Optimization of drug delivery through human skin is important in modern therapy. With limitations of oral drug delivery, pain and needle phobias associated with traditional injections drug delivery research has focused on transdermal delivery route. A new approach to transdermal delivery that acts as a bridge between the user friendless of patches and the broad effectiveness of hypodermic needles has recently received attention.by using needles of micron dimensions, termed microneedles, skin can be pierced to effectively deliver the drugs, The mechanism of action is based on temporary mechanical disruption of skin. The drug, in the form of biomolecules, is encapsulated within the micro needles, which are then inserted into the skin in the same way a drug like nitroglycerine is released into the bloodstream from a patch. The needles dissolve within minutes, releasing the trapped cargo at the intended delivery site. The present review focus on various studies related to micro needles for transdermal drug delivery and technology applications in various fields.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading chronic bacterial infection. Despite potentially curative pharmacotherapies being available for over 50 years, the length of the treatment and the pill burden can hamper patient lifestyle. Low compliance and adherence to administration schedules remain the main reasons for therapeutic failure and contribute to the development of multidrug-resistant strains. The design of novel antibiotics attempts to overcome drug resistance, to shorten the treatment course, and to reduce drug interactions. In this framework, nanotechnology appears as one of the promising approaches for the development of more effective medicines. The present review thoroughly overviews the development of novel microparticulate, encapsulation, and various other carrier-based drug delivery systems for incorporating the principal anti-TB agents. Drug delivery systems have been designed that either target the site of TB or reduce the dosing frequency with the aim of improving patient healthcare.

Background: Literature reports innumerable methods for quantification of paclitaxel in biological matrices. Most of these involve complicated extraction procedures like solid phase extraction, separate procedure for elimination of interference of Cremophor El, advanced and expensive instruments. Objectives:The objective of the present research work is to develop and validate a simple, rapid, sensitive, economic and reproducible reverse phase -high performance liquid chromatography method for the estimation of paclitaxel concentration in human plasma that eliminates negative influence of Cremophor El on recovery of paclitaxel.Methods: Chromatographic separation of paclitaxel was carried out using C18 column (150 × 4.6 mm i.d., 4µm particle size, Waters, Australia) with 60% acetonitrile, 40% of 10mM ammonium acetate buffer solution and 0.1% formic acid as a mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0mL/min at ambient temperature. Validation was performed as per ICH Q2 guidelines.Results: In this system the retention time was 3min. The detection limit was 5ng/mL and limit of quantification with reproducibility was 15ng/mL. Plasma samples were extracted using single solvent (tertiary -Butyl Methyl Ether) liquid-liquid extraction with a recovery of 96-99%. Robustness of the method was established with variation in flow rate, detection wave length and mobile phase composition. Stability of paclitaxel during the study period was studied and found to be stable. Conclusion:The developed method is easy to perform, quick, reproducible with good recovery without negative influence of Cremophor El and applicable to quantify paclitaxel in regular clinical practice for individualization of the therapies.

In India, more than 450 million people are outside banking orbit. Many economically deprived communities borrow money from money lenders who charged them to an extent of 115% interest. Microfinance was a strong tool to rescue the poor from Ponzi Schemes. Microfinance industry thrived well in India. It recorded huge growth in South India than North India. The Microfinance crisis broke during the year 2010 in Andhra Pradesh. A bill enacted in Andhra Pradesh made the situation still worse. The repayment rate of the Micro finance clients dropped from 95% (2010) to 1% (2012). This made the survival of the Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) questionable. The paper aims at exploring the solvency and survival positions of the Private & Public NBFC MFIs. Based on the Altman’s Z revised score model (applicable for financial institutions) and Survival analysis, the results reflect that Private NBFC MFIs are solvent and had better survival than Public NBFC MFIs. It aims at understanding the factors discriminating the solvent and insolvent Microfinance Institutions. JEL Classification Codes: G20, G21, G23, G28, G33.

Solubility is an important physicochemical factor affecting absorption of drug and there by its therapeutic effect. About 40% of newly discovered drugs are lipophilic and failed to reach market due to their poor water solubility. Solid dispersions proved to have tremendous potential for improving drug solubility. Orlistat is a poor water soluble substance possessing anti-obesity property; in the present study an attempt was made to increase the solubility of orlistat by preparing solid dispersions using solvent evaporation technique. Three different formulations were prepared using Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC), Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Eudragit with varying ratios of drug and carrier viz. 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and the corresponding physical mixtures were also prepared. These solid dispersions were evaluated for flowability, solubility characteristics and in-vitro drug release. The in-vitro release of the formulation OP-SD3 was found to be best among all the 9 formulations with a release of 87.2% at the end of 2 hours. Release was best fitted with Korsmeyer-peppas kinetics and it shows that the drug release may follow diffusion mechanism. In-vitro dissolution studies showed that the dispersion system containing orlistat, dissolution of orlistat was retarded which attributed to ionic interaction and gel forming respectively but the solid dispersion containing PEG as carrier gave faster dissolution rate than physical mixture. Thus the solid dispersion technique found to be effective in increasing aqueous solubility of orlistat.