Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) is a multidisciplinary, scholarly Open Access publisher focused on Genetic, Biomedical and Remedial missions in relation with Technical Knowledge as well.
Powered Stapling Platforms in Laparoscopic Liver Resection |
Abstract
Introduction: The most recent innovation in laparoscopic
surgery has been the introduction of powered stapler platforms. These
systems were designed to standardize staple formation, by minimizing
tissue dissection and controlling tissue compression and staple
formation.
Methods:Retrospective cohort analysis compared laparoscopic powered E-beam stapler platform to a laparoscopic non-powered I-beam stapler. The analysis was performed using a robust 2:1 control group study. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA.
Results: Forty-three powered cantilever E-beam stapler
resection cases were compared to 86 cases of non-powered I-beam stapler
resections. Both cohorts were equally matched for demographics, extent
of liver disease, tumor size and type of resection. The non-powered
I-beam group did have a higher ASA score (2.8 vs. 2.6; p<0.037).
Staple usage, blood loss, and complication rates were equivalent.
Operative
time was significantly shorter in the powered stapler group (136 vs. 157
hrs; p=0.026) realizing accumulative 90-day global cost savings of
$8,248.89 per case (p=0.012).
Conclusion: Laparoscopic powered E-beam stapler platforms appear to be safe and efficacious with equivalent performance and complication profiles compared to non-powered I-beam platforms. Powered stapling platforms also appear to minimize parenchymal injury reducing operative time further decreasing disposable and global costs.
Breeding Soundness Evaluation in Bulls: A Review |
Abstract
Breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) of bull is an easy, cheap, and an essential tool for the cow-calf operation. BSE reduces risk, improves, strategic bull usage, fertility of herd and economics. A field practitioner can play an important role in achievement of whole potential of BSE by performing it properly. A properly performed BSE should include the use of Society for Theriogenology based standards and a systematic protocol by the practitioner. Proper Semen evaluation is an important component of the BSE. Competent physical/reproductive exams and appropriate semen evaluations can contribute greatly to the fertility and economics of individual herds as well as understanding of factors which affect fertility.
Introduction
Bull breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) in is a procedure which reduces risk and improves strategic bull usage and herd fertility. The breeding soundness evaluation (BSE) is a method to evaluate the potential of a bull to be used as herds sire [1]. One of the essential components of the BSE is accurate semen evaluation. Standardized procedures and assessments for bull breeding soundness evaluation (BBSE) were first brought by the precursor of the American Society for Theriogenology (SFT) [2]. Today, various bull evaluation systems include a systematic physical examination which focuses upon the assessment of sperm motility, morphology and other reproductive functions [3]. Different surveys in a variety of locations and environments revealed that subjecting bulls to a BSE may help in classification of around 65–85% of bulls as “satisfactory potential breeders” [3,4]. However, this figure can vary with bull ages, genotypes, genetics, environment, management, prior selection and the particular BBSE criteria employed [5].
Study revealed that bulls which pass a BBSE and/or related semen quality tests, have a 6% or higher fertility as compared to unevaluated bulls [6]. Calf crops were higher when using bulls which had >70% normal spermatozoa and lowest from bulls with < 50% normal spermatozoa [7] concluding that semen quality, particularly normal spermatozoa percentage was consistently related to calf output. BSEs provided a benefit/cost ratio of approximately 36:1 in Brazil [8] and 17:1 in USA [9]. Using natural breeding bulls in dairy operations, the benefit/cost ratio of eliminating infertile dairy bulls was estimated at approximately 14:1 [10].
In Vitro Evaluation of the Impact of Erosive/Abrasive Challenge in Glass Ionomer Cements |
Abstract
To evaluate the loss of mass and the surface roughness of glass ionomer cements (GIC) after acid challenge (erosion) and simulated tooth brushing (abrasion). Methods: Ten specimens of each GIC were made: Vidrion R® (VR) (SS White), Maxxion R® (MX) (FGM) Riva Self Cure® (RV) (SDI) and Gold Label Light Cured® (GL) (GC). The mass of the materials was verified before and after the erosion/abrasion challenge. At the same moments, the mean surface roughness was measured in each specimen using a surface profile meter. The erosion was produced immersing the specimens in an acid soft drink and in artificial saliva in 5s cycles alternately for 10 times. After that, they were submitted to simulated tooth brushing (20.000 cycles of brushing). Data were evaluated using ANOVA and Tukey post test. Results: The erosive/abrasive challenge didn’t result in significant loss of mass (p=0.009), but increased the final surface roughness in all GICs (p<0.001). The higher surface roughness was observed for conventional GICs (MX and VR), followed by RMGIC (VR) and the encapsulated GIC (RV). Conclusion: It is concluded that the erosive and abrasive processes increased the surface roughness in GICs and the encapsulated GIC was the less affected by the surface wear factors studied.
Means and standard deviations of superficial roughness measurement (μm) and loss of mass (g) of the glass ionomer cements tested after pH-cycling regime and toothbrush abrasion.
Friday Cleaning Campaign FCC as Community Based initiative of Community Engagement in Health Promotion |
Opinion
MoPH Afghanistan with my leadership piloted two “best practices” (Integrated Health Post and Friday Cleaning Campaign) in 4 provinces (Kabul, Herat, Jawzjan and Nangarhar) for one year (2011-2012). These two best practices were observed during a study tour of Indonesia and Bangladesh and were determined to be feasible in the context of Afghanistan as well as having the potential for a significant impact. Both Indonesia and Bangladesh have wellestablished community-based health care a program from which there is much to learn.
The main purpose of this project was to promote healthy
lifestyles through community involvement and empowerment. The
project goal is to contribute to the reduction of maternal and child
mortality and morbidity through families adopting best practices
that promote healthy behaviors in the community. The objectives of
project were to increase access to basic health services(ANC ,delivery
plan, PNC, F.P, GMP, ,ORT corner , and effective referral system) at
the door site and other to improve health and nutrition status of
U5Y children through promoting knowledge of the community in
use of essential nutrients and healthy cooking practices in their
houses. Other objectives were to document evidence of feasibility
of inclusion of such interventions in the national CBHC package,
and to promote hygiene and environmental sanitation practices
in villages of the related Integrated Health Post IHP by cleaning up
the surroundings area twice a month and to decreases risk factors
of communicable diseases (diarrhea diseases, intestinal worms,
typhoid, malaria, Leishmaniasis, and TB) in intervention sites.
Four teams conducted the assessment and interviewed PPHOs, NGOs, CBHC officers, health facility staff, CHWs, and community members. After completing the data collection component of the EOP assessment in 4 provinces, the CBHC team then analyzed the data and compiled the report, presented to the MoPH authorities and integrated the Friday cleaning campaigns in to the revised CBHC strategy.
Efficient Way to Use Whey as Ready to Serve (RTS) Beverage |
Abstract
Whey is the largest by product of huge dairy industry and is one of the most troublesome byproduct produced. Whey based beverages with different concentrations of fruit juices and standard ingredients of Ready to Serve (RTS) beverage can be prepared. Ready to drink beverages offer the advantages of convenience and portability to today’s busy consumers. Utilization of whey for the conversion into best beverage would be one of the important ways to utilize it. Nutritive value of whey may be increased by the addition of some simple ingredients. Whey proteins are often the preferred source for ready-to-drink protein beverages because of their excellent nutritional qualities, bland flavor, ease of digestibility, and unique functionality in beverage systems.
Introduction
Utilization of whey produced during the manufactures of cheese, paneer, channa and shrikhand has been of great concern. In India, it is estimated that about 100 million kg of whey is annually derived as a byproduct which may cause substantial loss of about 70,000 tonnes of nutritious whey solids [1]. Whey, a valuable dairy by product contains half of the milk solids and is a rich source of lactose, water soluble vitamins, minerals, and immunologically active proteins [2]. It contains about 50-55% total milk solids, 70% of milk sugar, 20% of milk proteins and 70-90% of minerals and almost all water soluble vitamins especially vitamin B complex and vitamin C [3]. Whey proteins consist of lactoferrin, lactoperoxidase, βlactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, bovine serum albumin, thermostable fractions of proteose peptones, immunoglobulins and bioactive peptides. Presence of essential amino acids such as lysine, cysteine, methionine and cystin imparts anticarcinogenic properties to these proteins [4].
Human and Animal Thermophilic Campylobacter infections in East African countries: Epidemiology and Antibiogram |
Abstract
Purpose:Campylobacter mediated diarrhoea is a leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide. The organisms colonize the gastrointestinal tract of different animal species without causing disease symptoms. Humans acquire infections through contact with or consumption of contaminated meat especially raw/undercooked poultry meat. The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter strains heightens the public health concern of the organisms. The aim of this review was to summarise information on the epidemiology and antibiogram of Campylobacter in humans and animals in East African countries.
Method: A structured literature search of PUBMED and Science Direct electronic databases.
Results: Forty reports on thermophilic Campylobacter were identified in four of the five East African countries in the following order;
Kenya (16), Tanzania (17), Uganda (4) and Rwanda (3). No study was found to report thermophilic Campylobacter
infections in either
humans or animals in Burundi. Studies on animals reported colonization
of both domestic and wild species. Of the studies that described
Campylobacter infections in humans, both symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects were reported to be infected; with higher prevalence in
subjects younger than five years old. Among isolates, some demonstrated antimicrobial resistance.
Conclusion: Available information for both human and animal Campylobacteriosis in the region is however sparse thus calling for more research to better understand the epidemiology of infections caused by the organism including clonal dependence and independence of human and animal derived isolates. This understanding will help researchers and health program developers in designing and implementing effective control strategies. Since the organism is zoonotic its control strategies should adopt the “One Health” approach involving collaborative efforts from veterinary and human medicine.
The Lifespan of Humans and Animals Can Be Significantly Extended |
Opinion
The averagelifespan of animals varies greatly from a few days
to hundreds of years. The Antarctic sponge CinachyraAntarctica
has lived for 1550 years, the ArcticaIslandica clam for more
than 400 years. The longest-living vertebrate is the Aldabra
giant tortoise (Aldabrachelysgigantea), which can live for more
than 200 years. The longest-living mammal is the bowhead
whale (Balaenamysticetus) (up to 200 years). Another long-live
mammal is an elephant, who lives up to 70 years. People in more
economically developed countries normally live for 80 years, but
there is a group of people over the age of 100 years. We can also
find enormous lifespan differences among birds. The golden eagle
(Aquila chrysaetos) lives up to 80 years, the large parrots Ara up to
70 years old, while the small songbirds live 5-10 years.
The shortest life has a mayfly (Ephemeroptera) (1-3 days), unless we don’t count the time when the mayfly was a nymph. The short-live mammals are rats (2-4 years) and hamsters (2-3 years). In the animal kingdom the rule is that larger animals live longer, but this rule has a number of exceptions. The purebred dogs make one of the exceptions where, on the contrary, dogs of higher weight live shorter life.
It is very likely that the secrecy of longevity is determined
in genes. The information about how long will the animal live is
written in the genome of all animals. This information is specific
and different for each species. It was formed during hundreds of
millions of years of evolution and is determined to provide the best
conditions for the survival of the species, not the survival of the
individual.
Today we are at the beginning of the process of identifying and analysing genes responsible for longevity. The first genes related to longevity have already been discovered in mice and humans. Once our knowledge of genes responsible for longevity is expanded, it is realistic to imagine the possible use of this knowledge to significant extension of the lifespan of humans and animals.
To Operate or Not to Operate: The Dilemma between Surgery versus Conservative Management of Cervical Disc Herniation |
History and Physical Examination
A 49 year old male commercial airline pilot presented to the PM&R spine clinic for an “epidural steroid injection”. The patient complained of neck pain radiating to his left posterolateral arm, and to the 4th and 5th digits occasionally. Symptoms began 28 days earlier, and involved waking up in pain, without any history of injury. He described his neck and radiating arm pain as sharp and constant, with an intensity range of 2-8/10. Symptoms were exacerbated by neck movement, while cervical traction and tramadol alleviated the pain temporarily. He also had occasional numbness/tingling of the left 4th and 5th digits. The patient was otherwise healthy. The patient was employed as a commercial airline pilot but was on medical leave due to the severity of his symptoms. Due to the nature of his profession and the concern for the safety of passengers, he was not allowed to go back to work until his condition improved. Physical examination was significant for left deltoid atrophy and subtle shoulder abduction weakness. Spurling’s maneuver caused radiating pain to the left posterolateral arm at the elbow level. Neck range of motion was decreased due to pain.
Imaging Studies
His primary care physician had requested a cervical spine
MRI without intravenous contrast (Figure 1). The most significant
finding was a C6-C7 disc bulge (Arrows) with a superimposed
moderate-sized left paracentral disc herniation with superior
extrusion, which contacted the left anterolateral aspect of the
cervical cord and impinged on the exiting left C7 nerve root.
Clinical Decision Making
The clinical decision was between continuing conservative care
or surgical intervention. Conservative care would have consisted
of physical therapy and a cervical epidural steroid injection, using
either a transforaminal or an interlaminal approach. In deciding
which treatment option to pursue, we considered the following
factors: the large size of herniated nucleus pulposus (NP), the
severity of the spinal canal stenosis (Figure 1A & 1B), the risk of
further spinal cord compression and neurological consequences,
and the patient’s occupation. Owing to the nature of his symptoms,
including weakness and atrophy of muscles, the patient was
referred for surgery. These listed impairments directly affected the
patient’s work, and we wanted to prevent further deterioration or
permanent impairment. A surgical consultation was requested and
tramadol was prescribed for pain control.
Surgical Approach
Four days later, the patient was evaluated by a neurosurgeon
and was promptly recommended for C6-C7 anterior cervical
discectomy and interbody fusion utilizing a fibular allograft. Surgery
was performed 10 days after the patient’s initial visit to the PM&R
clinic. The C6-C7 disk space was distracted with a vertebral body
spreader. The disk was then removed using a high-speed drill. In
dissecting the posterior ligament off the dura, a large free fragment
of herniated disk was identified and removed, to decompress the
dural sac completely. Foraminotomies were performed bilaterally at
C6-C7, to provide complete decompression of exiting nerve roots.
The C6 and C7 endplates were decorticated and the intervertebral
space was filled with allogeneic fibular bone fragments. A metal
plate was then contoured between C6 and C7 and two screws were
inserted into C6 and C7 respectively, to stabilize the two motion
segments.
A 49 year old male commercial airline pilot presented to the PM&R spine clinic for an “epidural steroid injection”. The patient complained of neck pain radiating to his left posterolateral arm, and to the 4th and 5th digits occasionally. Symptoms began 28 days earlier, and involved waking up in pain, without any history of injury. He described his neck and radiating arm pain as sharp and constant, with an intensity range of 2-8/10. Symptoms were exacerbated by neck movement, while cervical traction and tramadol alleviated the pain temporarily. He also had occasional numbness/tingling of the left 4th and 5th digits. The patient was otherwise healthy. The patient was employed as a commercial airline pilot but was on medical leave due to the severity of his symptoms. Due to the nature of his profession and the concern for the safety of passengers, he was not allowed to go back to work until his condition improved. Physical examination was significant for left deltoid atrophy and subtle shoulder abduction weakness. Spurling’s maneuver caused radiating pain to the left posterolateral arm at the elbow level. Neck range of motion was decreased due to pain.
The present work refers to one of the discomforts that most affect the human organism: stress; it provides a definition of the term, the main hormones that are secreted and their effects, as well as some of the damage that can cause the human body that affect their internal balance and therefore their well-being.
Where does the word stress come from?
The term stress (from the Latin stringere ‘squeeze’) and its
derivative in English stress (fatigue of material) arises from the
investigations carried out by Hans Selye in the 1930s, who from the
studies carried out to different patients determined that regardless
of the disease they suffered, their symptoms coincided with
fatigue, weight loss, appetite, frequent fatigue, physical and psychic
weakness. The word stress comes from physics, science that is in
charge of the study of energy, matter, time and space, in this case
refers to the pressure exerted by one body on another, and the one
that receives the most pressure can shatter. Selye’s studies later
led to the conclusion that stress is the nonspecific response to any
demand to which the organism is subjected, to which he refers in
his research entitled “Stress” published in 1950.
What is stress?
From the search in different bibliographic sources of what stress means we can say that it consists of a response given by the organism, can be positive or negative to a situation caused by factors coming from both the external or internal environment and can affect homeostasis. Positive stress is one that favors the body, that is, it allows solving a certain situation and adapting to the new conditions. Negative stress breaks the internal balance of the body (homeostasis) Causing Anxiety, Fatigue, Anger, Exhaustion and Irritability.
What are the major hormones secreted in the face of
stress?
The consequences of stress impact on mood and health. In this situation several hormones are involved but the main ones are: adrenaline and cortisol. The first is responsible for giving us that fast momentum that we need. In a matter of moments, our energy goes up enormously to help us escape the danger, as a result breathing becomes faster and increases the heart rate so that the muscles respond more quickly, prevents blood clots, blood circulates more quickly, experience physical sensations such as tightness in the chest, palpitations, cold sweating, tingling in the stomach.
Study of Chondrosarcoma in Northwest Region of Libya |
Abstract
Chondrosarcoma (CS) is a relatively rare malignant tumor of chondroblasts with pure hyaline cartilage differentiation. The neo-plastic cells do not synthesize osteoid, but areas of calcification, ossification and myxoid change may be seen. A total of 14 cases were obtained from two major hospitals in the northwest region of Libya over a period of 6 years. Clinico-pathological data were evaluated including age and gender. The result showed that (CS) was slightly more common in females than in males, male to female ratio was (1.7: 2) with a peak incidence in the second and third decades of life. It is concluded from this study that CS is generally a slightly more common in females than in males and more frequently affected patients in the second and third decades of life. There is no any previous published article regarding this aspect in the northwest region of Libya. Therefore, this paper may will bring forward data for further study of CS in future in Libya.
Introduction
Chondrosarcoma is a rare malignant tumor of chondroblasts with pure hyaline cartilage differentiation. The neo-plastic cells do not synthesize osteoid, but areas of calcification, ossification and myxoid change may be seen. Chondrosarcoma is the third most frequent primary malignant tumor of bone exceeded only by myeloma and osteosarcoma. It usually occurs in the trunk bones (pelvic girdle, shoulders, ribs) followed by the femur and humerus [1,2]. Chondrosarcomas may be divided in two major categories, central chondrosarcoma (primary or conventional), which arise in the medullary canal and then perforate the cortical plate and surface chondrosarcomas which arise on the bone surface and grow into the adjacent soft tissue, known as peripheral Chondrosarcomas either periosteal or juxtacortical Chondrosarcoma. In addition to central and surface Chondrosarcomas, some pathologists further subdivide Chondrosarcoma into primary which occur de novo and secondary Chondrosarcoma that occur in a preexisting lesions, as well as another three variants of Chondrosarcomas that have distinctive histological features, clear cell Chondrosarcoma, mesenchymal Chondrosarcoma and dedifferentiated Chondrosarcoma.
Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) 