Effect of docosahexaenoic acid-enriched fish oil supplementation in pregnant women with Type 2 diabetes on membrane fatty acids and fetal body composition--double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled trial.

AIMS: To test if docosahexaenoic acid-enriched fish oil supplementation rectifies red cell membrane lipid anomaly in pregnant women with Type 2 diabetes and their neonates, and alters fetal body composition. METHODS: Women with Type 2 diabetes (n = 88; 41 fish oil, 47 placebo) and healthy women (n = 85; 45 fish oil, 40 placebo) were supplemented from the first trimester until delivery. Blood fatty acid composition, fetal biometric and neonatal anthropometric measurements were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 117 women completed the trial. The women with Type 2 diabetes who took fish oil compared with those who received placebo had higher percentage of docosahexaenoic acid in red cell phosphatidylethanolamine in the third trimester (12.0% vs. 8.9%, P = 0.000) and at delivery (10.7% vs. 7.4%, P = 0.001). Similarly, the neonates of the women with Type 2 diabetes supplemented with the fish oil had increased docosahexaenoic acid in the red cell phosphatidylethanolamine (9.2% vs. 7.7%, P = 0.027) and plasma phosphatidylcholine (6.1% vs. 4.7%, P = 0.020). Docosahexaenoic acid-rich fish oil had no effect on the body composition of the fetus and neonates of the women with Type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: A daily dose of 600 mg of docosahexaenoic acid was effective in ameliorating red cell membrane docosahexaenoic acid anomaly in pregnant women with Type 2 diabetes and neonates, and in preventing the decline of maternal docosahexaenoic acid during pregnancy. We suggest that the provision of docosahexaenoic acid supplement should be integrated in the antenatal care of pregnant women with Type 2 diabetes.

Ghost orbit spectroscopy.

Direct periodic-orbit expansions of individual spectral eigenvalues is a new direction in quantum mechanics. Using a unitary -matrix theory, we present exact, convergent, integral-free ghost orbit expansions of spectral eigenvalues for a step potential in the tunneling regime. We suggest an experiment to extract ghost orbit information from measured spectra in the tunneling regime (ghost orbit spectroscopy). We contrast our unitary, convergent theory with a recently published nonunitary, divergent theory [Yu. Dabaghian and R. Jensen, Eur. J. Phys. 26, 423 (2005)].

Dental unit waterline contamination and its possible implications during periodontal surgery.

BACKGROUND: Dental unit waterline contamination has become a concern to clinical dentistry. This concern arises from the fact that bacteria sloughed from established biofilms in dental unit waterlines increase heterotrophic bacteria counts in water exiting these units. METHODS: Scanning microscopy and bacterial viability staining were used to examine the sessile and planktonic biofilm present in dental unit waterlines and water samples, respectively. In addition, the limulus amebocyte assay was used to measure the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels in water samples. RESULTS: All dental unit waterlines were coated with a well-established biofilm made up of filamentous and bacillus-like microorganisms. Water samples collected from these dental units contained high numbers of individual bacteria and bacterial aggregates. A viability staining technique identified significantly more bacteria in water than could be cultured, and 64% of the total bacterial population stained as nonvital. Since the bacterial load (viable and nonviable) was high, we examined the LPS in dental unit water samples. The mean LPS levels in water collected from high-speed and air/water lines in use were 480 and 1,008 endotoxin units (EU)/ml. This was significantly higher than the mean level of 66 EU/ml found in water samples collected from adjacent clinic sinks. The LPS level at the start of the day (2,560 EU/ml) was reduced by 70% with 1 minute of flushing (800 EU/ml). Flushing times of 5 and 10 minutes were not able to reduce LPS levels to zero. CONCLUSION: The presence of high heterotrophic bacterial counts, sloughing biofilm, and high LPS levels are discussed in relation to patient risk and periodontal wound healing biology.