Design, development and evaluation of immediate release gliclazide tablets

The aim of the current study was the design, development and optimization of oral immediate release solid dosage forms of gliclazide tablets, intended for rapid action within 30 min, formulated and optimized by in vitro drug release method comparing with reference tablet Diamicron (Servier Lab.). For fast breakdown and rapid dissolution of tablets three different disintegrants (sodium starch glycolate, kollidone CL, and dried maize starch) were used with same percentage (2 %) in the formulations; sodium starch glycolate provide very fast release of gliclazide from tablets in pH 7.4. Two different compression methods, direct compression and wet granulation, were employed in the study. The in vitro drug release profile was better for directly compressed gliclazide tablets, but the flow properties of gliclazide were very poor, which causes high weight variation. Wet granulation method provided tablets of good physical parameters: two types of tablets with different hardness (8-10 kg/cm2 and 5-7 kg/cm2 ) were prepared to observe the effect of compressional forces on drug dissolution and the later one exhibits short disintegration time and rapid dissolution of gliclazide. Friability and weight variation were found within the acceptable range. Incorporation of anionic surfactant in combination with sodium starch glycolate or kollidone CL in the formulation the dissolution rate. In comparison with reference tablet, formulation containing 2 % sodium starch glycolate and 1 % sodium lauryl sulphate with other excipients as lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone K-30, Mg stearate and colloidal silicon dioxide provide better dissolution. Shelf life of the formulated tablets were determined by utilizing stress condition (40 °C and 75 % Relative humidity for 3 months) and found more than 2.5 year in room condition.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Design, development and evaluation of immediate release gliclazide tablets

The aim of the current study was the design, development and optimization of oral immediate release solid dosage forms of gliclazide tablets, intended for rapid action within 30 min, formulated and optimized by in vitro drug release method comparing with reference tablet Diamicron (Servier Lab.). For fast breakdown and rapid dissolution of tablets three different disintegrants (sodium starch glycolate, kollidone CL, and dried maize starch) were used with same percentage (2 %) in the formulations; sodium starch glycolate provide very fast release of gliclazide from tablets in pH 7.4. Two different compression methods, direct compression and wet granulation, were employed in the study. The in vitro drug release profile was better for directly compressed gliclazide tablets, but the flow properties of gliclazide were very poor, which causes high weight variation. Wet granulation method provided tablets of good physical parameters: two types of tablets with different hardness (8-10 kg/cm2 and 5-7 kg/cm2 ) were prepared to observe the effect of compressional forces on drug dissolution and the later one exhibits short disintegration time and rapid dissolution of gliclazide. Friability and weight variation were found within the acceptable range. Incorporation of anionic surfactant in combination with sodium starch glycolate or kollidone CL in the formulation the dissolution rate. In comparison with reference tablet, formulation containing 2 % sodium starch glycolate and 1 % sodium lauryl sulphate with other excipients as lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone K-30, Mg stearate and colloidal silicon dioxide provide better dissolution. Shelf life of the formulated tablets were determined by utilizing stress condition (40 °C and 75 % Relative humidity for 3 months) and found more than 2.5 year in room condition.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Design, development and evaluation of immediate release gliclazide tablets

The aim of the current study was the design, development and optimization of oral immediate release solid dosage forms of gliclazide tablets, intended for rapid action within 30 min, formulated and optimized by in vitro drug release method comparing with reference tablet Diamicron (Servier Lab.). For fast breakdown and rapid dissolution of tablets three different disintegrants (sodium starch glycolate, kollidone CL, and dried maize starch) were used with same percentage (2 %) in the formulations; sodium starch glycolate provide very fast release of gliclazide from tablets in pH 7.4. Two different compression methods, direct compression and wet granulation, were employed in the study. The in vitro drug release profile was better for directly compressed gliclazide tablets, but the flow properties of gliclazide were very poor, which causes high weight variation. Wet granulation method provided tablets of good physical parameters: two types of tablets with different hardness (8-10 kg/cm2 and 5-7 kg/cm2 ) were prepared to observe the effect of compressional forces on drug dissolution and the later one exhibits short disintegration time and rapid dissolution of gliclazide. Friability and weight variation were found within the acceptable range. Incorporation of anionic surfactant in combination with sodium starch glycolate or kollidone CL in the formulation the dissolution rate. In comparison with reference tablet, formulation containing 2 % sodium starch glycolate and 1 % sodium lauryl sulphate with other excipients as lactose, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone K-30, Mg stearate and colloidal silicon dioxide provide better dissolution. Shelf life of the formulated tablets were determined by utilizing stress condition (40 °C and 75 % Relative humidity for 3 months) and found more than 2.5 year in room condition.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Creating a public space and dialogue on sexuality and rights: a case study from Bangladesh

This article describes and analyses a research based engagement by a university school of public health in Bangladesh aimed at raising public debate on sexuality and rights and making issues such as discrimination more visible to policy makers and other key stakeholders in a challenging context. The impetus for this work came from participation in an international research programme with a particular interest in bridging international and local understandings of sexual and reproductive rights. The research team worked to create a platform to broaden discussions on sexuality and rights by building on a number of research activities on rural and urban men’s and women’s sexual health concerns, and on changing concepts of sexuality and understandings of sexual rights among specific population groups in Dhaka city, including sexual minorities. Linked to this on-going process of improving the evidence base, there has been a series of learning and capacity building activities over the last four years consisting of training workshops, meetings, conferences and dialogues. These brought together different configurations of stakeholders – members of sexual minorities, academics, service providers, advocacy organisations, media and policy makers. This process contributed to developing more effective advocacy strategies through challenging representations of sexuality and rights in the public domain. Gradually, these efforts brought visibility to hidden or stigmatised sexuality and rights issues through interim outcomes that have created important steps towards changing attitudes and policies. These included creating safe spaces for sexual minorities to meet and strategise, development of learning materials for university students and engagement with legal rights groups on sexual rights. Through this process, it was found to be possible to create a public space and dialogue on sexuality and rights in a conservative and challenging environment like Bangladesh by bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to successfully challenge representations of sexuality in the public arena. A further challenge for BRAC University has been to assess its role as a teaching and research organisation, and find a balance between the two roles of research and activism in doing work on sexuality issues in a very sensitive political context

Discovery of Novel MicroRNAs in Female Reproductive Tract Using Next Generation Sequencing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that mediate post-transcriptional gene silencing. Over 700 human miRNAs have currently been identified, many of which are mutated or de-regulated in diseases. Here we report the identification of novel miRNAs through deep sequencing the small RNAome (<30 nt) of over 100 tissues or cell lines derived from human female reproductive organs in both normal and disease states. These specimens include ovarian epithelium and ovarian cancer, endometrium and endometriomas, and uterine myometrium and uterine smooth muscle tumors. Sequence reads not aligning with known miRNAs were each mapped to the genome to extract flanking sequences. These extended sequence regions were folded in silico to identify RNA hairpins. Sequences demonstrating the ability to form a stem loop structure with low minimum free energy (<−25 kcal) and predicted Drosha and Dicer cut sites yielding a mature miRNA sequence matching the actual sequence were considered putative novel miRNAs. Additional confidence was achieved when putative novel hairpins assembled a collection of sequences highly similar to the putative mature miRNA but with heterogeneous 3′-ends. A confirmed novel miRNA fulfilled these criteria and had its “star” sequence in our collection. We found 7 distinct confirmed novel miRNAs, and 51 additional novel miRNAs that represented highly confident predictions but without detectable star sequences. Our novel miRNAs were detectable in multiple samples, but expressed at low levels and not specific to any one tissue or cell type. To date, this study represents the largest set of samples analyzed together to identify novel miRNAs

Can Self-Build Housing improve Social Sustainability within Low-Income Groups?

This paper explores how affordable communal self-build housing affects levels of social cohesion, social capital and participation amongst low-income community members. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with members of five low-cost self-build communities in England and Wales elicited that through a shared vision and sustained common sense of purpose, high levels of social capital and participation were evident at the start of the projects, and can continue into later phases. However, without a formal social structure and continued shared visioning within self-build housing communities, social cohesion was found to deteriorate with negative consequences for participation, and in some cases showing a lack of social cohesion or leading to conflict

Network Quality Assesment of Wireless Communication Based on Mobility Issue

Up-gradation of wireless communication system is mainly based on some critical attributes like speed, coverage, interoperability, reliability, cost, security etc. This paper looks potential approaches to network quality analysis based on mobility. In this paper, focus is given to determine handover latency, vital property of mobility. This paper presents simulation to investigate handover effects-handover latency in homogeneous and heterogeneous environment using network simulator NCTUns 6.0 and simulator version 2 (NS-2) respectively for different generations of wireless communication. Also simulation is performed to find out the handover latency with respect to mobile node’s speed and then the results are compared with each other for performance analysis. The obtained results show that advanced generations of wireless communication provides low handover latency as well as higher mobility support which leads to better network performance and seamless connectivity

Antibiotic resistance characteristics of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from keratitis in Australia and India

This study investigated genomic differences in Australian and Indian Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from keratitis (infection of the cornea). Overall, the Indian isolates were resistant to more antibiotics, with some of those isolates being multi-drug resistant. Acquired genes were related to resistance to fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, beta-lactams, macrolides, sulphonamides, and tetracycline and were more frequent in Indian (96%) than in Australian (35%) isolates (p = 0.02). Indian isolates had large numbers of gene variations (median 50,006, IQR = 26,967–50,600) compared to Australian isolates (median 26,317, IQR = 25,681–33,780). There were a larger number of mutations in the mutL and uvrD genes associated with the mismatch repair (MMR) system in Indian isolates, which may result in strains losing their efficacy for DNA repair. The number of gene variations were greater in isolates carrying MMR system genes or exoU. In the phylogenetic division, the number of core genes were similar in both groups, but Indian isolates had larger numbers of pan genes (median 6518, IQR = 6040–6935). Clones related to three different sequence types—ST308, ST316, and ST491—were found among Indian isolates. Only one clone, ST233, containing two strains was present in Australian isolates. The most striking differences between Australian and Indian isolates were carriage of exoU (that encodes a cytolytic phospholipase) in Indian isolates and exoS (that encodes for GTPase activator activity) in Australian isolates, large number of acquired resistance genes, greater changes to MMR genes, and a larger pan genome as well as increased overall genetic variation in the Indian isolates.Published versio

Aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio and fibrosis-4 as biomarkers in biopsy-validated pediatric cystic fibrosis liver disease

Up to 10% of cystic fibrosis (CF) children develop cirrhosis by the first decade. We evaluated the utility of two simple biomarkers, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) and FIB-4, in predicting degree of fibrosis in pediatric CF liver disease (CFLD) validated by liver biopsy. In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, 67 children with CFLD had dual-pass liver biopsies and 104 age- and sex-matched CF children without liver disease (CFnoLD) had serum to calculate APRI and FIB-4 collected at enrollment. CFLD was defined as having two of the following: (1) hepatomegaly +/- splenomegaly; (2) >6 months elevation of ALT (>1.5x upper limit of normal ULN); or (3) abnormal liver ultrasound findings. Biopsies were staged according to Metavir classification by two blinded pathologists. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and continuation ratio logistic regression were performed to assess the predictability of these biomarkers to distinguish CFLD from CFnoLD and determine fibrosis stage-specific cut-off values. The AUC for APRI was better than FIB-4 (0.75 vs. 0.60; P = 0.005) for predicting CFLD and severe CFLD (F3-F4) (0.81). An APRI score >0.264 demonstrated a sensitivity (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 73.1% (60.9, 83.2) and specificity of 70.2% (60.4, 78.8) in predicting CFLD. A 50% increase in APRI was associated with a 2.4-fold (95% CI: 1.7, 3.3) increased odds of having CFLD. APRI demonstrated full agreement with histology staging 37% of the time, but was within one stage 73% of the time. Only FIB-4 predicted portal hypertension at diagnosis (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.91; P < 0.001). Conclusion: This is the first liver biopsy-validated study of APRI and FIB-4 in pediatric CFLD. APRI appears superior to FIB-4 in differentiating CFLD versus CFnoLD. APRI also exhibited a high AUC in predicting severe liver fibrosis with specific cutoffs for lower stages. (Hepatology 2015;62:1576-1583