Microneedle arrays as transdermal and intradermal drug delivery systems: Materials science, manufacture and commercial development

Transdermal drug delivery offers a number of advantages for the patient, due not only its non-invasive and convenient nature, but also factors such as avoidance of first pass metabolism and prevention of gastrointestinal degradation. It has been demonstrated that microneedle arrays can increase the number of compounds amenable to transdermal delivery by penetrating the skin's protective barrier, the stratum corneum, and creating a pathway for drug permeation to the dermal tissue below. Microneedles have been extensively investigated in recent decades for drug and vaccine delivery as well as minimally invasive patient monitoring/diagnosis. This review focuses on a range of critically important aspects of microneedle technology, namely their material composition, manufacturing techniques, methods of evaluation and commercial translation to the clinic for patient benefit and economic return. Microneedle research and development is finally now at the stage where commercialisation is a realistic possibility. However, progress is still required in the areas of scaled-up manufacture and regulatory approval.

Equipping young people to engage with media driven science experiences: beyond science knowledge to science literacy and discerning consumers of news.

This paper reports on a study of a curricular intervention for pupils (age 10-13 years) in the UK aimed at supporting critical engagement with science based media reports. In particular the study focused on core elements of knowledge, skills and attitudes identified in previous studies that characterize critical consumers of science presented as news. This was an empirical study based on classroom observation. Data included responses from individual pupils, in addition video recording of group activity and intentional conversations between pupils and teachers were scrutinised. Analysis focused on core tasks relating to different elements of critical reading. Pupils demonstrated a grasp of questioning and evaluating text, however the capacity to translate this experience in support of a critical response to a media report with a science component is limited in assessing the credibility of text and as an element in critical reading.

Differential Scanning Calorimetry Study and Computer Modeling of b a Phase Transformation in Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

The relationship between heat-treatment parameters and microstructure in titanium alloys has so far been mainly studied empirically, using characterization techniques such as microscopy. Calculation and modeling of the kinetics of phase transformation have not yet been widely used for these alloys. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been widely used for the study of a variety of phase transformations. There has been much work done on the calculation and modeling of the kinetics of phase transformations for different systems based on the results from DSC study. In the present work, the kinetics of the transformation in a Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy were studied using DSC, at continuous cooling conditions with constant cooling rates of 5 °C, 10 °C, 20 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C/min. The results from calorimetry were then used to trace and model the transformation kinetics in continuous cooling conditions. Based on suitably interpreted DSC results, continuous cooling–transformation (CCT) diagrams were calculated with lines of isotransformed fraction. The kinetics of transformation were modeled using the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) theory and by applying the "concept of additivity." The JMA kinetic parameters were derived. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental transformed fractions is demonstrated. Using the derived kinetic parameters, the transformation in a Ti-6Al-4V alloy can be described for any cooling path and condition. An interpretation of the results from the point of view of activation energy for nucleation is also presented.

Disabled Children Negotiating School Life: Agency, Difference and Teaching Practice

This paper explores the school experiences of seven 11–14 year old disabled children, and focuses on their agency as they negotiated a complex, changing, and often challenging social world at school where “difference” was experienced in negative ways. The paper draws on ethnographic data from a wider three-year study that explores the influence of school experiences on both disabled and non-disabled children’s identity as they make the transition from primary to secondary school in regular New Zealand schools (although the focus of the present paper is only on the experiences of disabled children). The wider study considers how Maori (indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand) and Pakeha (New Zealanders of NZ European descent) disabled children and their non- disabled matched peers (matched for age, gender and classroom) understand their personal identity, and how factors relating to transition (from primary to secondary school); culture; impairment (in the case of disabled children); social relationships; and school experience impact on children’s identities. Data on Maori children’s school experiences is currently being collected, and is not yet available for inclusion in this paper. On the basis of our observations in schools we will illustrate how disabled children felt and were made to feel different through an array of structural barriers such as separate provision for disabled students, and peer and teacher attitudes to diversity. However, we agree with Davis, Watson, Shakespeare and Corker’s (2003) interpretation that disabled children’s rights and participation at school are also under attack from a “deeper cultural division” (p. 205) in schools based on discourses of difference and normality. While disabled students in our study were trying to actively construct and shape their social and educational worlds, our data also show that teachers and peers have the capacity to either support or supplant these attempts to be part of the group of “all children”. We suggest that finding solutions that support disabled children’s full inclusion and participation at school requires a multi-faceted and systemic approach focused on a pedagogy for diverse learners, and on a consistent and explicitly inclusive policy framework centred on children’s rights.

Modeling and reasoning with qualitative comparative clinical knowledge

The number of clinical trials reports is increasing rapidly due to a large number of clinical trials being conducted; it, therefore, raises an urgent need to utilize the clinical knowledge contained in the clinical trials reports. In this paper, we focus on the qualitative knowledge instead of quantitative knowledge. More precisely, we aim to model and reason with the qualitative comparison (QC for short) relations which consider qualitatively how strongly one drug/therapy is preferred to another in a clinical point of view. To this end, first, we formalize the QC relations, introduce the notions of QC language, QC base, and QC profile; second, we propose a set of induction rules for the QC relations and provide grading interpretations for the QC bases and show how to determine whether a QC base is consistent. Furthermore, when a QC base is inconsistent, we analyze how to measure inconsistencies among QC bases, and we propose different approaches to merging multiple QC bases. Finally, a case study on lowering intraocular pressure is conducted to illustrate our approaches.