Effects of beta-glycerolphosphate and calcitriol on bone cells in culture

Examining zoonotic infections in the plague foci in Kazakhstan over a decade has revealed their wide spread of vectors of pseudotuberculosis, intestinal Yersinia infection, pasteurellosis, listeriosis, salmonellosis, erysipeloid. Some causative agents under study can regulate the number of the main vector in the foci of plague, hamper the bacteriological and serological diagnosis of plague and be of predictive value in the assessment of the epizootic situation.     

Prospective study of risk factors for the initiation of cigarette smoking.

Risk factors for the initiation of cigarette smoking were examined in 2 consecutive cohorts of teenagers (N?=?1,901). Students in Cohort 1 were followed over 4 years from 9th to 12th grade; those in Cohort 2 were followed over 3 years from 9th to 11th grade. Among girls with no history of smoking at baseline, those with more friends who smoked at baseline (p?p?p?p?     

Coronary arterial anatomy in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction without chest pain or previous myocardial infarction

Patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction without chest pain or previous myocardial infarction are unlikely to have 3-vessel coronary artery disease and are very unlikely to have coronary anatomy suitable for bypass grafting. Of our 108 subjects, only 3 (3%) had 3-vessel coronary artery disease thought to be suitable for revascularization.     

Open repair of hiatus hernia: abdominal approach

Open hiatus hernia repair can be accomplished with very low mortality and excellent long-term results. The vast majority of hiatus hernias, including those with peptic structure, can be repaired transabdominally. The Hill repair, the Nissen, and the Collis-Nissen are well-established techniques for repairing a hiatus hernia that have stood the test of time and are associated with good long-term results. The technical aspects of these repairs are discussed in detail within this article.     

Failure of dominant left-hemispheric activation to right-ear stimulation in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is associated with an absence of the lateralizations that typify the human brain. Previous evidence emphasized structural changes, particularly reduced asymmetry in extension and surface of the planum temporale, although gross structural deviations occur only in a minority of patients. The present study describes an absence of lateralization on a robust functional measure that characterized schizophrenia patients: healthy subjects but not schizophrenics displayed a contralateral left-hemispheric dominance of the auditory evoked magnetic field to right-ear auditory stimulation. Absence of contralateral dominance in response to auditory stimuli among schizophrenia patients may indicate a failure to establish unequivocal left-hemispheric dominance of the phonological loop as hypothesized by Crow.     

The Effect of Correlation between Price and Quality on Consumer Choice

According to the price-expectancy model of consumer choice, consumers evaluate products by comparing the actual price with a reference or expected price determined from (a) product's quality and (b) the price-quality correlation of the product category. Choices between hypothetical products of beer are used to test the model against a model without a reference price. Consistent with the price-expectancy model, product preferences varied with the subjective correlation between price and quality: the relative preference for higher priced/higher quality products over lower priced/lower quality products increased as the subjective correlation increased. For some pairs, the correlation between price and quality created a preference reversal across contexts: the higher priced/higher quality product was chosen over the lower priced/lower quality product in the higher correlational context, but the lower priced/lower quality product was chosen over the higher priced/higher quality product in the lower correlational context. An additional study provided evidence that the price-quality correlation affects reference price, rather than reference quality, formation. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.     

Assessment of the influence of hydrogen nonexcretion on the usefulness of the hydrogen breath test and lactose tolerance test

The recognition of hydrogen nonexcretion in up to 20% of tested subjects and the large ethnic differences in the prevalence of lactose malabsorption make it necessary to reassess the diagnostic usefulness of the lactose tolerance test and the hydrogen breath test. Both tests were performed in 83 consecutive patients with suspected lactose malabsorption who ingested 50 g lactose. On a separate day a hydrogen breath test was performed after 25 g lactulose. The prevalence of hydrogen nonexcretion was 18%. The diagnostic usefulness of hydrogen breath test was influenced both by the individual threshold for hydrogen excretion and the amount of malabsorbed lactose. In addition to baseline values, breath samples for hydrogen measurements have to be taken at 30, 60, 90, 180, and 240 minutes after ingestion of lactose. For the lactose tolerance test only one measurement of serum glucose at 30 minutes is needed in addition to the baseline measurement. The combination of both tests excludes the influence of hydrogen nonexcretion, but even if a combined diagnostic approach utilizing the lactose hydrogen breath test and lactose tolerance test is used, 6% of patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of lactose intolerance cannot be classified.