The Effect Of Selected Adjuvants On The In Vitro Percutaneous Penetration Of Benzocaine

This research project was designed to test whether the in vitro percutaneous penetration of benzocaine through human cadaver skin could be enhanced by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), urea, polyoxyethylene (20) isohexadecyl ether and 1-dodecylazacycloheptan-2-one (Azone) in propylene glycol/water systems. Solubility and partitioning of benzocaine in propylene glycol/water systems was investigated. The adjuvant effects were studied in a 60/40 (V/V) propylene glycol/water co-solvent system. The well known drug penetration enhancer dimethyl sulfoxide did not enhance the penetration of benzocaine at any concentration level of DMSO under the conditions of the experiment. This lack of enhancement effect was probably due to increased solubility of benzocaine in the DMSO/water system and a consequent decrease in the partitioning of drug into the skin. Urea enhanced benzocaine penetration initially but no significant steady-state penetration enhancement was noted. Polyoxyethylene (20) isohexadecyl ether appeared to retard rather than enhance the percutaneous penetration of benzocaine at concentrations below and around the critical micelle concentration. Azone showed concentration dependence for its enhancement effect on penetration of benzocaine. With 1% V/V Azone, the initial benzocaine penetration rate was higher compared to the other Azone concentrations. On the basis of comparative analysis of the steady-state rates, 5% V/V Azone was observed to be the most effective penetration enhancer for benzocaine. Azone also showed additive enhancement properties with increasing percentages of propylene glycol. The results of this investigation emphasize the importance of in vitro skin penetration studies prior to clinical evaluation. The results also underscore the importance of a proper experimental design that will minimize variables during the study in order to properly identify cause and effect relationships

Towards a global partnership model in interprofessional education for cross-sector problem-solving

Objectives A partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available. Methods This study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in students’ data. Results We identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretest–posttest differences in students’ readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in students’ social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation. Conclusions The narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education

Social media and sensemaking patterns in new product development: demystifying the customer sentiment

Artificial intelligence by principle is developed to assist but also support decision making processes. In our study, we explore how information retrieved from social media can assist decision-making processes for new product development (NPD). We focus on consumers’ emotions that are expressed through social media and analyse the variations of their sentiments in all the stages of NPD. We collect data from Twitter that reveal consumers’ appreciation of aspects of the design of a newly launched model of an innovative automotive company. We adopt the sensemaking approach coupled with the use of fuzzy logic for text mining. This combinatory methodological approach enables us to retrieve consensus from the data and to explore the variations of sentiments of the customers about the product and define the polarity of these emotions for each of the NPD stages. The analysis identifies sensemaking patterns in Twitter data and explains the NPD process and the associated steps where the social interactions from customers can have an iterative role. We conclude the paper by outlining an agenda for future research in the NPD process and the role of the customer opinion through sensemaking mechanisms

Multi-tissue integrative analysis of personal epigenomes

Evaluating the impact of genetic variants on transcriptional regulation is a central goal in biological science that has been constrained by reliance on a single reference genome. To address this, we constructed phased, diploid genomes for four cadaveric donors (using long-read sequencing) and systematically charted noncoding regulatory elements and transcriptional activity across more than 25 tissues from these donors. Integrative analysis revealed over a million variants with allele-specific activity, coordinated, locus-scale allelic imbalances, and structural variants impacting proximal chromatin structure. We relate the personal genome analysis to the ENCODE encyclopedia, annotating allele- and tissue-specific elements that are strongly enriched for variants impacting expression and disease phenotypes. These experimental and statistical approaches, and the corresponding EN-TEx resource, provide a framework for personalized functional genomics

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

The Effect Of Selected Adjuvants On The In Vitro Percutaneous Penetration Of Benzocaine

This research project was designed to test whether the in vitro percutaneous penetration of benzocaine through human cadaver skin could be enhanced by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), urea, polyoxyethylene (20) isohexadecyl ether and 1-dodecylazacycloheptan-2-one (Azone) in propylene glycol/water systems. Solubility and partitioning of benzocaine in propylene glycol/water systems was investigated. The adjuvant effects were studied in a 60/40 (V/V) propylene glycol/water co-solvent system. The well known drug penetration enhancer dimethyl sulfoxide did not enhance the penetration of benzocaine at any concentration level of DMSO under the conditions of the experiment. This lack of enhancement effect was probably due to increased solubility of benzocaine in the DMSO/water system and a consequent decrease in the partitioning of drug into the skin. Urea enhanced benzocaine penetration initially but no significant steady-state penetration enhancement was noted. Polyoxyethylene (20) isohexadecyl ether appeared to retard rather than enhance the percutaneous penetration of benzocaine at concentrations below and around the critical micelle concentration. Azone showed concentration dependence for its enhancement effect on penetration of benzocaine. With 1% V/V Azone, the initial benzocaine penetration rate was higher compared to the other Azone concentrations. On the basis of comparative analysis of the steady-state rates, 5% V/V Azone was observed to be the most effective penetration enhancer for benzocaine. Azone also showed additive enhancement properties with increasing percentages of propylene glycol. The results of this investigation emphasize the importance of in vitro skin penetration studies prior to clinical evaluation. The results also underscore the importance of a proper experimental design that will minimize variables during the study in order to properly identify cause and effect relationships

<b><i>Supporting data for</i></b> "What and how to teach data science to medical students?"

These are the data of the 235 fully completed questionnaire responses collected and analyzed for the study on what and how to teach data science in the medical curriculum. Personally identifying information has been removed, and the methodology is outlined in the study.</p

Evaluation and Validation of an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and an Immunochromatographic Test for Serological Diagnosis of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

A newly developed severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was further validated to confirm cutoff values and evaluate its diagnostic performance with clinical samples. In parallel, an immunochromatographic test was also evaluated. A total of 227 clinical serum specimens collected from SARS patients were used in the study, together with 385 samples from healthy donors. By use of an immunofluorescent (IF) test as the “gold standard, ” both the ELISA and the immunochromatographic test were able to detect immunoglobulin G antibodies to SARS not only from late-convalescent-stage samples (>21 days from the onset of clinical symptoms), as previously established, but also from early-acute-phase samples (1 to 10 days from onset). The ELISA, using an optical density (OD) of 0.25 as its cutoff value, produced the best sensitivity while maintaining high specificity. It detected SARS-specific antibodies in 58, 70, 75, and 95%, respectively, of the four groups of samples collected from patients 1 to 10 days, 11 to 20 days, 21 to 30 days, and more than 30 days after the onset of clinical symptoms. Similarly, the immunochromatographic test detected SARS-specific antibodies in 55, 68, 81, and 79% of the four groups, respectively. The overall specificities for the ELISA and the rapid test were 99.5 and 97.7%, respectively. Although the positive correlation observed between the ELISA OD values and the IF titers was moderate (r = 0.6915; P < 0.001), the detection rates of both the ELISA and the rapid test were found well in agreement with the IF titers