Delayed incubation as an alternative method to sample storage for enumeration of E. coli and culturable bacteria in water.

The effects of sample storage on enumeration of Escherichia coli in marine bathing water and culturable bacteria in drinking water were evaluated. Results showed that overnight storage at 0-5 degrees C significantly reduced the counts of E. coli in bathing water (p = 0.0001) with a mean reduction of 25%. A similar effect of sample storage was observed for the enumeration of culturable bacteria in drinking water at 22 +/- 2 degrees C for 66 +/- 4 h (p = 0.0074; mean reduction = 25%) or at 36 +/- 2 degrees C for 44 +/- 4h (p = 0.0353; mean reduction = 6%). The use of a delayed incubation method, i.e. overnight storage at 0-5 degrees C of inoculated agar plates prior to incubation, did not significantly affect the counts of culturable bacteria when plates were incubated at 22 + 2 degrees C for 66 +/- 4 h, whereas it resulted in a significant increase of the bacterial numbers when plates were incubated at 36 +/- 2 degrees C for 44 +/- 4 h (p = 0.0002; mean increase = 32%). Based on these results, it is suggested to avoid the use of overnight or longer sample storage for the enumeration of E. coli in bathing water samples, as well as for the enumeration of culturable bacteria in drinking water. The delayed incubation method appears to be a reliable procedure for the enumeration of culturable bacteria and could represent a valid alternative to sample storage in order to overcome problems associated with the performance of bacteriological counts during weekends or statutory holidays. However, a multi-laboratory study is needed to evaluate the reproducibility of the delayed incubation method for the enumeration of culturable bacteria and its possible use for the enumeration of E. coli by membrane filtration.

[Study of the quality of measurement by the Sickness Impact Profile. Assessment of the reliability of a method to determine the functional level of psychiatric patients]. / Undersøgelse af målekvalitet af Sickness Impact Profile. Vurdering af pålideligheden af en metode til bestemmelse af funktionsniveau, specielt med hensyn til psykiatriske patienter.

The Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) is a questionnaire method of assessing the functional level within 12 fields which together provide a generalized measurement of the level of health in agreement with the definition of health by WHO. In the present investigation, the method was employed for the first time occasion for 58 suitable psychiatric patients and the result of Rasch's item-analysis of the replies to the individual questions showed altogether scales of good measurement quality. A single question, however, appeared to be unsuitable. The item-analysis is a demanding measurement for the internal validity and homogeneity and it supplements foreign investigations of the criteria-related validity of SIP.

PH metric method for the determination of nicotinic acid in plasma.

The acidimetric method for the determination of nicotinic acid (NA) using Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 (Lactobacillus arabinosus 17-5) has been simplified and thus made less time consuming, and the sensitivity has been increased fivefold by replacement of the titration by a pH determination. As the regression of the decrease in pH on the amount of NA was found linear within a range of 1 to 4 ng of NA per ml, the calculations were performed according to the slope-ratio principle. The NA concentration of plasma was determined with a coefficient of variation of 5 to 7%, which rose to about 10% at low NA concentrations. Assays of fasting plasma samples from 13 hyperlipidemic male patients showed a group mean NA concentration of 80 +/- 55 ng/ml (mean +/- 2 standard deviation), before treatment, and 705 +/- 544 ng/ml (mean +/- 2 standard deviation) during therapy with sustained release NA preparations, of which a single dose, ingested during steady-state conditions, doubled or tripled the plasma concentration within 1 to 3 h.