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Linking primary care information systems and public health information networks: lessons from the Philippines.

Community-based primary care information systems are one of the building blocks for national health information systems. In the Philippines, after the devolution of health care to local governments, we observed "health information system islands" connected to national vertical programs being implemented in devolved health units. These structures lead to a huge amount of "information work" in the transformation of health information at the community level. This paper describes work done to develop and implement the open-source Community Based Health Information Tracking System (CHITS) Project, which was implemented to address this information management problem and its outcomes. Several lessons learned from the field as well as software development strategies are highlighted in building community level information systems that link to national level health information systems.

Community Health Services↗

Development of biofilters to treat the pesticides wastes from spraying applications.

Several studies carried out in Europe showed the importance of direct losses to the contamination of surface water by pesticides. These pesticides losses can occur at the farm site when the sprayer equipment is filled with the pesticide formulation (spills, overflowing, leaking) and during the clean-up (rinsing) of the sprayer after the treatment. In Belgium studies are carried out on biofilters to treat in an efficient way effluents containing pesticides. The biofilter substrate is elaborated from a homogenised mixture of local soil, chopped straw and peat or composted material, able to absorb or degrade the active substances. Biofilters consist in systems of 2 or 3 units depending on the spray equipment of the farmer and on the configuration of the farmyard. Each unit is made from a 1 m3 plastic container and the different units are stacked in a vertical pile and connected between them using plastic valves and pipes. Eight pilot systems were installed in March 2002 in seven farms and in one agricultural school, all selected in the loamy region of Belgium specialised in arable crops such as cereals, sugar beets and vegetables. The efficacy (yield) of the systems was determined by measuring the balance of the inputs and outputs of the pesticides. Results were expressed in percent of pesticide retained on the biofilters. The results obtained after two years with 5 tracer pesticides (atrazine, carbofuran, diuron, lenacil and simazine) brought on the biofilter installations are very satisfactory since the percentage of retention is generally higher than 95% of the amount applied. In the beginning of 2004, ten new pilot biofilters were installed in several farms or agricultural technical centres (producing cereals, sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables, fruits or ornamental plants), and in a municipal maintenance service. Some biofilters were installed in duplicate in order to compare the efficacy of different substrates. The efficacy of the biofilters was studied for the 5 classical tracer pesticides but also for other chemical classes of herbicides (sulfonylurea, aryloxyalcanoic acids, chloroacetanilides), insecticides (pyrethroids, carbamates) and fungicides (dicarboximides, phenylamides, triazoles and strobilurines). To monitor these pesticides in elutes and substrates, two analytical methods were developed, optimised and validated : the first one by Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry Detection (GC-MS), and the second one by High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV Diode Array Detection (HPLC-DAD). The micro-organisms activity in the substrate was also measured in some situations.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

The effect of flexion-extension movement on vertical atlantoaxial subluxation measurements.

Flexion-extension movement and atlantoaxial subluxation (AAS) serve to alter the relations between the anatomical landmarks used in the diagnosis of vertical subluxations. The effects of such alterations are examined here. Lateral view radiographs of the cervical spine taken during flexion and extension were studied in 86 female patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 56 of whom also had AAS. All the methods used (McRae, McGregor, Redlund and Sakaguchi-Kauppi) showed a shift of the mean values in a pathological direction during flexion (p less than 0.001, Sakaguchi-Kauppi: p less than 0.003). The difference between the flexion and extension values (McRae, Redlund, Sakaguchi-Kauppi) correlated with the severity of AAS in flexion (correlation coefficients and p values: 0.403, 0.303 and 0.441, p less than 0.001, p = 0.005, p less than 0.001 respectively). Thus, some vertical movement is connected with AAS during flexion and this should be taken into consideration when weighing treatment options.

Arthrography↗

[Spatial organization and interrelation of structural elements of the 1st layer of the neocortex].

Investigating topography and structure of elements in the layer I of the fields 4, 3, 1 of the human neocortex (4 cases) and M1, Ep zones in the cat neocortex (5 cases) by means of modified methods of Golgi, Peters and Kluver-Barerr, it became possible to work out an original classification of astrocytes and to reveal the neurono-glio-vascular complexes consisting of the neuronal base and two glial-vascular links. Three main varieties of protoplasmic astrocytes are determined: short-rayed with a long dendrite-like process, short-rayed cap-like and long-rayed with a double bush of branchings. In the latter forms axon-like processes are revealed, some of them make complex basket-like branchings and each of them surrounds a group of neuronal bodies, predominantly the pyramidal ones in the layer III. Distribution of the marginal glia and the three mentioned varieties of astrocytes is subjected to a single plan. The raws of gliocytes along the horizontal and vertical lines are connected with each other and with the neuronal elements. Peculiar receptive apparatuses performing interrelation are ball-like formations revealed on the apical dendrites of the pyramidal neurons. The information that gets into them is processed automatically. Problems concerning the importance of the ball-like formations in integration of the layer I is discussed, and the role of the glial cells with axon-like processes in the active transport of various substances and in regulating metabolism of the pyramidal cells of the layer III is also dealt with.

Animals↗

Universe of finger postures and finger dynamography. A conceptual methodological tool for assessing and recording the motor capacity of the finger.

The sum total of all postures actively possible at a joint constitutes its "universe of postures". This universe can be identified by its limits. The universe of a biarticular system like the finger can be mapped out visually, by identifying the limiting postures, plotting them as points in a graph sheet in which the postures of the MP joint are represented in the horizontal axis and the postures of the PIP joint are represented in the vertical axis, and connecting the points serially. The closed figure thus obtained represents the universe of postures of the finger and shows at a glance the motor deficits of the finger as a whole. It also remains as an objective record of the universe, available for comparison after treatment. This method of evaluation of the finger has been found to be particularly useful in assessing fingers with paralytic problems. Such a visual representation of the universe, called "dynamogram" here, can also be used for kinesiological studies.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗

Intraocular pressure measurement in cynomolgus monkeys. Tono-Pen versus manometry.

PURPOSE: In living cynomolgus monkey eyes, the authors compared manometrically set and measured intraocular pressure (IOP) with simultaneous IOP readings obtained with the Tono-Pen (TP), a handheld applanation tonometer based on the Mackay-Marg principle. METHODS: In three pentobarbital-anesthetized cynomolgus monkeys, IOP was set and measured manometrically after anterior chamber cannulation through the peripheral cornea with a 26-gauge needle connected to a vertically adjustable reservoir and a pressure transducer. Intraocular pressure was raised in approximately 5 mm Hg steps from 5 mm Hg to 60 mm Hg and then lowered in 5 mm Hg steps to 5 mm Hg, with TP measurements taken at each increment and decrement in open and stopcock modes. RESULTS: Linear regression analysis of TP on manometric readings for grouped data from all six eyes, with each data point representing the average of all the TP readings from one eye at each manometric pressure setting, showed a slope 0.692 +/- 0.016 and 0.683 +/- 0.023 (both significantly different from 1; P < 0.001), intercept 1.21 +/- 0.60 and 1.64 +/- 0.82 mm Hg (both significantly different from 0.0, P < 0.05), and correlation coefficient 0.981 and 0.96 in open stopcock and closed stopcock mode, respectively. There were no striking differences when the data were analyzed for individual eyes or animals, for open versus closed stopcock manometry, or for increasing versus decreasing manometric IOP. CONCLUSIONS: The TP provides reproducible measurements of IOP in cynomolgus monkeys, with measurement accuracy dependent on the generation of an appropriate calibration curve.

Animals↗

Eyelid lag without eyelid retraction in pretectal disease.

We report a patient with pretectal eyelid lag without retraction. MRI showed high signal abnormality dorsal to the right red nucleus in a region thought responsible for premotor eyelid control. The dissociation of eyelid lag from eyelid retraction in this patient would suggest that these lid signs may have separate neural mechanisms or pathways. We propose that the lesion interrupts inhibitory connections between the vertical gaze center and the central caudal nucleus.

Adult↗

Embryonic development of the Drosophila brain. I. Pattern of pioneer tracts.

The neuropile of the late embryonic Drosophila brain can be subdivided into a vertical component (cervical connective), a transverse component (supraesophageal commissure), and a horizontal component for which we propose the term protocerebral connective. The core of each neuropile component is formed by numerous axon fascicles, the trajectory of which follows an invariant pattern. In the present study we have used an antibody against the adhesion molecule Fasciclin II (FasII) that is expressed in a large number of early differentiating neurons of the Drosophila embryo to follow the development of the axon tracts of the brain. The FasII antigen appears on the surface of clusters of neuronal somata prior to axon outgrowth. These clusters, for which we propose the term fibre tract founder clusters, are laid out in a linear pattern that forms an almost uninterrupted longitudinal track reaching from the ventral nerve cord to the "tip" of the brain. After expressing FasII on their soma, neurons of the fibre tract founder clusters extend axons that grow along the surface of the founder clusters and form a simple system of pioneer tracts for each of the components of the brain neuropile. We have reconstructed the FasII-positive fibre tract founder clusters and their axons from optical sections and generated digital 3-D models that illustrate the spatial relationships of the pioneer tracts. Three fibre tract founder clusters, D/T, P1, and P3m, pioneer the cervical connective. P21 and P2m form a transverse track that pioneers the supraesophageal commissure. P4m and P41/P51/VP5m form two tracts that pioneer a medial and a lateral component of the protocerebral connective, respectively. Because FasII expression continues uninterruptedly into the larval period when the "rudiments" of many parts of the adult neuropile are readily identifiable, it was possible to assign several of the embryonic pioneer tracts to definitive neuropile components, including the median bundle, antennocerebral tract, mushroom body, and posterior optic tract.

Age Factors↗

Molecular traffic control in single-file networks with fast catalysts.

As a model for molecular traffic control we investigate the diffusion of hard core particles in crossed single-file systems. We consider a square lattice of single-files being connected to external reservoirs. The (vertical) alpha channels, carrying only A particles, are connected to reservoirs with constant density rho(A). B particles move along the (horizontal) beta channels, which are connected to reservoirs of density rho(B). We allow the irreversible transition A-->B at intersections. We are interested in the stationary density profile in the alpha and beta channels, which is the distribution of the occupation probabilities over the lattice. We calculate the stationary currents of the system and show that for sufficiently long channels the currents (as a function of the reservoir densities) show in the limit of large transition rates nonanalytic behavior. The results obtained by direct solution of the master equation are verified by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations.

Journal Article↗

Anomalous pulmonary venous pathway traversing pulmonary parenchyma. Diagnosis and implication.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To describe four patients having total anomalous pulmonary venous connection with an intrapulmonary vertical vein, rendering difficulty in diagnosis and surgery. SETTING: a tertiary referral center. PATIENTS AND METHODS: By reviewing medical records, 4 of 25 patients with right atrial isomerism and total anomalous pulmonary venous connection were identified to have an intrapulmonary vertical vein. All four patients underwent echocardiography, catheterization, and angiography. One underwent MRI. Two underwent open-heart surgery and one received a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt. RESULTS: Right atrial isomerism was present in all four patients. On chest x-ray films, an abnormal shadow resembling scimitar syndrome was seen in two patients. Imaging the vertical vein was unsuccessful with an echocardiogram in all four patients. The intrapulmonary course of the vertical vein was depicted with a pulmonary venogram in two patients and with magnetic resonance in one patient. The intrapulmonary segment remained undetected until autopsy in one patient. All four patients died. At autopsy, the pulmonary venous confluence was hypoplastic in all four hearts. The vertical vein was buried in pulmonary parenchyma and drained to superior vena cava with significant obstruction. CONCLUSION: In the presence of right atrial isomerism and total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, there may be an intrapulmonary pulmonary venous connection that may be obstructed. Anastomosing the pulmonary venous confluence to the atrium may be difficult because of hypoplasia of the pulmonary venous confluence.

Anastomosis, Surgical↗

A duplication growth model of gene expression networks.

MOTIVATION: There has been considerable interest in developing computational techniques for inferring genetic regulatory networks from whole-genome expression profiles. When expression time series data sets are available, dynamic models can, in principle, be used to infer correlative relationships between gene expression levels, which may be causal. However, because of the range of detectable expression levels and the current quality of the data, the predictive nature of such inferred, quantitative models is questionable. Network models derived from simple rate laws offer an intermediate level analysis, going beyond simple statistical analysis, but falling short of a fully quantitative description. This work shows how such network models can be constructed and describes the global properties of the networks derived from such a model. These global properties are statistically robust and provide insights into the design of the underlying network. RESULTS: Several whole-genome expression time series data sets from yeast microarray experiments were analyzed using a Markov-modeling method (Dewey and Galas, FUNC: Integr. Genomics, 1, 269-278, 2001) to infer an approximation to the underlying genetic network. We found that the global statistical properties of all the resulting networks are similar. The overall structure of these biological networks is distinctly different from that of other recently studied networks such as the Internet or social networks. These biological networks show hierarchical, hub-like structures that have some properties similar to a class of graphs known as small world graphs. Small world networks exhibit local cliquishness while exhibiting strong global connectivity. In addition to the small world properties, the biological networks show a power law or scale free distribution of connectivities. An inverse power law, N(k) approximately k(-3/2), for the number of vertices (genes) with k connections was observed for three different data sets from yeast. We propose network growth models based on gene duplication events. Simulations of these models yield networks with the same combination of global graphical properties that we inferred from the expression data.

Algorithms↗

Enumeration of structure-sensitive graphical subsets: Calculations.

Numerical calculations are presented, for all connected graphs on six and fewer vertices, of the numbers of independent sets, connected sets, point and line covers, externally stable sets, kernels, and irredundant sets. With the exception of the number of kernels, the numbers of such sets are all highly structure-sensitive quantities.

Journal Article↗

Differential locations in the midbrain of distinct groups of vertical eye movement-related neurones in cat: their projections and direct connections with oculomotor neurones.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the firing patterns, location and projections of vertical eye movement-related neurones in the Forel's field H (FFH), the interstitial nucleus of Cajal (INC), and reticular formation of the mesodiencephalic junction (MDJ) in chronically prepared alert cats. A total of 456 neurones in the medial MDJ with firing closely related to vertical eye movements was examined using antidromic microstimulation and spike-triggered averaging technique. On the basis of their firing patterns, these neurones were classified into five groups, i.e. burst neurones (BNs), burst-tonic neurones (BTNs), tonic neurones (TNs), augmenting neurones (ANs) and pause neurones (PNs). BNs were located mainly in the dorsomedial part of the FFH. Most of TNs were found more caudally than BNs. BTNs and PNs were located further caudally, within the INC and nearby reticular formation. ANs were located mainly in the dorsolateral part of the FFH. Both medium-lead BNs (MLBNs) and BTNs projected to the inferior rectus (IR) subdivision of the oculomotor nucleus on both sides. MLBNs projected to the trochlear nucleus as well through collateral branches of the axon projecting to the oculomotor nucleus. Downward and upward MLBNs made direct excitatory and inhibitory connections, respectively, with IR motorneurones. These results suggest that many kinds of neurones in the paramedian regions of MDJ play a significant role in the genesis of vertical eye movements.

Animals↗

Enumeration of four-connected three-dimensional nets. II. Conversion of edges of three-connected 2D nets into zigzag chains.

Four-connected three-dimensional (3D) nets were systematically enumerated by converting some horizontal edges of a vertical stack of three-connected two-dimensional (2D) nets into vertical zigzag chains. 77 out of 131 2D nets were selected for enumeration, and different arrangements of zigzag edges and horizontal edges were investigated. This yielded 138 3D nets of which 19 are represented by known structures: cristobalite; tridymite; MAPO-39 (International Zeolite Association Structure Commission code ATN); svyatoslavite; Li-A(BW) (ABW); cancrinite (CAN); AlPO-31 (ATO); MAPO-36 (ATS); BaFe(2)O(4); 'nepheline hydrate' (JBW); bikitaite (BIK); KBGe(2)O(6); CsAlSi(5)O(12) (CAS); UiO-6 (OSI); Theta-1 (TON); ZSM-12 (MTW); ZSM-23 (MTT); AlPO-53C; and CIT-5 (CFI).

Journal Article↗

A comparison of 2 root coverage techniques: guided tissue regeneration with a bioabsorbable matrix style membrane versus a connective tissue graft combined with a coronally positioned pedicle graft without vertical incisions. results of a series of consecutive cases.

Root coverage procedures have become an important part of periodontal therapy. The purpose of this study was to compare 2 techniques, 1) guided tissue regeneration (GTR) with a bioabsorbable polylactic acid softened with citric acid ester membrane and 2) the connective tissue graft combined with a coronally positioned pedicle graft without vertical incisions. The GTR procedure produced a mean root coverage of 92.3% and the connective tissue graft combined with a coronally positioned pedicle graft, 95.0%. This difference was not statistically significant. Both procedures produced similar reductions in recession depth, recession width, and probing depth. The connective tissue graft combined with a coronally positioned pedicle graft resulted in a greater increase in the amount of keratinized tissue. Based on this study, both procedures can result in statistically similar amounts of mean root coverage, but the results are not identical. In most cases, the connective tissue with coronally positioned pedicle graft produced a more bulky result than guided tissue regeneration. Therefore, the procedures are not interchangeable.

Adult↗

Experimental study of distraction osteogenesis in the maxillofacial region.

A cylindrical incision was made in the calvarial bone of mongrel dogs. Using a distraction device that used bone-connecting implants as supports, vertical distraction osteogenesis of calvarial bone was performed. Calvarial bone was distracted vertically at a speed of 0.5 mm per day, making enlargement of the cranium possible. The gap that resulted from distraction was closed with newly formed bone. The implants made a solid connection with no oscillation or dislodgment from the external pressure used for distraction. Our results show that vertical distraction of thin calvarial bone can be done using osseointegrated implants as supports. This indicates the possibility of broadening the applications of this method to plastic correction of craniomaxillofacial bone.

Animals↗

Eye movements evoked by selective saccular nerve stimulation in cats.

OBJECTIVE: Because of technical obstacles in controlling current spread to adjacent peripheral nerve, eye movements evoked by activation of the otolith organs have not been investigated in detail compared to eye movements evoked by activation of the canal organs. We attempted to solve this problem by applying more sensitive methods using fine needle and strictly controlling stimulus current intensity compare with filed potential for selective stimulation. METHODS: Eye movements evoked by selective, unilateral saccular (SAC) nerve stimulation were investigated using both electrooculography (EOG) and video recording in decerebrated cats in the presence or absence of anesthesia. Electrical stimulation was applied to the SAC nerve through implanted acupuncture needles. RESULTS: In the absence of anesthesia and with stimulus intensities less than (3.1 +/- 2.7) x N(1)T, we found supraduction in both eyes or in either the ipsilateral or contralateral eye of different cats. We observed downward eye movements using a stronger stimulus intensity ((6.2 +/- 2.9)) x N(1)T). The threshold for downward eye movements was significantly greater than that for upward eye movements (P < 0.05). In anesthetized cats, only downward eye movements were observed when stimulus intensities less than 10 x N(1)T ((7.8 +/- 2.3) x N(1)T) were used. CONCLUSION: These results confirm the known sacculo-ocular anatomical connections, which are involved predominantly in vertical eye movements. Because the sacculo-ocular connections are relatively weak, the normal supraduction evoked by SAC activation can be easily modified by factors such as level of anesthesia and the method of stimulation.

Animals↗

Magnetic resonance imaging of the effects of horizontal rectus extraocular muscle surgery on pulley and globe positions and stability.

PURPOSE: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to determine the effect of recessions and resections on horizontal extraocular muscle (EOM) paths and globe position. METHODS: Four adults with horizontal strabismus underwent contrast-enhanced, surface-coil MRI in central, secondary, and tertiary gazes, before and after horizontal EOM recessions and/or resections. EOM paths were determined from 2-mm thickness, quasicoronal MRI by analysis of cross-sectional area centroids in a normalized, oculocentric coordinate system. Globe displacement was determined by measuring the apparent shift of the bony orbit in eccentric gaze. RESULTS: In all subjects, the anteroposterior positions of the horizontal rectus pulleys shifted by less than 2 mm after surgery, indistinguishable from zero within measurement precision. In three subjects who underwent medial rectus (MR) recession or resection, postoperative globe position was similar in central gaze, but globe translation during vertical gaze shift changed markedly. There was no effect on globe translation in the subject who underwent only lateral rectus (LR) resection. CONCLUSIONS: Recessions and resections of horizontal EOMs have minimal effect on anteroposterior EOM pulley positions. Because the pulley does not shift appreciably despite large alterations in the EOM insertion, the proximity of a recessed EOM to its pulley would be expected to introduce torsional and vertical actions in tertiary gazes. Connective tissue dissection during MR surgery may destabilize the globe's vertical translational stability within the orbit, potentially changing the effective pulling directions of the rectus EOMs in vertical gazes. These changes may mimic oblique muscle dysfunction. LR surgery may avoid globe destabilization.

Adult↗