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

Routinely collected data for randomized trials: promises, barriers, and implications

This work was supported by Stiftung Institut für klinische Epidemiologie. The Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford University is funded by a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The funders had no role in design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript or its submission for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Detection of a new medium for budwood culture in vitro of citrus [Turunçgillerde in vitro aşigözü kültürü i·çin yeni bir ortam i·çeriginin araştinlmasi]

The transfer of new and quality citrus species and cultivars from one country or growing area to another may lead to the introduction of new pests and diseases. Therefore the import and direct production of citrus budwood without adequate control measures has a high risk. The citrus virus and virus-like disease agents can be successfully eliminated using the shoot-tip grafting (STG) technique which is routinely used to obtain virus-free plants in citrus improvement programs in major citrus-growing countries. Many methods are used to obtain flushes as a source of scion material for STG in vitro. The budwood culture in vitro is one. used to obtain flushes from bud sticks for STG. The budwood culture medium is composed of Murashige and Skoog (MS) salt solution and is used to culture the plant in vitro after shoot-tip grafting. This research was conducted with the objective of simplifying the usual procedure of budwood culture. Instead of culturing in tubes containing nutrient medium and fine sand as a substrate, a new medium with distilled water without salt solution or sand was tried, to obtain flushes from Washington Navel orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.), Minneola tangelo (Citrus reticulata x Citrus paradis!) and Interdonato limon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm.) cultivars. Distilated water medium is more practical and more economical than usual the medium composition. This new medium has been used successfully with several cultivars (especially imported) of sweet orange, mandarin, lemon, grapefruit and ornamental citrus to obtain a source of shoots for STG at the Subtropical Fruits Research and Experimental Centre of the University of Cukurova since 1993

Enzymic activity of the K5-type yeast killer toxin and its characterization

K5-type yeast killer toxin secreted by P. anomala NCYC 434 cells has a broad killing spectrum. Competitive inhibiton of killer activity showed that glucans, mainly the beta-1,3 glucan, represent the primary toxin binding site within the cell wall of sensitive cells. Its hydrolytic activity on laminarin in an exo-like fashion revealed that the toxin exerts its killing effect by exo-beta-1,3-glucanase activity. Its specific activity on laminarin was 120U/mg, and the Michaelis constants K-m, and V-max for laminarin hydrolysis were 0.25mg/ml and 370 mu mol/min/mg. The toxin exerted its cytocidal effect after 2 h contact with the target cells. Production of the toxin by the cells was induced only when they were grown in culture media rich in beta-glucan sources, and the addition of glucose increased the specific production rate. The enzymic activity of the toxin was fully inhibited by Hg+2, but increased with some other metal ions, most of all by Pb+2

Egg and larval parasitoids of the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua on maize in Turkey

The present study was conducted to determine egg and larval parasitoids of the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), which is an important but sporadic pest in Turkey. High beet armyworm population levels were recently observed in fields of first and second crop maize in the southeast Mediterranean region of Turkey. The parasitoid species complex and its impact on the pest were analyzed in a 4-year study in first and second crop maize. The braconid larval parasitoids Microplitis rufiventris Kokujev, M. tuberculifer Wesmael, Meteorus ictericus Nees, Chelonus obscuratus (Herrich Schäffer) (an egg-larval parasitoid), Apanteles ruficrus (Haliday); the ichneumonid larval parasitoids Hyposoter didymator (Thunberg) and Sinophorus xanthostomus Gravenhorst; and the egg parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens (Westwood) were found to be the natural enemies attacking the pest. Among the parasitoid species the solitary endoparasitoid H. didymator was the most prevalent species, being reared from 40.5% of the parasitized larvae found. Higher parasitism rates were recorded on first crop than on second crop maize in every year. Possible reasons for this difference in larval parasitism between two growing seasons include lower population of the pest and reduced insecticide applications in first crop maize fields which permitted higher parasitism. However, parasitoid activity was insufficient to counterbalance the population growth of the pest on subsequent second crop maize