La publicación de los conjuntos de datos por medio de las revistas científicas: el caso de pensar en movimiento / A publicação de conjuntos de dados através de revistas científicas: o caso de Pensar en Movimiento / The publication of data sets through scientific journals: The case of Pensar en Movimiento

Varela-Briceño, M. (2023). La publicación de los conjuntos de datos por medio de las revistas científicas: el caso de Pensar en Movimiento. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 21(1), 1-6. La publicación científica ha evolucionado y con ellos las revistas académicas, desde sus inicios en versiones impresas y actualmente las electrónicas, lo cual ha llevado a una serie de cambios en los procesos de gestión. Es así que se han establecidos los movimientos del acceso y la ciencia abierta. El propósito de este editorial es hacer un recorrido sobre la publicación de conjuntos de datos, su importancia y ventajas; además de mostrar la iniciativa de Pensar en Movimiento de poner a disposición las bases de datos que acompañan los artículos de investigación.

Varela-Briceño, M. (2023). The publication of data sets through scientific journals: The case of Pensar en Movimiento. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 21(1), 1-6. Scientific publishing has evolved, and academic journals have evolved with it—initially in printed versions, and currently in electronic ones. This has resulted in a series of changes in management processes. For instance, the movements for open access and science have emerged. The purpose of this editorial is to present an overview of the publication of data sets, its importance and advantages, in addition to showing the initiative of Pensar en Movimiento to make available the data bases that go along with research articles.

Varela-Briceño, M. (2023). A publicação de conjuntos de dados através de revistas científicas: o caso de Pensar en Movimiento. PENSAR EN MOVIMIENTO: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y de la Salud, 21(1), 1-6. A publicação científica evoluiu, e com ela as revistas acadêmicas; desde sua criação, em versões impressas, e atualmente eletrônicas, o que levou a uma série de mudanças nos processos de gestão. É assim que os movimentos de acesso e ciência aberta foram estabelecidos. O objetivo deste editorial é fazer uma jornada pela publicação de conjuntos de dados, sua importância e vantagens; além de mostrar a iniciativa da revista Pensar en Movimiento de disponibilizar as bases de dados que acompanham os artigos de pesquisa.

Práticas psicológicas nos Creas do interior do RS: o olhar de trabalhadoras(es) / Psychological practices on CREAS in the countryside of the state of Rio Grande do Sul: perspectives of workers / Prácticas psicológicas en CREAS en el interior de Rio Grande do Sul: perspectiva de trabajadoras/es

O presente texto tem o objetivo de explanar ações desempenhadas por psicólogas(os) trabalhadoras(es) dos Centros de Referência Especializados de Assistência Social (Creas), em situações de violência intrafamiliar, identificadas a partir do estude empírico realizado por mim, psicóloga pesquisadora, também trabalhadora de um Creas. Participaram da pesquisa doze psicólogas(os), trabalhadoras(es) destes centros, em sete municípios do interior do Rio Grande do Sul, onde foram realizadas, presencialmente, as entrevistas. A análise dos dados apontou para uma compreensão metodológica a partir de três dimensões já apontadas na bibliografia, sendo elas: a) Acolhida Inicial, que demonstra que esses profissionais geralmente iniciam suas práticas com uma família ou indivíduo indo ao encontro destes, buscando a vinculação dos mesmos com o serviço; b) Acompanhamento Especializado, onde essas(es) trabalhadoras(es) desenvolvem suas práticas com diversidade e criatividade, a partir de visitas domiciliares, trabalhos com grupos, indivíduos ou famílias, geralmente em conjunto com outros profissionais, principalmente assistentes sociais; c) Articulação com a Rede, onde se identificou um importante movimento para o trabalho em conjunto com outros serviços disponíveis no território. Por fim, as considerações finais indicam que ainda há um caminho a ser trilhado com relação à definição das práticas dos psicólogos no Creas. Porém, há muito que se falar a respeito de práticas que já estão ocorrendo. Assim, tornam-se relevantes as pesquisas acadêmicas nesse contexto, pois ao inserir os profissionais psicólogos trabalhadores da política, eles podem promover uma articulação entre a produção do fazer cotidiano e a reflexão teórica e acadêmica sustentada pelas pesquisas.(AU)

This study aims to explore the activities developed by psychologists from the Centros de Referência de Atenção Especializada (CREAS - Brazilian Specialized Social Assistance Reference Centers), regarding situations of intrafamily violence identified by me, the author, a research psychologist and, CREAS worker. Participants include 12 psychologists who work on such centers from 7 cities in the countryside of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where the interviews were conducted in person. The data analysis pointed toward a methodological comprehension based on 3 dimensions that have already been mentioned in the literature: the Initial Approach, which shows that these workers usually initiate their practices with a family or an individual by going after them, seeking bond development with the service. The Specialized Follow-up, in which these workers develop their practices with diversity and creativity, through home visits and activities with group, family or individual, often with other workers, such as social assistance workers. And the Network Articulation, in which a significant movement toward working with the public services available on each territory is identified. Finally, there is still a path to be taken regarding the definition of psychological practices on CREAS, however, there is much to be noticed of what has already been occurring. Thus, academic research on such context is relevant since the inclusion of psychologists who work in this policy may promote an articulation between daily activity and the theoretical and academic reflection, supported by the research.(AU)

Este texto tuvo por objetivo explicar las acciones desarrolladas por psicólogas/os trabajadoras/es en los "Centros de Referência Especializados de Assistência Social" (CREAS) (Centros de Referencia Especializados en Asistencia Social), respecto a las situaciones de violencia intrafamiliar, identificadas por un estudio empírico hecho por una psicóloga-investigadora que actúa en un CREAS. Participaron 12 psicólogas/os que trabajan en estos centros, en siete ciudades del interior de Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil), donde se llevó a cabo las entrevistas en persona. El análisis de datos apuntó a una comprensión metodológica de tres dimensiones ya destacadas en la bibliografía: la Acogida Inicial, que enseña que estos profesionales generalmente empiezan sus prácticas con una familia o individuo buscando el encuentro para la promoción de la vinculación con el servicio; El Seguimiento Especializado, en el que desarrollan sus prácticas con diversidad y creatividad desde visitas domiciliarias, trabajos con grupos, individuos o familias, generalmente junto a otros profesionales, sobre todo con trabajadores sociales; y Articulación con la Red de Servicios, en la cual se identificó un importante movimiento para el trabajo con otros servicios disponibles en el territorio. Por fin, se observa que todavía hay un camino por recorrer en relación a la definición de las prácticas de psicólogos en CREAS, aunque hay mucho que decir respecto a las prácticas que ya están ocurriendo. Así, se vuelven relevantes las investigaciones académicas en ese contexto por introducir a los profesionales psicólogos trabajadores de la política, las cuales pueden promover una articulación entre la producción del hacer cotidiano y la reflexión teórica y académica sustentada por las investigaciones.(AU)

Reflexões sobre o viés de publicação: um guia para praticantes de estatística para a análise de dados e uso inapropriado do coeficiente de correlação em ciências da saúde / Reflexions on publication bias: a guide for statisticians practitioners to data analysis and critical use of correlation coefficient in health sciences

A utilização de procedimentos estatísticos é de fundamental importância para a interpretação apropriada de um conjunto de dados. Desta forma, a baixa aderência do teste aos dados selecionados pode levar a conclusões inadequadas. Portanto, a escolha do teste paramétrico e não paramétrico para dados pareados deve levar em conta a normalidade dos dados. Com isso, aplicar o coeficiente de correlação de Pearson (teste paramétrico) em dados não paramétricos aumenta as chances de associações espúrias (por acaso ou erro sistemático), as quais resultam em erro do Tipo I. Entendendo que as vezes o pensamento do jovem pesquisador e também de editores de periódicos científicos serão guiados por resultados positivos. É comum a possibilidade de editores selecionarem artigos para publicação tendo como base o valor de p <0,05. Contudo, também seria importante selecionar os artigos levando em consideração os cumprimentos dos pressupostos para a utilização de testes paramétricos e não-paramétricos. Com isso, objetivo do presente estudo foi abordar os dois testes de coeficiente de correlação de Pearson e Spearman e sugerir recomendações para praticantes de estatística na área de Ciências da Saúde para a utilização segura e adequada dos dados antes da publicação.(AU)

The use of statistical procedures is of fundamental importance for the proper interpretation of data analysis. In this way, the low adherence of the test to the selected data can lead to inadequate conclusions. Therefore, the choice of parametric and non-parametric tests for paired data should take into account the normality of the data. Therefore, applying the Pearson correlation coefficient (non-parametric test) in non-parametric data increases the chances of spurious associations (by chance or systematic error), which result in a Type I error. Knowing that young researcher and editors of scientific journals might be guided by positive results. It is common for editors to select articles for publication based on p < 0.05 value. However, it would also be important to select papers taking into account the fulfillment of the assumptions for the use of parametric and non-parametric tests. Thus, the aim of the present study was to address the two Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficient tests and to suggest recommendations for practitioners of statistics in the area of Health Sciences for the safe and adequate use of data prior publication.(AU)

Involvement of the TNF-α Pathway in TKI Resistance and Suggestion of TNFR1 as a Predictive Biomarker for TKI Responsiveness in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

10% of labeled tumor cells) of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1), the protein product of TNFRSF1A gene, was correlated with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation and was an independent predictive factor of clinically unfavorable response and shorter survivals in separated TKI-treated ccRCC cohort.CONCLUSION: TNF-α signaling may play a role in TKI resistance, and TNFR1 expression may serve as a predictive biomarker for clinically unfavorable TKI responses in ccRCC.

Prediction of Chronic Disease-Related Inpatient Prolonged Length of Stay Using Machine Learning Algorithms / 대한의료정보학회지

Prediction of Drug–Drug Interactions by Using Profile Fingerprint Vectors and Protein Similarities / 대한의료정보학회지

Association between Full Electronic Medical Record System Adoption and Drug Use: Antibiotics and Polypharmacy / 대한의료정보학회지

Development and Validation of a Deep Learning System for Segmentation of Abdominal Muscle and Fat on Computed Tomography

Concordance of Three International Guidelines for Thyroid Nodules Classified by Ultrasonography and Diagnostic Performance of Biopsy Criteria

Clinical Usefulness of ¹⁸F-FC119S Positron-Emission Tomography as an Auxiliary Diagnostic Method for Dementia: An Open-Label, Single-Dose, Evaluator-Blind Clinical Trial

mTOR-coordinated Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulations: from Fundamental to Pathogenic Insights

Post-transcriptional regulations of mRNA transcripts such as alternative splicing and alternative polyadenylation can affect the expression of genes without changing the transcript levels. Recent studies have demonstrated that these post-transcriptional events can have significant physiological impacts on various biological systems and play important roles in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases, including cancers. Nevertheless, how cellular signaling pathways control these post-transcriptional processes in cells are not very well explored in the field yet. The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway plays a key role in sensing cellular nutrient and energy status and regulating the proliferation and growth of cells by controlling various anabolic and catabolic processes. Dysregulation of mTORC1 pathway can tip the metabolic balance of cells and is associated with a number of pathological conditions, including various types of cancers, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Numerous reports have shown that mTORC1 controls its downstream pathways through translational and/or transcriptional regulation of the expression of key downstream effectors. And, recent studies have also shown that mTORC1 can control downstream pathways via post-transcriptional regulations. In this review, we will discuss the roles of post-transcriptional processes in gene expression regulations and how mTORC1-mediated post-transcriptional regulations contribute to cellular physiological changes. We highlight post-transcriptional regulation as an additional layer of gene expression control by mTORC1 to steer cellular biology. These emphasize the importance of studying post-transcriptional events in transcriptome datasets for gaining a fuller understanding of gene expression regulations in the biological systems of interest.

Nationwide Cross-sectional Study of Association between Pterygium and Alkaline Phosphatase in a Population from Korea

PURPOSE: We determined whether elevated serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was related to prevalence, location, type, length, and recurrence of pterygium in a population from the Republic of Korea.METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional dataset, the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2008–2011), was used in this study. All participants were > 30 years of age and underwent the ALP test and ophthalmic evaluation (n = 22,359). One-way analysis of variance, the chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test were used to compare characteristics and outcomes among participants. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the possible associations between serum ALP levels and various types of pterygium. Data were adjusted for known risk factors for development of pterygium and ALP elevation (age, sex, residence, sunlight exposure, drinking, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, BMI, AST, ALT, vitamin D, and HDL).RESULTS: The overall prevalence of pterygium was 8.1%, and participants with pterygium had higher levels of serum ALP (p < 0.001). Participants with higher serum ALP had a significantly higher prevalence of all types of pterygium than those in the lower serum ALP quartiles. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that ALP was associated with the prevalence of pterygium (odds ratio [OR], 1.001; p = 0.038). Trend analysis between the OR and ALP quartiles revealed a linear trend in overall prevalence and in the intermediate type of pterygium. Subgroup analysis revealed a stronger correlation in participants > 50 years of age. One-way analysis of variance revealed an association between the size of pterygium and serum ALP quartile levels. Serum ALP was not associated with recurrence of pterygium.CONCLUSIONS: Increased serum ALP was associated with the prevalence and size of pterygium.

Pathologic discrepancies between colposcopy-directed biopsy and loop electrosurgical excision procedure of the uterine cervix in women with cytologic high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: To investigate pathologic discrepancies between colposcopy-directed biopsy (CDB) of the cervix and loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) in women with cytologic high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs).METHODS: We retrospectively identified 297 patients who underwent both CDB and LEEP for HSILs in cervical cytology between 2015 and 2018, and compared their pathologic results. Considering the LEEP to be the gold standard, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of CDB for identifying cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) grades 2 and 3, adenocarcinoma in situ, and cancer (HSIL+). We also performed age subgroup analyses.RESULTS: Among the study population, 90.9% (270/297) had pathologic HSIL+ using the LEEP. The diagnostic performance of CDB for identifying HSIL+ was as follows: sensitivity, 87.8%; specificity, 59.3%; balanced accuracy, 73.6%; positive predictive value, 95.6%; and negative predictive value, 32.7%. Thirty-three false negative cases of CDB included CIN2,3 (n=29) and cervical cancer (n=4). The pathologic HSIL+ rate in patients with HSIL− by CDB was 67.3% (33/49). CDB exhibited a significant difference in the diagnosis of HSIL+ compared to LEEP in all patients (p<0.001). In age subgroup analyses, age groups <35 years and 35–50 years showed good agreement with the entire data set (p=0.496 and p=0.406, respectively), while age group ≥50 years did not (p=0.036).CONCLUSION: A significant pathologic discrepancy was observed between CDB and LEEP results in women with cytologic HSILs. The diagnostic inaccuracy of CDB increased in those ≥50 years of age.

Identification of Molecular Signatures in Mild Intrinsic Atopic Dermatitis by Bioinformatics Analysis

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is recognized as a common inflammatory skin disease and frequently occurred in Asian and Black individuals.OBJECTIVE: Since the limitation of dataset associated with human severe AD, this study aimed to screen potential novel biomarkers involved in mild AD.METHODS: Expression profile data (GSE75890) were obtained from the database of Gene Expression Omnibus. Using limma package, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between samples from AD and healthy control were selected. Furthermore, function analysis was conducted. Meanwhile, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and transcription factor (TF)-miRNA-target regulatory network were constructed. And quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to validate the expressions patterns of key genes.RESULTS: In total, 285 DEGs including 214 upregulated and 71 downregulated genes were identified between samples from two groups. The upregulated DEGs were mainly involved in nine pathways, such as hematopoietic cell lineage, pertussis, p53 signaling pathway, staphylococcus aureus infection, and cell cycle, while tight junction was the only pathway enriched by the downregulated DEGs. Cyclin B (CCNB)1, CCNB2, cyclin A (CCNA)2, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL)10, and CXCL9 were key nodes in PPI network. The TF-miRNA-target gene regulatory network focused on miRNAs such as miR-106b, miR-106a, and miR-17, TFs such as nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1, RELA proto-oncogene, Sp1 transcription factor, and genes such as matrix metallopeptidase 9, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma , and serpin family E member 1. Moreover, the upregulation of these genes, including CCNB1, CCNB2, CCNA2, CXCL10, and CXCL9 were confirmed by qRT-PCR.CONCLUSION: CCNB1, CCNB2, CCNA2, and CXCL9 might be novel markers of mild AD. miR-106b and miR-17 may involve in regulation of immune response in AD patients.

Feasibility of fully automated classification of whole slide images based on deep learning

Although microscopic analysis of tissue slides has been the basis for disease diagnosis for decades, intra- and inter-observer variabilities remain issues to be resolved. The recent introduction of digital scanners has allowed for using deep learning in the analysis of tissue images because many whole slide images (WSIs) are accessible to researchers. In the present study, we investigated the possibility of a deep learning-based, fully automated, computer-aided diagnosis system with WSIs from a stomach adenocarcinoma dataset. Three different convolutional neural network architectures were tested to determine the better architecture for tissue classifier. Each network was trained to classify small tissue patches into normal or tumor. Based on the patch-level classification, tumor probability heatmaps can be overlaid on tissue images. We observed three different tissue patterns, including clear normal, clear tumor and ambiguous cases. We suggest that longer inspection time can be assigned to ambiguous cases compared to clear normal cases, increasing the accuracy and efficiency of histopathologic diagnosis by pre-evaluating the status of the WSIs. When the classifier was tested with completely different WSI dataset, the performance was not optimal because of the different tissue preparation quality. By including a small amount of data from the new dataset for training, the performance for the new dataset was much enhanced. These results indicated that WSI dataset should include tissues prepared from many different preparation conditions to construct a generalized tissue classifier. Thus, multi-national/multi-center dataset should be built for the application of deep learning in the real world medical practice.

Characterization of circadian blood pressure patterns using non-linear mixed effects modeling

Characterizing the time course of baseline or pre-drug blood pressure is important in acquiring unbiased estimates of antihypertensive drug effect. In this study, we recruited 23 healthy male volunteers and measured systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) over 24 hours on an hourly basis. Using a non-linear mixed effects model, circadian rhythm observed in blood pressure measurements was described by incorporating two cosine functions with periods 24 and 12 hours. A mixture model was applied to identify subgroups exhibiting qualitatively different circadian rhythms. Our results suggested that 78% of the study population, defined as ‘dippers’, demonstrated a typical circadian profile with a morning rise and a nocturnal dip. The remaining 22% of the subjects defined as ‘non-dippers’, however, were not adequately described using the typical profile and demonstrated an elevation of blood pressure during night-time. Covariate search identified weight as being positively correlated with mesor of SBP. Visual predictive checks using 1,000 simulated datasets were performed for model validation. Observations were in agreement with predicted values in ‘dippers’, but deviated slightly in ‘non-dippers’. Our work is expected to serve as a useful reference in assessing systematic intra-day blood pressure fluctuations and antihypertensive effects as well as assessing drug safety of incrementally modified drugs.

Sealing capability and marginal fit of titanium versus zirconia abutments with different connection designs

PURPOSE: Limited data is available regarding the differences for possible microleakage problems and fitting accuracy of zirconia versus titanium abutments with various connection designs. The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the effect of connection design and abutment material on the sealing capability and fitting accuracy of abutments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 42 abutments with different connection designs [internal conical (IC), internal tri-channel (IT), and external hexagonal (EH)] and abutment materials [titanium (Ti) and zirconia (Zr)] were evaluated. The inner parts of implants were inoculated with 0.7 µL of polymicrobial culture (P. gingivalis, T. forsythia, T. denticola and F. nucleatum) and connected with their respective abutments under sterile conditions. The penetration of bacteria into the surrounding media was assessed by the visual evaluation of turbidity at each time point and the number of colony forming units (CFUs) was counted. The marginal gap at the implant- abutment interface (IAI) was measured by scanning electron microscope. The data sets were statistically analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis followed by Mann-Whitney U tests with the Bonferroni-Holm correction (α=.05). RESULTS: Statistically significant difference was found among the groups based on the results of leaked colonies (P<.05). The EH-Ti group characterized by an external hexagonal connection were less resistant to bacterial leakage than the groups EH-Zr, IT-Zr, IT-Ti, IC-Zr, and IC-Ti (P<.05). The marginal misfit (in µm) of the groups were in the range of 2.7–4.0 (IC-Zr), 1.8–5.3 (IC-Ti), 6.5–17.1 (IT-Zr), 5.4–12.0 (IT-Ti), 16.8–22.7 (EH-Zr), and 10.3–15.4 (EH-Ti). CONCLUSION: The sealing capability and marginal fit of abutments were affected by the type of abutment material and connection design.

fNIRS Assessment during an Emotional Stroop Task among Patients with Depression: Replication and Extension

OBJECTIVE: Accumulated evidence collected via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has been reported with regard to mental disorders. A previous finding revealed that emotional words evoke left frontal cortex activity in patients with depression. The primary aim of the current study was to replicate this finding using an independent dataset and evaluate the brain region associated with the severity of depression using an emotional Stroop task. METHODS: Oxygenized and deoxygenized hemoglobin recording in the brain by fNIRS on 14 MDD patients and 20 normal controls. RESULTS: Hyperactivated oxygenized hemoglobin was observed in the left frontal cortex on exposure to unfavorable stimuli, but no significant difference was found among patients with depression compared with healthy controls on exposure to favorable stimuli. This result is consistent with previous findings. Moreover, an evoked wave associated with the left upper frontal cortex on favorable stimuli was inversely correlated with the severity of depression. CONCLUSION: Our current work using fNIRS provides a potential clue regarding the location of depression symptom severity in the left upper frontal cortex. Future studies should verify our findings and expand them into a precise etiology of depression.

Identifying Minimum Data Sets of Oral Mucous Integrity Assessment for Documentation Systematization / 중환자간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify minimum data sets for oral mucous integrity-related documentation and to analyze nursing records for oral care.METHODS: To identify minimum data sets for oral status, the authors reviewed 26 assessment tools and a practical guideline for oral care. The content validity of the minimum data sets was assessed by three nurse specialists. To map the minimum data sets to nursing records, the authors examined 107 nursing records derived from 44 patients who received chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in one tertiary hospital.RESULTS: The minimum data sets were 10 elements such as location, mucositis grade, pain, hygiene, dysphagia, exudate, inflammation, difficulty speaking, and moisture. Inflammation contained two value sets: type and color. Mucositis grade, pain, dysphagia and inflammation were recorded well, accounting for a complete mapping rate of 100%. Hygiene (100%) was incompletely mapped, and there were no records for exudate (83.2%), difficulty speaking (99.1%), or moisture (88.8%).CONCLUSION: This study found that nursing records on oral mucous integrity were not sufficient and could be improved by adopting minimum data sets as identified in this study.

Dosage-Related Prebiotic Effects of Inulin in Formula-Fed Infants / 대한소아소화기영양학회지

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify the minimally meaningful dosage of inulin leading to a prebiotic effect in Indonesian infants. METHODS: In a randomized controlled double-blinded, parallel, 3-arm intervention study, 164 healthy formula-fed infants aged 3 to 5 months first obtained formula-A (without inulin) during a 4-week adaptation period. Subsequently, 142 subjects were subjected to a 4-week feeding period by administering either formula-A (no inulin), formula-B (0.2 g/100 mL inulin) or formula-C (0.4 g/100 mL inulin). The primary outcome parameter was %-bifidobacteria in faecal samples determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction analyses. Secondary outcome parameters were faecal %-lactobacilli, pH and stool frequency, and consistency. Growth and tolerance/adverse effects were recorded as safety parameters. RESULTS: Typical %-bifidobacteria and %-lactobacilli at the end of the adaptation period in the study population were 14% and 2%, respectively. For faecal pH, significant differences between formula groups A vs. C and A vs. B were found at the end of the intervention period. Testing for differences in faecal %-bifidobacteria and %-lactobacilli between groups was hampered by non-normal data set distributions; no statistically significant differences were obtained. Comparisons within groups revealed that only in formula group C, all the three relevant parameters exhibited a significant effect with an increase in faecal %-bifidobacteria and %-lactobacilli and a decrease in pH. CONCLUSION: A consistent prebiotic effect along with a decrease in pH and increase in %-bifidobacteria and %-lactobacilli was found only in the group administered 0.4 g inulin/100 mL.