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The effects of feeding frequency on growth performance, feed conversion ratio and survival of post-larvae Indian white shrimp, Penaeus indicus were evaluated in a 56-day study. The study was conducted in sixteen fiberglass tanks provided with aerated recirculating water with four replicate tanks for each treatment. Twenty post larvae with a mean weight of 1.56 0.02g were hand-counted and stocked into each of the replicate tanks and fed 2, 4, 6 and 8 times a day, respectively. Final body weights were measured significantly lower at 2 and 4 times/day (5.76 0.08 and 5.96±0.15g, respectively) than 6 and 8 times/day (8.54±0.16 and 8.31 0.19g, respectively) treatments (P

A promising strategy for controlling repeated implantation failure (RIF) may be the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review has been conducted on the effects of hydroxychloroquine on pregnancy outcomes. A systematic research of the following electronic databases was conducted: Cochrane, EMBASE-Ovid, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus from inception to December 2021, using the following keywords [hydroxychloroquine] AND [infertility]. Fertilization and rate of live birth were significantly higher in the HCQ+ prednisone (PDN) group than in the PDN alone group. However, the abortion rate was not different between the two groups. The meta-analysis of two studies revealed no statistical significance between the PDN group and HCQ+PDN group regarding clinical pregnancy rate (OR=.14 [95%CI: 0.4-4.370]; heterogeneity; P=0.13; I2=54%; random effect model) and implantation rate (OR=1.99 [95%CI: 0.94-4.2]; heterogeneity; P=0.37; I2=0%; fixed-effect model). While HCQ may help improve fertilization and live birth rates, adding it to prednisone did not improve overall pregnancy outcomes. This systematic review should be used with caution due to the small size, study design, and difference in the studies' population., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (©2023 JOURNAL of MEDICINE and LIFE.)

Drought is a complex phenomenon that occurs due to insufficient precipitation. It does not have immediate effects, but sustained drought can affect the hydrological, agriculture, economic sectors of the country. Therefore, there is a need for efficient methods and techniques that properly determine drought and its effects. Considering the significance and importance of drought monitoring methodologies, a new drought assessment procedure is proposed in the current study, known as the Maximum Spatio-Temporal Two-Stage Standardized Weighted Index (MSTTSSWI). The proposed MSTTSSWI is based on the weighting scheme, known as the Spatio-Temporal Two-Stage Standardized Weighting Scheme (STTSSWS). The potential of the weighting scheme is based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and the steady-state probabilities. Further, the STTSSWS computes spatiotemporal weights in two stages for various drought categories and stations. In the first stage of the STTSSWS, the SPI, SPEI, and the steady-state probabilities are calculated for each station at a 1-month time scale to assign weights for varying drought categories. However, in the second stage, these weights are further propagated based on spatiotemporal characteristics to obtain new weights for the various drought categories in the selected region. The STTSSWS is applied to the six meteorological stations of the Northern area, Pakistan. Moreover, the spatiotemporal weights obtained from STTSSWS are used to calculate MSTTSSWI for regional drought characterization. The MSTTSSWI may accurately provide regional spatiotemporal characteristics for the drought in the selected region and motivates researchers and policymakers to use the more comprehensive and accurate spatiotemporal characterization of drought in the selected region., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2022 Niaz et al.)

Background: Achalasia is classified into three HRM subtypes that predict outcomes from diverse management strategies. We assessed if symptomatic response varied when a single management strategy-Heller myotomy (HM)-is employed., Methods: Treatment-naive subjects with achalasia referred for HM were followed in this observational cohort study. Chicago criteria designated achalasia subtypes (subtype I: no esophageal pressurization; subtype II: panesophageal pressurization in ≥20 % swallows; subtype III: premature contractions in ≥20 % swallows). Symptom questionnaires assessed symptom burden before and after HM on five-point Likert scales (0 = no symptoms, 4 = severe symptoms) and on 10-cm visual analog scales (global symptom severity, GSS); satisfaction with HM was recorded similarly. Data were analyzed to determine predictors of GSS change across subtypes., Results: Sixty achalasia subjects (56.1 ± 2.4 years, 55 % female) fulfilled inclusion criteria, 15 % with subtype I, 58 % with subtype II, and 27 % with subtype III achalasia. Baseline symptoms included dysphagia (solids: 85 %, liquids: 73 %), regurgitation (84 %), and chest pain (35 %); mean GSS was 7.1 ± 0.3. Upon follow-up 2.1 ± 0.2 years after HM, GSS declined to 1.9 ± 0.4 (p < 0.001), with surgical satisfaction score of 8.7 ± 0.3 out of 10; these were similar across achalasia subtypes. On univariate analysis, female gender, Eckardt score, severity of transit symptoms, and maximal IRP predicted linear GSS improvement; female gender (p = 0.003) and dysphagia for liquids (p = 0.043) remained predictive on multivariate analysis., Conclusions: When a uniform surgical approach is utilized, symptomatic outcome and satisfaction with therapy are similar across achalasia subtypes. Female gender and severity of dysphagia for solids may predict better HM outcome.

Background and Aims: Previous studies have shown that narrow-band imaging (NBI) can be taught to inexperienced gastroenterologists. However, it is unknown whether in-person training is more effective than self-directed training. The objective of this study was to compare the accuracy of diagnosing Barrett's esophagus (BE)-associated neoplasia by trainees with no prior NBI experience between in-classroom and self-directed didactic training programs., Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial that took place at 2 tertiary-care medical centers, involving 33 participants--12 second-year medical students, 8 first-year gastroenterology fellows, 7 second-year gastroenterology fellows, and 6 third-year gastroenterology fellows. A teaching module was developed for all participants to review. Half of the participants were taught in a classroom setting by an endoscopist with expertise in NBI, whereas the other participants were in a self-directed group that received an automated version of the presentation with audio commentary. Participants completed a test of 40 randomized NBI images, predicting the histology and indicating their confidence levels in the diagnosis., Results: There was no difference in accuracy between the in-classroom and self-directed groups (57.5% vs 57.2%; P = 1.0). The in-classroom group had a significantly higher percentage of high-confidence answers (57.2% vs 41.1%; P ≤ .01), but there was no significant difference in accuracy with these high-confidence answers (60.7% vs 66.4%; P = .34). There was no significant difference in overall accuracy or accuracy with high-confidence predictions between the 2 study sites (57.4% vs 55.9%, P = .58; 63.1% vs 61.4%, P = .69) or between gastroenterology fellows and medical students (57.8% vs 54.6%, P = .27; 62.8% vs 60.8%, P = .62)., Conclusions: The overall accuracy of predicting NBI patterns in BE were modest in our study participants, and there was no difference between self-directed and in-classroom didactic training. Self-directed learning of NBI is adequate for teaching NBI to trainees., (Copyright © 2016 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: In nursing, self-efficacy is quite critical for skill performance. Some factors might influence and predict self-efficacy in nurses. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate self-efficacy and the factors predicting nurses' self-efficacy in clinical setting., Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 264 nurses were selected from five hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences by stratified random sampling. General Self-efficacy Scale (GSE) was used to assess a general sense of perceived self-efficacy. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis., Results: The mean of self-efficacy in all the nurses was 29.78 [Standard Deviation (SD) = 5.82]. Moreover, the self-efficacy of the nurses with diploma, bachelor's, and master's degrees was 32.22 (SD = 6.21), 29.33 (SD = 5.68), and 32.00 (SD = 6.00), respectively. In addition, a significant difference was found between the nurses with bachelor's and diploma degrees regarding their self-efficacy (P = 0.01). Also, a significant relationship was found between self-efficacy and willingness to work in the nursing unit (F = 3.31, P = 0.01) and interest in the nursing field (F = 2.43, P = 0.04). The nurses who had more than 16 years of working experience in the field of nursing reported a better self-efficacy score. Overall, self-efficacy was predicted by the years of experience in the field of nursing (β =0.25, P = 0.009) and the interest in the nursing field (β = -0.15, P = 0.02)., Conclusions: This study indicated that the nurses with diploma degrees gained higher self-efficacy scores compared to those with bachelor's degrees. Changing the nursing curriculum and increasing the motivation in the nursing context might enhance the interest in the nursing field as well as the nurses' self-efficacy. Of course, other studies are recommended to be conducted to improve the nurses' self-efficacy.