Breath odor evaluation by detection of volatile sulfur compounds – correlation with organoleptic odor ratings

Background:  Detection of oral volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) by gas chromatography (GC) is a widely used method for evaluating breath odor. Air aspirated from the mouth is injected into the GC column for analysis. To eliminate discrepancies caused by variations in operator sampling or injection techniques, a new GC system designed to aspirate breath samples directly into the GC was developed.
Objective:  A clinical study was performed to compare this new automated breath-sampling GC system to organoleptic evaluation by two trained odor judges.
Methods:  A randomized, two-cell, double-blind, parallel design was used in which subjects were tested before and 3 h after using either a mouthrinse containing zinc or a matching placebo rinse. Thirteen subjects used the zinc mouthrinse, and 12 used the placebo. Subjects with a wide range of VSC levels were studied. The average organoleptic ratings for each subject at each time-point were compared with the average VSC measurements made with the GC, and Pearson product–moment correlation coefficients between the corresponding GC and organoleptic measurements were determined.
Results:  The correlation between the GC and organoleptic assessment methods were highly significant ( P  ≤ 0.001) for: total VSC, 0.65; H₂S, 0.63; CH₃SH, 0.61; and (CH₃)₂S, 0.46. The correlation between the two judges was also highly significant (0.823, P  < 0.001).
Conclusion:  These results demonstrate the utility of the automated GC method for evaluating breath odor.     

Transcutaneous bilirubinometry in Chinese, Malay and Indian infants

The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation of transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) and plasma bilirubin concentrations in full-term Chinese, Malay and Indian infants. TcB was performed with the Minolta Airshields bilirubinometer on Chinese, Malay and Indian full-term infants. The readings were taken on the chest (sternum) and forehead (glabella) when capillary blood was sampled for bilirubin determination. Five hundred and forty TcB indices in 253 Chinese infants, 282 in 169 Malay infants, and 182 in 120 Indian infants were obtained over the sternum and forehead. A good correlation between the TcB indices and the bilirubin concentrations was observed in Chinese, Malay and Indian infants: r = 0.78 (chest), r = 0.73 (forehead); r = 0.86 (chest), r = 0.84 (forehead); and r = 0.84 (chest), r = 0.82 (forehead). The correlation was just as good when the combined values were evaluated together: r = 0.80 (chest) r = 0.75 (forehead). In Chinese infants, correlation at values below 250 μmol ⁻¹ was significantly better than that at values over 250μmoll⁻¹ r = 0.80 versus r =−0.20, < 0.00001 (chest), and r = 0.74 versus r = 0.07, < 0.00001 (forehead). However, a safer cut-off point clinically would be 200 μmoll⁻¹, since only relatively few higher bilirubin values were encountered when TcB indices were below 200 μmoll⁻¹ The same pattern was noticed with the other two groups, and the combined group. Thus, TcB provides a non-invasive, cost-effective screening method for significant neonatal jaundice, sparing infants and parents physical and emotional stress, and medical and nursing personnel extra work and inconvenience.     

纵跳和闭目单足站立对跟骨骨密度的影响

目的:为有效预防和控制骨质疏松,实验测定苏州市成年人跟骨骨密度,探讨其与纵跳高度、闭目单足站立时间的相关性。方法:实验于2004-10/2005-04在苏州市体育科学研究所完成。①实验对象:随机选取苏州市158名普通成年人进行测试,对本实验均知情同意。②实验方法:受试者踏上纵跳计踏板,当测试计的显示屏显示"00"时,受试者尽最大力量向上跳起,落地后测试计自动显示纵跳高度值。受试者闭目,用习惯脚单脚穿鞋站立在平地上,另一腿屈膝使脚离开地面,姿势不限,从提起脚离开地面开始计时,至离地脚落地停表,计算闭目单足站立的时间。采用sonost-2000超声骨密度仪测量实验对象的跟骨超声波传导速度和超声波衰减系数,仪器与电脑相连,自动算出跟骨骨质量指数。结果:①闭目单足站立时间和纵跳高度对跟骨超声参数的影响:闭目单足站立时间和纵跳高度均与跟骨骨质量指数、超声波衰减系数呈线性关系。②闭目单足站立时间和纵跳高度与跟骨超声参数的相关性:与闭目单足站立时间与跟骨超声参数的相关性比较,纵跳高度与跟骨超声参数的相关性明显升高(P<0.01)。结论:①闭目单足站立时间和纵跳高度均与跟骨的骨密度、骨强度存在线性关系,但纵跳高度呈中度相关,闭目单足站立时间相关性较低。②纵跳高度越高,反映下肢肌肉力量越大,骨密度和骨强度较大;闭目单足站立时间长,反映身体的平衡能力强。     

Preventing hospital admissions by reviewing medication (PHARM) in primary care: design of the cluster randomised,controlled, multi-centre PHARM-study

Background  

Medication can be effective but can also be harmful and even cause hospital admissions. Medication review or pharmacotherapy review has often been proposed as a solution to prevent these admissions and to improve the effectiveness and safety of pharmacotherapy. However, most published randomised controlled trials on pharmacotherapy reviews showed no or little effect on morbidity and mortality. Therefore we designed the PHARM (Preventing Hospital Admissions by Reviewing Medication)-study with the objective to study the effect of the total pharmaceutical care process on medication related hospital admissions and on adverse drug events, survival and quality of life.     

Blood pressure independent effects of nitrendipine on cardiac structure in patients after renal transplantation

Left ventricular hypertrophy is well established as a blood pressure independent cardiovascular risk factor in patients on renal replacement therapy. The effects of antihypertensive treatment on myocardial structure and function in renal transplant recipients have been so far only rarely investigated. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study patients were randomized to the calcium channel blocker nitrendipine or placebo if the transplanted kidney had developed a stable phase. Normotensive patients received nitrendipine 2 x 5 mg daily or placebo, hypertensive patients received 2 x 10 mg up to 2 x 20 mg nitrendipine daily or placebo. To achieve adequate blood pressure control, all patients with still elevated blood pressure on study medication received antihypertensive drugs other than calcium channels blockers. Ambulatory blood pressure recording and 2D-guided M-mode echocardiography were performed at baseline and upon completion of the study. In addition, laboratory workup (including serum creatinine and lipids) was done, and serum aldosterone, plasma renin activity, plasma angiotensin II and blood glucose levels were measured in all patients at baseline and after at least 12 months of therapy. Ambulatory blood pressure was almost identical between both groups at study baseline and follow-up. In renal transplant patients on nitrendipine, posterior wall thickness (-0.10 +/- 1.77 mm) and septal wall thickness (-0.83 +/- 2.23 mm) did not change significantly from baseline. In contrast, posterior wall thickness (0.71 +/- 0.92 mm, P < 0.01) and septal wall thickness (0.97 +/- 2.20 mm, P < 0.05) increased in patients on placebo, which differed from the observed changes on nitrendipine (ANOVA: P = 0.093 and P = 0.048, respectively). Relative wall thickness, a parameter for concentric left ventricular hypertrophy, became numerically smaller on nitrendipine therapy from 0.46 +/- 0.07 to 0.44 +/- 0.09 (-0.02 +/- 0.09, NS) but increased from 0.42 +/- 0.08 to 0.48 +/- 0.08 in the placebo arm (+0.04 +/- 0.08, P < 0.02), which was also significant between the two groups (ANOVA: P = 0.036). Endocrine parameters, lipids and blood glucose were not different between the two groups. We conclude from these data that the calcium channel blocker nitrendipine exerted beneficial effects on cardiac structure in patients after renal transplantation independent of blood pressure.      

Detection of ubiquityl-calmodulin conjugates with a novel high-molecular weight ubiquitylprotein-isopeptidase in rabbit tissues

The selective degradation of many proteins in eukaryotic cells is carried out by the ubiquitin system. In this pathway, proteins are targeted for degradation by covalent ligation to ubiquitin, a highly conserved protein [1]. Ubiquitylated proteins were degraded by the 26S proteasome in an ATP-depended manner. The degradation of ubiquitylated proteins were controlled by isopeptidase cleavage. A well characterised system of ubiquitylation and deubiquitylation is the calmodulin system in vitro [2]. Detection of ubiquityl-calmodulin conjugtates in vivo have not been shown so far. In this article we discuss the detection of ubiquitin calmodulin conjugates in vivo by incubation with a novel high-molecular weight ubiquitylprotein-isopeptidase in rabbit tissues. Proteins with a molecular weight of ubiquityl-calmodulin conjugates could be detected in all organs tested. Incubation with ubiquitylprotein-isopeptidase showed clearly a decrease of ubiquitin calmodulin conjugates in vivo with an origination of unbounded ubiquitin. These results suggest that only few ubiquitin calmodulin conjugates exist in rabbit tissues.