The aim of this study was to assess the correlation of serum vitamin D with ICU length of stay, mortality rate, length of mechanical ventilation, and incidence of sepsis. We conducted a descriptive analytic study on 793 patients admitted to surgical ICU wards in northwest of Iran from March 2015 to March 2016. Patients were assessed during the ICU stay and the following data were collect...

Water rates are designed to meet multiple objectives, typically resulting in tradeoffs among the objectives of economic efficiency, revenue sufficiency, and related revenue stability. Standard theory of natural monopoly is extended here to explain why long-run marginal cost (LMC) can be greater than both average cost and short-run marginal cost (SMC) for municipal water utilities. The distincti...

BACKGROUND We compared demographic and clinical characteristics of early-onset sepsis (EOS) and community-acquired late onset sepsis (CA-LOS) in infants. METHODS Our medical center is the sole hospital in southern-Israel, enabling incidence calculations. EOS (<7 days) and CA-LOS (7-90 days) episodes recorded between 2007 and 2013 were reviewed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were perfor...

ANG II is known to be important in normal renal development, but the long-term consequences of a suppressed renin-angiotensin system (RAS) during the developmental period are not completely understood. This study tested the hypothesis that the RAS in the developing animal is important in long-term regulation of renal function and arterial pressure. Newborn Sprague-Dawley rat pups were given the...

BACKGROUND Provider-dependent practice variation in children hospitalized with bronchiolitis is not uncommon. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can streamline practice and reduce utilization however, CPG implementation is complex. METHODS A multidisciplinary team developed and implemented CPGs for management of bronchiolitis for children <2 years old. Children with comorbidities, ICU admiss...

Candida species are the leading causes of invasive fungal infection among hospitalized patients and are responsible for major economic burdens. The goals of this study were to estimate the costs directly associated with the treatment of candidemia and factors associated with increased costs, as well as the impact of first-line antifungal agents on the outcomes and costs. A retrospective study w...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of prolonged length of stay in an intensive care unit (ICU) on the mortality and morbidity of surgical patients. METHODS We performed a monocentric and retrospective observational study in the surgical critical care unit of the department of surgery at the Medical Center of the University of Freiburg, Germany. Clinical data was co...

background: antispasmodic and vasorelaxant effects of teucrium polium l . (tp) were mentioned in former studies, so we attempted to evaluate the eventual preventive effect of tp in an acute experimental model of hypertension induced by angiotensin ii (ang ii). methods: forty‑eight male wistar rats were divided randomly into six groups ( n = 8); control group (c), which received only saline, gro...