Nanoemulsions for drug delivery through different routes

Utilising nanoemulsions as vehicles for carrying active pharmaceutical ingredients is emerging as a promising approach for the latters’ targeted delivery. For drug molecules to be clinically effective, their administration by a route, which provides a proper channel for them to reach their target, is of prime importance. Further, they also need to be suitably protected in the biological milieu till they are delivered to the required site of action. Nanoemulsions with a mean droplet diameter of about 20-200 nm are extremely versatile in this regard. Due to their characteristic size and properties, which includes kinetic stability, they are very effective in enveloping and/or solubilising the drugs and successfully chaperoning them towards suitable targets. They also cause the drugs to be released  in controlled and sustained modes, thereby reducing drug toxicity and dumping. Additionally, depending on the physiochemical properties of the drugs, nanoemulsions can be structurally engineered to maximize their solubilisation as per the required route of delivery, which is heavily dependent on the drug structure. Effective targeting can be achieved by incorporating suitable homing molecules on their surface, which in turn  recognize and bind to specific receptors on the target molecules. This review focuses on the different routes by which drug loaded  nanoemulsions can be administered, thus throwing light on the versatility of these vehicles for therapeutic and other related applications

Time Domain Signal Detection for MIMO OFDM

The MIMO techniques with OFDM is regarded as a promising solution for increasing data rates, for wireless access qualities of future wireless local area networks, fourth generation wireless communication systems, and for high capacity, as well as better performance. Hence as part of continued research, in this paper an attempt is made to carry out modelling, analysis, channel matrix estimation, synchronization and simulation of MIMO-OFDM system. A time domain signal detection algorithm can be based on Second Order Statistics (SOS) proposed for MIMO-OFDM system over frequency selective fading channels. In this algorithm, an equalizer is first inserted to reduce the MIMO channels to ones with channel length shorter than or equal to the Cyclic Prefix (CP) length. A system model in which the ith received OFDM block left shifted by j samples introduced. MIMO OFDM system model which uses the equalizer can be designed using SOS of the received signal vector to cancel the most of the Inter Symbol Interference (ISI). The transmitted signals are then detected from the equalizer output. In the proposed algorithm, only 2P (P transmitted antennas / users in the MIMO-OFDM system) columns of the channel matrix need to be estimated and channel length estimation is unnecessary, which is an advantage over an existing algorithms. In addition, the proposed algorithm is applicable for irrespective of whether the channel length is shorter than, equal to or longer than the CP length. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and shows that it out performs the existing one in all cases

An MBSE Approach for Development of Resilient Automated Automotive Systems

Advanced driver assistance and automated driving systems must operate in complex environments and make safety-critical decisions. Resilient behavior of these systems in their targeted operation design domain is essential. In this paper, we describe developments in our Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach to develop resilient safety-critical automated systems. An MBSE approach provides the ability to provide guarantees about system behavior and potentially reduces dependence on in-vehicle testing through the use of rigorous models and extensive simulation. We are applying MBSE methods to two key aspects of developing resilient systems: (1) ensuring resilient behavior through the use of Resilience Contracts for system decision making; and (2) applying simulation-based testing methods to verify the system handles all known scenarios and to validate the system against potential unknown scenarios. Resilience Contracts make use of contract-based design methods and Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDP), which allow the system to model potential uncertainty in the sensed environment and thus make more resilient decisions. The simulation-based testing methodology provides a structured approach to evaluate the operation of the target system in a wide variety of operating conditions and thus confirm that the expected resilient behavior has indeed been achieved. This paper provides details on the development of a utility function to support Resilience Contracts and outlines the specific test methods used to evaluate known and unknown operating scenarios. Document type: Articl

Youth Help Desk Launched

The Global Youth Help Desk, an initiative of the Youth Programme, was launched with much fanfare on Tuesday 12 April from 6 pm to 8 pm at the UN-HABITAT Headquarter fountain area.Global, youth help desk, programme, fund projects, portal, research section

Obituary Neera Desai: 1925 – 2009: a personal Tribute

Neera Desai, a pioneer of Women's Studies in India, the first and founding director of the Research Centre for Women’s Studies at the SNDT University, Mumbai passed away late tonight in Mumbai. She was 84.Neera Desai, Neeraben, sociologist.India, women's studies

How people’s movements have influenced research priorities in India

1 Context The systematization of social science research in India under the state began in the 1950s and 1960s, although high-quality noteworthy research had been conducted by independent scholars for many years. The earliest institutions were those set up by central ministries essentially with the objective of conducting research in areas relevant to the county’s development. The Planning Commission (now disbanded) provided the first impetus to initiating research relevant to policy making. ..

Union Budget 2007-08: Investing in the Next Level in Education

The Economic Survey, 2006-07 has turned the spotlight on the inequalities in higher education enrolment and the severe shortfall in facilities at this level. Will the Union Budget, 2007-08 unveil innovative plans for encouraging investment in higher education?education, Economic Survey 2006-07, higher education, elementary eduction, Union Budget 2007-08

Foundations to frontiers of big data analytics

In recent times, big data analytics has become a major trend in catering data queries that has been growing dramatically. The present paper gives a brief description of latest happenings of Big Data analytics. A case study using Spark is given as an example. The paper gives the importance of cloud computing in Big data paradigm