OBJECTIVES The study objective was to identify the size of different hospital financing sources for different hospital services and their impact on the uninsured. METHODS A panel dataset of 84 public general hospitals (2005-2008) with cross-section data on hospital activity and hospital revenue was created and used to calculate unit costs of different hospital services by applying multiple re...

BACKGROUND Measuring esophageal pressure (Pes) using an air-filled balloon catheter (BC) is the common approach to estimate pleural pressure and related parameters. However, Pes is not routinely measured in mechanically ventilated patients, partly due to technical and practical limitations and difficulties. This study aimed at comparing the conventional BC with two alternative methods for Pes m...

Archerfish are well known for their specialized hunting technique of spitting water at prey located above the water line. This unique ability has made them a popular focus of study as researchers try to understand the mechanisms involved in targeting and spitting. In more recent years, archerfish have also become an increasingly popular model for studying visual discrimination and learning in g...

Patients with acute lung injury (ALI) who retain maximal alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) have better clinical outcomes. Experimental and small clinical studies have shown that β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) agonists enhance AFC via a cAMP-dependent mechanism. However, two multicenter phase 3 clinical trials failed to show that β2AR agonists provide a survival advantage in patients with ALI. We hy...

The Mont Shefford alkaline complex of southern Quebec contains mafic rocks and both silica-oversatwated and -undersaturated syenites. Chemical and isotopic studies examine the relationship of the various lithologies. Isotopic, major, and trace-element compositions are consistent with derivation of all Iithologies from a common mafic paren! some of which evolved to a syenitic itage by fractional...

BACKGROUND Acute elevation of left atrial pressure (LAP) increases extravascular water and impairs active Na(+) transport in rat lungs. We have reported that overexpression of Na,K-ATPase subunit genes in the alveolar epithelium increases alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) in normal and injured rat lungs with normal LAP. We reasoned that adenovirus-mediated transfer of an Na,K-ATPase beta-subunit g...

CONTEXT Ovarian dysfunction is classically categorized on the basis of cycle history, FSH, and estradiol levels. Novel ovarian markers may provide a more direct insight into follicular quantity in hypergonadotropic women. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to investigate the distribution of novel ovarian markers in young hypergonadotropic women as compared with normogonadotropic regular...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate whether values of FSH, LH, estradiol, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), inhibin B, antral follicle count (AFC) and ovarian volume (OV) determined on day 7 of the hormone-free interval are similar to values measured on days 2-5 of two subsequent natural menstrual cycles. In addition, values measured on day 7 of the hormone-free interval were examined f...

This study describes the effects of incubating antibody-forming cells (AFC), either as mass cell suspensions, or as single AFC in microdroplets, with antigens against which the cells display specificity. Most of the work was done with hapten-specific anti-DNP-AFC, but AFC with specificity against flagellar antigens or fowl gamma globulin (FGG) were also included. It was noted that 30-min incuba...

STUDY QUESTION What is the prevalence in a normal population of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) according to the Rotterdam criteria versus revised criteria including anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH)? SUMMARY ANSWER The prevalence of PCOS was 16.6% according to the Rotterdam criteria. When replacing the criterion for polycystic ovaries by antral follicle count (AFC) > 19 or AMH > 35 pmol/l, the p...