A Modified Transgluteal Approach Sparing Abductor Function in Total Hip Arthroplasty Results in a Low Postoperative Dislocation Rate: A Retrospective Study of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes.

Background A modified transgluteal approach in total hip arthroplasty (THA) can be utilized to preserve abductor muscle function and reduce dislocation rate. We present a study evaluating outcomes for a modified transgluteal approach using a validated patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) tool, the Oxford Hip Score (OHS). Methods This was a retrospective single-centre study over a four-year period.

Understanding the Impact COVID-19 Has Had on Traumatic Ankle Fractures in a UK Orthopaedic Department: Should Current Guidelines Be Revised?

Introduction Ankle fractures are common yet debilitating injuries. Surgery is the mainstay treatment for ankle fractures displaying a high suspicion of instability. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, conservative management became prominent in patients with ankle fractures.

Resolution of cryptic mosquito species through wing morphometrics.

Mosquitoes are medically important insects, and accurate species identification is crucial to understanding vector biology, forming the cornerstone of successful vector control programs. Identification is difficult owing to morphologically similar species. Wing morphometrics can provide a simple, fast, and accurate way to classify species, and using it as a method to differentiate vector species among its cryptic congeners has been underexplored.

The Effect of Process Parameters on the Microstructure, Stability, and Sensorial Properties of an Emulsion Cream Formulation.

A classical emulsion formulation based on petrolatum and mineral oil as the internal phase with emulsifier wax as a typical topical emulsion cream was investigated for the effect of process parameters on drug product quality and performance attributes. The Initial Design of Experiment (DoE) suggested that an oil phase above 15%, coupled with less than 10% emulsifying wax, resulted in less stable emulsions. Different processing parameters such as homogenization speed, duration, cooling rate, and final temperature showed minimal influence on properties and failed to improve stability.

Topical drug delivery by Sepineo P600 emulgel: Relationship between rheology, physical stability, and formulation performance.

The objective of this present work was to develop and optimize oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion-based gels, namely emulgels that allow maximum topical drug delivery while having desired microstructure and acceptable physical stability. Emulgels containing 2.0 wt% lidocaine were prepared using various concentrations (0.

Sustainable Alternatives to Petroleum-Derived Excipients in Pharmaceutical Oil-in-Water Creams.

Recently, vast efforts towards sustainability have been made in the pharmaceutical industry. In conventional oil-in-water (O/W) cream formulations, various petroleum-based excipients, namely mineral oil and petrolatum, are commonly used. Natural or synthetic excipients, derived from vegetable sources, were explored as alternatives to petroleum-based excipients in prototype topical creams, with 1% (w/w) lidocaine.

The impact of online education during the Covid-19 pandemic on the professional identity formation of medical students: A systematic scoping review.

Evolving individual, contextual, organizational, interactional and sociocultural factors have complicated efforts to shape the professional identity formation (PIF) of medical students or how they feel, act and think as professionals. However, an almost exclusive reliance on online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic offers a unique opportunity to study the elemental structures that shape PIF and the environmental factors nurturing it. We propose two independent Systematic Evidence-Based Approach guided systematic scoping reviews (SSR in SEBA)s to map accounts of online learning environment and netiquette that structure online programs.

Comparative Study of Dermal Pharmacokinetics Between Topical Drugs Using Open Flow Microperfusion in a Pig Model.

Purpose: Accurate methods to determine dermal pharmacokinetics are important to increase the rate of clinical success in topical drug development. We investigated in an in vivo pig model whether the unbound drug concentration in the interstitial fluid as determined by dermal open flow microperfusion (dOFM) is a more reliable measure of dermal exposure compared to dermal biopsies for seven prescription or investigational drugs. In addition, we verified standard dOFM measurement using a recirculation approach and compared dosing frequencies (QD versus BID) and dose strengths (high versus low drug concentrations).

Development of a pharmacy educational environment questionnaire.

Introduction: A robust instrument for measuring the educational environment in a pharmacy patient care setting is currently lacking. The authors aimed to develop a person-reported outcome measure to gauge trainee pharmacists' perceptions of their clinical workplace-based educational environment. This paper reports the various sources of validity evidence.

Intracranial Germ Cell Tumors.

Intracranial germ cell tumors are rare tumors occurring in adolescents and young adults, which include germinomas and non-germinomatous type germ cell tumors (NGGCT). In the past few decades, cooperative trial groups in Europe and North America have developed successful strategies to improve survival outcomes and decrease treatment-related toxicities. New approaches to establishing diagnosis have deferred the need for radical surgery.

Assessing the effects of a mentoring program on professional identity formation.

Background: Medical education has enjoyed mixed fortunes nurturing professional identity formation (PIF), or how medical students think, feel and act as physicians. New data suggests that structured mentoring programs like the Palliative Medicine Initiative (PMI) may offer a means of developing PIF in a consistent manner. To better understand how a well-established structured research mentoring program shapes PIF, a study of the experiences of PMI mentees is proposed.

Professional identity formation amongst peer-mentors in a research-based mentoring programme.

Background: Mentoring plays a pivotal yet poorly understood role in shaping a physician's professional identity formation (PIF) or how they see, feel and act as professionals. New theories posit that mentoring nurtures PIF by functioning as a community of practice through its structured approach and its support of a socialisation process made possible by its assessment-directed personalized support. To test this theory and reshape the design, employ and support of mentoring programs, we evaluate peer-mentor experiences within the Palliative Medicine Initiative's structured research mentoring program.

Influence of Manufacturing Process on the Microstructure, Stability, and Sensorial Properties of a Topical Ointment Formulation.

The manufacturing process for ointments typically involves a series of heating, cooling, and mixing steps. Precise control of the level of mixing through homogenization and the cooling rate, as well as temperature at different stages, is important in delivering ointments with the desired quality attributes, stability, and performance. In this work, we investigated the influence of typical plant processing conditions on the microstructure, stability, and sensorial properties of a model ointment system through a Design of Experiments (DoE) approach.

Assessing and Predicting Physical Stability of Emulsion-Based Topical Semisolid Products: A Review.

The emulsion-based topical semisolid dosage forms present a high degree of complexity due to their microstructures which is apparent from their compositions comprising at least two immiscible liquid phases, often times of high viscosity. These complex microstructures are thermodynamically unstable, and the physical stability of such preparations is governed by formulation parameters such as phase volume ratio, type of emulsifiers and their concentration, HLB value of the emulsifier, as well as by process parameters such as homogenizer speed, time, temperature etc. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the microstructure in the DP and critical factors that influence the stability of emulsions is essential to ensure the quality and shelf-life of emulsion-based topical semisolid products.

Curriculum reform and trainees' perception of the pharmacy educational environment: a modified DREEM study.

Objectives: An undergraduate pharmacy curriculum reform was undertaken to meet the future healthcare demands of the people in Singapore. Understanding how educational reforms affect the learners' perceptions of the learning environment is important for quality assurance. The primary aim of this study was to investigate how pharmacy trainees perceive their educational environment before and after curriculum reform.

Management of glenoid bone loss in primary reverse shoulder arthroplasty : a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aims: Rates of reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA) continue to grow. Glenoid bone loss and deformity remains a technical challenge to the surgeon and may reduce improvements in patients' outcomes. However, there is no consensus as to the optimal surgical technique to best reconstruct these patients' anatomy.

Isolation of a novel DNA aptamer against LipL32 as a potential diagnostic agent for the detection of pathogenic Leptospira.

Leptospirosis is a potentially life-threatening zoonosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira and for rapid diagnostics, direct detection is desirable. LipL32 protein is the most suitable biomarker for direct detection. DNA aptamers are sought to be generated against LipL32 by Systemic Evolution of Ligands via Exponential Enrichment (SELEX).

Crystallization and Rheology of Mono- and Diglycerides and Their Role in Stabilization of Emulsion Droplets in Model Topical Ointments.

The crystallization behavior of commercial mono- and diglycerides (MDG) in paraffin oil is studied to develop an in-depth understanding of the polymorphic transitions useful for the physical stability of petroleum oil-based topical emulsions. Optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry measurements showed the formation of plate-like and spherulite crystals at high and low temperatures, in sequence, while cooling a solution of MDG dissolved in oil. High-resolution NMR and X-ray scattering demonstrate that 1-monoglycerides (mixture of 1-glyceride monostearate and 1-glyceride monopalmitate) cocrystallize to an inverse-lamellar structure (L polymorph) that mainly forms plate-like crystals at a higher temperature.

API-polymer interactions in Sepineo P600 based topical gel formulation- impact on rheology.

In the present study, topical gel and emulsion gel were formulated using Acrylamide/ Sodium Acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer (Sepineo P600) as a gelling agent, and their rheological attributes and physical stability were evaluated upon incorporation of API. Lidocaine, a free base drug (pK 7.92) was used as a model drug in all formulations.

Semisolid Pharmaceutical Product Characterization Using Non-invasive X-ray Microscopy and AI-Based Image Analytics.

This work reports the use of X-ray microscopy (XRM) imaging to characterize the microstructure of semisolid formulations containing multiple immiscible phases. For emulsion-based semisolid formulations, the disperse phase globule size and its distribution can be critical quality attributes of the product. Optical microscopy and light diffraction techniques are traditionally used to characterize globule size distribution.

Diagnostic accuracy of serological tests for the diagnosis of Chikungunya virus infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) causes febrile illnesses and has always been misdiagnosed as other viral infections, such as dengue and Zika; thus, a laboratory test is needed. Serological tests are commonly used to diagnose CHIKV infection, but their accuracy is questionable due to varying degrees of reported sensitivities and specificities. Herein, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of serological tests currently available for CHIKV.

Development of an optimization pipeline of asymmetric PCR towards the generation of DNA aptamers: a guide for beginners.

Asymmetric PCR is one of the most utilized strategies in ssDNA generation towards DNA aptamer generation due to its low cost, robustness and the low amount of starting template. Despite its advantages, careful optimization of the asymmetric PCR is still warranted to optimize the yield of ssDNA. In this present study, we have developed an extensive optimization pipeline that involves the optimization of symmetric PCR initially followed by the optimization of asymmetric PCR.