DESIGN, OPTIMIZATION, AND EVALUATION OF RAFT FORMING GASTRO RETENTIVE DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM OF LAFUTIDINE USINGBOX–BEHNKEN DESIGN

Objective: The current research was aimed to formulate and evaluate raft forming gastro retentive floating drug delivery systems of Lafutidine for improving gastric residence time and sustained drug release for an extended time. Methods: Using Box–Behnken experimental design 17 formulations of lafutidine GRDDS were designed and evaluated for various parameters like physical appearance, pH, In vitro gelling study, in vitro buoyancy study, measurement of viscosity, density measurement, gel strength, drug content, acid neutralization capacity, the profile of neutralization, in vitro dissolution, release kinetic and stability studies. Results: All the evaluations were performed and observed that the values were within range, and the buoyancy lag time ranged within 14.76 to 25.84 sec and the formulations remained buoyant for more than 8h with the gelling time of 12h, the drug content was ranging from 98.96 to 99.55 %, and in vitro release was 86.86 to 99.34% by the end of 12h. The release kinetics followed zero-order with Higuchi’s model that indicating that drug release was found to be followed by the matrix diffusion process. Conclusion: Out of all formulations F3 was the optimized formulation and it was further characterized for FTIR, DSC, and stability studies, which exposed that there were no interactions amongst drug and excipients and no major change in the formulation and found to be stable

SOLID DISPERSION - A NOVEL APPROACH FOR BIOAVAILABILITY ENHANCEMENT OF POORLY WATER-SOLUBLE DRUGS IN SOLID ORAL DOSAGE FORMS

Enhancement of the bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs is a challenging task in drug development. Currently 40% of new chemical entities are discovered as poorly water-soluble drugs. Solid dispersion is one of the best technology for improving solubility, dissolution rate, and bioavailability. Solid dispersion techniques are more useful for enhancing drug solubility for a combination of drug and inert carrier to improve wettability, reduced particle size, and converting amorphous particles. This article reviews various advantages, methods of solid dispersions, carriers used in solid dispersion, characterization, and marketed products

Impact of Internet Marketing on Marketing Performance in India SMEs

As the economic sector transitions to digitalization, Indians now have access to the best goods and services from the best companies, even in the most remote regions of their nation. E-marketing is booming in India, a nation that is both highly populated and home to millions of people who utilise social media and mobile devices. Internet-based marketing is essential for everyone who wants to grow their company and advertise their goods and services globally because it has no territorial restrictions. To scatter the needs paper aims at analysing the connections between e-Marketing tools and marketing performance among SMEs in India, in addition to the dearth of studies examining the adoption of e-Marketing by small enterprises. A structured questionnaire with both open-ended and closed-ended questions in Vijayawada & Guntur Areas of the Andhra Pradesh State was chosen from a list of 1,200 SMEs that employ fewer than 50 people using a simple random sampling method. Findings revealed that the internet tools were showing positive effect on the market performance in the companies. The rest of the paper consists of implications, and scope for the future research

Transformation of UML Behavioral Diagrams to Support Software Model Checking

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is currently accepted as the standard for modeling (object-oriented) software, and its use is increasing in the aerospace industry. Verification and Validation of complex software developed according to UML is not trivial due to complexity of the software itself, and the several different UML models/diagrams that can be used to model behavior and structure of the software. This paper presents an approach to transform up to three different UML behavioral diagrams (sequence, behavioral state machines, and activity) into a single Transition System to support Model Checking of software developed in accordance with UML. In our approach, properties are formalized based on use case descriptions. The transformation is done for the NuSMV model checker, but we see the possibility in using other model checkers, such as SPIN. The main contribution of our work is the transformation of a non-formal language (UML) to a formal language (language of the NuSMV model checker) towards a greater adoption in practice of formal methods in software development.Comment: In Proceedings FESCA 2014, arXiv:1404.043

SOLUBILITY AND DISSOLUTION ENHANCEMENT OF IVACAFTOR TABLETS BY USING SOLID DISPERSION TECHNIQUE OF HOT-MELT EXTRUSION - A DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Objective: The objective was to improve the solubility and dissolution of ivacaftor tablets by using solid dispersion (SD) technique.Methods: Ivacaftor is practically insoluble (<0.001 mg/mL) over pH value of 3.0–7.5 due to low solubility, and it shows poor bioavailability after oral administration. Therefore, SDs of Ivacaftor were prepared by SD technique of hot-melt extrusion (HME) by adding different polymers such as Soluplus, Hypromellose 5 cps, and Copovidone with surfactants sodium lauryl sulfate, poloxamer, and polysorbate 80 to enhance its solubility.Results: After the analysis of Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry of SDs by HME shows a converted in crystalline structure form to an amorphous structure form of Ivacaftor. The results show that the formulation of Ivacaftor SDs by HMT has enhanced the solubility and dissolution of Ivacaftor.Conclusion: In the present study, the SDs of the poorly soluble drug substance Ivacaftor were successfully prepared using HME. The in vitro dissolution test shows a significant increase in dissolution rate of SDs prepared by HME (95%) in formulation FHM8 compared with plain Ivacaftor (9%) within 30 min

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF PRASUGREL HYDROCHLORIDE FLOATING TABLETS

The objective of the present work was to formulate and characterize floating drug delivery system of Prasugrel hydrochloride that releases the drug slowly up to 8 h in order to minimize its potential side effect bleeding and to improve the bioavailability with enhance patient compliance. Prasugrel floating tablets were prepared  by effervescent approach with melt granulation and direct compression techniques alone and in combination using Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) K100M and Compritol 888 ATO at different concentrations (20%, 30% and 40% w/w) alone and in combination. Sodium bicarbonate at concentration 10% w/w was optimized as gas generating floating agent. Evaluations were carried out on physical parameters, floating behavior and influence of type of polymer on drug release rate. All the formulations were subjected to various quality control and in-vitro dissolution studies and corresponding dissolution data were fitted to popular release kinetic equations in order to evaluate release mechanisms and kinetics. All the prasugrel floating tablet formulations followed zero order kinetics. As per Korsmeyer-Peppas equation, the release exponent “n” ranged 0.550-0.776 indicating that drug release from all the formulations was by non-Fickian diffusion mechanism. Based on the results, prasugrel hydrochloride floating tablets prepared by employing combination of 15% w/w HPMC K100M and 15% w/w Compritol 888 ATO offered desired in-vitro floating time and drug dissolution profile

Development and Evaluation of Clopidogrel Bisulphate Multi-Unit Floating Mini-Tablets

The objective of the present work was to formulate and characterize multi-unit floating drug delivery system of Clopidogrel bisulphate to increase the bioavailability and sustain the drug release properties up to 8 h with more predictable drug release kinetics that avoids all or nothing emptying effect wherefore to improve patient compliance. Clopidogrel bisulphate floating mini-tablets were prepared  by effervescent approach with melt granulation and direct compression techniques alone and in combination using Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) K100M and Compritol 888 ATO at different concentrations (20%, 30% and 40% w/w) alone and in combination. Sodium bicarbonate at concentration 10% w/w was optimized as gas generating floating agent. Evaluations were carried out on physical parameters, floating behavior and influence of type of polymer on drug release rate of prepared mini tablet formulations. All the formulations were subjected to various quality control and in-vitro dissolution studies and corresponding dissolution data were fitted to popular release kinetic equations in order to evaluate release mechanisms and kinetics. All the Clopidogrel bisulphate floating mini tablet formulations followed zero order kinetics. As per Korsmeyer-Peppas equation, the release exponent “n” ranged 0.561-0.758 indicating that drug release from all the formulations was by non-Fickian diffusion mechanism. Based on the results, Clopidogrel bisulphate floating mini tablets prepared by employing combination of 20% w/w HPMC K100M and 20% w/w Compritol 888 ATO offered desired in-vitro floating time and drug dissolution profile. Keywords: Bioavailability, Clopidogrel bisulphate, floating mini-tablets, release kinetics, sustained release

Uma Proposta de Modelagem para a Generalização de Elos de Rastreabilidade

Several models proposed traceability links that provide pre–definedgroups of links for requirements traceability. These models are limited to pre–defined links without the ability to add new attributes to the existing links. This work proposes a model for requirements traceability that generalizes the types of links already establishedin the literature and enables addition of new standards allowing the inclusion of attributes to the links that will be used in a specific traceability process.Diversos modelos propõem tipos pré–definidos de elos para a rastreabilidade de requisitos. Tais modelos fazem extensivas observações sobre as práticas da rastreabilidade, mas são limitados tanto pelos tipos de elos pré–definidos quanto pelacapacidade de incluir atributos para os elos. Este trabalho propõe um modelo para rastreabilidade de requisitos que generaliza os tipos de elos já definidos, permitindo a adição de novos padrões e a inclusão de atributos para os elos que serão utilizados em um determinado processo de rastreabilidade

Modeling Heat Exchanger Performance with Application to Desalination Using a Vacuum Tubes Solar Collector

One goal of this project is to develop a steady state sensible performance analysis of multi-pass cross-flow finned-tube heat exchangers. The investigation considers various flow circuiting, such as counter cross-flow, parallel cross-flow, and cross-flow where the tube-side flow is in parallel. A previously developed matrix approach is used to evaluate the heat exchanger performance in each tube pass. A consistent criterion is proposed for each case, wherein increasing the NTU beyond a certain threshold value does not significantly improve heat exchanger thermal performance. Another goal of this project to devise an inexpensive, portable means of desalinating water using vacuum tubes solar collector. An evaporation/condensation process shall be employed to achieve desalination. It will incorporate an existing rooftop vacuum tube solar collector located in Lewis Hall to promote evaporation of a brine solution, and shall likewise utilize a cooling coil to condense pure water from the evaporated brine solution