Use of coffee silverskin to improve the functional properties of cookies.

The purpose of this study was to determine the suitability of coffee silverskin (CSS) supplementation to enhance phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of cookies. Cookie samples were prepared with partial replacement of wheat flour by CSS (2.5, 5.0, and 7.5%). Spread ratios were found lower in all cookies with CSS than in control. Cookies became darker with increasing levels of CSS. This is due to the fact that CSS has a dark color like cocoa. CSS supplementation had improved functional quality of cookies by increasing phenolic contents, antioxidant capacities, and in vitro bioaccessibilities of them. According to the sensory evaluation, all samples with CSS received 6 and above scores (6: like slightly, 7: like moderately) for all attributes from the panelists. The results demonstrated that CSS supplementation have a good potential for developing functional and acceptable cookies and similar bakery products.

Five Years' Evaluation of the BD ProbeTec System for the Direct Molecular Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex in Respiratory and Nonrespiratory Clinical Samples.

In this study, Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex was detected by BD ProbeTec ET system in 4716 respiratory and 167 nonrespiratory samples [mostly (98%) smear negative). Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 81.8%, 98.3, 85.1 and 97.9 for respiratory and 100%, 96.2, 64.7 and 100, for nonrespiratory samples, respectively. Among 149 (3.1%) ProbeTec DTB positive and culture negative samples, 72 (65 respiratory and seven nonrespiratory) (48.3%) were recovered from the patients who were evaluated as having TB infection. The system has been found as useful in early diagnosis of tuberculosis infection in association with the clinical, radiological and histopathological findings.

Molecular detection and identification of mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and four clinically important nontuberculous mycobacterial species in smear-negative clinical samples by the genotype mycobacteria direct test.

Although the sensitivity and specificity of nucleic acid amplification assays are high with smear-positive samples, the sensitivity with smear-negative and extrapulmonary samples for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in suspicious tuberculosis cases still remains to be investigated. This study evaluates the performance of the GenoType Mycobacteria Direct (GTMD) test for rapid molecular detection and identification of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and four clinically important nontuberculous mycobacteria (M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. kansasii, and M. malmoense) in smear-negative samples. A total of 1,570 samples (1,103 bronchial aspiration, 127 sputum, and 340 extrapulmonary samples) were analyzed. When we evaluated the performance criteria in combination with a positive culture result and/or the clinical outcome of the patients, the overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were found to be 62.4, 99.5, 95.9, and 93.9%, respectively, whereas they were 63.2, 99.4, 95.7, and 92.8%, respectively, for pulmonary samples and 52.9, 100, 100, and 97.6%, respectively, for extrapulmonary samples. Among the culture-positive samples which had Mycobacterium species detectable by the GTMD test, three samples were identified to be M. intracellulare and one sample was identified to be M. avium. However, five M. intracellulare samples and an M. kansasii sample could not be identified by the molecular test and were found to be negative. The GTMD test has been a reliable, practical, and easy tool for rapid diagnosis of smear-negative pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis so that effective precautions may be taken and appropriate treatment may be initiated. However, the low sensitivity level should be considered in the differentiation of suspected tuberculosis and some other clinical condition until the culture result is found to be negative and a true picture of the clinical outcome is obtained.

Survival from severe pandemic H1N1 in urban and rural Turkey: a case series.

BACKGROUND: Pandemic influenza A (H1N1) was a serious health problem during the winter of 2009-2010 in Turkey. OBJECTIVE: To clarify the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients who needed intensive care in our region. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study from November 2009 to February 2010 of demographic characteristics, clinical course, management strategies, 28-day mortality, and stay in the intensive care unit (ICU). RESULTS: During the study period, in our ICU we followed 18 patients (10 female) with H1N1. Their median (and IQR) age was 39 y (24-52 y), their median (and IQR) Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score was 16 (10-25), and 7 (39%) of them lived in rural places. All 18 patients had acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The most common risk factors for severe H1N1 infection were obesity (33%), COPD (16%), and pregnancy (11%). Thirteen patients (72%) needed mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. Mortality was 50% (9/18) at day 28. Significantly more survivors were urban dwellers than rural (82% vs 0%, P < .001). There were also statistically significant differences between survivors and nonsurvivors in success of noninvasive ventilation, time to confirmation of the H1N1 virus after ICU admission, creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase, pH, P(aCO(2)), and P(aO(2))/F(IO(2)). CONCLUSIONS: The most common clinical presentation was ALI/ARDS in H1N1 patients who needed intensive care. Living in rural areas might have affected those patients' access to advanced ICU facilities and early ventilatory support. Failure of noninvasive ventilation, late diagnosis, late antiviral therapy, high APACHE II score, and living in a rural area were associated with mortality.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria isolated from pulmonary specimens between 2004 and 2009: causative agent or not?

Nontuberculous mycobacteria were identified from 45891 samples of 19553 patients with a prediagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis between November 2004 and January 2009. Among 10041 (21.9%) culture positive samples, 208 (2.1%) pulmonary samples recovered from 77 individual patients were differentiated as mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT). Proportion of mycobacteria evaluated as causative agent for clinical infection were found as 0.16% (n = 31), mostly M. avium complex, M. abscessus and M. kansasii. Additionally, M. fortuitum-peregrinum complex, M. simiae, M. szulgai / intermedium and M. scrofulaceum were found as causative agent in 2, 2, 2 and 1 patient, respectively. Identification of infections caused by environmental or opportunistic pathogen mycobacteria is required in rapid and accurate diagnosis, infection control and treatment planning of infections caused by M. tuberculosis complex and/or MOTT.

[Investigation of pyrazinamide resistance in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cases in Hospital of Pulmonary Diseases, Izmir, Turkey]. / Izmir Gögüs Hastaliklari Hastanesinde çok ilaca dirençli tüberküloz olgularinda pirazinamid direncinin arastirilmasi.

Pyrazinamide (PZA) is one of primary drugs for antituberculous treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the rates of PZA resistance in multidrug-resistant (MDR) and susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains isolated from patients who were admitted to our hospital. MDR strains have been isolated between 2005-2007 years, and susceptible strains were chosen randomly among the collection of the strains of the same period. MTB isolates were grown in BACTEC 960 full automatized broth system (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD) and Lowenstein-Jensen solid medium. Identification was done by radiometric BACTEC 460 NAP procedure. Antibiotic susceptibility testing against conventional anti-tuberculous drugs (streptomycin, isoniazide, rifampisin, etambutol) was performed by the radiometric BACTEC 460 system and PZA susceptibility was worked out by BD MGIT 960 PZA Kit (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD) with the use of 100.0 microg/ml critical concentrations of PZA. As a result, two of the 65 (3.1%) MTB susceptible strains and 16 of 63 (25.4%) MDR-MTB isolates were found resistant to PZA. In conclusion, due to the high PZA resistance rate in MDR-MTB isolates, susceptibility testing against PZA should be done in MDR-TB cases; however, since PZA resistance rate was low in new susceptible cases, it was thought that testing susceptibility of PZA is not necessary as a routine procedure in our region.

[Identification of atypical mycobacteria isolated from clinical specimens by line probe assay (LIPA)]. / Klinik örneklerden izole edilen atipik mikobakterilerin "line probe assay" (LIPA) yöntemiyle tanimlanmasi.

The aim of this study was the identification of atypical mycobacteria isolated from various samples of patients prediagnosed as tuberculosis between November 2004 and June 2006 by a commercial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based reverse hybridization kit (INNO-LiPA Mycobacteria v2, Innogenetics NV, Belgium). A total of 21,060 samples obtained from 9660 patients were included to the study. After decontamination and homogenization processes, the samples were cultivated in automated MGIT Bactec 960 system and the diagnosis of atypical mycobacteria was performed in 4532 (21.5%) culture positive samples with NAP test by using Bactec 460 TB system. After DNA isolation, PCR method was performed by using the primers specific for mycobacterial 16S-23S spacer region. PCR products were then hybridized with the probes specific for Mycobacterium species on nitrocellulose strips according to the recommendations of the manufacturer and evaluated. Additionally, two different versions of another commercial Line Probe Assay (LiPA) kit [GenoType Mycobacterium and GenoType Mycobacterium AS (Additional Species), Hain Lifescience, Germany] were used for the detection of unidentified mycobacterial strains. In our study period, 10 different Mycobacterium species were identified from 44 (1%) respiratory tract samples (sputum, bronchial aspiration fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage) belonging to 30 patients. While repeated atypical mycobacterial growth was found in 13 patients on different days, 17 patients showed atypical mycobacterial growth only in one sample or in separate multiple samples taken within the same day. The species distribution among patients were as follows; M. fortuitum-M. peregrinum complex (n=5), M. intracellulare (n=4), M. avium complex (n=4), M. chelonae complex (n=4), M. gordonae (n=4), M. kansasii (n=3), M. szulgailintermedium (n=2), M. simiae (n=1) and M. scrofulaceum (n=1). Two of four samples which were unidentified by INNO-LiPA and GenoType MTBC were identified as M. szulgai/intermedium by GenoType Mycobacterium AS and the other two were found as unidentified atypical mycobacteria (Mycobacterium spp.). As a result, the frequency of atypical mycobacteria isolated in our hospital was thought to be low, however, species-level identification might be useful for the planning of therapy in such patients. In addition, after NAP test, INNO-LiPA and GenoType Mycobacterium were useful tests in microbiological identification of atypical mycobacteria, and GenoType Mycobacterium AS test could be applied in mycobacterial strains which were not identified by the former assays.