Unilateral brain lesions and performance on Russell's version of the Wechsler Memory Scale in an African American population

Studies of patients with unilateral lesions report hemisphere-specific and locus-specific impairments on Russell's (1975) Revision of the Wechsler Memory Scale (RWMS). In the current investigation "race-homogeneous" and "race-comparative" paradigms provide the context in which the generalizability of RWMS findings are examined in a population of African Americans with unilateral lesions. The performances of brain-damaged patients were impaired relative to normal controls on five of the six RWMS measures. However, patients with left and right hemisphere damage in our sample did not differ systematically on RWMS subtests. Likewise, among patients with lesions confined to one of the quadrants in the brain, there were no quadrant group differences in performance on RWMS subtests. But, right posteriors were impaired relative to controls on immediate and delayed VR subtests. The relative merits of the race-comparative and race-homogeneous paradigms are considered in the context of these findings.     

Ectopic pregnancy involving the rectum

A case of advanced extrauterine pregnancy involving the rectum and with passage of fetal limb through the anus is presented. The patient probably had a heterotopic gestation.     

Comparison of tunnel blast design models

Blast design has direct influence on the time consumption and construction cost of drill and blast tunnels. Two tunnel blast design models based on parallel hole cut, NTNU blast design model and Swedish blast design model, are discussed and evaluated in this article.Both models suggest smooth blasting and in both models cut design depends on drill hole length and empty hole diameter. For lifter and stoping holes the Swedish model gives higher burden values, indicating a lower number of holes. Generally, The NTNU model gives longer uncharged length which indicates lower explosives consumption.     

Incidence of hiatus hernia and gastro-oesophageal reflux in 1030 prospective barium meal examinations in adult Nigerians

A prospective study to determine the incidence of hiatus hernia and gastro-oesophageal reflux in 1030 consecutive symptomatic adult Nigerian patients undergoing barium meal examination is reported. The results show a very low incidence of hiatus hernia (0-39%) and an equally low incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux (2-2%) when compared with similar studies in Europe and America. There was a high incidence of duodenal ulcer (23-3%) and a low incidence of gastric ulcer (1-8%), the duodenal/gastric ulcer ratio of 12-1:1 being much higher than in Europe.     

Photoinitiated radical polymerization of some substituted tetrahydrophthalimido and maleimidophenyl methacrylates

The photopolymerization of some substituted tetrahydrophthalimido and 4‐(maleimido)phenyl methacrylates in N,N‐dimethylformamide solutions was investigated by photo‐differential scanning calorimetry at ambient temperature. Auto‐acceleration of photopolymerization and the formation of cross‐linked products were observed as a result of temperature increases up to 60–80 °C. Substituted 4‐(maleimido)phenyl methacrylates demonstrated higher cross‐linking abilities at elevated temperatures than tetrahydrophthalimidophenyl methacrylates. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Cholecysto-choledochal fistula--Mirizzi syndrome (type II) in a Nigerian

Mirizzi syndrome is an uncommon cause of obstructive jaundice in which the common hepatic duct is obstructed by stones trapped within the neck of the cystic duct of the gall-bladder. In long standing cases the calculi may erode through into the common duct and may in fact, impact in the resulting fistula. This syndrome with its later progression is a rare complication of calculous disease of the gall-bladder worldwide. While it is perhaps encountered in the developing countries where cholelithiasis is not as prevalent as in the affluent countries, there has not been much documentation. This article reports on a Nigerian patient with a fistulous complication of Mirizzi syndrome (Type II) managed by cholecystectomy and choledochoduodenostomy and also presents a discussion of the condition.     

beta-endorphin1-31 in the rat pituitary

The behavioral and neural correlates of processing of motor directional information are described for two visuomotor tasks: mental rotation and context-recall. Psychological studies with human subjects suggested that these two tasks involve different time-consuming processes of directional information. Analyses of the activity of single cells and neuronal populations in the motor cortex of behaving monkeys performing in the same tasks provided direct insight into the neural mechanisms involved and confirmed their different nature. In the mental rotation task the patterns of neuronal activity revealed a rotation of the intended direction of movement. In contrast, in the context-recall task the patterns of neural activity identified a switching process of the intended direction of movement.     

Souring and Corrosion Potentials of Onshore and Offshore Oil-producing Facilities in the Nigerian Oil-rich Niger Delta

Souring and corrosion potentials of two oil producing facilities were determined by monitoring microbial activities in CSB-K medium and MPN counts of SRB and APB in API RP-38 and ZPRA-5 broth medium, respectively. Corrosion rate measurements were carried out by weight loss method. Our investigation revealed that microbiological activities at the onshore facility were dominated by methanogenesis with zero potential for souring and high potential for corrosion while that of offshore facility were dominated by sulfate reduction with high potential for both souring and corrosion. Biocide treatments were effective against the sulfate-reducing bacteria but not effective against the methanogens associated with corrosion.