Comparison of zero heat flux and double sensor thermometers during spinal anaesthesia : a prospective observational study

Because of the difficulties involved in the invasive monitoring of conscious patients, core temperature monitoring is frequently neglected during neuraxial anaesthesia. Zero heat flux (ZHF) and double sensor (DS) are non-invasive methods that measure core temperature from the forehead skin. Here, we compare these methods in patients under spinal anaesthesia. Sixty patients scheduled for elective unilateral knee arthroplasty were recruited and divided into two groups. Of these, thirty patients were fitted with bilateral ZHF sensors (ZHF group), and thirty patients were fitted with both a ZHF sensor and a DS sensor (DS group). Temperatures were saved at 5-min intervals from the beginning of prewarming up to one hour postoperatively. Bland-Altman analysis for repeated measurements was performed and a proportion of differences within 0.5 degrees C was calculated as well as Lin`s concordance correlation coefficient (LCCC). A total of 1261 and 1129 measurement pairs were obtained. The mean difference between ZHF sensors was 0.05 degrees C with 95% limits of agreement - 0.36 to 0.47 degrees C, 99% of the readings were within 0.5 degrees C and LCCC was 0.88. The mean difference between ZHF and DS sensors was 0.33 degrees C with 95% limits of agreement - 0.55 to 1.21 degrees C, 66% of readings were within 0.5 degrees C and LCCC was 0.59. Bilaterally measured ZHF temperatures were almost identical. DS temperatures were mostly lower than ZHF temperatures. The mean difference between ZHF and DS temperatures increased when the core temperature decreased. Trial registration: The study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov on 13th May 2019, Code NCT03408197.Peer reviewe

Early Colonization with a Group of Lactobacilli Decreases the Risk for Allergy at Five Years of Age Despite Allergic Heredity

Background: Microbial deprivation early in life can potentially influence immune mediated disease development such as allergy. The aims of this study were to investigate the influence of parental allergy on the infant gut colonization and associations between infant gut microbiota and allergic disease at five years of age. Methods and Findings: Fecal samples were collected from 58 infants, with allergic or non-allergic parents respectively, at one and two weeks as well as at one, two and twelve months of life. DNA was extracted from the fecal samples and Real time PCR, using species-specific primers, was used for detection of Bifidobacterium (B.) adolescentis, B. breve, B. bifidum, Clostridium (C.) difficile, a group of Lactobacilli (Lactobacillus (L.) casei, L. paracasei and L. rhamnosus) as well as Staphylococcus (S.) aureus. Infants with non-allergic parents were more frequently colonized by Lactobacilli compared to infants with allergic parents (p = 0.014). However, non-allergic five-year olds acquired Lactobacilli more frequently during their first weeks of life, than their allergic counterparts, irrespectively of parental allergy (p = 0.009, p = 0.028). Further the non-allergic children were colonized with Lactobacilli on more occasions during the first two months of life (p = 0.038). Also, significantly more non-allergic children were colonized with B. bifidum at one week of age than the children allergic at five years (p = 0.048). Conclusion: In this study we show that heredity for allergy has an impact on the gut microbiota in infants but also that earl

Effect of oat or rice flour on pulse-induced gastrointestinal symptoms and breath hydrogen in subjects sensitive to pulses and controls - a randomised cross-over trial with two parallel groups

Pulses are healthy and sustainable but induce gut symptoms in people with a sensitive gut. Oats, on the contrary, have no fermentable oligo- di-, monosaccharides and polyols compounds and are known for the health effects of their fibres. This 4-day cross-over trial investigated the effects of oat and rice flour ingested with pulses on gut symptoms and exhaled gases (4th day only) in subjects with a sensitive gut or IBS (n 21) and controls (n 21). The sensitive group perceived more symptoms after both meals than controls (P = 0 center dot 001, P = 0 center dot 001). Frequency, intensity or quality of the symptoms did not differ between meals during the first 3 d in either group. More breath hydrogen was produced after an oat than rice containing meal in both groups (AUC, P = 0 center dot 001, P = 0 center dot 001). No between-group difference was seen in breath gases. During day 4, both sensitive and control groups perceived more symptoms after the oat flour meal (P = 0 center dot 001, P = 0 center dot 0104, respectively) as mainly mild flatulence. No difference in moderate or severe symptoms was detected. Increased hydrogen production correlated to a higher amount of perceived flatulence after the oat flour meal in both the sensitive and the control groups (P = 0 center dot 042, P = 0 center dot 003, respectively). In summary, ingestion of oat flour with pulses increases breath hydrogen levels compared with rice flour, but gastrointestinal symptoms of subjects sensitive to pulses were not explained by breath hydrogen levels. Additionally, consumer mindsets towards pulse consumption and pulse-related gut symptoms were assessed by an online survey, which implied that perceived gut symptoms hinder the use of pulses in sensitive subjects

Diet, perceived intestinal well-being and compositions of fecal microbiota and short chain fatty acids in oat-using subjects with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity

A gluten-free diet may result in high fat and low fiber intake and thus lead to unbalanced microbiota. This study characterized fecal microbiota profiles by 16S MiSeq sequencing among oat-using healthy adult subjects (n = 14) or adult subjects with celiac disease (CeD) (n = 19) or non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) (n = 10). Selected microbial metabolites, self-reported 4d food diaries and perceived gut symptoms were compared. Subjects with NCGS experienced the highest amount of gut symptoms and received more energy from fat and less from carbohydrates than healthy and CeD subjects. Oat consumption resulted in reaching the lower limit of the recommended fiber intake. Frequent consumption of gluten-free pure oats did not result in microbiota dysbiosis in subjects with CeD or NCGS. Thus, the high number of gut symptoms in NCGS subjects was not linked to the microbiota. The proportion of fecal acetate was higher in healthy when compared to NCGS subjects, which may be linked to a higher abundance of Bifidobacterium in the control group compared to NCGS and CeD subjects. Propionate, butyrate and ammonia production and β-glucuronidase activity were comparable among the study groups. The results suggest that pure oats have great potential as the basis of a gluten-free diet and warrant further studies in minor microbiota disorders. View Full-TextKeywords: oats; celiac disease; non-celiac gluten sensitivity; intestinal microbiota; gluten-free; SCFAs</div

CP violation effect in long-baseline neutrino oscillation in the four-neutrino model

We investigate CP-violation effect in the long-baseline neutrino oscillation in the four-neutrino model with mass scheme of the two nearly degenerate pairs separated with the order of 1 eV, by using the data from the solar neutrino deficit, the atmospheric neutrino anomaly and the LSND experiments along with the other accelerator and reactor experiments. By use of the most general parametrization of the mixing matrix with six angles and six phases, we show that the genuine CP-violation effect could attain as large as 0.3 for $\Delta P(\nu_\mu\to\nu_\tau) \equiv P(\nu_\mu\to\nu_\tau) - P(\bar{\nu_\mu}\to\bar{\nu_\tau})$ and that the matter effect is negligibly small such as at most 0.01 for $\Delta P(\nu_\mu\to\nu_\tau)$ for $\Delta m^2 = (1-5)\times 10^{-3} {\rm eV}^2$, which is the mass-squared difference relevant to the long-baseline oscillation.Comment: 21 pages in LaTeX, 9 ps figures. Some changes in the Introduction and Reference

Effect of oat β-glucan of different molecular weights on fecal bile acids, urine metabolites and pressure in the digestive tract – A human cross over trial

While the development of oat products often requires altered molecular weight (MW) of β-glucan, the resulting health implications are currently unclear. This 3-leg crossover trial (n = 14) investigated the effects of the consumption of oat bran with High, Medium and Low MW β-glucan (average > 1000, 524 and 82 kDa respectively) with 3 consequent meals on oat-derived phenolic compounds in urine (UHPLC-MS/MS), bile acids in feces (UHPLC-QTOF), gastrointestinal conditions (ingestible capsule), and perceived gut well-being. Urine excretion of ferulic acid was higher (p </p

Nucleotide supplementation: a randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial of IntestAidIB in people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome [ISRCTN67764449]

BACKGROUND: Dietary nucleotide supplementation has been shown to have important effects on the growth and development of cells which have a rapid turnover such as those in the immune system and the gastrointestinal tract. Work with infants has shown that the incidence and duration of diarrhoea is lower when nucleotide supplementation is given, and animal work shows that villi height and crypt depth in the intestine is increased as a result of dietary nucleotides. Dietary nucleotides may be semi-essential under conditions of ill-health, poor diet or stress. Since people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome tend to fulfil these conditions, we tested the hypothesis that symptoms would be improved with dietary nucleotide supplementation. METHODS: Thirty-seven people with a diagnosis of Irritable Bowel gave daily symptom severity ratings for abdominal pain, diarrhoea, urgency to have a bowel movement, incomplete feeling of evacuation after a bowel movement, bloating, flatulence and constipation for 28 days (baseline). They were then assigned to either placebo (56 days) followed by experimental (56 days) or the reverse. There was a four week washout period before crossover. During the placebo and experimental conditions participants took one 500 mg capsule three times a day; in the experimental condition the capsule contained the nutroceutical substances. Symptom severity ratings and psychological measures (anxiety, depression, illness intrusiveness and general health) were obtained and analysed by repeated measures ANOVAs. RESULTS: Symptom severity for all symptoms (except constipation) were in the expected direction of baseline>placebo>experimental condition. Symptom improvement was in the range 4 – 6%. A feeling of incomplete evacuation and abdominal pain showed the most improvement. The differences between conditions for diarrhoea, bloating and flatulence were not significant at the p < .05 level. There were no significant differences between the conditions for any of the psychological measures. CONCLUSION: Dietary nucleotide supplementation improves some of the symptoms of irritable bowel above baseline and placebo level. As expected, placebo effects were high. Apart from abdominal pain and urgency to have a bowel movement, the improvements, while consistent, are modest, and were not accompanied by improvements in any of the psychological measures. We suggest that the percentage improvement over and above the placebo effect is a physiological effect of the nucleotide supplement on the gut. The mechanisms by which these effects might improve symptoms are discussed

Human oral isolate Lactobacillus fermentum AGR1487 induces a proinflammatory response in germ-free rat colons

Lactobacilli are thought to be beneficial for human health, with lactobacilli-associated infections being confined to immune-compromised individuals. However, Lactobacillus fermentum AGR1487 negatively affects barrier integrity in vitro so we hypothesized that it caused a pro-inflammatory response in the host. We compared germ-free rats inoculated with AGR1487 to those inoculated with another L. fermentum strain, AGR1485, which does not affect in vitro barrier integrity. We showed that rats inoculated with AGR1487 had more inflammatory cells in their colon, higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and increased colonic gene expression of pro-inflammatory pathways. In addition, our in vitro studies showed that AGR1487 had a greater capacity to activate TLR signaling and induce pro-inflammatory cytokines in immune cells. This study indicates the potential of strains of the same species to differentially elicit inflammatory responses in the host and highlights the importance of strain characterization in probiotic approaches to treat inflammatory disorders

Long term extension of a randomised controlled trial of probiotics using electronic health records

Most randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are relatively short term and, due to costs and available resources, have limited opportunity to be re-visited or extended. There is no guarantee that effects of treatments remain unchanged beyond the study. Here, we illustrate the feasibility, benefits and cost-effectiveness of enriching standard trial design with electronic follow up. We completed a 5-year electronic follow up of a RCT investigating the impact of probiotics on asthma and eczema in children born 2005-2007, with traditional fieldwork follow up to two years. Participants and trial outcomes were identified and analysed after five years using secure, routine, anonymised, person-based electronic health service databanks. At two years, we identified 93% of participants and compared fieldwork with electronic health records, highlighting areas of agreement and disagreement. Retention of children from lower socio-economic groups was improved, reducing volunteer bias. At 5 years we identified a reduced 82% of participants. These data allowed the trial's first robust analysis of asthma endpoints. We found no indication that probiotic supplementation to pregnant mothers and infants protected against asthma or eczema at 5 years. Continued longer-term follow up is technically straightforward