The effect of applying a rinse and chill procedure to lamb carcases immediately post-death on meat quality?

The current study examined the effect of vascular rinsing lamb carcases (Rinse & Chill®) with a commercially available isotonic substrate solution (98.5% water; balance: glucose, polyphosphates, and maltose) at 14°C. Thirty, lamb carcases were randomly allocated to receive either the solution (n=15) 25 min post slaughter on a slaughter line or no solution (n=15). There was no apparent effect on the rate of pH decline due to infusion or muscle shortening of the M. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LL), but there was a more than 50% reduction in toughness (lower shear force) of the LL due to infusion. Infusion resulted in lighter (L*), yellower (b*) LL and this effect was maintained during simulated colour display. There was no impact on redness (a*) of the LL and in fact a critical consumer threshold for redness was not breached on average for infused or non-infused LL. There was no evidence of elevated levels of metmyoglobin formation or lipid oxidation.

Amino acid 305 determines catalytic center accessibility in CYP3A4.

Site-directed mutagenesis has been used to replace alanine 305 with phenylalanine (A305F) and serine (A305S) in the active site of cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). Enzyme kinetics for diazepam, erythromycin, nifedipine, and testosterone metabolism have been determined for both mutants and wild-type CYP3A4. The A305F mutation abolished diazepam oxidase activity and reduced the S(50) and V(max) for erythromycin N-demethylase activity from 17 to 10 microM and from 3.2 to 1.2 pmol product/min/pmol P450, respectively. The V(max) for testosterone 6beta-hydroxylase activity was also significantly reduced, from 2.3 to 0.6 pmol product/min/pmol P450, whereas the S(50) increased from 33 to 125 microM. The nifedipine oxidase activity was diminished to a lesser extent, down from 6.5 to 4.9 pmol product/min/pmol P450, whereas the S(50) increased from 9 to 42 microM. The K(i) for ketoconazole, a CYP3A4 selective inhibitor, was increased more than 10-fold from 0.050 to 0.55 microM, from 0.052 to 0.73 microM, and from 0.043 to 2.2 microM by the A305F mutation when measured against erythromycin, nifedipine, and testosterone metabolism activities, respectively. Similarly, the inhibition constants of the broader specificity inhibitors; clotrimazole, econazole, and miconazole were increased 3- to 15-fold by the A305F mutation. In contrast, the A305S mutation increased testosterone 6beta-hydroxylase (V(max) = 2.9 pmol product/min/pmol P450) and erythromycin N-demethylase (V(max) = 5.1 pmol product/min/pmol P450) activities, but reduced nifedipine oxidase activity (V(max) = 4.6 pmol product/min/pmol P450). K(i) values for ketoconazole and other azole inhibitors were unchanged by the A305S mutation. It is proposed that in CYP3A4, the mutagenesis of alanine 305 to a phenylalanine increases the steric hindrance of the catalytic center, thereby greatly reducing azole inhibitor binding affinity, but maintaining monoogygenase activity.

Complications in ENT--a nationwide audit carried out in November 1992.

We report a prospective audit of complications following ENT surgery during November 1992 from 42 consultants across the United Kingdom. Complications were reported as codes, and results were analysed at the Royal College of Surgeons Comparative Audit Unit. A total of 174 complications were reported, giving an annualized complication rate per consultant of 5.7-7.0% (depending on whether only the most severe complication per patient is counted or all complications). This compares with an annual complication rate of 1.49% reported retrospectively for the year of 1991 by the same consultants.

Royal College of Surgeons comparative ENT audit 1990.

The Royal College of Surgeons Comparative Audit Service was set up in 1990 so that surgeons could pool their audit data, to provide 'standards' with which to compare their own figures. A total of 405 consultant otolaryngologists were circularized in December 1991 inviting them to return data about their resources, workload, case-mix and complications, and about two specific audit topics-Myringoplasty and Carcinoma of the Larynx--for the calendar year 1990. A total of 65 consultants returned proformas with data on 52208 admissions and 31240 surgical procedures. The 'average' respondent admitted 829 patients in the year (19% of these day cases and 14% emergencies) and performed 744 surgical procedures with a mean complication rate of 1.39% using three theatre sessions per week. Cancelled theatre sessions per annum per consultant ranged from 0 to 71. The mean known success rate after myringoplasty was 65%, with hearing improvement in 53%. The 'average' ENT surgeon saw 3.5 new cases of invasive carcinoma of the larynx and treated 69% of these with radiotherapy alone, compared with 14% surgery alone. As well as allowing a profile to be drawn up of the 'average' respondent, this audit allowed individual consultants returning data to compare their own figures in detail with the pooled data, which were presented graphically at a meeting in April 1992.

Developmental patterns of normal nutritive sucking in infants.

The purpose of this investigation was to quantify normal nutritive sucking, using a microcomputer-based instrument which replicated the infant's customary bottle-feeding routine. 86 feeding sessions were recorded from infants ranging between 1.5 and 11.5 months of age. Suck height, suck area and percentage of time spent sucking were unrelated to age. Volume per suck declined with age, as did intersuck interval, which corresponded to a more rapid sucking rate. This meant that volume per minute of sucking time was fairly constant. The apparatus provided an objective description of the patterns of normal nutritive sucking in infants to which abnormal sucking patterns may be compared.

Communication development in young children with long-term tracheostomies: preliminary report.

Communication development was studied in 77 subjects with long-term tracheostomies ranging in age from two months to 7 years. Children were categorized according to tracheostomy status (cannulated or decannulated), presence of speech practice prior to cannulation, and level of language development (prelinguistic or linguistic) at the time of decannulation. All were aphonic and consequently deprived of speech experience for extended periods while tracheostomized. Twenty-three children have been studied post-decannulation. Results for the children decannulated during the prelinguistic stage revealed that speech and language skills were attained commensurate with intellectual functioning. This evidence led to the conclusion that extensive, audible prespeech practice (cooing and babbling) was not needed for later spoken language development. All children decannulated during the linguistic stage exhibited specific spoken language delays including phonological impairment at the time of decannulation. The presence of speech practice prior to cannulation did not appear to be a factor in the severity of phonological impairment. The children who were cannulated for more lengthy time periods, extending into the linguistic stage, however, demonstrated more severe phonological impairment than those who were decannulated during the prelinguistic stage. With direct speech/language therapy, 20 of the 23 decannulated children eventually compensated for these difficulties, demonstrating appropriate spoken language skills. Alternative communication modalities were felt to be crucial in reducing communicative frustrations during cannulation.