Environmental factors influencing performance of West African Dwarf goats under semi-intensive management system

The study used data on 562 kiddings from a flock of West African Dwarf goats maintained under semiintensive management system at the National Goat Breeding Station, Kintampo, over 5 years (1997 to 2001). Records of performance were birth weight, sex of kid, type of birth, weaning weight at the age of 90 days, and pre-weaning growth and survival rates among the kids.  The overall mean values for birth weight, weaning weight, and pre-weaning average daily gain were 1.17 kg, 4.05 kg and 32.0 g day-1, respectively. Preweaning kid survival rate was 92.2 per cent, resulting in an overall pre-weaning kid mortality rate of 7.8 per cent. The proportions of singles, twins and triplets were 4.2, 50.2 and 1.6 per cent, respectively. Average litter sizes at birth and at weaning were 1.35 and 1.25, respectively. Statistical analyses of the data showed significant differences (

Digital Workflow for Immediate Implant Placement and Chairside Provisionalization in the Esthetic Zone

Introduction: Immediate implant placement and immediate chairside provisionalization in the esthetic zone require meticulous treatment planning. A digital workflow that combines intraoral scans and a cone beam computed tomography scan can be used to visualize the surgical and restorative aspects of the treatment and to plan a prosthetically driven implant position. A digital workflow in implant dentistry enables the prefabrication of an individualized CAD/CAM temporary restoration, based on the planned implant position. This could be a predictable method to deliver a screw-retained temporary restoration, directly after static computer-assisted immediate implant surgery. Interventions. Three patients with a failing tooth in the maxillary esthetic zone were treated with immediate implant placement and chairside provisionalization using this digital workflow. After 3 months, a final restoration was placed. Clinical, radiographic, and patient-reported outcome measures were collected prior to implant treatment, 6 weeks after placing the temporary restoration and then 1 month and 1 year after placing the final restoration. Outcomes. At the 1-year follow-up, healthy soft tissues were observed, and peri-implant bone levels were stable. Patient satisfaction after the treatment was high. Conclusion: The three reported cases demonstrate the potential for predictable immediate implant placement and chairside provisionalization using a digital workflow

Monolithic zirconia single tooth implant-supported restorations with CAD/CAM titanium abutments in the posterior region:A 1-year prospective case series study

PURPOSE: To assess the clinical, radiographic, and patient-reported outcome measures, including the success of screw-retained monolithic zirconia implant-supported restorations with CAD/CAM titanium abutments in the posterior region during a 1-year follow-up. METHODS: In a prospective case series, 50 molar sites in the posterior region of 46 patients with a minimum age of 18 years and sufficient bone volume and anatomical conditions for placing an implant (≥8 mm) and an anatomical restoration were included. Parallel-walled implants with a conical connection were inserted in a two-stage surgical procedure. Implant uncovering and healing abutment placement occurred 12 weeks after insertion. Two weeks after mucosa healing, a screw-retained monolithic zirconia restoration with a CAD/CAM titanium abutment was placed. Clinical, radiographic, and patient-reported outcome measures were collected at baseline before implant placement and then during the 1 month and 1 year follow-ups. RESULTS: At the 1 year follow-up, 49 restorations could be evaluated. The plaque accumulation, presence of calculus, bleeding tendency and peri-implant inflammation indices were low, representing healthy peri-implant conditions. The mean marginal bone level change between the 1 month and the 1 year follow-up was -0.17 ± 0.46 mm. The mean patient satisfaction was high. The restoration success was, according to the modified USPHS criteria, 95.9%. CONCLUSION: Monolithic zirconia implant-supported restorations with CAD/CAM titanium abutments have very good clinical, radiographic and patient-reported outcomes after 1 year in function

Personality traits and health-related quality of life in patients with mood and anxiety disorders

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is an accepted outcome measure in patients with mood and anxiety disorders. Yet, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the determinants. In this paper we test the hypothesis that it is associated with personality traits while controlling for mental disorders. Methods: A large sample of outpatients (n=640) with mood and anxiety disorders was studied. The empirically supported five factor model of normal personality traits was assessed using the NEO-FFI and includes: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Mental disorders were assessed with the CIDI, and HRQL with the SF-36. Results: Regression analyses revealed that the NEO-FFI scores, with the exception of conscientiousness, were significantly associated with SF-36 subscales and summary scores, independently from the mental disorders. The percentage of explained variance due to the personality traits was highest for the subscales Vitality (10.0%), Mental Health (13.3%) and the Mental Health Summary Score (9.5%). Furthermore, specific personality traits were related to specific SF-36 subscales. Conclusions: A low HRQL of patients with mood or anxiety disorders is not only determined by the disease or the current health but is also shaped by personality traits that are relatively stable throughout an individual’s life time. Key words: Anxiety disorders, Depressive disorder, Health-related quality of life, Personalit

The impact of influenza vaccination on infection, hospitalisation and mortality in the Netherlands between 2003 and 2015.

Influenza epidemics annually cause substantial morbidity and mortality. For this reason, vaccination is offered yearly to persons with an elevated risk for complications. Assessments of the impact of vaccination are, however, hampered by year-to-year variation in epidemic size and vaccine effectiveness. We estimate the impact of the current vaccination programme comparing simulations with vaccination to counterfactual simulations without vaccination. The simulations rely on an age- and risk-structured transmission model that tracks the build-up and loss of immunity over successive seasons, and that allows the vaccine match to vary between seasons. The model parameters are estimated with a particle Monte Carlo method and approximate Bayesian computation, using epidemiological data on vaccine effectiveness and epidemic size in the Netherlands over a period of 11 years. The number of infections, hospitalisations and deaths vary greatly between years because waning of immunity and vaccine match may differ every season, which is in line with observed variation in influenza epidemic sizes. At an overall coverage of 21%, vaccination has averted on average 13% (7.2-19%, 95% range) of infections, 24% (16-36%) of hospitalisations, and 35% (16-50%) of deaths. This suggests that vaccination is mainly effective in protecting vaccinees from infection rather than reducing transmission. As the Dutch population continues to grow and age, the vaccination programme is projected (up to 2025) to gain in impact, despite a decreasing infection attack rate

Genetic mechanisms of pollution resistance in a marine invertebrate

Pollution is a common stress in the marine environment and one of today's most powerful agents of selection, yet we have little understanding of how anthropogenic toxicants influence mechanisms of adaptation in marine populations. Due to their life history strategies, marine invertebrates are unable to avoid stress and must adapt to variable environments. We examined the genetic basis of pollution resistance across multiple environments using the marine invertebrate, Styela plicata. Gametes were crossed in a quantitative genetic breeding design to enable partitioning of additive genetic variance across a concentration gradient of a common marine pollutant, copper. Hatching success was scored as a measure of stress resistance in copper concentrations of 0, 75, 150, and 350 mu g/L. There was a significant genotype 3 environment interaction in hatching success across copper concentrations. Further analysis using factor analytic modeling confirmed a significant dimension of across-environment genetic variation where the genetic basis of resistance to stress in the first three environments differed from that in the environment of highest copper concentration. A second genetic dimension further differentiated between the genetic basis of resistance to low and high stress environments. These results suggest that marine organisms use different genetic mechanisms to adapt to different levels of pollution and that the level of genetic variation to adapt to intense pollution stresses may be limited