Groups 1 and 2 were consisted of matched patients with respect to age, gender, body mass index, disease duration, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte
sedimentation rate, total cholesterol, and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index. Mean duration of treatment for patients in group 1 was 12.6 +/- 6.8 months. Serum total antioxidative status (TAS) and total oxidative status (TOS) levels were determined using new automated methods. Oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated. The groups’ carotid intima-media thicknesses (IMT-C) were also measured using ultrasonography. Group 1 had the highest TAS and lowest TOS levels. The TOS levels of group 1 was lower than the control, while group 2 being higher than controls. The ACY-241 mouse difference in TOS levels between group 1 and group 2 was statistically significant (p = 0.040). OSI values were highest in group selleck kinase inhibitor 2 and lowest in group 1. There was no significant correlation between oxidant/antioxidant parameters and IMT-C for group 1 (r = -0.30, p = 0.198 for OSI; r = 0.22, p = 0.366 for TAS; r = -0.22, p = 0.361 for TOS). This is the first study to evaluate total oxidative/antioxidative status in patients with AS on anti-TNF agent. These results clearly indicate positive effects of anti-TNF treatment on oxidative status of AS patients. The limited effects of NSAIDs compared with controls
may be due to excess impaired oxidative status in the patients in this study.”
“The optimal duration of urethral catheterization during and after pelvic reconstructive surgery is not established. This study investigated the optimal duration of urinary catheterization in patients undergoing anterior vaginal repair with or PP2 nmr without other vaginal surgeries.
A total of 90 patients were included from April 2007 to March 2008. They were randomly divided into 2, 3, and 4 days urinary catheterization groups based on the color of the questionnaire papers they blindly chose. After catheter removal, the amount of post-void residual urine was used to measure the efficacy of bladder emptying. Differences between groups were determined using Chi-square
test, Fisher’s exact test, or Kruskal-Wallis test, as appropriate.
No significant differences were found in the amount of post-void residual urine between the three catheterization groups.
Our findings suggest that the duration of urethral catheterization after anterior colporrhaphy need not exceed 2 days.”
“We study the space charge limited field emission from an emitter whose surface has a simple periodic structure with bumps. The shape of each bump is represented by a smooth function and the emission is governed by the Fowler-Nordheim-Schottky law. A mathematical scheme for modeling the potential and current structure by a set of elementary functions is developed and implemented numerically with the help of a special least square procedure.