Apr-Jun Issue

The aim of present investigation was to develop an optimized buccoadhesive film of Amiloride hydrochloride (AMHCl), a BCS class III drug, to provide unidirectional sustained drug delivery to the buccal mucosa that has potential to enhance the bioavailability. The films were prepared using HPMC K4M as film former, carbopol 934P as buccoadhesive polymer and dimethyl sulfoxide as penetration enhancer, by solvent casting 3 technique. The films were characterized for various pharmacotechnical parameters and 2 full factorial design was employed to study the effect of independent variables. The design was validated by extra design checkpoint formulation (F9). The responses of design were analyzed using Design Expert 8.0.2 and the analytical tools of software were used to draw Pareto charts. On the basis of software analysis, formulation F4 with desirability factor of 0.698 was selected as optimized formulation and was evaluated for independent parameters. Optimized formulation showed 8.3 hr ex-vivo residence time, good permeation (41.52%) through goat buccal mucosa and 85.15% drug release after 8hr. The release kinetics of optimized formulation best fitted the higuchi model. Histopathological studies revealed no buccal mucosal damage. Hence F4 formulation can be concluded as promising drug delivery system to enhance the permeability limited absorption of AMHCl

Navigating the Maze: Exploring Blockchain Privacy and Its Information Retrieval

Blockchain networks provide a reliable and secure mode of communication due to their decentralized and distributed nature. The emergence of amalgamated blockchain-based internet-of-things (IoT) systems has generated a huge amount of data to be online. Though blockchains show potential for ensuring transparency, traceability, and immutable records, the privacy of online data in blockchains becomes a question. The privacy of blockchain transactions is at stake as various privacy breaching methods are used by attackers such as linking the transactions, deanonymization, etc. However, the benefits of blockchain make the technology a dominator in the present and future technological paradigms. The other side of the coin deals with privacy information retrieval (PIR), which is necessary to retrieve private information from servers without much revealing. However, the conjunction of blockchain privacy and PIR is very critical and an important aspect of blockchain solutions. In this present survey, we pioneer in analyzing the privacy factors of existing blockchain solutions. We discuss the privacy parameters and important privacy enhancement techniques for blockchains comprehensively. We show the applicability of privacy in various domains including e-commerce, supply chain, healthcare, and IoT. We also discuss PIR-related issues and solutions in the existing literature. We highlight open research problems and discuss the benefits of collaborating with PIR and blockchain systems to improve privacy in blockchains. Our survey is beneficial for academia and industries to be aware of the present status of privacy solutions in blockchains and to address the identified loopholes to make the systems better

TDZ-induced direct shoot organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis on cotyledonary node explants of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.)

An efficient and simple procedure for inducing high frequency direct shoot organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis in lentil from cotyledonary node explants (without both the cotyledons) in response to TDZ alone is reported. TDZ at concentration lower than 2.0 μM induced shoot organogenesis whereas at higher concentration (2.5–15 μM) it caused a shift in regeneration from shoot organogenesis to somatic embryogenesis. The cotyledonary node and seedling cultures developed only shoots even at high concentrations of BAP and TDZ, respectively. TDZ at 0.5 and 5.0 μM was found to be optimal for inducing an average of 4–5 shoots per cotyledonary node in 93 % of the cultures and 55 somatic embryos in 68 % of the cultures, respectively. The somatic embryos were germinated when transferred to lower TDZ concentration (0.5–1.0 μM). The shoots were rooted on MS basal medium containing 2.5 μM IBA. The plantlets were obtained within 8 weeks from initiation of culture and were morphologically similar to seed-raised plants. The possible role of stress in thidiazuron induced somatic embryogenesis is discussed