Engineering hydrogel nanoparticles to enhance transdermal local anaesthetic delivery in human eyelid skin

Herein, we focused on developing the feasibility of nano-enabled local anaesthetic (LA) delivery to anaesthetise the full thickness of eyelid skin. For this purpose a temperature-responsive hydrogel poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-hyaluronic acid) (p(VCL-co-HA)) was prepared through aqueous emulsion polymerization with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved p(VCL) and hyaluronic acid (HA) showing remarkably high LA drug loading capacity

Anti-diabetic properties of Securinega virosa (Euphorbiaceae) leaf extract

This study was undertaken to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of methanol extract of securinega virosa leaves on blood levels of streptozocin-induced diabetes rats. Three doses of the extract (100, 300 and 600 mg/kg) were administered intraperitoneally. After 2 h of extract administration there was no significant change in the blood glucose levels in all the three doses of the extract. Also after 4, 8 and 24 h of extract administration there was a significant (p < 0.05 - 0.001) decrease in the blood glucose levelsin all the three doses of the extract. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of reducing sugars, cardiac glycosides, resin, tannins, saponins, glycosides, flavonoids, glycerin carbohydrate, anthraquine and steroids. The median lethal dose (LD50) in rats was calculated to be 1264.9 mg/kg body weight

Reducing Interanalyst Variability in Photovoltaic Degradation Rate Assessments

The economic return on investment of a commercial photovoltaic system depends greatly on its performance over the long term and, hence, its degradation rate. Many methods have been proposed for assessing system degradation rates from outdoor performance data. However, comparing reported values from one analyst and research group to another requires a common baseline of performance; consistency between methods and analysts can be a challenge. An interlaboratory study was conducted involving different volunteer analysts reporting on the same photovoltaic performance data using different methodologies. Initial variability of the reported degradation rates was so high that analysts could not come to a consensus whether a system degraded or not. More consistent values are received when written guidance is provided to each analyst. Further improvements in analyst variance was accomplished by using the free open-source software RdTools, allowing a reduction in variance between analysts by more than two orders of magnitude over the first round, where multiple analysis methods are allowed. This article highlights many pitfalls in conducting 'routine' degradation analysis, and it addresses some of the factors that must be considered when comparing degradation results reported by different analysts or methods

SISTA South Africa: The adaptation of an efficacious HIV prevention trial conducted with African-American women for isiXhosa-speaking South African women

Although new HIV treatments continue to offer hope for individuals living with HIV, behavioural interventions shown to reduce HIV risk behaviour remain one of the most powerful tools in curbing the HIV epidemic. Unfortunately, the development of evidencebased HIV interventions is a resource-intensive process that has not progressed as quickly as the epidemiology of the disease. As the epidemic continues to evolve, there is a need to expedite the development of evidence-based HIV interventions for populations that are often disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. One mechanism of accelerating the development process is to adapt evidence-based HIV interventions for vulnerable populations. The aim of this paper was to describe the adaptation process of a HIV intervention for African-American women for black South African Xhosa women. For African-American women the intervention was effective in increasing consistent condom use, sexual self-control, sexual communication, sexual assertiveness and partner adoption of norms supporting consistent condom use. Keywords: Intervention, women, cultural adaptation, HIV transmission risk behaviours.SAHARA-J Vol. 5 (4) 2008: pp. 186-19

Computer analysis of individual cataract surgery segments in the operating room

Purpose: Objective feedback is important for the continuous development of surgical skills. Motion tracking, which has previously been validated across an entire cataract procedure, can be a useful adjunct. We aimed to measure quantitative differences between junior and senior surgeons’ performance in three distinct segments. We further explored whether automated analysis of trainee surgical videos through PhacoTracking could be aligned with metrics from the EyeSi virtual reality simulator, allowing focused improvement of these areas in a controlled environment. / Methods: Prospective cohort analysis, comparing junior vs. senior surgeons’ real-life performance in distinct segments of cataract surgery: continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (CCC), phacoemulsification, and irrigation and aspiration (I&A). EyeSi metrics that could be aligned with motion tracking parameters were identified. Motion tracking parameters (instrument path length, number of movements and total time) were measured. t-test used between the two cohorts for each component to check for any significance (p < 0.05). / Results: A total of 120 segments from videos of 20 junior and 20 senior surgeons were analysed. Significant differences between junior and senior surgeons were found during CCC (path length p = 0.0004; number of movements p < 0.0001; time taken p < 0.0001), phacoemulsification (path length p < 0.0001; number of movements p < 0.0001; time taken p < 0.0001), and irrigation and aspiration (path length p = 0.006; number of movements p = 0.013; time taken p = 0.036). / Conclusion: Individual segments of cataract surgery analysed using motion tracking appear to discriminate between junior and senior surgeons. Alignment of motion tracking and EyeSi parameters could enable independent, task specific, objective and quantitative feedback for each segment of surgery thus mirroring the widely utilised modular training

Impact of Antioxidant Therapy on Natural Pregnancy Outcomes and Semen Parameters in Infertile Men: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Purpose: Seminal oxidative stress (OS) is a recognized factor potentially associated with male infertility, but the efficacy of antioxidant (AOX) therapy is controversial and there is no consensus on its utility. Primary outcomes of this study were to investigate the effect of AOX on spontaneous clinical pregnancy, live birth and miscarriage rates in male infertile patients. Secondary outcomes were conventional semen parameters, sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) and seminal OS. Materials and methods: Literature search was performed using Scopus, PubMed, Ovid, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included and the meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Results: We assessed for eligibility 1,307 abstracts, and 45 RCTs were finally included, for a total of 4,332 infertile patients. We found a significantly higher pregnancy rate in patients treated with AOX compared to placebo-treated or untreated controls, without significant inter-study heterogeneity. No effects on live-birth or miscarriage rates were observed in four studies. A significantly higher sperm concentration, sperm progressive motility, sperm total motility, and normal sperm morphology was found in patients compared to controls. We found no effect on SDF in analysis of three eligible studies. Seminal levels of total antioxidant capacity were significantly higher, while seminal malondialdehyde acid was significantly lower in patients than controls. These results did not change after exclusion of studies performed following varicocele repair. Conclusions: The present analysis upgrades the level of evidence favoring a recommendation for using AOX in male infertility to improve the spontaneous pregnancy rate and the conventional sperm parameters. The failure to demonstrate an increase in live-birth rate, despite an increase in pregnancy rates, is due to the very few RCTs specifically assessing the impact of AOX on live-birth rate. Therefore, further RCTs assessing the impact of AOX on live-birth rate and miscarriage rate, and SDF will be helpful

Reliability of videotaped observational gait analysis in patients with orthopedic impairments

BACKGROUND: In clinical practice, visual gait observation is often used to determine gait disorders and to evaluate treatment. Several reliability studies on observational gait analysis have been described in the literature and generally showed moderate reliability. However, patients with orthopedic disorders have received little attention. The objective of this study is to determine the reliability levels of visual observation of gait in patients with orthopedic disorders. METHODS: The gait of thirty patients referred to a physical therapist for gait treatment was videotaped. Ten raters, 4 experienced, 4 inexperienced and 2 experts, individually evaluated these videotaped gait patterns of the patients twice, by using a structured gait analysis form. Reliability levels were established by calculating the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), using a two-way random design and based on absolute agreement. RESULTS: The inter-rater reliability among experienced raters (ICC = 0.42; 95%CI: 0.38–0.46) was comparable to that of the inexperienced raters (ICC = 0.40; 95%CI: 0.36–0.44). The expert raters reached a higher inter-rater reliability level (ICC = 0.54; 95%CI: 0.48–0.60). The average intra-rater reliability of the experienced raters was 0.63 (ICCs ranging from 0.57 to 0.70). The inexperienced raters reached an average intra-rater reliability of 0.57 (ICCs ranging from 0.52 to 0.62). The two expert raters attained ICC values of 0.70 and 0.74 respectively. CONCLUSION: Structured visual gait observation by use of a gait analysis form as described in this study was found to be moderately reliable. Clinical experience appears to increase the reliability of visual gait analysis