Outcomes of Patients with a Mechanical Heart Valve and Poor Anticoagulation Control on Warfarin.

Background:  Patients with a mechanical heart valve (MHV) require oral anticoagulation. Poor anticoagulation control is thought to be associated with adverse outcomes, but data are limited.

Objective:  To assess the risks of clinical outcomes in patients with a MHV and poor anticoagulation control on warfarin.

Predicting Colloidal Stability of High-Concentration Monoclonal Antibody Formulations in Common Pharmaceutical Buffers Using Improved Polyethylene Glycol Induced Protein Precipitation Assay.

Colloidal stability is an important consideration when developing high concentration mAb formulations. PEG-induced protein precipitation is a commonly used assay to assess the colloidal stability of protein solutions. However, the practical usefulness and the current theoretical model for this assay have yet to be verified over a large formulation space across multiple mAbs and mAb-based modalities.

Determination of the instantaneous geostrophic flow within the three-dimensional magnetostrophic regime.

In his seminal work, Taylor (1963 , 274-283. (doi:10.1098/rspa.

Quantifying patient preferences for symptomatic breast clinic referral: a decision analysis study.

Objectives: Decision analysis study that incorporates patient preferences and probability estimates to investigate the impact of women's preferences for referral or an alternative strategy of watchful waiting if faced with symptoms that could be due to breast cancer.

Setting: Community-based study.

Participants: Asymptomatic women aged 30-60 years.

Interventions to Address Potentially Inappropriate Prescribing in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Objectives: To perform a systematic review to determine the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) in community-dwelling older adults.

Design: Systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Setting: Primary and community care.

Trends and interaction of polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate prescribing in primary care over 15 years in Ireland: a repeated cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To examine: (1) changes in polypharmacy in 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012 and; (2) changes in potentially inappropriate prescribing (PIP) prevalence and the relationship between PIP and polypharmacy in individuals aged ≥65 years over this period in Ireland.

Methods: This repeated cross-sectional study using pharmacy claims data included all individuals eligible for the General Medical Services scheme in the former Eastern Health Board region of Ireland in 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012 (range 338,025-539,752 individuals). Outcomes evaluated were prevalence of polypharmacy (being prescribed ≥5 regular medicines) and excessive polypharmacy (≥10 regular medicines) in all individuals and PIP prevalence in those aged ≥65 years determined by 30 criteria from the Screening Tool for Older Persons' Prescriptions.

Challenges in inhaled product development and opportunities for open innovation.

Dosimetry, safety and the efficacy of drugs in the lungs are critical factors in the development of inhaled medicines. This article considers the challenges in each of these areas with reference to current industry practices for developing inhaled products, and suggests collaborative scientific approaches to address these challenges. The portfolio of molecules requiring delivery by inhalation has expanded rapidly to include novel drugs for lung disease, combination therapies, biopharmaceuticals and candidates for systemic delivery via the lung.

Association of Inhalation Toxicologists (AIT) working party recommendation for standard delivered dose calculation and expression in non-clinical aerosol inhalation toxicology studies with pharmaceuticals.

There are many ways in which the dose can be expressed in inhalation toxicology studies. This can lead to confusion when comparing results from studies performed in different laboratories. A working party of the Association of Inhalation Toxicologists has reviewed this subject in detail and has collected data from 10 inhalation laboratories and used these data to determine a new algorithm for the calculation of Respiratory Minute Volume (RMV), one of the most important factors in the calculation of delivered dose.

Perfluoro-n-butyl iodide: acute toxicity, subchronic toxicity and genotoxicity evaluations.

Perfluoro-n-butyl iodide (PFBI) is a promising alternative to chlorofluorocarbon solvents used in aircraft ground maintenance operations and other military and commercial operations, because it cleans well, has zero ozone depletion potential, and has extremely low global warming properties. Toxicity tests were performed with PFBI to determine and evaluate its health hazard. Using standard testing guidelines (e.