A protein-free chemically defined medium for the cultivation of various micro-organisms with food safety significance.

AIMS: To develop a broadly applicable medium free of proteins with well-defined and reproducible chemical composition for the cultivation of various micro-organisms with food safety significance. METHODS AND RESULTS: The defined medium was designed as a buffered minimal salt medium supplemented with amino acids, vitamins, trace metals and other nutrients. Various strains commonly used for food safety research were selected to test the new defined medium. We investigated single growth factors needed by different strains and the growth performance of each strain cultivated in the defined medium. Results showed that the tested strains initially grew slower in the defined medium compared to tryptic soy broth, but after an overnight incubation cultures from the defined medium reached adequately high cell densities. CONCLUSIONS: The newly designed defined medium can be widely applied in food safety studies that require media with well-defined chemical constituents. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Defined media are important in studies of microbial metabolites and physiological properties. A defined medium capable of cultivating different strains simultaneously is needed in the food safety area. The new defined medium has broader applications in comparing different strains directly and provides more reproducible results.

Short communication: Use of genomic and metabolic information as well as milk performance records for prediction of subclinical ketosis risk via artificial neural networks.

Subclinical ketosis is one of the most prevalent metabolic disorders in high-producing dairy cows during early lactation. This renders its early detection and prevention important for both economical and animal-welfare reasons. Construction of reliable predictive models is challenging, because traits like ketosis are commonly affected by multiple factors. In this context, machine learning methods offer great advantages because of their universal learning ability and flexibility in integrating various sorts of data. Here, an artificial-neural-network approach was applied to investigate the utility of metabolic, genetic, and milk performance data for the prediction of milk levels of ß-hydroxybutyrate within and across consecutive weeks postpartum. Data were collected from 218 dairy cows during their first 5wk in milk. All animals were genotyped with a 50,000 SNP panel, and weekly information on the concentrations of the milk metabolites glycerophosphocholine and phosphocholine as well as milk composition data (milk yield, fat and protein percentage) was available. The concentration of ß-hydroxybutyric acid in milk was used as target variable in all prediction models. Average correlations between observed and predicted target values up to 0.643 could be obtained, if milk metabolite and routine milk recording data were combined for prediction at the same day within weeks. Predictive performance of metabolic as well as milk performance-based models was higher than that of models based on genetic information.

Nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry-based milk metabolomics in dairy cows during early and late lactation.

Milk production in dairy cows has dramatically increased over the past few decades. The selection for higher milk yield affects the partitioning of available nutrients, with more energy being allocated to milk synthesis and less to physiological processes essential to fertility and fitness. In this study, the abundance of numerous milk metabolites in early and late lactation was systematically investigated, with an emphasis on metabolites related to energy metabolism. The aim of the study was the identification and correlation of milk constituents to the metabolic status of the cows. To investigate the influence of lactation stage on physiological and metabolic variables, 2 breeds of different productivity were selected for investigation by high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We could reliably quantify 44 different milk metabolites. The results show that biomarkers such as acetone and beta-hydroxybutyrate are clearly correlated to the metabolic status of the individual cows during early lactation. Based on these data, the selection of cows that cope well with the metabolic stress of early lactation should become an option.

End-user searching: impetus for an expanding information management and technology role for the hospital librarian.

Using the results of the 1993 Medical Library Association (MLA) Hospital Libraries Section survey of hospital-based end-user search services, this article describes how end-user search services can become an impetus for an expanded information management and technology role for the hospital librarian. An end-user services implementation plan is presented that focuses on software, hardware, finances, policies, staff allocations and responsibilities, educational program design, and program evaluation. Possibilities for extending end-user search services into information technology and informatics, specialized end-user search systems, and Internet access are described. Future opportunities are identified for expanding the hospital librarian's role in the face of changing health care management, advances in information technology, and increasing end-user expectations.

Effect of online literature searching on length of stay and patient care costs.

PURPOSE: To examine the associations between (1) the economic indicators of hospital costs, charges, and length of stay (LOS) for inpatient cases and (2) the use of MEDLINE searches for such cases. METHOD: An outcome-based, objective, prospective study with an economic evaluation was conducted from September 1989 to September 1990 at three metropolitan Detroit teaching hospitals representing both allopathic and osteopathic care. The study consisted of (1) 192 test cases, derived from a consecutive sample of inpatients of all ages for whom MEDLINE searches were requested at the participating medical libraries, and (2) 10,409 control cases, which were of the same diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) as the test cases but did not involve identified MEDLINE searches. Statistical analysis included the use of multivariate analyses of variance and correlation coefficients. Comparisons of cases were made on case-by-case and DRG bases regarding total patient costs, charges, and lengths of stay for cases with or without MEDLINE searches. RESULTS: The test cases were found to have a higher severity of illness. Among test cases, statistically significant relationships existed between (1) hospital expenses and LOS and (2) hospital expenses and the timing of the search during hospitalization when controlling for LOS. When cases were matched for DRG and LOS, the cases with early searches (i.e., conducted during the first half of hospitalization) had significantly lower expenses. CONCLUSION: Of the test-case patients (for whom MEDLINE searches were conducted during hospitalization), those whose searches were conducted earlier had statistically significantly lower costs, charges, and lengths of stay than those whose searches were conducted later.

Increasing access to clinical information on hospital wards.

Medical library information resources can make a positive contribution to the clinical information needs of health care professionals. To increase availability of knowledge-based information and transfer information to its point of use, a CD-ROM resource library was networked and interfaced with the existing hospital information system at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, Michigan. Clinicians in 21 patient care areas now have access to the patient record, full-text pediatric journal information and the Micromedex CCIS database at one location.

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm complicating mitral valve replacement: transesophageal echocardiographic diagnosis and impact on management.

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm formation after mitral valve replacement, although infrequent, is a serious complication with potential catastrophic results. We describe a case of an anterobasal pseudoaneurysm compressing all branches of the left coronary artery, which was missed by initial transthoracic echocardiography and was well characterized with the transesophageal approach. Although the pseudoaneurysm was detected at contrast ventriculography, the transesophageal study provided new specific details regarding the exact site of origin of the pseudoaneurysm and its relationship to the coronary arteries that significantly influenced planning the surgical procedure and patient management.

Behavioral thermoregulation in mice inoculated with influenza virus.

Mice housed at 30 degrees C and inoculated with a mouse-adapted influenza virus show a fall in body temperature (Tb) and a decrease in food intake to almost 0 grams per day. This study tested whether the fall in Tb could be accounted for by the decreased food intake and whether the fall in Tb was due to a decrease of thermoregulatory set point or to an inability to maintain Tb at set point level. The fall in Tb of influenza-infected mice was greater than that of food-deprived mice. When food deprived, mice given access to a thermal gradient increased their preference for warmer areas in the gradient and, as a result, Tb did not fall as much as Tb of starved mice not given access to a thermal gradient. When infected with influenza virus, mice given a thermal gradient decreased Tb less and at a slower rate than mice not given a gradient. However, this fall in Tb of influenza-infected mice was greater than that of food-deprived mice given a thermal gradient. Mice given a thermal gradient increased their preference for the warmer temperatures after inoculation; this returned to preinoculation preference for cooler temperatures during the later days of infection despite a continuous fall in Tb. Influenza-infected mice given a thermal gradient survived significantly fewer days than infected mice not given a thermal gradient. We conclude that the influenza-induced fall of Tb in mice cannot be explained solely by the decrease in food intake, and is partially due to a decrease in thermoregulatory set point.

Self-tapping screw fixation of the Austin osteotomy.

The authors present an alternative method of fixation for the Austin bunionectomy using the Richards self-tapping screw. A description of the screw and method of application is included. In more than 250 osteotomies fixated by this technique, no complications inherent to the self-tapping screw have been encountered.

Adapting IAIMS to a hospital library level.

The Children's Hospital of Michigan Medical Library has adapted several of the Integrated Academic Information Management Systems (IAIMS) concepts and implemented them at a hospital library level. These have included features of network development, electronic interfacing and interlinking, and implementing an integrated information system in the library. The library has incorporated several information systems into library operations, including a variety of in-house, local, and national automated systems and telecommunication networks. Hospital libraries can incorporate IAIMS features and promote an institutional framework of interconnecting communication systems and electronic linkages.

Assessment of myocardial perfusion in humans by contrast echocardiography. I. Evaluation of regional coronary reserve by peak contrast intensity.

Myocardial contrast echocardiography was performed during coronary angiography with 2 ml of sonicated meglumine diatrizoate sodium 76% (meglumine) in 40 patients (ranging in age from 25 to 79 years) before and 10 to 15 s after intracoronary injection of papaverine, 8 mg into the right coronary artery (n = 43) and 10 mg into the left (n = 46). The same protocol was repeated in 17 patients 5 to 10 min after completion of coronary angioplasty. In 13 patients with normal coronary angiograms, peak contrast intensity corrected for background myocardial intensity was measured in 36 regions and was found to increase after papaverine from 36 +/- 16 to 55 +/- 22 U (p less than 0.001). In contrast, in the 27 patients with angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease, peak intensity in 64 regions remained unchanged after papaverine (35 +/- 22 versus 36 +/- 23 U). An increase in peak intensity greater than or equal to 10 U was 80% sensitive and 92% specific for coronary artery disease. After successful coronary angioplasty, peak intensity in the involved regions improved significantly (p less than 0.001) during baseline contrast injections (from 32 +/- 16 to 50 +/- 25 U) as well as in the postpapaverine contrast injections (from 30 +/- 12 to 60 +/- 26 U). In conclusion, measurement of peak contrast intensity after intracoronary injections of sonicated meglumine provides a relative index of myocardial perfusion that allows assessment of regional coronary reserve in patients with coronary artery disease. This may be of particular value in evaluating the immediate effects of coronary angioplasty on myocardial perfusion.