Assessment of the nutritional status of children according to maternal reports: Are mothers' perceptions of their children's appetite accurate?

INTRODUCTION: This study determined whether there is a difference in the nutritional status of children with good and poor appetites, as reported by their mothers. METHODS: In all, 70 volunteer mothers of children aged 6-60 months participated in the study. Information about the nutrition of the child was obtained from the mothers via a questionnaire. RESULTS: Based on the mothers' statements, no significant difference was found in the mean or median values of the anthropometric measurements between children with good and poor appetites (p>.05), and no significant difference was observed between daily consumed energy and macro- and micronutrients (p>.05). While the blood zinc levels of children with a good appetite were higher than those with a poor appetite (p<.05), there was no difference regarding other parameters (p>.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, no significant difference was evident between children defined as having good or poor appetite by their mothers, especially in terms of energy and nutrients.

Single-molecule imaging reveals control of parental histone recycling by free histones during DNA replication.

During replication, nucleosomes are disrupted ahead of the replication fork, followed by their reassembly on daughter strands from the pool of recycled parental and new histones. However, because no previous studies have managed to capture the moment that replication forks encounter nucleosomes, the mechanism of recycling has remained unclear. Here, through real-time single-molecule visualization of replication fork progression in Xenopus egg extracts, we determine explicitly the outcome of fork collisions with nucleosomes. Most of the parental histones are evicted from the DNA, with histone recycling, nucleosome sliding, and replication fork stalling also occurring but at lower frequencies. Critically, we find that local histone recycling becomes dominant upon depletion of endogenous histones from extracts, revealing that free histone concentration is a key modulator of parental histone dynamics at the replication fork. The mechanistic details revealed by these studies have major implications for our understanding of epigenetic inheritance.

PCR detection of Shiga toxins, enterohaemolysin and intimin virulence genes of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains isolated from faeces of Anatolian water buffaloes in Turkey.

The aim of this study was to detect Shiga toxins (stx1 and stx2), enterohaemolysin (EhlyA) and intimin (eaeA) virulence genes of 11 Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains isolated from faecal samples of 300 clinically healthy Anatolian water buffaloes by PCR. Multiplex PCR was used for the detection of stx1 and stx2, and singleplex PCRs were used for the detection of EhlyA and eaeA virulence genes respectively. A total of three (27.3%) strains were determined to harbour both of the stx1 and stx2 genes, of these, one (9.1%) only harboured these two genes alone, one (9.1%) also contained the EhlyA gene and one (9.1%) additionally contained the EhlyA and the eaeA genes. EhlyA gene was obtained from eight (72.7%) strains, six (54.5%) of these were alone. eaeA gene was positive in only one (9.1%) strain. Only one (9.1%) of the 11 E. coli O157:H7 strains harboured all the four virulence genes. Two (18.2%) of the isolates had none of the virulence genes. Enterohaemolysin was found to be the most common virulence factor. In conclusion, the virulence factors of E. coli O157:H7 strains isolated from the faeces of Anatolian water buffaloes were investigated and detected for the first time in Turkey.

First isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from faecal and milk specimens from anatolian water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalus) in Turkey.

Three hundred rectal faecal samples and 213 raw milk samples obtained from the tanks and containers were examined using standard cultural methods. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was isolated from 11 (3.7%) of 300 faecal samples and 3 (1.4%) of 213 raw milk samples. It was determined that 8 (73%) of E. coli O157:H7 strains isolated from faecal samples originated from water buffaloes younger than 2 years of age and 3 (27%) from 2-year-old and older water buffaloes. This is the 1st isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from faecal and milk samples of water buffaloes in Turkey.

Phase behavior and local dynamics of concentrated triblock copolymer micelles.

We report a neutron-scattering study to characterize the ordering and local dynamics of spherical micelles formed by the triblock copolymer polyethylene oxide (PEO)--polypropylene oxide (PPO)--polyethylene oxide (Pluronic) in aqueous solution. The study focuses on two Pluronic species, F68 and F108, that have the same weight fraction of PEO but that differ in chain length by approximately a factor of 2. At sufficiently high concentration, both species undergo a sequence of phase changes with increasing temperature from dissolved chains to micelles with liquid-like order to a cubic crystal phase and finally back to a micelle liquid phase. A comparison of the phase diagrams constructed from small-angle neutron scattering indicates that crystallization is suppressed for shorter chain micelles due to fluctuation effects. The intermediate scattering function I(Q,t)I(Q,0) determined by neutron spin echo displays a line shape with two distinct relaxations. Comparisons between I(Q,t)I(Q,0) for fully hydrogenated F68 chains in D2O and for F68 with deuterated PEO blocks reveal that the slower relaxation corresponds to Rouse modes of the PPO segments in the concentrated micelle cores. The faster relaxation is identified with longitudinal diffusive modes in the PEO corona characteristic of a polymer brush.

Evolution of particle-scale dynamics in an aging clay suspension.

Multispeckle x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy was employed to characterize the slow dynamics of a suspension of highly charged, nanometer-sized disks. At wave vectors q corresponding to interparticle length scales, the dynamic structure factor follows a form f(q,t) approximately exp([-(t/tau)(beta)], where beta approximately 1.5. The relaxation time tau increases with the sample age t(a) approximately as tau approximately t(1.8)(a) and decreases with q as tau approximately q(-1). Such behavior is consistent with models that describe the dynamics in disordered elastic media in terms of strain from random, local structural rearrangements. The measured amplitude of f(q,t) varies with q in a manner that implies caged particle motion. The decrease in the range of this motion and an increase in suspension conductivity with increasing t(a) indicate a growth in interparticle repulsion as the mechanism for internal stress development implied by these models.

Primary epiploic appendagitis: CT manifestations.

Inflammation of an epiploic appendage is considered to be a rare cause of acute abdomen. Recently, it has been reported that typical computed tomography (CT) findings of primary epiploic appendagitis (PEA) provide a definitive diagnosis in most of the cases. However, since these papers are only few, they are easily overlooked by the practicing radiologists. Our purpose is to add four new cases to the existing literature and to perform a review of the literature.

Peritoneal cytology in the determination of free tumour cells within the abdomen in colon cancer.

The presence of free tumour cells at the mesothelial surface in patients with intraperitoneal colon cancer is an important prognostic factor and may alter the decision regarding adjuvant chemotherapy. In this prospective study of 72 patients we aimed to show the existence of malignant cells in the peritoneal cavity by scraping the serosa and by peritoneal lavage. Intraoperative peritoneal cytology was performed in 72 colon cancer patients who underwent curative surgery in our department between 1992 and 1995. Specimens were obtained by peritoneal lavage and by scraping the serosa overlying the major tumour mass and an area of normal serosa at least 10 cm from the primary site. Slides were stained with haemotoxylen-eosine stain. Statistical analysis was performed with chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests. In conclusion, peritoneal washing and serosal cytological study appeared to be a simple and reliable method to detect serosal involvement and the existence of malignant cells in the peritoneal cavity.

[Effects of disinfectants on Campylobacter jejuni]. / Bazi dezenfektanlarin Campylobacter jejuni üzerindeki etkilerinin arastirilmasi.

The effect of three disinfectants on Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from poultry feces was investigated. Two-fold dilutions of ethyl alcohol, formalin and benzalkonium chloride were contacted with bacterial suspension in 1 to 60 minutes. Seventy per cent of ethyl alcohol and 2.5 per cent of formalin killed all bacteria within one minute. Benzalkonium chloride (1:50.000) was effective to all bacteria within 5 minutes. Under the conditions of this study, the recommended standard concentrations of disinfectants examined were adequate to destroy C. jejuni.

[Comparison of Campylobacter jejuni isolation methods and the effect of moisture content on colony morphology]. / Campylobacter jejuni izolasyon yöntemlerinin karsilastirilmasi ve nemin koloni morfolojisi üzerine etkisi.

Several isolation methods and media and the effect of moisture content on colony morphology were compared for the primary isolation of Campylobacter jejuni. Of the 200 rectal swabs from cattle and sheep tested for the isolation of C. jejuni, 19.5% were positive on Butzler medium and 16.5% were positive on Skirrow medium. The transportation of samples in modified Cary-Blair medium increased the isolation rate. Of the 300 gallbladder from cattle and sheep tested for the isolation of C. jejuni, 5% were positive by direct inoculation of bile, 27% were positive by swabbing and 31% were positive by selective enrichment method. The organism produced two different type of colonies on fresh and dried media.