Transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxation (LOSR) is the major mechanism underlying gastro-oesophageal reflux. The mediation and control of LOSRs are incompletely understood but evidence suggests a neural inhibitory mechanism. In this study we have evaluated the effect of gastric distension on LOS function in 16 patients with untreated idiopathic achalasia and compared it with that in 10 ...

The aim of the present work was to obtain information on the total urinary fluoride concentration and excretion of Venezuelan children at the age of 3 to 5 years, as part of a program to monitor fluoride ingestion. A 24 hour urine sample was collected from each of 63 children, between 3 and 5 years of age and analyzed for (i) total urinary volume (ml), (ii) urinary flow rate (ml/h), (iii) fluor...

Transient lower oesophageal sphincter relaxation (LOSR) is the major mechanism underlying gastro-oesophageal reflux. The mediation and control of LOSRs are incompletely understood but evidence suggests a neural inhibitory mechanism. In this study we have evaluated the effect of gastric distension on LOS function in 16 patients with untreated idiopathic achalasia and compared it with that in 10 ...

OBJECTIVE To compare Exponential Injury Severity Score (EISS) with Injury Severity Score (ISS) and New Injury Severity Score (NISS) in terms of their predictive capability of the outcomes and medical expenses of hospitalized adult trauma patients. SETTING This study was based at a level I trauma center in Taiwan. METHODS Data for 17,855 adult patients hospitalized from January 1, 2009 to De...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of hypernatremia acquired after intensive care unit (ICU) admission on mortality and length of stay (LOS). MATERIALS AND METHODS Data for this observational study were collected from patients admitted between January 1, 2008, and September 30, 2010 to 344 ICUs in the eICU Research Institute. RESULTS Of the 207702 eligible patients, ...

OBJECTIVE To analyze possible factors associated with prolonged length of stay (LOS) in hip fracture patients in Japan, such as the availability of beds in medical and nursing care facilities at the community level, as well as patient factors, clinical factors and hospital structural characteristics. METHODS The sample for analysis consisted of 8318 hip fracture cases from 199 hospitals throu...

PURPOSE To compare perioperative outcomes, specifically hospital length of stay (LOS), after retroperitoneal and conventional transperitoneal robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN). PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively compared consecutive patients with a posterior renal mass undergoing retroperitoneal RAPN (n=116) versus transperitoneal RAPN (n=97) at our institution between July 2007 ...

Background There are limited data available on factors associated with length of stay (LOS) in cases of acute ischemic stroke according to Poisson analysis, which is more appropriate than other methods. Materials and methods We retrospectively reviewed medical summary charts of patients with acute ischemic stroke in 30 hospitals across northeast Thailand, with the main outcome as LOS. Poisson...

Native outer membrane vesicles (NOMV) of Neisseria meningitidis consist of intact outer membrane and contain outer membrane proteins (OMP) and lipooligosaccharides (LOS) in their natural conformation and membrane environment. NOMV have been safely used intranasally in P1 studies with encouraging results, but they are too toxic for parenteral vaccination. We now report the preparation and charac...

Acute hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) may be mediated by vasoactive peptides. We studied eight conscious, chronically tracheostomized dogs kept on a standardized dietary sodium intake. Normoxia (40 min) was followed by hypoxia (40 min, breathing 10% oxygen, arterial oxygen pressures 36 +/- 1 Torr) during both control (Con) and losartan experiments (Los; iv infusion of 100 microg. min-1...