Newborn care: A qualitative study of inter-cultural variations and similarities among two ethnic groups in Northeastern Nigeria.

Background: Neonatal mortality remains unacceptably high in most sub-Saharan and Asian communities, where cultural practices and poor antenatal care are common. Newborn care practices play a key role in preventing neonatal deaths.

Aims: This study aimed to examine similarities and variations in newborn care between two major ethnic groups in northeast Nigeria.

Cardiac arrest caused by trigeminal neuralgia.

A 67-year-old man with a 12-year history of trigeminal neuralgia experienced multiple fainting episodes preceded by right facial pain. One episode resulted in cardiac arrest with successful resuscitation. Pacemaker insertion prevented further episodes of syncope despite the occurrence of pain.

CT-guided stereotaxic biopsy of brain tumors: new technology for an old problem.

On 63 patients, we used stereotaxic surgery combined with computer tomographic (CT) technology, for reasonably safe and precise biopsy of brain lesions. Histological confirmation was possible in 97% of the cases. More recently, we have also been using the CT-guided stereotaxic technique for brachytherapy, consisting of introduction of an array of radioactive isotope seeds (192Ir).

Models of spinal cord injury: Part 2. A mathematical model.

A mathematical model was constructed to predict motor performance in rats for 8 weeks after spinal cord injury. The model is based on experimental data generated from an investigation of the static-load technique of inducing cord injury and was derived using multiple linear regression. The regression coefficients for weight of the injury-producing load were statistically significant (P less than 0.

Models of spinal cord injury: Part 1. Static load technique.

Testing of potential therapies for spinal cord injury has been significantly hampered by the unavailability of a standardized, reproducible animal model with predictable outcome at a given force of injury (dose-response). The rat was selected in the development of this model in preference to larger animals for economy and availability; this permits use of large numbers of animals to increase statistical validity. In the experiments reported in this article, a static load method (weight placed gently on cord) of inducing cord injury was evaluated.