RESUMO
Spraying is a crucial practice in agriculture, especially for the application of chemical pesticides that play a vital role in protecting crops. However, there has been a worrisome rise in the annual consumption of pesticides, leading to significant concerns. The excessive use of these pesticides has resulted in substantial wastage, which is a cause for alarm. To address these issues and enhance the efficiency of pesticide application, a tractor-operated boom sprayer was developed to ensure effective spraying. The study focused on evaluating and optimizing three operational factors: spacing between nozzles (30, 40, 50 cm), spray boom height (80, 90, 100 cm), and pressure (17.5, 21.0, 24.5 kg.cm-2). A factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) approach was employed, 81 experiments were conducted and data were analyzed statistically by using the SPSS software package to investigate the effect of operational parameters on the performance of the sprayer. The results revealed that the operational parameters were significantly influencing the swath width and percent of overlap during spraying. The optimum combination of operational parameters was obtained using the R-software, the optimum combination for obtaining maximum swath width and minimum overlap is spacing between nozzles at 50 cm, spray boom height at 90 cm, and operating pressure at 24.5 kg.cm-2. The swath width and overlap at optimum combination were 7.77m and 43.12%, respectively. Implementing this optimal combination significantly improved the performance of the spraying activity, ensuring better coverage.
RESUMO
Diltiazem hydrochloride has poor oral bioavailability, easily undergo first passage effect in the liver. Hence, an attempt was made to prepare and evaluate mucoadhesive buccal films containing diltiazem hydrochloride by employing HPMC, eudragit, ethyl cellulose alone and in combination with PVP. The I.R and DSC studies showed that there was no interaction between drug and the utilized polymer. The prepared mucoadhesive buccal films showed uniform thickness, weight, folding endurance, surface pH, drug content and swelling index. The drug content of all the formulation was found to be uniform. In vitro drug release studies indicated that the films prepared with HPMC (3%) and ethyl cellulose (4%) has shown fast and slow release respectively. The formulations incorporated with SLS and sodium glycocholate indicated significant drug release from F11 and F15. Later the in-situ diffusion studies using goat cheek pouch showed faster drug release from film with 1% (SLS). About 93.04% and 91.83% of drug release profile were observed during in situ diffusion studies at the end of 9hrs and 18 hrs respectively. The formulated films were stable during stability studies at 45ºC and 75%RH with respect to drug content.
RESUMO
Osteoarthritis predominantly affects the large weight bearing joints and the clinical characteristics include morning stiffness of short duration, stiffness or gelling on rest, pain on use, joint inflammation and bone deformity. Microcapsules of aceclofenac were formulated with methyl cellulose, sodium CMC and hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose by technique. The microcapsules showed excellent rheological properties for all batches. The formulations showed drug content uniformity with high drug entrapment efficiency. The in vitro wash off test revealed the mucoadhesive ability of the micro capsules. Scanning electron microscopy indicated structural and surface morphology uniformity. The in vitro release studies indicated sustained release of aceclofenac from the formulations. Kinetic study of the release data indicated the zero order release and non fickian sustained release mode of drug release. The microcapsules showed the correlation between wall thickness and drug release pattern.