Iron dextran in the treatment of iron-deficiency anaemia of pregnancy - Haematological response and incidence of side-effects

Sixty pregnant patients with a haemoglobin (Hb) < 8 g/dl arid proven iron-deficiency anaemia were randomly allocated to two treatment groups. Group A received the usual recommended dose of iron dextran (Imferon; Fisons) and group 8 received two-thirds of the recommended dose. A further 30 patients received oral iron (group C). There was no difference in Hb value between the three groups 4 weeks after treatment or 3 months after delivery. At 6 months after delivery, a higher mean Hb value was found in the patients in group A than those in groups 8 and C. Significantly higher serum ferritin levels were found in group A and this difference was still present 6 months postnatally. There was no significant difference in the incidence of delayed reactions between the two groups who received iron dextran

Methods for Cancer Detection

A method is provided for detecting an analyte indicative of a cancer or a metastatic disease condition, which utilizes the ability of the analyte to induce permeability in a barrier. The method includes providing a biosensor having a barrier which is substantially impermeable to an ion, a permeable membrane which is selective for the ion, and a detector capable of detecting the ion. The biosensor is contacted with a sample including at least one of the ion and the analyte, wherein the analyte causes at least a portion of the ion to pass through the barrier and the membrane. Passage of the ion through the barrier and membrane allows detection of the ion, providing indirect detection of the analyte. In one embodiment, the barrier is a cell monolayer, the membrane is selective for potassium, and the analyte is vascular endothelial cell growth factor

The effects of ractopamine-HCl (optaflexx) on performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of finishing feedlot heifers

Beta-adrenergic agonists are commonly used in livestock production to accelerate growth by enhancing lean tissue gain. These compounds repartition nutrients away from fat deposition and toward protein accretion. Generally, increased growth is associated with ractopamine feeding, which improves feed conversion and increases body weight gain. However, little data exists on the effects of ractopamine-HCl on live performance or carcass characteristics of beef heifers. Data released from Elanco Animal Health indicate that differences between gender may exist in response to ractopamine, and therefore appropriate strategies for the administration of this compound must be defined for heifers independent of those for steers. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Optaflexx, when fed for different dosages over different durations, on finishing heifer performance

Appendicitis and its associated mortality and morbidity in infants up to 3 months of age:A systematic review

Background and Aims: Although appendicitis is rare in young infants, the reported mortality is high. Primary aim of this systematic review was to provide updated insights in the mortality and morbidity (postoperative complications, Clavien-Dindo grades I–IV) of appendicitis in infants ≤3 months of age. Secondary aims comprised the evaluation of patient characteristics, diagnostic work-up, treatment strategies, comorbidity, and factors associated with poor outcome. Methods: This systematic review was reported according to the PRISMA statement with a search performed in Pubmed, Embase and Web of Science (up to September 5th 2022). Original articles (published in English ≥1980) reporting on infants ≤3 months of age with appendicitis were included. Both patients with abdominal appendicitis and herniated appendicitis (such as Amyand's hernia) were considered. Data were provided descriptively. Results: In total, 131 articles were included encompassing 242 cases after identification of 4294 records. Overall, 184 (76%) of the 242 patients had abdominal and 58 (24%) had herniated appendicitis. Two-hundred (83%) of the patients were newborns (≤28 days) and 42 (17%) were infants between 29 days and ≤3 months of age. Either immediate, or after initial conservative treatment, 236 (98%) patients underwent surgical treatment. Some 168 (69%) patients had perforated appendicitis. Mortality was reported in 20 (8%) patients and morbidity in an additional 18 (8%). All fatal cases had abdominal appendicitis and fatal outcome was relatively more often reported in newborns, term patients, patients with relevant comorbidity, nonperforated appendicitis and those presented from home. Conclusion: Mortality was reported in 20 (8%) infants ≤3 months of age and additional morbidity in 18 (8%). All patients with fatal outcome had abdominal appendicitis. Several patient characteristics were relatively more often reported in infants with poor outcome and adequate monitoring, early recognition and prompt treatment may favour the outcome.</p

Polymerase chain reaction-based national surveillance programme to determine the distribution and prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis in South African horses

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY : The response to the first outbreak of contagious equine metritis in South Africa included pioneering a web-based platform to coordinate key aspects of a national, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based stallion screening programme to determine the distribution and prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis in stallions and exposed mares. OBJECTIVES : To define the hypothesised pre-existing status of T. equigenitalis in the South African equine population and progression of the epidemiological investigation via the implementation of a molecular diagnostic-based surveillance programme. STUDY DESIGN : Retrospective case series. METHODS : Screening for T. equigenitalis was via a qPCR assay on genital swabs obtained from predilection sites in stallions and mares with subsequent confirmation using bacterial culture according to prescribed methods.Equine Research Centre, University of Pretoria, South Africa and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of South Africa.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1001/(ISSN)2042-33062017-05-31hb2016Companion Animal Clinical StudiesEquine Research CentreProduction Animal Studie

A PCR-based screening program to assess the prevalence of Taylorella equigenitalis in breeding stallions in South Africa

The first outbreak of Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) due to Taylorella equigenitalis in South Africa was reported to the OIE in May 2011 subsequent to importation of a stallion, the index case. Two additional positive stallions were identified on an initial trace-back. The outbreak-response prompted determination of the national prevalence and distribution of CEM. A nation-wide PCR-based screening of all breeding stallions motivated by a previous outbreak report [1] was implemented via a mandatory CEM-negative clearance certificate prior to use for natural breeding or semen collection. Compliance from breeders was facilitated by developing a web-based system providing an easily-accessed, rapid and costeffective sampling, testing and reporting process on www.cemsa.co.za. A submission form, information, a breed-indexed list of stallions achieving CEM-clearance and a method for obtaining and submitting two sets of swabs (with an interval > 7d) from the external genitalia were accessible on the website. A duplex PCR was chosen as the assay method due to potential for submission of samples with minimal restrictions on transit time and temperature criteria and rapid, high throughput, cost-effi-ciency and reported sensitivity *1,2+. A clearance certificate was issued via the website after negative results from both sets of samples.http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-equine-veterinary-sciencehb2016Equine Research Centr

Can forest management based on natural disturbances maintain ecological resilience?

Given the increasingly global stresses on forests, many ecologists argue that managers must maintain ecological resilience: the capacity of ecosystems to absorb disturbances without undergoing fundamental change. In this review we ask: Can the emerging paradigm of natural-disturbance-based management (NDBM) maintain ecological resilience in managed forests? Applying resilience theory requires careful articulation of the ecosystem state under consideration, the disturbances and stresses that affect the persistence of possible alternative states, and the spatial and temporal scales of management relevance. Implementing NDBM while maintaining resilience means recognizing that (i) biodiversity is important for long-term ecosystem persistence, (ii) natural disturbances play a critical role as a generator of structural and compositional heterogeneity at multiple scales, and (iii) traditional management tends to produce forests more homogeneous than those disturbed naturally and increases the likelihood of unexpected catastrophic change by constraining variation of key environmental processes. NDBM may maintain resilience if silvicultural strategies retain the structures and processes that perpetuate desired states while reducing those that enhance resilience of undesirable states. Such strategies require an understanding of harvesting impacts on slow ecosystem processes, such as seed-bank or nutrient dynamics, which in the long term can lead to ecological surprises by altering the forest's capacity to reorganize after disturbance

Experimental support of the scaling rule for demographic stochasticity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73613/1/j.1461-0248.2006.00903.x.pd

Drug use among British Bangladeshis in London: a macro-structural perspective focusing on disadvantages contributing to individuals’ drug use trajectories and engagement with treatment services

Aims: The main aim of our study was to produce an understanding of factors contributing to drug-using trajectories among men and women from a Bangladeshi background living in East London. Methods: Fifteen semi-structured, one-to-one interviews were conducted with male and female Bangladeshi drug users accessing treatment services. A macro-structural lens was adopted to interpret participants’ accounts of their drug use and explored the intersecting factors that at a micro, meso, and macro level impacted on their drug-using trajectories. Findings: Problem drug use (heroin and crack cocaine) among participants was the result of inter-related factors such as their friendship networks and the embeddedness of drugs in drug-using networks, the structural disadvantages participants experienced, and the need for concealment of their drug use which impacted on participants’ effective utilisation of drug treatment services. Problem drug use was a functional way of responding to and dealing with social, economic, and cultural disconnection from mainstream institutions as participants faced severe multiple disadvantages engendering stigma and shame. Conclusions: We propose a ‘life-focused’ intervention aimed at creating extra opportunities and making critically-needed resources available in the marginalised environment of the study’s participants, which are key to restoring and maintaining agency and sustaining well-being