Cell cultures and nephrolithiasis

Large bone flaps for free transfer can be successfully and safely harvested based on the deep branch of the superior gluteal artery. The anatomy is consistent, the vessels are large, and the complications of this technique are minimal.     

Mass chemotherapy for intestinal Taenia solium infection: effect on prevalence in humans and pigs

Mass treatment of the human population with niclosamide was carried out in 2 villages in rural Guatemala where Taenia solium was endemic, to determine how this would affect the epidemiology of the parasite. Intestinal taeniasis was diagnosed by microscopy and coproantigen testing, and porcine cysticercosis by a specific Western blot. Before mass treatment, the prevalence of human taeniasis was 3.5%; 10 months after treatment it was 1%, a significant decrease (P < 10(-4)). All tapeworms that could be identified to the species level were T. solium. Similarly, the seroprevalence of antibodies to cysticercosis in pigs declined from 55% before treatment to 7% 10 months after treatment, once again a significant decrease (P < 10(-6)). These effects were seen in both villages. The possible use of mass chemotherapy as a tool in the control of T. solium is discussed.     

Measurement of serum levels of exogenously administered FSH and LH during ovulation induction therapy

The available surgical and non-surgical therapy options for treatment of gallstone disease are presented. Conventional cholecystectomy is regarded as standard therapy of symptomatic cholecystolithiasis. Other modes of therapy may be indicated under certain circumstances, depending on the results of imaging procedures. In this context conventional X-ray examination, oral and intravenous cholecystography, sonography, computed tomography, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography/cholecystography, and magnetic resonance imaging are discussed and their influence on therapeutic decisions is explained.     

Global self-ratings of health and mortality: hazard in the North Carolina Piedmont

We analyzed the first 5 years of surveillance data from the Established Population for the Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) in the Piedmont of North Carolina (n = 4162) to estimate the effect of a global self-rating of health on survival. Covariates used in Cox proportional hazard models included sociodemographic factors, chronic medical conditions, activities of daily living, use of health services, health risk behaviors, cognitive function, affective mood, and negative life events. Adjusted risk of mortality associated with poor (compared to excellent) self-ratings of health was significantly elevated among urban men only. Confounders of the association between survival and overall health assessment varied widely by subgroup. Pooled estimates from heterogeneous populations may mask significant subgroup differences both in the pattern of variables that mediate crude risk and also in the magnitude of residual risk of global self-ratings of health.