Insights from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

In recent years, mediation has become increasingly popular as a means to resolve conflict. One important issue that arises out of the recent explosive growth in the practice of mediation is. what do mediators need to know in order to assist the parties in resolving their conflicts? This research attemtps to identify the determinants of mediator competence by examining the knowledge, skills and abilities of mediators in public sector labor relations. The research focuses on the core competencies requirements for mediators with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and suggests which of the competencies may be applicable to mediation in other contexts.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Histological findings of autoimmune hepatitis

Histology of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), chronic active hepatitis, is characterized by portal inflammation with interface hepatitis. Although the basic histology of AIH is similar to that of virus-related chronic hepatitis, hepatitic changes are usually prominent in AIH compared with chronic viral hepatitis. Clinicopathological diagnosis of AIH requires exclusion of other causes of liver disease, including hepatitis virus, alcohol, drugs, metabolic disorders, and other autoimmune diseases. At present, some criteria systems considering clinicopathological findings are proposed to categorize patients as having either definite or probably/atypical AIH. Among the pathological items of a simplified AIH scoring system of the International AIH Group, in addition to evident chronic hepatitis with interface hepatitis and hepatic rosette formation, emperipolesis, indicating the close immunological interaction of lymphocytes and hepatocytes, is noted but is sometimes difficult to evaluate. In addition to classical AIH, showing chronic active hepatitis, some AIH patients show a clinically acute hepatitis-like clinical course. These patients have mostly acute exacerbation from chronic active AIH, but acute-onset AIH cases, which histologically exhibit diffuse lobular hepatitis and/or confluent necrosis including perivenular zonal necrosis (zone 3 necrosis, centrizonal necrosis), are also encountered. © 2014 Springer Japan. All rights reserved.(Book Chapter

Etiologic agents of otitis media in Benin city, Nigeria

Background : Otitis Media continues to be a major presentation in the ear, nose and throat clinic. Aim : This study aimed to isolate, characterize and identify the bacteriological and mycological etiologic agents of otitis media in Benin city. Patients and Methods : Ear discharge from 569 (299 males and 270 females) patients diagnosed clinically of otitis media between August 2009 and August 2010 were processed to recover the bacterial and fungal etiologic agents. Susceptibility test was performed on all bacterial isolate. Result : Pseudomonas aeruginosa (28.3%) was the predominant bacteria isolate causing otitis media followed by Staphylococcus aureus (21.0%), Klebsiella sp (8.9%), Proteus sp (8.2%), Alkaligenes spp (4.3%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (3.9%), Escherichia coli (3.0%) and Citrobacter freundi (1.7%). Fungi isolated were Aspergillus niger (9.2%), Candida albicans (5.4%), Candida tropicalis (3.0%), Aspergillus flavus (2.1%) and Candida parasilopsis (1.5%). 413 had a single organism isolated from the middle ear culture while twenty (3.51%) patients had mixed organisms isolated. Infection was highest among 0 - 5 years, and lowest among aged 18 - 23. All bacterial isolates were poorly susceptible to the antibacterial agents. Conclusion : The study uncovers a high frequency of bacteria associated otitis media with the finding of fungi too as a significant etiologic agent

Pseudoaneurysm of the breast following blind palpation-guided core needle biopsy: a case report and literature review

Core needle biopsy is currently the most widely used basic diagnostic method for the diagnosis of breast masses; it is a minimally invasive procedure with excellent specificity and sensitivity and negligible complication rates, particularly when image-guided. However, complications tend to be higher when performed blindly. Hematoma remains the most common complication resulting from this procedure. Iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm is a rare complication with no previous report in Nigeria. In this report, we present a case of breast pseudoaneurysm occurring after 2 blind, palpation-guided core needle biopsies in a 51-year-old known hypertensive woman at a Nigerian tertiary hospital. Spontaneous thrombosis of the pseudoaneurysm occurred over three months after the second blind biopsy

Opracowanie i wstępne badania nad przyjaznym kulturowo narzędziem do oszacowania bólu u dzieci − Skala Bólu wg Wizerunków Płaczących Twarzy (Crying Faces Pain Scale)

Having a universal tool for assessing pain in children is hamstrung by cultural sensitivity. This study aimed to develop and validate a culturally-friendly pain assessment tool (i.e. Crying Faces Pain Scale (CFPS)) among Nigerian Children. This study employed criterion-standard design. The study was in three phases, namely: (1) development of CFPS, (2) cross-validity and (3) validation of the CFPS. 70 children (39 (55.7%) males and 31 (44.3%) females) within the age range of 4-13 years who had post-surgical pain, orthopaedic pain, stomach pain or headache were involved in the validation phase. Psychometric properties and preferences for the CFPS compared with the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale (FACES) were examined. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Alpha level was set at p<0.05. The median score of the CFPS was 4.60 compared to FACES median score of 4.49. There was weak correlation between FACES and CFPS (r=0.325; p=0.006). Preference score as a culturally friendly tool for CFPS and FACES was 6.07±1.23 and 3.67±1.09 respectively, based on a modified 0-10 numerical pain scale. Conclusions: The crying faces pain scale has fair psychometric properties for assessing pain in children. However, CFPS was preferred to FACES as a culturally friendly tool for assessing pain among Nigerian children. Implications: The CFPS is more culturally friendly and so might be better suited as a pain scale in Africa. However, due to its fair psychometric properties, further studies may be needed to improve upon this scale.Podstawy i cele: Posiadanie uniwersalnego narzędzia do oceny bólu u dzieci jest utrudnione przez wrażliwość kulturową. Badanie to miało na celu opracowanie i walidację przyjaznego kulturowo narzędzia do oceny bólu u dzieci tj. Skali Bólu wg Wizerunków Płaczących Twarzy (Crying Faces Pain Scale, CFPS) wśród nigeryjskich dzieci. Metody: W badaniu tym zastosowano standard wzorcowy. Badanie odbyło się w 3 fazach, mianowicie: 1) opracowanie CFPS, 2) walidacja krzyżowa oraz 3) walidacja CFPS. W fazie walidacji wzięło udział 70 dzieci, (39 (55.7%) chłopców i 31 (44.3%) dziewcząt) w przedziale wiekowym 4-13 lat, cierpiących na ból pooperacyjny, ból ortopedyczny, ból brzucha czy ból głowy. Zbadano właściwości psychometryczne i preferencje dla CFPS, w porównaniu z Graficzną Skalą Oceny Bólu Wonga-Bakera (FACES, Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale). Do analizy danych wykorzystano statystyki opisowe i inferencyjne. Poziom Alpha ustawiono na p<0.05. Wyniki: Średni wynik dla CFPS wyniósł 4,60, w porównaniu do średniego wyniku FACES wynoszącego 4,49. Wystąpiła słaba korelacja pomiędzy FACES a CFPS (r=0,325; p=0,.006). Preferowany wynik dla kulturowo przyjaznego narzędzia dla CFPS i FACES wyniósł odpowiednio 6,07 ±1,23 i 3,67 ±1,09, na podstawie zmodyfikowanej liczbowej skali bólu 0-10. Wnioski: Skala CFPS ma wystarczające właściwości psychometryczne do szacowania bólu u dzieci. Jednak preferowano bardziej CFPS niż FACES, jako bardziej przyjazne kulturowo narzędzie do oceny bólu wśród dzieci w Nigerii. Implikacje: CFPS jest bardziej przyjazny kulturowo i dlatego mógłby być bardziej odpowiedni, jako skala bólu w Afryce. Jednak, ze względu na swoje właściwości psychometryczne, potrzebne będą dalsze badania w celu poprawy tej skali