Gastrointestinal nematode infections in German sheep

The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence and variation of natural gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections in lambs according to birth type, gender and breed based on individual faecal egg counts (FEC) from various regions in Germany. A total of 3,924 lambs (3 to 15 months old) with different genetic backgrounds (Merinoland, German Blackhead Mutton, Rhoen, Texel and Merino long-wool) were individually sampled during the grazing period between 2006 and 2008. Furthermore, pooled faecal samples from each of the farms were cultured in order to differentiate the third-stage larvae of the nematode spp. Sixty-three percent of the lambs were infected with GIN. The infections were mostly low to moderate and involved several nematode species. The Trichostrongylus spp. was the predominant species based on the percentage of larvae in faecal cultures. Only 11.4% of the lambs were free of Eimeria oocysts. Tapeworm eggs were encountered in 13.2% of all samples. The prevalence of GIN infections varied significantly (P < 0.001) among farms. A significantly higher FEC (P < 0.05) was observed in multiple-born lambs when compared with singletons. Moreover, male lambs were more susceptible to infection than females (P < 0.001). No significant differences (P > 0.05) were observed between breeds regarding FEC. Inter-individual variations were higher than inter-breed differences, which may indicate the possibility of selection within these breeds for parasites resistance as described in earlier studies

Aplicación de modelos difusionales y modelos cinéticos en la interpretación de las cinéticas de adsorción de piridina sobre carbón activado granular

In this work, a surface diffusion model (SDM) obtained in a previous work was validated in a wide range of experimental conditions to predict the adsorption kinetics of pyridine on activated carbon. Moreover, the predictions of SDM model were compared with those obtained by using the first and second-order kinetic models. The results showed that the second- order model adjusted satisfactorily the experimental data and fitted the experimental data much better than the first-order kinetic model. The effect of the stirring speed, mass of pyridine adsorbed, (qe), and temperature on the rate constant of the second- order model, (k2), was analyzed and equations were proposed to correlate k2 as functions of qe and temperature. Nevertheless, the dependence of k2 regarding the temperature, stirring speed and qe cannot be accurately correlated. On the other hand, the SDM model provided a much better prediction than the second order kinetic model. The surface diffusion can be readily estimated from a correlation recommended in this work, whereas the k2 could not be predicted for some of the experimental conditions studied in this workEn este trabajo el modelo de difusión superficial (MDS) obtenido en un trabajo previo se validó en un amplio intervalo de condiciones experimentales para predecir la cinética de adsorción de piridina en carbón activado. Más aun, la predicción del modelo MDS se comparó con las predicciones obtenidas utilizando el modelo cinético de primer y segundo orden. Los resultados demostraron que el modelo cinético de segundo orden ajustó de mejor manera los datos experimentales que el modelo cinético de primer orden. La constante cinética de segundo orden, k2 , se correlacionó con distintas variables de operación (masa adsorbida en el equilibrio, temperatura, velocidad de agitación) obteniéndose ecuaciones para predecir k2 . Sin embargo, estas dependencias presentaron bastante incertidumbre y en algunos casos carencia de significado físico. Por otra parte, el modelo MDS proporcionó una mejor predicción que el modelo cinético de segundo orden. Más aun, el coeficiente de difusión superficial, Ds , puede estimarse correctamente en un amplio intervalo de condiciones experimentales mediante una correlación propuesta en este trabajo.

Access to Multilingual Medication Instructions at New York City Pharmacies

An essential component of quality care for limited English proficient (LEP) patients is language access. Linguistically accessible medication instructions are particularly important, given the serious consequences of error and patient responsibility for managing often complex medication regimens on their own. Approximately 21 million people in the U.S. were LEP at the time of the 2000 census, representing a 50% increase since 1990. Little information is available on their access to comprehensible medication instructions. In an effort to address this knowledge gap, we conducted a telephone survey of 200 randomly selected NYC pharmacies. The primary focus of the survey was translation need, capacity, and practice. The majority of pharmacists reported that they had LEP patients daily (88.0%) and had the capacity to translate prescription labels (79.5%). Among pharmacies serving LEP patients on a daily basis, just 38.6% translated labels daily; 22.7% never translated. In multivariate analysis, pharmacy type (OR=4.08, 95%CI=1.55–10.74, independent versus chain pharmacies) and proportion of Spanish-speaking LEP persons in the pharmacy’s census tract (OR=1.09, 95%CI=1.05–1.13 for each 1% increase in Spanish LEP population) were associated with increased label translation. Although 88.5% of the pharmacies had bilingual staff, less than half were pharmacists or pharmacy interns and thus qualified to provide medication counseling. More than 80% of the pharmacies surveyed lacked systematic methods for identifying linguistic needs and for informing patients of translation capabilities. Consistent with efforts to improve language access in other health care settings, the critical gap in language appropriate pharmacy services must be addressed to meet the needs of the nation’s large and ever-growing immigrant communities. Pharmacists may require supplemental training on the need and resources for meeting the verbal and written language requirements of their LEP patients. Dispensing software with accurate translation capability and telephonic interpretation services should be utilized in pharmacies serving LEP patients. Pharmacists should post signs and make other efforts to inform patients about the language resources available to them