Changes in the intestinal microbiota after a short period of dietary over-indulgence, representative of a holiday or festival season

The effects on the intestinal microbiota of a short period of marginal over-eating, characteristic of holiday or festival periods, were investigated in a pilot study. Fourteen healthy male subjects consumed a diet rich in animal protein and fat for seven days. During this period, the subjects significantly increased their dietary energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat intakes by 56, 59, 53 and 58%, respectively (all P < 0.05). The mean weight gain of 0.27 kg was less than the expected 1 kg, but this was consistent with a degree of under-reporting on the baseline diet. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation analysis confirmed the relative stability of each individual’s faecal microbiota but showed considerable variations between them. The diet was associated with a significant increase in numbers of total faecal bacteria and the bacteroides group, as detected by the universal bacterial probe (DAPI) and Bacteroides probe (Bac 303), respectively. Overall, there was a decrease in numbers of the Lactobacillus/Enterococcus group (Lab 158 probe; 2.8 ± 3.0% to 1.8 ± 1.8%) and the Bifidobacterium group (Bif 164 probe; 3.0 ± 3.7% to 1.7 ± 1.2%), although there was considerable inter-individual variation. Analysis of the relative proportions of each bacterial group as a percentage of the subject’s total bacteria showed a trend for a change in the intestinal microbiota that might be considered potentially unhealthy

Immune response of healthy adults to the ingested probiotic 'Lactobacillus casei' Shirota

Daily ingestion of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus casei Shirota (LcS; 1.3 x 10(10) live cells) by healthy adults for (i) 4-weeks LcS, (ii) 6-weeks discontinuation of LcS, and (iii) a final 4-weeks of LcS, was investigated. There was a significant increase in expression of the T-cell activation marker CD3(+) CD69(+) in ex vivo unstimulated blood cells at weeks 10 and 14 and a significant increase in the NK cell marker CD3(+) CD16/56(+) in ex vivo unstimulated blood cells at weeks 4, 10 and 14. Expression of the NK cell activation marker CD16/56(+) CD69(+) in ex vivo unstimulated blood cells was 62% higher at week 10 and 74% higher at week 14. Intracellular staining of IL-4 in ex vivo unstimulated and PMA/ionomycin-stimulated CD3(+) β7(+) integrin blood cells was significantly lower at week 10 and 14. Intracellular staining of IL-12 in ex vivo unstimulated and LPS-stimulated CD14(+) blood cells was significantly lower at weeks 4, 10 and 14. Intracellular staining of TNF-α in LPS-stimulated CD14(+) blood cells was significantly lower at weeks 4, 10 and 14. Mucosal salivary IFN-γ, IgA1 and IgA2 concentrations were significantly higher at week 14 but LcS did not affect systemic circulating influenza A-specific IgA or IgG and tetanus specific IgG antibody levels. In addition to the decrease in CD3(+) β7(+) integrin cell IL-4 and a CD14(+) cell anti-inflammatory cytokine profile, at week 14 increased expression of activation markers on circulating T cells and NK cells and higher mucosal salivary IgA1 and IgA2 concentration indicated a secondary boosting effect of LcS. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The Nooksack Delta: Environmental Impact Assessment

This report was produced by 9 students of the Environmental Impact Assessment course at Huxley College of Environmental Studies,over a period of 7 weeks in the spring of 1981. In this study, we have attempted to provide an assessment of the natural and cultural environmental conditions of the delta of the Nooksack River, and to determine impacts upon that area both presently and in the near future. The present-day delta of the Nooksack River is located in the western portion of Whatcom County, Washington, where the Nooksack River discharges into Bellingham Bay. The delta lies about 3 1/2 miles west and slightly north of Bellingham, and is almost entirely within the Lummi Indian Reservation, The village of Marietta is adjacent to the delta on the east side. In the process of delta building, a river continuously deposits sediments, gradually extending the land mass farther out into open waters. As this happens, many sloughs and marshy areas are left behind,which eventually fill in. In this way, the Nooksack delta has steadily progressed to the south, A delta may be looked upon as a gradation from dry land to open water; the delta as its own entity has no definite boundaries. For the purposes of this report, the area enclosed by and including Lummi Shore Drive to the west, Marine Drive to the north and east, and Bellingham Bay to the south was chosen as a study area. These roads enclose the currently most active portion of the delta from a geomorphic point of view. By inclusion of the roads and adjacent properties into the study area, it was possible to assess the cultural environment adjoining the delta as well. The study concentrates primarily on the terrestrial and riparian portion of the delta; the delta platform in Bellingham Bay was not included. This area lies within the southern portions of Sections 7 and 8, the eastern half of Section 18, and nearly all of Section 17. As the delta has advanced seaward, the land mass has entered parts of Sections 19, 20, and 21 as well. The entire area lies within Township 38 North, Range 2 East. The study area is about 1500 acres in size and consists almost entirely of islands formed by accretion. The area exhibits a gradation from established willow and alder stands in the older, northern portion, to young willow forests on the relatively new islands, and finally to a salt marsh region where the delta meets Bellingham Bay. There are many residences on the fringes of the study area, but the delta itself is uninhabited. The dynamic nature of the delta is prohibitive to construction or heavy human use; and the Lummi Tribe has voiced a policy to retain the delta in its natural state due to its extreme importance as a fishery resource. It should be remembered in reading this report that the delta environment is created by the combination of many factors. It is impossible to study any one element of the delta without relating it to the delta as a system. Process of geomorphology, biology, hydrology and culture are all at work here. These processes are intricately related to form a unique system: The Nooksack delta

Amazon deforestation alters small stream structure, nitrogen biogeochemistry and connectivity to larger rivers

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biogeochemistry 105 (2011): 53-74, doi:10.1007/s10533-010-9540-4.Human activities that modify land cover can alter the structure and biogeochemistry of small streams but these effects are poorly known over large regions of the humid tropics where rates of forest clearing are high. We examined how conversion of Amazon lowland tropical forest to cattle pasture influenced the physical and chemical structure, organic matter stocks and N cycling of small streams. We combined a regional ground survey of small streams with an intensive study of nutrient cycling using 15N additions in three representative streams: a second-order forest stream, a second-order pasture stream and a third-order pasture stream that were within several km of each other and on similar soils and landscape positions. Replacement of forest with pasture decreased stream habitat complexity by changing streams from run and pool channels with forest leaf detritus (50% cover) to grass-filled (63% cover) channel with runs of slow-moving water. In the survey, pasture streams consistently had lower concentrations of dissolved oxygen and nitrate (NO3-) compared with similar-sized forest streams. Stable isotope additions revealed that second-order pasture stream had a shorter NH4+ uptake length, higher uptake rates into organic matter components and a shorter 15NH4+ residence time than the second-order forest stream or the third-order pasture stream. Nitrification was significant in the forest stream (19% of the added 15NH4+) but not in the second-order pasture (0%) or third-order (6%) pasture stream. The forest stream retained 7% of added 15N in organic matter compartments and exported 53% (15NH4+ =34%; 15NO3- = 19%). In contrast, the second-order pasture stream retained 75% of added 15N, predominantly in grasses (69%) and exported only 4% as 15NH4+. The fate of tracer 15N in the third-order pasture stream more closely resembled that in the forest stream, with 5% of added N retained and 26% exported (15NH4+ = 9%; 15NO3- = 6%). These findings indicate that the widespread infilling by grass in small streams in areas deforested for pasture greatly increases the retention of inorganic N in the first- and second-order streams, which make up roughly three-fourths of total stream channel length in Amazon basin watersheds. The importance of this phenomenon and its effect on N transport to larger rivers across the larger areas of the Amazon Basin will depend on better evaluation of both the extent and the scale at which stream infilling by grass occurs, but our analysis suggests the phenomenon is widespread.This work was supported by grants from the NASA Large-Scale Biosphere and Atmosphere Experiment (NCC5-686), the National Science Foundation (DEB-0315656) and the Fundação de Ámparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Leukotriene antagonists as first-line or add-on asthma controller therapy

Most randomized trials of treatment for asthma study highly selected patients under idealized conditions. METHODS: We conducted two parallel, multicenter, pragmatic trials to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of a leukotriene-receptor antagonist (LTRA) as compared with either an inhaled glucocorticoid for first-line asthma-controller therapy or a long-acting beta(2)-agonist (LABA) as add-on therapy in patients already receiving inhaled glucocorticoid therapy. Eligible primary care patients 12 to 80 years of age had impaired asthma-related quality of life (Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire [MiniAQLQ] score =6) or inadequate asthma control (Asthma Control Questionnaire [ACQ] score =1). We randomly assigned patients to 2 years of open-label therapy, under the care of their usual physician, with LTRA (148 patients) or an inhaled glucocorticoid (158 patients) in the first-line controller therapy trial and LTRA (170 patients) or LABA (182 patients) added to an inhaled glucocorticoid in the add-on therapy trial. RESULTS: Mean MiniAQLQ scores increased by 0.8 to 1.0 point over a period of 2 years in both trials. At 2 months, differences in the MiniAQLQ scores between the two treatment groups met our definition of equivalence (95% confidence interval [CI] for an adjusted mean difference, -0.3 to 0.3). At 2 years, mean MiniAQLQ scores approached equivalence, with an adjusted mean difference between treatment groups of -0.11 (95% CI, -0.35 to 0.13) in the first-line controller therapy trial and of -0.11 (95% CI, -0.32 to 0.11) in the add-on therapy trial. Exacerbation rates and ACQ scores did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Study results at 2 months suggest that LTRA was equivalent to an inhaled glucocorticoid as first-line controller therapy and to LABA as add-on therapy for diverse primary care patients. Equivalence was not proved at 2 years. The interpretation of results of pragmatic research may be limited by the crossover between treatment groups and lack of a placebo group

The Iowa Homemaker vol.7, no.2

Table of Contents Should Women Combine Homemaking and Professions? – Controversal Article, page 1 To Market! To Market! by Helen Theile, page 2 Making Your Bedroom Cozy by Doris Gray Nystrom, page 3 In Londontown by Anna M. Carr, page 3 Taking the Guess Work out of Meat Cookery by Elsie V. McElhinney and Linda Spence Brown, page 4 How to Be Happy Without Oak Floors by Lillian Shaben, page 5 Busy Mother, Read This! by Frances Thomas, page 5 4-H Page, page 6 4-H Page, page 7 Iowa State Home Economics Association Page, page 8 Installment Plan Buying by Gwen Edwards, page 9 Some Fish Geography by Sylvia Pedersen, page 10 Editorial, page 11 Who’s There and Where, page 12 The Inevitable Sandwich by Elizabeth Petersen, page 1

Patterns of Local-Regional Management Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer: Results From ACOSOG Z1071 (Alliance)

AXXXXX ZXXXX was a prospective trial evaluating the false negative rate of sentinel node (SLN) surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer patients with initial node-positive disease. Radiation therapy (RT) decisions were at the discretion of treating physicians, providing an opportunity to evaluate variability in practice patterns following NAC