Secure Voip Call on Android Platform

In the Secure voice call, the human voice shall be digitized by the Android APIs and the VOIP packets will travel over the SIP layer. The digitization process also includes the encryption phase wherein secure call technique is used in order to generate unique keys every time a call handshake is done. During the Secure Call key exchange, the caller party sends a Secure Call hello packet. Once that packet is positively acknowledged by the recipient party the handshake happens successfully and the call packets get encrypted. Using Secure call, digitized voice data is transformed into cipher text form on third generation GSM data or GPRS servers in android platform which results in a better encrypted voice speed and clarity

New Pharmacological Agents to Aid Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Harm Reduction: What has been Investigated and What is in the Pipeline?

A wide range of support is available to help smokers to quit and aid attempts at harm reduction, including three first-line smoking cessation medications: nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline and bupropion. Despite the efficacy of these, there is a continual need to diversify the range of medications so that the needs of tobacco users are met. This paper compares the first-line smoking cessation medications to: 1) two variants of these existing products: new galenic formulations of varenicline and novel nicotine delivery devices; and 2) twenty-four alternative products: cytisine (novel outside of central and eastern Europe), nortriptyline, other tricyclic antidepressants, electronic cigarettes, clonidine (an anxiolytic), other anxiolytics (e.g. buspirone), selective 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors, supplements (e.g. St John’s wort), silver acetate, nicobrevin, modafinil, venlafaxine, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI), opioid antagonist, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) antagonists, glucose tablets, selective cannabinoid type 1 receptor antagonists, nicotine vaccines, drugs that affect gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transmission, drugs that affect N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA), dopamine agonists (e.g. levodopa), pioglitazone (Actos; OMS405), noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors, and the weight management drug lorcaserin. Six criteria are used: relative efficacy, relative safety, relative cost, relative use (overall impact of effective medication use), relative scope (ability to serve new groups of patients), and relative ease of use (ESCUSE). Many of these products are in the early stages of clinical trials, however, cytisine looks most promising in having established efficacy and safety and being of low cost. Electronic cigarettes have become very popular, appear to be efficacious and are safer than smoking, but issues of continued dependence and possible harms need to be considered

Synthesis of Poly(ϵ-caprolactone) Microreactors from Freeze-Dried Microspheres

Poly(ϵ-caprolactone) microreactors were prepared by micro-volcanic rupture of freeze dried microspheres. Effects of three synthesis parameters viz polymer concentration, emulsifier concentration and stirring speed on size and morphology of microreactors were examined. Average diameter of microreactors showed substantial increase with increasing polymer concentration and reduced size with increasing polyvinyl alcohol (emulsifier) concentration and stirring speed, respectively. These miniaturised structures have potential applications in immunodiagnosis and drug delivery

Synthesis of mercaptopropionic acid stabilized CDS quantum dots for bioimaging in breast cancer

Semiconductor inorganic nanocrystals or quantum dots (QDs) are nowadays extensively used for imaging and analysis of biomolecules owing to their superior optical properties over conventional organic fluorophores. They have excellent potential for synthesizing molecular probes against various biological markers such as free antigens, cell surface markers/antigens, bacteria, viruses and tissues. Traditional synthesis protocols of the QDs generally lead to the formation of hydrophobic nanocrystals. For biological applications, post-synthesis modifications need to be introduced to render required hydrophilicity. However, such additional steps make the tiny QDs structures bulky, which is unwanted in subsequent in-vivo executions. The present work reports a simple method for the direct synthesis of hydrophilic carboxyl (–COOH) functionalized CdS QDs using mercaptopropionic acid as a sulfur source and stabilizer. This aqueous synthesis route avoids the requirement of extra surface modification steps. The size and surface morphology of the synthesized CdS QDs were studied by electron microscopy. The average diameter of the QDs has been found to be in the range of 2-3.5nm. Spectral studies confirmed the grafting of –COOH terminal on the synthesized nanocrystals. Band gap energy and the theoretical size of the particles were calculated and found in good agreement with the experimental analysis. Due to the size quantization effect, the estimated band gap energy (2.6eV) of the QDs was on a higher side than that reported (2.4eV) for the bulk material. The synthesized nanocrystals can be further conjugated with bio-molecules for high-throughput drug screening, clinical immunological assays and protein-protein interaction studies

Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy

A 44 year old woman reports visualizing five omnipresent irregularly shaped spots with each eye, with a triangular shape flashing like a strobe light inside each spot for 6 months, waning over time, following flu symptoms. Medical history reveals a long history of typical complex migraine headaches with aura with visual symptoms, and a TIA, 5 years prior to presentation. She sustained a small right cerebellar stroke thought to be related to chiropractic high velocity neck manipulation with resultant vertebral artery injury,1 year prior to presentation. Family history reveals deep venous thrombosis and hypercoagulable state. On Examination patient has visual acuity of 20/20 in each eye, normal color perception bilaterally and abnormal Amsler grid. Dilated ophthalmoscopy reveals healthy appearing optic disks, multiple paracentral petalloid lesions in the macula bilaterally, and scattered hypopigmented lesions in the nasal periphery of the right eye. Visual field testing with HVF 30-2 reveals small paracentral scotomata bilaterally. OCT scanning reveals multiple paracentral hyperreflective band-like lesions in the outer retina of each eye at the level of the outer plexiform layer and/or outer nuclear layer. There are multiple parafoveal petalloid hyporeflective areas in the enface infrared image bilaterally. ICG angiography reveals some focal hypofluorescent areas corresponding to the lesions seen in infrared imaging bilaterally. These lesions are pronounced during the early and arteriovenous phases with no areas of hyperfluorescence. MRA of head and neck reveals fibromuscular dysplasia and lab work high homocysteine levels

Multimodal Imaging in Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy

A 44-year-old woman noticed bilateral irregular scotomata associated with photopsias of 6-month duration. Ophthalmoscopic examination demonstrated multiple bilateral, pericentral, hypopigmented, petaloid, macular lesions evident on Amsler grid associated with paracentral hyperreflective lesions on optical coherence tomography in the outer plexiform and nuclear layers. Indocyanine green angiography revealed patches of choroidal ischemia consistent with acute macular neuroretinopathy

Molybdenum disulfide quantum dot based highly sensitive impedimetric immunoassay for prostate specific antigen

This work reports on the synthesis of molybdenum disulfide quantum dots (MoS2-QDs) from pre-exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets. After a thorough characterization, the MoS2-QDs were assembled onto screen-printed carbon electrodes, followed by the physical adsorption of antibodies against the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to form a bioelectrode. Because of the hydrophobic nature of the QDs, they are favorable for the hydrophobic interaction with the antibodies. Based on cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques, the bioelectrode was employed for the detection of PSA using hexacyanoferrate as the redox probe. The electrode yielded an optimum CV response of PSA in the range of 0.1 pg·mL−1 to 10 ng·mL−1 (scan rate: 0.05 mVs−1). The performance improved significantly when EIS was applied (response range: 0.01 pg·mL−1 to 200 ng·mL−1; limit of detection: 0.01 pg·mL−1). The feasibility of the immunoassay was demonstrated by successfully analyzing PSA in serum samples based on the standard addition method. A near 100% recovery of PSA from the serum samples supports the possible practical viability of the procedure. The immunoassay highlights a number of advantageous features such as convenient attachment of antibodies over the electrode surface and broad range of PSA detection with the successful demonstration with real serum samples

Multimodal Imaging in Acute Macular Neuroretinopathy

A 44-year-old woman noticed bilateral irregular scotomata associated with photopsias of 6-month duration. Ophthalmoscopic examination demonstrated multiple bilateral, pericentral, hypopigmented, petaloid, macular lesions evident on Amsler grid associated with paracentral hyperreflective lesions on optical coherence tomography in the outer plexiform and nuclear layers. Indocyanine green angiography revealed patches of choroidal ischemia consistent with acute macular neuroretinopathy

Enigmatic Optic Neuritis

We report a case of optic neuritis with subsequent development of right sixth nerve palsy and internuclear ophthalmoplegia