Cysts Resembling Hydatids in a Chicken

Two large cysts recovered from the abdominal cavity of a domestic chicken superficially resembled hydatid cysts of Echinococcus spp. No protoscolices were present. Microscopic examination of the internal lining of one of the cysts revealed a single cuboidal to columnar, ciliated epithelium, leading to a diagnosis of oviduct cysts. Earlier records of hydatids of fowl are reviewed. Spanish abstract: Reporte de Caso--Quistes en un pollo semejantes a la hidatidosis. Se encontraron dos quistes grandes en la cavidad abdominal de un pollo doméstico. Superficialmente los quistes parecían quistes hidatidícos de Echinococcus spp. No se encontraron escólecis o cabezas de la tenia. El examen microscópico de la pared interna de uno de los quistes mostró un epitelio ciliado, variando de cuboidal a columnar, conduciendo a un diagnóstico de quiste en el oviducto. Se revisan otros casos de hidatidosis en aves.

Contesting Sphere Boundaries Online: Private/Technical/Public Discourses in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Discussion Groups

The internet is fast becoming a means for people to obtain information, creating a unique forum for the intersection of the public, technical, and private spheres. To ground my research theoretically, I used Jürgen Habermas’s sphere theory. Habermas (1987) explains that the technical sphere colonizes the private sphere, which decreases democratic potential. In particular, the internet is a place for altering technical colonization of the private and public spheres. My research focuses on women’s health because it is a particularly useful case study for examining sphere tensions. Historically, the biomedical health establishment has been a powerful agent of colonization, resulting in detrimental effects for women and their health. The purpose of this study is to examine how the internet encourages expert and female patient deliberation, which empowers women to challenge the experts and, thus, make conversations between the private/technical spheres more democratic. I used PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) as a case to observe the changing sphere boundaries by studying the discourse that took place on multiple patient and doctor websites over a four-year period. Through my research, I found that the PCOS women challenge the biomedical model by appropriating medical language. By understanding the medical talk, the women are able to feel confident when discussing their health conditions with the doctor and with each other. The PCOS women also become lay-experts who have personal and medical experience with PCOS, reducing private sphere colonization. This case study exemplifies how female empowerment can influence expert culture, challenging our conventional understanding of democracy.