MALADAPTIVE DAYDREAMING AND SOCIAL ANXIETY: PREVALENCE AND THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMOTIONAL REGULATION

Previous studies have generated mixed evidence regarding the magnitude of the prevalence of Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD). In addition, although previous studies have identified an association between Maladaptive Daydreaming (MD) and Social Anxiety (SA), literature is sparse in exploring the underlying factors such as emotional regulation difficulties that might mediate this relationship. The current study attempted to investigate the prevalence of MD and self-perceived levels of Social Anxiety (SA) among undergraduate students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It also attempted to explore whether difficulties in regulating emotions mediate the relationship between MD and self-perceived levels SA. A cross-sectional design with a convenience sampling method was utilized to recruit 418 undergraduate students from UAE University. Data was collected using Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form (DERS-SF), Social Interaction Anxiety (SIAS-6), and Social Phobia Scales (SPS-6). Statistical analyses included descriptive analyses, chisquare test of independence, binary logistic regression, correlation analyses and mediational analyses. The results of the study revealed that 53.8% of the participants exhibited scores indicative of the presence of MD, and 62% of the participants had scores indicative of SA. In addition, as predicted, difficulties in regulating emotions was found to partially mediate the relationship between MD and SA. The findings of the study indicate that a substantial portion of the population might be affected by MD and SA. In addition, it sheds light on the complex factors that underlie the relationship between MD and SA

Formulation and Evaluation of Gastro Retentive Floating Tablets of Montelukast Sodium using Natural and Synthetic Polymers

The effervescent based floating drug delivery was a promising approach to achieve in vitro buoyancy. Montelukast sodium is a drug molecule used for the treatment of asthma. The present work was to formulate floating tablet of Montelukast sodium. So, the attempt was made to increase the bioavailability by increasing the gastric retention time of tablet by formulating as floating tablet. Polymers used in the formulation were HPMC K4 M, HPMC K 15 M, Xanthan gum, PVP K 30, Peanut husk, Magnesium stearate as glidants. Sodium bicarbonate and citric acid as gas generating agents. Lactose is used to provide good compression property of the tablet formulation. Talc is used as a lubricating agent. IR spectroscopy confirmed that there was no interaction between drug and polymers. All the prepared polymers were evaluated for hardness, thickness, weight variation, friability, drug content uniformity, buoyancy lag time, total floating time, swelling index, in-vitro dissolution studies and drug release kinetic studies. F1 formulation showed optimal FLT and it retained the drug release up to 12 hours with a good floating property of 14 hours. Xanthan gum, Peanut husk a natural polymer when it comes to contact with the gastric fluid, it swells and thus control the release of drug through it. Sodium bicarbonate and citric acid ratios were important for the FLT. All the formulations were subjected to four different release kinetics model, i.e., Zero order, First order, Higuchi model, Peppas model. F1, F3 formulations best fit to Higuchi model and F2, F4, F5 follows Zero order kinetics. From the studies it can be concluded that the polymers have an important role in the release of drug and thus to extend it release. Sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and Peanut husk were also needed to achieve good floating property for the tablet and also achieving good FLT. From the obtained experimental results, it was concluded that, HPMC K4 M, HPMC K15 M has a significant role in controlling the release of drug from a dosage form. From the in-vitro release studies, it was noted that in the F1 formulation the drug release was 89% which was minimum if compared to all other formulations of F2-F5 at the time period of 12 hrs. Hence the F1 formulation is concluded as the optimized formulation among the other 4 formulations. The drug release from the formulation F1 was sufficiently sustained and follows Higuchi’s kinetic release

Application of electrochemical impedance for characterising arrays of Bi2S3 nanowires

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used to characterise the electrical properties of bismuth sulphide (Bi2S3) nanowires (NWs) templated within anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membranes. A specially engineered cell, with a nominal electrolyte volume of 0.1–0.2 ml, was used to hold and measure the electrochemical impedance of the fragile NW/AAO samples. An equivalent circuit model was developed to determine the filling density of nanowires within the porous templates. The EIS method can be utilised to probe the nanowire filling density in porous membranes over large sample areas, which is often unobtainable using electron microscopy and conductive atomic force microscopy techniques