Disintegrants, characteristics

Some tablets combine sustained-release and rapid disintegration characteristics. Products such as K-Dur (Key Pharmaceuticals) combine coated potassium chloride crystals in a rapidly releasing tablet. In this particular instance, the crystals are coated with ethylcellulose, a water-insoluble polymer, and are then incorporated into a rapidly disintegrating microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) matrix. The purpose of this tablet is to minimize GI ulceration, commonly encountered by patients treated with potassium chloride. This simple but elegant formulation is an example of a solid dosage form strategy used to achieve clinical goals. 

Tun9al, T. Comparing alkaline and thermal disintegration characteristics for mechanically dewatered sludge. Environmental Technology 2011, 32(14), 1581-1588. 

An important characteristic property of a radioactive isotope is its half-life, fj/2, which is the amount of time required for half of the radioactive atoms to disintegrate. For first-order kinetics the half-life is independent of concentration and is given as... 

In the breakup regime, spray characteristics include film angle, film velocity and thickness, breakup length, breakup rate, surface wave frequency, wavelength, growth rate, and penetration distance. These quantities, however, are extremely difficult to measure on account of the very small size and rapidly changing features of disintegrating Hquid jets or films. 

Identification. Weld decay characteristically produces distinct, narrow zones of disintegration immediately adjacent and parallel to the weldment (Fig. 15.4). Attack will occur on either side of the weld. The weld itself and surrounding metal will be unattacked. The corroded area frequently has a granular or sugary appearance and feel. This is due to corrosion along the boundaries of individual grains that causes them to be released from the metal surface. Affected metal may have lost its metallic ring. 

As well as being active, the immobilised enzyme also needs to be stable (active for a long period) and the support must promote this. The support must also have appropriate mechanical characteristics it should not disintegrate if used in a stirred tank reactor it should produce even flow (without channelling) in a packed bed reactor. Hie cost of the support is also important. 

The rate at which selected liquids penetrate into tablets can be used to study their pore structure. A knowledge of the rate of liquid penetration should also provide information on the disintegration/dissolution behavior of a tablet on administration. Such investigations are capable of forming a valuable link between physico-mechanical characteristics and in vivo performance. 

Within the realm of physical reality, and most important in pharmaceutical systems, the unconstrained optimization problem is almost nonexistent. There are always restrictions that the formulator wishes to place or must place on a system, and in pharmaceuticals, many of these restrictions are in competition. For example, it is unreasonable to assume, as just described, that the hardest tablet possible would also have the lowest compression and ejection forces and the fastest disintegration time and dissolution profile. It is sometimes necessary to trade off properties, that is, to sacrifice one characteristic for another. Thus, the primary objective may not be to optimize absolutely (i.e., a maxima or minima), but to realize an overall pre selected or desired result for each characteristic or parameter. Drug products are often developed by teaching an effective compromise between competing characteristics to achieve the best formulation and process within a given set of restrictions. 

Abrasion and erosion. The dust-loaded wind has an erosive action and contributes to a physical disintegration of rock surfaces or to a polishing of the components of the desert pavement, giving them a characteristic patina desert varnish) and shape (ventifacts). 

In their study of branched PSA, Maniar et al. (1990) found that the molecular architecture of branched polymers affects the release kinetics in a variety of ways. They found that the branched polymers degraded faster than linear PSA of comparable molecular weight (Maniar et al., 1990). They also noted that drug (morphine) release profiles were more characteristic of bulk erosion than surface erosion An initial lag time during which very little drug was released was associated with the time required for water to swell the polymer. This was followed by a period of relatively fast release, which tapered off as the device disintegrated. The polymer matrix lost its mechanical integrity before the release experiment was complete (Maniar et al., 1990). Despite the increase... 

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