FORMULATION, DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS BASED TELMISARTAN ENCAPSULATED IN SILK FIBROIN NANOSPHERE’S

Objective: The aim of the present work was to formulate silk fibroin (SF) nanospheres (NS’s) for drug delivery application. The current study was designed to advance the water solubility and bio-availability of telmisartan by nanoprecipitation method. Methods: SF NS’s loaded with TS were prepared by nanoprecipitation method. The drug was dissolved in aqueous solution of SF by using acetone as a non-solvent. The prepared NS’s were then characterized by FTIR, X-ray diffraction and zeta potential, and were evaluated for its, surface morphology, %drug content, encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release. Results: The evaluation results of SF NS’s loaded of TS showed 74.22±0.17 % entrapment efficiency, 35.21±0.02 % of drug loading, and-4.9 mV to-13.6 mV of zeta potential due to the proper bounding of TS with the β-sheets of SF, the particle size reported was within the size range of 160-186 nm having smooth surface and were spherical in shape. The SFNS’s pattern switched from random coil to β-sheet formation on treating with acetone. FTIR and DSC studies marked no such inter-molecular interactions between SF and drug molecules. The % cumulative in vitro drug release from SF NS’s exhibited quick burst release. The in vitro cumulative drug release of SF NS’s of TS it was found that about 74% of the drug was released within 8 h and about 96% of drug released at 24 hr. The rate of drug release increased with the increase in SF ratio. Conclusion: It is believed that these SF NS’s will find potential applications in drug delivery release as drug carriers, especially poor water-soluble drugs. All these results proposed that SF NS’s are eventuality handy in various drug delivery systems

Clinical Efficacy and Safety Profile of Prucalopride in Chronic Idiopathic Constipation

Chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) can be defined as bowel movements that are difficult to pass, are not occurring frequently, or have incomplete evacuation during defecation. A high-fiber diet and laxatives are the commonly used treatments, but in many cases, they do not produce satisfactory results. The first line of treatment is osmotic laxatives. If there is no improvement, the second line is guanylate cyclase-C (GCC) agonists like linaclotide or prokinetic agents such as prucalopride. On December 14, 2018, the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) approved prucalopride for treating chronic idiopathic constipation. Prucalopride is a prokinetic agent which works at the 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 4 (5-HT4) as an agonist with greater receptor selectivity. Patients on prucalopride reported improved symptoms, quality of life and satisfaction. The most frequent adverse events were headaches and problems related to the gastrointestinal tract. Caution should be taken when using prucalopride in patients with impaired liver and renal function. In Canada, prucalopride has been approved for treatment of female patients with chronic idiopathic constipation who have failed therapy with at least two laxatives from different classes over a six-month period.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL ASSESSMENT OF WATER SAMPLES COLLECTED FROM SOME SELECTED STREAMS AND RIVERS IN DISTRICT GILGIT, PAKISTAN

This study aims to provide information about the drinking water quality of two streams in Chakarkote Sai and Demote Sai and two rivers in Gilgit and Hunza. Parameters were tested including physical, and chemical. The physical parameters were temperature, pH, electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, dissolved oxygen (DO), ammonia (NH4),total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and reactive orthophosphate (PO4). The ranges of these parameters set by WHO and NEQs, as most of the Asian countries also follow the WHO standards. All the samples were tested in the EPA certified laboratory of biological sciences department Karakorum international university Gilgit Baltistan. The minimum and maximum values of temperature 15.2-18.4, PH 6.78-6.09, EC 109.3-297 µS, TDS 53.8-149 ppm, Turbidity 0.29-88.4 NTU, DO 7.1-8.9 mg/l, TN 5.63-7.13 mg/l, NH4 0.0106-0.0151 mg/l, TP 0.042-0.143mg/l, and PO4 0.0059-0.016 mg/l. Independent T test was applied separately for both streams and rivers to determine significant difference of water properties with respect to location wise. Water parameters like DO and TP were significantly, while temperature, PH, EC, TDS, turbidity, TN, NH4, PO4 were non-significant in streams and TDS, turbidity, DO and TN were significant, while temperature, PH, EC, NH4, TP, PO4 were non-significant in rivers according to area wise

The Effects of Different Concentrations and Combinations of Growth Regulators on the Callus Formation of Potato (Solanum tubrosum) Explants

Abstract: The main objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of different concentrations of plant growth regulators and their combinations on callus induction of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). The explants of potato tuber were cultured on Modified Murashige and Skoog medium which was supplemented with different concentrations of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), "-naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA), Benzyl Adenine (BA), 2,4-D in combinations with BA and NAA in combination with BA for callus induction. The Concentration of sucrose was 3% W/V level and the pH of the media was adjusted to 5.7 before the addition of agar 8% W/V. The explants were first dissected out aseptically and then inoculated to the media (with various levels of hormones), then incubated at 27±2ºC in the culture room. Among the treatments 2, 4-D at different concentrations produced different degree of callus but comparatively a massive amount of callus was formed on MS medium supplemented with 2, 4-D alone at 3.0 mg/L. Also NAA and BA with different concentrations produced considerable degrees of callus but the degree of callus was best at higher concentrations of NAA and BA. 2, 4-D in combination with BA at 2.0 mg/L both produced considerable amount of callus. In case of NAA in combination with BA the degree of callus formation was best at concentration 1.0 mg/L each. So according to the above findings it was concluded that 2, 4-D is the best option for induction of callus among the other hormones used in the study

Salinity management alternatives for the Rechna Doab, Punjab, Pakistan. Volume 4 - Field data collection and processing

Irrigation management / Soil salinity / Agricultural development / Water quality / Data processing / Groundwater / Crop production / Intensive cropping / Models / Farm surveys / Pakistan / Punjab / Rechna Doab

Hepatocellular carcinoma in Pakistan: where do we stand?

Context: From the 1970s till the mid 1990s, hepatitis B was the most common etiological factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Pakistan. Afterwards, a shift in HCC etiology was observed with a steady rise in hepatitis C virus (HCV) related HCC cases. HCV-3a, which is the most prevalent genotype, is also most frequent in HCV related HCC. There was an increase in the proportion of non-B non-C (NBNC) HCC cases as well, which might be attributed to an increase in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Evidence Acquisition: The age-standardized rate for HCC is 7.64/100 000 in males and 2.8/100 000 in females. Male to female ratio is 3.6:1. Usual age of presentation is in the fifth and sixth decade. Most patients present with advanced disease, as they are not in a regular surveillance program. This is more so for patients with NBNC chronic liver disease. As many sonologists in Pakistan are practicing without sufficient training to pick up early lesions, alpha-fetoprotein is still recommended to compliment ultrasound in the surveillance of HCC. Results: Majority of HCC patients present with nonresectable disease. Interventions such as transarterial chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, resection and chemotherapy including sorafenib are available in selected centers. Pakistan appears to be in an area of intermediate endemicity for HCC. There is a need for population based epidemiological studies to estimate the exact disease burden. Conclusions: Measures to prevent the spread of hepatitis C and B can slow down the epidemic rise in the incidence of HCC in the coming decades. There is a need to implement a proper surveillance program to identify HCC cases at an early stage

The association of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in growth hormone (GH) gene with litter size and superovulation response in goat-breeds

Two active mutations (A 781 G and A 1575 G) in growth hormone (GH) gene, and their associations with litter size (LS), were investigated in both a high prolificacy (Matou, n = 182) and a low prolificacy breed (Boer, n = 352) by using the PCR-RFLP method. Superovulation experiments were designed in 57 dams, in order to evaluate the effect of different genotypes of the GH gene on superovulation response. Two genotypes (AA and AB, CC and CD) in each mutation were detected in these two goat breeds. Neither BB nor DD homozygous genotypes were observed. The genotypic frequencies of AB and CC were significantly higher than those of AA and CD. In the third parity, Matou dams with AB or CC genotypes had significantly larger litter sizes than those with AA and CD (p < 0.05). On combining the two loci, both Matou and Boer dams with ABCD genotype had the largest litter sizes when compared to the other genotypes (p < 0.05). When undergoing like superovulation treatments, a significantly higher number of corpora lutea and ova, with a lower incidence of ovarian cysts, were harvested in the AB and CC genotypes than in AA and CD. These results show that the two loci of GH gene are highly associated with abundant prolificacy and superovulation response in goat breeds

Tensile creep behaviour of a fibre-reinforced SiC-Si 3 N 4 composite

The tensile creep behaviour of a SiC-fibre-Si 3 N 4 -matrix composite was investigated in air at 1350 ‡C. The unidirectional composite, containing 30 vol % SCS-6 SiC fibres, was prepared by hot pressing at 1700 ‡C. Creep testing was conducted at stress levels of 70, 110, 150 and 190 MPa. An apparent steady-state creep rate was observed at stress levels between 70 and 150 MPa; at 190 MPa, only tertiary creep was observed. For an applied stress of 70 MPa, the steady-state creep rate was approximately 2.5×10 −10 s −1 with failure times in excess of 790 h. At 150 MPa, the steady-state creep rate increased to an average of 5.6×10 −8 s −1 with failure times under 40 h. The creep rate of the composite is compared with published data for the steady-state creep rate of monolithic Si 3 N 4 .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44708/1/10853_2004_Article_BF00543607.pd