Two experiments are reported with the aim of determining the effect of pen shape and size on two different types of task: drawing and writing. Experiment 1 attempted to determine the optimum shape and size of shank for ball-point pens used to perform an accurate drawing task. Twenty-seven participants used a total of nine different pens. Drawing performance was measured by having the subjects f...

Identification of the sources and methods of transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle may facilitate the development of on-farm control measures for this important food-borne pathogen. The prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in fecal samples of commercial feedlot cattle in 20 feedlot pens between April and September 2000 was determined throughout the finishing feeding period prior t...

Housing lactating sows with piglets in a multi-suckling pen from around 14 days post-farrowing is common practice in Swedish organic piglet production. However, nursing-suckling interaction is less frequent in multi-suckling pens than in individual farrowing pens, thus affecting piglet performance, e.g., piglet growth. Moreover, piglet mortality is higher in systems using multi-suckling pens. T...

BACKGROUND The pen injection format, typically used for insulin administration, has been adapted for the injectable, noninsulin diabetes therapy pramlintide. Administered before major meals, pramlintide therapy requires two to four injections/day in addition to the patients' usual insulin injections. The dose accuracy and injection force was determined for the 60 and 120 µg pramlintide pens. ...

BACKGROUND A high dosing accuracy is needed to maintain normal glycemia in patients with diabetes. This study investigated the dose accuracy of the commonly used reusable insulin pens ClikSTAR®, NovoPen® 4, and Luxura®. METHODS Pens were tested in a laboratory setting by one trained technician who delivered four doses of 30 U from each of 15 pens per pen model (a total of 60 doses from each p...

A series of four field trials were conducted to evaluate the ability of a cleaning and disinfection procedure in swine lairage pens to reduce the prevalence of Salmonella enterica in slaughtered pigs. A cleaning and disinfection procedure was applied to lairage pens at a large Midwest abattoir. Each trial consisted of a cleaned (alkaline chloride detergent) and disinfected (H2O2 plus peracetic ...

Three trials, using a total of 1,320 male broilers, were conducted to study the effect of air velocity at 125 m/min on body weight gain and feed: gain. The broilers were placed on litter in pens in a wind tunnel or on litter in floor pens with conventional cross ventilation when 4 wk old. Except for air velocity, the conditions in the floor pens and the tunnel were the same. In Trials 1 and 2, ...

The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of sex, breeding group, litter size and age of lambs when placed in lambing pens for their growth rate during rearing. The average daily gain of lambs was evaluated based on their weighing data each week after their placement into lambing pens. Lambs of Improved Valachian, Tsigai and Lacaune breed (n=26) had been gradually integrated to the ...

BACKGROUND Injection force is a particularly important practical aspect of therapy for patients with diabetes, especially those who have dexterity problems. This laboratory-based study compared the injection force of the SoloSTAR® insulin pen (SoloSTAR; sanofi-aventis) versus other available disposable pens at injection speeds based on the delivered volume of insulin released at the needle. M...

Background Dry needling (DN) and percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS) are widely used techniques in the treatment of myofascial pain. Objective To investigate the immediate and short-term effects of the combination of DN and PENS compared to DN alone on the upper trapezius muscle. Method This is a 72-hour follow-up single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Sixty-two volunteer ...