FORMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF CURCUMIN SOLID DISPERSION PELLETS FOR IMPROVED SOLUBILITY

Objective: The present study was aimed at designing of solid dispersion based pellets of curcumin (Cu) for improving its solubility. Methods: Solid dispersion (SD) of Cu was prepared by the melt method using Poloxamer 407 (Pol 407) at a different weight ratio of Cu-Pol 407 (1:2, 1:3, 1:5, 1:7, 1:10). The solid dispersion was characterised by FTIR, SEM, DSC, XRD and evaluated for saturation solubility in water, drug content and in vitro dissolution. The pellets of Cu solid dispersion were prepared by extrusion spheronization technique and optimization was performed by 32full factorial design. The pellets were evaluated for size distribution, flow properties, hardness, disintegration and in vitro drug dissolution. Results: From the phase solubility analysis, Pol 407 was selected as a Solid dispersion carrier. The formation of Cu-SD by melt method using Pol 407, was confirmed from FTIR and DSC studies. XRD studies indicated a change of Cu from crystalline to amorphous form. There was a significant increase of Cu when formulated as SD compared to plain Cu. The optimization of extrusion spheronization process revealed the significant effect of Cu-Pol 407 ratio (p<0.0001) on in vitro dissolution of pellets. Higher Cu dissolution was obtained with Cu-SD pellets compared to plain Cu pellets. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated the potential of Cu-SD pellets in improving the solubility of poorly soluble Cu

Data Hiding Scheme using 14 squares Substitution Cipher & Index Variable

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Gravitational Collapse of Perfect Fluid in Self-Similar Higher Dimensional Space-Times

We investigate the occurrence and nature of naked singularities in the gravitational collapse of an adiabatic perfect fluid in self-similar higher dimensional space-times. It is shown that strong curvature naked singularities could occur if the weak energy condition holds. Its implication for cosmic censorship conjecture is discussed. Known results of analogous studies in four dimensions can be recovered.Comment: 11 Pages, Latex, no figures, Accepted in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Comparison of combination metformin-vildagliptin versus metformin-glimepiride in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with inadequately controlled metformin monotherapy

Background: Metformin has been recommended as a first-line therapy for T2DM in many guidelines. Adding a sulfonylurea to metformin has been a conventional and gold standard for decades to achieve tight glycaemic control. dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, an incretin-based therapy has emerged as important adjunctive drugs in T2DM. Therefore, the present study was planned to evaluate and compare the efficacy and safety of combination metformin-vildagliptin and metformin-glimepiride in patients of T2DM inadequately controlled with metformin monotherapy.Methods: A total 45 patients were allocated to each metformin-vildagliptin group and metformin-glimepiride group. Fasting plasma glucose, post prandial plasma glucose, body weight, adverse events were recorded at 0 week, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks. Glycosylated haemoglobin was recorded at 0 week and 12 weeks.Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05) at the end of 12 weeks in the mean percentage reduction in FPG, PPPG and HbA1c.There was statistically highly significant (p0.05).Conclusions: In patients of T2DM with inadequately controlled metformin monotherapy, combination metformin-vildagliptin provides comparable efficacy in terms of FPG, PPPG and HbA1c to that of combination metformin-glimepiride with no risk of weight gain reduction in risk of hypoglycemic events

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin versus atorvastatin in reduction of low density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with dyslipidemia

Background: Approximately 80% of deaths in diabetic patients are attributable to cardiovascular disease (CVD), which in turn is highly correlated with diabetic dyslipidemia. Statins are drug of choice for raised LDL-C in treating dyslipidemia. The present study compares the efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin against commonly used atorvastatin in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus with dyslipidemia, so as to guide the present treatment strategies in the management of the same in Indian population.Methods: The study was a single blinded study conducted in a district level tertiary care hospital attached to a medical teaching institute. Patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were randomized in two groups. Group I received atorvastatin (10mg) and group II received rosuvastatin (5mg) at bedtime orally daily. Serum TC, serum LDL-C, serum HDL-C and serum TG were assessed on week 0, week 6 and week 12.Results: At the end of 12 weeks, the percentage reduction of LDL-C levels in atorvastatin group was 33.58% whereas in rosuvastatin group, it was 43.12%. The percentage reduction in total cholesterol (TC) in atorvastatin group was 24.85% while in rosuvastatin group, it was 30.8%. Rise in HDL-C levels in atorvastatin group was 7.1% whereas in rosuvastatin group, it was 11.16%. All these differences were statistically significant. There was no significant difference in reduction of TG levels between the two groups.Conclusions: Rosuvastatin 5mg causes greater reduction in LDL-C and TC, comparable reduction of TG and greater rise in HDL-C when compared with atorvastatin 10mg therapy

Corridor Roof Causing Almost Decapitation: a Rare Case Report

Background: Cut throat injury can be homicidal, suicidal or accidental in manner. However, in the absence of tentative cuts, deep cut throat injury usually raised suspicion towards homicide, even against the circumstantial history provided by close relatives or eye witness. Decapitation or almost decapitation is usually noticed in homicidal assault using any heavy cutting weapon like sword and axe or in suicidal railway injury.Case Report: A 91-years old, otherwise healthy lady (empress of one high profile Company) died due to almost decapitation as a result of accidental fall of wheel chair and trapping of neck underneath roof of corridor while moving up in an elevator (lift). With suspicion of property dispute, the investigating police agency was not ready to accept it as a case of accident till the neck injury was clarified demonstrating associated injuries during autopsy and later during visit to scene of death.Conclusion: In high profile case, video recording of autopsy findings, even if not mandatory as per the law, should be made to remain in safer side. Although police should not be allowed during conduction of autopsy, it will be healthy practice to clarify any doubts then and there over autopsy table, if the case warrants so

FORMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF FLOATING TABLETS OF CLOPIDOGREL BISULPHATE USING DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS

Objective: The present study aimed at designing of floating matrix tablet of clopidogrel bisulphate by design of experiments.Methods: The tablets were prepared by direct compression technique using hydroxypropyl methylcellulose K15 (HPMC) as a matrix polymer and sodium bicarbonate as a gas generating agent. In order to optimize the concentration of HPMC (X1) and sodium bicarbonate (X2), a 32 full factorial design was employed. The tablet formulations were evaluated for floating lag time (Y1), floating or buoyancy time (Y2), percent water uptake, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in vitro drug release (Y3).Results: The formulation variables, HPMC concentration, and sodium bicarbonate concentration exerted a significant effect on floating behavior and drug release characteristics of the tablet. The optimized formulation, with 15% sodium bicarbonate concentration and 30 % HPMC concentration resulted in 5±2.6 sec of floating lag time, 22.0±0.6 h of floating time and 42.0±0.99% of clopidogrel bisulphate release in 8 h of dissolution study. The drug release mechanism was identified as nonfickian. The water uptake studies revealed that with an increase in HPMC concentration, there was an increase in swelling index of tablet whereas higher sodium bicarbonate concentration supported the faster erosion of matrix tablets. DSC study revealed no interaction of drug and polymers. The lower percentage error between predicted and observed responses of the optimized formulation validated the design.Conclusion: The study demonstrated successful designing of floating clopidogrel bisulphate tablet with factorial design

Epidemic Control on a Large-Scale-Agent-Based Epidemiology Model using Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient

To mitigate the impact of the pandemic, several measures include lockdowns, rapid vaccination programs, school closures, and economic stimulus. These interventions can have positive or unintended negative consequences. Current research to model and determine an optimal intervention automatically through round-tripping is limited by the simulation objectives, scale (a few thousand individuals), model types that are not suited for intervention studies, and the number of intervention strategies they can explore (discrete vs continuous). We address these challenges using a Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) based policy optimization framework on a large-scale (100,000 individual) epidemiological agent-based simulation where we perform multi-objective optimization. We determine the optimal policy for lockdown and vaccination in a minimalist age-stratified multi-vaccine scenario with a basic simulation for economic activity. With no lockdown and vaccination (mid-age and elderly), results show optimal economy (individuals below the poverty line) with balanced health objectives (infection, and hospitalization). An in-depth simulation is needed to further validate our results and open-source our framework