Assessment of Radon Concentrations inside Residential Buildings and Estimation of the Dose in the City of Kaya, Burkina Faso

Colorless, incessant radon gas is notably the second most important cause of lung cancer after smoking in smokers and the first cause in non-smokers. Having little effect in the atmosphere, radon gas accumulates in confined spaces. Therefore, the determination of radon concentrations inside residential buildings is very important to improve the health of the inhabitants. The objective of this research is to measure the concentration of radon in indoor air in residential areas of the city of Kaya and to assess the absorbed dose, the effective dose and the relative risk of lung cancer. In this study, the CORENTIUM AIR THINGS digital radon detector is used to determine the radon concentration in twenty-one houses in Kaya. The CORENTIUM AIR THINGS digital radon detector has been placed in each residential building for a minimum period of one week and the concentration values are read every 24 hours. This research revealed that the average concentration of radon was 28.47 Bq/m3 in the residential areas of Kaya. The radon concentration in a house has been found to exceed 100 Bq/m3, which is the level authorized by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the long term, the absorbed dose varies from 0.118 mSv to 4.975 mSv and the effective dose is between 0.229 mSv and 12.002 mSv. In the short term, the absorbed dose varies between 0.095 mSv to 5.001 mSv and the effective dose is between 0.283 mSv to 11.935 mSv. The mean lung cancer relative risk (CPRR) from indoor exposure was 1.026. There is a need to raise awareness among the population of the city of Kaya on this issue and to take measures to reduce radon in homes when the concentrations are above the limit recommended by the WHO.

Evaluation of Radon Concentration and the Health Risk in the Offices of the Institute of Science and Technology of the “École Normale Supérieure”, Burkina Faso

The second most important cause of lung cancer after smoking is radon gas. Thus, the determination of indoor radon concentrations in residential buildings and workplaces is an important public health concern. The purpose of this research was to measure the concentration of radon gas in the offices of the Institute of Science and Technology and to evaluate the effective dose in the lungs and the risk of cancer. This study used Corentium’s AIR THINGS digital radon detector to determine the radon concentration in sixteen (16) offices. The digital radon detector air Things of Corentium was placed in each office for a minimum period of one week and the concentration values were recorded every 24 hours. The values recorded in each office were the short-term average and the long-term average during seven days of measurement. The short-term radon concentrations vary between 5.286 Bq/m3 and 192.714 Bq/m3 with an average of 48.01 Bq/m3 and those in the long-term were between 6.143 Bq/m3 and 172.571 Bq/m3 with an average of 52.46 Bq/m3. The measurements in office N°6 and 13 were above the lower limit of 100 Bq/m3 proposed by the WHO. The short-term and long-term effective doses in the lungs for offices N°6 and 13 were above the “normal” background level of 1.1 mSv/year proposed by UNSCEAR-2000. The short-term effective dose in the lungs for office N°6 was above the lower limit of 3 mSv per the ICRP-23 recommendation. The average number of lung cancer cases per year per million people was 15.

^238U and^232Th concentrations measured in different medical drugs by using solid-state nuclear track detectors and resulting radiation doses to the skin of patients

Urban populations in Morocco receive free medical drugs as prescribed by doctors in district health centres.To explore the exposure pathway of ^(238)U and^(232)Th and their decay products on the skin of patients,these radionuclides were measured in various medical drugs by using solid-state nuclear track detectors(SSNTDs).The measured concentrations range of ^(238)U and ^(232)Th in the medical drug samples of interest vary from(4.3±0.3) to(11.1±0.7) mBq 1^(-1) and(0.49±0.03) to(1.3±0.1)mBq 1^(-1),respectively.A new dosimetric model,based on the concept of specific alpha-dose and alpha-particle residual energy,was developed for evaluating radiation doses to skin following the application of different medical drugs by patients.The maximum total equivalent effective dose to skin due to the ^(238)U and ^(232)Th series from cutaneous application of different medical drugs by patients was found to be 2.8 mSv year^(-1) cm^(-2).

Concentrations of foliar and surface soil in nutrients Pinus spp. plantations in relation to species and stand age in Zhanggutai sandy land, northeast China

The concentrations of the foliar and surface soil nutrients and the variation with species and stand age were studied inPinus spp. plantations in Zhanggutai area, northeast China. The results showed that the total N, total P and C: N ratio of the soil inP. sylvestris var.mongolica stands were significantly higher in comparison with those inP. tabulaeformis andP. densiflora stands. ForP. sylvestris var.mongolica, the foliar P concentration appeared to decrease with age, and the foliar N and K concentrations did not show a consistent change with age. As for the different tree species of the similar age, the foliar N and P concentrations were significantly different (p<0.05), being withP. sylvestris var.mongolica>P. densiflora>P. tabulaeformis. The foliar N: P ratio ofP. densiflora significantly was higher thanP. sylvestris var.mongolica andP. tabulaeformis, while the foliar K was no obvious difference between the three tree species. There were significant correlation (p<0.05) between soil total N and P, soil organic matter and total P, foliar N and P, but it did not show significant correlations between soil and foliar nutrient concentrations, which might attribute to the excessive litter raking, overgrazing and low soil moisture in this area. Based on the foliar N: P ratio, we introduced a combination threshold index of N: P ratio with their absolute foliar nutrient concentrations to determine the possible limiting nutrient. According to the critical N: P ratio and their absolute foliar N, P concentrations, theP. sylvestris var.mongolica stands showed a decreased N limitation degree with age, theP. densiflora stands showed unlimited by N and P in the whole, and theP. tabulaeformis stands showed co-limited by N and P. No significant difference in soil nutrient concentrations of the surface soils was found between 45, 29, 20-yr-oldPinus sylvestris var.mongolica plantation stands. Keywords coniferous trees - foliar nutrient concentration - limiting nutrients - N - P ratio - Zhanggutai sandy land CLC number S718.55 Document code A Article ID 1007-662X(2004)01-0011-08 Foundation item: This research was supported by Key Knowledge Innovation Project (KZCX3-SW-418) of Chinese Academy of Sciences.Biography: CHEN Guang-sheng (1978-), male, master candidate in Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, P. R. ChinaResponsible editor: Song Funan

Changes of nutrient concentrations and N:P:Si ratios and their possible impacts on the Huanghai Sea ecosystem

To investigate the impacts of nutrient concentrations and N：P：Si ratios on the ecosystem of the Huanghai Sea （Yellow Sea）, the current status and long-term variation of nutrients concentrations and ratios as well as phytoplankton community structure in the Huanghai Sea were collected and analyzed. The results reveal great annual and seasonal fluctuations in the nutrient concentrations and N：P：Si ratios during 1998-2008 with no clear pattern observed in the whole region. Yet on a seasonal scale of spring and in the coastal regions such as the Jiaozhou Bay and Sanggou Bay, the increase of DIN concentration and N：P ratio as well as the decrease of phosphate and sili- cate concentrations and Si：N ratios were relatively significant. Many pelagic ecosystem changes have occurred concurrent with these changes of the nutrient regime, such as the recent increase of primary production, changes of phytoplankton chlorophyll a biomass and abundance, an increase of eutrophication, and occurrence of HABs. In addition, new trends in the variation of nutrients seem to be developing in some particular transect such as 36N, which suggests that long-term and systematic ecosystem monitoring in the Huanghai Sea is necessary.

Mass Concentration and Mineralogical Characteristics of Aerosol Particles Collected at Dunhuang During ACE-Asia

Measurements were performed in spring 2001 and 2002 to determine the characteristics of soil dust in the Chinese desert region of Dunhuang, one of the ground sites of the Asia-Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment （ACE-Asia）. The mean mass concentrations of total suspended particle matter during the spring of 2001 and 2002 were 317μg m^-3 and 307μg m^-3, respectively. Eleven dust storm events were observed with a mean aerosol concentration of 1095μg m^-3, while the non-dusty days with calm or weak wind speed had a background aerosol loading of 196μg m^-3 on average in the springtime. The main minerals detected in the aerosol samples by X-ray diffraction were illite, kaolinite, chlorite, quartz, feldspar, calcite and dolomite. Gypsum, halite and amphibole were also detected in a few samples. The mineralogical data also show that Asian dust is characterized by a kaolinite to chlorite （K/C） ratio lower than 1 whereas Saharan dust exhibits a K/C ratio larger than 2. Air mass back-trajectory analysis show that three families of pathways are associated with the aerosol particle transport to Dunhuang, but these have similar K/C ratios, which further demonstrates that the mineralogical characteristics of Asian dust are different from African dust.

Effects of COD/N ratio and DO concentration on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification in an airlift internal circulation membrane bioreactor

The effects of chemical oxygen demand and nitrogen(COD/N)ratio and dissolved oxygen concentration(DO)on simultaneous nitrification and denitrification(SND)were investigated using an airlift internal circulation membrane bioreactor(AIC-MBR)with synthetic wastewater.The results showed that the COD efficiencies were consistently greater than 90% regardless of changes in the COD/N ratio.At the COD/N ratio of 4.77 and 10.04,the system nitrogen removal efficiency became higher than 70%.However,the nitrogen remova...

Influence of the concentration ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus on the growth and interspecies competition of two red tide algae

The growth and interspecies competition of two red tide algal species Thalassiosira pseudonana Hasle et Heimdal and Gymnodinium sp. were studied under different concentration ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus, and the algal hatch culture experiments were conducted. The physiological and biochemical indexes were measured periodically, including the maximum comparing growth rate, relative growth rate, average double time and chlorophyll a concentration. The results showed that when the concentration ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus was 16： 1, the maximum comparing growth rate, relative growth rate and chlorophyll a concentration of Thalassiosira pseudonana all reached the highest,and average double time was the shortest. This implied that the optimal concentration ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus of Thalassiosira pseudonana is 16： 1. When the concentration ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus was 6：1, the maximum comparing growth rate, relative growth rate and the chlorophyll a concentration of Gymnodinium sp. reached the highest, and average double time was the shortest, so the optimal concentration ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus of Gymnodinium sp. is 6： 1. From the growth curves as indicated both in the cell density and the chlorophyll a concentration, it is suggested that the influence of concentration ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus on the chlorophyll a concentration and the cell density are almost the same. Different concentration ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus had weak influence on community succession and the competition between the two algae. Gymnodinium sp. may use the phosphorus in vivo for growth, so it is important to pay attention to the concealment of phosphorus, in order to avoid the outbreak of red tide. On the basis of the importance of nitrogen and phosphorus and the ratio of their concentration, the possible outbreak mechanism of red tide of the two algae was also discussed.

Stomatal response of Pinus sylvestriformis to elevated CO2 concentrations during the four years of exposure

Four-year-old Pinus sylvestriformis were exposed for four growing seasons in open top chambers to ambient CO2 concentration (approx. 350 μmol·mol-1) and high CO2 concentrations (500 and 700 μmol·mol-1) at Research Station of Changbai Mountain Forest Ecosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences at Antu Town, Jilin Province, China (42oN, 128oE). Stomatal response to elevated CO2 concentrations was examined by stomatal conductance (gs), ratio of intercellular to ambient CO2 concentration (ci/ca) and stomatal number. Reciprocal transfer experiments of stomatal conductance showed that stomatal conductance in high-[CO2]-grown plants increased in comparison with ambient-[CO2]-grown plants when measured at their respective growth CO2 concentration and at the same measurement CO2 concentration (except a reduction in 700 μmol·mol-1 CO2 grown plants compared with plants on unchambered field when measured at growth CO2 concentration and 350 μmol·mol-1CO2). High-[CO2]-grown plants exhibited lower ci/ca ratios than ambient-[CO2]-grown plants when measured at their respective growth CO2 concentration. However, ci/ca ratios increased for plants grown in high CO2 concentrations compared with control plants when measured at the same CO2 concentration. There was no significant difference in stomatal number per unit long needle between elevated and ambient CO2. However, elevated CO2 concentrations reduced the total stomatal number of whole needle by the decline of stomatal line and changed the allocation pattern of stomata between upper and lower surface of needle.

Effect of nitrogen and phosphorus addition on leaf nutrient concentrations and nutrient resorption efficiency of two dominant alpine grass species

Nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)are two essential nutrients that determine plant growth and many nutrient cycling processes.Increasing N and P deposition is an important driver of ecosystem changes.However,in contrast to numerous studies about the impacts of nutrient addition on forests and temperate grasslands,how plant foliar stoichiometry and nutrient resorption respond to N and P addition in alpine grasslands is poorly understood.Therefore,we conducted an N and P addition experiment(involving control,N addition,P addition,and N+P addition)in an alpine grassland on Kunlun Mountains(Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,China)in 2016 and 2017 to investigate the changes in leaf nutrient concentrations(i.e.,leaf N,Leaf P,and leaf N:P ratio)and nutrient resorption efficiency of Seriphidium rhodanthum and Stipa capillata,which are dominant species in this grassland.Results showed that N addition has significant effects on soil inorganic N(NO_(3)^(-)-N and NH_(4)^(+)-N)and leaf N of both species in the study periods.Compared with green leaves,leaf nutrient concentrations and nutrient resorption efficiency in senesced leaves of S.rhodanthum was more sensitive to N addition,whereas N addition influenced leaf N and leaf N:P ratio in green and senesced leaves of S.capillata.N addition did not influence N resorption efficiency of the two species.P addition and N+P addition significantly improved leaf P and had a negative effect on P resorption efficiency of the two species in the study period.These influences on plants can be explained by increasing P availability.The present results illustrated that the two species are more sensitive to P addition than N addition,which implies that P is the major limiting factor in the studied alpine grassland ecosystem.In addition,an interactive effect of N+P addition was only discernable with respect to soil availability,but did not affect plants.Therefore,exploring how nutrient characteristics and resorption response to N and P addition in the alpine grassland is important to understand nutrient use strategy of plants in terrestrial ecosystems.

Monitoring and Evaluation on Indoor Radon Concentration in a District of Xi'an

[Objective] The research aimed to monitor and evaluate indoor radon concentration in one district of Xi＇an City. r Method] In order to master the effective dose per year caused by natural radiation to local residents, the investigation about the level of indoor radon in one district of Xi＇an was developed. Based on the proper monitoring scheme, some typical living rooms were sampled. Through the measurement result, the effects of different factors on radon concentration were obtained. Finally, the radon concentration was transferred into the effective dose per year of local residents. [ Result] Indoor radon concentration in the district was during 49.680 -128.856 Bq/m3, and average concentration in each building was within 100 Bq/m3, which belonged to normal range. When sunny day became rainy day, radon concentration firstly had a rise trend. If continuous rainy weather appeared, indoor radon concentration gradually declined. When other conditions were same, indoor radon concentration under window closing was significantly higher than that under window opening. Indoor radon concentration had a decline trend from 13：00 to 20：00 and a rise trend from 01：00 to 06：00. Condusion The district belonged to radon safety house. To protect residents＇ health to the maximum extent, according to transfer change rule of the radon, window should be opened to ventilate in the morning when radon concentration was higher.

The Distribution of the Concentration Ratio for Samples from a Uniform Population

In the present paper we derived, with direct method, the exact expressions for the sampling probability density function of the Gini concentration ratio for samples from a uniform population of size n = 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Moreover, we found some regularities of such distributions valid for any sample size.

Concentration Changes of Medroxyprogesterone Acetate in Serum and Milk in Lactating Woman Who Used Depo Geston~

Objective To determine the concentration changes of medroxyprogesterone acetate （MPA） in serum and milk in the Chinese lactating women who used Depo Geston Methods Ten postpartum and breastfeeding women received an injectable contraceptive of Depo Geston （depo medroxyprogesterone acetate, DMPA, 150 mg/ampoule）. Serum and milk samples were collected in the 1^st, 2^st, 4^th, 6^th, 8^th 10^th and 12^th week after contraceptive injection. The concentrations of medroxyprogesterone acetate （MPA） in serum and milk were determined by radioimmunoassay. Results The highest MPA concentration in serum was observed at the 1^st week and then the level of serum MPA decreased obviously at the 2^na and 4^th week. After the 4^th week, the decline of serum MPA level slowed down. The concentration of milk MPA reached the highest level at 1^th week. But at the 2^nd week the average level of MPA in milk dropped by half The MPA concentration in the milk was changed in the range of 5.2-8.3 ng/mL in the following 10 weeks. During observation, the average ratios of concentration and area under curve （AUC） in milk/serum were both 0.55. There was a wide variation in MPA concentrations and ratios of milk/serum between subjects. Conclusion MPA concentrations maintained a certaim level at the 12^th week after DMPA injection. However, whether mather＇s intake of DMPA during feeding period has effect on children＇s growth, espcially pubertal growth, deserves further studies.

Impact of elevated CO_2 concentration under three soil water levels on growth of Cinnamomum camphora

Forest plays very important roles in global system with about 35% land area producing about 70% of total land net production. It is important to consider both elevated CO2 concentrations and different soil moisture when the possible effects of elevated CO2 concentration on trees are assessed. In this study, we grew Cinnamomum camphora seedlings under two CO2 concentrations （350 μmol/mol and 500μmnol/mol） and three soil moisture levels [80%, 60% and 40% FWC （field water capacity）] to focus on the effects of exposure of trees to elevated CO2 on underground and aboveground plant growth, and its dependence on soil moisture. The results indicated that high CO2 concentration has no significant effects on shoot height but significantly impacts shoot weight and ratio of shoot weight to height under three soil moisture levels. The response of root growth to CO2 enrichment is just reversed, there are obvious effects on root length growth, but no effects on root weight growth and ratio of root weight to length. The CO2 enrichment decreased 20.42%, 32.78%, 20.59% of weight ratio of root to shoot under 40%, 60% and 80% FWC soil water conditions, respectively. And elevated CO2 concentration significantly increased the water content in aboveground and underground parts. Then we concluded that high CO2 concentration favours more tree aboveground biomass growth than underground biomass growth under favorable soil water conditions. And CO2 enrichment enhanced lateral growth of shoot and vertical growth of root. The responses of plants to elevated CO2 depend on soil water availability, and plants may benefit more from CO2 enrichment with sufficient water supply.

Preliminary Studies on ²²²Rn Concentration in Groundwater of Yaounde, Cameroon

This work presents a preliminary study on groundwater samples carried out from selected groundwaters of some localities of Yaounde, Cameroon. Radon concentration was ranged from 0.11 Bq∙l-1 to 1 Bq∙l-1, with an average of 0.48 Bq∙l-1. The comparison between the physico-chemical parameters and the radon concentrations in groundwater showed a good correlation between these radon concentrations and the values of Electroconductivity (EC). The annual effective dose due to ingestion of radon in water ranged from 0.30 μSv∙y-1 to 7.90 μSv∙y-1 with an average of 1.93 μSv∙y-1. The obtained results of this study were shown that the concentrations of radon in groundwaters and annual effective doses due to ingestion of this groundwater were below the references recommended by WHO.

The Radon Indoor Concentration Measurement in AI-Sader City, Baghdad

This paper presents the results of indoor radon concentrations measurements in homes in A1-Sader city/Baghdad, Iraq. Radon cup technique was used, which is a cylindrical chamber 5 cm in diameter and height of 7 cm, contains solid state nuclear track detector CR-39, were distributed in 30 houses for thirty days. Results of radon concentrations show that the radon concentration is below the limit recommended by ICRP. The annual effective dose is ranged from 1.1600 to 2.1632 mSv y-1 and it＇s within the limits permitted by the ICRP. Equilibrium Equivalent Concentration （EEC） values were calculated and ranged from 14.72960 Bq/m3 to 27.45344 Bq/m3. However, the results show that indoor 222Rn exposure for samples were ranged from 0.003978 to 0.007413 work level （WL）, then the values of working level month （WLM） were calculated, the minimum value was 0.004978WLM and the maximum value was 0.009277 WLM. The radon induced lung cancer risk and the percentage of induced lung cancer risk were ranged from 13.53723 to 25.23106 per million persons, with an average of about 18.58738 per million persons.

Stability-mutation feature identification of Web search keywords based on keyword concentration change ratio

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to discuss how the keyword concentration change ratio(KCCR) is used while identifying the stability-mutation feature of Web search keywords during information analyses and predictions.Design/methodology/approach: By introducing the stability-mutation feature of keywords and its significance, the paper describes the function of the KCCR in identifying keyword stability-mutation features. By using Ginsberg's influenza keywords, the paper shows how the KCCR can be used to identify the keyword stability-mutation feature effectively.Findings: Keyword concentration ratio has close positive correlation with the change rate of research objects retrieved by users, so from the characteristic of the 'stability-mutation' of keywords, we can understand the relationship between these keywords and certain information. In general, keywords representing for mutation fit for the objects changing in short-term, while those representing for stability are suitable for long-term changing objects. Research limitations: It is difficult to acquire the frequency of keywords, so indexes or parameters which are closely related to the true search volume are chosen for this study.Practical implications: The stability-mutation feature identification of Web search keywords can be applied to predict and analyze the information of unknown public events through observing trends of keyword concentration ratio.Originality/value: The stability-mutation feature of Web search could be quantitatively described by the keyword concentration change ratio(KCCR). Through KCCR, the authors took advantage of Ginsberg's influenza epidemic data accordingly and demonstrated how accurate and effective the method proposed in this paper was while it was used in information analyses and predictions.

Effects of Dietary Concentrate to Forage Ratios on Production Performance and Serum Biochemical Indicators in Post-fattening Hainan Yellow Cattle

[Objective]The paper was to investigate the effects of dietary concentrate to forage ratios on production performance and serum bio-chemical indicators of post-fattening Hainan Yellow Cattle.[Method]Sixteen Hainan Yellow Cattles with the same genetic backgrounds and similar initial weight of(242.22 ±0.71 kg) were randomly divided into four treatments.Cattles were fed with diets of different concentrate to forage ratios(20:80, group Ⅰ;30:70, Group Ⅱ;40:60, group Ⅲ;50:50, group Ⅳ).The trial lasted 62 d.[Result]The daily gain in experimental group Ⅳ was significantly higher than that in experimental group Ⅱ(P<0.05), but the feed gain ratio in experimental group Ⅳ was lower than those in other ex-perimental groups(P>0.05).The feed intake in experimental group Ⅳ was also markedly higher than those in experimental groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ(P<0.05).Compared with the experimental group Ⅱ, the gross profit of experimental group Ⅳ was significantly promoted(P<0.05).The alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in experimental group Ⅱ were markedly higher than those in experimental groups Ⅰ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ.[Conclusion]When the dietary concentrate to forage ratios was 50∶50, the production performance of post-fattening Hainan Yellow Cattle was better.

Effects of dietary forage to concentrate ratio and wildrye length on nutrient intake, digestibility, plasma metabolites, ruminal fermentation and fecal microflora of male Chinese Holstein calves

Twenty-eight male, weaned Chinese Holstein calves（（156.8±33.4） kg） were used to investigate the effects of dietary forage to concentrate ratio（F：C） and forage length on nutrient digestibility, plasma metabolites, ruminal fermentation, and fecal microflora. Animals were randomly allocated to four treatments in a 2×2 factorial arrangement： whole-length forage（WL） with low F：C（50：50）; WL with high F：C（65：35）; short-length forage（SL） with high F：C（65：35）; and SL with low F：C（50：50）. Chinese wildrye was used as the only forage source in this trial. The grass in the SL treatments was chopped using a chaff cutter to achieve small particle size（-50% particles 〉19 mm）. Dry matter intake（DMI） and organic matter（OM） intake was increased by increasing both F：C（P〈0.01） and forage length（FL）（P〈0.05）, while acid detergent fiber（ADF） and neutral detergent fiber（NDF） intakes were only increased by increasing the F：C（P〈0.01）. The digestibility of NDF was increased as the FL increased（P〈0.01）, and it was also affected by interaction between F：C and FL（P〈0.05）. Cholesterol（CHO）（P〈0.01）, leptin（LP）（P〈0.05）, and growth hormone（GH）（P〈0.01） concentrations in plasma were increased as dietary F：C increased. A significant increase in plasma triglyceride（TG）（P〈0.01）, insulin（INS）（P〈0.05）, and GH（P〈0.01） levels was observed with decreasing dietary FL. Ruminal p H values of calves fed with low F：C diets were significantly lower than those in high F：C treatment（P〈0.05）. Increasing the F：C enhanced ruminal acetic acid（P〈0.05） and acetic acid/propionic acid（P〈0.01）. Fecal Lactobacillus content was significantly higher, while Escherichia coli and Salmonella contents were significantly lower in WL and high F：C groups（P〈0.05）. Lower fecal scores（higher diarrhea rate） were observed in calves fed with SL hay compared to WL hay（P〈0.05）. Denatured gradient gel electrophoresis（DGGE） bands and richness index（S） were significantly affected by the interaction between F：C and FL（P〈0.05）, under high F：C, band numbers and richness index from WL group were higher than that from SL group（P〈0.05）, whereas there were no differences between WL andSL groups under low F：C（P〉0.05）. Microflora similarity was 50–73% among the different treatments. It is concluded that the WL with high F：C（65：35） diet is suitable for weaned calves.

Three horizontal muscle surgery for large-angle esotropia: success rate and dose-effect ratio

AIM: To evaluate the moderate-term success and calculate the mean dose-effect ratio in large-angle esotropic patients who underwent three muscle surgery.METHODS: In a retrospective study, we reviewed the medical records of 37 patients with large-angle esotropia who underwent bilateral medial rectus recession and one lateral rectus resection. Sex, age at surgery time, amount of recessed or resected muscles in millimeter(mm), preand postoperative alignment in prism diopter(D), dose/response ratio, and presence of amblyopia and other associated vertical deviations were recorded.RESULTS: The mean age of subjects at surgery was 12.2±12.3 y(range: 1-57). The mean preoperative deviation of 70.4±8.1 D(range: 60-85 D) decreased to a mean of 5.4±8.1 D(range: 0-30 D) postoperatively(P<0.005). Successful alignment was achieved in 30 of 37 patients(81%) at a mean follow-up of 15.7±20.1 mo(range: 3-90). The mean amount of recession and resection was 17.59±1.29 mm, and a mean dose-response ratio of 3.79±81(range: 2.83-4.66) was determined.CONCLUSION: Three-muscle surgery for large-angle esotropia results in good moderate-term outcomes without high rates of overcorrection or undercorrection.