No abstract

Tablets are the most frequently administered oral solid dosage form. The presence of various brands at varying costs from different companies requires verification to see whether they pass control tests and to determine which one is more effective and economical. Eight different brands were chosen, and their weight uniformity, hardness, friability, disintegration time, and drug content were tested. Then, prices were compared to quality to determine which brand was more effective and economical. All brands selected pass the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) tests for weight variation, friability, and disintegration time. Maximum weight variation was expressed by brand C, whereas brand A expressed the minimum. Brand E has the highest friability, while brand D has the lowest. The maximum disintegration time expressed is by brands E and G, while the minimum is expressed by brands B, D, F, and H. All the selected brands have enough hardness to withstand handling and manufacturing processes, except brand A, C, and G shows hardness somewhat outside the acceptable range, but this did not affect their disintegration time. According to USP, only two brands (A and H) pass the drug content test, with brand H having the maximum drug content and brand E the minimum.A and H were determined to be the most cost-effective brands based on a correlation between quality and prices.

Self-medication refers to the use of medications without any medical consultation. It is a prevalent practice among the general population and university students according to many studies in Europe, United States and in the neighbor countries in our region. Analgesics are the most popular medications used for self-medication. Few studies have been conducted in our area.The study aims to evaluate self-medication trends with analgesics among medicine and pharmacy students at Duhok University in Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.Between November 2017 and April 2018, a cross-sectional questionnaire-based analysis of undergraduate medical and pharmacy students at University of Duhok was performed. In the questionnaire, 267 students engaged and filled in. The data were processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences.Self-medication was highly prevalent among medical and pharmacy students (85 %). The most prominent factor for self-medication with analgesics was the prior experience with using the same analgesic (56.9 %). Headaches were the most frequent symptom that lead to self-medication (51.3 %). Paracetamol was a widely applied analgesic (38.3 %). The internet (44.6 %) was the most prevalent source of information for self-medication. Approximately 86% of students chose to take the analgesic only where there is serious pain.

It is necessary to promote optimal health and well-being by having more than 7 hours of sleep a day for adults. In modern society, sleep deprivation is a big concern. Students at colleges experience at least twice as many sleep disorders as the general public due to their engagement in many social-, work-, and academic-related activities. The study aims to assess sleep behaviors and the degree of daytime sleepiness and examine the connection between pharmacy students' sleep period and academic success. This cross-sectional research was carried out at the Duhok University pharmacy college on 169 students from first-year to fifth-year. For a given course, students filled out a questionnaire involving demographic variables, sleep habits, sleep length during the regular school week and at night before the test, daytime sleep frequency, and the final score. The results revealed that most pharmacy students had under-optimal sleep durations, described as less than 7 hours. Early sleep and sufficient sleep the night before the test were favorably correlated with student grades and academic success.