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OBJECTIVES: Dietary intake information is key to understanding nutrition-related outcomes. Intake changes with age and some older people are at increased risk of malnutrition. Application, difficulties, and advantages of the 24-hour multiple pass recall (24hr-MPR) dietary assessment method in three cohorts of advanced age in the United Kingdom (UK) and New Zealand (NZ) is described. PARTICIPANTS: The Newcastle 85+ study (UK) recruited a single year birth cohort of people aged 85 years during 2006-7. LiLACS NZ recruited a 10-year birth cohort of Maori (indigenous New Zealanders) aged 80-90 years and a single year birth cohort of non-Maori aged 85 years in 2010. MEASUREMENTS: Two 24hr-MPR were conducted on non-consecutive days by trained assessors. Pictorial resources and language were adapted for the New Zealand and Maori contexts. Detailed methods are described. RESULTS: In the Newcastle 85+ study, 805 (93%) participants consented to the 24-MPR, 95% of whom completed two 24hr-MPR; in LiLACS NZ, 218 (82%) consented and 203 (76%) Maori and 353 (90%) non-Maori completed two 24hr-MPR. Mean time to complete each 24hr-MPR was 22 minutes in the Newcastle 85+ study, and 45 minutes for Maori and 39 minutes for non-Maori in LiLACS NZ. Dietary assessment of participants residing in residential care and those requiring proxy respondents were successfully included in both studies. Most participants (83-94%) felt that data captured by the 24hr-MPR reflected their usual dietary intake. CONCLUSIONS: Dietary assessment using 24hr-MPR was successful in capturing detailed dietary data including information on portion size and time of eating for over 1300 octogenarians in the UK and New Zealand (Maori and non- Maori). The 24hr-MPR is an acceptable method of dietary assessment in this age group.

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Ultrasonic techniques such as pulse echo, vibrating reed, or resonant ultrasound spectroscopy are powerful probes not only for studying elasticity but also for investigating electronic and magnetic properties. Here, we report on the design of a high pressure ultrasonic pulse echo apparatus, based on a piston cylinder cell, with a simplified electronic setup that operates with a single coaxial cable and requires sample lengths of mm only. The design allows simultaneous measurements of ultrasonic velocities and attenuation coefficients up to a pressure of 1.5 GPa. We illustrate the performance of the cell by probing the phase diagram of a single crystal of the ferromagnetic superconductor UGe2.

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OBJECTIVES: To establish the prevalence of high nutrition risk and associated health and social risk factors for New Zealand Maori and non-Maori in advanced age. DESIGN: A cross sectional analysis of inception cohorts to LiLACS NZ. SETTING: Bay of Plenty and Lakes region of the North Island, New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: 255 Maori and 400 non- Maori octogenarians. MEASUREMENTS: Nutrition risk was assessed using a validated questionnaire Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition (SCREEN II). Demographic, social, physical and health characteristics were established using an interviewer administered questionnaire. Health related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed with the SF-12, depressive symptoms using the GDS-15. RESULTS: Half (49%) of Maori and 38% of non-Maori participants were at high nutrition risk (SCREEN II score <49). Independent risk factors were for Maori younger age (p=0.04), lower education (p=0.03), living alone (p<0.001), depressive symptoms (p=0.01). For non- Maori high nutrition risk was associated with female gender (p=0.005), living alone (p=0.002), a lower physical health related quality of life (p=0.02) and depressive symptoms (p=0.002). CONCLUSION: Traditional risk factors apply to both Maori and non-Maori whilst education as indicative of low socioeconomic status is an additional risk factor for Maori. High nutrition risk impacts health related quality of life for non-Maori. Interventions which socially facilitate eating are especially important for women and for Maori to maintain cultural practices and could be initiated by routine screening.

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BACKGROUND: Vascular ulcers are commonly seen in daily practice at all levels of care and have great impact at personal, professional and social levels with a high cost in terms of human and material resources. Given that the application of autologous platelet rich plasma has been shown to decrease healing times in various different studies in the hospital setting, we considered that it would be interesting to assess the efficacy and feasibility of this treatment in primary care. The objectives of this study are to assess the potential efficacy and safety of autologous platelet rich plasma for the treatment of venous ulcers compared to the conventional treatment (moist wound care) in primary care patients with chronic venous insufficiency (C, clinical class, E, aetiology, A, anatomy and P, pathophysiology classification C6). DESIGN: We will conduct a phase III, open-label, parallel-group, multicentre, randomized study. The subjects will be 150 patients aged between 40 and 100 years of age with an at least 2-month history of a vascular venous ulcer assigned to ten primary care centres. For the treatment with autologous platelet rich plasma, all the following tasks will be performed in the primary care setting: blood collection, centrifugation, separation of platelet rich plasma, activation of coagulation adding calcium chloride and application of the PRP topically after gelification. The control group will receive standard moist wound care. The outcome variables to be measured at baseline, and at weeks 5 and 9 later include: reduction in the ulcer area, Chronic Venous Insufficiency Quality of Life Questionnaire score, and percentage of patients who require wound care only once a week. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will be useful to improve the protocol for using platelet rich plasma in chronic vascular ulcers and to favour wider use of this treatment in primary care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials NCT02213952.

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Synthesis and antimicrobial activity of novel 1-methyl-3-alkylthio-4-aminoquinolinium salts 2 and 1-methyl-3-acylthio-4-aminoquinolinium salts 4 are described. Compounds 2 were obtained by reacting 1-methyl-3,4-(dimethylthio)quinolinium chloride 1 with amines and by reacting 1-methyl-4-aminoquinolinium-3-thiolates 3 with alkylating agents. Compounds 4 were obtained by the reaction of 1-methyl-4-aminoquinolinium-3-thiolates 3 with acylating agents. Antimicrobial activity of compounds 2 and 4 was determined using G+ (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) and G(-) (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) strains as well as Candida albicans yeast. The compounds show greatest activity against S. aureus whereas the lowest against P. aeruginosa.

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Staphylococcus aureus is a widespread human pathogen. One the most striking characteritics of this bacterium is resistance to methicillin and all beta-lactam antibiotics. The agar disk diffusion method is the most widely used in vitro susceptibility test, but recently molecular methods, e.g. Polymerase Chain Reaction, have been also introduced. We compared the detection of methicillin resistant coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical materials in Silesian microbiological laboratories by diffusion method and PCR through the detection of nuc and mec A genes. Our results show that PCR used for the detection of mec A gene increases the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains by 10% as compared to the agar disk diffusion method. Among Staphylococcus aureus strains, detected as methicillin-resistant, 17% of organisms showed no presence of mec A gene.

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A study was carried out for identification of 50 Acinetobacter strains isolated from various clinical materials. Using classic methods the following species were identifies: Acinetobacter sp. (68%), Acinetobacter baumanii (24%) and Acinetobacter lwofii (8%). In all strains the recA gene was found of 435-500 pz size which confirms their belonging to that genus. Amplification products were digested with restriction enzymes Mbol and HinfI (RFLP) and their detection was carried out on agarose gel by electrophoresis methods, owing to that the arrangement of gene fragment characteristic of each strain was obtained. After careful analysis restriction patterns were obtained corresponding to the following genome species: Acinetobacter baumanii (60%), Acinetobacter sp. 3 (28%) and Acinetobacter lwoffii (12%). The methods of molecular biology made possible a more precise classification of the studied strains according to species. Certain strains determined as Acinetobacter sp. by the API 20NE system were found to be Acinetobacter baumanii, Acinetobacter sp. 3 or Acinetobacter lwofii when determined by the PCR/RFLP method.

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An urine routine and bacteriological analysis was performed in 100 female patients in third "trimester" of pregnancy and in the second day after delivery. When bacteriuria was detected a next urine bacteriological examination was done in 8-10 and 30-50 days after the delivery. A rate of bacteriuria in female patients before the delivery was 33% and after 56%. The results of routine urine analysis were in normal limits in 31.1% of females with significant bacteriuria. A spontaneous disappearance of bacteriuria between 8 and 50 day after the delivery was observed in 46.6% of patients, but in 53.4% symptoms of urinary tract infection were noticed. Escherichia coli (serotype A and B) was defined in 79.3% of observed urinary tract infections.

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The microbiological evaluation of postoperative wound infections is discussed in aspects of risk factors. In analyzed material Enterobacteriaceae and Staphylococci coagulase-positive were detected as a main cause of infection.

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