Miniaturizing in chip technology, optics, micro mechanics, medicine, gene and biotechnology requires highly precise positioning techniques. The motivation for the new manipulation technology is the desire to enter the micro- and nanoworld not only by viewing but also acting, altering micro- and nanosized objects. A new era on medicine are expected to happen in the coming years. Due to the advances in the field of nanotechnology, nanodevice manufacturing has been growing gradually. From such achievements in nanotechnology and recent results in biotechnology and genetics, the first operating biological nanorobots are expected to appear in the coming 5 years and more complex diamondoid based nanorobots will become available in about 10 years. In terms of time, it means a very near better future with significant improvements in medicine.

Abstract:The purpose of this research was to develop a matrix-type transdermal therapeutic system containing drug Aceclofenac with different ratios of hydrophilic (hydroxyl propyl cellulose) and hydrophobic (ethyl cellulose) polymeric systems by the solvent evaporation technique by using 15 % w/w of dibutyl phthalate to the polymer weight, incorporated as plasticizer. Different concentrations of oleic acid and isopropyl myristate were used to enhance the transdermal permeation of Aceclofenac. The physicochemical compatibility of the drug and the polymers studied by differential scanning calorimetry and infrared spectroscopy suggested absence of any incompatibility. Formulated transdermal films were physically evaluated with regard to thickness, weight variation, drug content, flatness, tensile strength, folding endurance, percentage of moisture content and water vapour transmission rate. All prepared formulations indicated good physical stability. In-vitro permeation studies of formulations were performed by using Franz diffusion cells. Formulation prepared with hydrophilic polymer containing permeation enhancer showed best in-vitro skin permeation through rat skin (Wistar albino rat) as compared to all other formulations. The results followed the release profile of Aceclofenac followed mixed zero-order and first-order kinetics in different formulation. However, the release profile of the optimized formulation F9 (r 2 = 0.9935 for Higuchi) indicated that the permeation of the drug from the patches was governed by a diffusion mechanism. Formulation F9 showed highest flux among all the formulations and 1.369 fold enhancements in drug permeation. These results indicate that the formulation containing 15 % of oleic acid with 10 % Isopropyl myristate give better penetration of Aceclofenac through rat skin.

Nanohydrogel combines the advantages of hydrogel and nano particulate systems. Similar to the hydrogel and macrogel, nanohydrogel can protect the drug and control drug release by stimuli responsive conformation or biodegradable bond into the polymer networks. Nanohydrogel has drawn huge interest due to their potential applications, such as carrier in target-specific controlled drug delivery, absorbents, chemical/biological sensors, and bio-mimetic materials. Similar to the nanoparticles, stimuli responsive nanohydrogel can easily be delivered in the liquid form for parenteral drug delivery application. This review highlights the methods to prepare nanohydrogel based on natural and synthetic polymers for diverse applications in drug delivery. It also encompasses the drug loading and drug release mechanism of the nanohydrogel formulation and patents related to the composition and chemical methods for preparation of nanohydrogel formulation with current status in clinical trials.

With the continuous emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and implementation of mass-scale interventions like vaccination, understanding factors affecting disease transmission has critical implications for control efforts. Here we used a simple adapted N95 mask sampling method to demonstrate the impact of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants and vaccination on 92 COVID-19 patients to expel virus into the air translating to a transmission risk. Between July and September 2021, when the Delta was the dominant circulating strain in Mumbai, we noted a two-fold increase in the proportion of people expelling virus (95%), about an eighty-fold increase in median viral load and a three-fold increase in high emitter type (41%; people expelling >1000 viral copy numbers in 30 minutes) compared to initial strains of 2020. Eight percent of these patients continued to be high emitters even after eight days of symptom onset, suggesting a probable increased transmission risk for Delta strain even at this stage. There was no significant difference in expelling pattern between partial, full and un-vaccinated individuals suggesting similar transmission risk. We noted significantly more infections among vaccinated study patients and their household members than unvaccinated, probably due to increased duration from vaccination and/or increased risk behaviour upon vaccination due to lower perceived threat. This study provides biological evidence for possible continued transmission of the Delta strain even with vaccination, emphasizing the need to continue COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. The study also indicates that the mask method may be useful for screening future vaccine candidates, therapeutics or interventions for their ability to block transmission.

Universal access to drug susceptibility testing for newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients is recommended. Access to culture-based diagnostics remains limited, and targeted molecular assays are vulnerable to emerging resistance mutations.