An Analysis of the COVID-19-Induced Flexible Grading Policy at a Public University.

To help students cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions offered students flexible grading policies that blended traditional letter grades with alternative grading options such as the pass-fail or credit-no credit options. This study conducted an in-depth analysis of the flexible grading policy at a medium-sized university in the USA. We studied the differential selection of flexible grading options by course characteristics and students' sociodemographics and academic profiles between Spring 2020 and Spring 2021. We also examined the impacts of the policy on sequential courses. Our analysis utilized administrative and transcript data for undergraduate students at the study institution and employed a combination of descriptive statistics and regression models. The analysis revealed that the flexible grading policy was utilized differently depending on course characteristics, with core courses and subjects like mathematics, chemistry, and economics having higher rates of usage. Additionally, sociodemographic and academic profile factors led to varying degrees of utilization, with males, urban students, freshmen, and non-STEM majors using the policy more frequently. Furthermore, the analysis suggested that the policy may have disadvantaged some students as they struggled in subsequent courses after using the pass option. Several implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Vaginal douching by women with vulvovaginitis and relation to reproductive health hazards.

BACKGROUND: Vaginal douching (VD) is a common practice among married women all over the world specially those in the Middle East. It is used for personal hygiene or for other aesthetic reasons in many countries. The current study investigates the prevalence of VD among patients with vulvovaginitis in Egypt. It also compares the reproductive health hazards among women performing routine VD with those using external hygiene. It also investigates why, and how women practice this douching. METHODS: A cross sectional observational study was conducted in a tertiary university affiliated hospital in Assiut, Egypt. An interview administered questionnaire was administered to 620 women by two trained clinic nurses. Women presented to the outpatient clinic and diagnosed to have any type of vaginal infections were approached for participation. The principle outcome was the history of preterm labor in women who routinely performed VD versus those who did not (upon which sample size was estimated). Other outcome measures were the types of vaginal infections, and reproductive implications comprising, ectopic pregnancy, abortion and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). RESULTS: The participants were predominantly multiparas from semi-urban background and middle socioeconomic level. Considering VD as a religious duty and a kind of personal cleanliness were the most common reasons for performing VD in 88.9% and 80.6% of the studied population, respectively. History of preterm labor was reported in 19.2% versus 11.9% (p=0.048), while history of PID in 13.2% versus 6.0% (p=0.008) in women performing VD compared to those not performing this habit, respectively. There were no significant differences between the two groups as regard the history of ectopic pregnancy or the number of previous abortions. CONCLUSION: Vaginal douching is a prevalent practice in Egypt and has traditional and religious roots within the community. There are many misbeliefs around this habit in Egypt. Vaginal douching increases certain reproductive health hazards especially preterm labor and PID. Much effort and awareness campaigns are needed to increase women awareness about health hazards of this incorrect practice and to limit its use.

Effect of 17-Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate on Interleukin-6 and Tumor necrosis factor-alpha in expectantly managed early-onset preeclampsia.

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of 17 hydroxy progesterone (17-OHPC) on interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in expectantly managed early-onset preeclampsia (PE). A randomized open-label controlled study included women who were diagnosed as early-onset PE if they assigned to expectant management according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) 2013 criteria for diagnosis of severity of PE. Patients were randomized into Group A (40 patients) received 17-OHPC 250 mg intra-muscular at admission and every 7 days thereafter and Group B (40 patients) was given the usual conservative measures of early-onset PE as a control group. Blood samples were obtained from all participants for measurements of TNF-α and IL-6 levels at admission and repeated at termination of pregnancy. The primary outcome was the mean difference between TNF-α and IL-6 levels before and after treatment in both groups. TNF-α and IL-6 levels at admission were not different between the two groups. However, there was a significant difference concerning these inflammatory biomarkers within the same group at admission and at termination (p < 0.001), with significant decline of IL-6 and TNF-α level in the 17-OHPC treated group and significant rise of IL-6 and TNF-α in the control group. There was a strong positive correlation between systolic blood pressure (SBP) at admission and TNF-α level (r= 0.867, p=0.017), and moderately positive significant correlation between diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at admission and TNF-α (r=0.610, p < 0.001). There was a mild positive significant correlation between IL-6 levels and SBP (r= 0.231, p=0.039), and DBP (r= 0.203, p= 0.041) at admission. In conclusion, 17-OHPC has no effect in improving maternal or neonatal outcomes in conservatively managed early onset PE, although it alters the inflammatory markers levels (IL-6 and TNF-α) that could improve the pathogenesis of PE.

Foley's catheter balloon for induction of mid-trimester missed abortion with or without traction applied: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To determine whether the traction placed on a transcervical Foley catheter balloon inserted for the induction of mid-trimester missed abortion results in faster time of abortion.Study design: It was randomized clinical trial conducted at Assiut Woman's Health Hospital, Egypt, from September 2016 to August 2017 on women with missed abortion in the mid-trimester. Participants were randomly assigned to transcervical Foley catheter balloon insertion with or without traction. The primary outcome of this study was insertion to abortion time. The secondary outcomes included insertion to catheter expulsion time, vaginal bleeding, and pain associated with insertion. The outcome variables were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U and chi-square tests. A logistic regression model was utilized to examine the association between patient's characteristics and the failure of Foley catheter balloon expulsion within 24 hours.Results: Two hundred women were recruited (100 women in each group). The insertion to abortion time was significantly shorter in group I (traction group) than group II (no traction group) (16.49 ± 2.59 versus 18.24 ± 3.30 hours; p = .000). Insertion to balloon expulsion time in group I was also significantly short (7.92 ± 0.86 versus 9.12 ± 1.19 hours; p = .000). However, a significantly higher rate of vaginal bleeding and a higher degree of pain were reported by the women in group I (p = .008, p = .000; respectively). The nulliparity, longer interpregnancy interval (>22 months), smaller gestational age (<14 weeks) and lower Bishop Score before insertion (<2) were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of Foley catheter balloon expulsion failure within 24 hours.Conclusion: The small time advantage of traction does not compensate for the downsides of traction, mainly pain, analgesic use, and vaginal bleeding.

The effect of diet supplemented with vegetable oils and/or monensin on the vaccenic acid production in continuous culture fermenters.

Studies have shown that supplementing ruminant diets with vegetable oils modulated the rumen biohydrogenation and increased polyunsaturated fatty acid in their products. These positive values are often accompanied by a marginal loss of supplemented unsaturated fatty acids and rise in the concentrations of saturated fatty acids. This study were carried out mainly to investigate the effect of supplementing diets with sunflower oil, olive oil with or without monensin on the production and accumulation of vaccenic acid (VA) in continuous culture fermenters as a long term in vitro rumen simulation technique. Eight dual-flow continuous culture fermenters were used in an 8 replication experiment lasted 10 days each (first 7 days for adaptation and last 3 days for samples collection). Supplementing diets with plant oils and monensin in the present experiment increased VA and conjugated linoleic acids (P > 0.05) in ruminal cultures. The results suggest that supplementing diets with both olive oil and sunflower oil and monensin increased VA accumulation compared to plant oils supplemented alone without affecting the rumen dry matter and organic matter digestibility.

The pharmacokinetics of the prostaglandin E1 analogue misoprostol in plasma and colostrum after postpartum oral administration.

OBJECTIVE: To study pharmacokinetics of prostaglandin E1 analogue, misoprostol in plasma and colostrum after postpartum oral administration. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty women received 600 microg doses of misoprostol orally after delivery. Plasma levels of the principal metabolite, misoprostol acid, were measured at 2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240 and 300 min (48 samples). Colostrum was expressed from the breasts to measure misoprostol acid at 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 min (24 samples). Assay was done using isotope dilution gas chromatography (GC)/negative ion chemical ionisation mass spectrometry (MS). RESULTS: The plasma concentration of misoprostol acid rose quickly. Two minutes after oral administration its mean level was 91.5 pg/ml, peaked at 20 min (344 pg/ml), then fell steeply by 120 min (27.8 pg/ml) and remained low for the duration of the study. Misoprostol acid in colostrum reached maximum concentration of 20.9 pg/m within 1h after oral administration. It then declined gradually to 17.8 pg/ml at 2h, 2.8 pg/ml at 4h and to <1 pg/ml at 5h. Areas under misoprostol concentration versus time curves up to 5h were 290.1 pgh/ml in the plasma and 51.4 pgh/ml in colostrum, respectively. CONCLUSION: Misoprostol acid is secreted in colostrum within 1h of oral administration of 600 microg of misoprostol; the pharmacokinetics of misoprostol after oral administration during postpartum is similar to that of other pregnancy periods.