BACKGROUND Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the single most common vaginal infection in women of childbearing age and associated with a sizeable infectious disease burden among both non-pregnant and pregnant women, including a significantly elevated risk of adverse pregnancy outcome. Overall, little progress has been made in identifying causal factors involved in BV acquisition and persistence. We s...

The Bricker ileal conduit has been the most popular urinary diversion technique following a radical cystectomy since the 1950s. The procedure typically provides a high quality of life for patients. However, stomal complications occur in 16%-65% of ileal conduit cases. We describe an easy technique to aid in the intussusception of a Bricker ileal conduit. This technique produces stomas with a he...

Since bacterial nitroreduction may play a critical role in the activation of nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, we have used batch and semicontinuous culture systems to determine the ability of intestinal microflora to metabolize the carcinogen 6-nitrochrysene (6-NC). 6-NC was metabolized by the intestinal microflora present in the semicontinuous culture system to 6-aminochrysene (6-AC), N-...

We examined the degradation of biphenyl and the commercial polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture Aroclor 1221 by indigenous Arctic soil microorganisms to assess both the response of the soil microflora to PCB pollution and the potential of the microflora for bioremediation. In soil slurries, Arctic soil microflora and temperate-soil microflora had similar potentials to mineralize [14C]biphenyl...

BACKGROUND Benign ileal strictures can cause considerable morbidity and they have been conventionally treated with surgery. The aim of this study was to report our experience of endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) in patients with terminal ileal strictures because of Crohn's disease and tuberculosis. METHODS Over the last 8 years, 9 patients (6 males; mean age 39.7±13.2 years) with benign ter...

The substrate specificity of the ileal and the hepatic Na(+)/bile acid cotransporters was determined using brush border membrane vesicles and CHO cell lines permanently expressing the Na(+)/bile acid cotransporters from rabbit ileum or rabbit liver. The hepatic transporter showed a remarkably broad specificity for interaction with cholephilic compounds in contrast to the ileal system. The anion...