Displaying publications 81 - 100 of 185 in total

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  1. Lingaswaran , A/L Arjunan, Nurul Fadly, Bin Habidin, Mohamad Suwardi, Bin Mohamad Yusof, Rasikumari, A/P Muniandy
    MyJurnal
    The aim of this paper is to debate the concept of the balanced scorecard (BSC) and the way it will be used for evaluating the performance of safety practice in Malaysia public universities. This idea paper is especially supported secondary resources on the balanced scorecard pub-lished by other researchers. The approach of balanced scorecard model helps to the assessment of quality and safety practice of public universities. It helps public universities to create deci-sions and to enhance services. It translates the mission and strategy of a security practice into a system of performance indicators. A useful model is proposed that may be adapted with appropriate modifications to evaluate/managing safety practice and organizational perfor-mance of public universities in Malaysia. The study may help to those universities, who are seriously inquisitive about evaluating/managing internal safety practice, customer satisfac-tion, finance of universities and innovation and learning growth.
  2. Keikhosrokiani P, Naidu A/P Anathan AB, Iryanti Fadilah S, Manickam S, Li Z
    Digit Health, 2023;9:20552076221150741.
    PMID: 36655183 DOI: 10.1177/20552076221150741
    Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of death worldwide which can be easily diagnosed by listening to the murmur sound of heartbeat sounds using a stethoscope. The murmur sound happens at the Lub-Dub, which indicates there are abnormalities in the heart. However, using the stethoscope for listening to the heartbeat sound requires a long time of training then only the physician can detect the murmuring sound. The existing studies show that young physicians face difficulties in this heart sound detection. Use of computerized methods and data analytics for detection and classification of heartbeat sounds will improve the overall quality of sound detection. Many studies have been worked on classifying the heartbeat sound; however, they lack the method with high accuracy. Therefore, this research aims to classify the heartbeat sound using a novel optimized Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inferences System (ANFIS) by artificial bee colony (ABC). The data is cleaned, pre-processed, and MFCC is extracted from the heartbeat sounds. Then the proposed ABC-ANFIS is used to run the pre-processed heartbeat sound, and accuracy is calculated for the model. The results indicate that the proposed ABC-ANFIS model achieved 93% accuracy for the murmur class. The proposed ABC-ANFIS has higher accuracy in compared to ANFIS, PSO ANFIS, SVM, KSTM, KNN, and other existing studies. Thus, this study can assist physicians to classify heartbeat sounds for detecting cardiovascular disease in the early stages.
  3. Lokman Hakim NYD, A/P Joginder Singh HK, Kang Nien H, Siau Hui M, Zee Wei L
    PMID: 37038680 DOI: 10.2174/2667387817666230406091232
    Kojic acid (KA), a fungal secondary metabolite, is commonly used in the cosmetic industry as a skin-whitening agent because of its ability to inhibit tyrosinase, the enzyme involved in melanin production. However, KA has shown poor depigmenting effects and becomes unstable after prolonged storage. Its use in cosmetics products has also been restricted due to its hydrophilic nature. To overcome these limitations, the structure of KA can be altered to form KA derivatives, such as KA ester (KAE), with improved chemical and biological properties. For instance, multiple studies have shown that KAE is more effective at inhibiting tyrosinase, is less toxic and more stable than KA, thus making it more beneficial. Aside from structural modification, nanotechnology applications such as nanoemulsion, and others have shown the ability to strengthen the efficacy of both KA and KAE by increasing skin permeability and delivering the drug more precisely to the targeted site with better controlled release rate. Therefore, the aim of this review article is to discuss the importance of modifying KA's chemical structure as well as the role of nanoemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC), liposomes and ethosomes in improving topical delivery of KA and KAE for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.
  4. A/P Chowmasundaram Y, Tan TL, Nulit R, Jusoh M, Rashid SA
    RSC Adv, 2023 Aug 21;13(36):25093-25117.
    PMID: 37622012 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra01217d
    Since the world's population is expanding, mankind may be faced with a huge dilemma in the future, which is food scarcity. The situation can be mitigated by employing sustainable cutting-edge agricultural methods to maintain the food supply chain. In recent years, carbon quantum dots (CQD), a member of the well-known carbon-based nanomaterials family, have given rise to a new generation of technologies that have the potential to revolutionise horticulture and agriculture research. CQD has drawn much attention from the research community in agriculture owing to their remarkable properties such as good photoluminescence behaviour, high biocompatibility, photo-induced electron transfer, low cost, and low toxicity. These unique properties have led CQD to become a promising material to increase plant growth and yield in the agriculture field. This review paper highlights the recent advances of CQD application in plant growth and photosynthesis rate at different concentrations, with a focus on CQD uptake and translocation, as well as electron transfer mechanism. The toxicity and biocompatibility studies of CQD, as well as industrial scale applications of CQD for agriculture are discussed. Finally, the current challenges of the present and future perspectives in this agriculture research are presented.
  5. Chiam R, Saedon N, Khor HM, A/P Subramaniam S, Binti Mohmad Nasir SS, Binti Abu Hashim NFI, et al.
    Int J Clin Pharm, 2021 Oct 09.
    PMID: 34626298 DOI: 10.1007/s11096-021-01329-9
    Background Potentially inappropriate prescribing is increasingly common in older patients with falls. However, published indicators to assess inappropriate prescribing remains unestablished in many countries. Objective This study determined the burden and profile of potentially inappropriate prescribing among patients attending a falls clinic using the STOPP/START criteria and evaluated the factors for falls potentially associated to inappropriate prescribing. Setting University of Malaya Medical Centre Falls Clinic. Method Data of individuals aged ≥ 65 years referred to the falls and syncope clinic were extracted from the falls registry. Potentially inappropriate prescribing was determined with the STOPP/START version 2 criteria. The relationship between potentially inappropriate prescribing with polypharmacy (≥ 5 medications), comorbidities and clinical variables were determined using Pearson's chi-square and potential confounders adjusted for with multivariate regression. Main outcome measure Potentially inappropriate medicines and/or omitted medicines using STOPP/START criteria. Results Data from 421 individuals, aged 77.8 ± 6.7 years and 53.4% women, were included. Potentially inappropriate prescribing was present in 311 (73.9%). Potentially inappropriate medicines use accounted for 84.6% of the 325 prescriptions. 361/659 instances (54.8%) were falls-risk-increasing drugs, with vasodilators (49.3%) being the main potentially inappropriate medicine identified. Of the 177/421 with polypharmacy, 169/177 (95.5%) were exposed to ≥ one potentially inappropriate medicine. 129 instances of potentially omitted medicines were observed in 109 prescriptions (25.9%). Conclusion STOPP/START criteria are useful to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing at the falls and syncope clinic. This finding has important implications for medication review strategies at falls clinic. Future research should determine whether identifying potentially inappropriate prescribing may reduce adverse falls outcomes among patients in this setting.
  6. Marzo RR, Ahmad A, Abid K, Khatiwada AP, Ahmed A, Kyaw TM, et al.
    Vacunas, 2022 May;23:S33-S40.
    PMID: 34483788 DOI: 10.1016/j.vacun.2021.07.007
    BACKGROUND: With the surge of COVID-19 cases worldwide, vaccines against COVID-19 are also developing across the countries. However, the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination among general people is questionable. The availability of several vaccines' options against COVID-19 has perplexed people regarding individual vaccines' efficacy and safety. Therefore, we aim to determine the acceptance, preferences, impact factors of future COVID-19 vaccines in Malaysia and the factors influencing the COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among vaccine demand and vaccine delay groups.

    MATERIAL AND METHODS: An online-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among Malaysian residents 18 years and above of either gender using the snowball sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire was made available to participants through various social media networks, email, and telegram. The data obtained from the survey were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Association between background characteristics and respondents were analyzed using the Chi-square test in the vaccine delay group and vaccine acceptance group.

    RESULTS: Total of 1282 responses were considered for the study, mainly from male respondents (71%). Among the respondents, 95.9% thought that vaccination would be an effective way to prevent and control COVID-19, and 96% would accept vaccination if the COVID-19 vaccine were successfully developed and approved for listing in the future. Essential factors influencing vaccination decisions were vaccine convenience (95.7%) and doctor's recommendation (97.3%). Bivariate analysis revealed that age less than 24 years, Malay race, living in urban areas, tertiary education, students, single marital status, family income (Malaysian ringgits) RM 4,850 to RM 10,959 and >RM 10,960 were significantly associated with vaccine acceptance of COVID19 vaccination.

    CONCLUSION: All the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates throughout the country should be studied on a larger scale, and appropriate steps to ensure vaccine acceptance among the public should be meticulously devised by the government and related authorities.

  7. Marzo RR, Bhattacharya S, Ujang NB, Naing TW, Huong Fei AT, Chun CK, et al.
    J Educ Health Promot, 2021;10:160.
    PMID: 34222535 DOI: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_979_20
    BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction is a comprehensive measurement of patients' happiness with the level of health care delivered to them both inside and outside the physician's office. It is commonly used as an indicator to assess the health-care quality and affects a wide range of components related to the provision of health services such as ease of access, medical malpractice, and clinical outcomes. The study aimed to analyze patients' satisfaction with the quality of health care they received at the outpatient department of Klinik Kesihatan Maharani Muar Healthcare Facility (KMMHF), Johor.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between August and December 2019 period. Demographic information and information on patients' feelings about their physicians, treatment, and health facilities provided were collected from 407 consented patients in a simple random sampling survey using a researcher-made, an adapted Medical Interview Satisfaction, questionnaire which was pilot tested before administration to the patients. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 23. Descriptive statistics and correlational and group comparison analyses were utilized.

    RESULTS: Of the 407 patients studied for physician-patient satisfaction, the overall mean of all the respondents responding was 4.089 ± 0.5, which was ranked the highest among the three objectives. The effectiveness of treatment came as the second highest with the overall mean of 4.088 ± 0.5. Finally, the overall health-care facilities had the lowest overall mean of 4.077 ± 0.5 among the three.

    CONCLUSION: Most patients who visited KMMHF were mostly satisfied with the outcomes of physician-patient interaction in the clinic.

  8. Souza AR, Braga JA, de Paiva TM, Loggetto SR, Azevedo RS, Weckx LY
    Vaccine, 2010 Jan 22;28(4):1117-20.
    PMID: 20116631 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.05.046
    The immunogenicity and tolerability of virosome and of split influenza vaccines in patients with sickle cell anemia (SS) were evaluated. Ninety SS patients from 8 to 34 years old were randomly assigned to receive either virosome (n=43) or split vaccine (n=47). Two blood samples were collected, one before and one 4-6 weeks after vaccination. Antibodies against viral strains (2006) A/New Caledonia (H1N1), A/California (H3N2), B/Malaysia were determined using the hemagglutinin inhibition test. Post-vaccine reactions were recorded over 7 days. Seroconversion rates for H1N1, H3N2 and B were 65.1%, 60.4% and 83.7% for virosome vaccine, and 68.0%, 61.7% and 68.0% for split vaccine. Seroprotection rates for H1N1, H3N2 e B were 100%, 97.6% and 69.7% for virosome, and 97.8%, 97.8% and 76.6% for split vaccine. No severe adverse reactions were recorded. Virosome and split vaccines in patients with sickle cell anemia were equally immunogenic, with high seroconversion and seroprotection rates. Both vaccines were well tolerated.
  9. Chin PS, Khoo AP, Asmah Hani AW, Chem YK, Norizah I, Chua KB
    Med J Malaysia, 2008 Aug;63(3):265-6.
    PMID: 19248708 MyJurnal
    We report a newborn baby girl with acute dengue due to vertical transmission. A 31 year old factory worker of 38+ week gestation, gravida 5 para 3+1, developed acute dengue fever two days prior to delivery. She delivered a normal term baby girl by spontaneous vaginal delivery and recovered uneventfully without peripartum haemorrhage despite the presence of thrombocytopenia. The baby girl developed low grade fever on day four of post-natal life and except for the transient thrombocytopenia, also recovered uneventfully following three days of mild illness. The clinical diagnosis of acute dengue virus infection was confirmed by laboratory tests.
  10. Kooijman AM, Bruin CJW, van de Craats A, Grootjans AP, Oostermeijer JGB, Scholten R, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2016 Oct 15;568:107-117.
    PMID: 27289393 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.086
    Dune slacks are important habitats, with many endangered plant species. A series of eleven dune slacks of 1-42years old was studied in SW-Texel, the Netherlands, with the EU-habitat directive species Liparis loeselii present in all except the youngest and oldest. Analysis of aerial photographs revealed that new slacks are currently formed every 4-5years. In each slack, topsoil and vegetation data were collected in 2010 and 2014-2015. During succession, vegetation changed from brackish pioneer stages to dune slacks with L. loeselii and Parnassia palustris and ultimately grassland species. Differences between dune slacks and sampling periods were mostly significant. Herb cover and soil C increased with slack age, and over the five year study period, while bare sand, bulk density and pH decreased. The annual pH-decrease was 0.055 and 0.075 for pH-H2O and pH-KCl respectively, and annual C-increase 0.16% and 35gm(-2). Liparis loeselii was only present between pHH2O 5.8-7.5 and pHKCl 5.6-7.6, and only occurred at C-content below 4.3%. In lime-poor dunes, environmental conditions thus become unsuitable approximately 34years after the start of succession. In the dune slacks, Liparis loeselii established within 6years, showed peak values after 11-16years, and declined until conditions became unsuitable. Rejuvenation may occur after large storms with fresh sand deposits. However, even with further succession, the present populations are not endangered and probably last until 2040. With new dune slacks every 5years, L. loeselii occurs in approximately eight different dune slacks at the same time, ensuring viable populations also in the future. This shows that adverse effects of succession can be counteracted by dynamics on local and landscape scale.
  11. Sattar MA, Yusof AP, Gan EK, Sam TW, Johns EJ
    J Auton Pharmacol, 2001 5 15;20(5-6):297-304.
    PMID: 11350495
    1. This study compared the effect of a non-peptide angiotensin II receptor antagonist and a series of clonidine analogues on blood pressure and renal function in a two-kidney two-clip Goldblatt rat model of hypertension subjected to 2 weeks of dietary sodium deprivation. 2. Animals received either vehicle, the angiotensin II antagonist, ZD7155 or structural analogues derived from clonidine (AL-11, AL-12 and CN-10) at 10 mg kg-1 day-1 for 4 days. 3. All groups of rats had systolic blood pressure in the hypertensive range (160-180 mmHg). ZD7155 caused a 33-mmHg fall in blood pressure (P < 0.05) and raised plasma urea and creatinine four- to six-fold. 4. AL-12 decreased blood pressure by 30 mmHg (P < 0.05), but had no effect on water intake, urine flow or plasma urea and creatinine. AL-11 and CN-10 had minimal effects on blood pressure and water intake and while CN-10 decreased urine flow on the third treatment day, AL-11 markedly reduced urine flow by some 70%. 5. These data show that in this sodium deficient renovascular model of hypertension, blockade of angiotensin II receptors normalizes blood pressure but causes renal failure, whereas the vasodepressor action of the clonidine analogue AL-12 occurs without detriment to renal function. These findings imply that angiotensin II receptor antagonists could lead to renal failure if used as antihypertensive agents in renovascular hypertension whereas this would be avoided with the use of clonidine-like analogues.
  12. Tey S, Ahmad-Annuar A, Drew AP, Shahrizaila N, Nicholson GA, Kennerson ML
    Clin Genet, 2016 Aug;90(2):127-33.
    PMID: 26662454 DOI: 10.1111/cge.12712
    The cytoplasmic dynein-dynactin genes are attractive candidates for neurodegenerative disorders given their functional role in retrograde transport along neurons. The cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain (DYNC1H1) gene has been implicated in various neurodegenerative disorders, and dynactin 1 (DCTN1) genes have been implicated in a wide spectrum of disorders including motor neuron disease, Parkinson's disease, spinobulbar muscular atrophy and hereditary spastic paraplegia. However, the involvement of other dynactin genes with inherited peripheral neuropathies (IPN) namely, hereditary sensory neuropathy, hereditary motor neuropathy and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is under reported. We screened eight genes; DCTN1-6 and ACTR1A and ACTR1B in 136 IPN patients using whole-exome sequencing and high-resolution melt (HRM) analysis. Eight non-synonymous variants (including one novel variant) and three synonymous variants were identified. Four variants have been reported previously in other studies, however segregation analysis within family members excluded them from causing IPN in these families. No variants of disease significance were identified in this study suggesting the dynactin genes are unlikely to be a common cause of IPNs. However, with the ease of querying gene variants from exome data, these genes remain worthwhile candidates to assess unsolved IPN families for variants that may affect the function of the proteins.
  13. Sze Yong T, Vijayanathan AA, Chung E, Ng WL, Yaakup NA, Sulaiman N
    J Vasc Access, 2021 Jan 13.
    PMID: 33438482 DOI: 10.1177/1129729820987373
    OBJECTIVE: To compare catheter related blood stream infection (CRBSI) rate between cuffed tunnelled and non-cuffed tunnelled PICC.

    METHODS: We prospectively followed 100 patients (50:50 cuffed and non-cuffed PICC) and compared CRBSI rate between these groups. Daily review and similar catheter care were performed until a PICC-related complication, completion of therapy, death or defined end-of-study date necessitate removal. CRBSI was confirmed in each case by demonstrating concordance between isolates colonizing the PICC at the time of infection and from peripheral blood cultures.

    RESULTS: A total of 50 cuffed PICC were placed for 1864 catheter-days. Of these, 12 patients (24%) developed infection, for which 5 patients (10%) had a CRBSI for a rate of 2.7 per 1000 catheter-days. Another 50 tunnelled non-cuffed PICCs were placed for 2057 catheter-days. Of these, 7 patients (14%) developed infection, for which 3 patients (6%) had a CRBSI. for a rate of 1.5 per 1000 catheter-days. The mean time to development of infection is 24 days in cuffed and 19 days in non-cuffed groups. The mean duration of utilization was significantly longer in non-cuffed than in cuffed group (43 days in non-cuffed vs 37 days in cuffed group, p = 0.008).

    CONCLUSIONS: Cuffed PICC does not further reduce the rate of local or bloodstream infection. Tunnelled non-cuffed PICC is shown to be as effective if not better at reducing risk of CRBSI and providing longer catheter dwell time compared to cuffed PICC.

  14. Nagendrababu V, Murray PE, Kishen A, Nekoofar MH, de Figueiredo JAP, Dummer PMH
    Int Endod J, 2019 Sep;52(9):1253-1254.
    PMID: 31407362 DOI: 10.1111/iej.13137
  15. Abdallah MS, Mustafa M, Nallappan MA, Choi S, Paik JH, Rusea G
    Front Chem, 2021;9:670530.
    PMID: 34386478 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.670530
    Gallic acid and catechin are the most abundant phenolic and flavonoid contents found in all plant extracts. The contents and the bioassay-guided fractionating substances of the Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich) Hochst (Anacardiaceae) fraction played vital roles. The goals of the study were to determine the contents of some useful medicinal plants and the bioassay-guided fractionation substances of S. birrea fraction compounds capable of acting against Salmonella isolate using LC-MS/LC-HRMS (Dionex ultimate 3000 RS UPLC with Thermo Scientific Q Exactive Orbitrap Hybrid Tandem Mass Spectrometer). The Folin-Ciocalteu reagent procedure and flavonoid content determination were conducted spectrophotometrically. Bioassay-guided fractionation, chronological partitioning, and screening of the antibacterial action against Salmonella typhi were performed. The ethyl acetate fraction extracts of S. birrea stem (bark) extract were analyzed using LC-MS/LC-HRMS. The gallic acid content increased tremendously in Vachellia nilotica (L.) P.J.H. Hurter and Mabb (Fabaceae) pod extracts with curve fitting (R 2 = 0.9958). Catechin content increase was significantly increased in S. birrea stem (bark) extracts followed by that of V. nilotica pod extracts with curve fitting (R 2 = 0.9993); they were all significantly different in the Guiera senegalensis J.F. Gmel. and the Leptadenia lanceolata (Poir.) Goyder leaves extracts at p value <0.0001. Subsequently, 10 mg/ml of S. birrea stem (bark) ethyl acetate fraction extract was the MIC, where no MBC was recorded and susceptible to the positive control with the highest inhibition zone, followed by the ethyl acetate fraction extract at 10 mg/ml (9.7 ± 0.0) at Turkey's p < 0.0001. Vidarabine is one of the novel compounds, specifically having antimicrobial actions, found in the S. birrea stem (bark). Reasonable amounts of phenolic and flavonoid contents determined the actions of the individual plant extract.
  16. Vijay AP, Lim SS, Tan ATB, Rokiah P, Chan SP
    JUMMEC, 2009;12(2):92-95.
    MyJurnal
    Antithyroid drugs have been used for more than 50 years for the management of hyperthyroidism. Most patients tolerate treatment well, but some may develop rare life threatening side effects such as agranulocytosis and aplastic anaemia. Clinical experience with the latter condition is extremely limited. We report on a case of carbimazole-induced aplastic anaemia caused by hypocellular bone marrow and associated plasmacytosis in a thyrotoxic patient chronically treated with carbimazole. This resolved after substitution with propylthiouracil. The clinical course was complicated by neutropaenic septicaemia and atrial fibrillation.
    Study site: University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  17. Soh JA, Sheriff SO, Ramar NA, Pulikkotil SJ, Nagendrababu V, Neelakantan P, et al.
    Aust Endod J, 2019 Aug;45(2):171-176.
    PMID: 30230109 DOI: 10.1111/aej.12303
    In endodontic infections, inflammatory mediators such as cytokines are released, recruited and retained until the infection is eradicated. Root canal therapy is performed to prevent the spread of infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of root canal debridement (cleaning and shaping) on periapical inflammation by measuring the levels of inflammatory cytokines, Interleukin-8 (IL-8) and Interleukin-10 (IL-10). The study includes twenty patients with pulp necrosis and asymptomatic apical periodontitis. Periradicular sample was collected using paper points before and after root canal debridement. Cytokine levels were determined by Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Data were analysed using paired t-test (PASW Statistics 18) (P = 0.05). All samples showed the presence of IL-8 and IL-10 prior to root canal debridement. Significantly reduced levels (P < 0.05) of IL-8 and IL-10 were detected after root canal debridement. In conclusion, root canal debridement significantly decreased the levels of the tested pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine in the periradicular interstitial fluid.
  18. Md S, Kuldeep Singh JKA, Waqas M, Pandey M, Choudhury H, Habib H, et al.
    Drug Dev Ind Pharm, 2019 Feb;45(2):323-332.
    PMID: 30404554 DOI: 10.1080/03639045.2018.1542704
    Betamethsone valerate (BMV), a medium potency topical corticosteroid, is one of the most commonly employed pharmacological agents for the management of atopic dermatitis in both adults and children. Despite having remarkable pharmacological efficacy, these agents have limited clinical implication due to poor penetration across the startum cornum (SC). To mitigate issues related to targeted delivery, stability, and solubility as well as to potentiate therapeutic and clinical implication, the nanodelivery systems have gained remarkable recognition. Therefore, this study was aimed to encapsulate BMV into the chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) for optimum dermal targeting and improved penetration across the SC. The prepared NPs were characterized for particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index, entrapment efficiency, loading capacity, crystallinity, thermal behavior, morphology, in vitro release kinetics, drug permeation across the SC, and percentage of drug retained into various skin layers. Results showed that optimized BMV-CS-NPs exhibited optimum physicochemical characteristics including small particle size (< 250 ± 28 nm), higher zeta potential (+58 ± 8 mV), and high entrapment efficiency (86 ± 5.6%) and loading capacity (34 ± 7.2%). The in vitro release study revealed that BMV-CS-NPs displayed Fickian-diffusion type mechanism of release in simulated skin surface (pH 5.5). Drug permeation efficiency and the amount of BMV retained into the epidermis and the dermis were comparatively higher in case of BMV-CS-NPs compared to BMV solution. Conclusively, we anticipated that BMV-CS-NPs could be a promising nanodelivery system for efficient dermal targeting of BMV and improved anti-AD efficacy.
  19. Jasim HH, Sulaiman SABS, Khan AH, S Rajah UA
    J Clin Diagn Res, 2017 Sep;11(9):IC07-IC11.
    PMID: 29207737 DOI: 10.7860/JCDR/2017/25364.10630
    Introduction: Caesarean section (CS) rate has increased considerably during the past years, accounting for 15% to 25% of births. During post-CS period, moderate to severe postoperative pain is a regularly reported problem. Ideally, the intensity of postoperative pain should be predicted so as to customize analgesia.

    Aim: To document the CS rate, assess the pain intensity and preoperative factors that may predict post caesarean pain among women in the Obstetric unit of a Hospital Pulau Pinang in Malaysia.

    Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of 400 caesarean deliveries was conducted between January 2013 and June 2014. The study encompassed patient's demographic data and obstetrics data. The overall pain scores since the time of surgery (2, 4, 8, 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively at rest and while moving) were assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS). The data were analyzed by using SPSS software (version 21.0 for Windows).

    Results: The results demonstrate that within a 48 hours postoperative period, the average pain at rest and while moving was 0.40±0.013 and 0.83±0.017 (VAS score), respectively. Logistic regression identified that a higher BMI (≥30) (OR 1.056; 95% CI=1.003 to 1.113, p=0.04), an increase in operation time (> 60 minutes) (OR 1.009; 95% CI=1.000 to 1.018, p=0.049), Single women (OR 11.597; 95% CI=1.382 to 97.320, p=0.024), blood group type O (OR 1.857; 95% CI=0.543 to 2.040, p = 0.001) and general anesthesia (OR 3.689; 95% CI=1.653 to 8.232, p=0.001) were found to be independent predictors for postcaesarean pain intensity.

    Conclusion: This study concluded that CS rate is 28% among women in the obstetric unit of a Hospital Pulau Pinang and the pain experienced by the study participants was mild. Moreover, the predictive factors for pain intensity may aid in identifying patients at greater risk for postoperative pain. This study concluded that the predictive methods proposed may aid in identifying patients at greater risk for postoperative pain.

  20. Pandey M, Choudhury H, Gunasegaran TAP, Nathan SS, Md S, Gorain B, et al.
    Drug Deliv Transl Res, 2019 04;9(2):520-533.
    PMID: 29488170 DOI: 10.1007/s13346-018-0480-1
    Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronically relapsing eczematous skin disease characterised by frequent episodes of rashes, severe flares, and inflammation. Till date, there is no absolute therapy for the treatment of AD; however, topical corticosteroids (TCs) are the majorly prescribed class of drugs for the management of AD in both adults and children. Though, topical route is most preferable; however, limited penetration of therapeutics across the startum cornum (SC) is one of the major challenges for scientists. Therefore, the present study was attempted to fabricate a moderate-potency TC, betamethasone valerate (BMV), in the form of chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) for optimum dermal targeting and improved penetration across the SC. To further improve the targeting efficiency of BMV and to potentiate its therapeutic efficacy, the fabricated BMV-CS-NPs were coated with hyaluronic acid (HA). The prepared NPs were characterised for particle size, zeta potential, polydispersity index (PDI), entrapment efficiency, loading capacity, crystallinity, thermal behaviour, morphology, in vitro release kinetics, drug permeation across the SC, and percentage of drug retained into various skin layers. Results showed that optimised HA-BMV-CS-NPs exhibited optimum physicochemical characteristics including finest particle size (
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