Cultivation and marketing of farm products in the hinterland of Gombe, NE-Nigeria

The study investigates elements influencing agricultural development in villages of the hinterland of Gombe, Gombe State, Nigeria. It aims to discover changes in socio-economic and socio-cultural interactions that exist among household, region, nation and world market. Of special interests are rural households as well as wholesale markets where dynamic processes in the structure of agricultural enterprises and the individual reasons of innovations are recognisable. The final objective of the study is to analyse the agricultural sector in the investigated villages in time and space, by typifying rural households, there strategies of action in relation to different factors: for example, farmsize, cultivation techniques and marketing of agriculture products. The study is also interested in operational profits and costs of farms, income of households as well as expenditures, etc. Because of the fact that statistical work is still going on, it is only possible to present a small portion of the results. Namely, the change in cultivation and marketing of farm products with special emphasis on cash crops during the last 30 years

Romersk-katolske sygeplejeordner i Danmark efter reformationen

The article gives a statistical overview and confessional perspectives on the female Catholic nursing-orders in Denmark from 1856 to the present. In focus are the Catholic orders which to some extend are compared to the Protestant deaconesses of the country. The background is that in Denmark in 1849 the Danish Constitution introduced freedom of worship, and in 1856 the first Catholic nursing- order settled in Denmark. Today 27 different female catholic orders/congregations have been or still are in Denmark. Ten of these orders were nursing-orders and six of them, comprising 90 percent of the Catholic sisters in Denmark, opened 16 general hospitals in the period 1875-1931. Within these hospitals they made their greatest contribution to Danish society between 1920 and 1940, when numbered 537-775 sisters and owning ten percent of the hospital beds in Denmark. The deaconesses comprised a similar amount of sisters and they owned two percent of the hospital beds. The deaconesses were Danish but the Catholic sisters came from abroad. Consequently, they had cultural ballast in terms of another nationality and an approach to Christianity, which differed from the Danish Lutheranism. The encounter between these two cultures was not always friendly, as the sisters were facing a society where the general opinion was that Catholicism was dangerous. The lack of vocations and the development of the Danish welfare state 1930-1970 by and large ended the Catholic nursing-orders hospitals. Despite the fact that they were a significant part of the Danish welfare project, they have never been included in the Danish history

Stable fixation of an osseointegated implant system for above-the-knee amputees: titel RSA and radiographic evaluation of migration and bone remodeling in 55 cases.

Background and purposeRehabilitation of patients with transfemoral amputations is particularly difficult due to problems in using standard socket prostheses. We wanted to assess long-term fixation of the osseointegrated implant system (OPRA) using radiostereometric analysis (RSA) and periprosthetic bone remodeling.Methods51 patients with transfemoral amputations (55 implants) were enrolled in an RSA study. RSA and plain radiographs were scheduled at 6 months and at 1, 2, 5, 7, and 10 years after surgery. RSA films were analyzed using UmRSA software. Plain radiographs were graded for bone resorption, cancellization, cortical thinning, and trabecular streaming or buttressing in specifically defined zones around the implant.ResultsAt 5 years, the median (SE) migration of the implant was -0.02 (0.06) mm distally. The rotational movement was 0.42 (0.32) degrees around the longitudinal axis. There was no statistically significant difference in median rotation or migration at any follow-up time. Cancellization of the cortex (plain radiographic grading) appeared in at least 1 zone in over half of the patients at 2 years. However, the prevalence of cancellization had decreased by the 5-year follow-up.InterpretationThe RSA analysis for the OPRA system indicated stable fixation of the implant. The periprosthetic bone remodeling showed similarities with changes seen around uncemented hip stems. The OPRA system is a new and promising approach for addressing the challenges faced by patients with transfemoral amputations

Quality Measurement in Orthopaedics: The Purchasers’ View

While all of medicine is under pressure to increase transparency and accountability, joint replacement subspecialists will face special scrutiny. Disclosures of questionable consulting fees, a demographic shift to younger patients, and uncertainty about the marginal benefits of product innovation in a time of great cost pressure invite a serious and progressive response from the profession. Current efforts to standardize measures by the National Quality Forum and PQRI will not address the concerns of purchasers, payors, or policy makers. Instead, they will ask the profession to document its commitment to appropriateness, stewardship of resources, coordination of care, and patient-centeredness. One mechanism for addressing these expectations is voluntary development of a uniform national registry for joint replacements that includes capture of preoperative appropriateness indicators, device monitoring information, revision rates, and structured postoperative patient followup. A national registry should support performance feedback and quality improvement activity, but it must also be designed to satisfy payor, purchaser, policymaker, and patient needs for information. Professional societies in orthopaedics should lead a collaborative process to develop metrics, infrastructure, and reporting formats that support continuous improvement and public accountability

In vitro comparison of the effects of rough and polished stem surface finish on pressure generation in cemented hip arthroplasty

Background and purpose High pressures around implants can cause bone lysis and loosening. We investigated how pressures are generated around cemented femoral stems

Ambulatory measurement of knee motion and physical activity: preliminary evaluation of a smart activity monitor

BACKGROUND: There is currently a paucity of devices available for continuous, long-term monitoring of human joint motion. Non-invasive, inexpensive devices capable of recording human activity and joint motion have many applications for medical research. Such a device could be used to quantify range of motion outside the gait laboratory. The purpose of this study was to test the accuracy of the modified Intelligent Device for Energy Expenditure and Activity (IDEEA) in measuring knee flexion angles, to detect different physical activities, and to quantify how often healthy subjects use deep knee flexion in the ambulatory setting. METHODS: We compared Biomotion Laboratory (BML) "gold standard" data to simultaneous IDEEA measures of knee motion and gait, step up/down, and stair descent in 5 healthy subjects. In addition, we used a series of choreographed physical activities outside the BML to confirm the IDEEA's ability to accurately measure 7 commonly-performed physical activities. Subjects then continued data collection during ordinary activities outside the gait laboratory. RESULTS: Pooled correlations between the BML and IDEEA knee flexion angles were .97 +/- .03 for step up/down, .98 +/- .02 for stair descent, and .98 +/- .01 for gait. In the BML protocol, the IDEEA accurately identified gait, but was less accurate in identifying step up/down and stair descent. During sampling outside the BML, the IDEEA accurately detected walking, running, stair ascent, stair descent, standing, lying, and sitting. On average, subjects flexed their knees >120° for 0.17% of their data collection periods outside the BML. CONCLUSION: The modified IDEEA system is a useful clinical tool for evaluating knee motion and multiple physical activities in the ambulatory setting. These five healthy subjects rarely flexed their knees >120°

Genomics of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis from periprosthetic joint infections and correlation to clinical outcome

The approach of sequencing or genotyping to characterize the pathogenic potential of staphylococci from orthopedic device-related infection (ODRI) has been applied in recent studies. These studies described the genomic carriage of virulence in clinical strains and compared it with those in commensal strains. Only a few studies have directly correlated genomic profiles to patient outcome and phenotypic virulence properties in periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs). We investigated the association between genomic variations and virulence-associated phenotypes (biofilm-forming ability and antimicrobial resistance) in 111 staphylococcal strains isolated from patients with PJI and the infection outcome (resolved/unresolved). The presence of a strong biofilm phenotype in Staphylococcus aureus and an antibiotic-resistant phenotype in Staphylococcus epidermidis were both associated with treatment failure of PJI. In S. epidermidis, multidrug resistance (MDR) and resistance to rifampicin were associated with unresolved infection. Sequence type 45 (ST45) and ST2 were particularly enriched in S. aureus and S. epidermidis, respectively. S. epidermidis ST2 caused the majority of relapses and was associated with MDR and strong biofilm production, whereas ST215 correlated with MDR and non/weak biofilm production. S. aureus agr II correlated with resolved infection, while S. epidermidis agr I was associated with strong biofilm production and agr III with non/weak production. Collectively, our results highlight the importance of careful genomic and phenotypic characterization to anticipate the probability of the strain causing treatment failure in PJI. Due to the high rate of resistant S. epidermidis strains identified, this study provides evidence that the current recommended treatment of rifampicin and a fluoroquinolone should not be administered without knowledge of the resistance pattern

Accelerated Ru-Cu Trinuclear Cooperative C−H Bond Functionalization of Carbazoles : A Kinetic and Computational Investigation

The mechanism of a trinuclear cooperative dehydrogenative C−N bond-forming reaction is investigated in this work, which avoids the use of chelate-assisting directing groups. Two new highly efficient Ru/Cu co-catalyzed systems were identified, allowing orders of magnitude greater TOFs than the previous state of the art. In-depth kinetic studies were performed in combination with advanced DFT calculations, which reveal a decisive rate-determining trinuclear Ru-Cu cooperative reductive elimination step (CRE)

Radiostereometric Analysis of Tantalum vs. Titanium Acetabular Shells in Young THR Patients

Introduction: In the active total hip replacement (THR) population, maintaining acetabular component stability and limiting polyethylene wear are crucial components to preventing premature implant failure. Titanium with Co/Cr/Mo fiber metal coating is among the most common materials used in cementless THR. Trabecular metal, composed of porous tantalum, has a metallic strut design resembling trabecular bone, designed to improve tissue infiltration and limit migration. This study assesses the stability and clinical outcomes of tantalum versus titanium acetabular shells using radiostereometric analysis (RSA) technology. Methods: In this IRB approved, prospective, randomized, blinded study, 46 patients received a primary THR by a single surgeon (DCA). Each patient was randomized to receive a titanium (23) (Trilogy, Zimmer) or tantalum (23) (Modular tantalum shell, Zimmer) uncemented hemispheric cup and either a highly-crosslinked or conventional polyethylene liner. Tantalum RSA markers were implanted around the liner periphery, femur, and periacetabular bone in each patient. RSA examinations, Harris Hip, UCLA, WOMAC, SF-36 scores were obtained at 10 days, 6 months, and annually with the furthest patients evaluated through 5 years. Results: Median translation was greater at all time points for the tantalum mesh cups except for the 3-year follow-up, however due to large standard errors, there was no significant difference between the two designs (p\u3e0.05). These large standard errors were predominantly caused by two outliers, neither of which had clinical evidence of loosening at 5 years follow-up. Mean UCLA, WOMAC, Harris Hip, and SF-36 PCS and MCS scores improved similarly in both groups. Conclusions: In this young THR population, both titanium and tantalum acetabular shells demonstrated excellent stability at five years follow up. Tantalum shells demonstrated slightly greater micromotion, but there was no statistically significant difference in shell migration. Outstanding clinical outcomes with statistically significant improvements in function and pain relief were observed in both groups