A STUDY OF INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTION CONSERVTIVE VERSUS SURGICAL MANAGEMENT

Intestinal obstruction refers to the impairment to the abnormal passage of intestinal contents which can be due to the mechanical obstruction or failure of normal intestinal motility in the absence of an obstructing lesion. Extra luminal, intrinsic, and intraluminal are three categories of small bowel obstruction. In this retrospective observational study, patients presenting to the A&E department of surgery unit who had similar condition were screened. The study is based on total of 60 patients out of which 22 patients managed conservatively whereas 38 patients were managed surgically. Common symptoms were abdominal pain and vomiting. 20 patients had previous abdominal surgery; 16 had exploratory laparotomy for abdominal trauma, perforation, gynae procedure, etc. 4 patients developed characteristic of obstruction following laproscopic. 14 patients undergone surgery while 6 patients were managed conservatively. Surgically managed duration was 2.8 days on average. Mean duration for conservatively managed patients was 2.9 days. Among the surgically managed patients, 11 had strictures, 14 had adhesion, 8 had obstructed hernia, 1 had intussusception, and 4 had abdominal TB. Based on the cause of the obstruction, surgical procedure was carried out. History of abdominal surgery was found to be more frequent in whom obstruction was relieved conservatively. The conclusion of the study is that adhesions based on previously conducted surgery are important causes of SBO. Two common method of managing the condition is conservative management and surgical management. The criteria for utilizing particular method is based on several patient related factors. Clinical decisions guide the management of SBO and timing of surgical intervention

Investigating the effects of channel aspect ratio on fluid flow and heat transfer in absorber plates with minichannels

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.This study experimentally investigates the fluid flow and heat transfer in two solar thermal absorber plates for compact (thin and light-weight) solar thermal collectors. Two metal plates with 270 mm long, 0. 5 mm deep mini-channels having aspect ratios of 1 and 4 were studied. Constant heat flux, forced convection experiments were performed using Tyfocor® LS (a propylene glycol-based heat transfer fluid for thermal solar systems) at various flow rates and temperatures. Reynolds numbers were in the range 5-200. Measured Nusselt numbers were much lower than classical theory and were observed to be directly proportional to the product of the Reynolds number and Prandtl number (RePr). The plate with rectangular channels produced slightly higher Nusselt numbers and much lower pressure drops, making them a preferred option for this application

An Empirical Re-examination of Exchange Rate-Trade Balance Nexus in Nigeria

The Nigerian exchange rate-trade balance nexus was re-examined. The long run relationship between these variables was explored using the Gregory-Hansen cointegration approach on a data sample between 1980:Q1 and 2010:Q4. Prior to this, three efficient integration tests that can overcome potentially severe finite sample power and size problems suffered by the standard methods were tactfully pursued for robustness. The short run impact analysis was done in the error correction framework. The analyses showed that exchange rate depreciation led to trade balance deterioration in both the short run and the long run. Thus, this study could not find support for J-curve in Nigeria. Some suggestions on the way forward were put forth.Keywords: Trade balance; Exchange rate; Autoregressive distributed lagJEL classification: F13; F31; C3

Genome Sequences of Cluster K Mycobacteriophages Deby, LaterM, LilPharaoh, Paola, SgtBeansprout, and Sulley

Mycobacteriophages Deby, LaterM, LilPharaoh, Paola, SgtBeansprout, and Sulley were isolated from soil using Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155. Genomic analysis indicated that they belong to subclusters K1 and K5. Their genomic architectures are typical of cluster K mycobacteriophages, with most variability occurring on the right end of the genome sequence