Atorvastatin calcium is a lipid-lowering agent. It has approximately 15% of bioavailability, remaining amount of drug showed adverse effect which is undesirable for patients. The objective of the study was to enhance the solubility and a dissolution profile of the atorvastatin (AT) calcium. Solid dispersion (SD) is a technique which enhances the solubility and a dissolution profile of poorly soluble drug. Various methods are being used for SDs such as microwave irradiation fusion, kneading, solvent evaporation, fusion, and dropping method. The authors have used here conventional fusion method using PEG 4000 as a hydrophilic carrier. The solubility of pure drug, physical mixture using PEG 4000 (1:3), and SD in phosphate buffer solutions (pH 6.8) was found to be 55.33 ± 0.66, 81.89 ± 2.35, and 93.66 ± 1.35, respectively. Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry study showed the significant peak shift of drug in SD. It indicated that the nature of drug had been changed from crystalline form to amorphous form due to conversion into SD formulation. The dissolution rate was significantly increased when the drug polyethylene glycol 4000 ratio was 1:3. The mean cumulative percentage drugs release from pure drug, physical mixture, marketed tablet, and SD at 1 h was 28.92 ± 1.66%, 55.26 ± 0.95%, 72.16 ± 1.33%, and 91.66 ± 1.65%, respectively. It was concluded that the solubility and dissolution profile of SD of AT calcium showed the enhancement of solubility and dissolution when compared with marketed preparations.

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Enrofloxacin (ENR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) are drugs used in poultry feeding. In general, feathers that are incorporated in the food chain as a protein source for animal feed, have residues of these drugs. In order to study the pharmacokinetic of ENR/CIP residues in feathers of broiler chickens, to calculate the waiting times for these drugs, before human consumption, we developed the present research. Feathers of broiler chickens were enriched with ENR/CIP. After adding acetone, the mix was agitated and centrifuged and supernatant evaporated under nitrogen. The dry residue was suspended in a tetrahydrofuran solution and the supernatant was injected into the chromatographic system for analysis. Animals showed high levels of ENR/CIP in their feathers after administration of 10 mg/kg enrofloxacin dissolved in drinking water for 5 days. Both compounds were detected in feathers during 9 days. The analytical method developed in this paper to determine ENR and CIP in feathers of broiler chicken showed good linearity, selectivity, accuracy and precision in the analysis conditions. This technique could have important applications in the studies on residues of ENR/CIP in feathers, since the effect of this component in animal diets has not been considered yet.

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Herbal mouthwashes have been considered to be a more advantageous option to their chemical counterparts, for a long-time. The use of pomegranate fruit dates from ancient times and reports of its therapeutic abilities have echoed throughout the ages. To evaluate the effect on the salivary pH and the Streptococcus mutans count in healthy subjects before and after pomegranate mouthrinse. Fifty healthy patients were randomly divided into two groups of 25 subjects each. Group A was treated with 0.2% chlorhexidine mouthrinse; while Group B was treated with pomegranate peel extract (PPE) mouthrinse and the saliva samples were collected at three different intervals: Prerinse, after 10 min, and 60 min. The salivary pH was measured using a digital pH meter and the S. mutans count was determined by the commercial system Dentocult SM. The statistical analyses used in this study are Mann–Whitney U-test and t-test. PPE mouthrinse had an inhibitory effect on S. mutans count in adults. There was also an increase in the salivary pH after 10 min of the mouthrinse. PPE mouthrinse may be considered as a potential anticariogenic mouthrinse.

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With the rapid growth of medical science, the number of scientific writing contributing to medical literature has increased significantly in recent years. Owing to considerable variation of formatting in different citation styles, strict adherence to the accurate referencing manually is labor intensive and challenging. However, the introduction of referencing tools has decreased the complexity to a great extent. These software have advanced overtime to include newer features to support effective reference management. Since scientific writing is an essential component of medical curriculum, it is imperative for medical graduates to understand various referencing systems to effectively make use of these tools in their dissertations and future researches.

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Clinical research operates in a strictly regulated environment under various management models, but a distinct management model of clinical trial (CT) still needs exploration and research. Critical path analysis (CPA) is a management approach can be used for monitoring, analysis, and prediction of success of its time-bound operational activities. A model CT was compiled with 78 activities, which were further merged into 35 major activities. After performing dependence analysis, the list was finalized with 25 activities which were taken in activity predecessor to create a network diagram and perform CPA considering patients, conduct, and outcome. Activities were inclusive, described the trial entirely with accuracy, and were in chronological and logical sequences. This approach does not replace an understanding of or adherence to the requirements contained in all applicable regulations, guidelines or standard operating procedures governing clinical studies but ensures the proper use of operational and decisional approaches including optimal resource management. As the need to meet deadlines becomes more important and the need to produce good, stable project plans, CPA is very useful for determining activities that can lead to project delay. With this approach, project may be effectively monitored, and realistic schedules can be maintained.

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In this work enthalpies of dissolution in water of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) having an average molecular weight of 1000 and 1400, Pluronic-F127, phenacetin as well as the composites prepared from them were measured using solution calorimetry at 298.15 K. Intermolecular interaction energies of polymer-phenacetin were calculated on the basis of an additive scheme. It was shown that for mixtures with high content of polymer (>90 wt%) Pluronic-F127 has the highest solubilizing effect, while for mixtures with (4–6):1 polymer: phenacetin ratio the best solubilizing agent is PEG-1400. Infrared-spectra showed a decrease of the number of self-associated molecules of phenacetin with increasing of polymer content in the composites. The obtained results enabled us to identify the features of intermolecular interactions of polymers with a model hydrophobic drug and may be used for optimizing the conditions for preparing solid dispersions based on hydrophilic polymers.

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