Comparative efficacy of polyethylene glycol 3350 monotherapy against polyethylene glycol 3350 plus sodium picosulfate combined therapy in treating fecal impaction in pediatric functional constipation patients

Background: Functional constipation (FC) is a common pediatric problem worldwide. The management of FC comprises of a short initial disimpaction phase followed by long-term maintenance phase. Currently, polyethylene glycol (PEG) is considered as standard disimpaction therapy in pediatric FC patients. The aim of our study was to compare the efficacy of polyethylene glycol 3350 monotherapy with polyethylene glycol 3350 and sodium picosulfate combined therapy in treating fecal impaction in pediatric FC patients. Methods: All children (aged >1 year) diagnosed with FC as per ROME IV criteria and presenting to the out-patient department of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition unit of a tertiary health centre in north Indian Himalayan state were randomized into two open label, prospective, parallel groups, namely group A (receiving PEG 3350 monotherapy) and group B (receiving combined PEG 3350 plus sodium picosulfate therapy), over a period of 13 months. The outcome was evaluated as successful disimpaction with onset of loose/watery stools (Type-7 of Bristol stool chart scale). The success rates and mean time to disimpaction for two groups were computed and compared. Results: Eighty-one patients were randomized into two groups. The mean time to disimpaction was found to be significantly lower (p<0.001) for group B (2.37±1.16 days) when compared to group A (4.00±1.43 days). There was successful resolution of impaction in both groups.  No adverse events were reported in either group. Conclusions: Combined PEG 3350 and sodium picosulfate therapy significantly reduces the disimpaction time when compared with PEG 3350 monotherapy in pediatric population, however both the therapies appear similar in achieving successful disimpaction

Comparative analysis of the effect of ionospheric delay on user position accuracy using single and dual frequency GPS receivers over Indian region

57-61The ionosphere acts as a prominent source of range errors for users of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals requiring accurate position determination. Various models and mathematical formulations have been devised to calculate the absolute range error caused due to ionospheric delay. The present study aims at comparing two methods for calculating delay due to ionosphere: (i) using grid based model at L1 carrier frequency with bilinear interpolation technique; and (ii) using pseudo-range measurements at both L1 and L2 carrier frequency. For analyzing the effect of ionospheric delay on the seasonal behaviour of positional accuracy, a quantitative analysis has been done for all quiet days (Ap index < 50) in 2005 using GPS data for International GNSS Service (IGS) Bangalore (IISc) receiver in January, March and June. Various corrections such as satellite clock bias, transit time, ionospheric delay corrections, etc. are applied to pseudo-ranges to calculate the user coordinates. For single frequency (L1) receivers, ionospheric delay corrections have been applied using IGS total electron content data derived from grid based ionospheric model; and for the dual frequency receivers, pseudo-range measurements at L1 and L2 carrier frequencies have been used. It has been observed that there is an improvement of 1-4 m in the standard deviation of position errors when the ionospheric delay correction is applied using pseudo-range measurements at L1 and L2 frequencies (dual frequency receiver) as compared to L1 frequency only. It has also been observed that some residual errors still remain in the estimated user position even after using dual frequency receivers