Methods: Forty stroke survivors were recruited (20 with DPN and 20 without DPN) in this cross-sectional study design. Instrumented timed up and go (iTUG) tests were conducted in three different tasking conditions (single task, dual motor and dual cognitive). APDM® Mobility Lab system was used to capture the gait parameters during the iTUG tests. A two-way mixed analysis of variance was used to determine the main effects of gait performance on three taskings during the iTUG test.
Results: Spatiotemporal gait parameters and turning performance (turning time and turning step times) were more affected by the tasking conditions in stroke survivors with DPN compared to those without DPN (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Stroke survivors with DPN had difficulty walking while turning and performing a secondary task simultaneously.
Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among 103 pharmacists from 74 different community pharmacies to assess their knowledge about the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting by using a pre-validate knowledge questionnaire consisting of 12 questions related to it. The pharmacists' responses were measured at a 3-point Likert scale (Poor=1, Moderate=2, and Good=3) and data was entered in SPSS version 22. The minimum and maximum possible scores for knowledge questionnaires were 12 and 36 respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed by using One Way ANOVA and Paired t-test whereas Chi-square and Fisher exact test were used for qualitative data analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all the analyses.
Results: About 92% of the pharmacist had good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting with a mean knowledge score of 32.88±3.16. One-way ANOVA determined a significant difference of employment setting (p<0.043) and years of experience (<0.008) with mean knowledge scores of Pharmacists. Pharmacists' knowledge was significantly associated with their years of experience with the Chi-square test.
Conclusion: Pharmacists exhibit good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting. However, with an increasing trend of herbal medicine use and its adverse drug reaction reporting it recalls the empowerment of experienced pharmacists with training programs in this area for better clinical outcomes.
Methods: The nanoemulsion was prepared by using high and low energy emulsification technique. D-optimal mixture experimental design was generated as a tool for optimizing the composition of nanoemulsions suitable for topical delivery systems. Effects of formulation variables including KMO (2.0%-10.0% w/w), mixture of castor oil (CO):lemon essential oil (LO; 9:1) (1.0%-5.0% w/w), Tween 80 (1.0%-4.0% w/w), xanthan gum (0.5%-1.5% w/w), and deionized water (78.8%-94.8% w/w), on droplet size as a response were determined.
Results: Analysis of variance showed that the fitness of the quadratic polynomial fits the experimental data with F-value (2,479.87), a low P-value (P<0.0001), and a nonsignificant lack of fit. The optimized formulation of KMO-enriched nanoemulsion with desirable criteria was KMO (10.0% w/w), Tween 80 (3.19% w/w), CO:LO (3.74% w/w), xanthan gum (0.70% w/w), and deionized water (81.68% w/w). This optimum formulation showed good agreement between the actual droplet size (110.01 nm) and the predicted droplet size (111.73 nm) with a residual standard error <2.0%. The optimized formulation with pH values (6.28) showed high conductivity (1,492.00 µScm-1) and remained stable under accelerated stability study during storage at 4°C, 25°C, and 45°C for 90 days, centrifugal force as well as freeze-thaw cycles. Rheology measurement justified that the optimized formulation was more elastic (shear thinning and pseudo-plastic properties) rather than demonstrating viscous characteristics. In vitro cytotoxicity of the optimized KMO formulation and KMO oil showed that IC50 (50% inhibition of cell viability) value was >100 µg/mL.
Conclusion: The survival rate of 3T3 cell on KMO formulation (54.76%) was found to be higher compared to KMO oil (53.37%) without any toxicity sign. This proved that the KMO formulation was less toxic and can be applied for cosmeceutical applications.