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Selected AbstractsDevelopment of a Japanese Version of the Care Planning Assessment ToolAUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 1 2010Sumiko Kanegae Aim:, To develop a Japanese version of the Care Planning Assessment Tool (J-CPAT), originally developed in Australia as a comprehensive assessment of people with dementia. Methods:, The process of adapting the CPAT into Japanese included translation into Japanese, assessment of item comprehension, and a validity and reliability study. The J-CPAT is composed of eight domains: Communication, physical problems, self-help skills, confusion, behaviour, social interaction, psychiatric observations and carer dependency. The participants were 199 aged care clients. Measures were the J-CPAT, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Care Levels used in the Long-term Care Insurance scheme. Results:, Cronbach's alpha values in each J-CPAT domain were 0.74,0.95. The correlation coefficient between the score of Confusion and MMSE was ,0.90, and those between physical problems, self-help skills, carer dependency in the J-CPAT, and care level were 0.70, 0.75 and 0.67. Conclusions:, The J-CPAT appears to be a reliable and valid tool for care planning in Japan. [source] Effects of dietary N -acetylcysteine on the oxidative stress induced in tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) exposed to a microcystin-producing cyanobacterial water bloom,ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 8 2009María Puerto Abstract Fish can be exposed to toxic cyanobacterial cells in natural waters and fish farms and suffer from oxidative damage. The present study investigates the effects of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a glutathione (GSH) precursor, on the oxidative stress induced by Microcystis cyanobacterial cells containing microcystins (MCs) in tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus). Variation in lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels, carbonyl group content, reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione ratio (GSH: GSSG), and catalase (Enzyme Commission [EC] 1.11.1.6), superoxide dismutase (SOD; EC 1.15.1.1), glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1.8.1.7), glutathione peroxidase (GPx; EC 1.11.1.9), and glutathione S-transferase (EC 2.5.1.18) activities in liver and kidney of tilapia exposed to a single oral dose of 120 ,g MC-LR (with leucine [L] and arginine [R])/fish and killed in 24 h were investigated in the absence and presence of 20.0, 44.0, and 96.8 mg NAC/fish/d. Results showed a protective role of NAC, depending on the dose and the biomarker considered. The increase in LPO (1.9-and 1.4-fold in liver and kidney, respectively) and the decreased protein content and GSH:GSSG in the liver induced by MCs were recovered mainly by the lower doses of NAC employed. Antioxidant enzyme activities increased (range, 1.4-to 1.7-fold) by MCs also were ameliorated by NAC, although the highest level used induced significant alteration of some enzymatic activities, such as SOD, GPx, and GR. Thus, NAC can be considered to be a useful chemoprotectant that reduces hepatic and renal oxidative stress in the prophylaxis and treatment of MC-related intoxications in fish when careful attention is given to its application dose because of its own pro-oxidant activity, as shown in the present study at 96.8 mg NAC/ fish/d. [source] Inductive effect of uncharged groups: dependence on electronegativityJOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 7 2006Otto Exner Abstract Substituent effects in rigid non-conjugated systems were followed on the series of 3-substituted 1-fluoro-bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes and 2-substituted 1-fluoroethanes in the fixed ap conformation. Their energies were calculated within the framework of the density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd)//B3LYP/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level and the substituent effects were expressed in terms of isodesmic homodesmotic reactions. The results were confirmed by the energies of 1,4-disubstituted bicyclo[2.2.2]octanes reported in the literature and calculated at a lower level. Interaction of two common substituents of low or medium polarity cannot be described as the classical inductive effect by one term, proportional in all series, but an additional parameter is necessary, which depends only on the first atom of the substituent and may be identified with its electronegativity. The second term decreases with the distance more steeply than the first term and is always much less important. Nevertheless its statistical significance was proved by several sensitive tests at the highest level used in statistics. When one of the substituents is charged (or at least strongly polar as NO2 or CN), the first term is much increased and the second becomes less significant or insignificant. Therefore, the standard definition of the inductive effect with a uniform, universally valid constant can be retained as far as one treats only the ionization equilibria, both in solution and in the gas phase, or kinetics with a strongly polar transition state. In contrast to the firm statistical proofs, the physical meaning of the electronegativity term was not established. Any relation to various group electronegativities does not exist, similarity to the 13C NMR shifts is merely qualitative. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] DIET OF HARBOR PORPOISES IN THE KATTEGAT AND SKAGERRAK SEAS: ACCOUNTING FOR INDIVIDUAL VARIATION AND SAMPLE SIZEMARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2003Patrik Börjesson Abstract Stomach contents of 112 bycaught harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) collected between 1989 and 1996 in the Kattegat and Skagerrak seas were analyzed to describe diet composition and estimate prey size, to examine sample size requirements, and to compare juvenile and adult diets. Although porpoises preyed on a variety of species, only a few contributed substantially to the diet. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) was the dominating prey species for both juveniles and adults. Our results, in combination with those from previous studies, suggest that where herring is a dominant food source, porpoises prey primarily on size classes containing mature or maturing individuals. Further, we also show that Atlantic hagfish (Myxine glutinosa) may be an important food resource, at least for adult porpoises. Examination of sample size requirement showed that, depending on the taxonomic level used to describe the diet, a minimum of 35,71 stomachs are needed to be confident that all common prey species will be found. [source] Crowding and disease: effects of host density on response to infection in a butterfly,parasite interactionECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 5 2009ELIZABETH LINDSEY Abstract. 1. Hosts experiencing frequent variation in density are thought to benefit from allocating more resources to parasite defence when density is high (,density-dependent prophylaxis'). However, high density conditions can increase intra-specific competition and induce physiological stress, hence increasing host susceptibility to infection (,crowding-stress hypothesis'). 2. We studied monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and quantified the effects of larval rearing density on susceptibility to the protozoan parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha. Larvae were inoculated with parasite spores and reared at three density treatments: low, moderate, and high. We examined the effects of larval density on parasite loads, host survival, development rates, body size, and wing melanism. 3. Results showed an increase in infection probability with greater larval density. Monarchs in the moderate and high density treatments also suffered the greatest negative effects of parasite infection on body size, development rate, and adult longevity. 4. We observed greater body sizes and shorter development times for monarchs reared at moderate densities, and this was true for both unparasitised and parasite-treated monarchs. We hypothesise that this effect could result from greater larval feeding rates at moderate densities, combined with greater physiological stress at the highest densities. 5. Although monarch larvae are assumed to occur at very low densities in the wild, an analysis of continent-wide monarch larval abundance data showed that larval densities can reach high levels in year-round resident populations and during the late phase of the breeding season. Treatment levels used in our experiment captured ecologically-relevant variation in larval density observed in the wild. [source] Rennin-like milk coagulant enzyme produced by a local isolate of MucorINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DAIRY TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2003Z A Tubesha Among 20 isolates of Mucor isolated from various environments in Jordan and found to produce a rennin-like acid protease, known as Mucor rennin-like enzyme (MRE), Mucor J20 was found to produce the highest level of MRE. The optimum incubation conditions for enzyme production in a fortified wheat bran mixture using solid-state fermentation were 3,4 days at 30°C. The highest MRE activity (185,200 rennin units or RU) was produced in a medium containing wheat bran and lentil straw (1 : 1 w/w) moistened with whey, and incubated in clay pots at 30°C for 4 days. A slightly lower activity value (178 RU) was found when using a mineral salt solution or distilled water instead of whey, or when using wheat bran alone with whey. At pH 4, the MRE retained its complete activity (100%) for 6 weeks at 5°C and 10°C, and for 3 and 2 weeks at 20°C and 30°C, respectively. After heating at 60°C for 10 min, the enzyme lost its activity at all pH levels used (pH 2,8). The crude extract of MRE was successfully applied in the manufacture of a cheese curd. [source] Theoretical study in [C2H4,Tl]+ and [C2H2,Tl]+ complexesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2007Fernando Mendizabal Abstract We studied the attraction between [C2Hn] and Tl(I) in the hypothetical [C2Hn,Tl]+ complexes (n = 2,4) using ab initio methodology. We found that the changes around the equilibrium distance C,Tl and in the interaction energies are sensitive to the electron correlation potential. We evaluated these effects using several levels of theory, including Hartree,Fock (HF), second-order Møller,Plesset (MP2), MP4, coupled cluster singles and doubles CCSD(T), and local density approximation augmented by nonlocal corrections for exchange and correlation due to Becke and Perdew (LDA/BP). The obtained interaction energies differences at the equilibrium distance Re (C,Tl) range from 33 and 46 kJ/mol at the different levels used. These results indicate that the interaction between olefinic systems and Tl(I) are a real minimum on the potential energy surfaces (PES). We can predict that these new complexes are viable for synthesizing. At long distances, the behavior of the [C2Hn],Tl+ interaction may be related mainly to charge-induced dipole and dispersion terms, both involving the individual properties of the olefinic ,-system and thallium ion. However, the charge-induced dipole term (R,4) is found as the principal contribution in the stability at long and short distances. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007 [source] Cumin seed meal with enzyme and polyethylene glycol as an alternative to wheat bran in broiler dietsJOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 15 2006Behzad Mansoori Abstract Iran produces about 7000 metric tons of cumin seed meal (CSM) as a by-product of cumin oil extraction factories, annually. To evaluate the nutritional significance of cumin seed meal as a broiler feedstuff, an experiment was conducted using 288 male broiler chicks (14 days old) receiving diets containing 0, 25 and 50 g kg,1 of CSM with and without polyethylene glycol (PEG) and enzyme (GrindazymeÔ GP 15000) for 28 days. Total body weight (BW), body weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), weight of carcass and percentage of legs, breast and edible parts of carcass were measured. The results showed that, inclusion of CSM in broiler diets had no negative influence on parameters evaluated compared to the control diet containing wheat bran (P > 0.05). PEG and enzyme had no influence on the bird performance (P > 0.05). There was an increase in relative weight of gizzard when the amount of CSM in the diet was increased (P < 0.01). An increase in relative weight of gizzard in birds that received the CSM diet was likely to be due to the increase in fibre content of CSM diets. In respect of the low price of CSM, it could be concluded that inclusion of CSM at levels used in this experiment has no negative effect on broiler performance and reduces the overall cost of broiler production. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Effect of Thymus vulgaris essential oil on intestinal bacterial microbiota of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) and bacterial isolatesAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 10 2010Paola Navarrete Abstract The application of natural and innocuous compounds has potential in aquaculture as an alternative to antibiotics. We evaluated the effect of diet supplementation with Thymus vulgaris essential oil (TVEO) on the allochthonous microbial composition of rainbow trout. DNA was extracted directly from the intestinal contents, and the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA genes were amplified by PCR. The bacterial composition was analysed using temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis (TTGE). No significant changes (P>0.05) were detected in the TTGE profiles of TVEO-treated trout compared with the controls. The Dice similarity index revealed a high stability (Cs >70%) of the intestinal microbiota in both groups during the 5-week period. Sequence analyses of the TTGE bands revealed the same bacterial composition in both groups, with most bacteria belonging to the Proteobacteria and Firmicutes phyla. The in vitro antibacterial activity of TVEO was assessed using a range of normal intestinal isolates and fish pathogens. The inhibitory concentrations for all the tested bacteria were higher than the TVEO levels used in trout, which may explain the in vivo results. [source] Thalidomide therapy in adult patients with myelodysplastic syndromeCANCER, Issue 4 2006A North Central Cancer Treatment Group phase II trial Abstract BACKGROUND. Thalidomide has shown promise for the treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. The current prospective multicenter study examined the efficacy and toxicity of thalidomide in adult patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. METHODS. Using the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), patients were stratified into 2 groups: favorable (IPSS score, 0,1.0) or unfavorable (IPSS score, 1.5,3.5). Seventy-two patients (42 of whom were favorable and 30 of whom were unfavorable) received a starting dose of oral thalidomide of 200 mg daily. The dose was increased by 50 mg per week to a targeted maximum daily dose of 1000 mg. RESULTS. According to the International Working Group response criteria for myelodysplastic syndrome, 1 patient in the unfavorable group achieved a partial remission with a complete cytogenetic response. Overall, 2 patients (5%) in the favorable group and 4 patients (14%) in the unfavorable group experienced either a hematologic improvement or a partial response. The most frequent Grade 3 or 4 (grading was based on the National Cancer Institute's Common Toxicity Criteria [version 2.0]) nonhematologic adverse events were fatigue (24%), infection (19%), neuropathy (13%), dyspnea (8%), and constipation (7%). CONCLUSIONS. Thalidomide alone, at the schedule and dose levels used in the current study, is not a safe and viable therapeutic option for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome. Limited efficacy and increased toxicity were observed in the current Phase II trial. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society. [source] | ||||||||||||||||