A question of belonging : imagining the Chinese in the British West Indies

This study examines what effect the presence of the Chinese in the West Indies had on understandings of belonging in terms of nation. It examines the construction of the category "Chinese" across different modes, particularly literary texts, from the nineteenth century to the present, and from the positions of colonial, creole and Chinese spaces. The results of this research challenge the common view that the Chinese have had a marginal impact on the perception of nationhood in the West Indies. Instead, images of the Chinese were, and continue to be, a key means of exploring the ambiguities, potentialities and limitations of nation as it developed in the West Indies. In particular, they reveal that neither "nation" nor "belonging" are static positions; rather, they signify continuing renegotiations of power relationships and cultural identities. Several factors impact on representations of the Chinese. In the nineteenth century, such images were molded by the specific aims of colonial enterprises, entangled at the intersection of the discursive constructs of "East" and "West" during a period of mass migrations and the peculiar tensions of post-emancipation West Indian societies. In the twentieth century, "the Chinese" have been created in response to a need to assert ownership of what was once colonised space and to perform nation before a global audience. Of late, Chinese West Indians have taken a more visibly active role in the construction and dissemination of images of themselves and their communities. In the process they have sometimes radically redefined the imaginative nation space of the West Indies and, in the process, challenge established boundaries of belonging, and contest "belonging" itself

Dentigerous cyst of the maxillary sinus in a child.

Dentigerous cyst in maxillary sinus, especially in children, is uncommon in Malaysia. Few cases of dentigerous cyst in maxillary sinus in children have been reported in the medical literature. According to Tay AB et al, dentigerous cyst was accounted for 2.3% of the 20 most common diagnosed oral tumors in Singapore form year 1993-19971. This report illustrates a case of the dentigerous cyst in the maxillary sinus, resulting in significant facial swelling, which was managed by endoscopic marsupialization of the cyst

Microbial community composition and function in wastewater treatment plants

Biological wastewater treatment has been applied for more than a century to ameliorate anthropogenic damage to the environment. But only during the last decade the use of molecular tools allowed to accurately determine the composition, and dynamics of activated sludge and biofilm microbial communities. Novel, in many cases yet not cultured bacteria were identified to be responsible for filamentous bulking and foaming as well as phosphorus and nitrogen removal in these systems. Now, methods are developed to infer the in situ physiology of these bacteria. Here we provide an overview of what is currently known about the identity and physiology of some of themicrobial key players in activated sludge and biofilm systems.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - project WA1558/1

The impact of cardiac comorbidity sequence at baseline and mortality risk in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a retrospective population-based cohort study

Introduction: The presence of multiple comorbidities increases the risk of all-cause mortality, but the effects of the comorbidity sequence before the baseline date on mortality remain unexplored. This study investigated the relationship between coronary heart disease (CHD), atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) through their sequence of development and the effect on all-cause mortality risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This study included patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus prescribed antidiabetic/cardiovascular medications in public hospitals of Hong Kong between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009, with follow-up until death or 31 December 2019. The Cox regression was used to identify comorbidity sequences predicting all-cause mortality in patients with different medication subgroups. Results: A total of 249,291 patients (age: 66.0 ± 12.4 years, 47.4% male) were included. At baseline, 7564, 10,900 and 25,589 patients had AF, HF and CHD, respectively. Over follow-up (3524 ± 1218 days), 85,870 patients died (mortality rate: 35.7 per 1000 person-years). Sulphonylurea users with CHD developing later and insulin users with CHD developing earlier in the disease course had lower mortality risks. Amongst insulin users with two of the three comorbidities, those with CHD with preceding AF (hazard ratio (HR): 3.06, 95% CI: [2.60–3.61], p < 0.001) or HF (HR: 3.84 [3.47–4.24], p < 0.001) had a higher mortality. In users of lipid-lowering agents with all three comorbidities, those with preceding AF had a higher risk of mortality (AF-CHD-HF: HR: 3.22, [2.24–4.61], p < 0.001; AF-HF-CHD: HR: 3.71, [2.66–5.16], p < 0.001). Conclusions: The sequence of comorbidity development affects the risk of all-cause mortality to varying degrees in diabetic patients on different antidiabetic/cardiovascular medications

Effects of extended-release eprinomectin on productivity measures in cow–calf systems and subsequent feedlot performance and carcass characteristics of calves

The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of a single injection of extended-release eprinomectin on economically relevant production variables in beef cows and calves as well as subsequent feedlot health, performance, and carcass traits of calves compared with a traditional, short duration anthelmintic. Animals from 13 cooperator herds across seven states were stratified within herd and assigned to one of two treatments; injectable doramectin (DOR; Dectomax; n = 828) or injectable eprinomection (EPR; Longrange; n = 832). Fecal samples were randomly collected from a subset of cows at both treatment and the end of grazing to evaluate fecal egg count (FEC). Continuous and categorical data were analyzed using the MIXED and GLIMMIX procedures of SAS, respectively. Cow treatment body weight (BW) and final BW were not different (P ≥ 0.40) between treatments. There were no differences (P ≥ 0.12) between treatments in cow ADG, change in BW, or body condition scores during the grazing season. While FEC at treatment did not differ (P = 0.18), cows treated with EPR had lower final FEC at the end of the grazing season (P = 0.02) and a greater reduction of FEC over the grazing season (P = 0.01). Calf treatment BW, weaning BW, and ADG did not differ between treatments (P ≥ 0.34). Incidence of pinkeye tended to be less (P = 0.06) for cows treated with EPR but was not different for calves (P = 0.43). Conception to AI, overall pregnancy rates, and calving interval were not different between treatments (P ≥ 0.45). A subset of calves from each herd was sent to Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity (TCSCF) feedlot for the finishing phase. Calf BW did not differ at initiation of feeding (P = 0.20). While EPR calves tended to be heavier at reimplantation (P = 0.07), final BW and overall ADG were not different between treatments (P ≥ 0.13). Health records indicated lower morbidity for EPR calves (P = 0.05). Carcass performance including HCW, dressing percent, backfat, KPH, REA, YG, were not different between treatment groups (P ≥ 0.12). However, EPR calves had a greater marbling score, greater average quality grade (P \u3c 0.01), and higher proportion of calves that graded average choice or greater (P = 0.03). Results of this study indicate no difference in cow or preweaning calf performance, however, carcass quality in the feedlot phase was improved. Thus, economic analysis indicates opportunities for return on investment if animals treated with EPR have improved health status and/or carcass quality during the feeding phase

Clinical characteristics, genetic basis and healthcare resource utilisation and costs in patients with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia: A retrospective cohort study

Background: This study examined the clinical characteristics, genetic basis, healthcare utilisation and costs of catecholaminergic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) patients from a Chinese city. Methods: This was a territory-wide retrospective cohort study of consecutive CPVT patients at public hospitals or clinics in Hong Kong. Healthcare resource utilisation for accident and emergency (A&E), inpatient and outpatient attendances were analysed over 19 years (2001–2019) followed by calculations of annualised costs (in USD). Results: Sixteen patients with a median presentation age (interquartile range (IQR) of 11 (9–14) years old) were included. Fifteen patients (93.8%) were initially symptomatic. Ten patients had both premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) and ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (VT/VF). One patient had PVCs without VT/VF. Genetic tests were performed on 14 patients (87.5%). Eight (57.1%) tested positive for the ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) gene. Seven variants have been described elsewhere (c.14848G>A, c.12475C>A, c.7420A>G, c.11836G>A, c.14159T>C, c.10046C>T and c.7202G>A).c.14861C>G is a novel RyR2 variant not been reported outside this cohort. Patients were treated with beta-blockers (n = 16), amiodarone (n = 3) and verapamil (n = 2). Sympathectomy (n = 8) and implantable-cardioverter defibrillator implantation (n = 3) were performed. Over a median follow-up of 13.3 years (IQR: 8.4–18.1) years, six patients exhibited incident VT/VF. At the patient level, the median (IQR) annualised costs for A&E, inpatient and outpatient attendances were $66 (40–95),$10521 (5240–66887) and $791 (546–1105), respectively. Conclusions: All patients presented before the age of 19. The yield of genetic testing was 57%. The most expensive attendance type was inpatient stays, followed by outpatients and A&E attendances