Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among schoolchildren in Greece: the role of sex, degree of urbanisation and seasonality.

The current study was aiming to report the prevalence of suboptimal vitamin D status among schoolchildren in Greece and investigate the role of sex, urbanisation and seasonality on vitamin D status. A sample of 2386 schoolchildren (9-13 years old) from four distinct prefectures was examined. The prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration <30 and <50 nmol/l (vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency respectively) was 5·2 and 52·5 %, respectively. Girls had a higher prevalence of 25(OH)D<30 (7·2 v. 3·2 %) and 50 nmol/l (57·0 v. 48·0 %) than boys (P<0·001). The highest prevalence rates of 25(OH)D<30 and 50 nmol/l (9·1 and 73·1 %, respectively) were observed during spring (April to June), whereas the lowest (1·5 and 31·9 %, respectively) during autumn (October to December). The prevalence of 25(OH)D<50 nmol/l was higher in urban/semi-urban than rural regions, particularly during spring months (74·6 v. 47·2 %; P<0·001). Female sex, urban/semi-urban region of residence and spring months were found to increase the likelihood of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, with the highest OR observed for spring months (7·47; 95 % CI 3·23, 17·3 and 5·14; 95 % CI 3·84, 6·89 for 25(OH)D<30 and 50 nmol/l respectively). In conclusion, despite the southerly latitude, the prevalence of low vitamin D status among primary schoolchildren in Greece is comparable to or exceeds the prevalence reported among children and adolescents on a European level. Sub-populations at highest risk are girls in urban/semi-urban areas during spring months, thus indicating the need for effective initiatives to support adequate vitamin D status in these population groups.

The organizational attraction of nursing graduates: using research to guide employer branding.

In the context of the global nursing shortage, only the most attractive employers are able to recruit a sufficient number of nurses to maintain high quality of care and ensure positive patient outcomes. It is important for health care organizations to align their practices and their employer marketing strategies with attraction factors important to nurses. This article presents the results of a survey of 666 nursing students graduating in the spring of 2009 in the Canadian province of Quebec. Hypotheses were tested using repeated-measures analysis of variance and post hoc tests. Consistent with hypotheses, the results showed that quality of care, type of work, compensation, and employer branding are organizational attraction factors that nursing graduates perceived as important, with quality of care being the most important one. These findings were later used by a Canadian university teaching hospital to optimize its employer branding and attraction strategy that resulted in an increase in the hiring of university-trained nurses. Further research is needed to examine organizational attractiveness for new nurses over time, across generations, and within various cultural contexts.

Contribution of C. beijerinckii and C. sporogenes in association with C. tyrobutyricum to the butyric fermentation in Emmental type cheese.

The relationship between C. tyrobutyricum, C. sporogenes and C. beijerinckii in experimental cheese conditions, and their influences on late-blowing and butyric fermentation, have been investigated. A molecular approach using a PCR-TTGE method in combination with conventional methods, such as microbiological and physico-chemical analysis, was performed to monitor the evolution of these clostridial species, simultaneously with the occurrence of cheese defects. Sixteen Emmental type cheeses were produced from milk inoculated with different clostridial spore associations. In all cheeses inoculated with C. tyrobutyricum, obvious signs of late blowing were detected. In cheeses inoculated with C. beijerinckii or C. sporogenes, a formation of holes in cheese body was observed, with a concomitant slight amount of butyric acid production. Even though C. beijerinckii and C. sporogenes were less metabolically active and less numerically important than C. tyrobutyricum in cheese as shown by TTGE profiles, the association of these species to C. tyrobutyricum enhanced the butyric fermentation and the cheese defects. The level of butyric content in ripened cheese increased to 268 mg 100 g(-1) in presence of C. tyrobutyricum, and reached a maximum of 414 mg 100 g(-1) in presence of the C. beijerinckii-C. tyrobutyricum (1:10) association. The propionic fermentation was also higher in cheese inoculated with C. tyrobutyricum, and was slowed down in presence of C. beijerinckii and C. sporogenes. From 30 days of ripening, a strong correlation between the chemical contents and the intensity of cheese defects was demonstrated. A chemical analysis of cheese associated with a molecular method for microbial spoilage investigation allows the prediction of the level of late blowing at early stages of ripening, and the understanding of the origin of the defect.

Development and validation of PCR primers to assess the diversity of Clostridium spp. in cheese by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis.

A nested-PCR temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) approach was developed for the detection of bacteria belonging to phylogenetic cluster I of the genus Clostridium (the largest clostridial group, which represents 25% of the currently cultured clostridial species) in cheese suspected of late blowing. Primers were designed based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, and the specificity was confirmed in PCRs performed with DNAs from cluster I and non-cluster I species as the templates. TTGE profiles of the PCR products, comprising the V5-V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene, allowed us to distinguish the majority of cluster I species. PCR-TTGE was applied to analyze commercial cheeses with defects. All cheeses gave a signal after nested PCR, and on the basis of band comigration with TTGE profiles of reference strains, all the bands could be assigned to a clostridial species. The direct identification of Clostridium spp. was confirmed by sequencing of excised bands. C. tyrobutyricum and C. beijerinckii contaminated 15 and 14 of the 20 cheese samples tested, respectively, and C. butyricum and C. sporogenes were detected in one cheese sample. Most-probable-number counts and volatile fatty acid were determined for comparison purposes. Results obtained were in agreement, but only two species, C. tyrobutyricum and C. sporogenes, could be isolated by the plating method. In all cheeses with a high amount of butyric acid (>100 mg/100 g), the presence of C. tyrobutyricum DNA was confirmed by PCR-TTGE, suggesting the involvement of this species in butyric acid fermentation. These results demonstrated the efficacy of the PCR-TTGE method to identify Clostridium in cheeses. The sensitivity of the method was estimated to be 100 CFU/g.

The reasonable woman standard: effects on sexual harassment court decisions.

Some federal courts have used a reasonable woman standard rather than the traditional reasonable man or reasonable person standard to determine whether hostile environment sexual harassment has occurred. The current research examined the impact of the reasonable woman standard on federal district court decisions, controlling for other factors found to affect sexual harassment court decisions. Results indicated that there was a weak relationship between whether a case followed a reasonable woman precedent-setting case and the likelihood that the court decision favored the plaintiff. The implications of our findings for individuals and organizations involved in sexual harassment claims are discussed.

Fluorescent hybridisation combined with flow cytometry and hybridisation of total RNA to analyse the composition of microbial communities in human faeces using 16S rRNA probes.

To determine the structure of human faecal microbiota, faecal samples from 23 healthy individuals were analysed with a similar set of probes targeting six phylogenetic groups using rRNA dot-blot hybridisation and whole cell fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) combined with flow cytometry. When microbiota compositions derived by each method were compared, the results were not statistically different for Clostridium coccoides, Fusobacterium prausnitzii, Bifidobacterium spp. and Enterobacteria. Conversely, the proportions were significantly different for Bacteroides and Atopobium (P<0.05). The metabolic state of these bacteria within the colon could explain the discrepancy observed between the rRNA level and the actual cell proportion. However, both approaches supplied consistent and complementary information on the structure of the faecal microbiota. FISH combined with flow cytometry appears best suited to future high throughput analysis.