abstract: VCO as a ubiquitous circuit in many systems is highly demanding for the phase noises. Lowering the noise migrated from the power supply has been the trending topics for many years. Considering the Ring Oscillator(RO) based VCO is more sensitive to the supply noise, it is more significant to find out a useful technique to reduce the supply noise. Among the conventional supply noise reduction techniques such as filtering, channel length adjusting for the transistors, and the current noise mutual canceling, the new feature of the 28nm UTBB-FD-SOI process launched by the ST semiconductor offered a new method to reduce the noise, which is realized by allowing the circuit designer to dynamically control the threshold voltage. In this thesis, a new structure of the linear coarse-fine VCO with 1V supply voltage is designed for the ring typed VCO. The structure is also designed to be flexible to tune the frequency coverage by the fine and coarse tunable on-board resistors. The thesis has given the model of the phase noise reduction method. The model has also been proved to be meaningful with the newly designed VCO circuit. For instances, given 1μV/√Hz white noise coupled on the supply, the 3GHz VCO can have a more than 7dBc/Hz phase noise lowering at the 10MHz frequency offset. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Electrical Engineering 2018

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T15:57:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo3220_1.pdf: 1307302 bytes, checksum: 42435c33fd14be36778e3c202d24fd2d (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / A maioria das empresas utiliza a linguagem natural livre para documentar software, desde os seus requisitos, até os casos de uso e testes usados para verificar o produto final. Visto que as fases de análise, projeto, implementação e teste do sistema dependem essencialmente dessa documentação, é preciso assegurar inicialmente a qualidade desses textos. Contudo, textos escritos em linguagem natural nem sempre são precisos, devido ao fenômeno da ambigüidade (léxica e estrutural), podendo dar margem a diferentes interpretações. Uma alternativa para se minimizar esse problema é o uso de uma Linguagem Natural Controlada - um subconjunto de alguma língua natural, que usa um vocabulário restrito a um domínio particular, e regras gramaticais que guiam a construção de sentenças com redução de ambigüidade semântica visando padronização e precisão dos textos. Este trabalho, na área de Teste de Software, apresenta a ucsCNL (Use Case Specification CNL), uma Linguagem Natural Controlada para escrever especificações de casos de uso no domínio de dispositivos móveis. A ucsCNL foi integrada à TaRGeT (Test and Requirements Generation Tool), uma ferramenta para geração automática de casos de teste funcionais baseados em cenários de casos de uso escritos em Inglês. A ucsCNL provê um ambiente para geração de casos de teste mais claros, com ambigüidade reduzida, influindo diretamente na qualidade dos testes e na produtividade dos testadores. A ucsCNL já está em uso e tem alcançado resultados satisfatórios

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-03-07T13:13:13Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO DAYANNE.pdf: 3522857 bytes, checksum: cf44960151386725475547d266f32f30 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-07T13:13:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO DAYANNE.pdf: 3522857 bytes, checksum: cf44960151386725475547d266f32f30 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-04 / CAPES / O Tamoxifeno (TMX) utilizado no tratamento do câncer de mama, apresenta diversas desvantagens, elevada toxicidade, baixa solubilidade e precipitação no ambiente gástrico na forma de sal com aumento do risco de ocorrência de câncer de estômago. Os sistemas de dispersões sólidas (DS) têm sido utilizados com polímeros comerciais, Eudragit®, para liberação controlada e em determinados pH. Assim, o objetivo desse estudo foi desenvolver sistemas de dispersões sólidas para liberação pH dependente do tamoxifeno. Utilizou-se os polímeros Eudragit® RL 100, Eudragit® L 100 e TMX, pelo método de evaporação do solvente, obtendo DS10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% e 60%, mistura física MF30% e dispersões binárias (DS binária) sem fármaco. A difração de Raios-X (DRX) mostrou amorfização das dispersões formadas nas proporções de 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% e 60%. Na MF30% foi constatada a cristalinidade do fármaco. Na análise térmica através das curvas (TG), foi observada aumento da temperatura de decomposição da DS binária. No DSC, para a MF30% foi observado o pico de fusão e as etapas de decomposição do fármaco. Já nas DS10%, DS20% e DS30% observou-se ausência desses picos. Para a DS binária a temperatura de transição vítrea (Tg) se assemelhou a Tg do Eudragit® L 100, aumentando estabilidade das DS. Na espectroscopia de Infravermelho (FTIR) foi verificado interações polímero-polímero através da diminuição e alargamento das bandas de 2601 cm-¹, atribuído ao grupamento livre do ácido carboxílico do Eudragit® L 100. Observou interação fármaco-polímero com ausência dos picos característicos do fármaco nas regiões de 1588 cm-¹, referente ao amônio quaternário, nas DS 10% e DS 20%, e diminuição da intensidade das bandas na DS 30%. Assim com o alargamento de banda das regiões 2601cm-1 do Eudragit® L100, sugerindo a interação do fármaco nessa região. A Microscopia Eletrônica de Varredura exibiu diferenças significativas nas dispersões sólidas DS30% e MF 30%. Para os testes de solubilidade nos meios pH 1,2 e 7,4 a solubilidade do TMX aumentou com a diminuição do pH já com adição de Tween80 no meio pH 7,4 a solubilidade do fármaco aumentou em até 26 vezes a concentração, melhorando a solubilidade do TMX nesse meio. As condições designadas na USP para formulação gastrorresistentes (pH 1,2) foram satisfatórias para as DS10% e DS20%. Porém, para DS30% a condição não foi alcançada devido a mudanças da permeabilidade do polímero, pela formação de iPECS. No pH 7,4 + Tween80 (0,4% p/v) houve controle na liberação do fármaco com aumento de solubilidade de até 200% para DS20% e Ds30%. Portanto, pode-se concluir que o método empregado foi eficaz na obtenção das dispersões com aumento da estabilidade do fármaco nos sistemas formados, atendendo as diretrizes da USP para formulações gastrorresistentes e liberando de forma modificada o fármaco no pH 7,4, com incremento solubilidade. Sendo um promissor sistema para futuras modificações e estudos. / Tamoxifen (TMX) used in the treatment of breast cancer, has several disadvantages, like high toxicity, low solubility and precipitation in the gastric environment in salt form with an increased risk of stomach cancer. Solid dispersions systems (DS) have been used with commercial polymers, Eudragit, for controlled release and certain pH. The aim of this study was to develop solid dispersion systems for pH dependent release of tamoxifen. It was used the polymers Eudragit RL 100, Eudragit L 100 and TMX, the solvent evaporation method, obtaining. DS10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% physical mixture and binary dispersions PM30% (binary DS) no drug. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed amorphization of the dispersions formed in proportions of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60%. In PM30% was observed crystallinity of the drug. In the thermal analysis curves through (Tg), it was observed increase of the decomposition temperature of the binary DS. In DSC, for PM30% was observed melting peak of the drug and decomposition steps. Already in DS10%, DS20 and DS30% was observed the absence of these peaks. For binary DS glass transition temperature (Tg) resembled the Tg of Eudragit® L 100, increasing stability of the DS. In infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was checked polymer-polymer interactions by lowering and widening of the bands 2601 cm-¹ assigned to the free carboxylic acid grouping of Eudragit® L 100 observed drug-polymer interaction with the absence of the characteristic peaks drug in the region of 1588 cm-¹, referring to quaternary ammonium, and the DS 10% DS 20%, and decreased intensity of the bands in DS30%. So, with the extension band of regions 2601cm-1 Eudragit® L100, suggesting the interaction of the drug in this region. The Scanning Electron Microscopy showed significant differences in solid dispersions DS30% and 30% MF. For solubility testing in pH 1.2 and 7.4 means the solubility of TMX increased with decreasing pH already with addition of Tween 80 at pH 7.4 means the solubility of the drug increased up to 26 times the concentration by improving TMX solubility in this medium. The conditions referred to in USP gastroresistant formulation (pH 1.2) were satisfactory for DS10 and DS20%. However, in DS30%, the condition was not achieved due to the polymer permeability changes by forming iPECS. At pH 7.4 + Tween 80 (0,4 w/v) there has been control drug release with increased solubility up to 200% for DS20 and DS30%%. Therefore, it can be concluded that the method employed was effective in obtaining the dispersions with increased drug stability in the systems formed, meeting the USP guidelines for gastroresistant formulations and modifying the release of the drug at pH 7.4, with increased solubility; and that it is a promising system for future modifications and studies.

Orientador: : Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T08:25:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pereira_AndersondoEspiritoSanto_M.pdf: 3153536 bytes, checksum: 2427b9dc08e349cd1eadf5c8a001ceb9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: A "Revolução Verde" ocorreu na década de 60 e previa o aumento da produção agrícola devido ao crescimento populacional, onde foi intensificado o estudo de novas tecnologias para o aumento da produção de alimentos e rentabilidade dos agricultores. Entre as várias tecnologias, destacou-se a utilização de defensivos agrícolas no controle, prevenção e na eliminação de doenças que interferem na produtividade agrícola. O uso de nanopartículas (NPs) para o carreamento de compostos bioativos para liberação sustentada aumenta o tempo de ação e estabilidade química do ativo no meio, bem como a disponibilidade para ação junto ao organismo alvo. Na agricultura, o uso de NPs visa reduzir a concentração efetiva do ativo a ser utilizado, reduzir de aplicações, reduzir a toxicidade, diminuir a periculosidade e os riscos de contaminação ambiental. O presente trabalho propôs o desenvolvimento de NPs poliméricas de poli-épsilon caprolactona (PCL) como sis-temas carreadores para o herbicida atrazina (ATZ) bem como a avaliação das características físico-químicas destes sistemas, a atividade herbicida e a genotoxicidade das formulações preparadas. As nanocápsulas (NCs/ATZ) e as nanoesferas (NEs/ATZ) contendo ATZ apresentaram diâmetro médio de 483,1 ± 10,4 nm e 408,5 ± 2,5 nm, respectivamente. A ATZ apresentou uma eficiência de encapsulação acima de 90% para as formulações de NE e NC e foram observadas alterações no perfil de liberação da ATZ em comparação com o herbicida ATZ. A estabilidade coloidal e físico-química das formulações foi mantida por um período de 90 dias. O uso de NPs aumentou a retenção da ATZ em ensaios com coluna de solo, sendo que a atividade herbicida se mostrou mais eficaz quando comparada ao ativo ATZ apenas e ao de uma formulação comercial (Gesaprin). A investigação da genotoxicidade das formulações, utilizando o ensaio de aberração cromossômica Allium cepa, mostrou que a encapsulação da ATZ reduziu os efeitos sobre o número de aberrações cromossômicas quando comparadas ao ativo ATZ e à formulação comercial. As formulações de NPs contendo ATZ preparadas neste trabalho apresentam grande potencial para aplicação na agricultura, uma vez que estas podem ter ação herbicida utilizando menor concentração de ativo, reduzem a mobilidade da ATZ no solo e diminuem os efeitos genotóxicos, tornando-se mais seguras ao meio ambiente e reduzindo os riscos de contaminação / Abstract: The "Green Revolution" occurred during the decade of 60 and it aimed towards the rapid increase on agriculture production due to population growth, when was intensified the research and development to increase agriculture production and profitability. Among several technologies, herbicides and pesticides have emerged to control, prevent and destroy diseases that interfere in the agricultural productivity. The use of nanoparticles (NPs), as drug delivery system loads to modified drug release profile, increase time of action and increased chemical stability is wells is increase in bioavailability. In agriculture the use of NPs can reduces the amount of chemical used and the number of applications with decrease in toxicity, minimizing the risks of an environmental contamination. This study aims to develop NPs pre-pared with poly-épsilon-caprolactone (PCL) as a carrier system for the herbicide atrazine (ATZ). The formulations were characterized and the herbicide activity and genotoxicity were investigated. The nanocapsules (NCs/ATZ) and nanospheres (NE/ATZ) containing ATZ showed a size average diameter of 483.1±10.4 nm and 408.5±2.5 nm respectively. The ATZ presented encapsulation efficiency over 90% on formulations of NC and NE. The release profiles of the ATZ encapsulated in NPs were changed in relation to the ATZ herbicide only. The colloidal stability over 90 days showed that the formulations were stable. The use of NPs increased the retention of ATZ on soil column and showing that the herbicide was more active when compared to ATZ or a commercial formulation (Gesaprin). The genotoxicity evaluation showed that the encapsulation of ATZ reduced the toxic effects on the number of chromosomal aberration when compared to active ATZ and commercial formulation. NPs formulation containing ATZ prepared in this study presented a great potential for application in agriculture, since these formulations have the same herbicide activity (using lower concentration of active compound), reduce the ATZ soil mobility and also decrease the genotoxicity effects of ATZ, and in this way, reducing the risks of environmental contamination / Mestrado / Bioquimica / Mestre em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

Orientadores: Lucia Helena Innocentini Mei, Marcos Akira dÁvila / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Química / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T17:34:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nista_SilviaVazGuerra_M.pdf: 12755531 bytes, checksum: ed049fb5fccf4416e7f0b8a0290222af (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Este projeto foi desenvolvido em duas fases, usando a tecnologia de eletrofiação. A primeira fase foi dedicada a obtenção de membranas eletrofiadas com acetato de celulose, as quais formaram nanofibras que foram carregadas com Sulfato de gentamicina, na segunda fase, para estudos da liberação controlada deste fármaco. Na primeira fase as membranas de nanofibras de Acetato de Celulose, chamadas de nanomembranas, foram produzidas utilizando-se quatro misturas de solventes (Acido Acético/Água (75:25 m/m), Acetona/Água (85:15 m/m), Dimetilacetamida (DMAc)/Acetona (1:2 m/m), Dimetilacetamida/Acetona/Água (32/63/5 m/m)). Usando a ferramenta de planejamento de experimentos (DOE), foram definidos os melhores parâmetros para preparação das membranas nanoestruturadas, em cada sistema de solvente. Três variáveis, sendo a distância entre a agulha e o coletor, a concentração de acetato de celulose na solução e a tensão aplicada, em dois níveis (alto e baixo), foram estudadas em cada sistema. As respostas avaliadas para obtenção da melhor condição, em cada caso, foram o diâmetro médio da fibra obtida e aspecto da membrana formada. Foi realizado também, no sistema de solvente Acido Acético/Água (70:30 m/m), um comparativo entre fiação horizontal, utilizando-se uma taxa de alimentação controlada por uma bomba de infusão, e um sistema vertical onde o fluxo era governado pela gravidade e viscosidade da solução. Um estudo da influencia da taxa de alimentação no diâmetro e aspecto da membrana também foi realizado. Todas as soluções foram avaliadas quanto a sua viscosidade, tensão superficial e condutividade elétrica. Nas soluções de cada sistema de solvente, que apresentaram a melhor condição de processabilidade e melhor membrana, foi realizada uma avaliação do comportamento reológico com a construção de uma curva de Viscosidade versus Taxa de cisalhamento. As melhores membranas obtidas para cada sistema de solvente foram submetidas a um teste de Citotoxicidade para confirmar a biocompatibilidade e sua independência com os resíduos dos solventes utilizados. Na segunda fase utilizaram-se as melhores condições obtidas para cada sistema de solvente e incorporou-se o fármaco Sulfato de Gentamicina em duas concentrações 6 e 60% em massa com base no acetato de celulose. Observou-se a influencia da concentração do fármaco no processo de eletrofiação, no aspecto da membrana formada bem como no diâmetro da nanofibra obtida. A melhor membrana obtida nesta etapa foi produzida a partir do sistema de solventes DMAc/Acetona/Água. As condições de processo utilizadas foram 1 ml/h de vazão, 10 cm de distância entre agulha-coletor e 15 kV de tensão e concentração de acetato de celulose de 15%. Este sistema apresentou-se como um processo bastante viável, não havendo alteração na qualidade da membrana e no processo com a variação da concentração do fármaco. À membrana obtida nestas condições, foi adicionado 50% do fármaco e realizado um teste de liberação com o objetivo de verificar o perfil de liberação do mesmo. Foi realizado um comparativo entre o perfil de liberação desta membrana com o de outras membranas preparadas por casting e com recobrimento de HPMC, Eudragit® L100 e nanofibra eletrofiada de acetato de celulose. O melhor perfil obtido, onde ocorreu uma redução no efeito burst, foi com a membrana revestida com nanofibra, onde foi obtido um ganho de liberação de 9 horas em relação às demais. A melhor membrana obtida também foi submetida a uma análise microbiológica, onde se verificou que o fármaco não perdeu suas propriedades com o processo de eletrofiação / Abstract: This project was developed in two phases, using the technology of electrospinning. The first phase was devoted to obtaining electrospun membranes with cellulose acetate, which formed nanofibers that were loaded with Gentamicin sulphate, in the second phase, for the studies of this drug release. In the first step, these membranes were composed of electrospun nanofibers made of cellulose acetate, here called nanomembranes, using four solvents mixtures (acetic acid/water (75:25 w/w) acetone/water (85:15 w/w), dimethylacetamide(DMAC)/acetone (1:2 w/w), DMAc/acetone/water (32/63/5 w/w). Using the tool for design of experiment (DOE), the best parameters for preparation of nanostructured membranes in each solvent system were fixed. Three variables, such as the distance between the needle and the collector, the concentration of cellulose acetate in solution and the applied voltage, in two levels (high and low), were used in each system. The responses evaluated to obtain the best condition, in each case, were the average diameter of the fiber obtained and the aspect of the membrane formed. In the solvent system formed by acetic acid/water (70:30 w/w), a comparison was carried out between horizontal electrospinning, using an infusion pump to control the feed rate, and a vertical system, whose flow was governed by both gravity and viscosity of the solution. A study of the influence of feed rate on the diameter and aspect of the membranes was done. The viscosity, surface tension and electrical conductivity of all solutions were evaluated. For each system of solvent used, the best parameters of processing ant the best membrane aspect obtained were the chosen for the studies of the rheological behavior of the system by plotting a curve of Viscosity versus Shear rate. The best membranes obtained, for each mixture of solvent used, were submitted to a cytotoxicity test to confirm their biocompatibility and if the residues of any solvent could influence on this test. In the second step of the project, the best conditions obtained for each solvent system were used to electrospun the membranes loaded with gentamicin sulfate in two concentrations, i.e. 6 and 60 wt%, based on cellulose acetate. We observed the influence of the drug concentration in the electrospinning process, as well as the aspect of the membrane formed and the diameters of the nanofibers formed. The best membranes obtained in this step were produced using the solvent system DMAC/acetone/water. The process conditions used were 1 ml/h flow rate, 10 cm distance between needle-collector, 15 kV voltage and 15% cellulose acetate concentration in the solution. This system proved to be a quite feasible process, with no change in the membrane aspect or in the process, for several drug's concentration. To the membrane obtained in these conditions, 50% of the drug was added and the profile of its delivery was observed. A comparison of the releasing profile was also done among this membrane and other membranes prepared by casting and by coating with HPMC, Eudragit ® L100 and electrospun nanofibers of cellulose acetate. The best delivery profile obtained was the membrane coated with nanofiber of acetate solution in DMAC/acetone/water since there was a reduction in the burst effect and a gain in the releasing of 9 hours over the others. The best membrane obtained was also submitted to a microbiological analysis, in which it was verified that the drug did not lose its function during the electrospinning process / Mestrado / Ciencia e Tecnologia de Materiais / Mestre em Engenharia Química

Background: A pilot study can be an important step in the assessment of an intervention by providing information to design the future definitive trial. Pilot studies can be used to estimate the recruitment and retention rates and population variance and to provide preliminary evidence of efficacy potential. However, estimation is poor because pilot studies are small, so sensitivity analyses for the main trial's sample size calculations should be undertaken. Methods: We demonstrate how to carry out easy-to-perform sensitivity analysis for designing trials based on pilot data using an example. Furthermore, we introduce rules of thumb for the size of the pilot study so that the overall sample size, for both pilot and main trials, is minimized. Results: The example illustrates how sample size estimates for the main trial can alter dramatically by plausibly varying assumptions. Required sample size for 90% power varied from 392 to 692 depending on assumptions. Some scenarios were not feasible based on the pilot study recruitment and retention rates. Conclusion: Pilot studies can be used to help design the main trial, but caution should be exercised. We recommend the use of sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of the design assumptions for a main trial.

Nanopores have emerged as a simple but effective tool to investigate the behavior of polymers in solution. They have shown great potential to simplify expensive and time consuming procedures like DNA sequencing, protein detection, and disease biomarker detection. With the development of in situ fabrication of solid-state nanopores by controlled breakdown (CBD) of a dielectric material, nanomanufacturing of nanopore-based technologies became feasible. However, there are still a lot of challenges to overcome for these applications to become reality. One of the major problems with solid-state nanopores is the rapid passage time of analytes going through the pore, complicating detection and reliable identification of molecules. In this thesis molecular structures are proposed that increase passage times due to increased interactions between analyte and pore wall, and at the same time increase signal amplitude due to increased blockage of the pore. These structures are short, branched DNA molecules that were assembled with built-in modifications and matching sequences to assume their structure. Nanopore experiments reveal that these structurally defined DNA produce higher detection rates than their linear DNA counterparts, making them better candidates for labels in single-molecule sensing experiments.

Over the past few decades many researchers have investigated the utility of in vitro - in vivo correlations for the assessment of dosage forms. These investigations are, however, dependent on reproducible dissolution data and well conducted biostudies in order to establish meaningful and robust correlations. Despite the fact that the establishment of such correlations is perhaps idealistic, considerable interest has still been shown in this area of research. Various Controlled/Modified Release Dosage Forms (CMRD's) of theophylline, a weakly basic drug, and indomethacin, a weakly acidic drug, were assessed in order to establish in vitro - in vivo correlations. Dissolution rate studies were carried out using either the USP basket or paddle apparatus. The dissolution rate studies were conducted in a range of dissolution media of varying pH. Bioavailability studies were conducted on the dosage forms used by the Biopharmaceutics Research Institute at Rhodes University. The results of these biostudies were kindly made available for use in this research project. Type A correlations were established using a mathematical simulation process whereby expected in vivo responses are simulated and compared to actual profiles obtained for the dosage forms. In order to perform the simulations the dissolution rate profiles were stripped and using linear regression and the methods of residuals the dissolution rate order and the relevant dissolution rates were obtained. The results of the s imulations indicated that the in vivo serum concentration-time curves could be accurately predicted for the theophylline dosage forms but to a lesser extent, for the indomethacin formulations. The dissolution rate studies indicated that the paddle method is a suitable method for dissolution rate studies of theophylline CMRD's, although it appeared that the optimum pH of the dissolution medium was formulation dependent. Dissolution rate studies conducted on indomethacin formulations indicated that the USP specified basket method for extended-release indomethacin formulations was not able to distinguish between two formulations which exhibited different in vivo profiles. The conversion to the paddle method was, however, able to highlight the differences between these formulations. The use of three dimensional topographs to depict dissolution rate profiles was demonstrated for formulations of both theophylline and indomethacin. The topographs enabled the successful differentiation between bioinequivalent formulations. The dissolution rate profiles were also fitted to the Wei bull equation and the parameters obtained from this were compared to the Weibull parameters obtained from the in vivo absorption plots obtained using the Wagner-Nelson method. The results indicated that the Weibull function was suitable to describe both the in vivo and in vitro data. The following recommendations for the preformulation dissolution studies of weakly acidic and weakly basic drugs are proposed. The dissolution rate studies of weakly acid drugs, such as indomethacin, should be carried out over a range of pH utilising the paddle apparatus. Three dimensional topographs based on the dissolution data should be constructed and used as a comparative tool for different formulations. Based on these comparisons the appropriate formulation can then be selected for a pilot scale in vivo bioavailability study. The dissolution rate studies of weakly basic drugs, such as theophylline, should be carried out over a range of pH utilising the paddle apparatus. The dissolution data should then be used to simulate the expected in vivo profile and on this basis the appropriate formulation selected for a pilot scale bioavailability study. The above approach to the preformulation studies of new CMRO's would allow for the more careful selection of new dosage forms and could thus eliminate costly and unnecessary bioavailability studies performed on inferior formulations.

Class of 2012 Abstract / Specific Aims: To explore whether publishing requirements for human-centered randomized control trials, particularly the CONSORT criteria, have any relationship to impact as measured by the Journal Citation Reports ™ Impact Factor. Methods: A worksheet was used to evaluate a methodically selected list of journals, including types of articles published, requirements of authors for human-focused randomized control trials, JCR Impact Factor and other JCR metrics for each specific journal title. A worksheet was filled out for each journal by each member of the research team and answers combined for consensus. Group means and SDs were calculated and the Student’s t-Test applied to values for selected journals. Main Results: 50 candidate pharmacy journals were identified and 41 met the criteria for publishing human-centered randomized control trials. Journals were grouped according to whether they required CONSORT or had other reporting requirements for human RCTs, or had no requirements for such studies. Few (6; 15%) pharmacy journals required authors to use CONSORT; and additional 15 (37%) journals provided as least some author guidelines similar to CONSORT. Pharmacy journals using CONSORT or other guidelines had a higher average impact factor (3.5; SD = 1.5) than did journals without guidelines (2.4; SD = 0.9; p = 0.007). Conclusions: There appears to be a statistical difference in average JCR metrics between journals which require specific RCT guidelines and those which do not. The use of reporting guidelines, such as CONSORT, by pharmacy journals is associated with increased impact as represented by JCR influence measures.

Seepage direction is crucial for understanding the critical state and development of piping erosion. A stress-controlled apparatus was designed to investigate the piping behavior of cohesionless soil under upward flow condition. The components of the new apparatus included a loading chamber, a vertical and confining loading system, an upstream water supply device, a soil-water separating system, and a water collecting system. The loading chamber provides space for a soil specimen setting and loading. The combination of a vertical and a confining loading system was designed to apply complex stresses to a soil specimen. Under the stresses, the specimen was then eroded by the gradually increasing hydraulic head supplied by the water supply system. The eroded particle and spilling water were collected and detected by the soil-water separating system and the water collecting system. A series of experiments were carried out using the new apparatus. Results demonstrated the repeatability experiments and usefulness of the apparatus. The new apparatus allowed us to investigate the piping behavior under different stress states and hydraulic gradients. With this new apparatus and experiments, we found that lower and high critical hydraulic gradients (CHGs) should be included as the criteria of piping development based on the relationship between the hydraulic gradient and the seepage response. In addition, the stress state on the CHG and the particle erosion rate played important roles in the piping development. The outer pressure on the specimen can retard the development of erosion. In contrast, the hydraulic gradient was found to be positively correlated to the erosion rate. Results also indicated that a specimen would collapse once the amount of eroded small particles exceeds the critical value of 46.5 % of the soil.