A Novel Smart Biomucoadhesent from Phoenix Sylvestris Fruit Pulp

Phoenix . Sylvestrise belongs to Arecaceae family is also known as the date palm. It is widely available in India. The aim of our research work was to isolate a novel biomucoadhesent from phoenix sylvestris (PS) fruit pulp. The fruit of the plant have potential nutraceuticals and fibers to be used as a food supplements for nutrition. The fruit pulp is rich of minerals. acid, flavanoids, vitamins etc. The fruit pulp was isolated by a simplified. economic process and was evaluated for its various physicochemical properties like solubility, Particle si7e, viscosity, angle of repose, Carrs index, Hausner’s ratio, color, texture, nature, Thin layer chromatography. chemical tests and lR spectral study. The mucaddhesivity of the biomaterial was determined by shear stress method, Park & Robinson method, rotating cylinder method and the results were compared with standard polymers like NaCMC, Carbopol-934. Xanthan gum and Guar gum. The research study revealed that the biomaterial from Phoenix sylvestrise fruit pulp exhibits promising inbuilt mucoadhesion and good mucoretentability. TLC reveals the presence of galactose type polysaccharide. In conclusion, it was drawn that the biomaterial can serve as promising mucoadhesent for formulating the various transmucosal drug delivery systems

Exploring the Relationship Between Military Spending & Human Rights Performance in South Asia

The relationship between military spending and human rights is one of the most prominent issues in political economy. Yet, the linkage between the two is empirically underdeveloped. Seeking to fulfill this existing gap in the literature, we examine the effects of militarization on human rights performance in six South Asian economies for the period 1980 ñ 2006. Our findings demonstrate that an increase in military spending significantly reduces human rights. Acceleration of military spending is also associated with decline in human rights performance. By gauging the effect of military spending on human rights conditions during war and peace years, we found that irrespective of war or peace years, any increase in military spending is detrimental to human rights conditions. Further, we find that the negative impact of military spending on human rights is conditioned by increase in their neighborsí spending. Given the wide range of socioeconomic and political problems ailing South Asian countries, these results gain significant importance. The study suggests that reduction in military pending could help reallocate the resources to productive purposes, thereby paving way for development and progress. This help reducing social unrest and economic insecurity, thereby increases governmentís respect for human rights.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64404/1/wp941.pd

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MILITARY SPENDING & HUMAN RIGHTS PERFORMANCE IN SOUTH ASIA

The relationship between military spending and human rights is one of the most prominent issues in political economy. Yet, the linkage between the two is empirically underdeveloped. Seeking to fulfill this existing gap in the literature, we examine the effects of militarization on human rights performance in six South Asian economies for the period 1980 – 2006. Our findings demonstrate that an increase in military spending significantly reduces human rights. Acceleration of military spending is also associated with decline in human rights performance. By gauging the effect of military spending on human rights conditions during war and peace years, we found that irrespective of war or peace years, any increase in military spending is detrimental to human rights conditions. Further, we find that the negative impact of military spending on human rights is conditioned by increase in their neighbors’ spending. Given the wide range of socioeconomic and political problems ailing South Asian countries, these results gain significant importance. The study suggests that reduction in military pending could help reallocate the resources to productive purposes, thereby paving way for development and progress. This help reducing social unrest and economic insecurity, thereby increases government’s respect for human rights.Military spending; Human rights; South Asia.

Histological and mucoadhesion studies on transpalatal mucoadhesive disks of Rosiglitazone maleate

The present research is aimed to develop a mucoadhesive drug delivery system exhibiting a unique combination of mucoadhesion and controlled drug release in systemic manner to prolong residence in the soft palatal mucosa using rosiglitazone maleate as a model drug. In this study, a mucoadhesive disks formulation for palatal delivery were designed using a simplex lattice design with a mixture of various mucoadhesive polymers (Cp, SCMC, or HPMC, Guar gum and DPP), followed by optimization of the evaluation parameters was employed to get final optimized formulation. In vitro mucoadhesion and mucoretentability property of the formulated disks were examined and histological study was carried out to examine an ex-vivo interaction between the disks and tissue. The optimized F-11 composition showed a force of adhesion  (N)  > 3   and a mucoadhesion time >12 hours with zero order release profile as best fit model closer to the target release profile and followed  anomalous  mediated release of rosiglitazone maleate .The different concentration of mucoadhesive polymer significantly affects the drug release rate, force of adhesion and mucoretentability characteristics of the disks. No more histological changes were observed in the excised palatal mucosa after 12 h contact with the disks  Conclusion: This kind of disks extends the residence time of a dosage form at a particular site and controlling the release of drug in systemic manner from the dosage form and  useful especially for achieving controlled plasma level of the drug as well as improving bioavailability with  reduced side effects

DEUM: a framework for an estimation of distribution algorithm based on Markov random fields.

Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) belong to the class of population based optimisation algorithms. They are motivated by the idea of discovering and exploiting the interaction between variables in the solution. They estimate a probability distribution from population of solutions, and sample it to generate the next population. Many EDAs use probabilistic graphical modelling techniques for this purpose. In particular, directed graphical models (Bayesian networks) have been widely used in EDA. This thesis proposes an undirected graphical model (Markov Random Field (MRF)) approach to estimate and sample the distribution in EDAs. The interaction between variables in the solution is modelled as an undirected graph and the joint probability of a solution is factorised as a Gibbs distribution. The thesis describes a model of fitness function that approximates the energy in the Gibbs distribution, and shows how this model can be fitted to a population of solutions to estimate the parameters of the MRF. The estimated MRF is then sampled to generate the next population. This approach is applied to estimation of distribution in a general framework of an EDA, called Distribution Estimation using Markov Random Fields (DEUM). The thesis then proposes several variants of DEUM using different sampling techniques and tests their performance on a range of optimisation problems. The results show that, for most of the tested problems, the DEUM algorithms significantly outperform other EDAs, both in terms of number of fitness evaluations and the quality of the solutions found by them. There are two main explanations for the success of DEUM algorithms. Firstly, DEUM builds a model of fitness function to approximate the MRF. This contrasts with other EDAs, which build a model of selected solutions. This allows DEUM to use fitness in variation part of the evolution. Secondly, DEUM exploits the temperature coefficient in the Gibbs distribution to regulate the behaviour of the algorithm. In particular, with higher temperature, the distribution is closer to being uniform and with lower temperature it concentrates near some global optima. This gives DEUM an explicit control over the convergence of the algorithm, resulting in better optimisation

Flow through Multiple Well Points System

Under natural geographical settings, there are regions all over the world where the native groundwater quality is brackish. However, recharging from the surface water bodies (i.e., rivers and canals) establishes freshwater lenses in the upper portions of these brackish aquifers. Skimming of these freshwater lenses is a viable technique for sustaining livelihood and agricultural practices in these regions. In the present chapter, various skimming methods have been discussed. In addition, one another type of problem has also been developed in certain pockets of these regions. The non-withdrawal of groundwater and the excess use of easily available surface water resources (i.e., canal water) have created severe water logging conditions. Subsequently, it leads to the creation of salt‐affected soils. One of such areas located in the southwestern Punjab (India) was taken under study. Keeping the region\u27s problems in mind and considering the merits and demerits of all the skimming methods, a much efficient and affordable technique named multiple well points system (MWPS) has been proposed. The continuous use of MWPS not only reclaimed the area but also improved the groundwater quality. The system was field tested and modified before recommending to the farmers. Later on, the MWPS\u27s feasibility as a groundwater recharging system was also demonstrated in the field and the results have shown that it is a viable technique for reviving freshwater lenses in the region

Ameoblastic carcinoma of mandible: a rare case report with review of literature

Ameloblastic carcinoma is a rare malignant lesion with characteristic histologic features and behavior that dictates more aggressive surgical approach than that of a simple ameloblastoma. However, reliable evidence of its biologic activity is currently unavailable due to the scarcity of well-documented cases. It occurs primarily in the mandible in a wide range of age groups; no sex or race predilection has been noted. It may present as a cystic lesion with benign clinical features or as a large tissue mass with ulceration, significant bone resorption and tooth mobility. Because the lesion is usually found unexpectedly after an incisional biopsy or the removal of a cyst, a guide to differential diagnosis is not usually useful. The identifying features of ameloblastic carcinoma must be known and recognized by dental practitioners. The tumour cells resemble the cells seen in ameloblastoma, but they show cytologic atypia. Moreover, they lack the characteristic arrangement seen in ameloblastoma. Direct extensions of the tumour, lymph node involvement and metastasis to various sites (frequently the lung) have been reported. We present a case of ameloblastic carcinoma of the mandible with a clinical course of typical aggressiveness and extensive local des- truction in a 27 year old male patient