Space maintenance is an integral part of preventive dentistry. Despite all possible measures of preserving the primary teeth, loss of space remains to be a frequent problem in pediatric dentistry, resulting in disturbance of arch integrity and unfavorably affecting the alignment of permanent successors. Space maintainers (SMs) are distinctive appliances used for space maintenance that occurred due to premature loss of primary teeth. This article presents an unique, modified removable nonfunctional SM that offers several benefits over the traditional appliance. This appliance is easy to fabricate, omits band adaptation and intra gingival distal extension in children and also helps to restore the functional harmony. There are various designs of distal shoe space maintainers for premature loss of deciduous second molar in a growing child. Further research needs to be done regarding clinical implications such as effectiveness, longevity etc., of removable distal shoe space maintainers.

Background: Tympanic membrane perforation can result in hearing impairment, recurrent ear discharge, and other otologic symptoms. Tympanic membrane repair aims to restore membrane integrity and improve auditory function. This study evaluated the clinical and audiological outcomes following tympanic membrane repair in adults. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Narsingdi Sadar Hospital, Bangladesh, from January to December 2025. Thirty consecutive adults with tympanic membrane perforation undergoing repair were included. Clinical outcomes, graft uptake, postoperative complications, pure-tone average (PTA), and air-bone gap (ABG) were assessed at final follow-up. Results: Successful graft uptake was achieved in 27 (90.0%) patients, while 25 (83.3%) had complete resolution of ear discharge. Mean PTA improved from 39.1 ± 8.6 dB to 28.0 ± 7.1 dB, while mean ABG decreased from 26.2 ± 6.3 dB to 14.8 ± 5.2 dB (both p<0.001). PTA improvement of ≥10 dB occurred in 76.7% of patients, and 63.3% achieved a postoperative ABG of ≤10 dB. Overall, 66.7% had excellent and 23.3% had good outcomes; no poor outcomes were observed. Conclusion: Tympanic membrane repair provided favorable clinical and audiological outcomes with high graft uptake, significant hearing improvement, and low postoperative morbidity in adults.

This study examines the influence of social media on contemporary African playwriting, focusing on character development, dramatic dialogue and narrative structure. It responds to the limited scholarly attention given to the dramaturgical implications of social media, as existing studies have largely emphasised its roles in theatre promotion, performance dissemination and audience engagement. The study adopts a qualitative textual-analysis approach, using selected contemporary African dramatic texts as primary materials and relevant scholarly publications as secondary sources. Through close textual analysis, the study investigates how digital communication The study closely analyses how digital communication integrates into characterisation, dialogue, and narrative organisation into characterisation, dialogue and narrative organisation. The findings reveal that social media has become an emerging dramaturgical resource in contemporary African theatre. It enables characters to construct multiple identities across physical and virtual spaces, intensifies interpersonal relationships and generates new forms of conflict through digital interactions, public exposure and archived communication. The research further demonstrates that social media enhances dramatic dialogue via text messages, posts, comments, emojis, hashtags, abbreviations, slang, and code-switching, while promoting fragmented, diverse, and multimodal communication forms. In addition, the networked and discontinuous nature of digital communication promotes nonlinear narrative structures, multiple perspectives, digital interruptions and movement between physical and virtual spaces. The study concludes that social media does not replace traditional African theatrical forms but extends and transforms their dramaturgical possibilities. It recommends greater attention to digital dramaturgy in African theatre scholarship, playwriting practice and theatre training.

Nearly 6% of people worldwide suffer from diabetes mellitus, one of the most prevalent endocrine disorders. By 2025, there will be 300 million diabetic individuals worldwide, with type II diabetes accounting for over 97% of these cases. Weight loss may result from undiagnosed or untreated type I diabetes. The main risk factors for type II diabetes include obesity and poor lifestyle choices. According to approved medical nutrition therapy for diabetic patients, maintaining a healthy body weight involves making healthy choices rather than just decreasing calories. The purpose of this study is to compare the nutritional health of diabetes patients who are insulin dependent and those who are not. 300 patients with Type I and Type II diabetes were recruited, and they completed a questionnaire that inquired about their sociodemographic status, degree of physical activity, and 3-day food records. Anthropometry and glycemic control variables were also measured. The average age range of patients is between 20 and 80. About 15% of patients have poor glycemic control (HbA1c >6.5%), while 85% of patients have adequate glycemic control (HbA1c 5.7-6.4%). Of the 300 individuals, 113 (35.9%) have a type I diagnosis and 187 (59.4%) have a type II diagnosis. Anthropometry has been used to determine their BMI. Of those with IDDM, 38.8% are obese, and 47.8% are in good health and NIDDM, 61.2% are obese, and 52.2% are in good health. There is also a significant relationship exist between nutritional profiles of NIDDM & IDDM diabetics.

The plant arrived in India by sea from distant land. It was not mentioned in any religious scriptures. It emerged on the wall of a temple in Karnataka. After that it became a symbol of the trinity. It also became a vehicle for goddess Lakshmi & God Yama eventually. It became a metaphor/grammar for human relations. That’s how India absorbs the foreign completely while forgetting the memory of the absorption. It is the betel leaf that the paragraph & the article refers to. In marriages especially in Eastern India, betel leaf is hold over fire for a few seconds & put on the cheeks of the bride & groom as a blessing for the couple. To protect the betel vines in Odisha state, people did not allow the POSCO steel company of South Korea to set up a steel plant in eastern Odisha. This was to ensure that the land on which the betel vines are grown is not given for setting up the steel plant. The incident reminds us that the betel leaf is so much inter-wined in the lives of Indians. It is very hard to find a place in India that does not have a paan/betel leaf shop. The current article blends the leaf with its various associated modalities & finally links the homoeopathic system of medicine to the leaf & its accompaniments. It discusses the homoeopathic medicines prepared from all these accompaniments. Homoeopathy was foreign to India as it came from Germany where as betel leaf was also foreign to India as it came from Indonesia & Malayasia. Currently both are part of the very essence of the Indian culture.

The study investigated stress and its effect on pregnant student teachers in Ghana. The specific objective of this study is to identify sources and effects of stress experienced by pregnant student teachers. This exploratory case study design sampled 18 pregnant Student-teachers from the two selected colleges through a convenience sampling technique. Key findings revealed multiple stress sources, including physical, academic, social, and psychological. The study concluded that pregnant student-teachers at the Colleges face significant stress from multiple sources, which can adversely affect their academic performance and well-being. It was recommended that the Colleges implement comprehensive support measures, including regular counselling sessions, support groups, and stress management workshops to address emotional needs. Additionally, improving accommodation facilities, providing tailored uniforms, offering special dietary provisions, and ensuring flexible academic schedules or maternity leave are vital measures to support the unique needs of pregnant student-teachers

Anthropometric indices are very simple ratios based on linear measurements of the head and face and for more than a century have influenced the description of variation in head and facial form by anatomists, physical anthropologists and clinicians. This review attempts to trace the history of three commonly used indices: the cephalic (cranial) index, the facial index and the nasal index, from their beginnings in the nineteenth century in the field of craniometry to their current use in forensic applications, surgical procedures and paediatric assessment. The paper examines the evolution of measurement technique, from callipers, fixed anatomical landmarks to a more recent three-dimensional scanning and geometric morphometrics. The formula, population variation and classification categories for each index are discussed and the clinical or forensic importance of the index is discussed. The review also addresses the difficult history of these measurements, especially the use of these measures for classification of race in the nineteenth century, and how the discipline has shifted to more cautious, population-specific, and statistically-based interpretations. It finds that although traditional indices still serve as a rapid, inexpensive and convenient screening tool, the value of these indices is limited unless they are used in conjunction with three dimensional and statistical shape analysis methods.

This study examines the representation of mourning as a form of political resistance in Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. Moving beyond the conventional perception of grief as a private emotional experience, the novel reconfigures mourning as a collective, historical, and political act deeply embedded in Kenya’s postcolonial realities. Situating Dust within Kenya’s post-independence history, it argues that mourning transcends private sorrow to become a collective and subversive act that challenges state-sanctioned silence and historical erasure. Through fragmented narratives, silenced histories, and embodied trauma, Dust exposes how national grief emerges from unresolved violence, state betrayal, and suppressed memory. The methodology is based on qualitative textual analysis, employing close reading of narrative structure, characterization, and symbolism, while drawing on postcolonial theory, trauma studies, and memory studies to interpret the text within its socio-political context. The result reveals that the novel configures that mourning functions as both a critique of state power and a means of reclaiming agency. Moreover, it presents grief as collective and subversive force that disrupts official national narratives, recovers marginalized histories, and exposes unresolved trauma. Ultimately, mourning emerges not as a passive suffering but as an active practice that resists erasure and calls for historical accountability of national healing. The analysis draws on postcolonial theory and trauma studies to demonstrate that mourning in the novel functions as both a critique of state power and a means of reclaiming agency. It is a language through which marginalized voices reclaim suppressed histories. Moreover, findings reveal that mourning is similar to grief which becomes a powerful tool through which marginalized voices challenge official narratives and reconstruct alternative histories. Ultimately, Dust portrays mourning not as passive suffering, but as an active and necessary resistance against political amnesia and systemic injustice.

Background: Blood transfusion safety is a major issue in transfusion medicine. Adverse transfusion reactions (ATRs) are necessary to identify to maintain blood transfusion safety. Our study aimed to determine the frequency and different type of ATRs in diabetes subjects reported in a tertiary hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Materials and Methods: It was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducting in a tertiary care hospital in Dhaka in duration on June 2025 and December 2025. ATRs were evaluated by the blood transfusion officer and classified using standard definitions. Results: A total of 253 units of whole blood were transfused, 190 units transfused in diabetic subjects and 63 units in health subjects respectively. In total subjects 68% ATRs were found, involving allergic (17%), delayed hemolytic reactions and Transfusion-associated circulatory overload (TACO) (17%), Transfusion-Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI) reaction (3%), bacterial contamination 7%, RBC destruction to foreign antigen (4%) and brady cardiac 3%) were noticed. Among 190 diabetic subjects, 68.4% ATRs were observed including 15.6% delayed Hemolytic reactions, 16.8% allergic reaction, 17.9% TACO, 3.2% TRALI reaction, 7.9% bacterial contamination, 4.7% RBC destruction to foreign antigen reaction and 2.1% brady cardiac reactions which were higher (p=ns) rate than health subjects. Conclusion: Our study concluded that 68% ATRs were noticed in total subject where as 68.4% ATRs noticed in diabetic subjects that carries high infection rate. Safe blood transfusion services may have decreased these ATRs issues.

Background: Preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM) is an important obstetric complication associated with maternal morbidity, prematurity and adverse neonatal outcomes. Identification of associated risk factors and assessment of pregnancy outcomes are essential for improving maternal and neonatal care. Objective: To evaluate the potential risk factors and pregnancy outcomes among women with PPROM admitted to a tertiary-level hospital. Methods: A descriptive observational study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh, over six months from 27 February 2019 to 26 August 2019. Fifty pregnant women with PPROM between 28 and 36⁺⁶ weeks of gestation were enrolled consecutively and followed until delivery. Sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric history, clinical presentation, potential risk factors, mode of delivery, maternal complications and neonatal outcomes were recorded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The mean maternal age was 23.5 ± 9.54 years, and 42.0% were aged 21–25 years. Most women were multigravida (62.0%) and presented at 34–36⁺⁶ weeks (74.0%). Anaemia (28.0%), urinary tract infection (26.0%) and previous caesarean section (24.0%) were the most frequently identified potential risk factors. Caesarean section was performed in 82.0% of cases. Urogenital infection (34.0%) was the most common maternal complication. All newborns were premature, while neonatal sepsis occurred in 30.0% and birth asphyxia in 24.0%. Neonatal mortality was 8.0%. Conclusion: PPROM was associated with substantial maternal and neonatal morbidity. Early identification of associated factors, appropriate antenatal care, prompt management and adequate neonatal support are important to improve outcomes.

This study explored the relationship between strategic management practices and environmental sustainability of electricity distribution firms in South-South, Nigeria. The motivation for this study is the need for the development of organizations' practices oriented towards sustainability that can have a positive impact on the sustainable management and ecological responsibility, which are increasingly present in today's environmental issues. Strategic planning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategic control were the measures of strategic management practices. The theories of dynamic capabilities theory, stakeholder theory and resource-based view theory have been used as a basis of the study. This research used the cross-sectional research design and it was anchored on the positivism philosophy. The subjects of the study were eight hundred ninety-eight (898) respondents of PHCN and BEDC. It resulted 278 respondents based on Taro Yamane formula, stratified and simple random sampling technique. The data were collected through primary data which was in the form of structured questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation coefficient were used to analyse data at 5% level of significance. The results obtained, showed that the four dimensions of strategic planning namely strategic planning, strategic formulation, strategic implementation and strategic control were positive and statistically significant with the environmental sustainability. The study concluded that strategic management activities led to high level of improvement in environmental sustainability management. The study recommended on the need for more sustainability planning, effective implementation of strategies, more sustainability-oriented policies and environmental monitoring. The study added to the body of knowledge offering empirical data on the linkage between strategic management and environmental sustainability of the public utility organisations in Nigeria.

An already overburdened national power distribution infrastructure faces serious operational issues as a result of Pakistan's quickly expanding electric vehicle (EV) sector. In addition to limiting the efficient use of available renewable energy, uncoordinated commercial EV charging results in severe peak demand spikes, voltage violations, and increased energy expenditures. A decentralized, machine learning-driven load scheduling architecture for Pakistani commercial EV charging stations is proposed in this study. Using a dataset of 35,040 hourly observations from NEPRA, NTDC, PESCO, and Pakistan Meteorological Department sources, a Random Forest Regression (RFR) model is created using the Python scikit-learn library. It incorporates 14 engineered features, such as time-of-day, feeder loading, ambient temperature, solar irradiance, time-of-use (ToU) tariff windows, and lag-based load features. The trained model attains an R2 of 0.946 and a test Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 4.73 kW. A priority-weighted scheduling algorithm that maximizes charger activation within transformer capacity and NEPRA voltage regulation restrictions is fed the projected demand profile. In comparison to an unplanned baseline, simulation results for a sample 630 kVA urban Peshawar station show a 27.4% decrease in daily peak demand, a 23.1% decrease in daily energy expenditure, and a 19.8 percentage-point increase in on-site solar PV use. The edge-deployable architecture is ideal for Pakistan's limited SCADA and ICT environment because it does not require real-time cloud access.

Prosthodontics has undergone substantial transformation during 2021–2026, driven by advances in pharmaceutical formulations, biomaterials, nanotechnology, antimicrobial strategies, and digital dentistry. This comprehensive review examines recent developments in dental products and pharmaceutical formulations used in prosthodontic applications, with particular emphasis on adhesive systems, denture liners, tissue conditioners, denture base materials, controlled drug-delivery systems, and bioactive materials. Contemporary adhesive formulations incorporating optimized monomers, solvents, and photoinitiators have demonstrated improved bonding performance, while denture liners and tissue conditioners increasingly incorporate antimicrobial agents such as silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles, probiotics, and bioactive components. Controlled-release approaches, including chitosan nanoparticles and polyethylene glycol microspheres, offer opportunities for prolonged therapeutic delivery and improved management of prosthodontic-associated infections. Digital CAD/CAM and 3D-printing technologies have further enhanced precision and mechanical performance, while nanomaterials such as titanium dioxide, carbon nanotubes, and graphene oxide have demonstrated potential for improving mechanical and antimicrobial properties. Bioactive glass and calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite provide additional opportunities for remineralization and regenerative applications. Emerging trends include artificial intelligence-assisted material selection, personalized drug-delivery dentures, sustainable bio-based materials, and regenerative prosthodontic approaches. Overall, recent innovations are moving prosthodontics toward more biocompatible, antimicrobial, personalized, digitally integrated, and functionally advanced dental products.

Background: Infertility affects approximately one in seven couples worldwide. IUI is a commonly used assisted reproductive technique, with success influenced by maternal age, ovarian response, infertility duration, and sperm quality. As evidence on age-related IUI outcomes in Bangladesh is limited, this study assessed IUI success according to maternal age among patients attending an infertility center in Rangpur. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at LAB a One Infertility and IUI Center, Rangpur, Bangladesh, from July 2025 to June 2026. A total of 48 women aged 21–40 years undergoing IUI were included. Ovarian stimulation was performed using letrozole, clomifene, or FSH/HMG, followed by hCG triggering. Post-wash sperm count and motility were recorded. Maternal age was categorized as <30 and ≥30 years, and pregnancy following IUI was the primary outcome. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27 and presented as frequencies and percentages; p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among 48 patients, 62.5% were <30 years, with 25–29 years being the most common age group (47.9%). Letrozole-based stimulation was most frequently used (52.1%), followed by clomifene (27.1%) and FSH/HMG (20.8%); all patients received hCG triggering. The overall pregnancy rate was 20.8%, with a higher rate among women <30 years than those ≥30 years (26.7% vs. 11.1%). Of the 10 pregnancies, 80.0% occurred in women <30 years. Overall, younger women showed more favorable observed IUI pregnancy outcomes. Conclusion: IUI demonstrated a 20.8% overall pregnancy rate, with more favorable outcomes observed among women younger than 30 years. Maternal age may be an important consideration when counseling couples regarding expected IUI success.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) may adversely affect the wellbeing, treatment adherence and engagement in care of women living with HIV. This study determined the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with IPV among women receiving HIV care in North-Central Nigeria. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among women living with HIV attending the Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia. Following data cleaning, 296 eligible unique participants were retained. IPV was assessed using the eight-item Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST); scores ≥5 indicated probable IPV during the preceding 12 months. Descriptive statistics, chi-square or exact tests and multivariable logistic regression were employed. Results: Among 288 participants with complete WAST responses, 151 screened positive for IPV, giving a prevalence of 52.4%. Emotional, physical and sexual abuse were reported by 44.1%, 42.4% and 22.9%, respectively. In the adjusted model (n=268), women aged 25–34 years had higher odds of IPV than those aged 35–44 years (AOR=3.92; 95% CI: 1.22–12.61), whereas women aged ≥55 years had lower odds (AOR=0.20; 95% CI: 0.07–0.63). Remaining with the same partner since HIV diagnosis was associated with increased odds of IPV (AOR=4.65; 95% CI: 1.50–14.37). The model demonstrated acceptable calibration and discrimination. Conclusion: IPV was common among women receiving HIV care, with emotional and physical abuse particularly prominent. HIV services should incorporate confidential, trauma-informed enquiry, safety assessment and appropriate multidisciplinary referral pathways.