Risk of uterine rupture after the partographic \u27alert\u27 line is crossed--an additional dimension in the quest towards safe motherhood in labour following caesarean section

To determine if prolonged active phase of labour is associated with increased risk of uterine scar rupture in labour following previous lower segment caesarean section, a retrospective cohort study (1988-91) was done to analyse active phase partographs of 236 patients undergoing trial of labour following caesarean section, 7 (3%) of whom had scar rupture. After onset of active phase (3 cm cervical dilatation), a 1 cm/h line was used to indicate alert . A zonal partogram was developed by dividing the active phase partographs into 5 time zones: A (area to the left of alert line), B (0-1 h after alert line), C (1-2 h after alert line), D (2-3 h after alert line) and EF (\u3e 3 h after alert line). The relative risk of uterine scar rupture was calculated for different partographic time zones. The relative risk of uterine scar rupture was 10.5 (95% confidence interval 1.3-85.5, p = 0.01) at 1 hour after crossing the alert line; 8.0 (95% confidence interval 1.6-40.3, p = 0.009) at 2 hours after crossing the alert line; and 7.0 (95% confidence interval 1.6-29, p = 0.02) at 3 hours after crossing the alert line. In women undergoing trial of labour following caesarean section, prolonged active phase of labour is associated with increased risk of uterine rupture. A zonal partogram may be helpful in assessing this risk in actively labouring women who cross the partographic alert line

Sanctuary in the Midst of Crisis? a Look Into Shariah Indices Using Multivariate GARCH DCC

Islamic Finance has evolved over the past few decades, and stands at over a trilliondollars today. At the foundations of Islamic finance lay the concept of risk sharing, and the purest forms of it in the modern day finance is equity investments. The evidence of Islamic investors pursing equity investments in reality is thin. Multitude of reasons are attributed to this low participation, mainly revolving around lack of empirical proof of Islamic investments being a reliable and steady return alternative. This study is an attempt to study the volatilities and correlations with the conventional global equity indices utilizing Multivariate GARCH Dynamic Conditional Correlations (MGARCH DCC) method. The findings provide an interesting angleto our study, where there is a significant downwards trend in the correlations during the crisis era. This provides substance to the argument that Islamic investors would experience lesser downside in economic crisis. This study further dwells into the linkage of Islamic indices with global financial indices to study if financial sector exclusion from Islamic indices benefits theinvestors. The findings are positive, with lower correlations and that to reducing in the recent global crisis. Islamic finances core philosophy is equity based investments and this study is a humble attempt to empirically substantiate its benefits

Oviposition behaviour and life-history performance of Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) on the leaves of Vitis vinifera (Vitales: Vitaceae) infected with Botrytis cinerea (Helotiales: Sclerotiniaceae)

In three-way interaction systems involving an insect and a plant-pathogenic fungus, both occurring on the same plant, the insects generally gain in terms of their growth and metabolism. In this study we have tested how the infection by Botrytis cinerea on the leaves of Vitis vinifera influences the life-history performance of larvae and the oviposition behaviour of Epiphyas postvittana. We conducted free-choice and two-choice experiments to test the oviposition behaviour of gravid E. postvittana. We also characterized the effects of B. cinerea-infected leaves of V. vinifera on the growth and development of E. postvittana. We found that the oviposition preference of E. postvittana was strongly influenced by the olfactory and tactile cues. Volatiles from B. cinerea-infected plants significantly deterred oviposition and in consequence, adult females laid fewer number of eggs on B. cinerea-infected leaves of V. vinifera compared with uninfected leaves. The mortality rate of larvae fed on B. cinerea-infected leaves were not significantly different from the larvae fed on uninfected leaves of V. vinifera. Whereas, the larvae of E. postvittana fed on B. cinerea-infected leaves had significantly shorter developmental period, attained heavier pupal mass, and on becoming adults they laid more numbers of eggs than the larvae that were enabled to feed on uninfected leaves of V. vinifera. We also reared the larvae of E. postvittana on exclusive-fungus diet but all larvae died before pupation indicating that for a better larval performance and adult reproductive output of E. postvittana, the V. vinifera-B. cinerea interacting system is but imperative

Single-molecule study for a graphene-based nano-position sensor

In this study we lay the groundwork for a graphene-based fundamental ruler at the nanoscale. It relies on the efficient energy-transfer mechanism between single quantum emitters and low-doped graphene monolayers. Our experiments, conducted with dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules, allow going beyond ensemble analysis due to the emitter photo-stability and brightness. A quantitative characterization of the fluorescence decay-rate modification is presented and compared to a simple model, showing agreement with the $d^{-4}$ dependence, a genuine manifestation of a dipole interacting with a 2D material. With DBT molecules, we can estimate a potential uncertainty in position measurements as low as 5nm in the range below 30nm

Maternal risk factors associated with low birth weight in Karachi: A case-control study

To evaluate maternal risk factors associated with low birth weight (LBW) among women aged 15-35 years, we carried out a hospital-based, case-control study on 262 cases (mothers of neonates weighing \u3c or = 2.5 kg) and 262 controls (mothers of neonates weighing \u3e 2.5 kg). Odds of delivering a low-birth-weight baby decreased with increase in maternal haemoglobin [odds ratio (OR): 0.701; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.62-0.79]. Odds were greater among mothers not using iron supplements during pregnancy (OR: 2.88; 95% CI: 1.83-4.54). Mothers of LBW babies had lower haemoglobin levels before delivery