Effect of immediate and continuous mother–infant skin-to-skin contact on breastfeeding self-efficacy of primiparous women: A randomised control trial

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of mother–infant immediate skin-to-skin contact on primiparous mother's breastfeeding self-efficacy.Study designA randomised control trial.SettingsThe study was conducted in Omolbanin obstetrics hospital (large tertiary hospital), Mashhad, Iran.Participants114 18–35 year-old primiparous, Iranian, healthy and full term mothers who anticipated normal vaginal delivery and intended to breastfeed their babies.InterventionSkin-to-skin contact immediately after birth and then controlling breastfeeding self-efficacy at 28 days postpartum.Main outcome measureMaternal breastfeeding self-efficacy at 28 days postpartum and success in first breastfeeding and mean time of first breastfeeding initiation.ResultsA total of 92 mother–infant dyads (47 dyads in skin-to-skin care skin-to-skin contact group and 45 dyads in routine care group) were monitored and analysed. In skin-to-skin contact group, breastfeeding self-efficacy was 53.42 ± 8.57 SD as compared to 49.85 ± 5.50 SD in routine care group which is significantly higher in skin-to-skin contact group (p = 0.0003).Successful breastfeeding initiation rate was 56.6% in skin-to-skin contact group as compared to 35.6% in routine care group (p = 0.02).Time to initiate first feed was 21.98 ± 9.10 SD min in SSC group vs. 66.55 ± 20.76 min in routine care group (p < 0.001).ConclusionMother–infant immediate skin-to-skin contact is an easy and available method of enhancing maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy. High breastfeeding self-efficacy increases exclusive breastfeeding duration.     

Designing a multiple state repetitive group sampling plan based on the coefficient of variation

A multiple state repetitive group sampling (MSRGS) plan is developed on the basis of the coefficient of variation (CV) of the quality characteristic which follows a normal distribution with unknown mean and variance. The optimal plan parameters of the proposed plan are solved by a nonlinear optimization model, which satisfies the given producer's risk and consumer's risk at the same time and minimizes the average sample number required for inspection. The advantages of the proposed MSRGS plan over the existing sampling plans are discussed. Finally an example is given to illustrate the proposed plan.     

People as partners: Facilitating people's participation in public–private partnerships for solid waste management

Cities in developing countries are facing a double dilemma. On one hand, the urban population is growing rapidly, causing a huge increase in demand for waste management services. On the other hand, the traditional public sector is failing to respond to the increased demand for service. The public sector is constrained by resource and institutional limitations. It is often proposed that the solution lies in private sector participation. It is expected that the private sector, with its dynamism and flexibility, may fill in the service delivery gaps by forming partnership with the public sector. However, a third tier—the people—is often overlooked in the service delivery framework. Citizens can contribute significantly to service delivery. They can support the private sector with payment of service charges. But more importantly, they can play an active role in improving accountability and service quality of both public and private sector. This radical shift in people's role, from passive service receivers to active service partners, however, may not occur endogenously. External help from facilitating agencies may enable the public and private sector to form partnership with people for better service delivery. This article examines the role of facilitating agencies in developing tripartite partnership for solid waste management service in Bangladesh. The key lessons learned are: a number of obstacles prevented spontaneous partnership among the public sector, private sector and people; facilitating agencies were able to overcome the obstacles to form partnership of the three; and, the tripartite arrangement resulted in higher accountability and better service delivery.     

Exponentiated power Lindley power series class of distributions: Theory and applications

ABSTRACT

We introduce a new four-parameter generalization of the exponentiated power Lindley (EPL) distribution, called the exponentiated power Lindley power series (EPLPS) distribution. The new distribution arises on a latent complementary risks scenario, in which the lifetime associated with a particular risk is not observable; rather, we observe only the minimum lifetime value among all risks. The distribution exhibits a variety of bathtub-shaped hazard rate functions. It contains as particular cases several lifetime distributions. Various properties of the distribution are investigated including closed-form expressions for the density function, cumulative distribution function, survival function, hazard rate function, the rth raw moment, and also the moments of order statistics. Expressions for the Rényi and Shannon entropies are also given. Moreover, we discuss maximum likelihood estimation and provide formulas for the elements of the Fisher information matrix. Finally, two data applications are given showing flexibility and potentiality of the EPLPS distribution.     

Developing a variables repetitive group sampling plan based on process capability index C pk with unknown mean and variance

In this paper, variables repetitive group sampling plans are developed based on the process capability index C _pk when the quality characteristic follows a normal distribution with unknown mean and variance. The sampling plan parameters such as the sample size and the acceptance constant are determined to minimize the average sample number. Symmetric and asymmetric cases, in percent defectives due to two specification limits, are dealt with for specified combinations of acceptable quality level and limiting quality level. Tables are provided and examples are given to use proposed plans in practice.     

The Dyadic Effects of Controlling Emotional Abuse on Subjective Emotional Experience in Iranian Older Married Couples

This randomised control trial study examines the impact of an emotional‐focused intervention on emotional abuse and subjective emotional experience in Iranian older married couples. In the study, 57 older couples were randomly assigned into control and experimental groups with the latter taking part in an intervention program over 4 weeks, twice a week, with sessions lasting 90 minutes. In the experimental group, significant improvements were found for reducing emotional abuse behaviours and increasing subjective emotional experience. Dyadic analysis revealed that a partner's ability to control their own emotional abuse significantly effects both his/her subjective emotional experience and that of their spouse.     

A new four-parameter lifetime distribution

Generalizing lifetime distributions is always precious for applied statisticians. In this paper, we introduce a new four-parameter generalization of the exponentiated power Lindley (EPL) distribution, called the exponentiated power Lindley geometric (EPLG) distribution, obtained by compounding EPL and geometric distributions. The new distribution arises in a latent complementary risks scenario, in which the lifetime associated with a particular risk is not observable; rather, we observe only the maximum lifetime value among all risks. The distribution exhibits decreasing, increasing, unimodal and bathtub-shaped hazard rate functions, depending on its parameters. It contains several lifetime distributions as particular cases: EPL, new generalized Lindley, generalized Lindley, power Lindley and Lindley geometric distributions. We derive several properties of the new distribution such as closed-form expressions for the density, cumulative distribution function, survival function, hazard rate function, the rth raw moment, and also the moments of order statistics. Moreover, we discuss maximum likelihood estimation and provide formulas for the elements of the Fisher information matrix. Simulation studies are also provided. Finally, two real data applications are given for showing the flexibility and potentiality of the new distribution.     

Iranian obstetricians’ views about the factors that influence pregnant women's choice of delivery method: A qualitative study

BackgroundCaesarean section is a commonly performed childbirth procedure. While caesarean section is undeniably a lifesaving procedure for some mothers and babies, it can also be an unnecessary procedure for others. Different factors may be involved in the rate of birth by caesarean section.QuestionThis qualitative study was conducted in Kashan city, Iran, to explore obstetrician's views of what might influence pregnant women's choice of delivery method.MethodsObstetricians’ views and experiences were collected using semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted in a clinic or hospital, based on the preference of the 18 physicians who agreed to participate in the study. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Participants were asked key questions, including: “Why do some women prefer caesarean section?”; “What kind of delivery did you have and why?”; “What kind of delivery would you recommend to pregnant women and why?” Inductive qualitative content analysis was undertaken using the method described by Morreti with 120 initial codes categorized into six categories.FindingsThe six categories developed from the initial codes were: factors relating to women, obstetricians, delivery conditions, complications, society's beliefs and the health system.ConclusionA qualitative study conducted in Iran showed that most of the factors identified by participants facilitated the choice of caesarean section. Vaginal birth was anticipated as a painful and lengthy process, with low cultural acceptance and resulting in less income for obstetricians.     

Mixed sampling plan based on exponentially weighted moving average statistic

ABSTRACT

We will design a new mixed acceptance sampling plan based on the exponentially weighted moving average statistic in this article. The plan parameters of the proposed plan are determined by an optimization problem. The efficiency of the proposed plan is compared with the existing attribute sampling plan. An industrial example is given for illustration purpose.     

A note on the conditional residual lifetime of a coherent system under double monitoring

In this note, we derive some mixture representations for the reliability function of the conditional residual lifetime of a coherent system with n independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) components under the condition that at time t₁ the jth failures has occurred and at time t₂ the kth failures (j < k) have not occurred yet. Based on the mixture representations, we then discuss the stochastic comparisons of the conditional residual lifetimes of two coherent systems with i.i.d. components.