Fatty acid profile in cord blood of neonates born to optimally controlled gestational diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the fatty acid profile of cord blood phospholipids (PL), cholesteryl esters (CE), triglycerides (TG) and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in neonates born to mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared to non-diabetic mothers. METHODS: The offspring of 30 pregnant women (15 non-diabetic controls, 15 with diet- or insulin-controlled GDM) were recruited before delivery. Cord blood was collected. After lipid extraction, PL, CE, TG and NEFA were separated by thin layer chromatography and analysed by gas chromatography. RESULTS: In GDM vs. control mothers, maternal glycated haemoglobin (A1C, mean±SD) was not different between groups: 5.3±0.5% vs. 5.3±0.3% (p=0.757), respectively. Cord plasma fatty acids were not different in TG, CE and NEFA between GDM and non-diabetic mothers. However, in PL, levels of palmitate, palmitoleate, oleate, vaccinate and di-homo-gamma-linolenate were significantly lower, with a trend for lower arachidonate (p=0.078), in neonates born to GDM mothers compared to controls. CONCLUSION: In contrast to other studies on cord blood docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in GDM mothers, we did not found lower levels of DHA in cord PL, CE, TG or NEFA in neonates born to GDM compared to non-diabetic mothers

Ambulatory Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy in Quebec: The Hôpital Charles LeMoyne Experience in 1996

From January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996, 343 patients received outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy at Charles LeMoyne Hospital, a 436-bed, acute care hospital in Greenfield Park, south of Montréal, Québec. The infectious diseases department saved 2660 bed-days using outpatient therapy. The mean duration of outpatient therapy was 7.76 days; 81.6% of patients were admitted to the program directly from the emergency room, or outpatient hospital clinics or private offices in the community. Hospitalized patients constituted only 18.4% of admissions to the outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy program. Forty per cent of the surgical/medical staff participated in the program and they were able to generate a significant impact by diverting patients to outpatient therapy. Two types of patients can benefit from an outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy program. One group of patients needs empirical short term therapy and can be switched to oral sequential therapy after two to five days of outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy. A second group of patients needs specific long term therapy for the full duration of the antibiotic therapy. Empirical short term therapy can be managed by emergency department or hospital-based primary physicians, or medical/surgical specialists. Specific long term therapy can be managed by microbiology/infectious disease specialists or medical/surgical specialists. Hospitals that want to relieve pressure on emergency rooms and hospital bed demands should create facilities for both types of patients. Cefazolin and gentamicine/tobramycine were the most commonly used antibiotics in empirical short term therapy and in terms of number of patients treated. Ceftriaxone and vancomycin were most commonly used for long term therapy. The Drug acquisition antibiotic cost was $73,117 but constituted only 20antibiotic therapy cost. The per diem ambulatory cost was$140/patient/day

Coronary Artery Calcium Assessed Years Before Was Positively Associated With Subtle White Matter Injury of the Brain in Asymptomatic Middle-Aged Men: The Framingham Heart Study

BackgroundUsing magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging, we previously showed a cross-sectional association between carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, a measure of aortic stiffness, and subtle white matter injury in clinically asymptomatic middle-age adults. While coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a robust measure of atherosclerosis, and a predictor of stroke and dementia, whether it predicts diffusion tensor imaging-based subtle white matter injury in the brain remains unknown.MethodsIn FHS (Framingham Heart Study), an observational study, third-generation participants were assessed for CAC (2002-2005) and brain magnetic resonance imaging (2009-2014). Outcomes were diffusion tensor imaging-based measures; free water, fractional anisotropy, and peak width of mean diffusivity. After excluding the participants with neurological conditions and missing covariates, we categorized participants into 3 groups according to CAC score (0, 0 < to 100, and >100) and calculated a linear trend across the CAC groups. In secondary analyses treating CAC score as continuous, we computed slope of the outcomes per 20 to 80th percentiles higher log-transformed CAC score using linear regression.ResultsIn a total of 1052 individuals analyzed (mean age 45.4 years, 45.4% women), 71.6%, 22.4%, and 6.0% had CAC score of 0, 0 < to 100, and >100, respectively. We observed a significant linear trend of fractional anisotropy, but not other measures, across the CAC groups after multivariable adjustment. In the secondary analyses, CAC was associated with lower fractional anisotropy in men but not in women.ConclusionsCAC may be a promising tool to predict prevalent subtle white matter injury of the brain in asymptomatic middle-aged men

Moritz Csáky: Ideologija operete in dunajska moderna. Ljubljana: Inštitut za civilizacijo in kulturo, zbirka Vita Activa, 2001. 271 strani (ISBN 961-90754-3-9), 5200 sit

Mussel aquaculture has expanded worldwide and it is important to assess its impact on the water column and the planktonic food web to determine the sustainability of farming practices. Mussel farming may affect the planktonic food web indirectly by excreting bioavailable nutrients in the water column (a short-term effect) or by increasing nutrient effluxes from biodeposit-enriched sediments (a long-term effect). We tested both of these indirect effects in a lagoon by using plankton-enclosing benthocosms that were placed on the bottom of a shallow lagoon either inside of a mussel farm or at reference sites with no history of aquaculture. At each site, half of the benthocosms were enriched with seawater that had held mussels (excretion treatment), the other half received non-enriched seawater as a control treatment. We monitored nutrients ([PO43-] and [NH4+]), dissolved oxygen and plankton components (bacteria, the phytoplankton and the zooplankton) over 5 days. We found a significant relationship between long-term accumulation of mussel biodeposits in sediments, water-column nutrient concentrations and plankton growth. Effects of mussel excretion were not detected, too weak to be significant given the spatial and temporal variability observed in the lagoon. Effects of mussels on the water column are thus likely to be coupled to benthic processes in such semi-enclosed water bodies

Selected statistical models for the univariate response variables.

<p>Selected statistical models for the univariate response variables.</p

Redundancy analysis (RDA) of the microplankton community group composition as a function of the experimental factors.

<p>A) The first axis is associated with sampling occasion. Location is associated with the second axis. B) Input is only significantly associated with the 3rd axis.</p

log PO₄ and B) log NH₄ as a function of sampling occasion (SamplN).

<p>A) Predictions from the selected models (regression lines) are reported on the figure. Areas represent 2 times the standard error due to random differences between blocks (Random effects, dark grey) or 2 times the residual errors (light grey).</p

Map and location coordinates of the experimental sites in Iles de la Madeleine (Québec), eastern Canada.

<p>(Farm site 1F: 47°25.754' N, 61°49.105’ W; Reference site 1C: 47°26.089' N, 61°49.328’ W; 2F: 47°25.85' N, 61°48.965’ W; 2C: 47°26.168' N, 61°49.196’ W; 3F: 47°25.858' N, 61°48.807’ W; 3C: 47°26.009' N, 61°48.321’ W). The bathymetry outlines are from Énergie et Ressources naturelles Québec and the outline of the Canadian coast line from Statistics Canada.</p