FRESH CUT FRUITS- AN OVERVIEW OF MICROBIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, RECENT OUTBREAKS AND PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES

Fruits play an essential role in the human diet, being the major source of dietary nutrients and preventing many chronic diseases. Nowadays, consuming prepared food is commonly preferred by consumers since they are time saving and more convenient. Within this scope, the fresh-cut market, mainly including fruits and vegetables, has broadened substantially in recent years. Fruits, which have a suitable environment for the growth of microorganisms, are also highly perishable products with a short shelf life because of mechanical operations. Therefore, serving the product as fresh-cut produce increases concern about the safety of these products, which has become another issue that the suppliers must consider. Recently, consumers have become more conscious of food safety since the transmission of pathogens can cause foodborne diseases. Therefore, information on fresh-cut fruits (FCFs) and recent outbreaks caused by these products are reported in this review. Data collected for each outbreak included the implicated food, year, pathogen, location, and number of cases. According to data, five outbreaks caused by FCFs were reported in recent years, resulting in 466 illnesses, 167 hospitalizations and 1 death. Mainly Salmonella spp. was found a common threat for the minimally produced fruits in these outbreaks. Preventive approaches were also included in the review to maintain the safety of FCFs

Acetabular Index Values in Healthy Turkish Children Between 6 Months and 8 Years of Age: A Cross-Sectional Radiological Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the normal acetabular index values in children between 6 months and 8 years of age based on sex, age and side and to define the cutoff values for mild and severe acetabular dysplasia. Methods: The records collected from the data pool that was gathered to define the prevalence of untreated congenital hip dislocation in Turkish children between 6 months and 14 years of age was used. The acetabular index was measured on pelvic and abdominal radiographs of children between 6 months and 8 years of age, taken in 19 different cities for non-dysplasia related causes. The distribution of the index values based on age, sex and side. Results: Thirty-three hips of 21 children (0.75%) out of 2788 children were found to be subluxated or luxated. Acetabular index values of 5534 hips of 2767 children were measured. Acetabular index values of 723 (13%) hips of 493 children (17.8%) were found to be between 1 and 2 standard deviations. Acetabular index values of 147 hips (2.65%) of 118 children (4.3%) were calculated to be above 2 standard deviations. There was a negative correlation between the acetabular index and age. Conclusions: The study defines the normal acetabular index values in healthy Turkish children between 6 months and 8 years of age and the expected acetabular index values for mild and severe dysplasia.WoSScopu

Echocardiographic Epicardial Adipose Tissue Predicts Subclinical Atherosclerosis

We examined the relationship between coronary flow rate and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in patients with slow coronary flow (SCF) and normal coronary arteries. The study included 40 consecutive patients with stable angina pectoris who had normal coronary arteries. All patients underwent echocardiography. To determine the SCF, thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count method was used. Half of the patients had SCF at least in 1 coronary artery. Thrombolysis in myocardial infarction frame counts, the mean TIMI frame count, and EAT thickness were significantly higher in patients with SCF. Slow coronary flow showed a significantly positive correlation with EAT thickness. Epicardial adipose tissue thickness was the only independent predictor of SCF. Our findings suggest that there is a significant correlation between the SCF and EAT. Therefore, echocardiographic EAT may become a predictor of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with stable angina pectoris

CASIN and AMD3100 enhance endothelial cell proliferation, tube formation and sprouting.

Endothelial dysfunction is prominent in atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, peripheral and cardiovascular diseases, and stroke. Novel therapeutic approaches to these conditions often involve development of tissue-engineered veins with ex vivo expanded endothelial cells. However, high cell number requirements limit these approaches to become applicable to clinical applications and highlight the requirement of technologies that accelerate expansion of vascular-forming cells. We have previously shown that novel small molecules could induce hematopoietic stem cell expansion ex vivo. We hypothesized that various small molecules targeting hematopoietic stem cell quiescence and mobilization could be used to induce endothelial cell expansion and angiogenesis due to common origin and shared characteristics of endothelial and hematopoietic cells. Here, we have screened thirty-five small molecules and found that CASIN and AMD3100 increase endothelial cell expansion up to two-fold and induce tube formation and ex vivo sprouting. In addition, we have studied how CASIN and AMD3100 affect cell migration, apoptosis and cell cycle of endothelial cells. CASIN and AMD3100 upregulate key endothelial marker genes and downregulate a number of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors. These findings suggest that CASIN and AMD3100 could be further tested in the development of artificial vascular systems and vascular gene editing technologies. Furthermore, these findings may have potential to contribute to the development of alternative treatment methods for diseases that cause endothelial damage

Echocardiographic Epicardial Adipose Tissue Predicts Subclinical Atherosclerosis: Epicardial adipose tissue and Atherosclerosis

We examined the relationship between coronary flow rate and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) in patients with slow coronary flow (SCF) and normal coronary arteries. The study included 40 consecutive patients with stable angina pectoris who had normal coronary arteries. All patients underwent echocardiography. To determine the SCF, thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) frame count method was used. Half of the patients had SCF at least in 1 coronary artery. Thrombolysis in myocardial infarction frame counts, the mean TIMI frame count, and EAT thickness were significantly higher in patients with SCF. Slow coronary flow showed a significantly positive correlation with EAT thickness. Epicardial adipose tissue thickness was the only independent predictor of SCF. Our findings suggest that there is a significant correlation between the SCF and EAT. Therefore, echocardiographic EAT may become a predictor of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with stable angina pectoris

RADIOTHERAPY WITH OR WITHOUT TEMOZOLOMIDE IN ELDERLY GLIOBLASTOMA PATIENTS: PERFORMANCE OR AGE AS A SURROGATE?

Advances in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Crohns and Colitis Foundations National Clinical and Research Conference -- DEC 09-12, 2010 -- Hollywood, FLWOS: 000285082400182

Melatonin prevents inflammation and oxidative stress caused by abdominopelvic and total body irradiation of rat small intestine

We investigated the day-night differences in intestinal oxidative-injury and the inflammatory response following total body (TB) or abdominopelvic (AP) irradiation, and the influence of melatonin administration on tissue injury induced by radiation. Rats (male Wistar, weighing 220-280 g) in the irradiated groups were exposed to a dose of 8 Gy to the TB or AP region in the morning (resting period - 1 h after light onset) or evening (activity span - 13 h after light onset). Vehicle or melatonin was administered immediately before, immediately after and 24 h after irradiation (10, 2.0 and 10 mg/kg, ip, respectively) to the irradiated rats. AP (P < 0.05) and TB (P < 0.05) irradiation applied in the morning caused a significant increase in thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) levels. Melatonin treatment in the morning (P < 0.05) or evening (P < 0.05) decreased TBARS levels after TB irradiation. After AP irradiation, melatonin treatment only in the morning caused a significant decrease in TBARS levels (P < 0.05). Although we have confirmed the development of inflammation after radiotherapy by histological findings, neither AP nor TB irradiation caused any marked changes in myeloperoxidase activity in the morning or evening. Our results indicate that oxidative damage is more prominent in rats receiving TB and AP irradiation in the morning and melatonin appears to have beneficial effects on oxidative damage irrespective of the time of administration. Increased neutrophil accumulation indicates that melatonin administration exerts a protective effect on AP irradiation-induced tissue oxidative injury, especially in the morning