BACKGROUND This randomized controlled trial compared the cost-utility of early laparoscopic cholecystectomy with that for conventional management of newly diagnosed acute gallbladder disease. METHODS Adults admitted to hospital with a first episode of biliary colic or acute cholecystitis were randomized to an early intervention group (36 patients, operation within 72 h of admission) or a conv...

Reorganizing primary school grade spans is a tractable and relatively inexpensive school reform. However, assessing the effects of reorganization requires also examining other organizational changes that may accompany grade span reforms. Using data on New York City public schools from 996 to 2002 and exploiting within-school variations, we examine relationships among grade span, spending, and ...

BACKGROUND There is only limited accurate data on the epidemiology of rhinosinusitis in primary care. This study was conducted to assess the incidence of acute and chronic rhinosinusitis by analysing data from two Dutch general practice registration projects. Several patient characteristics and diseases are related to the diagnosis rhinosinusitis. METHODS The Continuous Morbidity Registration...

This investigation describes features of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) patients who never returned to claim their embryos following cryopreservation. Frozen embryo data were reviewed to establish communication patterns between patient and clinic; embryos were considered abandoned when 1) an IVF patient with frozen embryo/s stored at our facility failed to make contact with our clinic for > 2 yrs...

Manyproteins are known to undergo small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) modification by an E1-, E2-, and E3-dependent ligation process. Recognition that protein inhibitor of activated signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) (PIAS) proteins are SUMO E3 ligases raised the possibility that STATsmay also be regulated by SUMOmodification. Consistent with this possibility, a SUMO...

OBJECTIVE Patients with an oral ulcer may present initially to a general physician or a dental practitioner. Majority of the ulcers are benign and resolve spontaneously but small proportions are malignant. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of recurrent aphthous ulcerations in the Indian population. MATERIAL AND METHODS 3244 patients attending the Department of Oral ...

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) exerts a decisive role in the coordination of protective immune responses against parasites, particularly helminths. A disregulation of IL-4 function is possibly involved in the genesis of allergic disease states. The search for important amino acid residues in human IL-4 by mutational analysis of charged invariant amino acid positions identified two distinct functional sit...

BACKGROUND We investigated serum testosterone and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels' associations with muscle fibre size and resistance training in male dialysis patients. METHODS Male patients were included in a 16-week control period followed by 16 weeks of resistance training thrice weekly. Blood samples were obtained to analyse testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), IGF-1, and ...

DNA-DNA hybridization experiments and an evaluation of phenotypic characteristics, DNA base ratios and 16S rRNA gene sequences demonstrated that Wautersia eutropha (Davies 1969) Vaneechoutte et al. 2004, the type species of the genus Wautersia, is a later synonym of Cupriavidus necator Makkar and Casida 1987, the type species of the genus Cupriavidus. In conformity with Rules 15, 17, 23a and 37...

The recent observation that knock-out of protease-activated receptor-4 (PAR4) ablates thrombin signaling in mouse platelets and protects against ferric chloride– induced thrombosis of mouse mesenteric arterioles suggests that thrombin’s actions on platelets can play an important role in thrombosis. Complete ablation of thrombin signaling would be difficult to achieve in human beings because hum...