婴幼儿病毒性脑炎并发神经源性肺水肿血糖及电解质检测的意义

目的探讨婴幼儿病毒性脑炎并发神经源性肺水肿(neurogenic pulmonary edema,NPE)血糖、血清电解质的变化及与病情发展的关系。方法选择2008年6月至2010年11月蚌埠医学院第一附属医院收治的婴幼儿病毒性脑炎患儿19例为研究对象,依据患儿是否并发NPE分为2组,NPE组9例,非NPE组10例。以入院后第1次静脉血的血糖和电解质为评价标准,并应用t检验和四格表资料的Fisher确切概率法,进行血糖和血清电解质比较。结果 NPE组患儿血糖水平[(19.24±9.64)mmol/L]显著高于非NPE组[(4.90±1.11)mmol/L](t=4.44,P<0.01),而血钙水平[(1.75±0.32)mmol/L]显著低于非NPE组[(2.37±0.17)mmol/L](t=-5.31,P<0.01)。NPE组高血糖和低钙血症发生率远大于非NPE组(P<0.01)。2组血清钾、钠、氯变化差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论婴幼儿病毒性脑炎并发NPE可引起血糖改变和电解质紊乱。高血糖和低钙血症是导致NPE的危险因素,早期检测血糖及血钙水平可作为判断婴幼儿病毒性脑炎并发NPE病情和预后的有效指标。     

Detection of infant faecal bifidobacteria by enzymatic methods

An enzyme-based assay was developed for the detection of bifidobacteria in infant faeces. Ninety-five samples from 51 breast-fed infants in the age between 3 and 276 days were investigated. Bifidobacteria and other bacterial groups were determined by cultivation and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). Faecal samples were examined for the activity of fructoso-6-phosphate phosphoketolase (F6PPK) and for other enzymatic reactions using the API-ZYM kit. Twenty-nine infants had high numbers of bifidobacteria (usually higher than 9 log CFU/g) in their faeces. Seventeen infants (35%) did not contain detectable amounts of bifidobacteria in their faecal samples. The remaining five individuals had low counts of bifidobacteria (3-6 log CFU/g). Most negative infants possessed major amounts of clostridia in their faecal flora. There were no significant differences among bifidobacterial counts obtained by cultivation and FISH, detection of F6PPK, alpha-galactosidase and alpha-glucosidase activities could routinely be used for the rapid and simple detection of bifidobacteria in infant faecal samples. Bifidobacterial colonies were identified using enzymatic tests and PCR procedure based on 16S rRNA gene sequences species-specific primers. In 14 samples, the identifications of individual isolates were compared with direct analyses of faeces using the nested PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (nested DGGE) procedure. The results obtained in several cases are not identical. Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium breve were most frequently identified. Bifidobacteria-positive samples had high activities of alpha-galactosidase and alpha-glucosidase. On the contrary, negative samples missed either one or both of these enzymatic activities. While all positive samples tested showed distinctive fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase activity (F6PPK), none of the negative samples expressed F6PPK activity.     

Characterisation of intestinal bacteria in infant stools using real-time PCR and northern hybridisation analyses

Real-time PCR and northern hybridisations were used to quantify bacterial populations in the large gut of infants. PCR primers for rapid, sensitive, high throughput detection of bifidobacteria, bacteroides, sulphate-reducing bacteria and Enterococcus faecalis, based on analysis of 16S rRNA genes were used. Bacterial populations were analysed in faeces from 40 infants aged 0-6, 7-12 and 13-24 months. The effects of breast versus bottle feeding was also investigated. Real-time PCR indicated that bacteroides and desulfovibrio numbers increased markedly in the 7-12 and 13-24 month age groups, and that the reverse occurred with Ent. faecalis. With the exception of desulfovibrios, this was seen with northern hybridisations, which also showed increased colonisation by the Clostridium coccoides group and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii after 6 months. Both methodologies indicated increased bifidobacteria in breast-fed babies, and higher levels of desulfovibrios in bottle-fed children.     

Infant mortality in Armenia, 1992–2003

Health system reforms have been taken in Armenia during a time of dramatic economic and fiscal distress. It is important to assess trends in health indicators and ascertain if the changes in socio-economic systems affected the health status of infants as the most vulnerable part of the population. We find that infant mortality has fallen during the period c. 1992-2003 in spite of the difficult economic circumstances because of health-care procedures that were introduced. Particular attention is paid to the underreporting of infants' death cases in the state registration system as well as to estimating the role of different factors influencing infant mortality in Armenia.     

Explaining the optimality of U-shaped age-specific mortality

Mortality is U-shaped with age for many species, declining from birth to sexual maturity, then rising in adulthood, sometimes with postreproductive survival. We show analytically why the optimal life history of a species with determinate growth is likely to have this shape. An organism allocates energy among somatic growth, fertility and maintenance/survival at each age. Adults may transfer energy to juveniles, who can then use more energy than they produce. Optimal juvenile mortality declines from birth to maturity, either to protect the increasingly valuable cumulative investments by adults in juveniles or to exploit the compounding effects of early investment in somatic growth, since early growth raises subsequent energy production, which in turn supports further growth. Optimal adult mortality rises after maturity as expected future reproduction declines as in Hamilton, but intergenerational transfers lead to postreproductive survival as in Lee. Here the Hamilton and transfer effects are divided by probabilities of survival in contrast to the fitness impact measures, which are relevant for mutation-selection balance. If energetic efficiency rises strongly with adult experience, then adult mortality could initially be flat or declining.     

黄山短尾猴社群中的架桥行为

2007年3~5月,采用随机取样法对黄山短尾猴(Macaca thibetana)YA1群架桥行为进行研究。结果表明,不同时间段架桥行为发生次数存在极显著差异(t=3.912,df=10,P<0.01)。成年组雄性个体是主要发起者(Z=-2.1888,P<0.05)和接受者(Z=-2.5238,P<0.05),但同年龄组不同性别个体发起次数(Z=-1.755,P>0.05)无显著差异,接受次数(Z=-2.201,P<0.05)差异显著。架桥行为多采用雄性婴幼猴(Z=-2.437,P<0.05)(F=6.735,df=2,P<0.05)作为媒介,母亲序位影响婴幼猴在架桥中被使用的次数(Z=-3.724,P<0.01)。不同序位雄性(F=2.947,df=4,P<0.05)和雌性个体(F=5.320,df=4,P<0.05)架桥行为发起模式主要是第Ⅰ类。雌性个体选择具有亲缘关系的个体作为架桥媒介(Z=-2.490,P<0.05),但雄性个体对母系亲属后代无明显选择性(Z=-0.866,P>0.05)。短期研究表明,黄山短尾猴社群中的架桥行为主要采用第Ⅰ类模式;亲缘关系不一定是影响架桥行为媒介选择的主要因素;架桥行为具有缓解群体间竞争压力的作用。     

Healthcare infrastructure, contraceptive use and infant mortality in Uttar Pradesh, India

This paper analyzes data on approximately 30,000 women from a survey in Uttar Pradesh in 1995 together with the data from surveys of public and private providers of healthcare and family planning services. A framework was developed for analyzing the effects of quality of services on utilization, and for understanding the gradual evolution of the healthcare infrastructure. The empirical results from logistic regressions for use of female sterilization and IUD showed significant effects of quality of services in government and private hospitals, and of socioeconomic variables such as education, caste, and an index of household possessions. Secondly, models for infant mortality of children born in the preceding 3-year period showed significant effects of socioeconomic variables, quality of healthcare services and birth spacing. Lastly, analysis of data at a more aggregated (Primary Sampling Unit) level indicated differential effects of economic development on the quality of services available in the public and private facilities.     

A ten-year summary of reproductive parameters for ring-tailed lemurs at berenty, madagascar

From 1989 to 1998, 204 live births were recorded for ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Berenty, Madagascar. Excluding unknown birth dates, the peak month of birth was September, with 82.0% (146/178) occurring during this period. The offspring sex ratio (1∶1.19) was not significantly different from 1∶1, and there was no association with the mother's age. The first births occurred at the ages of 2 to 4 yr. The annual birth rate was very low at the age of 2 yr (11.1%), but increased thereafter: to 50.0% at the age of 3 yr, and to 75–85% at the age of 4 or more years. Multiple births were very rare, since only three sets of twins and one set of triplets were recorded. As for the interbirth interval, a one-year interval was the most common (92.2%). Infant mortality within the first year was 37.7% (77/204). Neonatal mortality within the first month accounted for 31.2% of all infant dealths.     

Behavioral responses of an infant gorilla to maternal separation in a captive social group of lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)

The present report describes behavioral reactions of a 33-month-old female infant gorilla to maternal separation in a captive social group whose composition is similar to that of wild groups. The infant gorilla responded differently to two types of maternal separation. When she remained alone for a few hours, she cried repeatedly and moved restlessly, indicating protest. Upon reunion and also for a few days thereafter, an intensification of the mother-infant relationship occurred. On the other hand, when she was separated from her mother but remained with the other group members for nine days, she did not display any behaviors that could be characterized as protest, but rather showed clear behavioral depression. During the 9-day separation period, she hardly played with other group members but she developed affiliative relationships with the leading male. After the reunion from the 9-day separation, she spent as much time near her mother as before separation and played with other infants at a level similar to that before separation, while she sometimes displayed behavioral patterns demanding the maintenance of physical contact with her mother. The present findings are compared with other reports in great apes and human children.     

Isolation and PCR detection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Enterobacter sakazakii</Emphasis> in South African food products,specifically infant formula milks

Enterobacter sakazakii has recently been identified as an opportunistic pathogen. The current culture-dependent detection methods for these bacteria are time-consuming and in this study a PCR method for the detection of E. sakazakii in South African food products, including an internal amplification control (IAC) was developed. DNA was isolated and amplified from the products and they were plated on selective growth media after pre-enrichment and enrichment in Enterobacteriaceae enrichment broth. Four of the 22 products tested positive for the presence of E. sakazakii, confirmed by PCR detection and growth on selective media. The PCR method proved effective in detecting E. sakazakii in South African products after three days and could serve as an alternative for traditional microbiological techniques.