Developing a Questionnaire for Iranian Women's Attitude on Medical Ethics in Vaginal Childbirth

Background: Vaginal delivery is one of the challenging issues in medical ethics. It is important to use an appropriate instrument to assess medical ethics attitudes in normal delivery, but the lack of tool for this purpose is clear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire for the assessment of women’s attitude on medical ethics application in normal vaginal delivery. Patients and Methods: This methodological study was carried out in Iran in 2013 - 2014. Medical ethics attitude in vaginal delivery questionnaire (MEAVDQ) was developed using the findings of a qualitative data obtained from a grounded theory research conducted on 20 women who had vaginal childbirth, in the first phase. Then, the validation criteria of this tool were tested by content and face validity in the second phase. Exploratory factor analysis was used for construct validity and reliability was also tested by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient in the third phase of this study. SPSS version 13 was used in this study. The sample size for construct validity was 250 females who had normal vaginal childbirth. Results: In the first phase of this study (tool development), by the use of four obtained categories and nine subcategories from grounded theory and literature review, three parts (98-items) of this tool were obtained (A, B and J). Part A explained the first principle of medical ethics, part B pointed to the second and third principles of medical ethics, and part J explained the fourth principle of medical ethics. After evaluating and confirming its face and content validity, 75 items remained in the questionnaire. In construct validity, by the employment of exploratory factor analysis, in parts A, B and J, 3, 7 and 3 factors were formed, respectively; and 62.8%, 64% and 51% of the total variances were explained by the obtained factors in parts A, B and J, respectively. The names of these factors in the three parts were achieved by consideration of the loading factor and medical ethics principles. The subscales of MEAVDQ showed significant reliability. In parts A, B and J, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.76, 0.72 and 0.68, respectively and for the total questionnaire, it was 0.72. The results of the test–retest were satisfactory for all the items (ICC = 0.60 - 0.95). Conclusions: The present study showed that the 59-item MEAVDQ was a valid and reliable questionnaire for the assessment of women’s attitudes toward medical ethics application in vaginal childbirth. This tool might assist specialists in making a judgment and plan appropriate for women in vaginal delivery management

A Case Study to Evaluate the Role of Basiluses in Producing Biosurfactant and the Feasibility of MEOR

Bibi Hakimeh oilfield consists of more than 145 oil producing wells. Its Oligomiocene Asmari reservoir is dominantly made of limestone. The act of a reverse fault on the north flank of Bibi-Hakimeh Field caused a significant thickness reduction in Gachsaran formation in the way that in some drilled wells, members No. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Gachsaran cap rock have been totally eliminated. This causes locating Asmari reservoir in a shallower level and therefore lowers reservoir temperature in the North flank already have made the reservoir suitable for a microbiological enhanced recovery. The long term production of this reservoir caused a significant reservoir pressure drop. Therefore; the recovery has been performed using Basilus with Ex-Situ method. In this case study, the feasibility of surfactant production in several oil wells has been accomplished. A high temperature resistant Basilus has been selected to evaluate the production ability of biosurfactant. This bacterium has been chosen after performing all morphological, biochemical and genetic studies. This bacteria shows a good resistance against the temperature in such manner that its emulsification, surface tension and inter surface tension abilities do not change after 15 min in an autoclave process at 120° C. In the next step, the temperature, pH, Carbon, N2 and other factors have been optimized for biosurfactant                                     production. Considering the lithology of the reservoir using this type of bacterium. This can be a good way to produce lipopithidic biosurfactant by Ex-Situ method in Asmari to enhance oil recovery. The basilus, which has good resistance against temperature and acts well in pressurized environments, can be considered as a good candidate for tertiary enhanced oil recovery process. The best method to produce basilus in B5 is the Formislink method

Finite quantum tomography via semidefinite programming

Using the the convex semidefinite programming method and superoperator formalism we obtain the finite quantum tomography of some mixed quantum states such as: qudit tomography, N-qubit tomography, phase tomography and coherent spin state tomography, where that obtained results are in agreement with those of References \cite{schack,Pegg,Barnett,Buzek,Weigert}.Comment: 25 page

The study of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles via microfluidically generated droplets

Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) play a significant role in the climate and hydrological cycle by triggering ice formation in supercooled clouds, thereby causing precipitation and affecting cloud lifetimes and their radiative properties. However, despite their importance, INP often comprise only 1 in 10³–10⁶ ambient particles, making it difficult to ascertain and predict their type, source, and concentration. The typical techniques for quantifying INP concentrations tend to be highly labour-intensive, suffer from poor time resolution, or are limited in sensitivity to low concentrations. Here, we present the application of microfluidic devices to the study of atmospheric INPs via the simple and rapid production of monodisperse droplets and their subsequent freezing on a cold stage. This device offers the potential for the testing of INP concentrations in aqueous samples with high sensitivity and high counting statistics. Various INPs were tested for validation of the platform, including mineral dust and biological species, with results compared to literature values. We also describe a methodology for sampling atmospheric aerosol in a manner that minimises sampling biases and which is compatible with the microfluidic device. We present results for INP concentrations in air sampled during two field campaigns: (1) from a rural location in the UK and (2) during the UK’s annual Bonfire Night festival. These initial results will provide a route for deployment of the microfluidic platform for the study and quantification of INPs in upcoming field campaigns around the globe, while providing a benchmark for future lab-on-a-chip-based INP studies

Bernoulli collocation method with residual correction for solving integral-algebraic equations

Abstract. The principal aim of this paper is to serve the numerical solution of an integralalgebraic equation (IAE) by using the Bernoulli polynomials and the residual correction method. After implementation of our scheme, the main problem would be transformed into a system of algebraic equations such that its solutions are the unknown Bernoulli coefficients. This method gives an analytic solution when the exact solutions are polynomials. Also, an error analysis based on the use of the Bernoulli polynomials is provided under several mild conditions. Several examples are included to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed technique and also the results are compared with the different methods

The Effectiveness of Psycho-Educational and Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling on Female Sexual Dysfunction

Introduction Sexual function is a multidimensional phenomenon that is affected by many biological and psychological factors. Cognitive-behavioral sex therapies are among the most common nonpharmacological approaches to psychosexual problems. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral counseling on female sexual dysfunction. Methods The present study was a clinical trial with intervention and control groups. The study population consisted of women referring to the general clinic of a governmental hospital in Iran. After completing the demographic questionnaire and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), those who obtained the cutoff score � 28 were contacted and invited to participate in the study. Convenience sampling method was used and 35 subjects were randomly allocated for each group. Eight counseling sessions were held for the intervention group (two/week/1.5 hour). Post-test was taken from both groups after 1 month, and the results were statistically analyzed by PASW Statistics for Windows, Version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results The total mean scores of FSFI and the subscales of sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group after the intervention. In addition, postintervention pain mean scores in the intervention group were significantly lower than in the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion The results of the present study indicate that psychoeducational cognitive-behavioral counseling is effective in improving female sexual function. It is recommended to compare the effects of psychoeducational cognitive-behavioral counseling on sexual dysfunctions of couples and with a larger sample size in future research. © 2020 Georg Thieme Verlag. All rights reserved