Inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enteritidis in tryptic soy broth and caviar samples by high pressure processing

We studied the action of high pressure processing on the inactivation of two foodborne pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Salmonella enteritidis ATCC 13076, suspended in a culture medium and inoculated into caviar samples. The baroresistance of the two pathogens in a tryptic soy broth suspension at a concentration of 10(8)-10(9) colony-forming units/ml was tested for continuous and cycled pressurization in the 150- to 550-MPa range and for 15-min treatments at room temperature. The increase of cycle number permitted the reduction of the pressure level able to totally inactivate both microorganisms in the tryptic soy broth suspension, whereas the effect of different procedure times on complete inactivation of the microorganisms inoculated into caviar was similar.

Chance of psychiatric morbidity amongst recently diagnosed cancer outpatients attending a chemotherapy unit

The prevalent rate of psychiatry morbidity amongst patients with cancer reported in various studies ranges from 5 to 50%, a variation that can be attributed to differences in sample size, the disease itself and treatment factors. The objectives of the present study were to determine the frequency of psychiatric morbidity amongst recently diagnosed cancer outpatients and try to identify which factors might be related to further psychological distress. Two hundred and eleven (70.9%) female patients and 87 (29.1%) male patients from the chemotherapy unit of the Cancer Hospital A.C. Camargo (São Paulo) completed a questionnaire that featured data on demographic, medical and treatment details. The Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was administered to the patients to determine their personal psychiatric morbidity. Seventy-two patients (25.8%) scored > or = 8 in the SRQ-20, the cut-off point for a patient to be considered a psychiatric case. When the low and high scoring groups were compared no differences were detected regarding age, marital status, tumor site, sex, or previous treatment. Nonetheless, patients in the lowest social class and those who were bedridden less than 50% of the time had a significantly higher probability of being a psychiatric case. Regarding help-seeking behavior in situations in which they had doubts or were frightened, about 64% of the total sample did not seek any type of support and did not talk to anyone. This frequency of psychiatric morbidity agrees with data from the cancer literature. According to many investigators, the early detection of a comorbid psychiatric disorder is crucial to relieve a patient's suffering.

Computerized invasive measurement of time-dependent intraocular pressure

Several methods have been described to measure intraocular pressure (IOP) in clinical and research situations. However, the measurement of time varying IOP with high accuracy, mainly in situations that alter corneal properties, has not been reported until now. The present report describes a computerized system capable of recording the transitory variability of IOP, which is sufficiently sensitive to reliably measure ocular pulse peak-to-peak values. We also describe its characteristics and discuss its applicability to research and clinical studies. The device consists of a pressure transducer, a signal conditioning unit and an analog-to-digital converter coupled to a video acquisition board. A modified Cairns trabeculectomy was performed in 9 Oryctolagus cuniculus rabbits to obtain changes in IOP decay parameters and to evaluate the utility and sensitivity of the recording system. The device was effective for the study of kinetic parameters of IOP, such as decay pattern and ocular pulse waves due to cardiac and respiratory cycle rhythm. In addition, there was a significant increase of IOP versus time curve derivative when pre- and post-trabeculectomy recordings were compared. The present procedure excludes corneal thickness and error related to individual operator ability. Clinical complications due to saline infusion and pressure overload were not observed during biomicroscopic evaluation. Among the disadvantages of the procedure are the requirement of anesthesia and the use in acute recordings rather than chronic protocols. Finally, the method described may provide a reliable alternative for the study of ocular pressure dynamic alterations in man and may facilitate the investigation of the pathogenesis of glaucoma.