Solventless Extraction of Essential Oil

Essential oil is one of an important concentrated liquid that possesses many physical, chemical and pharmacological properties. Extraction of essential is one of the main issues in the last decade. Conventional treatment consisting of hydrodistillation and steam distillation has many disadvantages and finds difficult to purify essential oil. Now, it is much easier to extract essential oil with the invention of new greener technologies that reduce the involvement of solvent, decrease the extraction time, energy and descent the interaction of the concentrated volatile liquid with atmospheric oxygen through the application of vacuum

Microbial profiling and risk factors assessment for Otitis Media and Otitis Externa

Background: Otitis media and otitis externa are common otological manifestations in all generations especially in children. There is lack of accurate identification of the causative agent and thus poor diagnosis for such infections. Therefore, it leads to permanent anatomical disabilities including poor speech and defects in balancing and hearing. The study was conducted to isolate, characterize and identify the microbes causing otitis media and otitis externa. Methods: A total of 250 patients having otitis media and otitis externa were enrolled in the study from March 2011 to October 2011. All patients were examined through clinical examination and detailed history was collected. Pus samples from the discharging ears were plated on MacConkey’s, Chocolate and Blood agar for 24 to 48 hours. Isolates were identified on the basis of morphology, staining reactions and various biochemical tests. Results: In this study, only 6% cases yielded no growth, 14% yielded mixed cultures while 80% cases yielded pure cultures. The presumptive diagnosis for ear swabbing was otitis media (76%) and otitis externa (24%). The most common bacterial isolates obtained were Staphylococcus aureus (43.3%) followed byPseudomonas aeruginosa (25%) in the diagnosed cases of otitis media. While for the cases of otitis externa,Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the predominant organism with 52.2%. Infection of otitis media was most common among children and the persons having low socioeconomic conditions. Conclusion: Pseudomonas aeruginosa was identified as the principal pathogen followed by Staphylococcus aureus. To circumvent the painful effects of acute and chronic ear infections, an accurate microbial profiling may play pivotal role

A snapshot of the global policies and practices of medicine use reviews by community pharmacist in chronic diseases: a narrative review

Medicine use review is a tool to improve medication adherence and safety. Current narrative review was planned to explore global policies and practices of medicine use review by community pharmacists in chronic diseases and its impact and way forward for low- and middle-income countries. Key words, such as ″medicine use review″, ″medication therapy management″ and ″community pharmacy″ were used for search on PubMed and CINAHL databases for articles published from 2004 to 2019. Medicine use review has opened an avenue of ongoing collaboration between community pharmacists and general practitioners. High-income countries have witnessed a gradual yet cautious adoption of these services through effective policy shift. In terms of practices and impact, the situation in high-income countries was promising where on an average ″type-II″ medicine use review was widely in practice and had improved clinical, humanistic and economic outcomes in chronic disease. However, in low- and middle-income countries, a paucity of effective policies was noted. Nevertheless, an emergent recognition of the potential of community pharmacists to contribute to the management of chronic diseases was eviden

A conceptual framework of the way forward to a community pharmacist- general practitioner collaborative medication therapy management model for chronic diseases in Malaysian primary care: a qualitative study

Background There is a growing global interest in interprofessional collaboration between community pharmacist (CP) and general practitioner (GP) in primary care. Objective To conceptualize a stakeholder driven framework to improve collaboration between the CP and the GP in Malaysian primary care to effectively manage medicines in chronic diseases. Design and Setting A qualitative study that involved individual semi structured interviews of the leadership of various associations, guilds, and societies representing CPs, GPs, and Nurses in Malaysia. Method This study collected and reported data in accordance with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting of Qualitative Studies guidelines. Key informants were recruited based on purposive (expert) sampling. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data were coded in NVivo based on the principles of thematic analysis. Result A total of twelve interviews (5 CPs, 5 GPs and 2 Nurses) were conducted. Five themes emerged: Theme-1 highlighted comparison of community pharmacy practice in Malaysia and developed countries; Theme-2 involved the current practices in Malaysian primary care; Theme- 3 encompassed the advantages of CP-GP collaboration in chronic diseases; Theme-4 highlighted the barriers which impede collaboration in Malaysian primary care; and, Theme-5 delineated the way forward for CP-GP collaboration in Malaysia. Conclusion The actionable insights obtained from the Malaysian stakeholders offered an outline of a framework to enhance collaboration between CP and GP in primary care. Generally, stakeholders were interested in CP-GP collaboration in primary care and viewed many positive roles of CPs including prescription review, adherence support and patient education. The framework of the way forward includes: separation of roles of the CP and the GP through a holistic revision of relevant legislation to grant an active role to the CPs in chronic care; definition of protocols for collaborative practices; incentivization of both stakeholders (CP and GP) and, Design and implementation of an effective regulatory mechanism where the Malaysian Ministry of Health may take a leading role

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries