Is hysterectomy a risk factor for urinary incontinence?

Background: Hysterectomy is the most common gynecological surgery performed. There are few studies evaluating hysterectomy as a risk factor for urinary incontinence. If hysterectomy is found to be a risk factor for developing urinary incontinence, women undergoing hysterectomy can be well informed prior to the procedure regarding the same. The objective of the present study was to study the prevalence of urinary incontinence in post-menopausal women and its relationship to hysterectomy. To evaluate the association of metabolic syndrome, to urinary incontinence.Methods: This study was a prospective cohort study done in Christian Medical College and Hospital, Vellore, Tamil Nadu between December 2016- December 2017. Postmenopausal women both with natural and surgical menopause, were enrolled into the study after an informed consent. The UDI-6 questionnaire was used to assess urinary incontinence. The categorical variables were presented using frequencies and percentages. The comparison of categorical variables was done using Fisher's exact test. The odds ratio and confidence interval were calculated for the prevalence. P value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.Results: A total of 600 women were enrolled into the study with 300 women having attained natural menopause and 300 women with a surgical menopause. The prevalence of urinary incontinence among these post-menopausal women was 46.24%. The prevalence of urinary incontinence amongst the women with natural menopause was 47.3% and amongst the women with surgical menopause was 45% (p = 0.566). Women with metabolic syndrome suffered from urinary incontinence more than their counterparts without metabolic syndrome (55.8% vs. 36%, p <0.0001).Conclusions: The prevalence of urinary incontinence in the natural menopause and surgical menopause groups was similar, thus proving that hysterectomy is not a risk factor for developing urinary incontinence. However, metabolic syndrome was found to be associated with urinary incontinence.

Ecommerce Platform for Furniture Store

In recent years, people’s acceptance of online shopping has increased markedly with the gradual maturing of e-commerce. This paper aims to propose an ecommerce platform for furniture stores that suits small and medium businesses to expand choice and convenience, allowing customers to buy from a wide array of products with the click of a button. Although there are many existing ecommerce systems in the market, our proposed system stands out for its user experience. This proposed system focuses mainly on four main functions: product management, order management, order-review management, and user management. The current research has been undertaken to walk you through the literature view, methodology, functional overview of the proposed ecommerce system, and discussion. The study further examines the key variables imperative for the success of the proposed system. The findings of this study afford practical implications for the improvement of the online shopping experience of consumers for furniture companies

Large-area Piezoceramic Coating with IDT Electrodes for Ultrasonic Sensing Applications

In the present work, the ultrasonic strain sensing performance of the large area piezoceramic coating with Inter Digital Transducer (IDT) electrodes is studied. The piezoceramic coating is prepared using slurry coating technique and the piezoelectric phase has been achieved by poling under DC field. To study the sensing performance of the piezoceramic coating with IDT electrodes to the strain induced by the guided waves, the piezoceramic coating is fabricated on the surface of a beam specimen at one end and the ultrasonic guided waves are launched with a piezoelectric wafer bonded on another end. Often a wider frequency band of operation is needed for the effective implementation of the sensors in the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of various structures, for different types of damages. A wider frequency band of operation is achieved in present study by considering the variation in number of IDT electrodes in the contribution of voltage for the induced dynamic strain. In present work, the fabricated piezoceramic coatings with IDT electrodes have been characterized for dynamic strain sensing applications using guided wave technique at different frequencies. Strain levels of the launched guided wave are varied by varying the magnitude of the input voltage sent to the actuator. Sensitivity variation with the variation in the strain levels of guided wave is studied for the combination of different number of IDT electrodes. Piezoelectric coefficient is determined at different frequencies and at different strain levels using the guided wave techniqu

Bis[N,N-dimethyl-1-(10H-pyrido[3,2-b][1,4]benzothia­zin-10-yl)propan-2-aminium] tetrakis­(thio­cyanato-κN)cobaltate(II)

The asymmetric unit of the title salt, (C16H20N3S)2[Co(NCS)4], comprises one monovalent isothio­pendylium cation and one-half of a divalent thio­cyanatocobaltate(II) anion (2 symmetry). The central thia­zine ring of the cation is slightly twisted in a boat-like fashion, with r.m.s. deviations from the mean plane of 0.272 (1) and 0.2852 (8) Å for the N and S atoms. The mol­ecular structure of the cation is stabilized by an intra­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bond. Within the complex anion, the CoII atom is tetra­hedrally surrounded by four N atoms of the thio­cyanate ligands. π–π stacking, with a distance of 3.7615 (10) Å between the centroids of benzene and pyridine rings, helps to consolidate the packing

N-[3-(4-Fluoro­benz­yl)-2,4-dioxo-1,3-diaza­spiro­[4.5]dec-8-yl]-2-methyl­benzene­sulfonamide

In the title compound, C22H24FN3O4S, the cyclo­hexane ring adopts a chair conformation and the five-membered ring is essentially planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.040 (2) Å. The dihedral angles between the five-membered ring and the tolyl and fluoro­benzene rings are 56.74 (12) and 89.88 (12)°, respectively. The two terminal benzene rings make a dihedral angle of 63.53 (12)°. The crystal structure displays inter­molecular C—H⋯O and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. An intra­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bond also occurs

N-{3-[2-(4-Fluoro­phen­oxy)eth­yl]-2,4-dioxo-1,3-diaza­spiro­[4.5]decan-7-yl}-4-meth­oxy­benzene­sulfonamide

In the title compound, C23H26FN3O6S, the two terminal aromatic rings form a dihedral angle of 49.26 (12)°. The cyclo­hexane ring adopts a chair conformation and the five-membered ring is essentially planar, with a maximum deviation from planarity of 0.0456 (19) Å. The dihedral angles between the five-membered ring and the meth­oxy­benzene and fluoro­benzene rings are 33.56 (11) and 81.94 (12)°, respectively. The crystal structure displays N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds as well as weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions

Differential item functioning for items in Berger's HIV Stigma Scale: an analysis of cohorts from the Indian, Swedish, and US contexts

PURPOSE: To examine whether items in Berger's HIV Stigma Scale function differently with persons of different age, gender, and cultural backgrounds. METHODS: Secondary data from cohorts, collected in South India (n = 250), Sweden (n = 193), and the US (n = 603) were reanalyzed to evaluate DIF within, between, and across these cohorts. All participants had answered the revised version of the HIV stigma scale consisting of 32 items forming the subscales Personalized stigma, Disclosure concerns, Concerns about public attitudes, and Negative self-image. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for these items was assessed using hybrid ordinal regression-IRT technique. When DIF was detected, the cumulative impact of DIF on individual subscale scores was evaluated. RESULTS: DIF was detected for 9 items within, between, or across cohorts, but the DIF was negligible in general. Detected DIF between the Swedish and Indian cohorts had a cumulative salient impact on individual scores for the subscale Disclosure Concerns; Disclosure concerns were overestimated in the Swedish cohort and both over- and underestimated in the Indian cohort. CONCLUSIONS: The items in the 32-item version of the HIV stigma scale did not seem to be particularly prone to present DIF. The DIF between the Indian and Swedish cohort for items in the subscale Disclosure Concerns could, however, result in both type I and type II errors if scores should be compared between the Indian and Swedish cohort

Differential item functioning for items in Berger's HIV Stigma Scale: an analysis of cohorts from the Indian, Swedish, and US contexts

PURPOSE: To examine whether items in Berger's HIV Stigma Scale function differently with persons of different age, gender, and cultural backgrounds. METHODS: Secondary data from cohorts, collected in South India (n = 250), Sweden (n = 193), and the US (n = 603) were reanalyzed to evaluate DIF within, between, and across these cohorts. All participants had answered the revised version of the HIV stigma scale consisting of 32 items forming the subscales Personalized stigma, Disclosure concerns, Concerns about public attitudes, and Negative self-image. Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for these items was assessed using hybrid ordinal regression-IRT technique. When DIF was detected, the cumulative impact of DIF on individual subscale scores was evaluated. RESULTS: DIF was detected for 9 items within, between, or across cohorts, but the DIF was negligible in general. Detected DIF between the Swedish and Indian cohorts had a cumulative salient impact on individual scores for the subscale Disclosure Concerns; Disclosure concerns were overestimated in the Swedish cohort and both over- and underestimated in the Indian cohort. CONCLUSIONS: The items in the 32-item version of the HIV stigma scale did not seem to be particularly prone to present DIF. The DIF between the Indian and Swedish cohort for items in the subscale Disclosure Concerns could, however, result in both type I and type II errors if scores should be compared between the Indian and Swedish cohort

Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of betasatellite molecules associated with okra yellow vein mosaic disease in Sri Lanka

Okra production in Sri Lanka has been severely affected by okra yellow vein mosaic disease (OYVMD), which is caused by begomoviruses and associated betasatellites. These betasatellite molecules commonly determine the development and severity of the disease. Therefore, knowledge about the genetic variability of betasatellites associated with OYVMD could assist okra breeding programs in the selection of resistant varieties. The present study aimed to characterize the betasatellite DNA sequences associated with OYVMD in Sri Lanka and to determine their phylogenetic relationships. Betasatellite DNA of six virus isolates from widely separated geographical locations were sequenced and compared with already reported begomovirus betasatellites. The betasatellite molecules have features common to other betasatellite DNAs: a conserved nonanucleotide TAATATTAC, a coding sequence for the protein βC1, an adenine rich region and a satellite conserved region. Nucleotide diversity among the isolates was relatively low (π = 0.034). A recombination event was detected at a specific region in the genome of all isolates. The isolates shared >96% sequence identity with bhendi yellow vein betasatellites reported from India and phylogenetic analysis confirmed their genetic relationship

Violence against women: The perspective of academic women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Opinion surveys about potential causes of violence against women (VAW) are uncommon. This study explores academic women's opinions about VAW and the ways of reducing violence.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this descriptive study. One hundred-and-fifteen academicians participated in the study from two universities. A questionnaire was used regarding the definition and the causes of VAW, the risk groups and opinions about the solutions. Additionally, two authors interviewed 8 academicians from universities other than that of the interviewing author.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Academicians discussed the problem from the perspective of "gender-based violence" rather than "family violence". The majority of the participants stated that nonworking women of low socioeconomic status are most at risk for VAW. They indicated that psychological violence is more prevalent against educated women, whilst physical violence is more likely to occur against uneducated and nonworking women. Perpetrator related factors were the most frequently stated causes of VAW. Thirty-five percent of the academicians defined themselves as at risk of some act of VAW. Recommendations for actions against violence were empowerment of women, increasing the educational levels in the society, and legal measures.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Academic women introduced an ecological approach for the explanation of VAW by stressing the importance of taking into account the global context of the occurrence of VAW. Similar studies with various community members -including men- will help to define targeted interventions.</p