The effect of diaper type and overclothing on fecal contamination in day-care centers

Fecal coliform contamination of environmental surfaces and hands in the day-care center is common. This study evaluated the effect of two diaper types on fecal contamination. Ten rooms in four day-care centers containing 141 children were studied in a prospective, randomized, crossover study. A total of 2946 samples were cultured during the 9-week study. Fecal coliforms were isolated from 307 inanimate objects (15%), 73 toy balls (46%), and 131 hands (17%). The number of contaminated inanimate objects was significantly less in rooms where paper diapers were worn when compared with that in rooms where double cloth diapers with plastic overpants were worn and in rooms where clothes were worn over diapers. Inanimate object cultures had more contamination in rooms in which diarrhea had occurred. Containment of feces by overclothes and diaper type may be important in decreasing transmission of enteric pathogens in day-care environments.     

应用ELISA直接竞争法测定乳粉中黄曲霉毒素M_1

建立了测定黄曲霉毒素M_1的ELISA直接竞争法,其方法灵敏度为0.08ng/g。用该法测定了我国市售的乳粉97份,样品阳性率为84.5%,超标率(>0.5ng/g)为39.2%;阳性样品含量范围为0.08～4.16ng/g,调查结果证明我国南方生产的乳粉污染黄曲霉毒素M_1较严重。     

Obstetric outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and isolated polycystic ovaries undergoing in vitro fertilization: a retrospective cohort analysis

Objective: This retrospective cohort study evaluated the obstetric outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and isolated polycystic ovaries (PCO) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.

Methods: We studied 104 women with PCOS, 184 with PCO and 576 age-matched controls undergoing the first IVF treatment cycle between 2002 and 2009. Obstetric outcomes and complications including gestational diabetes (GDM), gestational hypertension (GHT), gestational proteinuric hypertension (PET), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), gestation at delivery, baby’s Apgar scores and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) were reviewed.

Results: Among the 864 patients undergoing IVF treatment, there were 253 live births in total (25 live births in the PCOS group, 54 in the PCO group and 174 in the control group). The prevalence of obstetric complications (GDM, GHT, PET and IUGR) and the obstetric outcomes (gestation at delivery, birth weight, Apgar scores and NICU admissions) were comparable among the three groups. Adjustments for age and multiple pregnancies were made using multiple logistic regression and we found no statistically significant difference among the three groups.

Conclusion: Patients with PCO?±?PCOS do not have more adverse obstetric outcomes when compared with non-PCO patients undergoing IVF treatment.     

ATP-Based Chemotherapy Response Assay in Primary or Recurrent Ovarian and Peritoneal Cancer

Purpose

To investigate chemosensitivity with an adenosine triphosphate-based chemotherapy response assay in patients with epithelial ovarian or peritoneal cancer according to tumor histology, grade, and disease status.

Materials and Methods

One hundred specimens were collected during primary or secondary debulking from 67 patients with primary ovarian cancer, 24 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, 5 patients with primary peritoneal cancer, and 4 patients with recurrent peritoneal cancer; samples were collected between August 2006 and June 2009. Tumor cells were isolated and cultured for 48 hours in media containing chemotherapy. The chemosensitivity index (CI) was calculated as 300 minus the sum of the cell death rate at 0.2×, 1×, and 5× drug concentrations, and the CI values were compared.

Results

CI values were obtained from 93 of 100 patients. The most active agents against primary disease were ifosfamide and paclitaxel. For primary serous adenocarcinoma, paclitaxel and irinotecan were the most active, followed by ifosfamide. For clear cell carcinoma, ifosfamide was the most active, followed by paclitaxel and irinotecan. Although not statistically significant, the CIs of cisplatin, carboplatin, paclitaxel, and docetaxel decreased as tumor grade increased. In 14 cases of recurrent disease, paclitaxel was the most active, followed by ifosfamide and cisplatin.

Conclusion

Ifosfamide and paclitaxel were the most active drugs for primary and recurrent disease. Therefore, we recommend further clinical studies to confirm the efficacy of paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin combination chemotherapy for recurrent and primary ovarian cancer.     

Relation of improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate with atorvastatin to reductions in hospitalizations for heart failure (from the Treating to New Targets [TNT] study)

Impaired kidney function often accompanies heart failure (HF) and is associated with a worse prognosis. This post hoc analysis of the Treating to New Targets (TNT) trial examined whether the observed decrease in HF hospitalizations with high- compared to low-dose atorvastatin could be related to improvements in kidney function. Of 10,001 TNT participants, 9,376 had estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measurements at baseline and 1 year and were included in this analysis. The association of change in year-1 eGFR and subsequent HF hospitalization was examined using Cox regression models. In total 218 participants developed subsequent HF hospitalization. Little change in eGFR occurred over 1 year in the atorvastatin 10-mg group, whereas eGFR improved in the 80-mg group by 1.48 ml/min/1.73 m(2) (95% confidence interval 1.29 to 1.67, p <0.0001). Subsequent HF was preceded by a decrease in eGFR over 1 year compared to modest improvement in those without subsequent HF (-0.09 ± 7.89 vs 0.81 ± 6.90 ml/min/1.73 m(2), p = 0.0015). After adjusting for baseline eGFR, each 5-ml/min/1.73 m(2) increase in eGFR at 1 year was associated with a lower risk of subsequent HF hospitalization (hazard ratio 0.85, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 0.94, p = 0.002). This relation was independent of treatment effect or change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level at 1 year. In conclusion, treatment with high- compared to low-dose atorvastatin was associated with improvement in eGFR at 1 year, which was related to a decrease in subsequent HF hospitalization. This suggests that improvement in kidney function may be related to the beneficial effect of high-dose atorvastatin on HF hospitalization.