A community-based study on obstetric danger signs among pregnant women of Sivagangai district

Background Every pregnant woman faces the risk of pregnancy related morbidities. It Is better that pregnant women are aware of the pregnancy related symptoms and warning signs. Early intervention or referral to obstetric care facility can be made only if the pregnant woman has adequate knowledge in identifying danger signs. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of obstetric danger signs among pregnant women. Methods Community based cross sectional study was conducted from March 2019 to august 2019. 280 pregnant women were interviewed face to face using semi structured questionnaire. Results Only 86(30.7%) respondents were aware of at least more than four danger signs during antenatal period. Only 7.1% of the study participants were aware of the danger signs during post-partum. Maternal age, socioeconomic scale and parity had significant association with knowledge of obstetric danger signs. Conclusion Mother’s awareness on danger signs of pregnancy was poor during both antenatal and postpartum period. There is probably a need to enhance the health education sessions to all pregnant women irrespective of their demographic characteristics

Comparison of architect assay and elecsys HBs Ag II assay in the quantification of hepatitis B surface antigen in chronic HBV patients

Background. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global health concern, with an estimated 296 million chronic carriers worldwide. Quantification of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is a crucial tool in HBV disease management, providing valuable insights into disease progression and treatment efficacy. Objective. To evaluate the comparative performance of the Abbott Architect HBsAg QT and Roche Elecsys HBsAg II assays in quantifying hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods. This prospective study enrolled 60 confirmed CHB patients between February 2021 and November 2021. HBsAg levels were measured using both assays and subsequently log-transformed (log10 IU/mL) for statistical analysis. Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Pearson correlation coefficient, and Bland-Altman analyses were employed to assess assay concordance and systematic bias. Results. A statistically significant positive correlation was observed between the Elecsys HBsAg II and Architect HBsAg QT assays for both untreated and treatment-receiving CHB patients (ICC values not specified, p <0.001). Notably, Architect consistently yielded higher HBsAg measurements compared to Elecsys. Conclusion. Both the Elecsys HBsAg II and Architect HBsAg QT assays demonstrate robust correlation in quantifying HBsAg levels in CHB patients. However, the Architect assay exhibits a systematic positive bias relative to Elecsys, which should be considered when interpreting results and making clinical decisions. Both tools provide reliable assessments for HBsAg quantification within CHB management strategies, but it is essential to be aware of potential assay-specific differences

Freezing and melting of a bath material onto a cylindrical solid additive in an agitated bath

In melting and assimilation of a cylindrical shaped additive in an agitated hot melt bath during the process of preparation of cast iron and steel of different grades, an unavoidable step of transient conjugated conduction-controlled axisymmetric freezing and melting of the bath material onto the additive immediately after its dunking in bath occurs. Decreasing the time of completion of this step is of great significance for production cost reduction and increasing the productivity of such preparations. Its suitable mathematical model of lump-integral type is developed. Its nondimensional format indicates the dependence of this step upon independent nondimensional parameters- the bath temperature, θb the modified Biot number, Bim denoting the bath agitation, the property-ratio, B and the heat capacity-ratio, Cr of the melt bath-additive system, the Stefan number, St pertaining to the phase-change of the bath material. The model provides the closed-form expressions for both the growth of the frozen layer thickness, ξ onto the additive and the heat penetration depth, η in the additive. Both are functions of these parameters, but when they are transformed to the growth of the frozen layer thickness with respect to the heat capacity ratio per unit Stefan number; and the time per unit property-ratio, B, their expressions become only a function of single parameter, the conduction factor, Cof consisting of the parameters, B, Bim and θb. The closed-form expression for the growth of the maximum thickness of the frozen layer, its time of growth, the time of the freezing and melting; the heat penetration depth are also derived. When the heat penetration depth approaches the central axis of the cylindrical additive in case of the complete melting of the frozen layer developed Cof≤11/72. It is found that the decreasing Cof reduces both the time of this unavoidable step and the growth of the maximum frozen layer thickness and at Cof=0, the frozen layer does not form leading to zero time for this step. If the bath is kept at the freezing temperature of the bath material, only freezing occurs. To validate the model, it is cast to resemble the freezing and melting of the bath material onto the plate shaped additive. The results are exactly the same as those of the plate