Maninder Kaur

Permeation Enhancers for Transdermal Drug Delivery

The transdermal route has been recognized as one of the highly potential routes of systemic drug delivery and provides the advantage of avoidance of the first-pass effect, ease of use and withdrawal (in case of side effects), and better patient compliance. However, the major limitation of this route is the difficulty of permeation of drug through the skin. Studies have been carried out to find safe and suitable permeation enhancers to promote the percutaneous absorption of a number of drugs. The present review includes the classification of permeation enhancers and their mechanism of action; thus, it will help in the selection of a suitable enhancer(s) for improving the transdermal permeation of poorly absorbed drugs.

Comparison of Packaging Technologies for RF MEMS Switch

The present paper describes an integrated approach for design, fabrication and encapsulation of RF MEMS switches in view of the optimal performance subsequent to packaging. Top and bottom contact fabrication approaches are explored using different RF MEMS switch topologies. In the bottom contact package (BCP) the packaging cap alignment is less critical as compared to the top contact packaging (TCP) approach where contact via is an integral part of the cap. In this case, the connection layout through silicon via holes is independent of the cavity geometry. For the devices under consideration, bulk etched silicon cavity height has been optimized to 50µm for optimal RF performance, e.g., isolation and insertion loss. Parasitic effects of top silicon cap are reduced by altering CPW impedance. Mechanical parameter damping is simulated for different cavity heights and found to be independent from cavity height after 20µ mo nwards.

Effect of fissility in fission time scales for 16,18O+194,198Pt systems

The pre-scission neutron multiplicities have been studied for 16,18O+194,198Pt at 50, 61, 71.7, 79 MeV excitation energy populating 210,212,214,216Rn compound nuclei having fissility 0.735, 0.732, 0.729, 0.726 respectively. Fission Time scales were extracted from the measured pre-scission neutron multiplicity and statistical model PACE2. The effect of fissility on fission time scales has been measured. It is found that fission time scales increases in a consistent way with fissility of the compound nuclei (CN) populated. The fission delays extracted for different CN are in good agreement with earlier published data for heavier systems [1, 2]. In the present work it is shown systematically that the fission time scales generally increases with fissility value of CN.

Association between ABO Blood Group and Hypertension among Post-menopausal Females of North India

Abstract The present study is an attempt to explore possible associations between ABO blood group and the risk of hypertension among post-menopausal females of north India. This cross-sectional study covered 250 postmenopausal women, ranging in age from 45 to 80 years from North India. Four anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference) and blood sample of all the participants were taken. Analysis of data revealed total prevalence of hypertension was 32% as per JNC VII criteria. Hypertension was more prevalent in subjects having blood group O (10.4%), followed by blood group A (8.8%), B (8%) and least in AB (4.8%). Mean values for systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate were higher in subjects with blood group O than non O blood group (that is, phenotype A, B and AB). Findings of present study suggest that subjects with blood group O has greater incidence of association with hypertension.

Decoupling the effect of temperature on GDR widths in excited compound nucleus 144Sm

We measured giant dipole resonance (GDR) γ-rays in the 28Si + 116Cd reaction at ~105 and 120 MeV excitation energies. The resonance widths were extracted as a function of temperature at different angular momentum values to decouple the effect of these two variables on resonance widths. The high energy GDR γ-rays from the decay of compound nucleus (CN) 144Sm were measured using a large NaI(Tl) detector in coincidence with a sum-spin multiplicity filter. The experimental data were analyzed under the framework of statistical decay of CN. The GDR cross sections were also calculated with a thermal shape fluctuation model (TSFM), which incorporates the temperature and spin dependent shell corrections within the Nilsson–Strutinsky approach. The GDR widths were extracted in the temperature range 1.5–2.2 MeV. The measured widths indicate that the increase of GDR widths with temperature at different average spin values follows a similar trend and is borne out by theoretical calculations. Present calculation shows that TSFM satisfactorily reproduces the GDR cross section as well as widths in the temperature range 1–2.2 MeV over a wide range of angular momentum.

Association between ABO blood group and osteoporosis among postmenopausal women of North India

The present study is an attempt to examine possible associations between ABO blood groups and the risk of osteoporosis among postmenopausal women of North India. This cross-sectional study involved 250 postmenopausal women from North India, ranging in age from 45 to 80 years. Four anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist circumference and hip circumference), blood sample (ABO status and haemoglobin concentration) and grip strength (dominant as well as non-dominant hand) of all the participants were taken. Bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated by using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at lumbar spine (L1-L4) and proximal femur. Analysis of data revealed that at lumbar spine (L1-L4) osteoporosis was more prevalent among individuals with blood group A (31.58%), followed by those with blood group B (29.67%), AB (28.57%) and then blood group O (15%), whereas for proximal femur individuals with blood group AB (21.43%) showed the highest prevalence of osteoporosis followed by a decreasing trend from blood group A (17.54%) to B (12.08%) and then O (5%). Total prevalence of osteoporosis was 26.4% in lumbar spine and 13.2% in proximal femur, indicating that lumbar spine had an elevated risk for osteoporosis among postmenopausal women. All the anthropometric variables, haemoglobin concentration as well as grip strength of individuals with blood group O demonstrated non-significant differences with non-O blood group except for weight and body mass index, where differences were statistically significant. Women with blood group O exhibited significantly higher bone mineral density for lumbar spine (0.90 g/cm(2) vs. 0.85 g/cm(2), p<0.05) and proximal femur (0.87 g/cm(2) vs. 0.79 g/cm(2), p<0.05) as compared to those with non-O blood group, thereby suggesting an increasing risk of osteoporosis among individuals with non-O blood group.

Change of characteristic length with packaging for torsional MEMS switch

Fluid continuity theory is used to describe the dynamic response of open Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) devices. For a packaged device, at low pressure, the fluid continuity theory is no longer valid and a rarefication theory based on a Knudsen number is used. In an open MEMS device, the characteristic length which determines the Knudsen number is represented by the gap between the MEMS bridge and underneath actuation electrodes. On the other hand, for a packaged device, effective characteristic length is modified with the packaging cavity height. In this paper, for a packaged MEMS device, effective characteristic length with reference to the packaging height is derived.

Dermal digital ridge density of a penal population: Analysis of association and individualization

The present study is an attempt to analyze an association between dermal digital ridge density and explosive personality based on the study of 100 male prisoners and 50 controls. The control group had higher ridge density than the prisoners. Bilateral differences revealed higher ridge density on left hand than right hand in both the groups, but differences between two groups for directional asymmetry were not significant. Surface area is not correlated with ridge density in all the digits. About 50% of the variation in ridge density may be explained by a single factor which in all probability is the genetic component of variation. Ridge density cannot be used as a marker for assessing individuals height. Individuals having ridge density less than 12 ridges and higher than 15 ridges, i.e. placed on the two extremes were more likely than not to have more explosive personality.

Compact 4-Bit DMTL Phase Shifter for Ku Band Applications

This paper presents a compact design of DMTL based phase shifter for Ku band applications. Conventional approach for DMTL based phase shifters is to load CPW transmission line periodically with similar type of MEMS capacitors at particular spacing. In this paper, a novel approach is adapted to reduce the size as well as the number of switches by optimizing different unit cells for each section rather than fixed MIM capacitor. A4-bit phase shifter demonstrates an average insertion loss of 2.98 dB at 17GHz and has size of 4.5 mm with 7 MEMS bridges compared to 15 or 30 MEMS bridges using conventional approach. The pull-in voltage is simulated to 16 V and switching time is calculated to H ≍ 56μs at 20V.

Level density parameter around A ∼ 50-110 nuclei

The nuclear level density parameter, ‘a’ for the compound nuclei lying in the mass range A ∼ 50-110 has been extracted from the α-evaporation spectra in different heavy-ion induced reactions. The high energy part of the evaporation spectra is analyzed using the statistical model code PACE2, to extract the values of the inverse level density parameter, ‘K’. The values are found to be in the range of 6-12.5 for all the systems under study. From these values of ‘K’, the values of ‘a’ are determined using the relation au2009=u2009A/K. Mass and excitation energy dependence of ‘K’ values has also been studied and compared ∼ith different theories.