Assessment of Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill Side Effects among Women Attending Maternal Child Health Centers in Erbil

الغرض: لا توجد دراسات لاستكشاف الآثار الضارة لاستخدام حبوب منع الحمل الفموية (OCP) بين النساء اللواتي يعشن في أربيل/ العراق. هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى تقييم أنماط الاستخدام والآثار الجانبية المرتبطة بها بين النساء في أربيل. المرضى والطرق: استكمل استبيان وجهاً لوجه يستفسر عن المعلومات الديموغرافية والقضايا المتعلقة باستخدام OCPs والآثار الجانبية ذات الصلة من قبل 235 امرأة استخدمن OCPs مرة واحدة على الأقل في حياتهن. النتائج: أظهرت النساء مواقف إيجابية تجاه فعالية وسلامة OCP ، مرتبطة بشكل إيجابي بأنماط استخدامها. تم الإبلاغ عن الآثار الجانبية الشائعة التالية لـ OCPs: ألم (69.4٪) ، مشاكل في الرؤية (60٪) ، صداع وإرهاق (59٪) ، ضعف النطق (53٪) ، نزيف غير منتظم وألم في الثدي (52٪) ، غثيان ( 51٪) ، آلام في الصدر (40٪) ، كلف (37٪) ، زيادة الوزن (33٪) ، آلام في البطن (28٪)، ضيق في التنفس (26٪) ، تورم (20٪) ، بقع دم (12٪) ، والحساسية (7٪). كشفت الدراسة أن النساء اللواتي لديهن العديد من الآثار الجانبية تجاه OCPs مع ذلك يميلون إلى استخدامها بشكل مناسب. ومع ذلك، يُنصح بالبرامج التعليمية لتحسين المعرفة حول استخدام OCP بين النساء في أربيل.Purpose: Studies exploring the adverse effects of oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use among women living in Erbil/Iraq are lacking. This study aimed to assess the patterns of use and associated side effects among women in Erbil. Patients and methods: A face-to-face questionnaire survey inquiring about demographic information and issues related to the use of OCPs and related side effects was completed by 235 women who had used OCPs at least once in their lifetime. Results: The women exhibited positive attitudes towards OCP efficacy and safety, positively associated with their patterns of use. The following common side effects of OCPs were reported: pain (69.4%), vision problems (60%), headache and fatigue (59%), speech impairment (53%), irregular bleeding and breast tenderness (52%), nausea (51%), chest pains (40%), chloasma (37%), weight gain (33 %), abdominal pain (28%), shortness of breath (26%), swelling (20 %), spotting (12%), and allergy (7%). Conclusion: The study revealed that women who have many side effects toward OCPs nevertheless tend to use them appropriately. However, educational programs are advisable to improve knowledge about OCP use among women in Erbil

Knowledge of Shaken Baby Syndrome among Hospital Nurses in Erbil City

Background and objectives: Shaken baby syndrome and pediatric abuse head trauma are the most common causes of mortality and morbidity due to physical child abuse. Nurses have a main role in parents’ education regarding child abuse prevention. This study aimed to assess nurses’ knowledge regarding shaken baby syndrome in Erbil City. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted at postpartum units, the delivery room and the ward at the Maternity Teaching Hospital, and the inpatient and intensive care units at Rapareen Pediatric Teaching Hospital in 2017 in Erbil City. A purposive sample of 50 nurses was recruited to the study. The data collection was performed using a questionnaire for interviewing the study participants, and the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Results: The study findings revealed that the majority of the study participants were 19-25 years old and most did not have enough knowledge regarding the signs and symptoms of the shaken baby syndrome (irritability, lethargy, poor feeding breathing problems, uncontrollable crying, vomiting, bluish skin, changes in sleeping pattern, convulsions or seizures and unresponsiveness). Nurses also had insufficient knowledge about the risk factors of this condition. Only a quarter of nurses knew that domestic violence is a risk factor and less than a quarter of them recognized depression and substance abuse of the caregiver as a risk factor. Regarding knowledge of the complications, the study found that a quarter of nurses knew that brain damage, cerebral palsy and blindness are complications of the shaken baby syndrome. Conclusions: Majority of nurses had poor knowledge about causes, signs, symptoms, risk factors and complications of the shaken baby syndrome

Structural, electromagnetic and microwave properties of magnetite extracted from mill scale waste via conventional ball milling and mechanical alloying techniques

This study presents the utilization of mill scale waste, which has attracted much attention due to its high content of magnetite (Fe3 O4 ). This work focuses on the extraction of Fe3 O4 from mill scale waste via magnetic separation, and ball milling was used to fabricate a microwave absorber. The extracted magnetic powder was ground-milled using two different techniques: (i) a conventional milling technique (CM) and (ii) mechanical alloying (MM) process. The Fe3 O4 /CM samples were prepared by a conventional milling process using steel pot ball milling, while the Fe3 O4 /MM samples were prepared using a high-energy ball milling (HEBM) method. The effect of milling time on the structural, phase composition, and electromagnetic properties were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a vector network analyzer (VNA). XRD confirmed the formation of magnetite after both the magnetic separation and milling processes. The results revealed that Fe3 O4 exhibited excellent microwave absorption properties because of the synergistic characteristics of its dielectric and magnetic loss. The results showed that the Fe3 O4 /CM particle powder had a greater absorption power (reflection loss: <−10 dB) with 99.9% absorption, a minimum reflection loss of −30.83 dB, and an effective bandwidth of 2.30 GHz for 2 mm thick samples. The results revealed the Fe3 O4 /MM powders had higher absorption properties, including a higher RL of −20.59 dB and a broader bandwidth of 2.43 GHz at a matching thickness of only 1 mm. The higher microwave absorption performance was attributed to the better impedance matching property caused by the porous microstructure. Furthermore, the magnetite, Fe3 O4 showed superior microwave absorption characteristics because of the lower value of permittivity, which resulted in better impedance matching. This study presents a low-cost approach method by reutilizing mill scale waste to fabricate a high purity crystalline Fe3 O4 with the best potential for designing magnetic nano-sized based microwave absorbers