Several Causes (several + cause)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Management of vulvar pain

DERMATOLOGIC THERAPY, Issue 1 2004
Gayle Fischer
ABSTRACT:, Vulvodynia is a frequently used medical term that literally means "vulvar pain". Therefore, vulvodynia is a symptom, not a disease. The term itself indicates a variety of unpleasant chronic vulvar sensations, including burning, rawness, soreness, irritation, sensitivity, and formication. This may or may not include dyspareunia. Primary vulvodynia occurs when these sensory disturbances occur in the absence of observable dermatologic disease or vulvovaginal infection. There are several causes for this, including neuropathy, referred pain, and pelvic floor muscle dysfunction. For the purist, it is the patient in whom there is no observable reason for vulvar pain who represents the true case of vulvodynia. However, vulvodynia can also occur secondarily as a symptom of vulvar skin disease. Restricting the present paper to patients without objective signs leaves out all the important conditions which come into the differential diagnosis of vulvar pain which should be ruled out first. The first step in managing vulvodynia is making an accurate diagnosis of its cause. The present review summarizes the diagnosis and management of the chronic dermatologic diseases which may cause primary and secondary vulvodynia. The etiology of primary vulvodynia is much more poorly understood than secondary vulvodynia, and treatment of some aspects remains controversial. [source]


Do horses suffer from irritable bowel syndrome?

EQUINE VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 9 2009
J. O. HUNTER
Summary Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in man is not a single entity but has several causes. One of the most common forms has similarities with colic and laminitis in horses. Undigested food residues may pass from the small intestine into the colon where bacterial fermentation produces chemicals that lead to disease. In horses the consequences may be disastrous, but in healthy humans such malabsorption may not be harmful. After events such as bacterial gastroenteritis or antibiotic treatment, an imbalance of the colonic microflora with overgrowth of facultative anaerobes may arise, leading to malfermentation and IBS. It is not known whether such subtle changes may likewise be present in the microflora of horses who are susceptible to colic and laminitis. Metabolomic studies of urine and faeces may provide a suitable way forward to identify such changes in the horse's gut and thus help to identify more accurately those at risk and to provide opportunities for the development of improved treatment. [source]


The Impact of Generating Initial Hypothesis Sets of Different Sizes on the Quality of the Initial Set, and the Resulting Time Efficiency and Final Judgment Accuracy

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 1 2004
Sudip Bhattacharjee
This study examines the impact of generating initial hypothesis sets of different sizes on the quality of the hypotheses generated (i.e., the ability to consider both the direction and accounts that are over- or understated). We also examine the time efficiency, information search effectiveness, and the final judgment accuracy, conditional on the quality of the initial hypothesis set. Sixty auditors performed an analytical procedures task where they were asked to generate and test either a specific number of initial hypotheses (one, three, or six), or any number of hypotheses desired in order to uncover an error seeded in the financial statements. The results indicate that the three hypotheses group initially generated hypotheses of the highest quality and maintained the hypothesis quality after efficiently searching information and generating additional causes. The one hypothesis group improved the quality of their hypotheses only after generating and testing several causes. However, auditors who generated six hypotheses or any number desired (as in audit practice) considered hypotheses of lower quality in the initial set, and did not improve the hypotheses quality after going through the information search stage. These results suggest that the size of the initial hypothesis set can lead to differences in the gains that accrue from the hypothesis generation and information search stages of diagnostic decisions. [source]


Non-infectious granulomatous dermatitis: a clinicopathological study

JOURNAL OF CUTANEOUS PATHOLOGY, Issue 12 2006
Harsh Mohan
Background:, Granulomatous dermatitis frequently presents a diagnostic challenge to dermatopathologists because an identical histologic picture is produced by several causes, and conversely, a single cause may produce varied histologic patterns. Methods:, A retrospective analysis of skin biopsies received over a period of 7 years was performed, and cases of non-infectious granulomatous dermatitis diagnosed on histopathological examination were retrieved. Results:, Out of a total of 586 cases of granulomatous dermatitis, 71 cases (12.11%) were categorized as non-infectious granulomatous dermatitis on the basis of clinicopathological findings. Further subcategorization was done based on morphology of granulomas as epithelioid granulomas; 15 cases of sarcoidosis, 21.1%, one case of Crohn's vulvitis, 1.4%, necrobiotic granulomas; 11 cases of granuloma annulare, 15.4%, two cases of rheumatoid nodule, 2.8%, 10 cases of foreign body granulomas, 14.0%; 32 cases of miscellaneous group, 45%. Conclusions:, Morphology alone is seldom specific and cannot be used as a diagnostic tool for identification of specific diseases. Adequate clinical data and work up in combination of pathological resources can help in elucidation of specific etiology of granulomatous dermatitis. [source]


Evaluation of Antineutrophil IgG Antibodies in Persistently Neutropenic Dogs

JOURNAL OF VETERINARY INTERNAL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2007
Douglas J. Weiss DVM
Background:Immune-mediated neutropenia (IMN) is one of several causes of persistent neutropenia in dogs. A test to detect IMN in dogs is not available. Hypothesis:A flow cytometric immunofluorescence assay will provide a sensitive method for detection of antineutrophil antibodies in dogs. Animals:The study included 12 neutropenic dogs and 20 healthy dogs. Methods:An indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to detect immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding to dog neutrophils. Leukoagglutination was evaluated by light microscopy. Neutrophil distribution in scatter plots, neutrophil fluorescence intensity, and the percentage of neutrophils with increased fluorescence intensity was evaluated by use of flow cytometry. Results:Antineutrophil antibodies were detected in the serum of 5 of 6 dogs with a clinical diagnosis of IMN. Leukoagglutination was present in 3 dogs. Four dogs had altered neutrophil distribution in forward-angle versus side-angle light scatter plots. Five of 6 dogs had increased neutrophil fluorescence intensity and 4 of 6 dogs had an increased percentage of neutrophils with increased fluorescence intensity. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: The flow cytometric test for antineutrophil antibodies detects dogs with a clinical diagnosis of IMN. Testing for antineutrophil antibodies should include observation for leukoagglutination, observation of scatter plots for altered distribution of the neutrophil population, observation of the shape of the fluorescence histogram, determination of neutrophil fluorescence intensity, and determination of the percentage of neutrophils with increased fluorescence intensity. [source]


Permeability Heterogeneity in a Fractured Sandstone,Mudstone Rock Mass in Xiaolangdi Dam Site, Central China

ACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 5 2009
Xiaowei JIANG
Abstract: Heterogeneity of permeability in fractured media is a hot research topic in hydrogeology. Numerous approaches have been proposed to characterize heterogeneity in the last several decades. However, little attention has been paid to correlate permeability heterogeneity with geological information. In the present study, several causes of permeability heterogeneity, that is, lithology, tectonism, and depth, are identified. The unit absorption values (denoted as ,), which are results obtained from the packer test, are employed to represent permeability. The variability of permeability in sandstone,mudstone is so significant that the value of unit absorptions span 3,4 orders of magnitude at any depth with several test sections. By declustering, it has been found that under a similar tectonic history, the means of permeability differ greatly at different formations as a result of different mudrock contents. It has also been found that in the same formation, permeability can be significantly increased as a result of faulting. The well-known phenomenon, the decrease in permeability with depth, is found to be caused by the fractures in the rock mass, and the relationship between permeability and depth can be established in the form of log,,logd. After subtracting the trend of , with absolute depth, the mean of the residual value at each relative depth can be well correlated with the distribution of mudstone. The methods proposed in this paper can be utilized to research in similar study areas. [source]