Foot-and-mouth disease viruses (FMDV) from serotype A exhibit high antigenic diversity. Within the Middle East, a strain called A-Iran-05 emerged in 2003, and subsequently replaced the A-Iran-96 and A-Iran-99 strains that were previously circulating in the region. Viruses from this strain did not serologically match with the established A/Iran/96 vaccine, although most early samples matched wit...

BACKGROUND Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a severe and preventable problem of crushed earthquake victims. Early hydration therapy started before fully removing earthquake rubbles has been claimed to play a decisive role in AKI prevention, which saves the necessity of later dialysis. However, the extent, quality, and appropriateness of its know-how are controversial. METHODS Processing clinical ...

BACKGROUND The authors prospectively evaluated the correlation between technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile ((99m) Tc-MIBI) accumulation in tumors and response to induction chemotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS Eighty-six patients with locally advanced NPC underwent single-photon emission computed tomography 15 minutes after an intravenous injection of 740...

BACKGROUND We examined the efficiency and cost effectiveness of a temperature feedback diode-laser system in the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). METHODS One hundred twenty patients with symptomatic BPH were included in this study between October 1997 and January 1998. Sixty of them were treated by transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P), and 60 patients were treated b...

Introns near 5' end of genes generally enhance gene expression because of an enhancer /a promoter within their sequence or as intron-mediated enhancement. Surprisingly, our previous experiments found that the vector containing the last intron (intron V) of human thromobopoietin (hTPO) expressed higher hTPO in cos-1 cell than the vector containing intron I regulated by cytomegalovirus promoter. ...

Obesity has a significant effect on the cephalic spread of a spinal block (SB) due to a reduction in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). SB is controlled by the tissue blood flow in addition to the CSF. Some positions and techniques of surgery used can cause changes in hemodynamics. We investigated effects of hemodynamic changes that may occur during Transurethral prostate resection (TUR-P) and lithotom...

A 27-year-old man presented with chronic hematospermia, painful ejaculation, and primary infertility. Physical examination, transrectal ultrasonography, and pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated left seminal vesicle cyst, left renal agenesia, and contralateral seminal vesicle hypoplasia. Hormone workup (LH, FSH, prolactin, and testosterone) was normal. Sperm analysis showed oligo...

The case we report shows rapid progression and a very poor prognosis only for a month that differs from the clinical course reported in the literature. An 83-year-old man was referred to our hospital for macroscopic hematuria. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a large bladder tumor measuring 4 cm × 3 cm and magnetic resonance imaging revealed extravesical invasion and pelvic wall invasion of th...