| 1. |
- Basit, Abdul, et al.
(author)
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Structural Modeling on the Determinants of Effectiveness of SOPs Containing COVID-19 in Mass Gatherings
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The study is aimed to analyze the determinants of the effectiveness of SOPs in mass gatherings for containing COVID-19. The overall design of the study involves a literature review, data collection by field survey, structural modeling, and analysis. The study is built on the experts' opinion of a focus group (representing people who recently participated in and are responsible for mass gatherings). The study uses the discussion of the literature review to identify the determinants, interpretive structural modeling (ISM) for developing and analyzing a structural model, and Matrice d'Impacts Croises Multiplication Appliquée a un Classement (MICMAC) for corroboration of results of the ISM/classification of determinants. From the literature review, a list of determinants is generated and verified by a panel of experts. The results of the ISM revealed that the determinants “legal environment of the country,” “practicability of SOPs,” “perceived benefit of adapting SOPs,” and “possibilities of avoiding gathering” occupied the top of the model, therefore, they are less critical determinants, whereas “nature of gathering” occupied the bottom of the model, and is thus the most critical determinant. The remaining determinants form the middle of the model, and are therefore moderately severe. The results of MICMAC show that the determinant “perceived benefit of adapting SOPs” is dependent, “nature of gathering” is independent, and all others are linked. The results of MICMAC implicitly substantiate the findings of the ISM. The overall results of the study show that “nature of gathering” is the key determinant. This research does not require a priori theory since it is a theory-building study that uses an inductive approach. It is based on real data and it is useful for local authorities, organizers, participants (attendees/visitors) of mass gatherings, health officials/regulators, researchers, and the community at large. This study has fundamental importance for planning and preparing for such events while ensuring the minimum risk of COVID-19 transmission.
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| 2. |
- Mannan, Hafiz Abdul, et al.
(author)
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Interfacial Tailoring of Polyether Sulfone-Modified Silica Mixed Matrix Membranes for CO2 Separation
- 2022
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In: Membranes. - : MDPI AG. - 2077-0375. ; 12:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this work, in situ polymerization of modified sol-gel silica in a polyether sulfone matrix is presented to control the interfacial defects in organic-inorganic composite membranes. Polyether sulfone polymer and modified silica are used as organic and inorganic components of mixed matrix membranes (MMM). The membranes were prepared with different loadings (2, 4, 6, and 8 wt.%) of modified and unmodified silica. The synthesized membranes were characterized using Field emission electron scanning microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyzer, and differential scanning calorimetry. The performance of the membranes was evaluated using a permeation cell set up at a relatively higher-pressure range (5-30 bar). The membranes appear to display ideal morphology with uniform distribution of particles, defect-free structure, and absence of interfacial defects such as voids and particle accumulations. Additionally, the CO2/CH4 selectivity of the membrane increased with the increase in the modified silica content. Further comparison of the performance indicates that PES/modified silica MMMs show a promising feature of commercially attractive membranes. Therefore, tailoring the interfacial morphology of the membrane results in enhanced properties and improved CO2 separation performance.
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| 3. |
- Shaukat, Muhammad Zeeshan, et al.
(author)
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Analyzing the Stressors for Frontline Soldiers Fighting Against Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic
- 2021
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In: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study aimed to analyze stressors to which medical staff is vulnerable due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It also imposes a hierarchy on complex relations among stressors for excavating underlying structure and builds a model of interrelationships contrasting reality. The design of this study comprises a literature survey, data collection from primary sources, and analysis. Stressors have been explored from within current published/unpublished literature and validated by experts through approval vote. Data were collected from the focus group (panel of experts), and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) was used as the research methodology. Findings of ISM are avowed through “cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification” (MICMAC) analysis. As a result of the literature survey, a list of stressors was generated, and a total of 19 stressors qualified as representative of the phenomenon. The results of ISM show that two stressors (i.e., “unavailability of proper personal protective equipment (PPE)” and “lack of proper communication”) emerged as the most critical stressors since they occupy the bottom of the model, whereas, four stressors (i.e., “anxious about isolation/quarantine,” “subject to violent crimes,” “feeling frustrated and powerless,” and “exhausting shifts/hours without clear end”) are relatively less critical since they occupy the top of the model. The rest of the stressors occupy the middle of the model and therefore, have moderate-severe effects on frontline soldiers. The results of MICMAC show that the stressor “subject to violent crimes” is classified in the dependent cluster and the remaining fall in the linkage cluster but no stressor falls in independent and autonomous. Overall results indicate that all stressors are relevant to the phenomenon under this study, but they are currently not settled. This study is invaluable for policymakers, frontline soldiers, researchers, the international community, and society since it provides a lot of new information that is helpful in refining strategies and combating influential stressors.
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| 4. |
- Alomari, Mustafa, et al.
(author)
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Printing of T3 and T4 Oral Drug Combinations as a Novel Strategy for Hypothyroidism
- 2018
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In: International Journal of Pharmaceutics. - : Elsevier. - 0378-5173 .- 1873-3476. ; 549:1-2, s. 363-369
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hypothyroidism is a chronic and debilitating disease that is estimated to affect 3% of the general population. Clinical experience has highlighted the synergistic value of combining triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) for persistent or recurrent symptoms. However, thus far a platform that enables the simultaneous and independent dosing of more than one drug for oral administration has not been developed. Thermal inkjet (TIJ) printing is a potential solution to enable the dual deposition of T3 and T4 onto orodispersible films (ODFs) for therapy personalisation. In this study, a two-cartridge TIJ printer was modified such that it could print separate solutions of T3 and T4. Dose adjustments were achieved by printing solutions adjacent to each other, enabling therapeutic T3 (15–50 μg) and T4 dosages (60–180 μg) to be successfully printed. Excellent linearity was observed between the theoretical and measured dose for both T3 and T4 (R2 = 0.982 and 0.985, respectively) by changing the length of the print objective (Y-value). Rapid disintegration of the ODFs was achieved (< 45 seconds). As such, this study for the first time demonstrates the ability to produce personalised dose combinations by TIJ printing T3 and T4 onto the same substrate for oral administration.
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| 5. |
- Amin, Muhammad, et al.
(author)
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Life cycle assessment of iron-biomass supported catalyst for Fischer Tropsch synthesis
- 2024
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In: Frontiers in Chemistry. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-2646. ; 12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The iron-based biomass-supported catalyst has been used for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS). However, there is no study regarding the life cycle assessment (LCA) of biomass-supported iron catalysts published in the literature. This study discusses a biomass-supported iron catalyst’s LCA for the conversion of syngas into a liquid fuel product. The waste biomass is one of the source of activated carbon (AC), and it has been used as a support for the catalyst. The FTS reactions are carried out in the fixed-bed reactor at low or high temperatures. The use of promoters in the preparation of catalysts usually enhances C5+ production. In this study, the collection of precise data from on-site laboratory conditions is of utmost importance to ensure the credibility and validity of the study’s outcomes. The environmental impact assessment modeling was carried out using the OpenLCA 1.10.3 software. The LCA results reveals that the synthesis process of iron-based biomass supported catalyst yields a total impact score in terms of global warming potential (GWP) of 1.235E + 01 kg CO2 equivalent. Within this process, the AC stage contributes 52% to the overall GWP, while the preparation stage for the catalyst precursor contributes 48%. The comprehensive evaluation of the iron-based biomass supported catalyst’s impact score in terms of human toxicity reveals a total score of 1.98E−02 kg 1,4-dichlorobenzene (1,4-DB) equivalent.
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| 6. |
- Bhatt, Deepak Kumar, et al.
(author)
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Age- and Genotype-Dependent Variability in the Protein Abundance and Activity of Six Major Uridine Diphosphate-Glucuronosyltransferases in Human Liver
- 2019
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In: Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. - : Wiley. - 0009-9236 .- 1532-6535. ; 105:1, s. 131-141
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2018 The American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The ontogeny of hepatic uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) was investigated by determining their protein abundance in human liver microsomes isolated from 136 pediatric (0-18 years) and 35 adult (age >18 years) donors using liquid chromatography / tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) proteomics. Microsomal protein abundances of UGT1A1, UGT1A4, UGT1A6, UGT1A9, UGT2B7, and UGT2B15 increased by ∼8, 55, 35, 33, 8, and 3-fold from neonates to adults, respectively. The estimated age at which 50% of the adult protein abundance is observed for these UGT isoforms was between 2.6-10.3 years. Measured in vitro activity was generally consistent with the protein data. UGT1A1 protein abundance was associated with multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms exhibiting noticeable ontogeny-genotype interplay. UGT2B15 rs1902023 (*2) was associated with decreased protein activity without any change in protein abundance. Taken together, these data are invaluable to facilitate the prediction of drug disposition in children using physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling as demonstrated here for zidovudine and morphine.
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| 7. |
- Elbadawi, Moe, et al.
(author)
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3D printing tablets : Predicting printability and drug dissolution from rheological data
- 2020
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In: International Journal of Pharmaceutics. - : Elsevier. - 0378-5173 .- 1873-3476. ; 590
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rheology is an indispensable tool for formulation development, which when harnessed, can both predict a material’s performance and provide valuable insight regarding the material’s macrostructure. However, rheological characterizations are under-utilized in 3D printing of drug formulations. In this study, viscosity measurements were used to establish a mathematical model for predicting the printability of fused deposition modelling 3D printed tablets (Printlets). The formulations were composed of polycaprolactone (PCL) with different amounts of ciprofloxacin and polyethylene glycol (PEG), and different molecular weights of PEG. With all printing parameters kept constant, both binary and ternary blends were found to extrude at nozzle temperatures of 130, 150 and 170 C. In contrast PCL was unextrudable at 130 and 150 C. Three standard rheological models were applied to the experimental viscosity measurements, which revealed an operating viscosity window of between 100-1000 Pa.s at the apparent shear rate of the nozzle. The drug profile of the printlets were experimentally measured over seven days. As a proof-of-concept, machine learning models were developed to predict the dissolution behaviour from the viscosity measurements. The machine learning models were discovered to accurately predict the dissolution profile, with the highest f2 similarity score value of 90.9 recorded. Therefore, the study demonstrated that using only the viscosity measurements can be employed for the simultaneous high-throughput screening of formulations that are printable and with the desired release profile.
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| 8. |
- Johannesson, Jenny, 1990-
(author)
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3D printing of lipid-based formulations into personalized solid oral dosage forms
- 2023
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The pharmaceutical development process starts with patient populations and their unmet therapeutic needs. Traditional pharmaceutical manufacturing of solid oral dosage forms is based on the strategy of one-size-fits-all. This is problematic, especially for patient populations with high patient-to-patient variability, as in pediatrics. Historically, pharmaceutical development has focused on the adult population, neglecting the therapeutic needs unique to children. As a result, there is a lack of age-appropriate formulations—available in acceptable dosage forms and suitable dosage strengths—for safe and efficient drug therapies for children. To address this, additive manufacturing, more commonly known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, has emerged as a flexible manufacturing platform for production of dosage forms based on patient needs. Interest in 3D printing for pharmaceutical production has grown rapidly; however, to date the research has mainly focused on water-soluble drugs not in need of more advanced drug delivery systems to enable oral absorption. The overall aim of this thesis was therefore to develop lipid-based drug delivery strategies for poorly soluble drugs to be 3D printed into personalized solid oral dosage forms. In the first part, an observational study was performed at a pediatric oncology ward, together with analysis of the age-appropriateness of the oral medications. Administration through enteral feeding tubes was identified as the main reason for manipulation of the solid dosage forms. Furthermore, active pharmaceutical ingredients requiring age-appropriate, personalized dosage forms were identified. In the next part, emulsion gels from emulsified lipid-based formulations stabilized by surfactants (surfactant-stabilized emulsion gels) or solid particles (Pickering emulsion gel) were developed to incorporate a poorly water-soluble model compound. The rheological properties of the emulsion gels were investigated. The developed emulsion gels were successfully 3D printed into solid oral dosage forms by semi-solid extrusion (SSE). In the last part, central quality control attributes, including both the printable formulation and the 3D-printed tablets, were studied in the 3D-printing method developed for one of the emulsion gels. The SSE 3D-printed tablets complied with standardized uniformity tests for both mass and drug content and demonstrated high dose accuracy and short-term storage stability. To conclude, a method for SSE 3D printing of emulsion gels into lipid tablets was developed with promising potential for personalized dosing of lipophilic drugs in a clinical setting.
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| 9. |
- Kooner, Jaspal S, et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide association study in individuals of South Asian ancestry identifies six new type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci.
- 2011
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 43:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We carried out a genome-wide association study of type-2 diabetes (T2D) in individuals of South Asian ancestry. Our discovery set included 5,561 individuals with T2D (cases) and 14,458 controls drawn from studies in London, Pakistan and Singapore. We identified 20 independent SNPs associated with T2D at P < 10(-4) for testing in a replication sample of 13,170 cases and 25,398 controls, also all of South Asian ancestry. In the combined analysis, we identified common genetic variants at six loci (GRB14, ST6GAL1, VPS26A, HMG20A, AP3S2 and HNF4A) newly associated with T2D (P = 4.1 × 10(-8) to P = 1.9 × 10(-11)). SNPs at GRB14 were also associated with insulin sensitivity (P = 5.0 × 10(-4)), and SNPs at ST6GAL1 and HNF4A were also associated with pancreatic beta-cell function (P = 0.02 and P = 0.001, respectively). Our findings provide additional insight into mechanisms underlying T2D and show the potential for new discovery from genetic association studies in South Asians, a population with increased susceptibility to T2D.
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| 10. |
- Saeed, Sajeel, et al.
(author)
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Impact of COVID-19 on palliative care of cancer patients : Perspectives from Pakistan
- 2022
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In: Annals of Medicine and Surgery. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 2049-0801. ; 78
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the survival rate and palliative care of cancer patients all over the globe. In Pakistan, there are only a few institutions and organizations which provide specialized facilities for palliative care. During the pandemic, these specialized facilities were further limited. As only less than one percent of people had access to palliative care across Pakistan in the pandemic, the situation can be improved by establishing more such departments, providing telemedicine, increasing social media campaigns, and highlighting the importance of palliative care among cancer patients.
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