Displaying publications 421 - 440 of 9860 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Li A, Zain NM, Yusuf A, Deng H, He Q
    Nurse Educ Pract, 2024 Jul;78:103988.
    PMID: 38843688 DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2024.103988
    OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the effects of online education for practical skills among nursing students.

    METHODS: This research was done by searching PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Web of Science electronic databases from inception to August 18, 2023, to identify English-language articles. Data extraction, quality assessment, and literature screening were carried out independently by two researchers. The Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Methodological Items for Nonrandomized Studies (MINORS) tool were used to assess the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was carried out using Review Manager (RevMan) version 5.3 software.

    RESULTS: Eighteen studies involving 2274 nursing students met the inclusion criteria. Nursing students' skills (SMD = 0.43, 95 % CI [0.33, 0.54], P<0.00001), knowledge (SMD = 0.16, 95 % CI (0.02, 0.30], P = 0.02), satisfaction (SMD = 0.29, 95 % CI (0.10, 0.47], P < 0.01), and confidence (SMD = 0.56, 95 % CI [0.29, 0.83], P < 0.0001) were all significantly improved by the online teaching intervention compared with traditional face-to-face instruction. Self-efficacy (SMD = 0.1, 95 % CI [-0.13, 0.33], P = 0.41) was also improved, but the difference was not statistically significant.

    CONCLUSION: Online learning is a novel and efficient approach to teaching practical skills to nursing students. Online education can enhance students' knowledge, skills, confidence, and learning satisfaction, and it is superior to traditional classroom instruction. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for the development of standardized online teaching techniques and assessment metrics.

    Matched MeSH terms: Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate/methods
  2. Ahmad UF, Mahdee J, Abu Bakar N
    F1000Res, 2022;11:714.
    PMID: 38708191 DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.73382.2
    BACKGROUND: Marketers face evolution of online brand positioning marketing strategy due to changes of search engine algorithm that affects the reaching out of brands to potential internet users. Brand owners realise that to be relevant in modern market, they need to transition and focus more into online market. However, many brand owners have ignored the power of search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy for attracting the online market, which is highly competitive and faces rapid changes.  A brand can be considered as old fashioned if it does not utilise the SEO as their marketing strategy, in penetrating the online marketplace. Various studies have analysed factors that can enhance the persistency of using the SEO strategy, however gaps remain regarding the relationship of this strategy with the online brand positioning. The main aim of this study was to identify the persistency of using the SEO strategy including the niche point of differentiation, valuable content, targeted keyword and scalable link building, as the determinants that enhance the success of online brand positioning.

    METHODS: This study applies quantitative design using online survey to gather information from the online business entrepreneurs. The survey questionnaire was arranged to focus on the use of SEO as a new way to strategise online business.

    RESULTS: Based on the results of this study, most online entrepreneurs have somewhat realised the effects of using the SEO strategy to enhance effectiveness of online brand positioning.

    CONCLUSION: This research provides insights into the importance of SEO strategy in online business positioning. It is hoped that online entrepreneurs will consider the SEO strategy in the positioning of their brand in the marketplace.

    IMPLICATION: This research focused on SEO as a new strategy to enhance brand positioning for online businesses. Future research may expand into another dimension of business such as customer satisfaction and business performance.

    Matched MeSH terms: Commerce/methods
  3. Kaur G, Thomas AR, Samson RS, Varghese E, Ponraj RR, Nagraj SK, et al.
    BMC Oral Health, 2024 May 04;24(1):532.
    PMID: 38704529 DOI: 10.1186/s12903-024-04259-w
    BACKGROUND: Successful endodontic treatment needs accurate determination of working length (WL). Electronic apex locators (EALs) were presented as an alternative to radiographic methods; and since then, they have evolved and gained popularity in the determination of WL. However, there is insufficient evidence on the post-operative pain, adequacy, and accuracy of EALs in determining WL.

    OBJECTIVE: The systematic review and meta-analysis aims to gather evidence regarding the effectiveness of EALs for WL determination when compared to different imaging techniques along with postoperative pain associated with WL determination, the number of radiographs taken during the procedure, the time taken, and the adverse effects.

    METHODS: For the review, clinical studies with cross-over and parallel-arm randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched in seven electronic databases, followed by cross-referencing of the selected studies and related research synthesis. Risk of bias (RoB) assessment was carried out with Cochrane's RoB tool and a random-effects model was used. The meta-analysis was performed with the RevMan software 5.4.1.

    RESULTS: Eleven eligible RCTs were incorporated into the review and eight RCTs into the meta-analysis, of which five had high RoB and the remaining six had unclear RoB. Following meta-analysis, no significant difference in postoperative pain was found among the EAL and radiograph groups (SMD 0.00, CI .29 to .28, 354 participants; P value = 0.98). Radiograph group showed better WL accuracy (SMD 0.55, CI .11 to .99, 254 participants; P value = 0.02), while the EAL group had 10% better WL adequacy (RR 1.10, CI 1.03-1.18, 573 participants; P value = 0.006).

    CONCLUSION: We found very low-certainty evidence to support the efficacy of different types of EAL compared to radiography for the outcomes tested. We were unable to reach any conclusions about the superiority of any type of EAL. Well-planned RCTs need to be conducted by standardizing the outcomes and outcome measurement methods.

    Matched MeSH terms: Odontometry/methods
  4. Choong YS, Mancera R, Lee VS
    Mol Biotechnol, 2024 Apr;66(4):567.
    PMID: 38337130 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-024-01073-1
    Matched MeSH terms: Computational Biology/methods
  5. Huang B, Li H, Fujita H, Sun X, Fang Z, Wang H, et al.
    Comput Biol Med, 2024 Aug;178:108733.
    PMID: 38897144 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.108733
    BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Liver segmentation is pivotal for the quantitative analysis of liver cancer. Although current deep learning methods have garnered remarkable achievements for medical image segmentation, they come with high computational costs, significantly limiting their practical application in the medical field. Therefore, the development of an efficient and lightweight liver segmentation model becomes particularly important.

    METHODS: In our paper, we propose a real-time, lightweight liver segmentation model named G-MBRMD. Specifically, we employ a Transformer-based complex model as the teacher and a convolution-based lightweight model as the student. By introducing proposed multi-head mapping and boundary reconstruction strategies during the knowledge distillation process, Our method effectively guides the student model to gradually comprehend and master the global boundary processing capabilities of the complex teacher model, significantly enhancing the student model's segmentation performance without adding any computational complexity.

    RESULTS: On the LITS dataset, we conducted rigorous comparative and ablation experiments, four key metrics were used for evaluation, including model size, inference speed, Dice coefficient, and HD95. Compared to other methods, our proposed model achieved an average Dice coefficient of 90.14±16.78%, with only 0.6 MB memory and 0.095 s inference speed for a single image on a standard CPU. Importantly, this approach improved the average Dice coefficient of the baseline student model by 1.64% without increasing computational complexity.

    CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate that our method successfully realizes the unification of segmentation precision and lightness, and greatly enhances its potential for widespread application in practical settings.

    Matched MeSH terms: Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods
  6. Lin HJ, Pan HY, Chen CH, Cheng HM, Chia YC, Sogunuru GP, et al.
    J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich), 2022 Sep;24(9):1161-1173.
    PMID: 36196472 DOI: 10.1111/jch.14549
    Home blood pressure (HBP) has been recognized as a prognostic predictor for cardiovascular events, and integrated into the diagnosis and management of hypertension. With increasing accessibility of oscillometric blood pressure devices, HBP monitoring is easy to perform, more likely to obtain reliable estimation of blood pressures, and feasible to document long-term blood pressure variations, compared to office and ambulatory blood pressures. To obtain reliable HBP estimates, a standardized HBP monitoring protocol is essential. A consensus regarding the optimal duration and frequency of HBP monitoring is yet to be established. Based on the current evidence, the "722" protocol, which stands for two measurements on one occasion, two occasions a day (morning and evening), and over a consecutive of 7 days, is most commonly used in clinical studies and recommended in relevant guidelines and consensus documents. HBP monitoring based on the "722" protocol fulfills the minimal requirement of blood pressure measurements to achieve agreement of blood pressure classifications defined by office blood pressures and to predict cardiovascular risks. In the Taiwan HBP consensus, the frequency of repeating the "722" protocol of HBP monitoring according to different scenarios of hypertension management, from every 2 weeks to 3 months, is recommended. It is reasonable to conclude that the "722" protocol for HBP monitoring is clinically justified and can serve as a basis for standardized HBP monitoring.
    Matched MeSH terms: Blood Pressure Determination/methods
  7. Segaran A, Chua LS
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2024 Sep;276(Pt 1):133856.
    PMID: 39009267 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133856
    Biomolecules, specifically proteins, polysaccharides, and secondary metabolites are potential lead compounds due to their remarkable pharmacological properties. However, the complex molecular structure of the biomolecules makes their separation processes of great challenges. The conventional downstream processes require multistep protocols that are less efficient, high solvent consumption, expensive, time-consuming, and laborious. Hence, aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) is a reliable technique for the extraction and purification of biomolecules from a complex mixture. ATPS is an environmentally friendly, simple, cost effective, and easily scalable process. It requires a short processing time to separate biomolecules of industrial values simultaneously in a single process. Modifications have also been performed by introducing deep eutectic solvents, ionic liquids, carbohydrates, amino acids or copolymers to enhance the process efficiency with an increased yield, purity and bioactivity of recovered biomolecules. This review attempts to review the recent developed ATPSs and their efficiency to extract, isolate, and purify biomolecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, secondary metabolites and other biological substances. The review provides insights into the feasibility and reliability of ATPS for biomolecule recovery.
    Matched MeSH terms: Chemical Fractionation/methods
  8. Shen XF, Khoo SS
    Hand Clin, 2024 May;40(2):237-248.
    PMID: 38553095 DOI: 10.1016/j.hcl.2023.10.004
    Microsurgery is undoubtedly the pinnacle of hand surgery. Significant advancement in recent years has stretched the indications for toe-to-hand transfer in both acquired and congenital hand defects to restore function, esthetics, and motion, with minimal morbidity to the donor site. There is no one fixed microsurgical transfer technique but a surgeon's versatility and innovation in using what one could spare because each case is unique. Esthetic refinements and reducing donor site morbidities have taken a front seat in recent years. We present a few cases to put forward the senior author's preferred techniques with this objective in mind.
    Matched MeSH terms: Microsurgery/methods
  9. Yu KL, Ong HC, Zaman HB
    J Environ Manage, 2024 Sep;368:122085.
    PMID: 39142099 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122085
    The production of renewable biofuel through microalgae and green technology can be a promising solution to meet future energy demands whilst reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and recovering energy for a carbon-neutral bio-economy and environmental sustainability. Recently, the integration of Energy Informatics (EI) technology as an emerging approach has ensured the feasibility and enhancement of microalgal biotechnology and bioenergy applications. Integrating EI technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), predictive modelling systems and life cycle analysis (LCA) in microalgae field applications can improve cost, efficiency, productivity and sustainability. With the approach of EI technology, data-driven insights and decision-making, resource optimization and a better understanding of the environmental impact of microalgae cultivation could be achieved, making it a crucial step in advancing this field and its applications. This review presents the conventional technologies in the microalgae-based system for wastewater treatment and bioenergy production. Furthermore, the recent integration of EI in microalgal technology from the AI application to the modelling and optimization using predictive control systems has been discussed. The LCA and techno-economic assessment (TEA) in the environmental sustainability and economic point of view are also presented. Future challenges and perspectives in the microalgae-based wastewater treatment to bioenergy production integrated with the EI approach, are also discussed in relation to the development of microalgae as the future energy source.
    Matched MeSH terms: Biotechnology/methods
  10. Masand VH, Al-Hussain S, Alzahrani AY, Al-Mutairi AA, Sultan Alqahtani A, Samad A, et al.
    Expert Opin Drug Discov, 2024 Aug;19(8):991-1009.
    PMID: 38898679 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2024.2368743
    BACKGROUND: Despite the progress in comprehending molecular design principles and biochemical processes associated with thrombin inhibition, there is a crucial need to optimize efforts and curtail the recurrence of synthesis-testing cycles. Nitrogen and N-heterocycles are key features of many anti-thrombin drugs. Hence, a pragmatic analysis of nitrogen and N-heterocycles in thrombin inhibitors is important throughout the drug discovery pipeline. In the present work, the authors present an analysis with a specific focus on understanding the occurrence and distribution of nitrogen and selected N-heterocycles in the realm of thrombin inhibitors.

    RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A dataset comprising 4359 thrombin inhibitors is used to scrutinize various categories of nitrogen atoms such as ring, non-ring, aromatic, and non-aromatic. In addition, selected aromatic and aliphatic N-heterocycles have been analyzed.

    RESULTS: The analysis indicates that ~62% of thrombin inhibitors possess five or fewer nitrogen atoms. Substituted N-heterocycles have a high occurrence, like pyrrolidine (23.24%), pyridine (20.56%), piperidine (16.10%), thiazole (9.61%), imidazole (7.36%), etc. in thrombin inhibitors.

    CONCLUSIONS: The majority of active thrombin inhibitors contain nitrogen atoms close to 5 and a combination of N-heterocycles like pyrrolidine, pyridine, piperidine, etc. This analysis provides crucial insights to optimize the transformation of lead compounds into potential anti-thrombin inhibitors.

    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Discovery/methods
  11. Pan X, Soh KG, Soh KL
    PLoS One, 2024;19(11):e0313105.
    PMID: 39514612 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313105
    Ball sports demand precise control of body and ball while executing tactics and team coordination, which leads to cognitive depletion and mental fatigue. The detrimental effects of mental fatigue on physical, technical, cognitive, and tactical performance in ball sports are evident, highlighting the need for effective management of mental fatigue as a crucial component of modern sports science. This review aims to systematically study and integrate existing experiments on mental fatigue recovery interventions to identify viable strategies for mitigating its impacts. Following PRISMA guidelines, electronic databases including Web of Science, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and Scopus were used for literature screening. Studies that induced mental fatigue followed by interventions aimed at mental fatigue recovery were included in this review, resulting in 6 articles primarily focused on basketball, soccer, and golf. Short-term interventions such as music listening, mindfulness training, self-talk, and natural visual stimuli have been shown as effective strategies to alleviate mental fatigue and enhance technical and cognitive performance in ball sports. However, their practical application in real-game environments requires further research and validation. Additionally, future research should explore defensive skills and tactical performance as viable directions for study.
    Matched MeSH terms: Mindfulness/methods
  12. Kusnadi K, Herdiana Y, Rochima E, Putra ON, Mohd Gazzali A, Muchtaridi M
    Int J Nanomedicine, 2024;19:11321-11341.
    PMID: 39524919 DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S485588
    BACKGROUND: Conventional wound dressings often adhere to wounds and can cause secondary injury due to their lack of anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. In contrast, collagen-based nanoparticles (NPs) as drug delivery systems exhibit both biocompatibility and biodegradability, presenting a promising avenue for accelerating wound healing processes.

    AIMS OF STUDY: This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms involved in wound healing, description of the attributes of ideal wound dressings, understanding of wound healing efficacy of collagen, exploring NPs-mediated drug delivery mechanisms in wound therapy, detailing the synthesis and fabrication techniques of collagen-based NPs, and delineating the applications of various collagen-based NPs infused wound dressings on wound healing.

    METHODOLOGY: This review synthesizes relevant literature from reputable databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed.

    RESULTS: A diverse array of collagen-based NPs, including nanopolymers, metal NPs, nanoemulsions, nanoliposomes, and nanofibers, demonstrate pronounced efficacy in promoting wound closure and tissue regeneration. The incorporation of collagen-based NPs has not only become an agent for the delivery of therapeutics but also actively contributes to the wound healing cascade.

    CONCLUSION: In conclusion, In brief, the use of collagen-based NPs presents a compelling strategy for expediting wound healing processes.

    Matched MeSH terms: Drug Delivery Systems/methods
  13. Hamidah NH, Munirah AR, Hafiza A, Farisah AR, Shuhaila A, Norzilawati MN, et al.
    Malays J Pathol, 2014 Dec;36(3):163-8.
    PMID: 25500514 MyJurnal
    Prenatal diagnosis is essential in the new era of diagnosis and management of genetic diseases in obstetrics. Multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) is a recent technique for prenatal diagnosis for the relative quantification of 40 different nucleic acid sequences in one single reaction. We had utilized the MLPA technique in detecting aneuploidies in amniotic fluid samples from 25 pregnant women from the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department UKMMC, versus the quantitative fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR) method. Conclusive results were obtained in 18 cases and all were concordant with that of the QF-PCR. All four cases of trisomies were correctly identified including one case with maternal cell contamination.
    Matched MeSH terms: Amniocentesis/methods*; Genetic Testing/methods*; Prenatal Diagnosis/methods*; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods*; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques/methods*
  14. Jalalian A, Mashohor SB, Mahmud HR, Saripan MI, Ramli AR, Karasfi B
    Clin Imaging, 2013 May-Jun;37(3):420-6.
    PMID: 23153689 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2012.09.024
    Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer among women worldwide. Early detection of breast cancer can increase treatment options and patients' survivability. Mammography is the gold standard for breast imaging and cancer detection. However, due to some limitations of this modality such as low sensitivity especially in dense breasts, other modalities like ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging are often suggested to achieve additional information. Recently, computer-aided detection or diagnosis (CAD) systems have been developed to help radiologists in order to increase diagnosis accuracy. Generally, a CAD system consists of four stages: (a) preprocessing, (b) segmentation of regions of interest, (c) feature extraction and selection, and finally (d) classification. This paper presents the approaches which are applied to develop CAD systems on mammography and ultrasound images. The performance evaluation metrics of CAD systems are also reviewed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Image Enhancement/methods*; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Mammography/methods*; Pattern Recognition, Automated/methods*; Ultrasonography, Mammary/methods*
  15. Albahri OS, Albahri AS, Mohammed KI, Zaidan AA, Zaidan BB, Hashim M, et al.
    J Med Syst, 2018 Mar 22;42(5):80.
    PMID: 29564649 DOI: 10.1007/s10916-018-0943-4
    The new and ground-breaking real-time remote monitoring in triage and priority-based sensor technology used in telemedicine have significantly bounded and dispersed communication components. To examine these technologies and provide researchers with a clear vision of this area, we must first be aware of the utilised approaches and existing limitations in this line of research. To this end, an extensive search was conducted to find articles dealing with (a) telemedicine, (b) triage, (c) priority and (d) sensor; (e) comprehensively review related applications and establish the coherent taxonomy of these articles. ScienceDirect, IEEE Xplore and Web of Science databases were checked for articles on triage and priority-based sensor technology in telemedicine. The retrieved articles were filtered according to the type of telemedicine technology explored. A total of 150 articles were selected and classified into two categories. The first category includes reviews and surveys of triage and priority-based sensor technology in telemedicine. The second category includes articles on the three-tiered architecture of telemedicine. Tier 1 represents the users. Sensors acquire the vital signs of the users and send them to Tier 2, which is the personal gateway that uses local area network protocols or wireless body area network. Medical data are sent from Tier 2 to Tier 3, which is the healthcare provider in medical institutes. Then, the motivation for using triage and priority-based sensor technology in telemedicine, the issues related to the obstruction of its application and the development and utilisation of telemedicine are examined on the basis of the findings presented in the literature.
    Matched MeSH terms: Emergency Medical Services/methods*; Monitoring, Physiologic/methods*; Triage/methods*; Telemedicine/methods*; Remote Sensing Technology/methods*
  16. Jamal N, Ng KH, Looi LM, McLean D, Zulfiqar A, Tan SP, et al.
    Phys Med Biol, 2006 Nov 21;51(22):5843-57.
    PMID: 17068368
    We describe a semi-automated technique for the quantitative assessment of breast density from digitized mammograms in comparison with patterns suggested by Tabar. It was developed using the MATLAB-based graphical user interface applications. It is based on an interactive thresholding method, after a short automated method that shows the fibroglandular tissue area, breast area and breast density each time new thresholds are placed on the image. The breast density is taken as a percentage of the fibroglandular tissue to the breast tissue areas. It was tested in four different ways, namely by examining: (i) correlation of the quantitative assessment results with subjective classification, (ii) classification performance using the quantitative assessment technique, (iii) interobserver agreement and (iv) intraobserver agreement. The results of the quantitative assessment correlated well (r2 = 0.92) with the subjective Tabar patterns classified by the radiologist (correctly classified 83% of digitized mammograms). The average kappa coefficient for the agreement between the readers was 0.63. This indicated moderate agreement between the three observers in classifying breast density using the quantitative assessment technique. The kappa coefficient of 0.75 for intraobserver agreement reflected good agreement between two sets of readings. The technique may be useful as a supplement to the radiologist's assessment in classifying mammograms into Tabar's pattern associated with breast cancer risk.
    Matched MeSH terms: Mammography/methods*; Pattern Recognition, Automated/methods; Radiographic Image Enhancement/methods*; Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Absorptiometry, Photon/methods*; Risk Assessment/methods*
  17. Hani AF, Prakasa E, Nugroho H, Affandi AM, Hussein SH
    PMID: 23366902 DOI: 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6346941
    Psoriasis is a common skin disorder with a prevalence of 0.6 - 4.8% around the world. The most common is plaques psoriasis and it appears as red scaling plaques. Psoriasis is incurable but treatable in a long term treatment. Although PASI (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) scoring is recognised as gold standard for psoriasis assessment, this method is still influenced by inter and intra-rater variation. An imaging and analysis system called α-PASI is developed to perform PASI scoring objectively. Percentage of lesion area to the body surface area is one of PASI parameter. In this paper, enhanced imaging methods are developed to improve the determination of body surface area (BSA) and lesion area. BSA determination method has been validated on medical mannequin. BSA accuracies obtained at four body regions are 97.80% (lower limb), 92.41% (trunk), 87.72% (upper limb), and 83.82% (head). By applying fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm, the membership functions of lesions area for PASI area scoring have been determined. Performance of scoring result has been tested with double assessment by α-PASI area algorithm on body region images from 46 patients. Kappa coefficients for α-PASI system are greater than or equal to 0.72 for all body regions (Head - 0.76, Upper limb - 0.81, Trunk - 0.85, Lower limb - 0.72). The overall kappa coefficient for the α-PASI area is 0.80 that can be categorised as substantial agreement. This shows that the α-PASI area system has a high reliability and can be used in psoriasis area assessment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Image Enhancement/methods; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods*; Pattern Recognition, Automated/methods*; Imaging, Three-Dimensional/methods; Dermoscopy/methods*; Whole Body Imaging/methods*
  18. Chung WH, Chiu CK, Wei Chan CY, Kwan MK
    Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc, 2020 Sep;54(5):561-564.
    PMID: 33155569 DOI: 10.5152/j.aott.2020.19144
    Growth hormone secreting pituitary tumor or gigantism has not been previously reported to be associated with rapid progression of scoliosis in the literature. However, there are some reports indicating scoliosis can be worsened by growth hormone therapy in children and adolescents. A 19-year-old boy was referred to our institution for the treatment of a right thoracolumbar scoliosis. The Cobb angle had worsened from 29° to 83° over two years' duration. He attained puberty at the age of 13. He had a previous history of slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE), which was operated in 2015, with no clinical features of gigantism. Preoperative assessment was performed. He was diagnosed with growth hormone secreting pituitary macroadenoma by magnetic resonance imaging with a high serum level of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). Computed tomography (CT) of the pancreas showed a pancreatic endocrine tumor. The patient was later diagnosed with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1). He underwent endoscopic endonasal excision of the pituitary mass and distal pancreatectomy. This case indicates that growth hormone secreting pituitary macroadenoma could result in rapid progression of scoliosis.
    Matched MeSH terms: Hypophysectomy/methods*; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods; Pancreatectomy/methods; Patient Care Management/methods; Radiography/methods; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods*
  19. Teoh XY, Bt Mahyuddin FN, Ahmad W, Chan SY
    Pharm Dev Technol, 2020 Feb;25(2):245-251.
    PMID: 31690150 DOI: 10.1080/10837450.2019.1689401
    Poor solubility and bioavailability of drugs are often affected by its microscopic structural properties. Nitrofurantoin (NF), a Biopharmaceutics Classification System class II item, has a low water solubility with low plasma concentrations. To improve its therapeutic efficacy, formulation strategy of solid dispersion (SD) and co-crystallization are compared herein. The co-crystal is prepared with citric acid in 1:1 stoichiometric ratio while SD consists of 30% w/w nitrofurantoin and 70% w/w hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) as the carrier system. As a control, the physical mixture of NF and HPMC was prepared. All the preparations were characterized with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), microscopy analysis, solubility, and dissolution studies. The formation of co-crystal, solvent evaporated, and spray-dried SD are confirmed by the ATR-FTIR where peaks shifting of several functional groups indicate the formation of the hydrogen bond. Dissolution studies showed a greater initial dissolution rate in co-crystal than SD despite the possible presence of amorphous content in the SD system. Overall, co-crystal is concluded to be a better approach than SD for an effective dissolution.
    Matched MeSH terms: Calorimetry, Differential Scanning/methods; Crystallization/methods; Drug Compounding/methods; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning/methods; X-Ray Diffraction/methods; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared/methods
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links