Influence of prepartum feed levels on colostrum production and farrowing performance in highly prolific sows in a tropical environment.

Currently, there is a lack of data on the effects of altering feed levels on sow performance and piglet characteristics during the transition period in tropical environments. The present study determined the effect of sow feed levels during the transition period on colostrum yield, colostrum immunoglobulin (Ig) G, colostrum intake of piglets, farrowing duration, proportion of stillborn piglets per litter (SB) and the incidence of farrowing assistance in highly prolific sows. A total of 114 Landrace × Yorkshire crossbred sows and their offspring (n = 2 072) were included in the experiment.

Phytochemical Constituents and Antimicrobial Activity of the Ethanol and Chloroform Crude Leaf Extracts of (Dryand. ex Sims) Schott.

Context: The study investigated the medicinal properties of (Dryand. ex Sims) Schott as a possible source of antimicrobial compounds.

Materials And Methods: The phytochemical constituents were screened using qualitative methods and the antibacterial and antifungal activities were determined using agar well diffusion method.

Strengthening Public Health Management Capacity in Vietnam: Preparing Local Public Health Workers for New Roles in a Decentralized Health System.

Health sector decentralization has created an urgent need to strengthen public health management capacity in many countries throughout the developing world. This article describes the establishment of a national management training network in Vietnam that used Project-Based Learning to strengthen management competencies of HIV program workers and linked training to measurable improvement in HIV/AIDS public health program outcomes. Skills were taught using a combination of classroom learning and mentored fieldwork.

The Philippines Field Management Training Program (FMTP): strengthening management capacity in a decentralized public health system.

Objectives: The decentralization of the Philippines' health sector in 1991 sought to improve the efficiency of local health resource allocation; however, local officials were unprepared for the increased responsibility. In 1999 the Philippines Department of Health, with assistance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), implemented the Philippines Field Management Training Program (FMTP) to provide local health officials with the managerial skills needed to perform their new, more responsible jobs. This paper addresses whether the FMTP has provided participants with useful managerial skills needed for their more responsible positions.

Management training in Vietnam's National Tuberculosis Program: an impact evaluation.

Setting: National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), Vietnam.

Objectives: To show how the Sustainable Management Development Program (SMDP) of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created capacity within Vietnam's NTP to organize a management training program, and to assess the influence of the NTP's in-country training program on individual and team management practices and the performance of provincial TB control programs.

Design: Eight case studies of participating provincial TB organizations, including cross-case and content analysis.

Strengthening capacity in developing countries for evidence-based public health: the data for decision-making project.

Public health officials and the communities they serve need to: identify priority health problems; formulate effective health policies; respond to public health emergencies; select, implement, and evaluate cost-effective interventions to prevent and control disease and injury; and allocate human and financial resources. Despite agreement that rational, data-based decisions will lead to improved health outcomes, many public health decisions appear to be made intuitively or politically. During 1991-1996, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented the US Agency for International Development funded Data for Decision-Making (DDM) Project.

Strengthening the public health workforce: three CDC programs that prepare managers and leaders for the challenges of the 21st century.

To address the need for management development in public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established three independent workforce development initiatives aimed primarily at strengthening management and leadership capacity: the Sustainable Management Development Program, the Management Academy for Public Health, and the CDC Leadership and Management Institute. Though independently designed and implemented, the programs share similar guiding principles in their approach to management development: interactive (adult) learning, management tools that reinforce evidence-based decision making, individual feedback, continuous improvement of the learning process, posttraining support for networking and life-long learning, and teamwork. This article will discuss important lessons learned regarding best practices in management and leadership development.

Developing public health management training capacity in Nicaragua.

The Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Health Initiative in Nicaragua is distinctive in its focus on developing a cadre of in-country trainers whose aim is to equip frontline public health managers with widely applicable tools and techniques to assist them in identifying and solving implementation problems. Since 1999, 137 trainees--37% more than originally planned--have demonstrated competence by completing and presenting applied management projects. Nineteen professors from the preventive medicine faculty at the Autonomous University of Nicaragua also have been trained.

Smoking prevalence in the United States and Taipei City, Taiwan.

Although there are extensive antismoking efforts in the United States, smoking is a largely ignored health issue in Taiwan. In fact, tobacco advertising has increased dramatically since U.S.

A prevalence survey of behavioural risk factors in Taipei City, Taiwan.

In 1986, we conducted a telephone survey of 2514 residents of Taipei City, Taiwan, to establish baseline prevalence estimates of behavioural risk factors associated with the leading causes of death among adults. Estimates from this survey revealed a high prevalence of sedentary lifestyle (85.6%), seatbelt non-use (67.

Motor vehicle injuries in Taiwan.

In Taiwan, motor vehicle fatalities have increased significantly in the past two decades and are now a leading cause of mortality, especially among younger age groups. In this paper, we review vital statistics and hospital morbidity data to provide an overview of the problem of motor vehicle injuries in Taiwan and make several suggestions for improving injury surveillance.

An outbreak of type A foodborne botulism in Taiwan due to commercially preserved peanuts.

Until recently, botulism was not recognized as an important public health problem in Taiwan. In 1986, an outbreak of type A foodborne botulism resulted in nine cases, two of them fatal. The vehicle in this outbreak was commercially preserved peanuts processed by an improperly equipped, unlicensed cannery.

The epidemiology of a measles outbreak on a remote offshore island near Taiwan.

In September-October 1985, a measles outbreak occurred among elementary school students on a small offshore island near Taiwan. The outbreak began with nosocomial transmission of measles in a hospital emergency room on the main island of Taiwan. Four distinct generations of transmission occurred among elementary school children an their household contacts.

Outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis due to coxsackie A24 variant--Taiwan.

Outbreaks of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis caused by enterovirus 70 and several serotypes of adenovirus have occurred in Taiwan since 1971. In 1980-1981, there was a pandemic of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in southeast Asia caused by coxsackie A24 variant (CA24v); however, this virus did not affect Taiwan. In October 1985, CA24v was isolated for the first time from patients with acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in southern Taiwan.

Outbreak of scombroid fish poisoning, Taiwan.

Fish implicated in outbreaks of scombroid poisoning have usually undergone prolonged storage at an inadequate temperature. We report an outbreak of scombroid poisoning in which fish stored on ice for two days caused illness after standing at room temperature for only three to four hours; fish from the same catch did not cause illness after standing at room temperature only one hour. This outbreak suggests scombrotoxins may be produced more rapidly than previously thought possible.

A seroprevalence survey of hepatitis B markers among Haitians in a southwest Florida farming community.

We determined the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus markers among 123 Haitian mothers and children in a southwest Florida farming community. Fifty-five per cent of mothers had one or more markers including two who were HBsAg positive. Only seven (10 per cent) children had markers; none were HBsAg positive.

Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, Key West, Florida. An assessment of risk factors for introduction of illness into households and secondary spread during the 1981 epidemic.

From August 22 to November 6, 1981, 989 cases of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis were identified in Key West, Florida. The outbreak probably began when an infected 12-year-old Key West resident returned from the Bahamas and transmitted the illness to several neighborhood playmates. The rate of illness was highest for school-aged children, and a high proportion of cases occurred among blacks living in two adjacent low-income housing tracts.

Dengue fever in the United States. A report of a cluster of imported cases and review of the clinical, epidemiologic, and public health aspects of the disease.

In the United States during 1981, fourteen state health departments reported a total of 44 imported cases of dengue fever. Most originated in the Caribbean, where dengue type 4 has reached pandemic proportions. Because the mosquito vector for dengue is abundant throughout the southeast and imported cases continue to occur, the possibility exists for indigenous dengue transmission.

Autogenous vaccine therapy for condyloma acuminatum. A double-blind controlled study.

In an attempt to substantiate claims that autogenous vaccine is an effective form of immunotherapy for condyloma acuminatum, a double-blind cross-over study was carried out on 34 patients, in which autogenous wart vaccine was compared with a placebo vaccine identically prepared from each patient's own normal skin. It was found that the duration of disease was an important determinant of curability in patients with condylomata acuminata (P less than 0.001) and that when this factor was taken into account autogenous wart vaccine was not significantly more effective than the placebo (P = 0.