Physiologic Evidences Of Good Tolerance Of Concurrent Rumen Fistulation And Duodenal Cannulation In West African Dwarf Sheep

Twelve adult West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep of mean age and body weight of 18 ± 1.19 months and 14.69 ± 256 kg body weight respectively were used to study the compatibility of concurrent rumen fisulation and duodenal cannulation with normal life. The compatibility with norma life was assessed by differences in body weight, voluntary feed intake, rectal temperature and some haematological and biochemical parameters for a period of eight weeks between test and contro groups. During the sudyperiod, all the six animals survived the surgery. There was no significant (p < 0.05) dfference in body weight between the test and control groups for the entire study period (week 1-8). The mean rectal temperature of the test group was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the control group on week 1(44.6 ± 3.150C), week 2 (43.26 ± 414 0C) and week 3 (41.15 ± 6620C) after implantation. Packed cell volume (PCV) and erythrocyte count (EC) were significantly reduced in the test group within the frst three weeks (33.19 ± 141 to 24.45 ± 1.39%and 7.01 ± 134 to 437 ± 1.58 x 106μl) respectively. On the contrary, total leukocyte count (TLC), and neutrophils were significantly higher in the test group between weeks 1 to 3 (12.48 ± 435 and 31.09 ± 3.67 respectvely) compared to the control (8.06 ± 0.95 and 23.41 ± 2.09 respecvely. Lymphocytes were insignificantly higher in the test group while voluntary feed intake was insigniicantly reduced in the test group throughout the eight weeks. Biochemical analyses revealed that serum creatinine was signicantly higher in the test group at week 1 (3.62 ± 1.18) and week 2 (3.08 ± 1.44) afer surgery. There was however, no significant difference in serum total proteins during the study period. Serum potassium concentrations were sgniicantly decreased inthe test group at week 1 (4.96 ± 1.03 to 1.34 ± 0.04). Sodum was also signcanty reduced (146.08 ± 3.78 to 96.03 ± 6.21) but on week 3 post impantation (PI). On the other hand, serum globulin was significantly higher in the test group throughout the study period. Gross observationsof incision sites showed adhesions characterized by coalesced tissue granulations. The study has shown that the use of polymetric materials in fabricating rumen fistulae and duodenal cannuale could pave way for increased routine nutritional studies in ruminants particularly in developing countries where the availability of these materials constitute great limitationto research involving rumen studies. Keywords: Duodenal cannulation, Rumen fistulation, West African Dwarf shee

Advancement of the annual traffic census in Hong Kong

This paper summarises the process, findings and recommendations of a recently completed joint university consultancy project that reviewed the annual traffic census (ATC) in Hong Kong. The results of a survey that assessed the usefulness of the census report are presented, together with an overview of the existing traffic data collection process and traffic detection equipment. Areas for improvement are then identified, including the sampling strategies for the collection of vehicle classification and occupancy data, the procedure for the development of group scaling factors, the method for the selection of core and coverage stations, the approaches to developing growth factors and traffic flow estimation, the presentation method and database structure of the census framework, and the manpower requirements. Based on these identified areas, a new computer program is developed to integrate all of the tasks of the census report and to produce the results in CD-ROM format. Finally, concluding remarks are given together with recommendations for further study.published_or_final_versio

Case Report on Septate Uterus: An Incidental Finding in a Multiparous Woman who Had an Emergency Cesarean Section

Background: Septate uterus is caused by incomplete resorption of the Mullerian duct during embryogenesis which may alter the reproductive outcome of the patients. It is the commonest form of structural uterine anomaly and has the highest reproductive failure rate. Case Report: A 21-year-old booked G4P2 +1 woman with two living male children admitted into the Antenatal ward through the Accident and Emergency ward at 33 weeks gestation for conservative management of preterm premature rupture of membrane. She had a previous history of miscarriage, preterm delivery, and elective caesarean section due to breech presentation in her first, second, and third pregnancies in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. She, however, had an emergency caesarean section due to fetal distress at 33 weeks plus 4 days with the delivery of a live female baby that weighed 2.0 kg with APGAR scores of 7 and 8 in the 1st and 5th minutes, respectively. There was intraoperative finding of septate uterus with dimple at the fundus. The other abdominal viscera were normal. Conclusion: congenital uterine anomalies especially septate uterus, though rare, should be suspected in women with positive history of miscarriage, preterm delivery and malpresentation.Keywords: Asia, fetal distress, multiparous, preterm, septate, uteru

Stroke types, risk factors, quality of care and outcomes at a Referral Hospital in Western Kenya

Background: The prevalence of stroke is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa due to increases in size of  aging population and stroke risk factors.We assessed risk factors, quality of care and outcomes of stroke to identify modifiable risk factors and areas of care that need improvement for better outcomes.Objectives: To describe the stroke types, risk factors, outcomes and stroke quality of care in a large academic medical centre hospital.Design: Hospital based retrospective study.Setting: Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya.Subjects: All patients &gt;18 years admitted with a diagnosis of stroke as per the WHO definition and with a supporting brain imaging (CT scan/ MRI )were included in the study. Data abstracted from the files included demographic details, stroke subtype, stroke risk factors, inpatient stroke care quality  indicators(based on US Joint Commission stroke quality indicator definitions) and in hospital stroke  outcomes. Descriptive statistics was used to summarise the data.Results: A total of 155 patients had stroke between January 2010 and December 2014 of whom 42% were male, the median age was 61 (IQR: 49-72) years. Majority (73%) had hypertension. The prevalence of diabetes was 4%. Left hemiplegia/hemiparesis was the predominant presentation (50%). Haemorrhagic strokes were frequent (52%) with anterior circulation stroke comprising 97% of all strokes. Assessment of quality of care indicators showed that overall, 84% of the patients had a brain CT scan on day one of admission,93% had a GCS documented at admission, 32% were on statins and 3% were screened for dysphagia before oral intake. Among patients with ischaemic strokes; none underwent thrombolysis, 24% received DVT prophylaxis, 54% received statins, and 73% received anti-thrombotic therapy by hospital day two. In hospital mortalityoccurred in 43(27%)with a higher rate among haemorrhagic strokes (31%) compared to ischaemic stroke (24%)(p=0.364).Conclusion: Haemorrhagic stroke was the most common type of stroke admitted, hypertension was the predominant risk factor and most strokes involved the anterior circulation. In-hospital mortality was 27%.There were several opportunities to improve evidence-based quality of care indicators

Oral health promotion in an elderly home in Hong Kong

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Induction of significant intraocular pressure diurnal fluctuation in rats using a modified technique of microbead occlusion

AIM: To investigate the effect of microbead iridocorneal angle occlusion on intraocular pressure (IOP) diurnal fluctuation in rat eyes. METHODS: Male Dark Agouti (DA) rats, 8-10 week old, were each given a single intracameral injection of microbeads, followed by injection of dispersive viscoelastic solution. The right eye served as the experimental eye, while the left eye served as the control. IOP was measured twice daily postoperatively for 3wk and compared between groups. At the end of 3wk, the rats were sacrificed and the eyes were harvested for histological analysis and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) counting. RESULTS: After microbead injection, experimental eyes had significantly higher dark time IOP than controls from the second week to the third week [2nd week: 22.92±1.631 mm Hg (n=5) vs 17.35±0.751 mm Hg (n=5); 3rd week: 23.59±1.494 mm Hg vs 17.73±0.592 mm Hg (n=5)], while light time IOP was comparable between groups. The fluctuation levels of IOP in the experimental eyes were 7.21±0.398 mm Hg (n=5), 9.50±1.017 mm Hg (n=5) and 10.66±0.894 mm Hg (n=5) from the first week to the third week after injection. Comparatively, they were significantly lower in the control eyes, which were 4.69±0.323 mm Hg (n=5), 2.84±1.122 mm Hg (n=5) and 4.98±0.603 mm Hg (n=5) respectively. However, at the end of 3wk, the larger fluctuations in IOP in the experimental eyes was not associated with a significant loss of RGCs. CONCLUSION: Microbead occlusion exacerbates diurnal IOP fluctuation in rats. This reported model may serve as a method of investigating the pathological effects of IOP fluctuation. A longer observation period, or repeated injections, may be needed to observe a significant change in RGC density

Patterns of ambulatory care utilization in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: We used the insurance claims of a representative cohort to quantify the patterns of ambulatory care visits, especially the doctor-shopping phenomenon, in Taiwan. METHODS: The ambulatory visit files of the 200,000-person cohort datasets from the National Health Insurance Research Database in 2002 were analyzed. Only a visit with physician consultation would be considered. We computed the visit patterns both by visit count and by patient count. RESULTS: In 2002, there were 182,474 eligible people with 2,443,003 physician consultations. During the year, 87.4% of the cohort had visited physician clinics and 57.5% had visited hospital-based outpatient or emergency departments. On average, a person had 13.4 physician consultations and consulted 3.4 specialties, 5.2 physicians, and 3.9 healthcare facilities in a year. In 2002, 17.3% of the cohort had ever visited different healthcare facilities on the same day; 23.5% had ever visited physicians of the same specialty at different healthcare facilities within 7 days and the percentage of second visits was 3.8% of all visits. Besides, 7.6% of the cohort had visited two or more specialties at the same facility on the same day, and such visits make up 2.5% of all visits. CONCLUSION: The people in Taiwan did visit the physicians and outpatient departments frequently. Many patients not only consulted several physicians of different specialties and at different healthcare facilities during the year, but also switched the physicians and facilities quickly. An effective referral system with efficient data exchange between facilities might be the solution

Reaction rates and transport in neutron stars

Understanding signals from neutron stars requires knowledge about the transport inside the star. We review the transport properties and the underlying reaction rates of dense hadronic and quark matter in the crust and the core of neutron stars and point out open problems and future directions.Comment: 74 pages; commissioned for the book "Physics and Astrophysics of Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action MP1304; version 3: minor changes, references updated, overview graphic added in the introduction, improvements in Sec IV.A.

Evidence for an excess of B -> D(*) Tau Nu decays

Based on the full BaBar data sample, we report improved measurements of the ratios R(D(*)) = B(B -> D(*) Tau Nu)/B(B -> D(*) l Nu), where l is either e or mu. These ratios are sensitive to new physics contributions in the form of a charged Higgs boson. We measure R(D) = 0.440 +- 0.058 +- 0.042 and R(D*) = 0.332 +- 0.024 +- 0.018, which exceed the Standard Model expectations by 2.0 sigma and 2.7 sigma, respectively. Taken together, our results disagree with these expectations at the 3.4 sigma level. This excess cannot be explained by a charged Higgs boson in the type II two-Higgs-doublet model. We also report the observation of the decay B -> D Tau Nu, with a significance of 6.8 sigma.Comment: Expanded section on systematics, text corrections, improved the format of Figure 2 and included the effect of the change of the Tau polarization due to the charged Higg