An evaluation of 605 endoscopic examination in a rural setting, Lacor Hospital in Northern Uganda

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the profile of esophagogastroduodenal (EGDS) diseases diagnosed by upper endoscopy in a rural area of Uganda in a retro-protective study of 605 patients. Results: The mean age of patients with digestive symptoms was 39.7yrs (SD +/-16.11) and female gender predominated by 60% compared to the male (P value 0.000). Peasant farmers were the commonest group with GI symptoms requiring EGDS compared to the rest 72.1% v 27.9%. Epigastric pain was the commonest indication (58%) for EGDS, followed by chest pain (11%), abdominal pain (8.8%), dyspahgia (7.6%) and hematemesis (7.3%). The commonest endoscopy finding was gastritis (47.9%) followed by esophagitis (14.4%), cancer esophagus (5.1%), esophageal varicose (4%), PUD (2.3%), gastric cancer (1%). However 19.5% of patients had normal EGDS. There was a significant correlation between the outpatient diagnosis and endoscopy finding (P value 0.01, r = 0.144) and between endoscopy finding and histology findings (P value 0.001, r = 0.236). H. pylori was positive in 53% of patients with gastritis. Conclusion: Gastritis is the commonest lesion (47.9%) of which 53% have H pylori and Cance

Extra-adrenal Pheochromocytoma: Experience in Mulago Hospital

Exta-adrenal pheochromocytomas are rare tumors that arise from extra-adrenal chromaffin cells of the sympathetic ganglia. Experience with two cases is reported here and a review of literature was conducted. Like pheochromocytomas, extra adrenal pheochromocytomas present with episodic hypertension, tachycardia, headache, and diaphoresis, and can be either benign or malignant. Diagnosis is made by serum and urine analysis for catecholamines and metanephrines, and confirmed with imaging studies including computed tomography scanning, magnetic resonance imaging, or 123-I metaiodobenzylguanidine imaging. Ultrasound scanning in the developing world is beneficial. Genetic testing should be offered were available, particularly patients who are young, have multiple tumors, or have a family history of malignancy. Management of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma is enblock en-mass surgical resection. Chemotherapy, and radiation therapy may be necessary in malignant disease. Longterm follow-up is essential, as extra-adrenal pheochromocytomas can recur many years after initial diagnosis

Analysis of the Role of Cooperatives in Agricultural Input and Output Marketing in Southern Zone of Tigray, Ethiopia

When the issue of economic growth and development of the country is raised, one has to take into account the performance of the growth of smallholder farmers. Reducing the challenges they are facing and utilizing their potentials can help to accelerate the agricultural sector and economic development of the country as a whole. Agricultural cooperatives are ideal means for self-reliance, higher productivity and promotion of agricultural development. Therefore, the major concern of this study is empirically analyzing the role of agricultural multipurpose cooperatives found in the Southern Zone of Tigray Region of Ethiopia. From the five Woredas of the Southern Zone of Tigray Region Alamata and Ofla Woredas were selected at random for the study. Both primary and secondary data were taken for this study. A three-stage random sampling procedure was adopted to select 10 primary agricultural multipurpose cooperatives and a total of 208 sample respondents at the rate of 56 from Alamata and 152 from Ofla Woreda. Primary data pertaining to the year 2006/7was collected from the selected sample respondents by using a through structured interview schedule. Of the total respondents, about 70.209% and 29.80% were participants and non-participants of the cooperatives agricultural input and output marketing respectively. Secondary data of 5 cooperatives was also taken in to consideration to examine the performance of the input and output marketing by the cooperatives in the Alamata and Ofla Woreda. Financial ratios were analyzed taking the two audit year's financial data. The liquidity analysis showed that the cooperatives under investigation were below the satisfactory rate (current ratio of less than 2.00). The financial leverage ratio (debt ratio) showed that the cooperatives under investigation used financial leverage (financed more of their total asset with creditors’ fund).The profitability ratio of the cooperatives showed that the profitability of most cooperatives improved when we compare from the first audit year to the second audit year, except two cooperatives in Ofla Woreda (Tadesech from 25.9% in 2004 to negative 1.6% in 2007 and Higumberda from 40.8% in 2002 to negative 5.2% in 2003. .Descriptive statistics were used to compare the explanatory variables of the participant and non-participant sample respondents in the agricultural input and output marketing. Testing differences between two samples were done using T-test and Chi-square test. The comparison revealed that there is a significant difference between the two groups of sample farmers regarding their age, education livestock ownership in TLU, share holding, non-farm income, expenditure on agricultural input, distance of the cooperative office from the farmer member's house, membership of the household head in other cooperatives and price of improved seed. Probit econometric model was employed to identify the factors influencing the participation of cooperative members in the input and output marketing by cooperatives in the two Woreda. Fifteen explanatory variables were included in the model of which ten variables were found to be significant. Of these, six explanatory variables namely own land, shareholding ,distance, output price, membership 6 in other cooperatives and seed price) were found to be significantly and positively related to the participation of cooperative members in the agricultural input and output marketing by cooperatives. Hence, it is suggested that more attention is to be given to the human resource development of the cooperative auditors through short term and long training programs so that to able to undertake timely audit of the cooperatives both in terms of quality and quantity. This implies, cooperatives can pay the patronage and capital dividend to members and minimize financial embezzlements through strong internal control system. Moreover, professional management is becoming crucial issue for the cooperative societies in order to run viable and profitable business that can meet members benefit. Therefore, due attention is required for the recruitment of professional manager

Using location-based services to improve mental health interventions

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geospatial TechnologiesThe rapid developments in the functionalities of smartphones and technological innovations play a vital role in providing location-based services in healthcare. A mental health sensor-based software platform has been developed by the Geospatial Technologies research group (Geotec), consisting of an application generation framework that offers basic geospatial building blocks (location tracking, trajectory recording, geo-fencing), communication building blocks (notifications) and a basic visualization of collected data for therapists. The framework has been successfully tested for building an application to treat agoraphobia, addiction, and depression, using location-based notifications. However, defining the places of interest for a patient is addressed to a limited extent only. Thus, therapists have difficulties of identifying and defining multiple places of interest, and the generated apps were therefore mostly limited to single places of interest, which were manually defined. Hence, they are difficult to use in larger areas. This thesis aims to use a location-based service to support therapists in defining places of interest, based on location and place categories. The work is carried out as an extension of the SYMPTOMS platform, and it allows therapists to define multiple places of interest automatically and for larger areas. The added value of the approach (in terms of automation, ease of use, and universally usable of therapies) by the location-based services in improving mental health interventions is evaluated. As a result, the application was found to be usable with SUS score of 91.875 and useful for therapists to define multiple places of interest at the same time which simplifies the configuration process and makes therapies universally usable. Reproducibility self-assessment (https://osf.io/j97zp/): 2, 2, 1, 2, 2 (input data, pre-processing, methods, computational environment, results)

Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) Relationship to Patients Age, Prostate Volume and Prostate Histology at St Mary's Hospital Lacor

No Abstract

Web stranica Zavoda za javno zdravstvo Varaždinske županije

Na početku smo 21.stoljeća. Doba globalizacije, informatizacije i još mnogo toga dobrog i lošeg što napredak nužno donosi. Naš Zavod postupno se informatizira. Brži protok informacija svakako je jedna od dobrih strana informatizacije. Na internetu dostupna je i stranica našeg Zavoda - www.zzjzzv.hr

Web stranica Zavoda za javno zdravstvo Varaždinske županije

Na početku smo 21.stoljeća. Doba globalizacije, informatizacije i još mnogo toga dobrog i lošeg što napredak nužno donosi. Naš Zavod postupno se informatizira. Brži protok informacija svakako je jedna od dobrih strana informatizacije. Na internetu dostupna je i stranica našeg Zavoda - www.zzjzzv.hr

Faecal corticosterone metabolite assessment in socially housed male and female wistar rats

Knowledge of animals’ hormonal status is important for conservation studies in wild or semi-free-ranging conditions as well as for behavioural and clinical experiments conducted in laboratory research, mostly performed on rats and mice. Faecal sampling is a useful non-invasive method to obtain steroid hormone assessments. Nevertheless, in laboratory studies, unlike other contexts, faecal sampling is less utilised. One of the issues raised is the necessity to collect samples belonging to different animals, separately. Usually, researchers using faecal sampling solve this problem through the isolation of animals or taking the cage rather than single animal as unit of study. These solutions though, could lead to unreliable measurements, and cannot be applied in many studies. Our aim was to show the biological reliability of individual faecal corticosterone metabolite (FCM) assessments in socially housed male and female Wistar rats. We analytically validated the enzyme immunoassay kit used for FCM assessments. Then, we exposed the animals to two different stress stimuli that are known to activate the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis and the following release of corticosterone to biologically validate the EIA kit: environmental enrichment and predator odour. Individual faecal sampling from social animals was collected through short-time handling. The results demonstrated that both the stimuli increased FCM levels in male and female rats showing the reliability of EIA kit assessment and the applicability of our sampling method. We also found a diurnal rhythm in FCM levels. These results could help to increase the use of faecal hormone metabolite determinations in studies conducted on rats

The Impact of Personal Lifestyle and Personal Innovativeness on Insta Shopping Purchase Intention

Social commerce (s-commerce) is an evolving concept that has become an inspirational area of research due to the continued development and breakthroughs of social interactions and social media platforms. This study examines the moderating effect of perceived risks and overall trust on the intention to buy. Moreover, it tests the impact of consumers’ lifestyles and personal innovativeness on perceived risks and trust. We surveyed 267 active social commerce users and analyzed the responses using SmartPLS3.0 by applying structural equation modeling. The results show a significant impact of consumers’ lifestyles, personal innovativeness, and trust on behavioral intention. However, consumers’ perceived risks do not influence users’ decisions to use Insta shopping

Spektrofotometrijsko određivanje sadržaja magnezijeva oksida u pripravcima s magnezijem

Magnesium is an essential element and the intracellular divalent cation involved in many biochemical functions. People with magnesium deficiency must increase their intake of magnesium, usually in the form of various supplements. A common form of magnesium supplement widely available in pharmacies is magnesium oxide (MgO). In this work, the content of MgO was determined in pharmaceutical supplementations using spectrophotometry, based on the reaction between magnesium ions and eriochrome black T at a wavelength of 535 nm. The analysed content of MgO ranged from 360.5 to 386.5 mg MgO, which corresponds to the daily Mg recommended values (300 to 400 mg). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Magnezij je esencijalni element i intrastanični dvovalentni kation uključen u više biokemijskih funkcija. Osobe s manjkom magnezija moraju ga dodatno unositi i to često u obliku različitih pripravaka. Magnezijev oksid (MgO) najčešći je oblik pripravka s magnezijem koji je široko dostupan u ljekarnama. U ovom radu spektrofotometrijom je određen sadržaj MgO u farmaceutskim dodatcima temeljen na reakciji između magnezijevih iona i eriokrom crnog T na valnoj duljini od 535 nm. Analizirani sadržaj MgO kretao se u rasponu od 360,5 do 386,5 mg MgO, što odgovara dnevnim preporučenim vrijednostima unosa Mg (300 do 400 mg). Ovo djelo je dano na korištenje pod licencom Creative Commons Imenovanje 4.0 međunarodna