Left-right tympanal size asymmetry in the parasitoid fly .

is a parasitoid fly notable for its impressive hearing abilities relative to its small size. Here, we use it as a model organism to investigate if minor size differences in paired sensory organs may be beneficial or neutral to an organism's perception abilities. We took high-resolution images of tympanal organs from 21 specimens and found a statistically significant surface area asymmetry (up to 6.

Low mortality in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in three regional centers in England.

Objectives: Recent epidemiological studies suggest that mortality rates for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are similar to those of the general population. However, most of this work has been done in referred populations or larger urban centers. We intended to estimate mortality rates for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) in three British district general hospital practices in Wolverhampton, Salisbury, and Swindon.

The rise of Clostridium difficile: the effect of length of stay, patient age and antibiotic use.

Hospitals in the UK have recently seen a marked increase in C. difficile for reasons which are unclear. Reduced standards of hygiene, increasingly elderly patients, greater cephalosporin use and longer hospital stay have been suggested.

Sulphasalazine treatment and the colorectal mucosa-associated flora in ulcerative colitis.

Aim: To study the influence of sulphasalazine treatment on the mucosa-associated bacterial flora of rectal biopsy tissue specimens in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Patients: Twenty-four patients had newly diagnosed active ulcerative colitis; 20 patients had acute relapse of ulcerative colitis (10 not taking maintenance sulphasalazine); (40 patients had quiescent ulcerative colitis; 21 not taking maintenance sulphasalazine). The influence of 3 weeks of sulphasalazine treatment on the mucosa-associated flora was studied in the patients presenting with active disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease and domestic hygiene in infancy.

To test the hypothesis that Crohn's disease is caused by delayed exposure to enteric infections, we did a case-control study. We compared 133 patients who have Crohn's disease and 231 with ulcerative colitis who have controls selected from the general population and matched for age and sex. Crohn's disease was more common in subjects whose first houses had a hot-water tap (odds ratio 5.

Adhesive and hydrophobic properties of Escherichia coli from the rectal mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis.

The adherent properties and hydrophobicity of Escherichia coli isolates have been compared from the rectal mucosa of patients with active and inactive ulcerative colitis and from a control patient group. Patients with active colitis were colonised less frequently and with lower numbers of E coli than were control patients. Mannose resistant adhesion to HEp-2 cells was determined for 124 isolates of E coli and surface hydrophobicity was estimated by salt agglutination in 96 of these isolates.

The rectal mucosa-associated microflora in patients with ulcerative colitis.

The rectal mucosa-associated flora (MAF) of patients with ulcerative colitis has been studied in 25 patients with newly diagnosed disease, 20 with relapse of existing disease, and 44 who were in remission. Patients with active disease were re-examined twice during treatment. The MAF was simpler and less dense than the microflora of faeces.

Search for enteric microbial pathogens in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Microbial pathogens were sought in faeces of patients with active ulcerative colitis and again after 3 months treatment. 64 patients were examined during their first episode of ulcerative colitis and 30 with relapse of chronic disease. At presentation, bacterial pathogens were not found; 1 patient had cryptosporidiosis.

The impact of the M1 air crash on the radiological services at the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham.

Following the M1 air crash on 8 January 1989, 39 casualties were taken to the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham. A team of 31 radiographers and four radiologists used all five X-ray rooms adjacent to the Accident and Emergency Department. Patients with head and spinal injuries were further assessed in the CT suite by four radiographers and a neuroradiologist.

Fabrication of a metal-cored multi-barrelled microiontophoresis assembly.

A method is described for fabrication of 7-barrelled microiontophoresis electrodes with a center barrel of platinum-coated tungsten. The electrodes require a minimum of expensive apparatus and can be fabricated in an hour or two. The electrodes have low recording impedance (typically 100 k omega and low resistance iontophoresis barrels (typically 20-50 M omega).

Comparison of cimetidine and pirenzepine in the healing and maintenance of remission in duodenal ulcer.

The effect of cimetidine and pirenzepine on the maintenance of healing in duodenal ulceration has been compared in a multi-centre, controlled study. One hundred and sixty-six patients with endoscopically proven duodenal ulceration have been randomised to receive either cimetidine 200 mg t.i.

Time relationships between cessation of smoking and onset of ulcerative colitis.

From 5 centres 154 patients with ulcerative colitis and a history of smoking completed a questionnaire about the temporal relationship between diagnosis of colitis and cessation of smoking. One hundred and thirty-eight of these were ex-smokers and 107 (69.5%) had stopped smoking before the diagnosis of colitis was made.

Comparative trial of sodium cromoglycate enemas with prednisolone enemas in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

A double blind multicentre study comparing sodium cromoglycate (600 mg/100 ml) by enema with prednisolone (20 mg/100 ml) by enema is reported. The study was conducted over a nine week period in the treatment of 70 patients with ulcerative colitis. Analysis of symptoms showed significant decreases in scores for patients in both groups, both at four and eight weeks; the only difference between the two groups was a significantly greater improvement in the reduction of rectal bleeding after four weeks in the prednisolone group.

Grade III injuries of the lateral ligaments of the ankle: the incidence and a simple stress test.

One hundred and seventy-five consecutive acute ankle injuries were assessed for instability. A simplified radiological anterior stress test, without anaesthesia, was used to assess instability. Nineteen patients (11%) showed evidence of gross instability (Grade III injuries).

Improving radiographs of the injured shoulder.

Axial radiographs of the injured shoulder may be difficult to obtain where there is pain or spasm in the shoulder region and abduction is painful or impossible. The modified axial view for the injured shoulder has been used in Nottingham for the past three years and the technique and some of the radiographs obtained are demonstrated here.

A double-blind controlled trial of the effect of sodium cromoglycate in preventing relapse in ulcerative colitis.

A double-blind controlled trial of the effect of sodium cromoglycate (SCG) in preventing relapse in ulcerative colitis has been completed in 100 subjects. In patients already taking sulphasalazine, SCG did not prove to be of any additional benefit. However, in patients not on any other maintenance therapy, the relapse rate was 40% for SCG as compared with 75% for placebo.