Oral misoprostol solution in comparison to vaginal misoprostol for induction of labour in a randomized controlled trial

Background: With more than 15% of all gravid women requiring prostaglandins in cervical ripening and labour induction. However, evidence is not clear about the preferred route or dose of the drug. So, this study was designed with objectives to compare the induction delivery interval and safety of titrated oral misoprostol solution with vaginal misoprostol for labour induction in term primigravida women.Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on a total of 100 patients randomly selected among primigravida at term women undergoing induction of labour for obstetric or medical indication for labour induction in Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital. They were divided into two Groups: Group I: patients undergoing induction of labour using misoprostol oral solution and Group II: patients undergoing induction of labour using vaginal misoprostol.Results: Oral misoprostol solution has less induction delivery duration and less side effects than vaginal misoprostol. The induction-delivery time with the oral route compared to the vaginal one (15.2 versus 20.3 hours respectively) with significant p-value (<0.001).Conclusions: Titrated oral misoprostol is safe and effective for labour induction in primigravida patients with unfavorable cervix

Social suffering and the psychological impact of structural violence and economic oppression in an ongoing conflict setting: The Gaza Strip

Structural violence and economic oppression (e.g. control over resources, politically engineered poverty and unemployment) are common features of warfare, yet there is a lack of research exploring the impact this has on civilian wellbeing in conflict‐affected areas. This study, embedded within a human rights and community liberation psychology framework, aims to address this need by studying young Palestinian university graduates living under military blockade and occupation in the Gaza Strip. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis indicated that economic and political domains adversely affected multiple aspects of civilian life and wellbeing. The findings revealed the deleterious effects of structural violence and economic oppression which created: human insecurity; poor psychological wellbeing and quality of life; existential, psychological and social suffering; humiliation; injuries to dignity; multiple losses; and led to life being experienced as ‘on hold’. Local expressions and idioms to express distress were identified. The findings contributed to unique insights regarding how continual, systemic, and structural oppression can be potentially more psychologically detrimental than specific incidents of conflict and violence. The implications and the relevance of the findings to mental health and disaster relief are considered. Interventions providing human security and economic security should be prioritised

Experimental Comparative Study on the Performance of Single and Multi-Stage Dry Air Filters

An experimental study on the effect of filter types, relative humidity and using two stage filters on the weight efficiency and pressure drop across the filter was carried out, to complete the study a test rig is designed and built, the rig consist of three sections air duct, of 30 cm ×30 cm cross sectional area, with overall length of 220 cm. Six types of air filters are used in a single stage filters; namely spongy, polyester, synthetic one and two layer aluminum filters. A molten Aluminum powder dust (Type Aluxite No. 25, 98% less than 35 microns and 2% less than 10 microns) is used. In two stage filters study the bag filter is used as a secondary filter while the primary can be any type of the five filters mentioned above. The study shows that the spongy filters gives a maximum efficiency when is used as a single stage filter as compared with the other filters type. Increasing of working environment relative humidity improves the weight efficiency for both single and two stage filters. Two stage filters can improved the filtration process, it is found that the combination of spongy filter and bag filters give a maximum of weight efficiency of about 92% when the relative humidity equals to 90% . Space distance between two stage filters affect the weight efficiency, it is found that the best distance between the spongy filter and bag filter is between 15 to 20 cm

Parent and child agreement for acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychopathology in a prospective study of children and adolescents exposed to single-event trauma

Examining parent-child agreement for Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents is essential for informing the assessment of trauma-exposed children, yet no studies have examined this relationship using appropriate statistical techniques. Parent-child agreement for these disorders was examined by structured interview in a prospective study of assault and motor vehicle accident (MVA) child survivors, assessed at 2-4 weeks and 6 months post-trauma. Children were significantly more likely to meet criteria for ASD, as well as other ASD and PTSD symptom clusters, based on their own report than on their parent's report. Parent-child agreement for ASD was poor (Cohen's κ = -.04), but fair for PTSD (Cohen's κ = .21). Agreement ranged widely for other emotional disorders (Cohen's κ = -.07-.64), with generalised anxiety disorder found to have superior parent-child agreement (when assessed by phi coefficients) relative to ASD and PTSD. The findings support the need to directly interview children and adolescents, particularly for the early screening of posttraumatic stress, and suggest that other anxiety disorders may have a clearer presentation post-trauma

Time-Fractional Optimal Control of Initial Value Problems on Time Scales

We investigate Optimal Control Problems (OCP) for fractional systems involving fractional-time derivatives on time scales. The fractional-time derivatives and integrals are considered, on time scales, in the Riemann--Liouville sense. By using the Banach fixed point theorem, sufficient conditions for existence and uniqueness of solution to initial value problems described by fractional order differential equations on time scales are known. Here we consider a fractional OCP with a performance index given as a delta-integral function of both state and control variables, with time evolving on an arbitrarily given time scale. Interpreting the Euler--Lagrange first order optimality condition with an adjoint problem, defined by means of right Riemann--Liouville fractional delta derivatives, we obtain an optimality system for the considered fractional OCP. For that, we first prove new fractional integration by parts formulas on time scales.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper accepted for publication as a book chapter with Springer International Publishing AG. Submitted 23/Jan/2019; revised 27-March-2019; accepted 12-April-2019. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1508.0075

Dynamic 3D shape of the plantar surface of the foot using coded structured light:a technical report

The foot provides a crucial contribution to the balance and stability of the musculoskeletal system, and accurate foot measurements are important in applications such as designing custom insoles/footwear. With better understanding of the dynamic behavior of the foot, dynamic foot reconstruction techniques are surfacing as useful ways to properly measure the shape of the foot. This paper presents a novel design and implementation of a structured-light prototype system providing dense three dimensional (3D) measurements of the foot in motion. The input to the system is a video sequence of a foot during a single step; the output is a 3D reconstruction of the plantar surface of the foot for each frame of the input. Methods Engineering and clinical tests were carried out to test the accuracy and repeatability of the system. Accuracy experiments involved imaging a planar surface from different orientations and elevations and measuring the fitting errors of the data to a plane. Repeatability experiments were done using reconstructions from 27 different subjects, where for each one both right and left feet were reconstructed in static and dynamic conditions over two different days. Results The static accuracy of the system was found to be 0.3 mm with planar test objects. In tests with real feet, the system proved repeatable, with reconstruction differences between trials one week apart averaging 2.4 mm (static case) and 2.8 mm (dynamic case). Conclusion The results obtained in the experiments show positive accuracy and repeatability results when compared to current literature. The design also shows to be superior to the systems available in the literature in several factors. Further studies need to be done to quantify the reliability of the system in clinical environment

Physico-mechanical properties and shielding efficiency in relation to mineralogical and geochemical compositions of Um Had granitoid, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt

The current work aims to describe the physico-mechanical characteristics and shielding efficiency with reference to the mineralogical and geochemical compositions of the Neoproterozoic Um Had composite granitoid pluton in order to deduce their favorability as dimension stones. The Um Had granitoid pluton has an elliptical outline with a mean diameter of about 10 km. This pluton is a composite (ranging from white to reddish pink color), hard, massive, and medium- to coarse-grained granitoid body. It is classified as syenogranite according to their modal and bulk chemical compositions. Geochemically, the granitoid pluton is a highly calc-alkaline, peraluminous granite, formed by low degree partial melting of tonalitic source rock in a post-collisional tectonic setting. The physico-mechanical properties of the granitoid pluton under study satisfy the requirements of dimension stone in terms of their bulk density (from 2561 to 2564 kg/m3), and to some extent water absorption capacity (from 0.38% to 0.55%). However, their compressive strength values (50.4–113.4 MPa) do not achieve the minimum requirement for interior use and light duty exterior use. This study delves into the potential of some of our syenogranite samples (I, IIA, IIS, and 10) as gamma radiation shielding materials. We have assessed the mass attenuation coefficient (GMAC), effective atomic number (Zeff), exposure build-up factor (EBF), and energy absorption build-up factor (EABF) for each of these samples. The GMAC and Zeff calculations were performed using the Phy-X online software, across a photon energy range of 0.015–15 MeV. Our findings suggest an inverse relationship between photon energy and GMAC, with the highest values observed for the (I) granite sample (∼18). This study shows the promising radiation shielding capacity of our samples. The insights derived from GMAC, Zeff, EBF, and EABF can serve as a guide for the development of effective, naturally sourced radiation shielding materials. Copyright © 2023 Rashwan, Lasheen, Abdelwahab, Azer, Zakaly, Alarifi, Ene and Thabet.King Saud University, KSUThis research was supported by the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R496), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia