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Introduction: Episiotomy rates differ widely internationally. There are few studies that explore gaps in knowledge and practices amongst clinicians performing episiotomy, yet limited amongst the obstetrics frontliners attending to low-risk births in Malaysia. This study aims to assess knowledge and practices amongst house officers, student midwives and experienced midwives, to determine if those gaps are narrower in this era of evidence-based practice. Materials and methods: A previously validated questionnaire was administered to three groups of respondents: house officers, student midwives and experienced midwives working in the obstetrics department and labour room. One section of the questionnaire explored the participants' knowledge of episiotomy based on a single best answer. The other section explored the participants' practices regarding episiotomy. Each response was classified as "correct" or "other", resulting in a 3x2 table for each item, and a chi-squared test was used to compare groups. Results:128 respondents from three groups completed the questionnaire. 95.3% of all respondents preferred the mediolateral approach. House officers were the most knowledgeable in anatomy and episiotomy complications. More than 60% respondents of all three groups performed episiotomies on nulliparous women. Medical officers had a significant (p

The progress of Cu(In,Ga)S2 remains significantly limited mainly due to photovoltage (Voc) losses in the bulk and at the interfaces. Here, via a combination of photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence, electrical measurements, and ab initio modeling, we address the bulk and interface losses to improve ~ 1.6 eV bandgap (Eg) Cu(In,Ga)S2. The optoelectronic quality of the absorber improves upon reducing the [Cu]/[Ga+In] (CGI) ratio, as manifested by the suppression of deep defects, higher quasi-Fermi level splitting (QFLS), improved charge carrier lifetime, and higher Voc. We identify antisite CuIn/CuGa as a major performance-limiting deep defect by comparing the formation energies of various intrinsic defects. Interface recombination is suppressed using a Zn(O,S) buffer layer in Cu-poor devices, which leads to the activation energy of recombination equal to the Eg. We demonstrate efficiency of 15.2% with Voc of 902 mV from a H2S-free, Cd-free, and KCN-free process.

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BackgroundMore than 49,000 cases of infection and 900 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded in the Kenya. However, the characteristics and risk factors for severe outcomes among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in this setting have not been described.MethodsWe extracted demographic, laboratory, clinical and outcome data from medical records of RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV2 patients admitted in six hospitals in Kenya between March and September, 2020. We used Cox proportional hazards regressions to determine factors related to in-hospital mortality.ResultsData from 787 COVID-19 patients was available. The median age was 43 years (IQR 30-53), with 505 (64%) males. At admission, 455 (58%) were symptomatic. The commonest symptoms were cough (337, 43%), loss of taste or smell (279, 35%), and fever (126, 16%). Co-morbidities were reported in 340 (43%), with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and HIV documented in 130 (17%), 116 (15%), 53 (7%) respectively. 90 (11%) were admitted to ICU for a mean of 11 days, 52 (7%) were ventilated with a mean of 10 days, 107 (14%) died. The risk of death increased with age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.57 (95% CI 1.13 – 2.19)] for persons >60 years compared to those ConclusionsWe identify the risk factors for mortality that may guide stratification of high risk patients.

Twenty pearl millet genotypes were used to explore and evaluate the diversity of antinutritional factors along with establishing their relationship with protein content and yield that contributes to its quality and farmers interest, respectively. A wide variation was observed for each of antrinutritional factors along with protein (7.54 - 11.94%) and yield (19.67 - 27.6 g/plant). The genotype HBL-0825-1 identified for having highest phenol, phytic acid and C-glycosylflavone content while genotype 78/711 for lowest Cglycosylflavone and phytic acid content along with maximum protein content. HBL-72 was identified for having maximum yield. Significant positive correlation was observed within most of the antinutritional factors, whereas protein possessed negative and significant correlation with phytic acid content. On the other hand, phytic acid exerted a positive and direct effect while C-glycosylflavones had negative effect on grain yield per plant, which could be utilized for further breeding improvement programmes that can contribute to popularity towards increased use of pearl millet.