Pulsed short wave therapy : its clinical use and physiological effects in healthy subjects and osteoarthritic patients

PSWT is a commonly used electrotherapy modality and surveys have shown it to be one of the most widely used modalities among physiotherapists in the UK. Nevertheless, the literature supporting its therapeutic effects and explaining its mechanism of actions remains scant, is of poor methodological quality and of minimal clinical value. This research program was set to examine both the nature of use and the efficacy of PSWT. The nature of PSWT use was examined in outpatient clinics using an audit and a nationwide survey. The efficacy of PSWT was examined in two randomised placebo controlled trials; one conducted in a laboratory setting on healthy subjects and the other was a clinical trial on patients with osteoarthritis. Following the same methodology and protocol, the effects of low and high dose of PSWT on skin temperature (SkT), blood volume (BVol), and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were evaluated against a placebo and a control condition. The findings have revealed the poor documentary skills of physiotherapists, and a state of confusion ~n the clinical decision-making with regard to PSWT dosage. Based on experimentation, it was established that patients react differently from healthy subjects when similar levels of energies are applied. Whilst low dose resulted in non-significant changes in SkT and NCV in healthy subjects, the same dose significantly altered BVol, SkT, and NCV in patients. Placebo effects were found to account for 39% of the patients' response to PSWT treatments. The findings have revealed a discrepancy between evidence and practice that necessitates a reconsideration of the treatment approaches adopted by physiotherapists when using PSWT. The study has also demonstrated the physiological and therapeutic efficacy of PSWT on patients with osteoarthritis, and showed that treatment outcomes are dependent on the amount of exogenous energy applied and the type of tissue treated. The thesis also highlights areas for future research based on the literature reviewed and the experimentation conducted

A study on relationship between internal auditing and quality of financial statement

The primary objective of most financial statements is to provide a concentrated as well as categorized reports on financial performance and flexibility to help decision makers reach suitable financial decisions. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between internal auditing and quality of financial statements on selected firms listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. The proposed study selects 140 firms over the period 2008-2012. Using some regression technique, the study has determined that there was a positive and meaningful relationship between firms with internal auditing in their activities and quality of financial statements

Evolving Morphological changes of testis in UDT patients

Introduction: Undescended testis is a common problem in children. Cryptorchid testis is frequently accompanied by gross morphologic changes with regard to the size and shape of the testis, various degree of detachment between the epididymis and testis. We assessed the epididymal anomalies and patency of process vaginalis in boys with UDT.Material & Method: It is a prospective study which was performed on all cases of UDT operated in a social security hospital between June 2006 and October 2007. All patients were operated on by one surgeon. In addition to general demographic data, the association between the patency of processus vaginalis and epididymal adhesion to testis was evaluated.Results: There were 81 patients. The mean age of patients was 30 months (3 months to 10.9 years). Forty eight patients had unilateral and 33 patients had bilateral UDT. In the unilateral group 79.2% and in the bilateral group 78.8% had palpable testis. The mean (±SD) size of testis in the palpable group was 10.8± 3.1 mm and in the nonpalpable group was 8.5±3.3mm (t=2.89, p=0.005). The Spearman ‹s correlation coefficient showed that with increasing age the size of testis is also increased (rho=0.41, p<0.001).The mean size of testis in patients with normal epididymal adhesion was 12.6±3.3mm, with partial adhesion 10.8±3mm, and in patients without epididymal adhesion was 8.9±2.5mm (F=18.4, p<0.001). Of 110 UDT, the process vaginalis was patent in 101 cases (91.8%). Conclusion: Process vaginalis is patent in most of cases of UDT. There is a meaningful correlation between testis size and epididymal adhesion. Testis abnormality (in size and epididymal adhesion) is seen more commonly in non-palpable cryptorchid patients

Transformation to electronic purchasing: an empirical investigation

The main objective of this study is to determine the factors influence consumers in Oman to switch from in-store to electronic purchasing. Therefore, four constructs (perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived usefulness (PU), facilitating conditions (FC), and social influence (SI)) have been employed in this study which are adopted through the integration between UTUAT and TAM models. The respondent in this study were students from Sultan Qaboos University and Dhofar University, 537 cases have been analysed. Exploratory, confirmatory, and structural equation modelling techniques have been employed in this research using SPSS 25, AMOS 25 software.The study revealed that (PU), (FC), and (SI) have a positive and significant influence on the consumers’ behavioural intention in Oman to switch into electronic purchasing. While, the findings demonstrated that there is no significant effect by (PEU) on the consumers’ behavioural intention to transform from traditional to electronic purchasing.The study provides business and consumers, a good interpretation about the factors influence the transformation to e-purchasing. In addition, this paper encourages companies to shift to interaction e-purchasing portals which help businesses to target different marketplace inside and outside of country to increase sell ratio to sustain their business. However, up to the researchers’ knowledge this study considered to be among the first studies which provide another clearer view of e-purchasing in Oman by incorporating selected factors from two different theories. i.e. incorporating two factors related to the use of technology with other two variables about the required technical resources, and the social effect on individuals to use new technology, thereby being unique and original

Qualitative exploration of sexual life among breast cancer survivors at reproductive age

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Changes and challenges in sexual life experienced by the husbands of women with breast cancer: a qualitative study

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Production PlanningOptimization UsingGeneticAlgorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization (Case Study: Soofi Tea Factory)

Production planning includes complex topics of production and operation management that according to expansion of decision-making methods, have been considerably developed. Nowadays, managers use innovative approaches to solving problems of production planning. Given that the production plan is a type of prediction, models should be such that the slightest deviation from their reality. In order to minimize deviations from the values stated in the tea industry, two Particle Swarm optimization algorithm and genetic algorithm were used to solve the model. The data were obtained through interviews with Securities and Exchange Organization and those in financial units, industrial, commercial, and production. The results indicated the superiority of birds swarm optimization algorithm in the tea industr

The effect of consuming evening primrose oil on cervical preparation before hysteroscopy: An RCT

Background: Herbal medicine could be effective at treating various illnesses. Hysteroscopy can be an effective method for assessing the uterus in terms of anatomical, physiological and pathological anomalies. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effect of evening primrose oil (EPO) on cervical preparation in women candidates for hysteroscopy. Materials and Methods: This study was a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial including 160 women candidates for diagnostic hysteroscopy who were referred to Alzahra hospital from August 2019-March 2020. They were divided into 2 groups. Group A received 100 mg EPO as a soft gel capsule 6 hr before the hysterectomy in the posterior vaginal fornix. Group B received a placebo. After receiving the treatment, primary and secondary outcomes were evaluated in the groups. Results: The average Hegar size in the EPO group was larger than in the control group (p < 0.001 for both). Also, the need for mechanical dilation, the time taken until the first resistance and the time of dilatation completion in the EPO group were significantly less than in the placebo group (p < 0.008 for all). There was also greater ease of dilatation in the EPO group. Side effects such as uterine rupture, false passage, cervical rupture, allergic reaction, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, headache and increase of bowel movements were not reported in any cases. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, EPO is effective for cervical preparation in women undergoing hysteroscopy. Key words: Hysteroscopy, Dilatation, EPOGAM, Gamma-linolenic acid

Microbiological Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy as an Adjunct to Non-surgical Periodontal Treatment: A Clinical Trial

Introduction: The efficiency of routine scaling and root planning is negatively influenced by the tooth anatomy and residual bacteria all possibly affecting the treatment outcomes in future. The present study compared the microbiologic effectiveness of the photodynamic therapy (PDT) as an adjunctive treatment modality for nonsurgical treatment in chronic periodontitis.Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 18 chronic periodontitis patients were selected. Four quadrants were randomly treated by scaling and root planning (SRP), diode laser (810n m wavelength, 1.5 W and 320 μm fiber, contact and sweeping technique), SRP + PDT (with diode laser 808 nm, 0.5 W) and laser + SRP (with diode laser 808 nm, 1 W) in each patient. Presence of periodontal pathogen species in the treated areas were measured before the treatment, at 1 and 3 months afterwards. The identification and reproduction of the specific genes of pathogen bacteria were done by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Presence of oral pathogen bacteria in the treatment groups were analyzed by chi-square test. A semi quantitative analysis was used to measure the intensity of white light in each band. This was calculated by number of pixels in each band.Results: In the qualitative analysis, Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) and Treponema denticola (Td) species were killed after 1 month in all treatment modalities. PDT had more effects to decrease Prevotella intermedia (Pi) species than SRP while Tannerella forsythensis count (Tf) species increased in all treatments. Furthermore, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) species decreased in all treatments and Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g) species increased in all treatments after 1 and 3 months.Conclusion: It can be concluded that PDT was more effective as an adjunctive treatment to SRP than SRP alone; however, no distinct differences were found between both treatment modalities regarding reduction of certain pathogen bacteria