BACKGROUND Sickle cell disease (HbSS) is a major health problem in Nigeria and malaria has been implicated as a leading cause of morbidity/mortality in sickle cell disease patients. Few reasons were put forward to explain the observed morbidity/mortality of HbSS subjects due to Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) malaria. OBJECTIVES To determine the level of immunoglobulin classes (IgM, IgA...

In previous studies on the formation of Lymantria dispar nuclear polyhedrosis virus (LdMNPV) few polyhedra (FP) mutants, several polyhedron formation mutants (PFM) were identified that appeared to be unique. These viral mutants are being characterized to investigate the processes of polyhedron formation and virion occlusion. LdMNPV isolate PFM-1 is one of these mutants, and is described in this...

BACKGROUND The proper evaluation of the pelvic floor muscles (PFM) is essential for choosing the correct treatment. Currently, there is no gold standard for the assessment of female PFM function. OBJECTIVE To determine the correlation between vaginal palpation, vaginal squeeze pressure, and electromyographic and ultrasonographic variables of the female PFM. METHOD This cross-sectional study...

AIMS To investigate the muscle activation patterns of the abdomino-pelvic region used by incontinent women during a pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction and a Valsalva manouevre compared to healthy, asymptomatic subjects. METHODS Thirteen incontinent (symptomatic) women, identified using ultrasound to be consistently depressing the bladder base during PFM contraction, and thirteen continent ...

Pelvic floor muscle (PFM) training has received Level-A evidence rating in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women, based on meta-analysis of numerous randomized control trials (RCTs) and is recommended in many published guidelines. However, the actual regimen of PFM training used varies widely in these RCTs. Hence, to date, the optimal PFM training regimen for achieving con...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess pelvic floor muscle (PFM) strength in different body positions in nulliparous healthy women and its correlation with sexual activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty healthy nulliparous women with mean age of 23 years were prospectively studied. Subjective evaluation of PFM was assessed by transvaginal digital palpation (TDP) of anterior and posterior...

OBJECTIVE To assess the discrepancies in marginal integrity and contact points of Porcelain Fused to Metal (PFM) crowns and its association with caries in adjacent teeth. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Dental Section of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January to August 2009. METHODOLOGY Ninety six (96) patients with PFM crowns on maxillary ...

Piezoresponse force-microscopy (PFM) has become the standard tool to investigate ferroelectrics on the micro- and nanoscale. However, reliability of PFM signals is often problematic and their quantification is challenging and thus not widely applied. Here, we present a study of the reproducibility of PFM signals and of the so-called PFM background signal which has been reported in the literatur...

The mechanism of uptake and efflux of porfiromycin (PFM) by HCT 116 human colon carcinoma cells or freshly obtained human RBC was investigated. The time course of uptake of radioactivity upon exposure of HCT 116 cells to [14C]PFM showed one fast and one slow phase of linear increase. The initial phase of PFM uptake was not saturable with external drug concentrations from 2 to 100 microM. PFM ac...