The relationship between existing nutritional indicators and Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria: A one-institution cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: In 2018, the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) presented the criteria for malnutrition diagnosis; reports about the proportion of malnutrition patients meeting these GLIM criteria in acute care hospitals, however, remain very limited. The relationship between GLIM criteria and existing nutritional indicators, patterns for hospitalization, and malnutrition severity is also unclear. This study aims to investigate this relationship. METHODS: Our study included 490 patients (aged 69.5 ± 16.0 years, 45% women) who had been hospitalized during a specific month in an acute care hospital, and for whom we could assess nutritional status according to GLIM criteria. We analyzed the cut-off value on the MNA-SF score and grip strength (GS) for GLIM criteria-defined malnutrition severity grading with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. We extracted factors relating to malnutrition by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In all, 33% of patients met the GLIM criteria for malnutrition. Malnutrition severity was correlated with age, GS and emergency hospitalization (p < 0.001, respectively). For the MNA-SF score, we determined a cut-off value of point 9 for severe malnutrition [area under curve (AUC) 0.92, p < 0.001], and of point 11 for moderate malnutrition [range 0-14 (AUC 0.90, p < 0.001)]. We were able to identify 98% of patients defined on GLIM criteria as malnourished, with the MNA-SF score. Using the HG, we could also evaluate the malnutrition grading in men younger than 70 years and women older than 70 years (men younger than 70 years: cut off for severe malnutrition, 20 kg, AUC 0.82; for moderate malnutrition, 29 kg, AUC 0.83; women older than 70 years: for severe malnutrition, 11 kg, AUC 0.78; for moderate malnutrition, 14.5 kg, AUC 0.72; p < 0.001, respectively). We extracted emergency hospitalization as an independent factor relating to malnutrition, adjusted for age and sex (odds ratio: 2.99; 95% CI: 2.00-4.47; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Using the MNA-SF for GLIM criteria screening, we identified malnourished patients with high accuracy, and GS was also a reliable nutritional assessment. Emergency hospitalization patients were at a high risk for malnutrition.

Open-loop and closed-loop control of dissociative ionization of ethanol in intense laser fields.

The relative yield of the C-O bond breaking with respect to the C-C bond breaking in ethanol cation C2H5OH+ is maximized in intense laser fields (10(13)-10(15) Wcm2) by open-loop and closed-loop optimization procedures. In the open-loop optimization, a train of intense laser pulses are synthesized so that the temporal separation between the first and last pulses becomes 800 fs, and the number and width of the pulses within a train are systematically varied. When the duration of 800 fs is filled with laser fields by increasing the number of pulses or by stretching all pulses in a triple pulse train, the relative yield of the C-O bond breaking becomes significantly large. In the closed-loop optimization using a self-learning algorithm, the four dispersion coefficients or the phases of 128 frequency components of an intense laser pulse are adopted as optimized parameters. From these optimization experiments it is revealed that the yield ratio of the C-O bond breaking is maximized as far as the total duration of the intense laser field reaches as long as approximately 1 ps and that the intermittent disappearance of the laser field within a pulse does not affect the relative yields of the bond breaking pathways.

Rapid detection of respiring Escherichia coli O157:H7 in apple juice, milk, and ground beef by flow cytometry.

BACKGROUND: Rapid and simple methods to detect viable pathogenic microbes in foods and drinks are required. Flow cytometry was used for the rapid detection of respiring Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells in apple juice, milk, and ground beef. METHODS: CTC (5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride) was used to estimate the respiratory activity of bacteria. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled anti-E. coli O157:H7 direct antibody (FA) was used for the specific detection of target cells. Food samples were inoculated with starved E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli K-12 cells, and analyzed by both fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry after double staining with FA and CTC. RESULTS: Respiring E. coli O157:H7 cells in food samples showed strong fluorescence of both FA (green) and CTC (red); thus, they could be clearly and specifically distinguished from respiring E. coli K-12 or inactive cells. A good correlation was achieved in flow cytometric analysis between the numbers of inoculated viable E. coli O157:H7 and those detected in milk and apple juice. The detection threshold for this flow cytometry for E. coli O157:H7 in milk, apple juice, and ground beef was 10(3) cells/ml (milk and apple juice) or 10(3) cells/g (ground beef) of sample when the total bacterial number in the sample was 10(6) cells/ml. CONCLUSIONS: Respiring E. coli O157:H7 in food samples can be detected specifically within a few hours. Flow cytometry with FA-CTC double staining can be used to examine food contamination with various pathogenic microbes demonstrating physiologic activity through the use of a suitable fluorescent antibody.