Liposomal drug delivery system as an effective treatment approach for lung cancer

Worldwide, cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and cancer rates are set to increase at alarming rate globally. There are various types of cancer in which the leading type is the lung cancer.   In recent years lipid-based carriers, such as liposomes, have successfully encapsulated chemotherapeutic agents ameliorating some toxicity issues, while enhancing the overall therapeutic activity in cancer patients. In addition to this, nanomaterials can help to improved half-life in the body, morphology, for increased drug loading and many other ways. The survey discussed in this review will lead the anticancer therapy and cancer management which will provide the platform to the next generation.  Therefore, this critical review includes the therapeutic interventions, liposomes target delivery, active and passive drug loading. Finally, we attempt to summarize the current challenges in nanotherapeutics and provide an outlook on the future of this important field. Keywords: Drug Delivery, Liposomes target Delivery, Nanostructures, Drug loadin

Challenges and Recent Progress of Nano Sized Drug Delivery Systems for Lung Cancer Therapy: A Review

Lung cancer is the most malignant cancer today. The treatment of lung cancer continues to be a challenge for oncologists. The direct delivery of chemotherapeutic agents to the lungs could represent a novel therapeutic approach for patients with pulmonary metastases. Currently, many formulations of nanocarriers are utilized including lipid-based, polymeric and branched polymeric, metal-based, magnetic, and mesoporous silica. Innovative strategies have been employed to exploit the multicomponent, three-dimensional constructs imparting multifunctional capabilities. In lung cancer, nanoparticle-based therapeutics is paving the way in the diagnosis, imaging, screening, and treatment of primary and metastatic tumors. This review summarizes current progress and challenges in nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, citing recent examples targeted at lung cancer treatment

The Impact of the “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” Public Health Awareness Campaign on Early Intervention Behavior

Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States. Proactive adult behaviors leading to early intervention are a child’s best hope to reach their full potential. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with Porter Novelli to develop a public health campaign called “Learn the Signs. Act Early.” The goal of this campaign was to increase awareness about the early warning signs of autism to help invoke positive behaviors in parents so that children receive services at the youngest age possible. HealthStyles survey data were analyzed to assess the difference in level of autism awareness of those surveyed before the campaign launch and of those surveyed two years post-campaign launch. Association between awareness of autism and early intervention behavior was also examined. Results of the study show improvements in awareness of autism issues; however, the results indicate minimal association between awareness and early intervention behavior. Further research efforts are essential to modify the campaign and target the issues necessary to instigate early intervention behavior

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A HPTLC METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS DENSITOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF GLYCYRRHETIC ACID AND SOLASODINE IN HERBAL DRUG FORMULATION

Objective: To develop and validate a simple, precise, selective, and accurate high-performance thin layer chromatographic method for simultaneous densitometric analysis of glycyrrhetic acid and solasodine in the polyherbal formulation.Methods: The method was developed using HPTLC silica gel GF254precoated aluminium plate as the stationary phase and Chloroform: Methanol (9:1 v/v) as the mobile phase. Quantization of glycyrrhetic acid was achieved by determining the area under the curve at 267 nm using CAMAG TLC Scanner and CATS 3 software. Since the structure of solasodine lacks conjugated double bond, it does not give any fluorescence either in the absorbance mode or reflectance mode hence solasodine was derivatized using 0.5%anisaldehyde sulphuric acids which gave a bluish spot as seen on TLC plate. These spots were scanned at 546 nm wavelength using CAMAG TLC Scanner and CATS 3 software.Results: The retention factor for glycyrrhetic acid and solasodine were found to be 0.52±0.01, 0.40±0.01% w/w respectively. The developed HPTLC method was validated using parameters described in International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guideline. The proposed method showed good linearity in the range of 400-2000 ng spot-1 for glycyrrhetic acid as well as for solasodine. The content of glycyrrhetic acid and solasodine in marketed polyherbal formulation were found to be 0.67%±0.8 and 0.10±0.35%w/w respectively.Conclusion: The developed method can be used as quality control tool for the routine analysis of glycyrrhetic acid and solasodine in polyherbal formulation

Speciation of Enterococcus species: better way to deal with clinical infections at resource limited settings

Background: Enterococcus species are well known for its intrinsic resistance pattern to several antibiotics. Hence, appropriate management and prevention is essential in any healthcare facility. Present study was conducted to establish an accessible biochemical tests to differentiate Enterococcus species at resource limited settings.Methods: Enterococci isolated from various clinical specimens were speciated using an array of biochemical reactions and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Results were interpreted as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines.Results: Out of 107 enterococcal isolates, 63(59%) were E. faecium, 40(37%) were E. fecalis, 2(2%) were E. hirae, 1(0.9%) was E. raffinosus and 1(0.9%) was E. gallinarum. E. faecium and E. fecalis showed 23% and 7% vancomycin resistance respectively, while E. gallinarum showed low level vancomycin resistance.Conclusions: Enterococcus speciation can be done using simple biochemical reactions and its susceptibility pattern enables to distinguish Van phenotypes too. Hence, it is helpful for management of infections in resource limited settings to a greater extent

The Power Series Solution of Fingering Phenomenon Arising in Fluid Flow through Homogeneous Porous Media

The present paper deals with the approximate solution of the fingering phenomenon occurring when water is pushed into oil in homogeneous porous media with capillary mean pressure. The phenomenon is formulated mathematically as a water-oil double phase flow problem. The solution of the nonlinear partial differential equation of fingering phenomenon has been discussed in terms of the power series using appropriate boundary conditions for any timeT\u3e0 . The solution is in ascending power series which represents saturation of injected fluid in fingering phenomenon & its graphical and numerical presentation is given in MATLAB coding

Evaluation of Antioxidant Activity of Cedrela toona Roxb. Leaf Extracts

Antioxidant potency of fruits of Cedrela toona Roxb. crude methanol and its fractionated extracts (hexane, acetone and water) have been investigated, employing three different established in vitro testing systems, such as scavenging activity on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, reducing power assay and β-carotene method. The methanol extract of fruits of Cedrela toona Roxb. showed the best DPPH scavenging activity with the lowest EC 50 34 μg/ml, followed by the acetone (EC 50 39 μg/ml), hexane (EC 50 48 μg/ml) and water extract (EC 50 54 μg/ml). The reducing power of Cedrela toona Roxb. fruit extracts increased steadily with increasing concentrations and varied significantly with different concentrations. The methanol and acetone extracts appeared to possess the highest significant reducing activity among the extracts. The stronger reducing power in the methanol and acetone extracts was probably due to the concentration of antioxidant compounds like flavonoids and phenolics in the extract. In the β-carotene bleaching assay, the antioxidant activities of all the fruits extracts gradually increased with increasing concentration of the extracts and varied significantly with different concentrations. The water extract showed the lowest significant antioxidant activity, while the methanol extract showed the highest significant antioxidant activity. The high antioxidant activity of methanol extract tested using β-carotene model may be correlated with the high phenolic content of the methanol extract.  In conclusion, antioxidant study suggested that fruits of Cedrela toona Roxb. are potential source of natural antioxidants. However, further investigations on in vivo antioxidant activities are highly recommended. In the present study, the antioxidant potency of Cedrela toona Roxb. crude methanol and its fractionated extracts (hexane, acetone and water) have been investigated, employing three different established in vitro testing systems, such as scavenging activity on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, reducing power assay and β-carotene method. There is no antioxidant study reported for Cedrela toona Roxb.Thus, antioxidant activity of Cedrela toona Roxb. was evaluated as it had not been determined previously

Supporting Vermont Families in Packing Healthy Lunches for Children in Childcare

Introduction. Partnering with Hunger Free Vermont, an organization that works to end hunger and malnutrition across the state, we investigated the nutritional value of the packed meals parents provide for their children in early childcare. The USDA\u27s My Plate resource was used as a measure to assess variety, dividing foods into five groups: grains, dairy, vegetables, fruits, and protein. The results will help Hunger Free Vermont design nutrition education materials for childcare centers to provide to the families they serve. Methods. Online surveys were distributed, asking parents to report the foods they recently provided for their children in packed lunches, to rate how \u27healthy\u27 they thought those lunches were, and to note any barriers they experience to packing healthy foods. Results. Survey results showed that the average number of sweets packed by parents who had low confidence in their ability to pack healthy meals was significantly higher than the average number packed by parents with high confidence (p \u3c 0.05). Additionally, the total number of cited barriers was significantly higher in parents who had low confidence in their ability to pack healthy meals (p \u3c 0.01). Conclusions. Many parents cited time constraints and ‘picky’ children as barriers to providing healthy meals, with concerns about the expense of healthy items and lack of childcare for shopping or food-prep time following close behind. In the future, education materials that address children’s unhealthy food preferences or further investigations into barriers to providing healthy lunches may facilitate development of resources for Vermont families.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1259/thumbnail.jp

Comparative study of bupivacaine alone and bupivacaine along with buprenorphine in axillary brachial plexus block: a prospective, randomized, single blind study

Background: Different additives have been used to prolong brachial plexus block. We performed a prospective, randomized single-blind study to compare Bupivacaine alone and Bupivacaine along with Buprenorphine for onset, quality, and duration of block as well as post-operative analgesia and any complication in axillary brachial- plexus block.Methods: Randomized controlled study was carried out among 60 patients of either sex, aged 20-60 years. ASA grade I or II undergoing elective hand, forearm, elbow surgery under axillary brachial plexus block. Patients were randomly divided into two groups.Group-l received 30 ml of 0.35% Bupivacaine alone in axillary block.Group-II received 30 ml of 0.35% Bupivacaine with 3µg/kg Buprenorphine in axillary block. Time taken for onset and completion of motor and sensory block as well as complete duration of block were noted in both groups. Any complication during procedure, during surgery as well as post-operatively were noted and treated.Results: Addition of Buprenorphine (3µg/kg) to Bupivacaine mixture in peripheral nerve block did not affected the onset time for motor as well as sensory block. Mean duration of motor block was 284.33±78.94 mins. in group I and in group II 307.33±60.26 mins. Mean duration of sensory block 305.066±83.64 mins. in group I while 580.166±111.45 mins. in group II. It suggests duration of sensory block was prolonged in group II then group I.Conclusions: Addition of Buprenorphine to local anesthetic drug provides good post-operative analgesia. Buprenorphine significantly prolongs sensory block and lengthens duration of analgesia without prolonging duration of motor block