Work Fatigue Determination of Nurses in Hospital of Hasanuddin University

This study aims to determine the effect of body mass index (BMI), sleep patterns, working years, physical workload, mental workload, and work time on work fatigue on nurses at Hasanuddin University Hospital Makassar. This research is a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design with a sample size of 56 people. Sampling using a simple random sampling method. Data collection was carried out by means of a questionnaire. Bodyweight is measured by weight scales, body temperature is measured by microtoice, and physical workload is measured by a pulse oximeter, which is by looking at the pulse of the nurse before and after work. Data analysis in this study used the SPSS program. The results of this study indicate that there is an influence between Body Mass Index (BMI) on work fatigue (p = 0.001), there is an effect of sleep patterns on work fatigue (p = 0.019), there is an effect of tenure on work fatigue (p = 0.017), the relationship between physical workload and work fatigue (p = 0.000), there is an effect of mental workload on work fatigue (p = 0.000) and there is an effect of length of work on work fatigue (p = 0.017). The physical workload is the variable with the greatest influence on work fatigue on nurses at Hasanuddin University Hospital Makassar with Exp. (B) = 14,526. The results of this study concluded that there was a significant influence between the Body Mass Index (BMI), sleep patterns, years of work, physical workload, mental workload, and length of work for nurses at Hasanuddin University Hospital Makassar.

Fabrication and Characterization of Ph-Sensitive Hydrogels of Oxaliplatin for Colon-Specific Drug Delivery

Background and Objective A foremost step towards targeted administration of therapeutic agents is the formulation of novel drug delivery systems. Oral route is the most preferred and desired route of administration as a non-invasive mean of transporting drug to a target site. The aim of current research work was to design site-specific hydrogels for target delivery of oxaliplatin, an anticancer agent, used for the treatment of colorectal cancer. Six different types of hydrogel formulations were synthesized by different proportions of polymers and monomers. Another objective was to conduct an oral acute toxicity study of drug carrier polymeric systems on rabbits. Methodology A chemical cross-linking technique, free radical polymerization was chosen for preparation of polymeric networks. Six different combinations i.e. CS-co-poly(MAA), CS-co-poly(AA), PEGMA 4000-co-poly(MAA), PEGA 4000-co-poly(AA), PEGMA 8000-co-poly(MAA) and PEGA 8000-co-poly(AA) hydrogels were fabricated and their response to buffer solutions of different pH i.e. pH 1.2 and pH 7.4 was studied. Cross-linking structure of all formulations were evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). For thermal stability all combination of hydrogels were also subjected to thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. In-vitro drug release studies of all formulations were carried out in simulated gastric fluids. Moreover, in-vivo analysis of the best formulations was also conducted after the development of HPLC method. The drug release profile was evaluated by the application of zero order kinetics, first order kinetics, Higuchi model and Korsmayer- Peppas model. Oral acute toxicity study was also conducted for four formulations (CSA, CSMA, PEGA 4000, PEGMA 4000) by oral administration of drug carrier polymeric systems to healthy rabbits. Results All results of characterization confirmed the formation of newly developed polymeric hydrogels. Moreover, hydrogels were selected on the basis of their in-vitro studies and subjected to in-vivo evaluation. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed and validated for in-vivo analysis. The study was performed on thirty six xxvii rabbits and liquid-liquid extraction procedure was adopted for isolation of oxaliplatin from plasma samples. The bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters were computed by using a software PK Solver Add Inn program. Toxicity study which was conducted on five groups of rabbits, showed no toxic effects on biological systems of newly fabricated polymeric drug delivery systems. Conclusion From findings of our study it could be concluded that among six different cross-linked polymeric networks, PEGA 8000-co-poly(AA) and CS-co-poly(AA) hydrogels could be considered as superior as it showed better in vitro/in vivo release profiles and thus proven suitable for target delivery of Oxaliplatin to a specific site to treat colorectal cancer. Moreover, toxicity studies revealed that developed formulations were non-toxic to the biological system