Background Uterine fibroids cause menorrhagia and adversely affect quality of life. Ulipristal acetate (UPA) can improve fibroid symptoms. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of UPA in women with symptomatic uterine fibroids. Search strategy We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and CINHAL on December 31, 2018, using relevant search terms. Clinical trials registries were searched for ongoing trials and there were no language restrictions. Selection criteria We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing UPA with placebo/no treatment/any pharmacological intervention for symptomatic uterine fibroids. Data collection and analysis Two authors independently screened trials, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias in included studies. We used risk ratio (RR) for dichotomous outcomes and mean difference (MD) for continuous outcomes, plus their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Main results We identified six RCTs (1121 participants). Five studies (882 participants) compared UPA with placebo. UPA significantly achieved amenorrhea (RR 24.54; 95% CI, 10.82–55.64), reduced blood loss, and improved quality of life with insufficient evidence from RCTs for adverse events. There was insufficient evidence for improved outcomes when UPA was compared with leuprolide acetate. Conclusion Compared with placebo, oral UPA significantly induces amenorrhea, reduces heavy menses, and improves quality‐of‐life in women with uterine fibroids.

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Covid-19 and the unprecedented shift in educational delivery, has revealed multiple perforations in the science-learning pedagogies. The technological replacements for a physical presence of an instructor and peer collaborated classroom could not retain student interaction and positive learning attitude as in the pre-Covid period. YSC STEM Digilearning Model, is an online voluntary summer course that was created to combat the respective hitches and was successfully implemented on 38 primary-preparatory students from diverse schools promising an active learning environment. Student Feedback mechanism approach was implemented throughout the course thereby providing voice to the students in the learner centered approach adopted by the STEM course. The course carried out diverse synchronous and asynchronous activities with positive student response as the study witnessed minimal student withdrawals and presentation of completed student assignments.

The importance of online education and online learning has gained colossal importance during the present era. Despite online education being the savior during the current pandemic, its implementation was/has been quite puzzling. This article describes a novel approach to the execution of an E-STEM (online- Science, technology, engineering, mathematics) course for school students by integrating the near-peer mentoring approach. Wherein, the undergraduate (UG) students were the near-peer mentors, who had mentored/guided the school students (middle school & high school). Even though the E-STEM course was developed & presented by the STEM professionals, it was the near peer-mentors who were responsible for the constant motivation & assessment of the school students. The paper displays several roles of the UG mentors, predominantly aiding the students’ motivation and also their assessment via a triangulation assessment approach: with the UG mentors being responsible for the indirect and embedded assessment of the students. The STEM course was efficaciously conducted for 56 students of high school and middle school students, involving 16 undergraduate near-peer mentors. Various E-tools and student-feedback mechanisms were used to implement the E-STEM course in a student-centered manner. Thereby, to reveal the success of the model, the student’s feedback, pre-post questionnaires, and text message transcripts were investigated. The constructive roles of undergraduate mentors, in aiding the school students towards their active engagement, and STEM innovations, during E-learning, have been validated. A clear comparison had been made between the behavioral aspect of the high school students and middle school students with the UG mentor. Therefore, unlike many studies that had shown the success of the near-peer mentoring model, our article addresses the underlying process, that contributes to the success with a distinct comparison between the two (prior mentioned aspect).