ASSESSMENT PRACTICES OF SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS FOR COGNITIVE COMMUNICATION IMPAIRMENT AFTER TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY

Background of the Study: The aim of the present research was to examine the assessment practices of Speech-Language Pathologists for Cognitive Communication Disorders after Traumatic Brain Injury. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional survey method, a convenient sampling technique. Research was carried out from January 2021 to June 2021. The sample size was n=21, out of which n= 9 (42.8%) participants, each from Rawalpindi and Islamabad n= 3 (14.4%) participants from Lahore filled in their responses. Medium; being Online, the questionnaire was distributed either through email, WhatsApp or Facebook MessengerApp. SLPs who were undergraduates or who had no experience working with TBI clients were excluded. Questionnaire included 12 items. Responses of research participants were recorded using Google Forms and presented in the form of n (%). The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, and chi-square analysis was performed to confirm the association between settings, city of practice and years of experience through Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22.0. Results: Speech-Language Pathologists reported that they routinely assessed (62% each) Receptive and Expressive communication. However; less than half of the participants routinely evaluated domains like verbal pragmatic skills (43.3%), functional communication (33.3%) and phonemic awareness (33.3%). SLPs assessed their clients by employing tests like MoCA (55.62%), Quick Aphasia Battery (18.75%), Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA Protocol) (14.35%) and a combination of Formal (48%) and Informal (52%) clinical interviews. Conclusion: Informal discourse assessment is incorporated more frequently as compared to informal discourse evaluation in assessment practices of Speech-Language pathologists of Pakistan for cognitive communication impairment followed by traumatic brain injury.

Histo-Morphometry, Epidemiology and Molecular Pathobiology of Mastitis in Buffaloes and Cows

Various risk factors related to mastitis were evaluated to measure the incidence of mastitis including udder and teat shape, udder depth, udder configuration, tail length, dirty hid legs, teat canal length, milking techniques, breed, age, parity, lactation length, live body weight, teat end to floor distance, housing condition and milk leakage. Different teat shapes were recorded including pointed, round, bow and flat along with ulcerated injuries. Udder shape, teat lesions and higher teat diameter was associated with increase milk somatic cell. Results indicated that lower teat en to floor distance, cylindrical teat end shape, round and various factors teat length, high teat diameter, teat lesions, teat end to floor distance, milk leakage, number of attendants, frequency of culling, farms conditions, and housing conditions were the significant risk factors responsible for of mastitis. Overall, at all the livestock farms studied in the government or private sector revealed a prevalence of mastitis in 15.2% buffaloes and 19.4% At slaughter house 16 biotypes for E. coli, 11 biotypes for Streptococuss and 10 biotypes for Staphylococcus were recovered.. The total milk somatic cell count in both species (buffaloes + cows) and neutrophil population was significantly higher in mastitic than healthy animals. The results on histopathology for both cattle and buffalo revealed atrophy of alveoli celluar infilteration, cellular exudates in alveoli, connective tissue proliferation and disappearance of alveoli in udder tissues. Milk, the values for lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotranferase and sodium increased in mastitic than health animals. The values of potassium, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron were decreased in milk samples from mastitic than healthy animals. Lesions on udder, teat shape, udder shape, use of oxytocin, calf suckling and hosing space showed significant difference between mastitic and healthy (cattle + buffaloes). A PCR based method by COA gene along with molecular typing by RFLP gave different sized products.