Saint Francis University

About: Saint Francis University is a education organization based out in Loretto, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Osteoblast. The organization has 1694 authors who have published 2038 publications receiving 87149 citations.

Antenatal management and maternal/fetal outcomes associated with hyperglycaemia in pregnancy (HIP) in Uganda; a prospective cohort study.

Abstract: Hyperglycaemia in pregnancy (HIP) is associated with complications for both mother and baby. The prevalence of the condition is likely to increase across Africa as the continent undergoes a rapid demographic transition. However, little is known about the management and pregnancy outcomes associated with HIP in the region, particularly less severe forms of hyperglycaemia. It is therefore important to generate local data so that resources may be distributed effectively. The aim of this study was to describe the antenatal management and maternal/fetal outcomes associated with HIP in Ugandan women. A prospective cohort study of 2917 pregnant women in five major hospitals in urban/semi-urban central Uganda. Women were screened with oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at 24–28 weeks of gestation. Cases of gestational diabetes (GDM) and diabetes in pregnancy (DIP) were identified (WHO 2013 diagnostic criteria) and received standard care. Data was collected on maternal demographics, anthropometrics, antenatal management, umbilical cord c-peptide levels, and pregnancy outcomes. Two hundred and seventy-six women were diagnosed with HIP (237 classified as GDM and 39 DIP). Women had between one and four fasting capillary blood glucose checks during third trimester. All received lifestyle advice, one quarter (69/276) received metformin therapy, and one woman received insulin. HIP was associated with large birthweight (unadjusted relative risk 1.30, 95% CI 1.00–1.68), Caesarean delivery (RR 1.34, 95% CI 1.14–1.57) and neonatal hypoglycaemia (RR 4.37, 95% CI 1.36–14.1), but not perinatal mortality or preterm birth. Pregnancy outcomes were generally worse for women with DIP compared with GDM. HIP is associated with significant adverse pregnancy outcomes in this population, particularly overt diabetes in pregnancy. However pregnancy outcomes in women with milder forms of hyperglycaemia are similar to those with normoglycaemic pregnancies. Intervention strategies are required to improve current monitoring and management practice, and more research needed to understand if this is a cost-effective way of preventing poor perinatal outcomes.

The structural quality of maternal health services in primary health care facilities in Tanzania: Findings from a baseline study

Abstract: Background Structural quality of maternal health services remains a key indicator of highly performing health care system. Evidence attest to the fact that introduction of the new interventions in the health care system does not necessarily lead into improvement of the target outcome, such as quality of health services delivered. This study aimed at assessing the structural quality of maternal health services prior to introduction of Direct Health Facility Financing (DHFF) program. Methods This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in 42 public primary health facilities between January and mid February 2018. Observational were used to collect the data from health facilities. The collected information was on privacy, hygiene and sanitation, obstetric emergences, sterilization, maternal death audit reviews and waste management. Collected data were analyzed by using SPSS. Results All 42 (100%) primary health facilities that were assessed were public primary health facilities, of which 14 (33.3%) were health centers and 28 were dispensaries. The furthest primary health facilities from the district head office were 140 Kms and the nearest 2 Kms. Focusing on; - privacy, hygiene and sanitation, obstetric emergences, sterilization, maternal death audit reviews and waste management assessed eight areas of Structural qualities. Majority (68.9%) of Health Centers has less than 39 skilled staff while some of them they have up to 129 health service providers and majority (92.8%) of Dispensaries have less than 15 staff and some have 1 staff. By comparing Dispensary and Health center performances on structural quality indicated relatively low differences among the attributes assessed. Specifically, they did not show statistical significant differences except for obstetric emergencies (p .05) except for sterilization in which urban facilities performed significantly higher than the rural facilities [M=41.2, SD=27.7, 61.3, SD=28.4, respectively (p= .028)]. On the other hand, marginal differences were observed on individual assessed attributes. For examples, rural facilities performed relatively higher than urban ones on privacy (41.2 and 32.0), maternal death reviews (31.4 and 30.7) and waste management (49.0 and 47.3) respectively. Conclusion Generally facilities performed low on the structural quality indicators of maternal health services provision however; they had high performance on sterilization and emergence obstetric care.

Space-time Signature Analysis of 2D Echocardiograms Based on Topographic Cellular Active Contour Techniques

Abstract: A novel experimental system is introduced with the ultimate aim of providing a semi-automated tool for clinicians to quantify cardiac function of the left ventricle (LV) using two-chamber transthoracic 2D video flows. The algorithm extracts space-time signatures from echocardiograms based on real-time pixel-level parallel boundary tracking methods (topographic cellular active contour techniques) that are used to drive learning and recognition modules in order to enhance reliability of diagnoses made up by clinicians. In extraction process subsequent ellipse model based wall-segment identification, sampling and filtering are used, furthermore specific wall segment thickening models for Region of Interest (ROI) selection and reliability enhancement of segment identification and signature interpretation. Simple learning algorithms like decision tree and fuzzy produced adequate results in the first stage of experiments on large database of patient records.