The Role and Responsibilities of Youth in Islam

Youth is considered to be the backbone of any nation. The level of moral development, civilization and consolidation of authority and potency depends on the morality of its youth. It can be said that nations survive till their ethics live. The question of youth and Islam at present stems from the overwhelming demographic weight of youth and their relatively recent invasion into the public domain, as well as a wave of Islamic revivalism throughout the world. For any society and its future the youth plays vital and integral role both for progress and decline. The reason is that youth can make the future dark or bright through their role as individuals and as active members of society. This paper draws on lively focus group narratives of young Muslims to explore the interactive presentation of Islamic selves. By bringing together young people who practice Islam in different ways, this paper offers a deeper insight into how claims to a universal identity are actively constructed and contested through particular social relationships and interactions in specific structural contexts. The first part of the paper presents introduction of the whole study. Second part gives description about the categories of youth including; pious, deviated and confused. In third part importance of youth in Islam has been highlighted. Fourth part presents social, moral, political situation of Muslim societies in contemporary time. Fifth part gives description of impact of moral, social, and political situation on the minds of young people. Discussion concludes with the responsibilities of youth which is followed by findings and conclusion of the whole discussion. In so doing, the paper takes up recent calls for more research on the personal meaning of Islam as religion for Muslim youth

Macromolecular Prodrugs of Some Antibiotics onto Polyglucans: Fabrication, Characterization, Applications and Studies of Nano-Assemblies in Solution

Present study reports the synthesis and characterization of hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) based macromolecular prodrugs (MPDs) of a broad spectrum class of antibacterial agents; fluoroquinolones. Prodrugs of some fluoroquinolones, i.e., moxifloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were fabricated as ester conjugates of HPC in various mole ratios using p-toluenesulfonyl chloride as carboxylic acid activating agent. All prodrugs were found organo- as well as water-soluble. Structural characterization of HPC-fluoroquinolone conjugates 1-17 was carried out by FTIR, 1H, 13 C and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques. Covalently loaded drug content (DC) of the conjugates was determined by UV/Vis spectrophotometry as well as by HPLC/UV method. Degree of substitution (DS) of the conjugates was derived from the respective DC of each conjugate. DS of all conjugates was also determined by acid-base titration after saponification and found to be 0.27-0.38, 0.53- 0.71, 0.57-0.64 and 0.87-1.15 per AGU for moxifloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. Nano-assembly behavior of HPC-fluoroquinolone conjugates at solvent interface (DMSO/H2O) was assessed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM images showed that HPC-fluoroquinolone conjugates behaved differently; HPC- moxifloxacin conjugate 3 self-assembled into nanowires of 30 nm diameter, while HPC- ofloxacin conjugate 7, HPC-levofloxacin conjugate 11 and HPC-ciprofloxacin conjugate 15 self-assembled onto nanoparticles having diameter range of 200-270, 50-250 and 150-250 nm, respectively. In vitro drug release studies revealed higher release from prodrugs in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) as compared to simulated gastric fluid (SGF). Conjugates 3, 7, 11 and 15 showed release of 49, 39, 44 and 43%, respectively, in SIF after first 6 h. While these conjugates showed only 12-15% release in SGF in the same time period. Higher release in SIF confirmed that the synthesized prodrugs could be used as devices for achieving colon targeted drug delivery. Pharmacokinetic studies of the conjugates in rabbit models indicated enhanced bioavailability of the respective drugs. Following single oral dose, conjugates 3, 7, 11 and 15 showed half-life of 25.20, 18.07, 18.08 and 10.87 h, respectively. These enhanced half-life values suggest the potential of the fabricated MPDs for once daily dosage formulation. Thermal analyses of the synthesized prodrugs were carried out to assess their pharmaceutical performance parameters. Thermal stability of HPC, drugs and prodrugs was compared in terms of thermal degradation temperatures (Tdi, Tdm,Tdf). Comparable Tdm values of drugs and conjugates suggested that no thermal stress was developed after the attachment of bulky drug molecules to polymer backbone. Thermal stability of conjugates was also evaluated in terms of integral procedure decomposition temperature (IPDT) and index of thermal stability (ITS). Conjugate 3, 7, 11 and 15 showed IPDT values of 450, 442, 464 and 486 °C, respectively. The ITS values were found to be 0.51, 0.52, 0.46 and 0.51, respectively, for these conjugates. Significantly higher IPDT and ITS values also confirmed the intrinsic thermal stability of these conjugates. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry was also performed to analyze glass-transition temperatures (Tg) imparted due to attachment with polymer. Tg values observed were 111.60, 84.16, 113.85 and 61.91 °C for conjugates 3, 7, 11 and 15, respectively. PXRD studies confirmed that some crystallinity was imparted to MPDs of fluoroquinolones. Powder X-ray analysis also confirmed the amorphous characteristics of the conjugates. Therefore, such MPDs can be used for colon targeted delivery of fluoroquinolones with enhanced bioavailability and reduced dosage frequency.