Semmelweis’s work predates the discovery of the power of randomization in medicine by almost a century. Although Semmelweis would not have consciously used a randomized controlled trial (RCT), some features of his material—the allocation of patients to the first and second clinics—did involve what was in fact a randomization, though this was not realised at the time. This article begins by explain

Saccharomyces kluyveri is a petite-negative yeast, which is less prone to form ethanol under aerobic conditions than is S. cerevisiae. The first reaction on the route from pyruvate to ethanol is catalysed by pyruvate decarboxylase, and the differences observed between S. kluyveri and S. cerevisiae with respect to ethanol formation under aerobic conditions could be caused by differences in the regu

Aims: The aim of the study was to compare alcohol use, consequences and common risk factors between American and Swedish college students. Methods: A secondary comparative analysis from one American and two Swedish studies in college settings. Results: Swedish freshmen report higher alcohol use than US freshmen students. Swedish residence hall students report higher alcohol use than US residence h

Fimbriae target bacteria to different mucosal surfaces and enhance the inflammatory response at these sites. Inflammation may be triggered by the fimbriae themselves or by fimbriae-dependent delivery of other host activating molecules such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Although LPS activates systemic inflammation through the CD14 and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathways, mechanisms of epithelial ce

Migration is the regular seasonal movement of animals from one place to another, often from a breeding site to a nonbreeding site and back. Because the act of migration makes it difficult to follow individuals and populations year round, our understanding of the ecology and evolution of migrating organisms, particularly binds, has been severely impeded. Exciting new advances in satellite telemetry

The partial phase diagram of D2O/n-octyl-beta-D-alkyl-glucoside(C(8)G(1))/n-octane has been determined at T = 25 degrees C. The diagram contains a funnel-shaped micellar phase originating from the water corner of the phase diagram D2O/C(8)G(1) with the stern forming a narrow three-phase region, in which the three phases in equilibrium are two microemulsions of similar composition and an excess oil

Here we report an EPR signal that is induced by a pH jump to alkaline pH in the S3 state of the oxygen-evolving complex in photosystem II. The S3 state is first formed with two flashes at pH 6. Thereafter, the pH is changed in the dark prior to freezing of the sample. The EPR signal is 90-100 G wide and centered around g = 2. The signal is reversibly induced with a pK = 8.5 ± 0.3 and is very stabl

The size and charge-selective properties of the glomerular barrier are partly controversial. Glomerular sieving coefficients (theta) for proteins have rarely been determined noninvasively before in vivo. Therefore, theta was assessed vs. glomerular filtration rate (GFR; Cr-51-EDTA clearance) in intact rats for radiolabeled myoglobin, kappa-dimer, neutral horseradish peroxidase (nHRP), neutral huma

BACKGROUND. The aim of this study was to compare Perfadex with Euro-Collins solution regarding 24-hour preservation of endothelium-dependent relaxation and vascular smooth muscle function. METHODS. The infrarenal aorta of 72 isogenic rats was studied in organ baths as fresh controls, after 24 hours of cold (4 degrees C) storage, and after 24-hour storage followed by transplantation and examination

BACKGROUND Previous studies have relied predominantly on the body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) to assess the association of adiposity with the risk of death, but few have examined whether the distribution of body fat contributes to the prediction of death. METHODS We examined the association of BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ra

Background: In a public health perspective, it is of interest to assess the magnitude of geographical variations in ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality and quantify the strength of contextual effects on IHD. Objective: To investigate whether area effects vary according to the individual and contextual characteristics of the population, socioeconomic contextual influences were assessed in diffe

Abstract in UndeterminedBackground: The multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is the major cause of morbidity and mortality associated with acute pancreatitis. Presently, therapy is merely organ supportive as no effective therapy against underlying causative pathophysiologicla mechanisms exists. Aims: To evaluate the effect of treatmetn with a platelet-activating factor inhibitor (PAFI), a mo

An empirical equation for the magnetization transfer (MT) FLASH signal is derived by analogy to dual-excitation FLASH, introducing a novel semiquantitative parameter for MT, the percentage saturation imposed by one MT pulse during TR. This parameter is obtained by a linear transformation of the inverse signal, using two reference experiments of proton density and T1 weighting. The influence of seq

Sharp transmission resonances have been observed in the U-235(d, Pf) U-236 reaction. The shapes of the resonances as well as the angular distributions of the associated fission fragments are analyzed together with the data obtained previously for U-234. The resonances are interpreted as being hyperdeformed rotational bands with (h) over bar(2)/2 theta = 1.8(-0.7)(+0.5) and 1.6(-0.4)(+1.0) keV and

An automated glucose feeding strategy that avoids acetate accumulationin cultivations of Escherichia coli is discussed. We havepreviously described how a probing technique makes it possible todetect and avoid overflow metabolism using a dissolved oxygen sensor.In this paper these ideas are extended with a safety net thatguarantees that aerobic conditions are maintained. The method isgenerally appl

BACKGROUND: Legumes are one of the most common foods causing allergic reactions in children and adults. Cross-reacting antibodies are frequently demonstrated in this family but the real clinical cross-reactivity is uncommon. OBJECTIVE: To report a case of lupine-induced anaphylaxis and to elucidate in vivo and in vitro cross-reactivity with some legumes. METHODS: Skin prick test (SPT) with some le

The thiuram mix used in patch testing originally contains 4 compounds. However, chemical analysis of the test preparation revealed that several new compounds are spontaneously formed during storage. The structures of these compounds have been determined and the rate of their formation has been studied in buffer solution at pH 7.4. After a few hours, a large amount of mixed disulfides are formed in

Individual variation in the susceptibility to infection may result from the varying ability of hosts to specifically recognize different parasite strains. Alternatively, there could be individual host differences in fitness costs of immune defence. Although, these two explanations are not mutually exclusive, they have so far been treated in separate experimental approaches. To analyse potential re