Catering for the athletes village at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: the role of sports dietitians.

This article describes the development, analysis, and implementation of the menu available to athletes and patrons in the main dining hall of the Athletes Village at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the significant role of sports dietitians in this process. Menu design and development was informed by focus groups, literature reviews, and food-preference surveys of athletes. The final menu was also assessed by an expert panel of Australian sports dietitians.

Effect of carbohydrate ingestion on exercise performance and carbohydrate metabolism in persons with spinal cord injury.

Carbohydrate ingestion during exercise and as a pre-exercise bolus improves exercise performance in able-bodied athletes. Little is known about the potential for carbohydrate ingestion to improve exercise performance in athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI), nor the potential physiological limitations of such a practice resulting from an SCI. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on exercise performance in physically active and athletic persons with SCI.

Pylera for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection.

An ideal antibiotic regimen for Helicobacter pylori should achieve eradication rates of approximately 90%. Current 7-day triple therapy is successful in about two-thirds of patients. A novel treatment is required to achieve higher eradication with minimal induction of bacterial resistance.

MexT modulates virulence determinants in Pseudomonas aeruginosa independent of the MexEF-OprN efflux pump.

In the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the LysR-family regulator MexT modulates the induction of the tripartite MexEF-OprN resistance nodulation-division multi-drug efflux system resulting in increased resistance to diverse antibiotics. The MexEF-OprN system is normally quiescent in wild-type cells, but is highly induced in nfxC-type phenotypic mutants in a MexT dependent manner. In addition to antibiotic resistance, induction of mexEF-oprN in nfxC-type mutants has been linked to reduced levels of homoserine lactone-dependent virulence traits, including pyocyanin, elastase, rhamnolipids and PQS and to reduced expression of type three secretion effector proteins.

Analysis of drug resistance and virulence-factor genotype of Irish Helicobacter pylori strains: is there any relationship between resistance to metronidazole and cagA status?

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is eradicated with antimicrobial agents and drug-resistant strains make successful treatment difficult. Geographical variations in virulence-factor genotype also exist.

Aim: To evaluate prevalence of drug resistance and virulence-factor genotype in Irish H.

Terminal withdrawal of mechanical ventilation at a long-term acute care hospital: comparison with a medical ICU.

Background: Failure to wean from prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV) is common in long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), but the process of terminal withdrawal of MV in LTACHs is not well described. We compared terminal withdrawal of MV at an LTACH with that in a medical ICU (MICU).

Methods: A retrospective medical chart review was done of all patients undergoing terminal withdrawal of MV in an LTACH (n = 30) and in a MICU (n = 74) over a 2-year period.

Decannulation following tracheostomy for prolonged mechanical ventilation.

Background: We examined the process of decannulation following tracheostomy in patients transferred to a long-term acute care (LTAC) hospital for weaning from prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV).

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 135 patients.

Results: Decannulation was successful in 35% of patients a median of 45 days (IQR, 32-76) following tracheostomy.

Helicobacter pylori eradication: role of individual therapy constituents and therapy duration.

Treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has become a key factor in the management of dyspepsia and is the treatment of choice for peptic ulcer disease. First-line eradication regimens combining a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) with clarithromycin and amoxicillin or metronidazole are considered most effective when given for a minimum period of 1 week.

Significant psychological morbidity occurs in irritable bowel syndrome: a case-control study using a pharmacy reimbursement database.

Background: Psychological problems are associated with IBS but the strength of this association is unclear.

Aim: To assess co-prescribing of antispasmodic and CNS-acting drugs through a nested case-control study.

Methods: A national dispensing database identified patients who were first dispensed antispasmodic medicines for a continuous 3-month period or more during 2006, using 2005 as a run-in period.

Treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Antibiotic resistance has resulted in unsatisfactory eradication results with dual and now triple therapy in many countries. Newer antibiotics and changes in dosing and duration of therapy may overcome resistant strains but may only provide limited improvement in eradication rates. Sequential therapy with amoxicillin (1 g twice a day) and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) (twice a day) given for 5 days followed by a PPI plus clarithromycin (500 mg twice a day) and tinidazole (500 mg twice a day) for 5 days is now a first-line therapy for Helicobacter pylori in some countries.

Acute effects of the very low carbohydrate diet on sleep indices.

Objective: We compared the effect of short-term consumption of a very low carbohydrate (VLC) diet over 48 h to a control mixed diet on sleep indices in healthy, non-obese men.

Design: This study employed a repeated-measure design where subjects were given isocaloric (2400 kcal) diets and matching evening test meals (4 h before usual bed-time), which were either mixed low-fat, high carbohydrate (15.5%, 12.

What is new in the management of Helicobacter pylori?

Since the discovery of Helicobacter pylori in the early 1980s several treatment regimens have been developed to effectively treat this infection. International guidelines have allowed consensus on the best management and improved eradication rates. In recent years increasing antimicrobial resistance and falling eradication rates highlight the need for updated guidelines.

Effect of a review course on emergency medicine residents' self-confidence.

Objectives: Several organizations offer review courses designed to guide final-year (postgraduate year five) residents' study for their certification examination. The effect of these courses on residents' confidence is unknown. Self-confidence has been positively linked with examination performance.

Prolonged mechanical ventilation: review of care settings and an update on professional reimbursement.

The goal of this article is to provide an update on recent changes to current procedural terminology codes used for billing physician services for mechanical ventilation in chronic care facilities. In addition to billing information, background data relevant to prolonged mechanical ventilation are reviewed. Topics covered include a description of the settings in which patients receive prolonged mechanical ventilation; home mechanical ventilation; the role of physician extenders; documentation of ventilator services; and reporting and coding ventilator management.

Use of a validated delirium assessment tool improves the ability of physicians to identify delirium in medical intensive care unit patients.

Objective: Although medical intensive care unit nurses at our institution routinely use the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) to identify delirium, physicians rely on traditional diagnostic methods. We sought to measure the effect of physicians' use of the ICDSC on their ability to detect delirium.

Design: Before-after study.

Nutrition for the young athlete.

Athletics is a popular sport among young people. To maintain health and optimize growth and athletic performance, young athletes need to consume an appropriate diet. Unfortunately, the dietary intake of many young athletes follows population trends rather than public health or sports nutrition recommendations.

Physique and performance for track and field events.

Evidence of the importance of physique in the athletics disciplines is supported by the persistence of certain characteristics over long periods, despite marked secular changes in the source population. These characteristics may also result in physiological benefits such as effective thermoregulation or a greater power-to-weight ratio. Coaches and athletes are often convinced of weight or fat loss benefits based on personal or anecdotal experience, intuition, and "trained eye" observation of successful competitors.

Helicobacter pylori gastritis, the unifying concept for gastric diseases.

Helicobacter pylori infection causes a broad spectrum of clinical diseases and the clinical manifestations of the infection depend on host, environmental, and bacterial factors. These factors have an impact on the pattern and severity of gastritis and ultimately determine the clinical outcome of H. pylori infection.

Treatment of Helicobacter pylori.

Since the discovery of Helicobacter pylori in the early 1980s many treatment regimes have been developed to effectively treat this infection. International guidelines have allowed consensus on the best management and improved eradication rates. In recent years, increasing antimicrobial resistance has resulted in falling eradication rates with standard therapies.

What therapies have replaced rofecoxib in Ireland?

Aims: To examine prescription patterns of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or analgesics in patients prescribed chronic rofecoxib treatment prior to withdrawal from the Irish market, and to determine the impact on proton pump inhibitor (PPI) co-prescription.

Methods: Using a national prescribing database, adults (> or =16 years) prescribed rofecoxib for > or =3 months, but not analgesics, from January to September 2004 were identified. A longitudinal prescribing history was used to determine switching patterns to other cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors, NSAIDs or analgesics during 3 and 12 months after withdrawal.

Efficacy and safety of 6-thioguanine in the management of inflammatory bowel disease.

Objective: 6-Thioguanine has been used as an alternative immunomodulator in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease but data on its efficacy and safety are limited. The aim of this study was to analyse our experience of the efficacy and safety of 6-thioguanine in inflammatory bowel disease.

Material And Methods: Patients attending the inflammatory bowel disease clinic who were started on 6-thioguanine therapy were included in this prospective observational study.

High-glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset.

Background: Dietary carbohydrate intake has been shown to increase the plasma concentration of tryptophan, a precursor of serotonin and sleep-inducing agent.

Objective: To investigate the role of carbohydrate in sleep induction, we explored the effect of glycemic index (GI) and meal time on sleep in healthy volunteers.

Design: We compared the effect of high- and low-GI carbohydrate-based meals ingested 4 h before bedtime on sleep quality.

Effect of different macronutrients in excess on gastric sensory and motor functions and appetite in normal-weight, overweight, and obese humans.

Background: The effects of supplementation with different macronutrients on gastric sensory and motor functions are unclear.

Objective: We aimed to compare the effects of 2 wk of supplementation with different classes of macronutrients on gastric function, satiation, and appetite in healthy and overweight subjects.

Design: In a parallel-group, double-blind study, 52 (14 men, 38 women) healthy normal-weight, overweight, and obese participants [body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)): 19.

Trends in HIV infection: prevention-related attitudes and behaviors among secondary school students in western Uganda.

Objective: To monitor trends in the attitudes and behaviors of youth in western Uganda with respect to prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Design: Annual data collection in a group of sentinel secondary schools in 3 districts using a short, self-administered, and anonymous questionnaire.

Methods: Fifteen secondary schools were randomly selected, and a cross-sectional survey of students was carried out each year between 1995 and 2001.

Linoleic and oleic acids alter the licking responses to sweet, salt, sour, and bitter tastants in rats.

The free fatty acids (FFAs), linoleic and oleic acids, commonly found in dietary fats can be detected by rats on the basis of gustatory cues following conditioned taste aversion pairings. FFAs depolarize the membrane potential of isolated rat taste receptor cells by inhibiting delayed rectifying potassium channels. This study examined the licking response of rats to sweet, salt, sour, and bitter taste solutions when 88 muM linoleic acid, 88 muM oleic acid, or an 88 muM linoleic-oleic acid mixture was added to the solutions.