A leap towards enforcing medicines prescribing by generic names in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): pitfalls, limitations, and recommendations for local drug regulatory agencies.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) in response to the public outcry on increasing medicines prices in the country issued notifications to direct healthcare professionals to prescribe medicines with their generic names. Like DRAP, many regulators in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are also inspiring from the west to legally enforce generic prescribing in a bid to reduce the out-of-pocket public expenditures. However, there are pitfalls in the LMICs drug regulatory framework, which if left unaddressed can severely jeopardise the foreseen benefits of medicines prescribing by generic names.

A novel synthetic derivative of biaryl guanidine as a potential BACE1 inhibitor, to treat Alzheimer's disease: In-silico, in-vitro and in-vivo evaluation.

BACE1 enzyme has been known a potential target involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Present research was focused on the principles of virtually screening, chemical synthesis and protease inhibitory effect of BACE1 enzyme via biaryl guanidine derivatives. In-silico based paradigm (ligand binding interaction within active domain of BACE 1 enzyme i.

Identification of Heterotic Groups and Patterns Based on Genotypic and Phenotypic Characteristics Among Rice Accessions of Diverse Origins.

Identification of the right parental combinations to maximize heterosis is the major goal of hybrid breeding, which could be achieved through identification of heterotic groups. The main objective of this study was to identify promising heterotic groups for future rice breeding programs. A collection of 359 rice genotypes of diverse origins of China and abroad, composed of inbreds, maintainers, restorers, and temperature-sensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) lines were genotyped using 10K SNP chips.

Macro level influences on strategic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic - an international survey and tool for national assessments.

Background: Variation in the approaches taken to contain the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic at country level has been shaped by economic and political considerations, technical capacity, and assumptions about public behaviours. To address the limited application of learning from previous pandemics, this study aimed to analyse perceived facilitators and inhibitors during the pandemic and to inform the development of an assessment tool for pandemic response planning.

Methods: A cross-sectional electronic survey of health and non-health care professionals (5 May - 5 June 2020) in six languages, with respondents recruited via email, social media and website posting.

Fabrication of Carbamazepine Cocrystals: Characterization, and Comparative Evaluation.

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is an antiepileptic drug having low bioavailability due to its hydrophobic nature. In the current study, efforts are made to investigate the effect of dicarboxylic acid coformer spacer groups (aliphatic chain length) on physicochemical properties, relative humidity (RH) stability, and oral bioavailability of CBZ cocrystals. Slurry crystallization technique was employed for the preparation of CBZ cocrystals with the following coformers: adipic (AA), glutaric (GA), succinic (SA), and malonic acid (MA).

Smash ridge tillage strongly influence soil functionality, physiology and rice yield.

The practice of smash-ridging on dry land crop cultivation has shown much promise. However, the mechanism how does soil functionality and root traits can affect rice yield under smash ridge tillage with reduced nitrogen fertilization have not yet been explored. To fill this knowledge gap, we used three tillage methods-smash-ridging 40 cm (S40), smash-ridging 20 cm (S20), and traditional turn-over plowing 20 cm (T)-and two rice varieties (hybrid rice and conventional rice) and measured soil quality, root traits, rice yield and their correlation analysis at different growth stages.

Partial substitution of organic nitrogen with synthetic nitrogen enhances rice yield, grain starch metabolism and related genes expression under the dual cropping system.

Improving grain filling in the presernt farming systems is crucial where grain filling is a concern due to the extreme use of chemical fertilizers (CF). A field experiment was conducted at the experimental station of Guangxi University, China in 2019 to test the hypothesis that cattle manure (CM) and poultry manure (PM) combined with CF could improve rice grain filling rate, yield, biochemical and qualitative attributes. A total of six treatments, i.

Effect of varying quantities of polymer on preparation and stability evaluation of carbamazepine cocrystals with dicarboxylic acid coformers.

The current study is an attempt to explore the effect of varying quantities of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) polymer on carbamazepine (CBZ) cocrystal formation with dicarboxylic acid coformers i.e., malonic acid (MA), succinic acid (SA), glutaric acid (GA), and adipic acid (AA).

Investigating connections between COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution and community interventions for Pakistan employing geoinformation technologies.

Several major cities that witnessed heavy air pollution by particulate matter (PM) concentration and nitrogen dioxide (NO) have contributed to high rate of infection and severity of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Owing to the negative impact of COVID-19 on health and economy, it is imperative to predict the pandemic trend of the COVID-19 outbreak. Pakistan is one of the mostly affected countries by recent COVID-19 pandemic in terms of COVID-cases and economic crises.

Multivariate analysis for various quantitative traits in wheat advanced lines.

Genetic diversity play key role in the germplasm improvement which is directly correlated with the crop production. Various statistical techniques have been used to study diversity among different genotypes. Among these techniques multivariate is most frequently used one for the genetic association of genotypes.

Synthesis, in-vitro, in-vivo anti-inflammatory activities and molecular docking studies of acyl and salicylic acid hydrazide derivatives.

Over the course of time several drugs have been synthesized and are available in market for the treatment of inflammation. However, they were unable to cure effectively and associated with side effects. To effectively deal with such diseases, heterocycles and their derivatives have gained their special position.

Biological Evaluation of Newly Synthesized Biaryl Guanidine Derivatives to Arrest -Secretase Enzymatic Activity Involved in Alzheimer's Disease.

Proteases BACE1 (-secretases) enzymes have been recognized as a promising target associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study was carried out on the principles of molecular docking, chemical synthesis, and enzymatic inhibition of BACE1 enzymes via biaryl guanidine-based ligands. Based on virtual screening, thirteen different compounds were synthesized and subsequently evaluated via and studies.

Erratic Behavioral Attitude Leads to Noncommunicable Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Arab world has reached an alarming level. Behavioral risk factors including consumption of fast food, inadequate sleep, and skipping meals are pervasive. This study aims at establishing the association between NCDs and modernized behavioral risk factors among populations.

Erupt of malaria, dengue and chikungunya in Pakistan: Recent insights about prevalence, diagnosis and treatment.

Malaria, dengue and chikungunya are the most rampant mosquito-borne infections predominantly in Pakistan. They pose a serious threat and cause a havoc for the victims owing to the life threatening signs and symptoms marked with elevated morbidity and mortality rate. It seems hard to discriminate due to common indications, consequently, deserves appropriate diagnosis prior elevated toll of death.

Understanding impact of pre-dissolved polymers on dissolution behavior of soluble carbamazepine cocrystal.

Cocrystallization is a novel approach for tackling the lower solubility concerns when they can yield solution concentration a lot better than their corresponding parent drug in crystalline form. To get the actual solubility and dissolution gains offered by the cocrystals, phase changes in solution (dissolution) has to be interrupted. In current study, we selected commonly used polymers in order to study their effects on the super saturation of carbamezepine-succinic acid (CBZ-SUC) cocrystal during dissolution studies.

Investigation of potent inhibitors of cholinesterase based on thiourea and pyrazoline derivatives: Synthesis, inhibition assay and molecular modeling studies.

Owing to the desperate need of new drugs development to treat Alzheimer's ailment the synthesis of 1-aroyl-3-(5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,2,4-triazole-3-thioneaminylthioureas (2-6) starting from (4-amino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol) (1) and synthesis of 1-(3-(4-aminophenyl)-5-phenyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propan-1-one (7-9) starting from 2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propanehydrazide (a) with the cyclization with substituted chalcones (c-e) was carried out. To check the biological potential of the synthesized compounds, all were subjected to acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibition assays. The most potent and selective inhibitor for the acetylcholinesterase was compound 7 having an inhibitory concentration of 123 ± 51 nM, whereas, compound 6 was found as selective inhibitor of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) with an IC value of 201 ± 80 nM.

The wound healing and antibacterial potential of triple-component nanocomposite (chitosan-silver-sericin) films loaded with moxifloxacin.

Aim: The current study reports the development and evaluation of chitosan-sericin-silver nanocomposite (CSSN) films without and with moxifloxacin (Mox).

Methodology: The film preparation method involved the in-situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles within the chitosan-sericin colloidal composite followed by preparation into a film by solvent casting technique. In-situ formation and the particle size analysis of the silver nanoparticles was performed via UV-Visible and zeta-size spectrometer.

Recent Progress in the Therapeutic Role of Serelaxin in Vascular Dysfunction.

Cardiovascular (CV) diseases are caused by vascular dysfunction. The enhanced sensitivity to vasoconstrictors, reduced endothelium-derived vasodilators nitric oxide (NO) and prostacyclin (PGI2), and endothelium-derived hyperpolarization (EDH) indicate CV dysfunction. In recent years, recombinant human relaxin, known as serelaxin, has emerged as a new vasoactive drug that is useful in acute heart failure.

Prioritizing and modelling of putative drug target proteins of Candida albicans by systems biology approach.

Candida albicans (Candida albicans) is one of the major sources of nosocomial infections in humans which may prove fatal in 30% of cases. The hospital acquired infection is very difficult to treat affectively due to the presence of drug resistant pathogenic strains, therefore there is a need to find alternative drug targets to cure this infection. In silico and computational level frame work was used to prioritize and establish antifungal drug targets of Candida albicans.

Chemical synthesis and characterization of chitosan/silver nanocomposites films and their potential antibacterial activity.

This study provides the optimum preparation parameters for functional chitosan silver nanocomposite (CSN) films with promising antibacterial efficacy though prepared with very low silver nitrate (AgNO) concentration. Chitosan nano‑silver composites were fabricated by In-situ chemical method utilizing the reducing ability of sodium borohydride (NaBH) and afterward casted into films. Utilization of response surface methodology, NCSS, and SigmaPlot for the optimization of CSN and their predicted antibacterial efficacy assessment of the selected bacterial strains (standard and clinical) was the essential part of the study.

Synthesis, molecular modelling and biological evaluation of tetrasubstituted thiazoles towards cholinesterase enzymes and cytotoxicity studies.

Alzheimer is a neurodegenerative disease and requires the development of new scaffold to treat it. In this regard, thiazoles derivative are playing their significant role. In the current research paper we have focused our attention for the development of tetrasubstituted thiazole (3a-h) derivatives using domino synthesis by mixing the thiourea as a precursor, with acetophenone in the presence of iodine and tosic acid in DMSO and refluxed for 12-22 h.

Improved in vitro and in vivo performance of carbamazepine enabled by using a succinic acid cocrystal in a stable suspension formulation.

Currently cocrystals are considered as an established approach for making crystalline solids with overall improved physico-chemical properties. However, some otherwise well behaving cocrystals undergo rapid dissociation during dissolution, with ultimate conversion to parent drug and thus apparent loss of improved solubility. The polymeric carriers are long known to manipulate this conversion during dissolution to parent crystalline drug, which may hinder or accelerate the dissolution process if used in a dosage form.

Cytotoxicity, In vitro anti-Leishmanial and fingerprint HPLC- photodiode array analysis of the roots of Trillium govanianum.

Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don (Melanthiaceae alt.