Objective: This prospective study aims to compare three different sampling techniques for the collection of endometrial cytological specimens in the mare: the guarded culture swab, the uterine cytobrush and the low volume uterine flush. Material and methods: The study po pulation consisted of six healthy Standardbred mares in dioestrus. In each mare an acute endometritis was induced by performi...

BACKGROUND the absence or delay of the swallowing reflex is considered a significant sign of dysphagia. Therefore, the therapy traditionally applied to these cases consists in increasing the intra-oral input through cold touches (0 or 00 larynx mirror) on the inferior portion of the inferior third of the palatoglossus arch. AIM to identify in healthy young individuals which oropharyngeal regi...

This study evaluates how different culinary spatula (turning shovel) designs affect cooking performance during stir-frying. A straight-handled spatula (0°) and three bent-handled spatulas (15°, 30° and 45°) were evaluated across two handle length levels (25 cm and 30 cm). The criterion measures included food-frying efficiency, work posture and subjective rating of perceived discomfort. In a lab...

The handling of vinyl polysiloxane (addition silicone) impression putties with latex gloves is said to interfere with the setting of these impression materials. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of handling techniques on the setting of vinyl polysiloxane impression putties using several types of gloves. The setting of these materials was evaluated by means of an elasticimeter. Fou...

Males of Dytiscinae beetles use specialized adhesive setae to adhere to female elytra during underwater courtship. This coevolution of male setae and female elytra has attracted much attention since Darwin. However, there has been little examination of their biomechanical functioning despite increasing knowledge on biofibrillar adhesion. Here, we report and compare, for the first time, the mech...

BACKGROUND The monitoring of infectious diseases like the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) using pen-wise oral fluid samples becomes more and more established. The collection of individual oral fluid, which would be useful in the monitoring of PRRSV negative boar studs, is rather difficult. The aim of the study was to test two methods for individual oral fluid collection fro...

TO THE EDITOR—We read with interest the recent article by Thibault et al [1], which described laboratory analyses of injection equipment collected from people who inject drugs in France. In particular, the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in 80% of pooled samples of alcohol and cotton swabs raises concerns about the possible role of swabs in HCV transmission. While the accompanying edit...

DESCRIPTION Gossypiboma is the term for a surgical swab accidentally left inside a patient’s body. It is derived from the Latin word ‘gossypium’ meaning cotton and the Swahili ‘boma’ meaning place of concealment. Gossypiboma has an incidence of 1:1500 for intra-abdominal operations. Common presentations of gossypiboma are abdominal distension, ileus, tenesmus, pain, palpable mass, vomiting, wei...