BACKGROUND Probiotics are increasingly used in the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders. Studies in constipated adults with a Bifidus yoghurt (containing Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus) showed a significant increase in defecation frequency. The aim of this pilot study was to determine if Bifidobacterium breve is effective in the treatm...

Occupational asthma caused by allergy to pigs' urine We report a case of asthma due to occupational exposure to pigs. The cause of the symptoms was exposure to the urine of the animals. This was proved by provoking acute asthma with an inhalation challenge of an extract of pigs' urine at a concentration of 1 g/l. On a second occasion this asthmatic response was blocked by prior treatment with 4...

INTRODUCTION Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) improves outcomes when given post systemic ischemia/reperfusion injury. iNO given during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may therefore improve return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rates and functional outcome after cardiac arrest (CA). METHODS Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 10 minutes of CA and at least 3 minutes of CPR. Anima...

Background: To explore the brain function regions characteristics of the acupoint combination, this study observed activity changes in the brain regions of healthy volunteers after acupuncture at both Taixi (KI3) and Taichong (LR3) (KI3 + LR3) and KI3 alone using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods and Materials: 30 healthy volunteers were randomly allocated into...

BACKGROUND Addition of some neuromuscular blockers to local anesthetics proved to be effective in improving the quality of anesthesia in different regional techniques. This study was carried out to determine whether the addition of low-dose atracurium to a local anesthetic has any effect on the onset and duration of akinesia in retrobulbar block. PATIENTS AND METHODS This study was conducted ...

We have designed, fabricated and tested a real-time PCR chip capable of conducting one thermal cycle in 8.5 s. This corresponds to 40 cycles of PCR in 5 min and 40 s. The PCR system was made of silicon micromachined into the shape of a cantilever terminated with a disc. The thin film heater and a temperature sensor were placed on the disc perimeter. Due to the system's thermal constant of 0.27 ...

Transmural histological changes were determined morphometrically in the left ventricular free wall of 20 pigs after ligation of distal left anterior descending coronary artery for 10, 20, 40, and 120 minutes. Hemodynamics were recorded and regional blood flow distribution was measured in the ischemic zone. Coronary occlusion produced regional transmural ischemia without producing significant sy...

OBJECTIVES This study investigated whether the addition of diphenyliodonium chloride (DPC) to experimental resin bonding agents would allow fixation of brackets to enamel using shorter light exposure times. METHODS Photoactivated dimethacrylate-based composites were prepared containing DPC molar concentrations of 0 (control), 0.5 (R05), or 1 per cent (R1). Metallic brackets were bonded to bov...

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is an important mediator of vascular tone in humans, and a number of endothelin receptor antagonists are currently in clinical development as vasodilator agents. While the vasoconstrictor role of the ETA receptor is undisputed, the role of the ETB receptor remains unclear. Hemodynamic effects of systemic doses of the ETB-selective antagonist BQ-788 were investigated in 5 hea...