Botulinum toxin type B vs. type A in toxin-naïve patients with cervical dystonia: Randomized, double-blind, noninferiority trial.

The objective of this study was to compare efficacy, safety, and duration of botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) and type B (BoNT-B) in toxin-naïve cervical dystonia (CD) subjects. BoNT-naïve CD subjects were randomized to BoNT-A or BoNT-B and evaluated in a double-blind trial at baseline and every 4-weeks following one treatment. The primary measure was the change in Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) from baseline to week 4 post-injection.

Vaccination success rate and reaction profile with diluted and undiluted smallpox vaccine: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: Additional smallpox vaccine doses are needed to augment current US national stockpile. Aventis Pasteur smallpox vaccine (APSV), initially manufactured in the 1950s from the New York Board of Health vaccinia strain in a frozen preparation, appears as effective as lyophilized vaccine but the effectiveness of diluted doses of APSV is unclear.

Objective: To compare the vaccination success rate and the reaction profile of various APSV dilutions.

Control of endemic vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus among inpatients at a university hospital.

We sought to determine the ability of surveillance cultures and isolation of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE)-colonized patients to control nosocomial VRE infection and colonization during a 5-year period (November 1994 through October 1999). During this period, VRE colonization was limited to 0.82% of admissions.

Spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among household contacts of individuals with nosocomially acquired MRSA.

Objective: To determine the frequency with which methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is spread from colonized or infected patients to their household and community contacts.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: University hospital.

Depressor and tachypneic responses to chemical stimulation of the ventral respiratory group are reduced by ablation of neurokinin-1 receptor-expressing neurons.

Our goal was to investigate whether the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R)-expressing cells of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) regulate respiration and arterial pressure (AP). We examined the consequences of their ablation on the cardiorespiratory responses [phrenic nerve discharge (PND) and AP] caused by injecting dl-homocysteic acid (DLH) into the ventral respiratory group (VRG). In intact rats, DLH produced tachypnea only when injected into the pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC).