Interval Delivery of 5HT2A Agonists Using Multilayered Polymeric Films

There is an urgent unmet medical need to develop therapeutic options for the ~50% of depression patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression, which is difficult to treat with existing psycho- and pharmaco-therapeutic options. Classical psychedelics, such as the 5HT2A agonists, have re-emerged as a treatment paradigm for depression. Recent clinical trials highlight the potential effectiveness of 5HT2A agonists to improve mood and psychotherapeutic growth in treatment-resistant depression patients, even in those who have failed a median of four previous medications in their lifetime. Moreover, microdosing could be a promising way to achieve long-term alleviation of depression symptoms without a hallucinogenic experience. However, there are a gamut of practical barriers that stymie further investigation of microdosing 5HT2A agonists, including: low compliance with the complicated dosing regimen, high risk of diversion of controlled substances, and difficulty and cost administering the long-term treatment regimens in controlled settings. Here, we developed a drug delivery system composed of multilayered cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP)/Pluronic F-127 (P) films for the encapsulation and interval delivery of 5HT2A agonists from a fully biodegradable and biocompatible implant. CAPP film composition, thickness, and layering strategies were optimized, and we demonstrated three distinct pulses from the multilayered CAPP films in vitro. Additionally, the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of the 5HT2A agonist 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) were quantified following the subcutaneous implantation of DOI-loaded single and multilayered CAPP films. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, the interval delivery of psychedelics from an implantable drug delivery system and open the door to future studies into the therapeutic potential of psychedelic delivery

Academic Self-Efficacy, Coping, and Academic Performance in College

This study serves as a pilot study for a possible future study including the same variables. The purpose of the pilot study was to find a relationship in the college academic setting between academic self-efficacy, stress coping skills, and academic performance. Sixty-six undergraduate students, 17 male and 49 female, from a university in northwestern United States participated in the study. Stress was measured using the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Self-efficacy was measured using the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001). Academic performance was measured using the participants’ college GPA. Academic Self-Efficacy and the Planning subscale of the COPE Inventory were positively correlated with GPA (r = .49, p \u3c .01 and r = .32, p \u3c .05). Academic self-efficacy was positively correlated with the COPE Inventory subscales Positive Reinterpretation and Growth (r = .36, p r = .35, p \u3c .01), Acceptance (r = .46, p \u3c .01), and Planning (r = .25, p \u3c .05). Academic self-efficacy was negatively correlated with the COPE Inventory subscale Substance Use (r = -.32 at p \u3c 0.1).Faculty Sponsor: Heath Marrs, Ed.

EXAMINING POLICY CAPACITY INITIATIVES WITHIN CLIMATE CHANGE FRAMEWORKS IN THREE US AND CANADIAN SECTORS USING NVIVO CONTENT ANALYSIS

The climate change narrative has changed from one of mitigation to one of adaptation. Governments around the world have created climate change frameworks which address how the country can better cope with the expected and unexpected changes due to global climate change. In an effort to do so, federal governments of Canada and the United States, as well as some provinces and states within these countries, have created detailed documents which outline what steps must be taken to adapt to these changes. However, not much is mentioned about how these steps will be translated in to policy, and how that policy will eventually be implemented. To examine the ability of governments to acknowledge and incorporate the plethora of scientific information to policy, consideration must be made for policy capacity. This report focuses on three sectors: water supply and demand; drought and flood planning; and forest and grassland ecosystems, and the word ‘capacity’ as related to nine different forms of policy capacity acknowledged in these frameworks. Qualitative content analysis using NVivo was carried out on fifty four frameworks and the results obtained show that there is a greater consideration for managerial capacity compared to analytical or political capacity. The data also indicated that although there were more Canadian frameworks which referred to policy capacity, the frameworks from the United States actually considered policy capacity to a greater degree

ECONOMIES OF MANGO CULTIVATION IN A WHOLE-FARM APPROACH FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS: A CASE STUDY FROM INDIA

This case study is about farming systems followed by small mango growers of a Srinivaspur sub-district of Kolar district in Karnataka, India. Over the years, the size of landholdings decreased and suitability has become an issue. The integrated farming system is mostly desired but, the kind of cropping pattern which would bring profitability and sustainability for smallholding farmers under dryland conditions has not been extensively explored. This research analyzes and explains the economies of scale and scope for the smallholder mango growers both in irrigated and rain-fed conditions. The data covers the period from April 2016 to March 2017. Total, 320 smallholder mango growers from Srinivaspur; a sub-district of Kolar in India were randomly interviewed in person, using a structured pre-tested interview schedule. Suitable analytical techniques were used with the data obtained. Further, the results of the study suggested the optimum farming pattern to enhance the income and bring more sustainability to the farmers both in rain-fed and irrigated conditions

Design and development of low elastic modulus Ti-Nb-Zr alloys for biomedical applications

The demand for implants has been increasing globally due to the rising population of the older people (aged ≥80 years), bone diseases, e.g., bone cancers, congenital disabilities, birth defects, revision needs, and accidents. It is essential to select both biologically and mechanically compatible implant materials for such applications. The commonly used implant materials today are austenitic stainless-steel alloys, Co–Cr alloys, Ti, Ta, and their alloys. Recently zirconium (Zr) alloys for biomedical applications are receiving increasing attention due to their two unique properties: 1) the formation of an intrinsic bonelike apatite layer on their surfaces in body environments, and 2) better compatibility with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostics due to their intrinsically low magnetic susceptibility, as well as their overall excellent biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and bio-corrosion resistance. In particular, since both of the MRI quality and speed depend on magnetic field strength, there is a compelling drive for the use of high magnetic field strength (>3 Tesla) MRI systems. This requires the availability of implant alloys that can offer much lower susceptibility than the current Ti implant alloys. In that regard, Zr-based alloys offer more promise than Ti-based alloys. This thesis first presents a comprehensive review of the characteristics of commercially pure (CP) Zr and Zr-based alloys as potential orthopaedic and dental implant materials. These include their 1) phase transformations; 2) unique properties including corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, magnetic susceptibility, shape memory effect, and super-elasticity; 3) mechanical properties; 4) current orthopaedic and dental applications, and; 5) the d-electron theory for Zr alloy design and novel Zr-alloys, and 6) future directions for extending the use of Zr-alloys as orthopaedic and dental implants are discussed. Then following a detailed analysis of the design methods for low elastic modulus Ti alloys, the d-electron theory and the ⁄ ratio approach are used together to design nine strong, ductile, and low elastic modulus Ti-Nb-Zr alloys. Among them, five are Zr-based Ti-Nb-Zr alloys, and four are Tibased Ti-Nb-Zr alloys. To assess Ti-Nb-Zr alloys, it is important to understand the influence of Zr on the β-phase stability of Ti-Nb-Zr alloys. The concept of the Mo equivalence (MoEq), proposed by Molchanova (Phase Diagrams of Titanium Alloys, 1965), has been commonly used as a general guideline to gauge the stability of a β-Ti alloy. A critical literature review has shown that all four existing Mo-Eq expressions deviate substantially from experimental observations and the well-established d-electron theory in predicting the β-phase stability of Ti-Nb-Zr alloys. The reasons are that existing Mo-Eq expressions either completely neglect or significantly overestimate the β-stabilizing effect of Zr. In this thesis, a new Mo-Eq expression, i.e., (Mo-Eq) Ti-Nb-Zr = 0.238Nb (wt.%) + 0.11Zr (wt.%) + 0.97, has been defined for Ti-Nb-Zr alloys in order to properly address the β-stabilizing effect of Zr. This new Mo-Eq expression shows good consistency with both experimental observations and the d-electron theory in predicting the β-phase stability of various Ti-Nb-Zr alloys. With necessary modifications, the approach developed is expected to be also applicable to the assessment of the β-phase stability in other Zr-containing Ti alloys. Three different methods: tension, compression, and ultrasonic tests, are used to determine the elastic modulus of the five Zr-Ti-Nb alloys (Zr-45Ti-15Nb, Zr-33Ti-15Nb, Zr-28Ti-15Nb, Zr-35Ti-10Nb, and Zr-30Ti-20Nb, in at.%) alloys. The as-cast tensile, compressive and ultrasonic elastic moduli of these alloys range from 58-79GPa, 45-57GPa and 60-95GPa respectively. The two Zr-Ti-Nb alloys (Zr-based Ti-6Nb-53Zr and Ti-18Nb-51Zr) from the literature, which reportedly have the lowest elastic moduli, are prepared and tested for comparison as a point of reference. The dependence of elastic moduli on the test methods, phase constitutes as well as and ⁄ ratio is systematically investigated. The reassessed Mo-Eq. values change linearly with the ⁄ ratio for the above seven alloys. The current work also indicates that a small amount of the ω-phase along with β and α″-phases, and the condition of ⁄ ≈ 4.15, can lead to low elastic modulus for Zr-Ti-Nb alloys. Therefore, a modified relationship between the phases and the elastic modulus has been suggested, which is: Eα″ < 40 GPa < Eβ ≈ 60-90 GPa < Eα ≈ 100 GPa < Eω ≈ 130-220 GPa. This study identifies that as-cast Zr-28Ti-15Nb and Zr-33Ti-15Nb alloys can offer low elastic modulus (~60 GPa, tensile and ultrasonic), excellent tensile ductility (~16%), uniform plastic strain (greater than 10%) and sufficiently high tensile yield strength (~650 MPa) for implant applications. While designing the Zr-Ti-Nb alloys, this thesis author realized that Ti-Nb-Zr alloys could also offer low elastic modulus. As a result, four new Ti-Nb-Zr alloys (Ti-26Zr-10Nb, Ti25Zr-15Nb, Ti-22Zr-15Nb, and Ti-21Zr-20Nb) are designed by the d-electron theory and ⁄ ratio. The as-cast tensile, compressive and ultrasonic elastic moduli of these alloys are in the range of 58-71GPa, 34-60GPa and 52-83GPa respectively. The effects of alloying elements on microstructures, mechanical properties i.e. tensile strength, yield strength, compressive yield strength, elastic modulus, elastic energy, and microhardness of these newly designed alloys have been investigated. Ti-Nb-Zr alloys also show the linear relationship between MoEq values and ⁄ ratio. The results also confirm that a small amount of ω-phase is not clearly detrimental in reducing the elastic modulus along with β and α″-phase. Therefore, the results from Ti-Nb-Zr alloys strongly agree with the above proposed relationship sequence between the phases and the elastic modulus for Zr-Ti-Nb alloys

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF RP-HPLC METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF GALLIC ACID, CURCUMIN AND PIPERINE IN AN AYURVEDIC FORMULATION

Objective: The objective of the present work was to establish a simple, precise, accurate and robust method for simultaneous estimation of gallic acid, curcumin and piperine from the marketed ayurvedic formulation by liquid chromatography. Methods: The separation was carried out on Hemochrom C18 Column (250 mm × 4.6 mm ID, 5 µm pore size) with a mobile phase methanol: acetonitrile: water (pH 3.2adjusted by using orthophosphate acid) in the ratio 70:20:10v/v by isocratic elution modeat 25 °C and the flow rate was setat0.8 ml/min. The analysis was carried out atisoabsorptive wavelength of 295 nm. Results: The retention time of gallic acid, curcumin and piperine was found to be 3.3(±0.2), 4.7 (±0.2) and 5.6 (±0.2) min, respectively. The linearity range for gallic acid, curcumin and piperine was found to be 10-70 μg/ml, 20-80 µg/ml and 2-14 µg/ml, respectively with the coefficient of linear regression greater than 0.99 for all markers. Mean percent recoveries for gallic acid, curcumin, and piperine were found within the limit of acceptance (99-100%). The percent relative standard deviation (%RSD) for precision and robustness was found less than 2%, which indicates the method is precise and robust. The developed method applied for quantification of these markers from the marketed ayurvedic formulation of Dekofcyn tablet. Conclusion: The developed method was found to be simple, rapid, precise and reproducible for standardization of Dekofcyn tablet and can be useful for other formulations containing these three markers

Asymmetric quantum well structures for enhanced infrared photon absorption

Compared to inter-band transition for photon absorption in a quantum wells, intra-band (or inter-subband) transitions in heterojunction (GaAs/InP) quantum wells can provide access to a broader range of wavelengths for detector design, specifically detectors operating in the mid infrared region of spectrum (4-12 [micro]m) and beyond is possible. These quantum wells not only provide great flexibility in optimizing the Eigen energy levels or wavefunctions, and inter-subband optical matrix elements determining the corresponding transition probability, but also allow controlling electron-phonon scattering rates and thus electron lifetime. The research presented in this dissertation investigates asymmetric quantum well structures formed through III-V semiconductor material system such as AlGaAs/ InxGa(1-x)As/InyGa(1-y) As/AlGaAs that can further improve the responsivity through higher carrier mobility. Asymmetry is introduced by using multiple materials to form the well region. The advantage of exploring stepped quantum well structure stems from experimental evidence that such structures are capable of absorbing normal incidence and thus eliminates the requirement of incorporating additional optical coupling schemes such as grating structures. An important contribution of this research is the development of an analytical model to analyze single or multiple quantum well structures to quantify photon absorption. The physical model developed in this work is based on non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF), Fermi's golden rule and quantum mechanical wave impedance concept. The approach has two distinct advantages. First, it is accurate, easily programmable and yet computationally efficient. Second, it facilitates quantifying the broadening of states resulting from both photon absorption and tunneling, which provides important insight for improving detection efficiency. Instead of being presented through calculations, such broadening has been simply assumed in previously reported works. The method developed in this researcIncludes bibliographical references (pages 112-113)

Export processing zones and development : the Tanzanian experience in the face of neoliberal policy prescriptions

151 leaves : ill., (col. map) ; 29 cm.Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-151).Export Processing Zones (EPZs) is an economic policy model used to accelerate industrialization and is employed by many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and in many parts of the developing world. It is believed that EPZs can lead to industrialization mainly by increasing exports, diversifying domestic industry and large scale employment creation.This thesis examines the role of the state in developing EPZs in relation to protecting domestic capital while trying to attract foreign capital. Tanzania's EPZ policies are examined to determine if the policy environment established allows the state to actively engage in directing investment and developing domestic industry in order to promote industrialization.The thesis demonstrates that although Tanzania aims at emulating the Asian countries success in industrializing using EPZs, Tanzania has not developed an interventionist model and the role of the state has been reduced to be minimalist following neoliberal prescription