Entrepreneur as an authentic leader: A study of small and medium sized enterprises in Pakistan

The aim of this paper is to explore the authentic leadership styles of an entrepreneurs and its impact on employee’s commitment and satisfaction. By using the authentic leadership model, this study seeks to give a tentative test of the connection among employees’ awareness of the business creator as an authentic leader and the employees’ attitudes. Findings are that the opinion of employees’ about authentic leadership serves as the intoxicating analyst of employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Impact of processing methods on the dissolution of artemether from two non-ordered mesoporous silicas

Poor aqueous solubility is often linked with a poor dissolution rate and ultimately, limited bioavailability of pharmaceutical compounds. This study describes the application of mesoporous materials (Syloid 244 and Syloid AL1) in improving the dissolution rate of a drug with poor aqueous solubility, namely artemether, utilising different processing methods including physical mixing, co-grinding and solid dispersions prepared by solvent evaporation and the lyophilisation technique. The prepared formulations were extensively characterised for their solid-state properties and the drug release attributes were studied. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction confirmed conversion of crystalline artemether into a disordered and amorphous form, whilst no intermolecular interactions were detected between artemether and silica. Both silica grades enhanced the dissolution rate of artemether in comparison with drug alone, for example from 17.43% (± 0.87%) to 71.55% (± 3.57%) after 120 mins with lyophilisation and Syloid 244 at a 1:3 ratio. This enhancement was also dependant on the choice of processing method, for example, co-ground and lyophilised formulations prepared with Syloid 244 at 1:3 ratio produced the most extensive dissolution, thus endorsing the importance of materials as well as choice of formulation method

Influence of polymer ratio and surfactants on controlled drug release from cellulosic microsponges

Microsponge refers to a highly cross-linked particle system with a capacity to adsorb (like a dry sponge) pharmaceutical materials. There are various methods available to prepare microsponge formulations, in this study we used quasi emulsion-solvent diffusion method with a combination of hydrophobic (ethyl cellulose) and hydrophilic polymers (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose) mediated via Tween 80 and polyvinyl alcohol. Various ratios and amounts of the polymers and surfactants were used to prepare microsponge formulations using ketoprofen as a model drug and extensively characterised. Our results, for the first time, indicate successful and optimised formulation with desired pharmaceutical characteristics using a combination of hydrophobic and hydrophilic polymers

Relevancy of Nizatidine’s Release from Floating Tablets with Viscosity of Various Cellulose Ethers

Nizatidine is a gastroprotective drug with a short biological half-life and narrow absorption window. This study aimed at developing floating tablets of nizatidine using various HPMC viscosity grades, namely K4M, E4M, K15 and K200M. Directly compressed tablets revealed an excellent uniformity in hardness, thickness and weight and nizatidine was evenly distributed within the matrix floating tablets. Buoyancy study revealed floating lag time as low as 18–38 s, and tablets remain buoyant for upto 24 h. However, the later depended upon viscosity grade of HPMC and that the higher the viscosity, the less was the total floating time. In vitro dissolution indicated viscosity dependent nizatidine release from the floating tablets. HPMC K4M and E4M based floating tablets released almost 100% drug in 12 h, whilst higher viscosity polymers such as K15 and K200M only released 81.88% and 75.81% drug, respectively. The drug release followed non-Fickian diffusion from tablets formulated with K4M, K15 and K200M, whilst super case II transport was observed with E4M based tablets. More interestingly, K4M and E4M polymers have similar viscosity yet exhibited different drug release mechanism. This was attributed to the difference in degree of substitution of methoxyl- and hydroxypropoxyl- groups on polymer backbone

Evaluation of stability and simultaneous determination of fimasartan and amlodipine by a HPLC method in combination tablets

A simple, rapid, accurate, precise and robust HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of fimasartan and amlodipine in tablet dosage form. Furthermore, stability of active ingredients was evaluated under normal and stress conditions. The isocratic elution was accomplished by Nucleosil C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) at 40 °C. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and 0.02 M monopotassium phosphate buffer (pH 2.2) in the ratio of 50:50 (v/v) was eluted at 1.0 ml/min. The eluent was monitored by the UV detector for fimasartan and amlodipine at 237 nm for 8 min, detection time. The validation of HPLC method was carried out in accordance with the ICH guidelines