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The preparation and consumption of meat cooked inside a hole in the ground, previously covered with leaves from several plants, is a traditional culinary practice in Latin America. Among those typical dishes is the Mexican steamed sheep meat known as "barbacoa". The meat has to be covered with maguey leaves (Agave salmiana) and steamed. The use of maguey leaves could affect to the "barbacoa" edible quality. In the present study, the volatile compounds of maguey leaves, raw and after being steamed were determined. The volatile compounds of steamed lamb either with or without direct contact with the maguey leaves were also determined. Volatiles in lamb were analyzed immediately after cooking, and after 5 days of storage under refrigeration. A total of 18 volatile compounds, mainly aldehydes, benzene compounds and terpene compounds, were detected in the headspace of the maguey leaves. The contact of maguey leaves with the meat during the steaming showed a significant protective effect on the oxidative stability of the subcutaneous fat, which was in direct contact with the maguey leaves. However, no significant effect on the volatile composition of the steamed lamb meat was found when the subcutaneous fat was removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Escherichia coli 0157:H7 strains and one nonpathogenic E. coli strain were used. All strains were cultured in brain heart infusion broth and were inoculated in 16-well disposable module cassettes of a Bactometer impedance system. Two initial concentrations were obtained in the wells: 1.37 x 10³ and 1.36 x 105 CFU/ml. The impedance measurements were monitored for 72 h at 5, 10, or 15°C, 48 h at 20°C, and 24 h at 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 or 55°C. The lag time and the generation time of each culture were calculated from the detection time data. The coefficients of variation between the strains' growth parameters were low (0.009 to 0.105 for generation time and 0.074 to 0.475 for lag time). An F test showed no significant differences between strains at 5 or 1% confidence levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patients with serious mental illness (SMI) reduced life expectancy by up to 20 years. Smoking is the main preventable risk factor in relation to reducing mortality. Developing new tools to motivate patients towards cessation of smoking is a priority. Objectives: The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness to quit smoking of an intensive antitobacco intervention on lung damage and possibilities of prevention in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder to quit smoking. Methods: It is a 12-month follow-up, multicenter study to evaluate an intensive motivational tool based on the individual risk of pulmonary damage and prevention opportunities. A minimum of 204 smokers will be included, aged over 40 years old, all of whom are patients diagnosed with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (BD). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be evaluated using spirometry, and the diagnosis will then be validated by a pneumologist and the lung age estimated. Based on this value, a motivational message about prevention will be issued for the intervention group, which will be reinforced by individualized text messages over a period of 3 months. Conclusions: In the context of community care, screening and early detection of lung damage could potentially be used, together with mobile technology, in order to produce a prevention message, which may provide patients with SMI with a better chance of quitting smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate economic and health implications of tinzaparin sodium, a once a day low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), versus unfractionated heparin (UFH) in the treatment of acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from a US healthcare payer perspective.Study Design: An economic model, composed of two submodules, was created: A short-term module based on clinical trial data covering the first 3 months and a long-term module that projects trial results based on published data for up to 50 years.Methods: Clinical trial results were combined with data from long-term follow-up studies of DVT in a model that estimates the health and economic consequences of treatment. Both short- and long-term costs with tinzaparin sodium were compared with UFH, as were health outcomes and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs).Results: Patients treated with tinzaparin sodium are estimated to live a mean of 0.9 years longer on average (0.6 discounted), resulting in an increase of 0.8 QALYs (0.5 discounted). At the same time, lifetime savings are US dollars 621 per patient (1999 values), even when all patients receiving tinzapirin sodium are treated as inpatients. Early discharge of patients receiving tinzaparin sodium, or outpatient treatment, would save between US dollars 3000 and US dollars 5000 per patient.Conclusion: Tinzaparin sodium leads to better health outcomes and substantial economic savings compared with UFH treatment when all management costs are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the diagnosis of lipoid proteinosis. Clinical manifestations of the disease; Histology and histochemistery of the disease; Prognosis and treatment of lipoid proteinosis.