COMPARATIVE ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY OF MARKETED GLICLAZIDE FORMULATION WITH GLICLAZIDE LOADED PELLETS CONTAINING GUM KONDAGOGU AS A DRUG RETARDING MATERIAL IN RATS

Controlled drug delivery systems significantly enhances therapeutic efficacy of drugs. Drug retarding polymers are the key performers in such designed systems.Objective: The main objective of study is to evaluate antidiabetic effect of gliclazide loaded pellets developed by green synthesis technique where in gum Kondagogu is used as natural drug retarding polymer and compared with existing Gliclazide Marketed formulation. Methods: The study is carried out in Wistar rats with body weight ranging between 100-220g. Diabetes was induced in animals by injecting alloxan 150mg/kg/bodyweight intraperitoneally (i.p.). Animals were divided into four groups. Group I - Control, Group II- Diabetic Control, Group III- Diabetic treated with Gliclazide Marketed formulation, and Group IV- Diabetic treated with gliclazide loaded pellets orally. Fasting blood glucose levels were estimated at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 24 hours to understand the release of the drug from polymer matrix.Results: The results have shown that the on single oral administration of gliclazide loaded pellets coated with gum Kondagogu showed almost similar anti-diabetic activity when compared with marketed formulation  The maximum reduction  in the glucose level were observed at 4th and 6th hour and later the glucose levels were sustained in the same pattern to that of marketed formulation.Conclusion: In the present study, an effort has been made to evaluate the efficacy of gum kondagogu as a novel controlled release matrix forming material and thus it could be concluded that gum kondagogu could be a controlled release matrix polymer and be a suitable substituent to existing synthetic polymers for drug retardation in the pharmaceutical industry. KEYWORDS: Gum Kondagogu, Gliclazide, tree gum exudates, natural drug retarding materia

Evaluation of Dikamali as a Tablet Binder in Zidovudine Tablets

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the gum, Dikamali, as a tablet binder employing zidovudine as a model drug. Zidovudine tablets were prepared by wet granulation technique using Dikamali as a tablet binder. The Dikamali was used in wet form and dry form. Granules were evaluated for pre-compression parameters:  tapped density, bulk density, compressibility index, hausner ratio, and angle of repose. All the parameters were found to be within the acceptable limits. The tablets were evaluated for hardness, friability, weight variation, disintegration, content uniformity, and dissolution. For the formulations F1-F3D; F1-F3W; F4-F7 (see Table 1) the parameters of friability, disintegration time, and hardness were measured and their values range from 0.57-0.73% (w/w), 0.83-0.97% (w/w), 0.69-0.99% (w/w); 12-13 min, 10-12 min, 10-12 min; and 5-6.9 kg/cm2, 4.5-5.1 kg/cm2, 4.1-5.2 kg/cm2; respectively. The binding efficacy of Dikamali was compared with the standard binders, starch mucilage and polyvinyl pyrrolidone, using dissolution studies. The binders, Dikamali and starch, were compared at similar concentrations [2.5% (w/v), 5% (w/v), and 7.5% (w/v)], and the finalized formulation (F1D) was compared with a 10% (w/v) concentration of starch mucilage and a 10% (w/v) concentration of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). Dikamali [2.5% (w/v)] in dry form (i.e. F1D) showed the same percent drug release as that of the 10% (w/v) of starch mucilage and of polyvinyl pyrrolidone. In conclusion, Dikamali could well be used as a binding agent in the formulation of tablet dosage forms, and Dikamali is more effective in dry form than the wet form

A STUDY ON THE STATUS OF FURNITURE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES IN MORATUWA AREA

Moratuwa area has a long history of furniture industry in Sri Lanka. In the present study,furniture manufacturing industry (FMI) in Moratuwa was studied using twoquestionnaire surveys. The main raw materials. manufacturing process, technologicallevel, furniture designing methods, seasoning methods. waste disposal methods,educational and sociological aspects of workers of the FMI were studied. In addition, datawere collected on furniture marketing from the Ratmalana furniture permit-issuing centerof the Forest Department. Raw material supplies (timber logs) into the Moratuwa areawere also studied at five different locations including timber-checking stationsThe study revealed that the Moratuwa area consists of considerable amount ofmechanized carpentry sheds and some associate with furniture shops or saw mills. 83%of furniture is manufactured using heavy wood species and 17% using light wood species.Teak is the most popular timber species followed by Satin and Nadun. Most of thetimbers used in the industry are air dried, while others are kiln-dried. Three commonmethods are observed for designing of furniture: based on consumer preference,traditional designs by carpenters and use of designs from foreign catalogues. Furniturecan be categorized into six broad categories, based on their quality and finishing level.Semi- finished Furniture are mostly sold in bulk to furniture dealers in out side areas, andafter transportation, they are finished and sold based on regional requirements.The total number of furniture production per month is estimated as 63,612 units, when41 furniture items are considered. Teak Cabinets, Teak Elmira, and Teak Chairs are themain manufactured items. The overall monthly income from all the FMI of Moratuwaarea is estimated to be Rs. 54.05 million.Wooden wastes mainly consist of sawdust! slabs (2854 cum) and fuel wood (1850 cu.rn),which arc estimated to value approximately Rs. 569,270.00. 13 % of this wooden waste isused for cooking purposes in the FMI of Moratuwa area. 34% is used for other purposessuch as agricultural and poultry industries and as fuel for kilns of the brick industry.However 44% of wooden wastes is not utilized and is disposed by burning.The total number of workers is estimated as 3515 workers which comprises, skilledcarpenters (68%), semi skilled carpenters (11%), laborers (7%), other category workers(5%Y," managerS (4%) and supervisors (4%). The dominant age class-ilrthe"FMJ is"4F55 years, which represents 44 percent of the total workers. 192 children (out of 378) ofthe workers are employed in FMI; which accounts 51 percent children of the workers jointheFMI. The educational levels of the workers are low and they have gained their skills fromtheir fathers and forefathers

The AppNL-G-F mouse retina is a site for preclinical Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and research

In this study, we report the results of a comprehensive phenotyping of the retina of the AppNL-G-F mouse. We demonstrate that soluble Aβ accumulation is present in the retina of these mice early in life and progresses to Aβ plaque formation by midlife. This rising Aβ burden coincides with local microglia reactivity, astrogliosis, and abnormalities in retinal vein morphology. Electrophysiological recordings revealed signs of neuronal dysfunction yet no overt neurodegeneration was observed and visual performance outcomes were unafected in the AppNL-G-F mouse. Furthermore, we show that hyperspectral imaging can be used to quantify retinal Aβ, underscoring its potential as a biomarker for AD diagnosis and monitoring. These fndings suggest that the AppNL-G-F retina mimics the early, preclinical stages of AD, and, together with retinal imaging techniques, ofers unique opportunities for drug discovery and fundamental research into preclinical AD

An unusual case of hypothermia associated with therapeutic doses of olanzapine: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>We report a case of a 42-year-old man who had symptomatic hypothermia as a result of taking olanzapine for paranoid schizophrenia. According to published data, only a few cases of hypothermia associated with olanzapine have been reported since its introduction into clinical use.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 42-year-old Sri Lankan man with schizophrenia who was being treated with a therapeutic dose of olanzapine presented with reduced level of consciousness. He had a core temperature of 32°C and was bradycardic. At the time of admission, the electrocardiogram showed sinus bradycardia with J waves. He did not have any risk factors for developing hypothermia except the use of olanzapine. There was improvement in his clinical condition with reversal of electrocardiogram changes following gradual rewarming and the omission of olanzapine.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Hypothermia induced by antipsychotic medications is not uncommon, but olanzapine-induced hypothermia is rare and occurrence has been reported during initiation or increasing the dose. But here the patient developed hypothermia without dose adjustment.</p

Life cycle assessment of domestic biogas systems

Different sizes of biogas systems were analysed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in order to find the effectiveness of biogas system as a renewable energy source for domestic use. As a pre requisite for the LCA, sample survey was carried out in order to find out the existing situation of biogas units installed in Sri Lanka. This survey covered a total of 167 biogas units in the country. According to the survey 143 (86%) are domestic units with a capacity less or equal than 20 m3 while 27 (16%) of the above sample was not functioning at the time of this survey. A detailed LCA was carried out in two different phases in order to determine the environmental impacts in life cycle of Chinese fixed dome type biogas systems and to calculate the Energy Pay-Back Time (EPBT). In Life Cycle Energy Assessment, Embedded Energy Values (EEV) have been evaluated from the quantity of building materials used in construction of different sizes of biogas plants and the energy payback period have been evaluated for individual biogas plants using EEV and biogas energy production. Similar to the energy calculation, CO2 emissions from each capacity of biogas units were also calculated. Although there are negative impacts from CO2 emissions in the construction stage, there is a reduction of CO2 emissions in the biogas consumption stage due to the replacement of fossil fuels with biogas. While the LPG / kerosene replacement reduces the CO2 emissions, firewood replacement reduces the amount of particulate matters emitted to the environment. So this will contribute towards a reduction in climate change impact, giving the plant an overall positive impact on climate change. Although EEV and CO2 emission per 1 m3 capacity of the biogas plant reduces with the increase of the size of the plant, there is no linear relationship between them. Therefore an equation was derived to calculate the EPBT (y = 0.0006x2 - 0.008x + 0.590 , where x is the capacity of the biogas plant).So it is obvious that construction of higher capacity plant is more energy efficient than a smaller capacity one and also the environmental effects can be minimized. However due to different reasons always the optimum solution is not the construction of a larger unit. So initially the situation should be carefully studied and then only one should construct the largest unit feasible for that application

Performance Evaluation of OpenStack Deployment Tools

Cloud computing allows access to a collection of computing resources that can be easily provisioned, configured as well as released on-demand with minimum cost and effort. OpenStack is an open source cloud management platform aimed at providing public or private IaaS cloud on standard hardware. Since, deploying OpenStack manually is tedious and time-consuming, several tools that automate the deployment of OpenStack are available. Usually, cloud administrators choose a tool based on its level of automation, ease of use or interoperability with existing tools used by them. However, another desired factor while choosing a deployment tool is its deployment speed. Cloud admins cannot select based on this factor since, there is no previous work done on the comparison of deployment tools based on deployment time. This thesis aims to address this issue. The main aim of the thesis is to evaluate the performance of OpenStack deployment tools with respect to operating system provisioning and OpenStack deployment time, on physical servers. Furthermore, the effect of varying number of nodes, OpenStack architecture deployed and resources (cores and RAM) provided to deployment node on provisioning and deployment times, is also analyzed. Also, the tools are classified based on stages of deployment and method of deploying OpenStack services. In this thesis we evaluate the performance of MAAS, Foreman, Mirantis Fuel and Canonical Autopilot. The performance of the tools is measured via experimental research method. Operating system provisioning time and OpenStack deployment times are measured while varying the number of nodes/ OpenStack architecture and resources provided to deployment node i.e. cores and RAM. Results show that provisioning time of MAAS is less than Mirantis Fuel which is less than Foreman for all node scenarios and resources cases considered. Furthermore, for all 3 tools as number of nodes increases provisioning time increases. However, the amount of increase is lowest for MAAS than Mirantis Fuel and Foreman. Similarly, results for bare metal OpenStack deployment time show that, Canonical Autopilot outperforms Mirantis Fuel by a significant difference for all OpenStack scenarios and resources cases considered. Furthermore, as number of nodes in an OpenStack scenario as well as its complexity increases, the deployment time for both the tools increases. From the research, it is concluded that MAAS and Canonical Autopilot perform better as provisioning and bare metal OpenStack deployment tool respectively, than other tools that have been analyzed. Furthermore, from the analysis it can be concluded that increase in number of nodes/ OpenStack architecture, leads to an increase in both provisioning time and OpenStack deployment time for all the tools. Finally, after analyzing the results the tools are classified based on the method of deploying OpenStack services i.e. parallel or role-wise parallel

Energy-Aware Exploration of Coarse Grained Reconfigurable Processors

In recent years Coarse Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) have emerged as a viable option in embedded systems. In this paper we present a power breakdown analysis of such an CGRA. We also present an energy aware exploration for one of the most important, but often neglected parts of processor architectures: the interconnect. The results show that the choice of different interconnection topologies has a significant influence on resulting quality metrics, like performance and energy efficiency. KEYWORDS: Energy-Aware design, Low Power, Processor Architecture, Interconnect aware