Improvement of functional bloating by an enterovaccine: a preliminary study

Background: bloating is a fastidious symptom reported by many patients who also have other gastrointestinal functional dis orders. Bloating is more common in women, and it is often asso ciated with meals and improves or disappears overnight. No spe cific treatments are to date available for this disturbing symptom. Aims: to evaluate the effects of an oral enterovaccine (Colifag ina ® ) on bloating and other abdominal symptoms in patients with prevalent complaints of functional bloating. Patients and methods: one hundred and forty-eight patients with functional bloating according to Rome III criteria were re cruited. Questionnaires and a VAS scale on their symptoms were administered at baseline and after four weeks of therapy with Colifagina ® . Results: after treatment, a significant amelioration of bloating (p < 0.0001), abdominal pain (p < 0.0001) and flatus (p < 0.0001) was observed; nausea and vomiting scores were not sig nificantly different at the end of the treatment. Subjective wellbe ing was also generally improved (p < 0.001) in treated patients. Conclusion: treatment with an enterovaccine may help im prove symptoms in patients with functional bloating

Microorganisms on surface culture of injection port of IV sets and its implication to infection control

Nosocomial infection is a disease caused by a pathogenic agent that is acquired during a patient’s hospitalization or treatment inside another health care facility. The said infection can be caused by microorganisms. These microorganisms may already be present in the patient's body or may come from the environment, contaminated hospital equipment; An intravenous (IV) set used during IV therapy is one example of the possible materials containing these microorganisms. The main purpose of this study is to determine the presence of microorganisms on injections ports of IV sets before and after disinfection whenadministering IV medications in the patients admitted to the medicine wards of Hospital X and Y. Presence of microorganisms despite disinfection may pose risk to patients through the entry of bacteria upon injection through the port. Thirty swab samples were obtained from each hospital. Swab samples were then isolated on nutrient agar plates. Hospital Y samples yielded no bacterial isolates whereas all 30 samples in Hospital X showed bacterial isolates. Swab samples underwent gram-staining to distinguish between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Streptococcus species and Staphylococcus species which are classified as grampositive bacteria were among the bacterial species identified before and after disinfection and were found on all the samples obtained from Hospital X. Based on the findings of this study, adherence to infection controlprocedures were not well established to reduce or eliminate microorganisms on injection ports in Hospital X that may cause Nosocomial infections. In line with these, it is highly recommended that proper infection control and maintenance procedures should be strictly enforced to reduce, if not eliminate themicroorganisms on injection port which are possible causes of Nosocomial infections and may threaten thempatients’ healt

Polyphenol enriched diet administration during pregnancy and lactation prevents dysbiosis in ulcerative colitis predisposed littermates

Neonatal colonization of the gastrointestinal tract depends on mother microbiome, thus mother microbiota dysbiosis is transmitted to the offspring during the delivery and shaped by breastmilk characteristics. Here we used a murine model of UC predisposition (Winnie-/-) to evaluate the effects of maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation. Using heterozygous breeders, we obtained both Winnie-/- and C57BL/6 littermates from the same mother and compared their microbiota at weaning and adult age, using a diet enriched with 1% tomato fruit of a line – named Bronze – highly enriched in bioactive polyphenols, or Control tomato. Females received enriched diets two weeks before the beginning of the breeding and never stopped for the following six months. No significant effect was observed in regard to the percentage of Winnie-/- offspring, as with both diets the percentage was about 25% as expected. Winnie littermates from breeders fed with the Bronze-enriched diet showed reduced dysbiosis at 4 weeks of age if compared with Winnie under the Control tomato diet. This effect was then reduced when mice reached adult age. Conversely, the microbiota of C57BL/6 does not change significantly, indicating that fortified mothers-diet significantly contribute to preventing dysbiosis in genetically predisposed offspring, but has mild effects on healthy littermates and adult mice. An overall tendency towards reduced inflammation was underlined by the colon weight and the percentage of Foxp3+ cells reduction in Winnie mice fed with Bronze diet. Control diet did not show similar tendency

Search for the genome of bovine herpesvirus types 1, 4 and 5 in bovine semen

Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BoHV-1) causes respiratory and reproductive disorders in cattle. Recently, bovine herpesvirus type 5 (BoHV-5) and bovine herpesvirus type 4 (BoHV-4) have been identified to be associated with genital disease. In this study, the presence of the genome of BoHV-1, BoHV-4 and BoHV-5 in bovine semen of Argentinean and international origin was analyzed by PCR assays. The most important finding of this study is the detection of the genome of BoHV-1 and BoHV-4 in semen of bulls maintained at artificial insemination centers. It is particularly relevant that BoHV-1 DNA was also identified in one sample of international origin suggesting the need for extensive quality control measures on international transport of bovine semen.Fil: Moran, P. E.. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Favier, P. A.. Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva. Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica. Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica; ArgentinaFil: Lomonaco, M.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Catena, María. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Chiapparrone, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tandil. Centro de Investigacion Veterinaria de Tandil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires.. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Odeon, Anselmo Carlos. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Verna, Andrea Elizabeth. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Perez, Sandra. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tandil. Centro de Investigacion Veterinaria de Tandil; Argentin

Recruitment strategies and rates of a multi-site behavioral intervention for adolescents and young adults with cancer

INTRODUCTION: To provide an overview of factors related to recruitment of adolescents and young adults (AYA) into research and recruitment rates and reasons for refusal from a multicenter study entitled "Stories and Music for Adolescent/Young Adult Resilience during Transplant" (SMART). METHODS: A randomized clinical trial study design was used. The settings included 9 hospitals. The sample included AYAs (aged 11-24 years) who were undergoing a stem cell transplant. Several instruments were used to measure symptom distress, coping, resilience, and quality of life in AYA with cancer. RESULTS: A total of 113 AYA were recruited (50%) for this study. Strategies were refined as the study continued to address challenges related to recruitment. We provide a description of recruitment strategies and an evaluation of our planning, implementing, and monitoring of recruitment rates for the SMART study. DISCUSSION: When designing a study, careful consideration must be given to factors influencing recruitment as well as special considerations for unique populations. Dissemination of strategies specific to unique populations will be helpful to the design of future research studies

Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence Reference Materials for Cascade Impactor Air Quality Monitoring Systems

The 12th International Conference on “Instrumental Methods of Analysis” www.ima2021.gr (accessed on 8 November 2021)), was organized by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and National Technical University of Athens, during 20–23 September 2021 as a virtual event, providing the opportunity for high-level analytical scientists from all around the world to promote their relevant research. IMA is a biannual series of conferences that started in 1999 and cover all areas of Chemical Analysis, including the development of new techniques, modern trends, and applications in a wide range of scientific disciplines. To date, several leading analytical chemists from Greece and abroad have presented their research work at previous IMA meetings. The 12th IMA conference (in a virtual format for the first time), had the ambition to bring together some of the most talented and innovative analytical chemists from all over the world for an excellent scientific online conference. The program of the 4-day event attended by 260 participants from 23 countries, included 14 invited speakers, 73 oral presentations, and 98 poster contributions. Covered topics included: spectrometric and electrometric analysis; chromatographic, mass spectrometric, microscopic, and thermal analysis methods; proteomics, metabolomics, metallomics, and elemental speciation analysis; chemical and biosensors; field analysis—mobile analytical instruments; miniaturized analytical systems (lab-on-a-chip), micro-, and nanofluidics; immunoassays and electrophoretic separation techniques; sampling techniques and strategies; robotics and automation; quality control—quality assurance in analysis; metrology; data processing and chemometrics; environmental analysis; biomedical (ecotoxicological and clinical) and pharmaceutical analysis; food analysis; materials analysis (nanomaterials, smart/advanced materials, and surface analysis); archaeometry; and analytical chemistry markets and possibilities for commercialization. Special sessions, focused on aerosol metrology (supported by EU Project AEROMET II), advanced X-ray techniques (supported by the European X-ray Spectrometry Association), and application of chemical analysis in the study of virus spread analytics (airborne and wastewaters), were also organized within the frame of IMA-2021

Randomized clinical trial of therapeutic music video intervention for resilience outcomes in adolescents/young adults undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplant: a report from the Children's Oncology Group

BACKGROUND: To reduce the risk of adjustment problems associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for adolescents/young adults (AYAs), we examined efficacy of a therapeutic music video (TMV) intervention delivered during the acute phase of HSCT to: 1) increase protective factors of spiritual perspective, social integration, family environment, courageous coping, and hope-derived meaning; 2) decrease risk factors of illness-related distress and defensive coping; and 3) increase outcomes of self-transcendence and resilience. METHODS: This was a multisite randomized, controlled trial (COG-ANUR0631) conducted at 8 Children's Oncology Group sites involving 113 AYAs aged 11-24 years undergoing myeloablative HSCT. Participants, randomized to the TMV or low-dose control (audiobooks) group, completed 6 sessions over 3 weeks with a board-certified music therapist. Variables were based on Haase's Resilience in Illness Model (RIM). Participants completed measures related to latent variables of illness-related distress, social integration, spiritual perspective, family environment, coping, hope-derived meaning, and resilience at baseline (T1), postintervention (T2), and 100 days posttransplant (T3). RESULTS: At T2, the TMV group reported significantly better courageous coping (Effect Size [ES], 0.505; P = .030). At T3, the TMV group reported significantly better social integration (ES, 0.543; P = .028) and family environment (ES, 0.663; P = .008), as well as moderate nonsignificant effect sizes for spiritual perspective (ES, 0.450; P = .071) and self-transcendence (ES, 0.424; P = .088). CONCLUSIONS: The TMV intervention improves positive health outcomes of courageous coping, social integration, and family environment during a high-risk cancer treatment. We recommend the TMV be examined in a broader population of AYAs with high-risk cancers

A bronze-tomato enriched diet affects the intestinal microbiome under homeostatic and inflammatory conditions

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are debilitating chronic inflammatory disorders that develop as a result of a defective immune response toward intestinal bacteria. Intestinal dysbiosis is associated with the onset of IBD and has been reported to persist even in patients in deep remission. We investigated the possibility of a dietary-induced switch to the gut microbiota composition using Winnie mice as a model of spontaneous ulcerative colitis and chow enriched with 1% Bronze tomato. We used the near isogenic tomato line strategy to investigate the effects of a diet enriched in polyphenols administered to mild but established chronic intestinal inflammation. The Bronze-enriched chow administered for two weeks was not able to produce any macroscopic effect on the IBD symptoms, although, at molecular level there was a significant induction of anti-inflammatory genes and intracellular staining of T cells revealed a mild decrease in IL17A and IFNγ production. Analysis of the microbial composition revealed that two weeks of Bronze enriched diet was sufficient to perturb the microbial composition of Winnie and control mice, suggesting that polyphenol-enriched diets may create unfavorable conditions for distinct bacterial species. In conclusion, dietary regimes enriched in polyphenols may efficiently support IBD remission affecting the intestinal dysbiosis

Dysbiosis triggers ACF development in genetically predisposed subjects

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, characterized by a multifactorial etiology including genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors including microbiota composition. To address the role of microbial modulation in CRC, we used our recently established mouse model (theWinnie-APCMin/+) combining inflammation and genetics. Methods: Gut microbiota profiling was performed on 8-week-old Winnie-APCMin/++ mice and their littermates by 16S rDNA gene amplicon sequencing. Moreover, to study the impact of dysbiosis induced by the mother’s genetics in ACF development, the large intestines of APCMin/++ mice born from wild type mice were investigated by histological analysis at 8 weeks. Results: ACF development in 8-week-old Winnie-APCMin/++ mice was triggered by dysbiosis. Specifically, the onset of ACF in genetically predisposed mice may result from dysbiotic signatures in the gastrointestinal tract of the breeders. Additionally, fecal transplant from Winnie donors to APCMin/++ hosts leads to an increased rate of ACF development. Conclusions: The characterization of microbiota profiling supporting CRC development in genetically predisposed mice could help to design therapeutic strategies to prevent dysbiosis. The application of these strategies in mothers during pregnancy and lactation could also reduce the CRC risk in the offspring