Versatility of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology can be applied to a number of pharmaceutical processes, as ample of information can be stored and read rapidly from an RFID tag. Applications may range from inventory control, to access control, to telemedicine, to supply chain management and, most importantly, in combatting counterfeit products. Overall health care services can be improved by using this technology. This technology is gaining popularity in various fields, but is still costly and regulatory considerations are restricting its use. This paper explains the basics of RFID technology and some potential applications related to the pharmaceutical industry.     

Selective impairments of memory functioning in unmedicated adults with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome.

Different forms of memory linked to specific brain regions were assessed in unmedicated adults with Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome (TS) and in normal controls of equivalent age and educational attainment. TS patients were impaired on measures of strategic, working, and procedural memory associated with fronto-striatal function. In contrast, their performance was intact on measures of immediate, semantic, and declarative memory associated with temporal-diencephalic functioning. These findings are consistent with radiological evidence of fronto-striatal abnormalities in TS and provide convergent evidence that a fronto-striatal memory system mediates working memory in humans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On-farm evaluation of leaf color chart for need-based nitrogen management in irrigated transplanted rice in northwestern India

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in rice is low due to the inefficient management of fertilizer N by farmers. We evaluated a leaf color chart (LCC) as a simple tool for improving the time and rate of N fertilizer use in farmers’ fields for 4 years (2000–2003) in irrigated rice in northwestern India. Application of N fertilizer whenever leaf greenness was less than shade 4 on the LCC (the critical LCC value) produced rice grain yields on a par with blanket recommendation of applying 120 kg N ha⁻¹ in three equal splits in different years, but it resulted in an average saving of 26% fertilizer N across villages and seasons. In most situations, there was no significant advantage of applying 20 kg N ha⁻¹ as basal N at transplanting on grain yield and NUE of rice compared with no basal N. Use efficiencies of fertilizer N were higher when N was applied using LCC with a critical value of 4 than the recommended practice of applying 120 kg N ha⁻¹ in three equal split doses on all sites and in all years. The LCC with a critical value of 4 for real-time N management can be efficiently used to increase NUE in all types of inbred rice cultivars presently popular with the farmers of the Indian Punjab. The LCC is a cheap and easy-to-use tool that allows real-time N management by farmers on a large area leading to improved fertilizer N use efficiency, and reduced risks associated with fertilizer N application.     

The Immunometabolic Roles of Various Fatty Acids in Macrophages and Lymphocytes

Macrophages and lymphocytes demonstrate metabolic plasticity, which is dependent partly on their state of activation and partly on the availability of various energy yielding and biosynthetic substrates (fatty acids, glucose, and amino acids). These substrates are essential to fuel-based metabolic reprogramming that supports optimal immune function, including the inflammatory response. In this review, we will focus on metabolism in macrophages and lymphocytes and discuss the role of fatty acids in governing the phenotype, activation, and functional status of these important cells. We summarize the current understanding of the pathways of fatty acid metabolism and related mechanisms of action and also explore possible new perspectives in this exciting area of research.     

Bright two-photon emission and ultra-fast relaxation dynamics in a DNA-templated nanocluster investigated by ultra-fast spectroscopy

Metal nanoclusters have interesting steady state fluorescence emission, two-photon excited emission and ultrafast dynamics. A new subclass of fluorescent silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) are NanoCluster Beacons. NanoCluster Beacons consist of a weakly emissive Ag NC templated on a single stranded DNA ("Ag NC on ssDNA") that becomes highly fluorescent when a DNA enhancer sequence is brought in proximity to the Ag NC by DNA base pairing ("Ag NC on dsDNA"). Steady state fluorescence was observed at 540 nm for both Ag NC on ssDNA and dsDNA; emission at 650 nm is observed for Ag NC on dsDNA. The emission at 550 nm is eight times weaker than that at 650 nm. Fluorescence up-conversion was used to study the dynamics of the emission. Bi-exponential fluorescence decay was recorded at 550 nm with lifetimes of 1 ps and 17 ps. The emission at 650 nm was not observed at the time scale investigated but has been reported to have a lifetime of 3.48 ns. Two-photon excited fluorescence was detected for Ag NC on dsDNA at 630 nm when excited at 800 nm. The two-photon absorption cross-section was calculated to be ～3000 GM. Femtosecond transient absorption experiments were performed to investigate the excited state dynamics of DNA-Ag NC. An excited state unique to Ag NC on dsDNA was identified at ～580 nm as an excited state bleach that related directly to the emission at 650 nm based on the excitation spectrum. Based on the optical results, a simple four level system is used to describe the emission mechanism for Ag NC on dsDNA.     

Clinical evaluation of respiratory motion compensation for anatomical roadmap guided cardiac electrophysiology procedures

X-ray fluoroscopically guided cardiac electrophysiological procedures are routinely carried out for diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. X-ray images have poor soft tissue contrast and, for this reason, overlay of static 3-D roadmaps derived from preprocedural volumetric data can be used to add anatomical information. However, the registration between the 3-D roadmap and the 2-D X-ray image can be compromised by patient respiratory motion. Three methods were designed and evaluated to correct for respiratory motion using features in the 2-D X-ray images. The first method is based on tracking either the diaphragm or the heart border using the image intensity in a region of interest. The second method detects the tracheal bifurcation using the generalized Hough transform and a 3-D model derived from 3-D preoperative volumetric data. The third method is based on tracking the coronary sinus (CS) catheter. This method uses blob detection to find all possible catheter electrodes in the X-ray image. A cost function is applied to select one CS catheter from all catheter-like objects. All three methods were applied to X-ray images from 18 patients undergoing radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. The 2-D target registration errors (TRE) at the pulmonary veins were calculated to validate the methods. A TRE of 1.6 mm ± 0.8 mm was achieved for the diaphragm tracking; 1.7 mm ± 0.9 mm for heart border tracking, 1.9 mm ± 1.0 mm for trachea tracking, and 1.8 mm ± 0.9 mm for CS catheter tracking. We present a comprehensive comparison between the techniques in terms of robustness, as computed by tracking errors, and accuracy, as computed by TRE using two independent approaches.     

Multi-Resonating Structures for Broadband Impedance Matching in Ultrawideband Antenna

Wireless Personal Communications - The feature of Dynamic topology configuration of MANET reciprocates the security constraints and bring in many security threats that hamper the routing and time...     

Energy efficient secured routing protocol for MANETs

The design of routing protocol with energy efficiency and security is a challenging task. To overcome this challenge, we propose energy-efficient secured routing protocol. The objective of our work is to provide a secured routing protocol, which is energy efficient. To provide security for both link and message without relying on the third party, we provide security to the protocol by choosing a secure link for routing using Secure Optimized Link State Routing Protocol. Each node chooses multipoint relay nodes amongst the set of one-hop neighbors, so as to reach all two-hop neighbors. The access control entity authorizes nodes announcing the node identification to the network. In addition, the access control entity signs a public key Ki, a private key ki, and the certificate Ci required by an authorized node to obtain the group key. Each node maintains a route table with power status as one of its entry. After selecting the link, on requirement of a new route, we check nodes’ power status in its routing table and then accordingly arise a route. Then, we perform group key distribution using the generated keys using a small number of messages which helps reducing energy consumption. The group key can be altered periodically to avoid nonauthorized nodes and to avoid the use of the same group key in more than some amount of data. Then, we provide communication privacy for both message sender and message recipient using Secure Source Anonymous Message Authentication Scheme. Thereby, the message sender or the sending node generates a source anonymous message authentication for message for releasing each message based on the MES scheme. Hence, our approach will provide message content authenticity without relying on any trusted third parties.