Safety and Efficacy of Nimesulide/Paracetamol Fixed-dose Combination in Acute Pain (SAFE Study)

Background: Nimesulide shows preferential inhibition for the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme, which blocks the formation of prostaglandins critical in pain and inflammatory pathways. Few studies in the past have reported rare and unpredictable hepatic effects with nimesulide. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nimesulide/paracetamol (100 mg + 325 mg) fixed-dose combination twice a day for 2 weeks in the management of acute pain in Indian population. Materials and methods: This was a multicenter study, performed on 500 patients, by 24 experienced physicians across India. The primary outcome assessed clinical safety at 2 weeks for mild/serious adverse effects (AEs), change in liver function tests (LFTs), serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels. The secondary outcomes assessed the clinical effectiveness in reduction of pain at rest and at movement. Results: Analysis of LFT at 2 weeks showed a slight increase (mean change) in the aspartate transaminase {-0.73 [95% confidence interval (CI) -1.54, 0.09; p = 0.081]}, alanine transaminase [-1.73 (95% CI -2.82, -0.64; p = 0.002)], serum bilirubin [-0.02 (95% CI -0.04, -0.001; p = 0.018)] and alkaline phosphatase levels [-1.92 (95% CI -5.84, 2; p = 0.336), not exceeding the normal range. Only one in 500 patients reported AEs. The numerical rating scale (NRS) scores for intensity of pain at rest and at movement at 2 weeks, ≤7 days and >7 days were 68.38%, 68.44% and 68.39%; and 65.43%, 64.60% and 66.02%, respectively. An improvement of 96.6% was observed in patient global assessment scale (GAS) and 97.2% in physician GAS. Conclusion: Nimesulide/paracetamol combination was safe, effective and well-tolerated in acute pain conditions and did not lead to clinically significant changes in liver parameters indicating hepatic safety

Upotreba Folin-Ciocalteuov reagensa i 3-metil-2-benzotiazolinon hidrazin hidroklorida u određivanju okskarbazepina u ljekovitim pripravcima

Two spectrophotometric methods are proposed for the assay of oxcarbazepine (OXC) in bulk and dosage forms using Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent (FCP) and 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazine hydrochloride (MBTH) as reagents. The first method involves addition of FCP reagent to OXC in alkaline medium followed by measurement of absorbance at 760 nm (method A), and the other involves addition of a fixed volume of MBTH after treatment of OXC with ferric chloride and measurement of absorbance at 456 nm (method B). In both methods, the amount of chromogen formed corresponds to the amount of OXC and the measured absorbance was found to increase linearly with the concentration of OXC, which is corroborated by the correlation coefficients of 0.9985 and 0.9984 for method A and B, respectively. The systems obey Beer’s law for 530 µg mL1 and 1050 µg mL1 for methods A and B, respectively. The apparent molar absorptivity was calculated to be 8.06 × 103 L mol1 cm1 and 3.126 × 103 L mol1 cm1 for methods A and B, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were calculated to be 1.6 and 5 µg mL1 for method A and 3 and 10 µg mL1 for method B. The inter-day and intra-day imprecision of the methods were found to be in the range of 1.11.7 and 0.91.1 % for method A, and 1.11.9 and 0.60.9 % for method B. The accuracy ranged between 98.999.7 % and 99.3100.1 for method A and B, respectively. No interference was observed from common pharmaceutical excipients. The methods were successfully applied to the assay of OXC in tablet preparations.Predložene su dvije spektrofotometrijske metode za određivanje okskarbazepina (OXC) koje koriste Folin-Ciocalteu fenolni reagens (FCP) i 3-metil-2-benzotiazolinon hidrazin hidroklorid (MBTH). Predložene metode su uspješno primijenjene za analizu ljekovite tvari i ljekovitih pripravaka. Prva metoda uključuje adiciju FCP reagensa na OXC u lužnatom mediju i mjerenje apsorbancije pri 760 nm (metoda A), a druga adiciju istog volumena MBTH nakon obrade OXC sa željezovim(III) kloridom i mjerenje apsorbancije pri 456 nm (metoda B). U obje metode količina stvorenog kromogena proporcionalna je količini OXC, a izmjerena apsorbancija linearno raste s koncentracijom OXC, uz koeficijent korelacije 0,9985 i 0,9984 za metodu A, odnosno B. Oba sustava podliježu Beerovom zakonu u koncentracijskom području 530 µg mL1 i 1050 µg mL1 za metodu A, odnosno B. Izračunati molni apsorpcijski koeficijent bio je 8,06 × 103 L mol1 cm1 iza metodu A i 3,126 × 103 L mol1 cm1 za metodu B. Granice detekcije (LOD) i granice kvantifikacije (LOQ) bile su 1,6 i 5 µg mL1 za metodu A i 3 i 10 µg mL1 za metodu B. Nepreciznost unutar dana i između dana bila je 1,11,7 i 0,91,1 % za metodu A, odnosno 1,11,9 i 0,60,9 % za metodu B. Analitički povrat bio je 98,999,7 % za metodu A i 99,3100,1 za metodu B. Nije primjećena interferencija uobičajenih pomoćnih tvari. Metode su uspješno upotrijebljene za određivanje OXC u tabletama

Learning to Customize Network Security Rules

Security is a major concern for organizations who wish to leverage cloud computing. In order to reduce security vulnerabilities, public cloud providers offer firewall functionalities. When properly configured, a firewall protects cloud networks from cyber-attacks. However, proper firewall configuration requires intimate knowledge of the protected system, high expertise and on-going maintenance. As a result, many organizations do not use firewalls effectively, leaving their cloud resources vulnerable. In this paper, we present a novel supervised learning method, and prototype, which compute recommendations for firewall rules. Recommendations are based on sampled network traffic meta-data (NetFlow) collected from a public cloud provider. Labels are extracted from firewall configurations deemed to be authored by experts. NetFlow is collected from network routers, avoiding expensive collection from cloud VMs, as well as relieving privacy concerns. The proposed method captures network routines and dependencies between resources and firewall configuration. The method predicts IPs to be allowed by the firewall. A grouping algorithm is subsequently used to generate a manageable number of IP ranges. Each range is a parameter for a firewall rule. We present results of experiments on real data, showing ROC AUC of 0.92, compared to 0.58 for an unsupervised baseline. The results prove the hypothesis that firewall rules can be automatically generated based on router data, and that an automated method can be effective in blocking a high percentage of malicious traffic.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, one tabl

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF HPLC METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS QUANTIFICATION OF VASICINE, GLYCYRRHIZIN AND PIPERINE IN POLY HERBAL COUGH SYRUP

Objective: The present study was undertaken to develop a rapid, simple, specific and economic high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method has been developed, validated and used for simultaneous quantification of Vasicine, Glycyrrhizin and Piperine in poly herbal cough syrup Methods: An Agilent technologies 1200 Series quaternary pump combined with an Agilent 1200 series photo diode array detector (USA), an Agilent 1200 series vacuum degasser (USA) and an Agilent autosampler injector. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Hiber, prepacked column, C18, Size 250x 4.60 mm, 5µ maintained at 25 °C. PJ (solvent A) and HPLC grade Acetonitrile (solvent B). Results: The HPLC developed for quantization was simple, accurate and specific. The drug follows the beer’s lambert’s law in the concentration range of of Vasicine in concentration range 25–250 μg/ml, glycyrrhizin in concentration range 100–1000 μg/ml and Piperine in concentration range of 20–100μg/ml and exhibited good correlation coefficient and excellent mean recovery. Percentage RSD for precision and accuracy of the method was found to be less than 2%. Conclusion: The present standardization provides a specific and rapid tool in the herbal research, permitting to set quality specifications for identity, transparency and reproducibility of these Phytoconsituents in the herbal Cough syrup

NOVEL SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING LEAF EXTRACT OF MELOTHRIA MADERASPATANA (LINN) CONG

Objective: This study aims to investigate the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) Melothria maderaspatana (MM), and evaluation of their antibacterial activities for the first time. It is observed that MM leaf extract can reduce silver ions into AgNPs.Methods: The obtained particles were analyzed by UV-visible spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, to understand the morphology of AgNPs. In addition, the antibacterial activity by MM extract synthesized AgNPs (MM AgNPs) was also investigated. FTIR spectroscopic studies were carried out to find possible bio-reducing agent present in the plant leaves.Results: The formation and stability of the reduced AgNPs in the colloidal solution were monitored by UV-Vis spectrophotometer analysis.SEM and FT-IR spectra of the leaf extract after the development of nanoparticles are determined to allow identification of possible functional groups responsible for the conversion of metal ions to metal nanoparticles.Conclusion: Further, the AgNPs thus acquired showed highly potent antibacterial activity toward Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus) and Gram-negative (E. coli, pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella sps) microorganisms.Keywords: Green synthesis, Nanoparticles, Melothria maderaspatana, Antibacterial activity, Human pathogen