Female health workers: An obstetric risk group

Objective: The aim of the study was to gather information about the pregnancies of female health workers and to compare them with those of another group of working women with different working conditions, namely bank workers. Methods: Using a cross-sectional comparative design, physicians (184), nurses (197) and bank-workers (192) were interviewed about their previous pregnancies and working conditions during those pregnancies. Results: The majority of physicians (70.6%) and nurses (81.2%) had night work during their pregnancies and two-thirds of them continued this work until the last month of pregnancy, even though they have a legal right not to work during the night after the 7th month of pregnancy. Health workers had shorter maternity leaves than bank workers (P < 0.001) and complained more about the negative attitudes of managers and colleagues during their pregnancy (P < 0.001). Health workers had more preterm deliveries (P < 0.05) compared with bank workers, and nurses had more low birth weight babies compared with bank workers (P < 0.05). Conclusion: There is a need for a change in the climate in hospitals in terms of the working conditions of pregnant health staff and the attitudes towards them

Why withdrawal? Why not withdrawal? Men's perspectives

Withdrawal is an ancient and prevalent form of male contraception which has largely been ignored by family planning programme managers all over the world. The objective of this study was to understand men's perspectives on withdrawal use, both users and non-users. In-depth interviews with 62 mole factory workers in western Turkey are reported, on use of withdrawal, attitudes to family planning, information on contraception, marital and sexual experience, and gender values and attitudes. Advantages reported both by users and non-users of withdrawal were being free from side effects, ease of access and having no cost. While current users said withdrawal was easy to use and practical, non-users complained about the difficulties of using withdrawal, that it was coitus-dependent, caused anxiety and decreased pleasure during sexual intercourse. Current users emphasised taking responsibility as husbands for family planning and protecting their wives from possible adverse effects of contraceptives. Withdrawal should be seen as a valuable choice in a world where increasing method choice, male participation and responsibility taking in reproductive health are all desirable. With its cited advantages withdrawal is likely to fill an important niche among current contraceptive practices and deserves more attention and support. (c) 2005 Reproductive Health Matters. All rights reserved

Free oxygen radicals associated with growth in coeliac disease

Introduction: Coeliac Disease (CD) is an immune- mediated chronic inflammatory disease of upper small intestine in genetically permanent gluten-sensitive individuals. Oxidative stress was reported to play an important role in the pathogenesis of coeliac disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of the polimorphisms in the structures of the enzymes SOD and GSHPx with changing levels depending on increased oxidative stress and whether there is an association with the mutations DQA1*0501, DQB1*0201, DRB1*04 reported frequently in coeliac disease. Methods: This study has investigated SOD and GSH-PX polymorphisms and the frequently reported mutations DQA1*0501, DQB1*0201 and DRB1*04 in the patients with CD. Height and weight measurements of the patients were obtained to evaluate their growth and development, also correlation between polymorphisms SOD and GSH-PX and concerned mutations were investigated. Results: This study involved total 56 cases, 35 female (62.5%) and 21 male (37.5%), with a mean age 6.66 ± 4.18 years. Polymorphisms SOD and GSH-PX were found in homozygote, heterozygote and wild-type patients. At least one of the mutations DQA1*0501, DQB1*0201 and DRB1*04 were found in 41 patients. Conclusion: Although etiology of coeliac disease is not entirely clear, many mechanisms have been suggested. It may be observed that the retardation of growth and development in the patients with coeliac disease may be associated with oxidative stress and decreased antioxidant capacity

Controlling transport phenomena in the Czochralski crystal growth process

A mathematical formulation and computational techniques are presented to describe optimal control and design strategies for the suppression of turbulent motions in the melt and the minimization of temperature gradients in the crystal in Czochralski crystal growth processes. The methodologies developed can be used to test control mechanisms, design parameters, and optimization objectives to determine their effectiveness in improving the processes. They can also be used to effect such improvements by systematically determining optimal values of the design parameters. The controls or design parameters considered include applied magnetic fields, temperature gradients along the side wall of the crucible, and crucible and crystal rotation rates. The results show that applied magnetic fields can be very effective in reducing velocity perturbations in the melt, while side wall temperature gradients are less effective and crucible and crystal rotation rates are ineffective. The results also show that applied magnetic field and crucible and rotation rates are ineffective in reducing temperature gradients in the crystal or in the melt