A SIGNIFICÂNCIA DISCRIMINATÓRIA ENTRE AQUELES COM ALTA E BAIXA EFICÁCIA ACADÊMICA NO PENSAMENTO ESTRATÉGICO E HÁBITOS DE MENTE ENTRE ESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIAS DO SEXO FEMININO

The current research aimed to identify the discriminatory significance between those with high and low academic efficacy in strategic thinking and productive habits of mind among female university students. For this purpose, the academic efficacy scale, the strategic thinking scale, and the productive habits of mind scale were applied to a sample consisting of (126) female students. The descriptive research approach was utilized due to its suitability to the research nature. Results indicated that there was a low level of strategic thinking among university students, there was a relationship between strategic thinking and productive habits of mind, and there were statistically significant differences between those of high and low academic efficacy in strategic thinking and habits of mind. These results can be utilized in enhancing academic proficiency among university female students and providing planners with practical outcomes that contribute to promoting academic proficiency, strategic thinking, and productive mental habits among university students.A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo identificar a significância discriminatória entre aqueles com alta e baixa eficácia acadêmica no pensamento estratégico e nos hábitos produtivos de mente entre estudantes universitárias do sexo feminino. Para esse fim, foram aplicadas a escala de eficácia acadêmica, a escala de pensamento estratégico e a escala de hábitos produtivos de mente em uma amostra composta por (126) estudantes do sexo feminino. A abordagem de pesquisa descritiva foi utilizada devido à sua adequação à natureza da pesquisa. Os resultados indicaram que havia um baixo nível de pensamento estratégico entre estudantes universitários, havia uma relação entre o pensamento estratégico e os hábitos produtivos de mente, e houve diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre aqueles com alta e baixa eficácia acadêmica no pensamento estratégico e nos hábitos de mente. Esses resultados podem ser utilizados para aprimorar a proficiência acadêmica entre estudantes universitárias e fornecer aos planejadores resultados práticos que contribuam para promover a proficiência acadêmica, o pensamento estratégico e os hábitos mentais produtivos entre os estudantes universitários

Off-pump coronary bypass grafting with or without the use of intracoronary shunts

Background: There is scarce literature comparing the role of the intracoronary shunt during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study aimed to compare off-pump CABG using intracoronary shunt versus the coronary clamp during distal coronary artery anastomosis. Methods: We conducted this randomized study between January and June 2018. We randomized 30 patients into two groups. Group A (n= 15) included patients who had coronary clamping during off-pump CABG, and Group B (n= 15) included patients who had intracoronary shunt during off-pump CABG. Study endpoints were anastomosis time and postoperative cardiac enzyme levels. Results: The mean age of the shunt group was higher than the mean age of the clamp group (61.06 ± 7.26 vs. 56.72 ± 12.44, respectively, p=0.03). Our study showed no statistical difference between the two groups regarding sex (p˃0.99), hypertension (p˃0.99), and diabetes (p=0.14). The distal anastomosis time was longer in the shunt group than in the clamp group (39.80±4.55 vs. 32.27±6.06 minutes, respectively, p=0.001). The postoperative troponin I (0.61±0.11 vs. 0.26±0.089 ƞg/ml, p<0.001), and CK-MB levels (44.27±5.34 vs. 35.5±4.86 IU/L, p<0.001) were significantly higher in the clamp group. Conclusion: The intracoronary shunt could be associated with lower cardiac enzyme release compared to the clamp technique. However, it was associated with a longer distal anastomosis time

Predictive Value of Alvarado Score and Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis (A prospective study

Background:  Acute appendicitis is the commonest non traumatic cause of acute abdominal pain that needs surgical management .Alvarado score and ultrasonographies are the most cost effective, easy and available aids for diagnosis. The aim of the study was determining   the reliability of Alvarado score and ultrasound in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Results: The study was applied with 100 cases with different types of abdominal pain at presentation with 51 males and 49 females .The sensitivity was97.3% ,specificity 90%, and accuracy  89 of combined usage of Alvarado score and U/S findings preoperatively. Patients and method:  A prospective non-interventional study including patients admitted with suggestive history with signs and symptoms of acute appendicitis to the surgical emergency ward of Baghdad teaching hospital from July 1st 2017 to Feb 10th 2018, Alvarado score calculated and ultrasonography done for each patient enrolled in this study, then to be followed for intraoperative findings. Conclusions: Combined application of Alvarado score and U/S has sensitivity 94.1% ,specificity 90% and accuracy 89% . In our medical facility and emergency ward, acute appendicitis remains as one of the top acute abdominal emergencies needing surgery in patients presenting with atypical clinical finding. So diagnosis becomes difficult. So Alvarado score along with ultrasound findings are useful for increasing the reliability in emergency department for  accurate diagnosis of acute appendicitis therefore there should be training for the use of U/S by emergency physician and general surgeon in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in order to decrease the rate of negative appendectomies

Evaluating the Amount of Tooth Movement and Root Resorption during Canine Retraction with Friction versus Frictionless Mechanics Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography

BACKGROUND: The current study was carried out to compare the amount of tooth movement during canine retraction comparing two different retraction mechanics; friction mechanics represented by a NiTi closed coil spring versus frictionless mechanics represented by T - loop, and their effect on root resorption using Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT).METHOD: Ten patients were selected in a split-mouth study design that had a malocclusion that necessitates the extraction of maxillary first premolars and retraction of maxillary canines. The right maxillary canines were retracted using T - loops fabricated from 0.017 X 0.025 TMA wires. The left maxillary canines received NiTi coil spring with 150 gm of retraction force. Pre retraction and post retraction Cone Beam Computed Tomography were taken to evaluate the amount of tooth movement and root resorption using three-dimensional planes.RESULTS: T - loop side showed statistically significant higher mean anteroposterior measurement than NiTi coil spring side, indicating a lower amount of canine movement pre and post a canine retraction. Concerning the root resorption, there was no statistically significant change in the mean measurements of canine root length post retraction.CONCLUSION: The NiTi coil spring side showed more distal movement more than the T-loop side. Both retraction mechanics with controlled retraction force, do not cause root resorption

Effecacy of Uterine Artery Embolization in the Management of Symptomatic Uterine Myomata

Abstract Objective: The aim of the our study is to evaluate the results of the uterine artery embolization (UAE) as a modality for the treatment of uterine fibroids as regard to improvement of symptoms and reduction of fibroid size, and pregnancy after uterine artery embolization. Design: Prospective clinical study. Methods: All patient subjected to history taking, general examination, routine labolatory evaluation, ultrasound evaluation. For all cases ultrasonography (abdominal and/or vaginal) was performed to measure the size of fibroid (s) before UAE. Then UAE using gel foam was performed occluding the feeding vessels for myomata. Evaluation of cases for reduction of tumour size and improvements of symptoms was performed one month, 3 months and 6 months after the procedure, long term follow-up of pregnancy occurrence. Main outcome measures: Duration of technique, reduction of tumour size, significant improvement of symptoms, complications, pregnancy occurrence. Results: The procedure was successful in 36 out of 40 cases (90%). Difficult or failed technique was encountered in four cases only. There was a significant reduction of tumour size and a non significant improvement of symptoms after one month. There were a significant and a highly significant improvement of symptoms after 3 and 6 months respectively and a highly significant reduction of tumour size at both 3 Correspondence to: Dr. Wael S. Nossair, The Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University and 6 months. Subcutaneous hematoma, a small leak of contrast medium, fever with or without offensive vaginal discharge and pelvic pain were the complications noticed during or after UAE. Pregnancy occurred in 22/40 (55%) patients (some virgin patient married and got pregnancy) during long term flow-up. The fate of pregnancy was 2 abortions, 3 preterm labour, 1 IUFD, 16 term pregnancies. Conclusions: UAE is an endovascular method for treatment of uterine fibroids that is clinically effective in most patients reducing the tumour size. It is invasive but relatively safe technique. Pregy can occur with long term follow-up

Effect of Low Level Laser Therapy on Gingival Inflammation in Patients undergoing Fixed Orthodontic Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of low level laser therapy (LLLT) with non-LLLT as an adjunct to mechanical debridement in patients who develop gingival inflammation during fixed orthodontic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty subjects undergoing comprehensive fixed orthodontic treatment were randomly allocated. Split mouth design was applied for each patient, where the four quadrants were randomly allocated to receive full mouth debridement. The test group (quadrant) received three laser sessions (days 1, 3, and 5) besides debridement while the control group (quadrant) received debridement only. Both bleeding index (BI) and plaque index (PI) were measured after 1 and 3 months, while the total colony forming units (CFU) were measured after 2 and 6 weeks. RESULTS: Clinical assessments (BI and PI) showed a statistically significant decrease at the first follow-up (after 1 month) and a slight increase in the second (after 3 months) that did not reach the base line. While, the total CFU showed a significant decrease in both follow-ups. CONCLUSION: Laser showed superior results in the treatment of gingival inflammation induced by fixed orthodontic appliances other than debridement only

Adaptive Fuzzy Supplementary Controller for SSR Damping in a Series-Compensated DFIG-Based Wind Farm

Although using a series compensation technique in a long transmission line effectively increases the transmittable power; it may cause a sub-synchronous resonance (SSR) phenomenon. Gate-controlled series capacitor (GCSC) is an effective method for SSR damping by controlling the turn-off angle. In the previous studies, a constant supplementary damping controller (SDC) was used for controlling the turn-off angle, which can mitigate the SSR phenomenon. However, these methods can not capture the maximum transmittable power at different operating points. In this paper, a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is proposed to compute the gain of SDC based on the wind speed and the error between the measured and reference line currents for transferring as much power as possible and damping the SSR phenomenon simultaneously. Using the MATLAB/SIMULINK program, the proposed method is tested at different operating points to validate its effectiveness and robustness. Compared to the traditional method (constant SDC), the maximum transmittable power, as well as SSR damping, is achieved in all studied cases by the proposed method (variable SDC)

Treatment of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia with AIDA Based Regimen. Update of a Tunisian Single Center Study

In Tunisia, the ATRA era began in 1998 with the use, consecutively, of two regimens combining ATRA and an anthracycline with cytarabine (APL93), and without cytarabine (LPA99). From 2004, 51 patients with confirmed APL either by t(15;17) or PML/RARA were treated according to the PETHEMA LPA 99 trial. Forty three patients achieved CR (86%). The remaining seven patients had early death (one died before treatment onset): four caused by differentiation syndrome (DS) and three died from central nervous system hemorrhage. Multivariate analysis revealed that female gender (P=0.045), baseline WBC> 10 G/L (P=0.041) and serum creatinine > 1.4mg/dl (P=0.021) were predictive of mortality during induction. DS was observed in 16 patients (32%) after a median onset time of 15 days from treatment onset (range, 2–29). Body mass index ≥ 30 (P=0.01) remained independent predictor of DS. Occurrence of hypertensive peaks significantly predicted occurrence of DS (P=0.011) and was significantly associated with high BMI (p=0.003). With a median follow-up of 50 months, 5 year cumulative incidence of relapse, event free and overall survival were 4.7%, 74% and 78%, respectively

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London