Nurses' knowledge of stroke-related oropharyngeal dysphagia in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Background: Early identification of stroke-related oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) using screening by nurses can prevent adverse patient outcomes in lower middle-income countries. Nurses are essential in the OPD management team and should ideally be able to screen and prioritise dysphagia management in stroke patients.

Objective: The aim of this research was to describe nurses' practices related to identification and management of patients with stroke-related OPD.

The effect of age of cochlear implantation on vocal characteristics in children.

Background: Early cochlear implantation aids auditory feedback and supports better communication and self-monitoring of the voice. The objective of this study was to determine whether the age of cochlear implantation has an impact on vocal development in children implanted before age 4.

Method And Procedures: The study consisted of 19 participants in total.

Mechanically assisted 3D ultrasound guided prostate biopsy system.

There are currently limitations associated with the prostate biopsy procedure, which is the most commonly used method for a definitive diagnosis of prostate cancer. With the use of two-dimensional (2D) transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) for needle-guidance in this procedure, the physician has restricted anatomical reference points for guiding the needle to target sites. Further, any motion of the physician's hand during the procedure may cause the prostate to move or deform to a prohibitive extent.

Identification and analysis of rhizobial plasmid origins of transfer.

Twelve Rhizobium leguminosarum isolates from France, Germany and the UK, each carrying between four and seven plasmids, were screened by PCR using primers designed to amplify partial traA and traC genes and the intergenic spacer (igs) between them, which is expected to contain oriT (the nick site for conjugal transfer). Five strains, 1062, RES-2, RES-6, RES-7 and RES-9, generated oriT-containing PCR fragments. Sequencing identified three types that are related to but different from other rhizobial plasmid oriT sequences in the database.