Chitosan is a biodegradable natural polymer with great potential for pharmaceutical applications due to its biocompatibility, high charge density, non-toxicity and mucoadhesion. It has been shown ...that it not only improves the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs but also exerts a significant effect on fat metabolism in the body. Gel formation can be obtained by interactions of chitosans with low molecular counterions such as polyphosphates, sulphates and crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. This gelling property of chitosan allows a wide range of applications such as coating of pharmaceuticals and food products, gel entrapment of biochemicals, plant embryo, whole cells, microorganism and algae. This review is an insight into the exploitation of the various properties of chitosan to microencapsulate drugs. Various techniques used for preparing chitosan microspheres and evaluation of these microspheres have also been reviewed. This review also includes the factors that affect the entrapment efficiency and release kinetics of drugs from chitosan microspheres.
Nature-inspired algorithms emulate the mathematical and innovative techniques for non-linear and real-life problems worldwide. Imaging technology is emerging out as one of the most prominent and ...widely used domain in medical field such as cancerous cell nuclei detection, blood vessel segmentation, study of organs or structure of tissues and many more. Nature-inspired algorithms emulate the mathematical and innovative techniques for non-linear and real-life problems and can be applied to segment or analyse the images. An efficient image segmentation technique may help the subject experts such as radiologist and pathologist for early and effective examination or diagnosis of disease. The authors proposed a firefly-based segmentation technique that can be employed to segment the breast cancer image regardless the type or modality of the image. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is validated by comparing the procured results with the existing state-of-art techniques.
Chitosan, a natural polysaccharide, is being widely used as a pharmaceutical excipient. It is obtained by the partial deacetylation of chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer. Chitosan ...comprises a series of polymers varying in their degree of deacetylation, molecular weight, viscosity, pKa etc. The presence of a number of amino groups permit chitosan to chemically react with anionic systems, thereby resulting in alteration of physicochemical characteristics of such combinations.
Chitosan has found wide applicability in conventional pharmaceutical devices as a potential formulation excipient, some of which include binding, disintegrating and tablet coating properties. The polymer has also been investigated as a potential adjuvant for swellable controlled drug delivery systems. Use of chitosan in novel drug delivery as mucoadhesive, gene and peptide drug administration via the oral route as well as its absorption enhancing effects have been explored by a number of researchers.
Chitosan exhibits myriad biological actions, namely hypocholesterolemic, antimicrobial and wound healing properties. Low toxicity coupled with wide applicability makes it a promising candidate not only for the purpose of drug delivery for a host of drug moieties (anti‐inflammatories, peptides etc.) but also as a biologically active agent.
It is the endeavour of the present review to provide an insight into the biological and pharmaceutical profile of chitosan. Various investigations carried out recently are reported, although references to research performed on chitosan prior to the recent reviews have also been included, where appropriate.
Purpose
On review of literature on “Smart Cities”, it can be asserted that there are multiple definitions of the term “Smart Cities”; however, a universally accepted definition of “Smart Cities” has ...not been adopted till date. In these circumstances of uncertainty, this paper aims to propose a conclusive definition of “Smart Cities” from systems thinking view.
Design/methodology/approach
The key properties, components and dimensions of “Smart Cities” were identified through text analysis of existing definitions of smart cities in literature using tools such as word cloud, network graph, bubble chart, mind map and web chart of top keywords. The definitions were further subjected to principal component analysis to identify the key components such as characteristics and enablers of “Smart Cities”. The concept of “Smart Cities” was then examined from systems thinking view, to arrive at a systemic understanding of the concept, as it examines the key elements of Government, Citizens and Business using the Golden Circle tool (Why, What and How). Thereon, the interactions between these elements were scrutinized by drawing a Systemigram, which aided in constructing the definition of “Smart Cities”. Thereafter, the validity of the definition was empirically tested by applying it to a set of cities and testing the efficiency of cities through data envelopment analysis.
Findings
The Literature Review and definition analysis of “Smart Cities” have not only facilitated in identifying elements of widely accepted constructs of “Smart Cities” also helps in advancing a formal conceptual definition of “Smart Cities”. A formal definition, which is commonly accepted, would enable researchers in advancing theory and building measurement instruments for “Smart Cities”.
Originality/value
Given the fact that there is no uniform definition of “Smart Cities” leading to varying standards for conceptualization or construction of a “Smart City”, this paper attempts to propose a formal conceptual definition of “Smart Cities” from systems thinking view. Thus, this paper shall not only attempt to advance theory building of the concept of “Smart Cities” but shall also provide a reference to researchers and practitioners, to enable them to build appropriate measures for Smart Cities.
•ED90 of oxytocin in patients with obesity was 25.7 IU/h (95% CI 18.6 to 32.9).•ED90 of oxytocin in patients without obesity was 16.6 IU/h (95% CI 14.9 to 18.3).•Patients with obesity need a larger ...dose of oxytocin (relative ratio 1.55; P=0.019).
Obesity is associated with greater oxytocin requirement during labor induction or augmentation. There are scant data exploring the intra-operative requirement during cesarean delivery in patients with obesity, and none comparing it with those without obesity. We evaluated the minimum effective dose (ED90) of an oxytocin infusion to achieve adequate uterine tone during cesarean delivery in patients with and without obesity.
Patients (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 represented patients with obesity) undergoing cesarean delivery using subarachnoid block were included. This prospective dual-arm dose-finding study used a 9:1 biased sequential allocation design. Oxytocin infusion was initiated at 13 IU/h at cord clamping in the first patient of each group. Uterine tone was graded as satisfactory or unsatisfactory by the obstetrician four minutes after initiation of the infusion. The dose of oxytocin infusion for subsequent patients was determined according to the response of the previous patient in the group. Oxytocin-associated side effects were evaluated. Dose-response data for the groups was evaluated using log-logistic function and ED90 estimates derived from fitted equations using the delta method.
The ED90 of oxytocin was significantly higher for patients with obesity (n = 40) compared with those without obesity (n = 40) 25.7 IU/h, 95% CI 18.6 to 32.9) vs. 16.6 IU/h, 95% CI 14.9 to 18.3); relative ratio 1.55 95% CI 1.09 to 2.01 (P = 0.019).
Patients with obesity require a higher intra-operative oxytocin infusion dose rate to achieve a satisfactorily contracted uterus after fetal delivery when compared with patients without obesity.
The present investigation was carried out in the year 2020 with an objective to unravel the effect of different shade intensities of green shade nets on leaf photosynthetic traits and secondary ...metabolites of four different
Ocimum
spp.
Ocimum
spp. namely
O. tenuiflorum
,
O. sanctum
,
O. basilicum
and
O. gratissimum
were kept under green shade net with variable shade intensities 35, 50, 75, 90% and open condition for 90 days. Data on various biochemical components
viz
., photosynthetic pigments, carotenoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols and flavonoids were estimated from fully expanded leaves of all species at 30, 60 and 90 days intervals. Variable responses of different traits of photosynthetic pigments and secondary metabolites were observed in all
Ocimum
spp. under study. The trend was similar for all spp. and all the parameters under study. Total phenol and flavonoids increased with decreasing shade intensity i.e. maximum in control but higher intensity of light marks a decrease in chlorophyll pigments. Variation in shade intensity also affected the alkaloid and terpenoid content, maximum being at 35% shade intensity which was better than control. The present study reveals that
Ocimum
spp. possesses the ability to accurately adjust and alter their physiology and biochemical aspects under various shade conditions. This research also provides valuable information about optimum shade levels required during protected cultivation of
Ocimum
.
This paper addresses the problem of efficient and effective data collection and analytics for applications such as civil infrastructure monitoring and emergency management. Such problem requires the ...development of techniques by which data acquisition devices, such as IoT devices, can: (a) perform local analysis of collected data; and (b) based on the results of such analysis, autonomously decide further data acquisition. The ability to perform local analysis is critical in order to reduce the transmission costs and latency as the results of an analysis are usually smaller in size than the original data. As an example, in case of strict real-time requirements, the analysis results can be transmitted in real-time, whereas the actual collected data can be uploaded later on. The ability to autonomously decide about further data acquisition enhances scalability and reduces the need of real-time human involvement in data acquisition processes, especially in contexts with critical real-time requirements. The paper focuses on deep neural networks and discusses techniques for supporting transfer learning and pruning, so to reduce the times for training the networks and the size of the networks for deployment at IoT devices. We also discuss approaches based on machine learning reinforcement techniques enhancing the autonomy of IoT devices.
Since time immemorial, genus
Salix
has been well known for its ethnobotanical uses for the treatment of various health ailments. Willow bark and leaf extracts contain a heterogeneous mixture of ...different chemical entities. Rapid extract screening techniques are frequently required to generate the phytochemical profile of bioactive compounds in plant parts. Metabolic profiles are generally genetically determined in plants. However, their quantification may exhibit variations under different environmental conditions. In order to estimate the magnitude of variability in the level of chemical composition among different hybrid clones of
Salix
(UHFS 08, UHFS 34, UHFS 39, and UHFS 40), phytochemical profiling of bark and leaves was performed with Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Putative identification extrapolated the presence of various secondary metabolites, volatile oils, acid esters, organic acids, and other compounds that mark these clones as pharmaceutically important. All extracts of studied
Salix
clones contained phytochemical important compounds such as 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, 2,3-bis(trimethylsilyl)oxypropyl ester, ergosta-5,22-dien-3-ol, acetate, (3a-22E)-1-monolinoleoyl glycerol trimethylsilyl ether and ethyl iso-allocholate. Salicylic acid derivatives from the willow shoots are of great interest due to their pharmacological activity, which has been identified in UHFS 08 and UHFS 39 methanolic bark extracts.
PDF
