Effect of acupressure on cervical ripening

Background: Cervical ripening is one of the main stages of initiation labor. Acupressure in Chinese medicine is considered as an invasive technique, which through reliving oxytocin ripens the cervix. Acupoint Sanyinjiao (SP6) was selected in this study because it is the acupoint selected in gynecology and it is easy for women to locate and apply pressure without medical assistance. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acupressure on cervical ripening. Patients and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 150 primigravida with term pregnancy who had referred to Deziani hospital in Gorgan were chosen and divided to three groups: in the first group acupressure was done by the researcher while in the second groups this was performed by the mother her self, and the third group served as a control and only received routine care. For both intervention groups the pressure was applied on Sp6 for about 20 minutes during one to five days. Elements were checked from cervical ripening at 48 and 96 hours after intervention and at the time of hospitalization. The tools for gathering information included demographic characteristics and midwifery history questionnaire, daily records and follow up forms. Content validity was used for validity of tools. Reliability of the observation check-list and physical examination was confirmed by inter-rater scores (inter observer), and daily records by test-re-test. Data was analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-squared tests (P ≤ 0.05). Results: There was a significant difference between mothers’ educations in the three groups. Most of the mothers (59.5%) in the researcher-performed acupressure group had secondary education. Cervical ripening was significantly different between the three groups after 48 hours (P ≤ 0.05), yet there was no significant difference after 96 hours and at the time of admission. Mean Bishop score was enhanced after 48 hours in the researcher-performed acupressure group (P ≤ 0.021) and the self-performed acupressure group (P ≤ 0.007) in comparison to the control group. Conclusions: The results showed that acupressure is a safe technique and leads to cervical ripening. Thus, regarding the desired results that were achieved when mothers applied acupressure themselves, it could be suggested that it is beneficial for mothers to be trained to apply this method at home. © 2015, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Effect of Spermine and Spermidine on Wheat Plants Irrigated with Waste Water: Conductive Canals of Flag Leaf and Peduncle in Relation to Grain Yield

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the beneficial effect of grain presoaking in spermine (0.15 mM), spermidine (0.3 mM) and their interaction on waste water tolerance of wheat plants (Triticum aestivum L.) variety Sakha 94. In general, waste water caused significant increases in the leaf thickness and ground tissue thickness in flag leaves as well as metaxylem vessel area, xylem vessel area, vascular bundle area in flag leaf and peduncle of main shoot of wheat plants. On the other hand leaf thickness and ground tissue thickness appeared to decrease at concentration 100% of waste water. Irrigation of wheat plants with waste water at all examined concentrations decreased phloem area in flag leaves and peduncle of main shoot of wheat plants. The application of spermine, spermidine or their interaction induced some modifications in the anatomical features of the flag leaf and peduncle of main shoot which appeared to be an adaptive response to heavy metals in applied waste water. Furthermore, Irrigation of wheat plants with waste water stress decreased significantly grain yield / plant. The applied polyamines appeared to alleviate the effect of heavy metals stress in waste water on grain yield. The effect was more pronounced with spermine +spermidine treatment. For anatomical features, the economic yield of wheat plants appeared to be positively correlated with the phloem area but negatively correlated with vascular bundle area and xylem area in flag leaf and peduncle of main shoot

Teatro del Oprimido

Resumen Este texto tiene dos objetivos. El primero es estudiar la teoría del Teatro del Oprimido de Augusto Boal, y el segundo es analizar las técnicas utilizadas por el grupo teatral para cumplir con la base principal del Teatro del Oprimido. La innovación de este teatro reside en no ser un teatro didáctico convencional cuyo objetivo principal es dirigir al público hacia el prototipo ideal de acuerdo con las normas sociales y políticas. Es un teatro pedagógico en el que todos aprenden, actores y público. De este modo, el principio de la teoría de Augusto Boal es la destrucción de la cuarta pared entre el actor y el espectador para conseguir la transformación social y la promoción de los marginados y los oprimidos; y hasta qué punto lo han conseguido. Para llevar a cabo esto dos objetivos, hemos elegido la obra “Barrios Nómadas” del grupo teatral español, La Rueda: Teatro Social. Esta obra trata el problema de la inmigración ilegal en España, a través de representar el sufrimiento y la opresión de dos jóvenes africanos cuyos destinos son trágicos. El objetivo de esta obra no es catártico, sino que representa al público los mecanismos de la producción de la opresión para que éste ponga las tácticas para evitarla. Palabras claves: Teatro del Oprimido, espect_actor, La Rueda: Teatro Social, Barrios Nómadas. Summary This article has two objectives. The first is to study the theory of the Theatre of Oppressed of Augusto Boal, and the second is to analyze the techniques used by the theatre group, La Rueda: Social Theatre, to fulfill the main basis of this theory. The innovation of the theory of Augusto Boal lies in not being a conventional didactic theatre that aims to direct the audience towards the ideal prototype in accordance with social and political norms. It is a pedagogical theatre where both actors and audience learn. Its main basis is the destruction of the fourth wall between the actor and the spectator in order to achieve social transformation and the promotion of the marginalized and oppressed people. To carry out these two objectives, we have chosen a play of the Spanish theatre group “La Rueda: Social Theatre”, called “Nomadic Neighborhoods”. This play discusses the problem of illegal immigration in Spain, through presenting the suffering and oppression of two young Africans whose destinies are tragic. The objective of this play is not cathartic, it represents to the audience the mechanisms of the production of oppression, so that the audience puts the tactics to avoid it. Key words: Theatre of Oppressed, spect- actor, La Rueda: Social Theatre, Nomadic Neighborhoods

Improving visual SLAM accuracy through deliberate camera oscillations

Visual Simultaneous Localization And Mapping, (VSLAM) algorithms exploit the observation of scene naturally-existing distinct features to infer the camera motion and build a map of a static environment. There is an increasing interest towards building efficient VSLAM algorithms mainly from computational perspectives; however, there may be insufficient clues to solve for SLAM parameters efficiently. In this paper, deliberate camera oscillations are superimposed on the camera main motion (robot motion), mostly in a lateral direction to give sufficient physical clues for the solution. Filtering methods exploit correlation to infer the motion parameters, and since oscillation introduces more local changes, it can enhance the estimation by correlation. Simulation results are presented showing the effects of oscillation parameters on visual SLAM performance in different motion scenarios. The results showed significant improvement of accuracy for oscillating camera over the steady camera case, and in several cases errors are reduced to less than half its value. These simulation results can be the basis to design a real experimental system

Catalytic Behaviour of Mesoporous Cobalt-Aluminum Oxides for CO Oxidation

Ordered mesoporous materials are promising catalyst supports due to their uniform pore size distribution, high specific surface area and pore volume, tunable pore sizes, and long-range ordering of the pore packing. The evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) process was applied to synthesize mesoporous mixed oxides, which consist of cobalt ions highly dispersed in an alumina matrix. The characterization of the mesoporous mixed cobalt-aluminum oxides with cobalt loadings in the range from 5 to 15 wt% and calcination temperatures of 673, 973, and 1073 K indicates that Co2+ is homogeneously distributed in the mesoporous alumina matrix. As a function of the Co loading, different phases are present comprising poorly crystalline alumina and mixed cobalt aluminum oxides of the spinel type. The mixed cobalt-aluminum oxides were applied as catalysts in CO oxidation and turned out to be highly active.Fil: Bordoloi, Ankur. Indian Institute of Petroleum; IndiaFil: Sanchez, Miguel Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Noei, Heshmat. Research Group X-Ray Physics and Nanoscience Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron; AlemaniaFil: Kaluza, Stefan. Fraunhofer Institute of Environmental, Safety, and Energy Technology; AlemaniaFil: Großmann, Dennis. Ruhr Universität Bochum; AlemaniaFil: Wang, Yuemin. Ruhr Universität Bochum; AlemaniaFil: Grünert, Wolfgang. Ruhr Universität Bochum; AlemaniaFil: Muhler, Martin. Ruhr Universität Bochum; Alemani

Clinical microbiology study of diabetic foot ulcer in Iran; pathogens and antibacterial susceptibility

The aim of this study was to investigate microbial pathogens and their antibiotic susceptibility profile in infected diabetic foot ulcers in Iranian patients. This was a one-year cross sectional study on diabetic patients with infected diabetic foot ulcer at Shariati Teaching Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Grade of ulcer was determined by Wagner's criteria. Specimens were obtained from the base of ulcer, deep part of the wound or aspiration and were tested with gram staining and antibacterial susceptibility was determined with both disk diffusion and E-Test methods. Total of 546 pathogens were isolated from 165 ulcers of 149 patients. Gram positive aerobes including Enterococcal species and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (21.4 and 19.4%, respectively) were identified as the most common pathogens followed by Gram negative isolates including Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas-aeruginosa (12.6 and 5.4%, respectively). The majority of wounds were classified as Wagner grades 2 and 3 (15.7 and 75.7%). Appropriate empiric treatment to cover both these Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens is crucially important

Workplace violence against nurses working in Khorramabad educational hospitals and their Confronting behaviors in violent events

Background & Aims: Workplace violence is considered as a health problem in nursing profession. The aim of this study was to determine nurses behavior meeting to workplace violence and their confronting reactions in violent events. Materials & Methods: This descriptive-cross-sectional study was conducted on all of nursing staffs of Khorramabad educational hospital in 2011. A questionnaire containing, personal and occupational characteristics, prevalence of four types of occupational violence (Physical, Verbal, Racial and sexual), nurses confronting behavior and violence predisposing factors was used. After collecting, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including mean and frequencies by SPSSversion16. Results: Analysis of the data showed that the most frequent type of violence against nurses was verbal violence committed by patient and their relatives (%78.5), managers (%46.2) and staffs (%43.1) respectively. The least frequent type of workplace violence was the sexual one. Most of the nurses' confronting violent behavior was calling hospital guard, and most of the nurses’ confronting behavior was ineffective. Conclusion: The result showed high prevalence of violence against nursing staffs, and the use of ineffective confronting behavior by nurses. Therefore it is necessary to develop educational program to empower the nursing staff against violent events

Knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and ruarl households towards principles of nutrition in Iran: results of NUTRIKAP Survey.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and rural households toward principles of nutrition in Iran. Methods: The study population was Iranian households who live in rural and urban areas in all provinces of the country. The sampling method at households’ level in each province was single stage cluster sampling with equal size clusters. The incumbent data was collected by a structured questionnaire and through the interview with the eligible subject in each household. Results: A total of 14,136 Iranian households were selected as total sample size, 9,149 urban households, and 4,987 rural households. Around 57.2% of urban and 49.5% of rural households was aware of food groups. Respectively in urban and rural households, about 35.1% and 39.7% had correct knowledge toward roles of food groups. Approximately 41.5% and 39.9% of households had accurate knowledge about reason of food eating in urban and rural areas, respectively. The results showed that 79.6% of them had favorable attitudes. The most of the households consumed red meat and poultry weekly whereas fish was eaten rarely. Fruits, vegetables and dairy were consumed daily in the most of households. Sugar intake was daily in the most of households and cream and butter intake was weekly. Conclusion: The most of households had moderate knowledge and good attitudes. Practice of families about food consumption was good. The results of this study can be used for proper intervention for improving of health society

Glycated hemoglobin measurements from dried blood spots: Reliability and relation to results obtained from whole blood samples

Background: Main objective was to measure glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in dried blood spots on paper filter and in whole blood samples in diabetic patients to evaluate relationship between two methods and their respective reliability. Methods: The 20�10 μl of venous blood samples of 33 diabetics were blotted onto the filter paper allowed to dry at room temperature and then stored at 25°C and 4°C. HbA1c was measured via the Turbidimetric Inhibition Immunoassay Technique. The relation was evaluated with correlation and linear regression tests using STATA software and SPSS. Agreement between the results obtained from the dried blood spots and others was evaluated using the Bland and Altman. The pitman's permutation test was also employed to compare the difference in variance. Results: A high positive correlation was detected between whole blood samples and dried blood spots stored at 4°C (r2 =0.90) and at 25°C (r2 = 0.95). The Bland and Altman graphs, as well as the Pitman tests, showed statistically significant differences in variability between the values obtained from whole blood samples and those derived from dried spots stored at 4°C (p=0.05) or 25°C (p=0.004). Conclusion: HbA1c measurements from dried blood spots on the filter paper yielded reliable results. That the Hitachi autoanalyzer is available in most countries renders this assay less costly than the High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method (HPLC). In addition, the filter paper method for Immuno-turbidimetric estimations of HbA1c at different temperatures is reliable and may be particularly useful in outpatient diabetes clinic