Fear-Related Reasons for Avoiding Sexual Intercourse in Early Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Several studies have reported women's worry that sexual intercourse may harm the course of pregnancy. This worry might lead to avoidance of sexual intercourse during pregnancy. AIM: To assess if fears about harming the pregnancy are associated with avoidance of sexual intercourse during pregnancy. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 Vietnamese pregnant women in the first or second trimester who visited our hospital for antenatal care. We explored 5 types of fears including miscarriage/preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, bleeding, infection, and injury to the fetus. Fears were measured by modified questions from the Reasons For Not Engaging in Sexual Activity During Pregnancy questionnaire. Using the total fear score, pregnant women were categorized into having low, moderate, and high fear. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Not having sexual intercourse during the past 4 weeks. RESULTS: 72 (28.8%) pregnant women had no sexual intercourse for the past 4 weeks. All types of fear were considered important among pregnant women; the more important fears were infection and injury to the fetus. In multivariable regression analysis, the prevalence of not having sexual intercourse was higher in both women who had moderate (adjusted prevalence ratio = 2.84, 95% CI 1.42-5.67) and high fear (adjusted prevalence ratio = 4.39, 95% CI 2.28-8.44). CONCLUSION: Avoidance of sexual intercourse was common among Vietnamese pregnant women and was associated with the fears about harming the pregnancy. This can be a target in the health education programs for pregnancy couples. Thanh C. Phan, Long B. Hoang, Thanh K. Tran, et al. Fear-Related Reasons for Avoiding Sexual Intercourse in Early Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sex Med 2021;9:100430.

Economic benefit of appropriate timing of vancomycin prophylaxis in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine if appropriate timing of vancomycin prophylaxis in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery results in an economic benefit by assessing the differences in total duration of hospitalization and hospital costs based on infusion start time in relation to first surgical incision. DESIGN: Prospective, observational study. SETTING: Tertiary care medical center. PATIENTS: A total of 1666 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and/or valve replacement surgery who received prophylactic vancomycin. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Appropriateness of vancomycin prophylaxis timing, based on national guidelines defining appropriate timing as start time of infusion ranging from 16-120 minutes before surgery start time, was prospectively monitored. The timing of vancomycin administration was grouped as follows: 0-15 minutes (11 patients), 16-60 minutes (156), 61-120 minutes (772), or more than 120 minutes (727) before incision. Antibiotic timing was appropriate in 928 patients and inappropriate in 738 patients. Length of hospital stay and total hospital costs were compared based on appropriateness of therapy by using multivariate linear regression and validated with a Heckman two-stage model. Median numbers of hospitalization and intensive care unit days were significantly fewer in patients given appropriate prophylaxis at an appropriate time (9 and 2 days, respectively) compared with inappropriate time (10 and 3 days, respectively, p<0.001 for both analyses). Hospital costs were significantly lower in patients who had appropriate timing of antibiotic prophylaxis (median $25,321, interquartile range [IQR] $19,429-35,471) compared with inappropriate timing (median $29,475, IQR $21,507-46,488, p<0.001). Multivariate linear regression and a Heckman two-stage model confirmed that appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis timing was associated with decreased hospitalization duration and hospital costs. CONCLUSION: In patients undergoing CABG or valve replacement surgery, the administration of vancomycin 16-120 minutes before incision significantly reduced patient hospitalization duration and total hospital costs.

Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.

Callus induction, somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration were obtained in two cultivars of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench. Transverse thin cell layers from roots/epicotyls of 15-day-old seedlings or of regenerated plantlets were used. Callus response depended on the genotype, the size of transverse thin cell layers, the level at which transverse thin cell layers were excised on the epicotyl, the composition of growth substances and the number of in vitro regeneration cycles undergone by the donor plant. Somatic embryos were differentiated under a defined dark/light sequence, from epidermised compact calluses (i.e having already differentiated an epidermis), obtained directly with dicamba or from friable callus initiated with kinetin and 2,4 dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. The importance of kinetin and dicamba on the induction of embryogenic potential is reported.