1) were the major adipokines secreted by the CAAT IBC patients with obesity. Moreover, the qPCR results indicated a significant upregulation of the IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 mRNAs in CAAT ex-vivo culture of patients with IBC vs. those with non-IBC. Intriguingly, a qPCR data analysis showed that the CAAT secretome secretions from patients with non-IBC downregulated the mRNA levels of the CD24 CSC marker and of the epithelial marker E-cadherin in the non-IBC cell line. By contrast, E-cadherin was upregulated in the SUM-149 cell.

CONCLUSIONS: This study identified the overexpression of IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 as prognostic markers of CAAT from patients with IBC but not from those with non-IBC ; moreover, their upregulation might be associated with IBC aggressiveness via the regulation of CSC and EMT markers. This study proposed that targeting IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 may represent a therapeutic option that should be considered in the treatment of patients with IBC.

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This paper presents a new adaptive tripping time scheme which provides high speed distance relay operation under fault conditions near the relay point and provides high secured detection for the faults occurred at the end of the protected transmission line with tripping time less than one power cycle. The proposed scheme automatically controls the data window length to adaptively speed up its response under various fault conditions. The advanced feature of this scheme provides capability for fast tripping decisions with secure operation. The proposed scheme possesses the advantage of removing decaying DC offset component in the current signals according to the length of data window, and compensates the capacitive current during the calculation of the fault impedance. Extensive simulations show that the proposed scheme provides better protection performance compared with the conventional schemes of the fixed data window.

OBJECTIVE: Controlled release venlafaxine for once daily administration.

METHODS: Drug resin complexation followed by polymer encapsulation. A 4(1).2(1) factorial design was used to study the effect of polymer type and core: coat ratio on the release profile and kinetics. Polymer combinations were tried for optimisation adapting the desIMNCility function. The optimised formula was tested in rabbits against commercial extended release capsules.

RESULTS: Poly-epsilon-caprolactone, poly(d, l-lactide-co-glycolide) ester and poly(d, l-lactide) ester polymers were more efficient in lowering the release rate and the initial burst release than Eudragit(®)RS100. Encapsulation at 1:1 ratio ensured complete coats and drug release sustainment. Formula prepared using 50:50 PLA/Eudragit at 1:1 ratio sustained the drug release up to 24 h with low burst release. This formula had higher venlafaxine absorption in rabbits compared to the commercial capsules.

CONCLUSIONS: The optimised formula is superior to the available once-daily trials regarding enhanced bioavailability, dosage form versatility and ease of scaling up.