Reprocessing of Microcrystalline Cellulose Spheres with Low Drug Concentrations

Spherical dosage forms have been reported to be an efficient and effective method for delivering drugs into the body and controlling their dissolution rate. Substantial work has been conducted in these laboratories illustrating the advantages of microcrystalline cellulose-based spheres for these purposes. Through various methodologies, but most routinely the extrusion and marumerization technique, it has been determined by Funck, et al. that not more than 50% drug can be incorporated into a sphere formulation without the addition of other binders.

Because of the nature of the extrusion and marumerization manufacturing process, the type of drug being processed and the resultant particle size requirements of the spheres, the percent of spheres falling outside the desired particle size can range from between 3% and 20%. For this reason and the possibility of operator errors, our objective was to determine the parameters which needed monitoring when reprocessing was necessary.     

A terrain parabolic equation model for propagation in thetroposphere

A method to model tropospheric radiowave propagation over land in the presence of range-dependent refractivity is presented. The terrain parabolic equation model (TPEM), is based on the split-step Fourier algorithm to solve the parabolic wave equation, which has been shown to be numerically efficient. Comparisons between TPEM, other terrain models (SEKE, GTD, FDPEM), and experimental data show predominantly excellent agreement. TPEM is also compared to results from an experiment in the Arizona desert in which range-dependent refractive conditions were measured. Although horizontal polarization is used in the implementation of the model, vertical polarization is also discussed     

Effect of internal heating during hot compression on the stress-strain behavior of alloy 304L

The temperature change due to the conversion of mechanical deformation to internal heat and its effect on the as-measured stress-strain behavior of alloy 304L was investigated by means of initially isothermal (compression specimen, dies, and environment at same temperature at initiation of test), constant strain rate, uniaxial compression of laboratory-sized cylindrical specimens. Strain rate was varied in the range 0.01 to 1 s⁻¹, where the thermal state of the test specimen varied from nearly isothermal to nearly adiabatic, respectively. Specimens were deformed in the temperature range of 750 °C to 1150 °C to a strain of 1. The change in specimen temperature with applied strain was calculatedvia finite-element analysis (FEA) from the asmeasured stress-strain data. Selected predictions were confirmed with embedded thermocouples to verify the model employed. Temperature was found to increase monotonically with strain at a strain rate of 1 s^-1, consistent with what is theoretically expected for the adiabatic case. At the 0.1 and 0.01 s^-1 rates, the sample temperature initially increased, peaked, and then decreased as the sample thinned and the contact area between the sample and the cooler dies increased. As-measured stress was corrected for softening associated with deformational heating by interpolation between the various instantaneous stress-temperature behaviors. The resulting isothermal flow data are compared to those predicted by a conventional method that employs an empirical estimate of the heat retention efficiency of the test specimen, assumed dependent on strain rate but independent of strain, to reduce the increase in temperature calculated for the adiabatic case. Differences between the calculated isothermal stress-strain data from the two methods are discussed. Values for the apparent activation energy of deformation and the strain to the peak in the flow curve, which is associated with the onset of dynamic recrystallization, determined from isothermal stress-strain data differed significantly from those obtained from the as-measured compression test data. Formerly Senior Systems Engineer with EG&G Rocky Flats, Inc., is retired.     

A conserved sequence in tRNA and rRNA promoters of Lactococcus lactis

A tRNA operon (trnA) from Lactococcus lactis consisting of seven tRNA genes and a 5S rRNA gene was cloned and sequenced. Promoter-fusion of the trnA promoter to a promoter-less beta-galactosidase gene of Leuconostoc mesenteroides resulted in high levels of beta-galactosidase activity in L. lactis. Searching for sequences with similarity to the sequence of the promoter region revealed a consensus sequence of promoters preceeding rRNA operons and tRNA operons from Lactococcus species including a not previously described conserved sequence (AGTT).     

Clonal analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes from three patients with advanced neuroblastoma receiving recombinant interleukin-2 and interferon alpha

Cultures of both isolated and conjugated explants from early gastrulae of Bufo arenarum were prepared for a study of the development of ventral mesoderm. Only combinations including components of the deep ventral marginal zone and the animal pole successfully differentiated into blood cells (erythrocytes). Histological studies indicated that, while prospective mesodermal cells constituted the only source of such cells, prospective ectodermal cells provided the necessary stimulus for this kind of differentiation. Differentiated cultures, in which the tracer of cell-lineage fluorescein dextran amine was used to label these components, confirmed the above conclusions. These findings are discussed in the context of current concepts about the formation of mesoderm.     

A local solution method for shock boundary-layer interaction on a swept wing

Summary The paper describes a local solution method for the calculation of the interaction between a weak shock front and a turbulent boundary layer on a swept wing. A multiple-deck approach allows the simplification of the governing equations according to the physical character of each deck. The mathematical model is based upon small-perturbation theory. The final boundary-layer solution is given by an iterative coupling of the solutions for each domain. The results are compared with experiments and with other theoretical solutions.