An Emerging Trend in Tablet Technology:- Floating Tablets of Ranitidine HCl

The rationale of this research was to prepare a gastroretentive drug delivery system of Ranitidine HCL. Floating Drug delivery system used to target drug release in the stomach or to the upper part of the intestine. The oral delivery of Ranitidine is tested by preparing a non-disintegrating floating dosage form, which increase its absorption in the stomach by increasing the drug’s gastric residence time. The polymer PVC and Sodium bicarbonate was used as the gas–generating agents. Sodium bicarbonate causes the tablets to floats for more then 24hr. The prepared tablets were evaluated on their physicochemical properties and drug release characters. In-vitro release studies indicate that the Ranitidine release form the floating dosage form was uniform followed zero order release. A combination of sodium bicarbonate (70mg) and citric acid (15mg) was found to achieve Optimum in vitro buoyancy. The tablets with methocel K100 were found to float for longer duration of time as compared to formulations containing methocel K15M. The drug release from the tablets was sufficiently sustained.Keywords: Ranitidine; Floating tablets; Methoce

Preparation and evaluation of mouth dissolving tablets of meloxicam

The aim of the present study was to develop evaluate mouth dissolving tablet of meloxicam. Drug delivery systems became sophisticated as pharmaceutical scientists acquire a better understanding of the physicochemical and biochemical parameters pertinent to their performance. Over the past three decades, mouth dissolving or orally disintegrating tablets have gained considerable attention as a preferred alternative to conventional tablets due to better patient compliance. The most preferrable route of drug administration (e.g. oral) is limited to drug candidate that show poor permeability across the gastric mucosa and those, which are sparingly soluble. A large majority of the new chemical entities and many new existing drug molecules are poorly soluble, thereby limiting their potential uses and increasing the difficulty of formulating bioavailable drug products,so lastlly the purpose of this study was to grow mouth dissolve tablets of Meloxicam. Meloxicam is a newer selective COX-1 inhibitor. These tablets were prepared by wet granulation procedure. The tablets were evaluated for % friability, wetting time and disintegration time. Sublimation of camphor from tablets resulted in better tablets as compared to the tablets prepared from granules that were exposing to vacuum. The systematic formulation approach helped in understanding the effect of formulation processing variables.Keywords: Mouth dissolving tablet; Maloxicam; Bioavailability; NSAI

Preparation and evaluation of mouth dissolving tablets of meloxicam

The aim of the present study was to develop evaluate mouth dissolving tablet of meloxicam. Drug delivery systems became sophisticated as pharmaceutical scientists acquire a better understanding of the physicochemical and biochemical parameters pertinent to their performance. Over the past three decades, mouth dissolving or orally disintegrating tablets have gained considerable attention as a preferred alternative to conventional tablets due to better patient compliance. The most preferrable route of drug administration (e.g. oral) is limited to drug candidate that show poor permeability across the gastric mucosa and those, which are sparingly soluble. A large majority of the new chemical entities and many new existing drug molecules are poorly soluble, thereby limiting their potential uses and increasing the difficulty of formulating bioavailable drug products,so lastlly the purpose of this study was to grow mouth dissolve tablets of Meloxicam. Meloxicam is a newer selective COX-1 inhibitor. These tablets were prepared by wet granulation procedure. The tablets were evaluated for % friability, wetting time and disintegration time. Sublimation of camphor from tablets resulted in better tablets as compared to the tablets prepared from granules that were exposing to vacuum. The systematic formulation approach helped in understanding the effect of formulation processing variables.Keywords: Mouth dissolving tablet; Maloxicam; Bioavailability; NSAI

Drought and salinity stresses induced physio-biochemical changes in sugarcane: an overview of tolerance mechanism and mitigating approaches

Sugarcane productivity is being hampered globally under changing environmental scenarios like drought and salinity. The highly complex nature of the plant responses against these stresses is determined by a variety of factors such as genotype, developmental phase of the plant, progression rate and stress, intensity, and duration. These factors influence plant responses and can determine whether mitigation approaches associated with acclimation are implemented. In this review, we attempt to summarize the effects of drought and salinity on sugarcane growth, specifically on the plant’s responses at various levels, viz., physiological, biochemical, and metabolic responses, to these stresses. Furthermore, mitigation strategies for dealing with these stresses have been discussed. Despite sugarcane’s complex genomes, conventional breeding approaches can be utilized in conjunction with molecular breeding and omics technologies to develop drought- and salinity-tolerant cultivars. The significant role of plant growth-promoting bacteria in sustaining sugarcane productivity under drought and salinity cannot be overlooked

Global burden of respiratory infections associated with seasonal influenza in children under 5 years in 2018: a systematic review and modelling study

Background: Seasonal influenza virus is a common cause of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children. In 2008, we estimated that 20 million influenza-virus-associated ALRI and 1 million influenza-virus-associated severe ALRI occurred in children under 5 years globally. Despite this substantial burden, only a few low-income and middle-income countries have adopted routine influenza vaccination policies for children and, where present, these have achieved only low or unknown levels of vaccine uptake. Moreover, the influenza burden might have changed due to the emergence and circulation of influenza A/H1N1pdm09. We aimed to incorporate new data to update estimates of the global number of cases, hospital admissions, and mortality from influenza-virus-associated respiratory infections in children under 5 years in 2018. Methods: We estimated the regional and global burden of influenza-associated respiratory infections in children under 5 years from a systematic review of 100 studies published between Jan 1, 1995, and Dec 31, 2018, and a further 57 high-quality unpublished studies. We adapted the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess the risk of bias. We estimated incidence and hospitalisation rates of influenza-virus-associated respiratory infections by severity, case ascertainment, region, and age. We estimated in-hospital deaths from influenza virus ALRI by combining hospital admissions and in-hospital case-fatality ratios of influenza virus ALRI. We estimated the upper bound of influenza virus-associated ALRI deaths based on the number of in-hospital deaths, US paediatric influenza-associated death data, and population-based childhood all-cause pneumonia mortality data in six sites in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Findings: In 2018, among children under 5 years globally, there were an estimated 109·5 million influenza virus episodes (uncertainty range [UR] 63·1–190·6), 10·1 million influenza-virus-associated ALRI cases (6·8–15·1); 870 000 influenza-virus-associated ALRI hospital admissions (543 000–1 415 000), 15 300 in-hospital deaths (5800–43 800), and up to 34 800 (13 200–97 200) overall influenza-virus-associated ALRI deaths. Influenza virus accounted for 7% of ALRI cases, 5% of ALRI hospital admissions, and 4% of ALRI deaths in children under 5 years. About 23% of the hospital admissions and 36% of the in-hospital deaths were in infants under 6 months. About 82% of the in-hospital deaths occurred in low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Interpretation: A large proportion of the influenza-associated burden occurs among young infants and in low-income and lower middle-income countries. Our findings provide new and important evidence for maternal and paediatric influenza immunisation, and should inform future immunisation policy particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. Funding: WHO; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.Fil: Wang, Xin. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Li, You. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: O'Brien, Katherine L.. University Johns Hopkins; Estados UnidosFil: Madhi, Shabir A.. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Widdowson, Marc Alain. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados UnidosFil: Byass, Peter. Umea University; SueciaFil: Omer, Saad B.. Yale School Of Public Health; Estados UnidosFil: Abbas, Qalab. Aga Khan University; PakistánFil: Ali, Asad. Aga Khan University; PakistánFil: Amu, Alberta. Dodowa Health Research Centre; GhanaFil: Azziz-Baumgartner, Eduardo. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados UnidosFil: Bassat, Quique. University Of Barcelona; EspañaFil: Abdullah Brooks, W.. University Johns Hopkins; Estados UnidosFil: Chaves, Sandra S.. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados UnidosFil: Chung, Alexandria. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Cohen, Cheryl. National Institute For Communicable Diseases; SudáfricaFil: Echavarría, Marcela Silvia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET; ArgentinaFil: Fasce, Rodrigo A.. Public Health Institute; ChileFil: Gentile, Angela. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; ArgentinaFil: Gordon, Aubree. University of Michigan; Estados UnidosFil: Groome, Michelle. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Heikkinen, Terho. University Of Turku; FinlandiaFil: Hirve, Siddhivinayak. Kem Hospital Research Centre; IndiaFil: Jara, Jorge H.. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; GuatemalaFil: Katz, Mark A.. Clalit Research Institute; IsraelFil: Khuri Bulos, Najwa. University Of Jordan School Of Medicine; JordaniaFil: Krishnan, Anand. All India Institute Of Medical Sciences; IndiaFil: de Leon, Oscar. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; GuatemalaFil: Lucero, Marilla G.. Research Institute For Tropical Medicine; FilipinasFil: McCracken, John P.. Universidad del Valle de Guatemala; GuatemalaFil: Mira-Iglesias, Ainara. Fundación Para El Fomento de la Investigación Sanitaria; EspañaFil: Moïsi, Jennifer C.. Agence de Médecine Préventive; FranciaFil: Munywoki, Patrick K.. No especifíca;Fil: Ourohiré, Millogo. No especifíca;Fil: Polack, Fernando Pedro. Fundación para la Investigación en Infectología Infantil; ArgentinaFil: Rahi, Manveer. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Rasmussen, Zeba A.. National Institutes Of Health; Estados UnidosFil: Rath, Barbara A.. Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative; AlemaniaFil: Saha, Samir K.. Child Health Research Foundation; BangladeshFil: Simões, Eric A.F.. University of Colorado; Estados UnidosFil: Sotomayor, Viviana. Ministerio de Salud de Santiago de Chile; ChileFil: Thamthitiwat, Somsak. Thailand Ministry Of Public Health; TailandiaFil: Treurnicht, Florette K.. University of the Witwatersrand; SudáfricaFil: Wamukoya, Marylene. African Population & Health Research Center; KeniaFil: Lay-Myint, Yoshida. Nagasaki University; JapónFil: Zar, Heather J.. University of Cape Town; SudáfricaFil: Campbell, Harry. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Nair, Harish. University of Edinburgh; Reino Unid

HIV-Risk Behavior Among the Male Migrant Factory Workers in a North Indian City

Background: Male migrants act as a bridge for transmitting infection from core risk groups to general population and hence this group becomes essential for the HIV control program. Migrant workers constitute a large proportion of workforce in India and HIV/AIDS epidemic in them would cause huge economic losses. Objectives: The aim of this study was to ascertain the HIV-risk behavior among male migrant factory workers. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional facility based survey conducted in 2011. Male migrant workers aged ≥18 years, who were born outside Haryana, who had moved to current location after 15 years of age, who had worked in the current factory for at least one year, who were willing to participate and able to give valid consent were eligible. A consecutive sampling was done. Descriptive, bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were done. Results: A total of 755 male subjects completed the interview. About 21.5% had experienced non-spousal sexual intercourse in last one year. Nearly 60% did not use a condom at the last non-spousal sex. Factors associated with recent non-spousal sex were being unmarried, younger age at migration, recent migration to Haryana, greater number of places migrated and lesser total duration of migration and those associated with non-use of condom at the last non-spousal sex were older age, lower education, lesser number of places migrated and lower level of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Conclusion: Unprotected, recent non-spousal sex was common among male migrants, which could increase their HIV/AIDS vulnerability

Evaluating the potential of chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes as alternative carrier material for proliferation of Vero cells

Chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol) (CS/PVA) blend membranes were prepared using the casting method and their physiochemical properties were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). FTIR and XRD demonstrated possible hydrogen bonds between CS and PVA. The addition of PVA to CS resulted in surface roughness as analyzed by SEM. The CS/PVA blend membrane exhibited high tensile properties (81.62%) and reduced water-holding capacity (53.8%) compared to a pure CS membrane (control). Cell viability and proliferation were assessed via an MTT assay with Vero cell culture. Associated with improved physicochemical properties, the CS/PVA blend membrane promotes cell proliferation of Vero cells with high specific growth rate (0.582 day(-1)). The results demonstrate that the blending of CS and PVA could significantly alter the surface rugosity, water-holding capacity and improve the mechanical and biological properties of the membrane. Interestingly, this concept can be extended for different anchorage-dependent cell lines, as an alternative carrier material

Evaluation of physicochemical and biological properties of chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) polymer blend membranes and their correlation for Vero cell growth

The blend membranes with varying weight ratios of chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) (CS/PVA) (1:0, 1:1, 1:2.5, 1.5:1, 1.5: 2.5) were prepared using solvent casting method and were evaluated for their potential application in single-use membrane bioreactors (MBRs). The physicochemical properties of the prepared membranes were investigated for chemical interactions (FTIR), surface morphology (SEM), water uptake, protein sorption (q(e)), ammonia sorption and growth kinetics of Vero cells. CS/PVA blend membrane having weight ratio of 1.5:1 had shown enhanced membrane flexibility, reduced water uptake, less protein sorption and no ammonium sorption compared to CS membrane. This blend membrane also showed comparatively enhanced higher specific growth rate (0.82/day) of Vero cells. Improved physicochemical properties and growth kinetics obtrude CS/PVA (1.5:1) as a potential surface for adhesion and proliferation with possible application in single use membrane bioreactors. Additionally, new insight explaining correlation between water holding (%) of CS/PVA (1.5:1) blend membrane and doubling time (t(d)) of Vero cells is proposed