Foley Catheter versus Vaginal Misoprostol for Labour Induction

Objectives. To compare the efficacy and safety of intravaginal misoprostol with transcervical Foley catheter for labour induction. Material and Methods. One hundred and four women with term gestation, with Bishop score < 4, and with various indications for labour induction were randomly divided into two groups. In Group I, 25 μg of misoprostol tablet was placed intravaginally, 4 hourly up to maximum 6 doses. In Group II, Foley catheter 16F was placed through the internal os of the cervix under aseptic condition and then inflated with 50 cc of sterile saline. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. Results. The induction to delivery interval was 14.03 ± 7.61 hours versus 18.40 ± 8.02 hours (p<0.01). The rate of vaginal delivery was 76.7% versus 56.8% in misoprostol and transcervical Foley catheter group, respectively. Uterine hyperstimulation was more common with misoprostol. Neonatal outcome was similar in both the groups. Conclusion. Intravaginal misoprostol is associated with a shorter induction to delivery interval as compared to Foley’s catheter and it increases the rate of vaginal delivery in cases of unripe cervix at term. Transcervical Foley catheter is associated with a lower incidence of uterine hyperstimulation during labour

An efficient evaluation model for the assessment of university-industry research collaboration in Malaysia

University-Industry Research Collaboration (UIRC) is an essential, effective and dynamic factor not only for development of social community but also for the development of the nation. Despite the enormous importance of this research collaboration, there have been certain issues still remain in this domain. Several articles have been published to deal with the factors affecting this collaboration and to make the collaboration successful. However, the discussion about the concept of evaluation and its potential application to this collaboration has been excluded from the mainstream literature. In this study, we focused on the evaluation scheme to assess the strength or weaknesses of the collaboration. The contributions of this study are in threefold. First, it recognizes the highly influential constraints, evaluation parameters, success criteria and tangible outcomes of UIRC that are the core demand of the evaluation process. Second, it develops an evaluation model that illustrates the comprehensive review of Malaysian UIRC. Third, it provides a robust set of evaluation metrics that is responsible to evaluate the strength not only Malaysian UIRC but also any research collaboration between university and industry. This evaluation metrics can be utilized in term of checklist by simply following the set of generated evaluation metrics to check the strength and weaknesses of the collaboration. As far as, we aware of, this is the first time an extensive contribution is attempted in this area of research

Proliferative Verrucous Leukoplakia Revisited: A Retrospective Clinicopathological Study

(1) Objective: To review the criteria proposed by Cerero-Lapiedra et al. and to retrospectively identify the under-diagnosed disease in patients diagnosed with proliferative verrucous leukoplakia. (2) Materials and methods: In this study, we included patients who were diagnosed with leukoplakia (histological label consistent with the clinical diagnosis, n = 95), and cases with a final diagnosis within the spectrum of proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (n = 110) as defined by Batsakis et al. We applied the criteria proposed by Cerero-Lepiedra et al. to screen for the possible cases of proliferative verrucous leukoplakia. (3) Results: Although many of our patients satisfied specific isolated criteria, only 11 cases satisfied specific combinations of the guidelines to satisfy a diagnosis of proliferative verrucous leukoplakia. However, due to the lack of follow-up data, the disease is not confirmed in these 11 cases. (4) Conclusion: A limited number of cases of proliferative verrucous leukoplakia were diagnosed using the criteria given by Cerero-Lapiedra et al. The true natural history of the disease could not be studied due to the lack of follow-up data. (5) Clinical relevance: Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia presenting as hyperkeratosis or mild epithelial dysplasia are often not followed up, and they subsequently transform into carcinoma. Thus, clinicians must be vigilant whenever they encounter leukoplakia, especially with multifocal presentations. In such cases, the follow-up data are the key to understanding the true nature of the disease entity