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Since the start of life on the earth, humans have applied plenty of substances to their skin as cosmetics and therapeutic agents. However, it was the 20 th century once the skin became used as route for future drug delivery.Today about two third of drugs (available in market) are taken orally, but these aren’t as effective as required. To enhance upon the features the transdermal drug Delivery system was emerged. Amongst all techniques that transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS), also referred to as “patches,” are dosage forms designed to deliver a therapeutically effective quantity of drug across a patient’s Skin. It give controlled continuous delivery of drugs via the skin to the systemic circulation. Advantage of transdermal drug delivery system are limitation of hepatic first pass metabolism, improvement of therapeutic potency and maintenance of steady plasma level of the drug. transdermal patch (Skin Patch) uses a special membrane to control the rate At which the liquid drug contained in the reservoir within the patch will pass through the skin and Into the bloodstream. Drugs administered through skin patches include scopolamine (for motion sickness), nicotine (for quitting smoking), estrogen (for menopause and to stop osteoporosis after menopause), nitroglycerin (for angina), and lidocaine to relieve the pain of shingles (herpes zoster).Transdermal patches were developed in the 1970s and the first was approved by the FDA in 1979 for the treatment of motion Sickness. IN 1981, patches for nitroglycerin were approved, and today there exist variety Of patches for drugs such as clonidine, fentanyl, Lidocaine, nicotine, nitroglycerin, estradiol, Oxybutinin, scopolamine, and testosterone. There are combination patches for Contraception, also as hormone replacement. Depending on the drug, the patches typically last from 1to7days. Non-medicated patch markets include Thermal and cold patches, nutrient patches ,skin care patches. Skin patch uses a special membrane to manage the rate at which the liquid drug contained in reservoir within patch will pass through the skin and into the bloodstream. Some drugs should be combined with substances, such as alcohol, that increase their ability to penetrate the skin so as to be used in skin patch. From last twenty years over thirty five transdermal products are approved generating sale of $3.2 billion in 2002,which is predicted to rise to $4.5 billion in 2008. TDDS are adhesive drug-containing devices of defined surface area that deliver predetermined quantity of drug to the surface of intact skin at a programmed rate to reach the systemic circulation. The greatest challenge for transdermal delivery is that only a limited number of medicine are able to administration by this route.Tansdermal route of administration is reflected as one of the potential route for The local and systemic delivery of drugs. Transdermal patches provides better therapeutic effect with minimum facet effects transdermal patches are designed to release the active ingredient at a zero order rate for a period of several hours to days following application to the skin.

Across the globe and mainly in India, several cases of Mucormycosis in people with COVID19 have been increasingly reported. The rise in the number of cases, the emergence of new risk factors and causative agents, mortality associated with mucormycosis in India is considerably high and the challenges in managing the disease. Mucormycosis is a rare but often fatal disease caused by certain fungi. It is sometimes called zygomycosis or phycomycosis. It is an opportunistic infection that typically develops in patients with weakened immune systems, diabetes, kidney failure, organ transplants or chemotherapy for cancer. Mucormycosis is a rare angio invasive infection mainly recognized in immuno-compromised patients which occurs due to the fungi mucorales. This rare fungal infection can be classified into rhino-orbitocerebral, cutaneous, disseminated, gastrointestinal and pulmonary types. In this we discuss about the herbal drugs used in the treatment of Mucormycosis. For mucormycosis,it is very important to get treatment as if left untreated this can prove fatal.In this article we will discuss mucormycosis,its causative agents and symptoms of mucormycosis infection and how it can be managed using Ayurvedic formulations

Introduction: The study of pancreatic regeneration would benefit greatly from the design and validation of robust human-based models. Human Pancreatic Slices (HPSs) are thin organotypic sections of live pancreatic tissue. The sectioning method preserves the overall histological structure of the organ, maintaining the integrity of the extracellular matrix and the natural interaction between the endocrine and exocrine compartments, as well as the local neural, vascular and immune milieu. Conditions for the long-term culture of HPSs, recently reported by our team, have enabled the real-time analysis of beta-cell neogenesis using adenoviral (AV) co-transduction of a red-green reporter and an insulin tracer in human pancreatic slices. However, the ability of these cells to respond to glucose was not established at that time. Methods: To determine whether new INS+ cells respond to glucose, we have designed an AV in which INS-dependent recombination leads to the expression of a blue marker (moxBFP) and a Calcium Imaging Reporter (gcAMP6s, green) whose intensity is proportional to glucose-dependent INS secretion. This allowed us to monitor glucose-stimulated calcium influx in the newly created cells. To track the generation of new beta cells with an even higher degree of resolution we subsequently placed the transduced slices in a custom-made microfluid chip. Conclusions: This setting further allows for longitudinal functional analyses in precise and highly controlled experimental conditions. Our ability to study regeneration in a clinically meaningful model represents a groundbreaking advance that may fast-track the screening and preclinical development of therapeutic agents. Disclosure S. Alvarez-cubela: n/a. A. Pugliese: Advisory Panel; Provention Bio, Inc., Consultant; Quell Tx. C. Ricordi: Advisory Panel; Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. E. Oltra: None. A. Pugliese: Advisory Panel; Provention Bio, Inc., Consultant; Quell Tx. A. G. Agarwal: None. R. Pastori: None. J. Domínguez-bendala: None. D. Klein: None. C. G. Alver: None. M. Qadir: None. L. Mateus goncalves: None. F. Qureshi: None. J. Almaca: None. C. Fraker: None. A. Caicedo: None. Funding National Institutes of Health (RO1DK130846UO1DK12393)

The interaction of a perfluorinated anion exchange membrane (AEM), initially in the hydroxide form, with atmospheric CO2 at 60 °C and under a range of relative humidity conditions is studied both in a fuel cell and with ex situ measurements to understand the performance drop. A new novel titration method was used to quantify the amounts of hydroxide, carbonate and bicarbonate in the membrane. However, hydroxide and bicarbonate react internally which disturbs the equilibrium and hence it's impossible to detect real species concentration using titration. The uptake of CO2 leads to a rise in membrane mass within the first 15 min. The anionic conductivity of the AEM experiences a quick drop within 20 minutes to carbonate and bicarbonate levels. However, switching the inlet gas to 0 ppm CO2 reverses the equilibrium due to the desorption phenomenon. Investigating the morphology of the film by small angle X-ray scattering shows that the ionomer domains lose intensity as the reaction progresses, and the drop is of the double-exponential type but the time of equilibration is slower when compared to that of the conductivity. The wide-angle X-ray scattering data were fit to 3 Gaussian peaks showing that the CF2 inter-chain spacing becomes less crystalline during the process. 30% of peak power was lost for this membrane in an AEM fuel cell on addition of CO2, yet we observed the highest H2/ambient air (400 ppm CO2) performance, 446 mW cm−2, reported to date.

Introduction: Malignant otitis externa is an aggressive and potentially fatal infection of ear and skull base. Few studies have attempted to frame a protocol for management of this condition. However, the applicability of protocols involving radionuclide investigations in rural areas with restricted access is a challenge. Also, treatment with oral quinolones has since been threatened as their use has become widespread and indiscriminate. Objective: Owing to lack of standardized diagnostic criterion and treatment regimes, and growing concerns regarding quinolone resistance, we reviewed cases of malignant otitis externa treated across two different socio-economic centres to identify diagnostic and management difficulties. Methods: A retrospective data analysis of patients with malignant otitis externa managed in a tertiary and primary care hospital was done between December 2017 and November 2018. All relevant data was retrieved for assessment. Results: 43 patients were identified, out of these 19 were at the private institute and 24 at the charitable institute. Otalgia was the predominant symptom among all. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most commonly isolated organism (81% of patients). Ciprofloxacin resistance reported was 38%. The tertiary care institute used CT and Gallium scans for diagnosis, whereas primary centre employed clinical parameters and CT only. Treatment included Meropenem, Ceftazidime, Amikacin at tertiary centre and Ciprofloxacin and Streptomycin at primary centre. Conclusions: Incidence of Ciprofloxacin resistance was high in our study confirming the growing concern documented in other studies. Access to higher antibiotics was restricted in rural areas where Streptomycin was used in combination with other drugs with promising results.

For AEMFC, OH- form of membrane reacts with CO2 when exposed to air leading to loss in conductivity. Very few attempts have been made to understand the reaction kinetics, morphological properties and equilibrium concentrations at different environmental conditions. We have attempted to study the CO2 kinetics and its effect on water-uptake (or lambda) and morphology(SAXS) when the OH- form of membrane is exposed to air which has approx. 400 ppm of CO2. The kinetics was studied by exposing the membrane to controlled environment and titrating it using Warder and Winkler titration methods. From transient SAXS analysis we observe the intensity of ionomer feature of membrane spectrum dropping over time. Also the d-spacing at equilibrium is lower than the initial value. Ultimately we want to understand the effect of CO2 on membrane from every aspect and possibly help us think about strategies to mitigate the problem.

Anion-exchange membranes (AEM) containing saturated-heterocyclic benzyl-quaternary ammonium (QA) groups synthesised by radiation-grafting onto poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) films are reported. The relative properties of these AEMs are compared with the benchmark radiation-grafted ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyltrimethylammonium) AEM. Two AEMs containing heterocyclic-QA head groups were down-selected with higher relative stabilities in aqueous KOH (1 mol dm−3) at 80 °C (compared to the benchmark): these 100 μm thick (fully hydrated) ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyl-N-methylpiperidinium)- and ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium)-based AEMs had as-synthesised ion-exchange capacities (IEC) of 1.64 and 1.66 mmol g−1, respectively, which reduced to 1.36 mmol dm−3 (ca. 17–18% loss of IEC) after alkali ageing (the benchmark AEM showed 30% loss of IEC under the same conditions). These down-selected AEMs exhibited as-synthesised Cl− ion conductivities of 49 and 52 mS cm−1, respectively, at 90 °C in a 95% relative humidity atmosphere, while the OH− forms exhibited conductivities of 138 and 159 mS cm−1, respectively, at 80 °C in a 95% relative humidity atmosphere. The ETFE-g-poly(vinylbenzyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium)-based AEM produced the highest performances when tested as catalyst coated membranes in H2/O2 alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells at 60 °C with PtRu/C anodes, Pt/C cathodes, and a polysulfone ionomer: the 100 μm thick variant (synthesised from 50 μm thick ETFE) yielded peak power densities of 800 and 630 mW cm−2 (with and without 0.1 MPa back pressurisation, respectively), while a 52 μm thick variant (synthesised from 25 μm thick ETFE) yielded 980 and 800 mW cm−2 under the same conditions. From these results, we make the recommendation that developers of AEMs, especially pendent benzyl-QA types, should consider the benzyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium head-group as an improvement to the current de facto benchmark benzyltrimethylammonium head-group.

The micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) was studied for the removal of heavy metals using a mixture of non-ionic surfactant TWEEN-80 and anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS). The gel polarization model and resistance-in-series model were used to estimate the mass transfer coefficient (3 x 10-6 m/s) and the permeate flux. The total metal ion concentration was varied from 1 mM-4 mM and the corresponding effect of the trans-membrane pressure and limiting fluxes were studied. The modified resistance-in-series model was applied to these experimental data to correlate the flux with the feed concentration and applied pressure.

Perfluorinated anion exchange membranes are promising materials for alkaline fuel cell applications. Our previous work indicates they have high conductivity of >100 mS/cm at 80ᵒC and 95%RH.(1) They have also displayed good fuel cell performance of 1W/cm2.(2) We have also performed transmission small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) of the bulk membrane to understand the bulk morphology.(3) Properties of Perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers as thin films have been thoroughly investigated in the past.(4) However, there is no literature about thin film characterization of perfluorinated anion exchange polymer and hence there is a lack of understanding about the interfacial properties. Here, we have studied the structure of these materials using Grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS). Polymer solutions of different concentrations were used to spin-cast the thin films onto silicon substrates with native oxide layer and also coated with silver and Platinum.. Ellipsometry was used to obtain a calibration curve of thin film thickness vs. concentration of the polymer solution (wt%). From GISAXS, we can conclude that the polymer chains align horizontally parallel to the plain silicon as well as silver substrate. This alignment becomes significant at higher film thicknesses. Understanding the interfacial alignments of polymer on potential catalyst surfaces will help us better design them for optimal fuel cell performance or other electro-chemical applications. References: A. G. Divekar, M.-C. Kuo, A. M. Park, A. R. Motz, Z. S. Page-Belknap, Z. Owczarczyk, H. Long, S. Seifert, C. M. Maupin, M. A. Yandrasits, Y. Yang, B. S. Pivovar and H. A. M., Journal of Polymer Science: Part B (2019). T. J. Omasta, A. M. Park, J. M. Lamanna, Y. Zhang, X. Peng, L. Wang, D. L. Jacobson, J. R. Varcoe, D. S. Hussey, B. S. Pivovar and W. E. Mustain, Energy & Environmental Science, 11, 551 (2018). A. G. Divekar, A. M. Park, Z. R. Owczarczyk, S. Seifert, B. S. Pivovar and A. M. Herring, ECS Transactions, 80, 1005 (2017). M. A. Modestino, A. Kusoglu, A. Hexemer, A. Z. Weber and R. A. Segalman, Macromolecules, 45, 4681 (2012). Figure 1

Anion exchange membranes for fuel cell are a promising technology for stationary applications. The technology still needs to overcome certain challenges before they can be applied to vehicular applications. These challenges include enhancing the durability of the cell performance and a solution to carbon-dioxide poisoning problem. This work will focus on the carbon-dioxide issue. In the past couple of years, a lot of emphasis has been placed on understanding the effect of carbon-dioxide on the material or electrochemical characteristics of the membrane.1-3 We have investigated the effect of carbon-dioxide on ionic concentrations, conductivity and the morphological characteristics of the membrane. We have also studied the equilibrium carbonate-bicarbonate concentration at different temperatures.2 However, we haven’t investigated the physical quantities of carbon-dioxide absorption like mass-transfer coefficient and diffusivity of the CO2 through the membrane. Researchers have tried to assume classical mass transfer absorption models in their simulation works however no one has attempted to experimentally investigate these crucial properties.4 Therefore, this work will discuss absorption phenomenon from a chemical engineering point to shed more light on the CO2 problem. Here we have used CO2 sensors to track the absorption of CO2 at different conditions. We have also conducted segmented cell tests to spatially understand the spatial effects of CO2 absorption on current density and voltage in-situ fuel cell test. The data will be fit to models to better predict the CO2 absorption with chemical reaction.5, 6 Ultimately this would be very useful to modelers so they can incorporate these absorption models and come up with better ways to operate the fuel cell using ambient air(400 ppm CO2). References: H. Yanagi and K. Fukuta, ECS Transactions, 2008, 16, 257-262. A. G. Divekar, B. S. Pivovar and A. M. Herring, ECS Transactions, 2018, 86, 643-648. A. G. Divekar, A. M. Park, Z. R. Owczarczyk, S. Seifert, B. S. Pivovar and A. M. Herring, ECS Transactions, 2017, 80, 1005-1011. J. A. Wrubel, A. A. Peracchio, B. N. Cassenti, T. D. Myles, K. N. Grew and W. K. S. Chiu, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2017, 164, F1063-F1073. V. A. Juvekar and M. M. Sharma, Chemical Engineering Science, 1973, 28, 825-837. P. Danckwerts, Gas-liquid reactions, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1970.

One of the hurdles in Anion exchange membrane fuel cell technology is weaker understanding of CO2 poisoning observed when they are exposed to air. Our previous work suggests that OH- ions depletes in approximately 15 min to form CO3 2- and HCO3 - ions when exposed to ambient air at 30 °C and 95%RH[1]. However, an actual fuel cell device is operated at a much higher temperature. In this study we have obtained the CO2 absorption data at different temperatures and different CO2 concentration environment. Our data suggest that the air equilibrated AEM concentration of CO3 2- increases at higher temperatures whereas HCO3 - concentration follows a decreasing trend. The OH- ion has a very insignificant change at higher temperatures but we observe that the equilibrium OH- concentration is higher at lower ppm level of CO2 environment. This indicates that the CO2 reaction is dependent on CO2 concentration in air. We have also studied the transient change in ionic conductivity of OH- AEM films in ambient air. Here, we observe the nature of drop in conductivity when exposed to air. We have attempted to fit the conductivity data to mathematical models that will give us more insights into absorption phenomenon of CO2. Acknowledgements: This research was funded by the Department of energy through NREL. The AEM samples were supplied by Dr. Bryan Pivovar’s group at NREL. Reference A.G. Divekar, A. M. Park, Z. R. Owczarczyk, S. Seifert, B. S. Pivovar and A. M. Herring, ECS Transactions, 80, 1005 (2017). Figure 1

Till about 15 years ago, the only choice of hearing improvement for moderate sensorineural hearing loss with severe speech discrimination defect was a hearing aid. It was only after Mr. Geoff Ball, an electronic engineer who was suffering from a similar defect, started thinking of an alternative to the conventional hearing aid that the Vibrant Soundbridge came into existence, and with the passage of time the indications for the use of the same have increased.

For AEMFC OH- form of membrane reacts with CO2 when exposed to air leading to loss in conductivity. The data published by Yanagi et.al.[1] suggest that OH species reacts to form Carbonate/bicarbonate in few minutes and after 2 h the membrane only consists of carbonate and bicarbonate. Although this is an important data to consider the reaction kinetics, morphological properties and equilibrium concentrations are still unknown at different environmental conditions. We have attempted to study the CO2 kinetics and its transient effect on conductivity, water-uptake (or lambda) and morphology when the OH- form of PFAEM membrane is exposed to air which has approx. 400 ppm of CO2. The kinetics was studied by exposing the membrane to controlled environment and titrating it using Warder and Winkler titration methods. We have studied transient change in small angle x-ray scattering patterns when the films are exposed to air at different conditions to study the change in d-spacing of the ionic domains. From SAXS analysis it can be concluded that the intensity of spectrum drops over time and the time of equilibration is higher at higher humidity. It takes few hours for the conductivity to drop to carbonate/bicarbonate level. Ultimately we want to understand the effect of CO2 on membrane from every aspect and possibly help us think about strategies to mitigate the problem. Keywords: Anionic exchange membrane, Carbonate,bicarbonate,carbon-dioxide, small angle x-ray scattering Ref: [1]Yanagi and Fukuta, ECS transactions,16(2008). Figure 1

Anionic exchange membrane fuel cell is a promising new technology which potentially meets the challenges faced by other low-temperature fuel cells like Proton-exchange membranes. Anionic exchange membrane can be operated with non-noble catalyst. To design a robust material which is hydroxide conductive, chemically stable and mechanically strong is the biggest challenge to make this technology commercial. This research focuses on the characterization of a novel anionic exchange membrane with PTFE backbone. The experimental ion-exchange capacity of this polymer is 0.9 mmol/gm. The conductivity of this membrane was measured in its chloride form. We observed the highest value of 0.039 S/cm conductivity at 80 0C and 95%RH. The polymer also shows water uptake of 11 % and λ value of 6.8 at 60 0C and 95% RH. The small-angle x-ray scattering analysis of this membrane shows the polymer’s ionomer peak and we understand that the swelling of the polymer is higher at higher temperature. From this analysis, this material can be expected to exhibit higher hydroxide conductivities and good mechanical stability and hence this polymer is a promising candidate for anionic exchange membranes. Keywords: Anionic exchange membrane, PTFE backbone Figure 1