Design and production of methyl jasmonate nanoemulsions using experimental design technique and evaluation of its anti-cancer efficacy.

Methyl jasmonate (MJ), a plant-derived stress hormone, has been shown to be a promising anti-cancer agent with high selectivity toward cancerous cells. The aim of the present study was to design a MJ loaded nanoemulsion (NE) to overcome the low MJ water solubility and also improve its anti-cancer efficiency. Box-Behnken design (BBD) was employed to optimize the composition effect of three independent manufacturing variables on two responses including average droplet size and poly dispersity index (PDI). ANOVA analysis indicated that both of the studied responses were well fitted by resultant quadratic models with the coefficient of determinations (R2) 0.994 and 0.975, respectively. The actual average droplet size 75.06 nm and PDI 0.017 obtained for the optimum MJNE was in good agreement with those values predicted with numerical optimization. Physicochemical characterization indicated that the optimum MJNE was transparent, isotropic, spherical and sterically stabilized. MTT assay indicated that MJNE was more efficacious in killing cancer cells than MJ solution. Cell cycle analysis revealed that MJNE induced a stronger sub-G1 arrest than MJ solution. A considerable absence of toxicity was achieved for MJNE and blank NE in HUVEC normal cells. These results may provide strong support to develop a NE delivery system as a promising carrier for improving the safety and anti-cancer efficacy of MJ.

Clinicians hold the key to profitable managed care contracting.

A managed care contract's effect on the financial health of an organization is related in part to utilization and quality management issues. Physicians and other clinicians who are involved in case management can illuminate how these issues, in relation to the contract terms, can affect the organization's bottom line. Clinicians should be part of a contract-negotiating team that also includes financial professionals and contract negotiators, in addition to legal counsel.

Integrating GIS and fuzzy logic for urban solid waste management (a case study of Sanandaj city, Iran).

The city of Sanandaj with population of 340000 in 2003 produces 714 tons of solid waste per day. Waste dumping is the main method of solid waste disposal during the thirty past years. The conditions show that the present site is quite unsuitable because many principles and criteria for site selection are not considered. So in the near future, the severe environmental impacts will threats the health of Sanandaj's inhabitants. The research attempts to integrate fuzzy logic and GIS with the help of Remote Sensing in selecting the most suitable area for the waste disposal. In this study we georeferenced many data which ranges from physical to socio-economic to monitor the impacts of all different factors. Some of these factors are; distance from the legal limits of the city, distance from main road, airport, main urban utilities, other human settlements, surface water resources, wind direction, population density, gradient, fault line, vegetation cover and geology. The data and information has been integrated and then by using satellite images, three areas in the 20 km of north east of Sanandaj city were identified for the solid waste disposal.

A strategy for the cost containment of surgical implant purchases.

Although the experience of the Hospital for Joint Diseases is unique in terms of size of market controlled, the cost-containment techniques described above are applicable to almost any hospital. A crucial factor in any such process is enlisting the active participation of the surgical staff at every stage. On the basis of the success, this cost-containment procedure is being applied to other components of the medical device purchases.

An epidemiologic approach to community air lead exposure using personal air samplers.

Accurate information on the relationship between blood lead and air lead is essential to any consideration of the possible effect of air lead on the body burden. Past studies of occupationally exposed workers have established that such a relationship exists at high levels of air lead exposure. No such information has been available for subjects exposed to the low air lead levels representative of present-day community exposure. Past studies in this area have suffered from inadequate information on actual lead exposure at the air lead levels of concern. Researchers have has to rely on air lead data obtained from stationary samp;ing stations. Because wide variations can exist betwween locations within a city such information could not be assumed to represent the exposure of any individual subject. At lbest they can be considered only approximations of actual exposures. The Naational Research Council recognized the deficiencies of past studies in their report "Airborne lead in perspective" and recommended that "more precise studies are needed of the relation between atmospheric lead in the urban environment and the concentration of lead in the blood, perphaps by the use of personal monitors". This paper describes the study which was undertaken to evaluate the effect of air lead exposure as measured with personal air sampling devices on indices of lead absorption such as blood lead, urine lead, DALA and ALAD activity...