To the Editor: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced almost exclusively by the prostate. Although various tissues in females have been found to produce very small amounts of PSA, serum PSA levels in females are quite low and are measurable only with ultrasensitive PSA immunoassays. In a study of 1064 women, the highest serum PSA levels were less than 1 μg per liter, and only 1.5...

The fatty acid and positional specificities of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (UI-SACCH) and Schizosaccharomyces octosporus (NRRL Y-854) in the hydrolysis of lard were studied by using gas-liquid chromatography. Synthetic triglycerides were used to determine the positional specificities of the lipases of both organisms. Palmitic acid is specifically cleaved from all three triglyceride ester positions...

I compared enzymic methods for total serum cholesterol as used with discrete (Du Pont aca and reagent packs) and continuous-flow (Boehringer Mannheim reagents and the Technicon AuotAnalyzer I) analysis of normal, icteric, and lipemic sera. The regression equation for 24 clear, non-icteric sera was: y (continuous flow) = 0.944x (aca) + 10.69; r = 0.971, Syx +/- 53.7 mg of cholesterol per liter. ...

BACKGROUND The ovaries provide approximately half the circulating testosterone in premenopausal women. After bilateral oophorectomy, many women report impaired sexual functioning despite estrogen replacement. We evaluated the effects of transdermal testosterone in women who had impaired sexual function after surgically induced menopause. METHODS Seventy-five women, 31 to 56 years old, who had...

Mycobacterium aviumcomplex is now the leading mycobacterial cause of chronic pneumonia in the United States. Macrolides and ethambutol form the backbone of the regimen used in the treatment of pulmonary disease. However, therapy outcomes remain poor, with microbial cure rates of 4% in cavitary disease. The treatment dose of azithromycin has mostly been borrowed from that used to treat other bac...

BACKGROUND Statins lower the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and C-reactive protein (CRP). Whether this latter property affects clinical outcomes is unknown. METHODS We evaluated relationships between the LDL cholesterol and CRP levels achieved after treatment with 80 mg of atorvastatin or 40 mg of pravastatin per day and the risk of recurrent myocardial infarction or deat...

Numerous net photosynthetic and dark respiratory measurements were made over a period of 4 years on leaves of 24 sour orange (Citrus aurantium) trees; 8 of them growing in ambient air at a mean CO(2) concentration of 400 microliters per liter, and 16 growing in air enriched with CO(2) to concentrations approaching 1000 microliters per liter. Over this CO(2) concentration range, net photosynthes...

Because of the increasing recognition that Campylobacter jejuni is an important enteric pathogen of humans, we studied the effects of widely used disinfectants on the viability of this organism. At an inoculum size of 10(3) to 10(4) CFU/ml, 1.25 mg of hypochlorite per liter killed three strains within 1 min. At an inoculum size of 10(6) to 10(7) CFU/ml, 5 mg of hypochlorite per liter killed thr...