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This study investigated the potential effects of CEO gender and ethnicity on crisis communication efforts in Japan. Literature on how Japanese perceive male/female and Japanese/non-Japanese leaders was examined, followed by a discussion of three major mechanisms through which gender and ethnicity can influence audience perceptions: (1) ingroup bias, (2) role congruity considerations, and (3) shifting standards and expectations. A 2 (crisis response) × 2 (CEO gender) × 2 (CEO ethnicity) between-subjects experimental design was employed to assess the impact of CEO gender and ethnicity on audience perceptions of the CEO and the organization in crisis. Results showed no negative effects of deviating from the stereotypical image of a male Japanese CEO. Rather, both being female and non-Japanese positively influenced perceptions of the CEO. However, only the effect of CEO ethnicity was reflected in judgements of organizational reputation.

Neuroleptospirosis is a rare disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira interrogans in humans; however, it has not been fully studied in animals. A young wild raccoon dog was found convulsing in the recumbent position and died the next day. Histologic examination revealed nonsuppurative meningoencephalitis in the cerebrum, cerebellum, midbrain, and medulla oblongata. The lesions consisted of mixed infiltrates of Iba1-positive macrophages and CD3-positive T cells, with a small number of CD79α-positive B cells and myeloperoxidase-positive neutrophils. In the frontal cortex, perivascular cuffs and adjacent microglial nodules were distributed diffusely, especially in the molecular layer. Glial nodules were comprised of Iba1- and myeloperoxidase-positive activated microglia. Immunohistochemistry revealed leptospires in mononuclear cell perivascular cuffs, but not in glial nodules. Neuroleptospirosis was accompanied by Leptospira-related nonsuppurative interstitial nephritis, pulmonary edema and hemorrhage, and coronary periarteritis, as well as Toxocara tanuki in the small intestine and nonspecific foreign-body granulomas in the lungs and stomach.

With political will, modest financial investment and effective technical assistance, public sector hepatitis C virus (HCV) programmes can be established in low- and middle-income countries as a first step towards elimination. Seven countries, with support from the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and partners, have expanded access to HCV treatment by combining programme simplification with market shaping to reduce commodity prices. CHAI has supported a multipronged approach to HCV programme launch in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Rwanda and Vietnam including pricing negotiations with suppliers, policy development, fast-track registrations of quality-assured generics, financing advocacy and strengthened service delivery. Governments are leading programme implementation, leveraging HIV programme infrastructure/financing and focusing on higher-HCV prevalence populations like people living with HIV, people who inject drugs and prisoners. This manuscript aims to describe programme structure and strategies, highlight current commodity costs and outline testing and treatment volumes across these countries. Across countries, commodity costs have fallen from >US$100 per diagnostic test and US$750–US$900 per 12-week pan-genotypic direct-acting antiviral regimen to as low as US$80 per-cure commodity package, including WHO-prequalified generic drugs (sofosbuvir + daclatasvir). As of December 2019, 5900+ healthcare workers were trained, 2 209 209 patients were screened, and 120 522 patients initiated treatment. The cure (SVR12) rate was >90%, including at lower-tier facilities. Programmes are successfully implementing simplified, decentralised public health approaches. Combined with political will and affordable pricing, these efforts can translate into commitments to achieve global targets. However, to achieve elimination, additional investment in scale-up is required.

In a previous study, two genes responsible for white flower phenotypes in carnation were identified. These genes encoded enzymes involved in anthocyanin synthesis, namely, flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H) and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), and showed reduced expression in the white flower phenotypes. Here, we identify another candidate gene for white phenotype in carnation flowers using an RNA-seq analysis followed by RT-PCR. This candidate gene encodes a transcriptional regulatory factor of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) type. In the cultivar examined here, both F3H and DFR genes produced active enzyme proteins; however, expression of DFR and of genes for enzymes involved in the downstream anthocyanin synthetic pathway from DFR was repressed in the absence of bHLH expression. Occasionally, flowers of the white flowered cultivar used here have red speckles and stripes on the white petals. We found that expression of bHLH occurred in these red petal segments and induced expression of DFR and the following downstream enzymes. Our results indicate that a member of the bHLH superfamily is another gene involved in anthocyanin synthesis in addition to structural genes encoding enzymes.

Carnations carrying a recessive I gene show accumulation of the yellow pigment chalcononaringenin 2′-glucoside (Ch2′G) in their flowers, whereas those with a dominant I gene do accumulation the red pigment, anthocyanin. Although this metabolic alternative at the I gene could explain yellow and red flower phenotypes, it does not explain the development of orange flower phenotypes which result from the simultaneous accumulation of both Ch2′G and anthocyanin. The carnation whole genome sequencing project recently revealed that two chalcone isomerase genes are present, one that is consistent with the I gene (Dca60979) and another (Dca60978) that had not been characterized. Here, we demonstrate that Dca60979 shows a high level of gene expression and strong enzyme activity in plants with a red flower phenotype; however, functional Dca60979 transcripts are not detected in plants with an orange flower phenotype because of a dTdic1 insertion event. Dca60978 was expressed at a low level and showed a low level of enzyme activity in plants, which could catalyze a part of chalcone to naringenin to advance anthocyanin synthesis but the other part remained to be catalyzed chalcone to Ch2′G by chalcone 2′-glucosyltransferase, resulting in accumulation of anthocyanin and Ch2′G simultaneously to give orange color.

We have performed a seed-to-seed experiment in the cell biology experiment facility (CBEF) installed in the Kibo (Japanese Experiment Module) in the International Space Station. The CBEF has a 1 × g compartment on a centrifuge and a microgravity compartment, to investigate the effects of microgravity on the vegetative and reproductive growth of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Seeds germinated irrespective of gravitational conditions after water supply on board. Thereafter, seedlings developed rosette leaves. The time of bolting was slightly earlier under microgravity than under space 1 × g. Microgravity enhanced the growth rate of peduncles as compared with space 1 × g or ground control. Plants developed flowers, siliques and seeds, completing their entire life cycle during 62-days cultivation. Although the flowering time was not significantly affected under microgravity, the number of flowers in a bolted plant significantly increased under microgravity as compared with space 1 × g or ground control. Microscopic analysis of reproductive organs revealed that the longitudinal length of anthers was significantly shorter under microgravity when compared with space 1 × g, while the length of pistils and filaments was not influenced by the gravitational conditions. Seed mass significantly increased under microgravity when compared with space 1 × g. In addition, seeds produced in space were found not to germinate on the ground. These results indicate that microgravity significantly influenced the reproductive development of Arabidopsis plants even though Earth's gravitational environment is not absolutely necessary for them to complete their life cycle.

In delphiniums (Delphinium grandiflorum), blue flowers are produced by the presence of 7-polyacylated anthocyanins. The polyacyl moiety is composed of glucose and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA). The 7-polyacylation of anthocyanin has been shown to be catalysed by two different enzymes, a glucosyltransferase and an acyltransferase; both enzymes utilize p-hydroxybenzoyl-glucose (pHBG) as a bi-functional (Zwitter) donor. To date, however, the enzyme that synthesizes pHBG and the gene that encodes it have not been elucidated. Here, five delphinium cultivars were investigated and found to show reduced or undetectable 7-polyacylation activity; these cultivars synthesized delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside (Dp3R) to produce mauve sepals. One cultivar showed a deficiency for the acyl-glucose-dependent anthocyanin 7-O-glucosyltransferase (AA7GT) necessary for mediating the first step of 7-polyacylation. The other four cultivars showed both AA7GT activity and DgAA7GT expression; nevertheless, pHBG accumulation was significantly reduced compared with wild-type cultivars, whereas p-glucosyl-oxybenzoic acid (pGBA) was accumulated. Three candidate cDNAs encoding a UDP-glucose-dependent pHBA glucosyltransferase (pHBAGT) were identified. A phylogenetic analysis of DgpHBAGT amino acid sequences showed a close relationship with UGTs that act in acyl-glucose synthesis in other plant species. Recombinant DgpHBAGT protein synthesized pHBG and had a high preference for pHBA in vitro. Mutant cultivars accumulating pGBA had very low expression of DgpHBAGT, whereas expression during the development of sepals and tissues in a wild cultivar showed a close correlation to the level of accumulation of pHBG. These results support the conclusion that DgpHBAGT is responsible for in vivo synthesis of pHBG in delphiniums.

The blue color of delphinium (Delphinium grandiflorum) flowers is produced by two 7-polyacylated anthocyanins, violdelphin and cyanodelphin. Violdelphin is derived from the chromophore delphinidin that has been modified at the 7-position by Glc and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (pHBA) molecules. Modification of violdelphin by linear conjugation of Glc and pHBA molecules to a Glc moiety at the 7-position produces cyanodelphin. We recently showed that anthocyanin 7-O-glucosylation in delphinium is catalyzed by the acyl-Glc-dependent anthocyanin glucosyltransferase (AAGT). Here, we sought to answer the question of which enzyme activities are necessary for catalyzing the transfer of Glc and pHBA moieties to 7-glucosylated anthocyanin. We found that these transfers were catalyzed by enzymes that use p-hydroxybenzoyl-Glc (pHBG) as a bifunctional acyl and glucosyl donor. In addition, we determined that violdelphin is synthesized via step-by-step enzymatic reactions catalyzed by two enzymes that use pHBG as an acyl or glucosyl donor. We also isolated a cDNA encoding a protein that has the potential for p-hydroxybenzoylation activity and two AAGT cDNAs that encode a protein capable of adding Glc to delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside-7-O-(6-O-[p-hydroxybenzoyl]-glucoside) to form violdelphin.

The pink, red and crimson petal colors of carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) are produced by anthocyanins. The anthocyanins, pelargonidin and cyanidin can be modified by two glucoses at the 3 and 5 positions, and by a single malic acid. Petal color variation can result from failure of such modification, for example, the lack of a glucose at the 5 position is responsible for the color variants of some commercial varieties. With respect to this variation, modification by 5-O-glucosyltransferase plays the most important role in glucosylation at the 5 position. Recently, we identified a novel acyl-glucose-dependent anthocyanin 5-O-glucosyltransferase (AA5GT), that uses acyl-glucoses, but not UDP-glucose, as the glucose donor. Although we showed that loss of AA5GT expression was responsible for loss of glucosylation at the 5 position of anthocyanin in some varieties, the cause of this repression of AA5GT expression could not be determined. Here, we have succeeded in isolating the AA5GT gene and found that it consists of 12 exons and 11 introns. In carnation varieties lacking a glucose at the 5 position, we identified the insertion of two different retrotransposons, Ty1dic1 and Retdic1, into AA5GT. Ty1dic1, which belongs to the class I long terminal repeat (LTR)-retrotransposons of Ty1/copia families, was inserted into exon 10. Retdic1, which includes a long interspersed nuclear element (LINE)-like sequence, was inserted into intron 5. Thus, insertion of either Ty1dic1 or Retdic1 can disrupt AA5GT and result in the lack of glucosylation at the 5 position in anthocyanins.

Response of pedestrians to the sudden stopping and restarting of an escalator is tested for the safe operation of escalators for evacuation in emergency in view of the recent significant popularization of escalators in underground facilities and traffic buildings. Two series of experiments are conducted, one with solo pedestrian on an escalator and another with a group of 12 pedestrians. The principal experimental parameters are upward and downward operations, time to and from steady-state velocity (current standard and slower), loading conditions(bags, baby). The pedestrians' responses are indicated by the visual observation of the pedestrians and by the questionnaires just after each test. The result of the experiments suggests general acceptability of the stopping of escalator by the current standard operation only for still pedestrians with hand on the handrail. For pedestrians with bags on both hands or with a baby, the stopping and the restarting of escalator should be slowed down to achieve safety equivalent with the stopping by the current standard operation for pedestrians with hand on the handrail. The tests also indicate fear of a pedestrian notably larger in a crowd than in a solo waling condition.

A series of on-site experiments are conducted on the upward evacuation by escalator of groups of 50 subjects including 12 simulated aged people. Two escalators, 49.5m long and 22m tall one, and 12.3m long and 5.7m tall one with parallel stairs in a large convention facility in downtown Tokyo, were used. The experiments revealed the following.1. Upward walking velocity on a still escalator, 0.78-0.79m/s for normal subjects, is nearly identical with that on normal stairs.2. Upward walking velocity on an escalator running at 0.50m/s is reduced by 5-10% from that on a still escalator.3. Upward walking velocity is virtually independent from the distance from the entrance within the range of 22m in height for normal and simulated aged pedestrians in spite of the height and length of each step significantly larger than those of stairs.4. Effective flow coefficient at the entrance is around 1.15 persons/ms for a still escalator and 1.78p/ms for a one running at 0.50m/s.5. The effective flow coefficient at the entrance of an escalator is reduced by the increase of the escalator length for the local congestions generally seen in long escalators.

Glucosylation of anthocyanin in carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) and delphiniums (Delphinium grandiflorum) involves novel sugar donors, aromatic acyl-glucoses, in a reaction catalyzed by the enzymes acyl-glucose–dependent anthocyanin 5(7)-O-glucosyltransferase (AA5GT and AA7GT). The AA5GT enzyme was purified from carnation petals, and cDNAs encoding carnation Dc AA5GT and the delphinium homolog Dg AA7GT were isolated. Recombinant Dc AA5GT and Dg AA7GT proteins showed AA5GT and AA7GT activities in vitro. Although expression of Dc AA5GT in developing carnation petals was highest at early stages, AA5GT activity and anthocyanin accumulation continued to increase during later stages. Neither Dc AA5GT expression nor AA5GT activity was observed in the petals of mutant carnations; these petals accumulated anthocyanin lacking the glucosyl moiety at the 5 position. Transient expression of Dc AA5GT in petal cells of mutant carnations is expected to result in the transfer of a glucose moiety to the 5 position of anthocyanin. The amino acid sequences of Dc AA5GT and Dg AA7GT showed high similarity to glycoside hydrolase family 1 proteins, which typically act as β-glycosidases. A phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences suggested that other plant species are likely to have similar acyl-glucose–dependent glucosyltransferases.

The D-genome progenitor of hexaploid wheat, Aegilops tauschii Coss., has a wide natural species range in central Eurasia and possesses wide natural variation in heading and flowering time. Here, we report identification of two Ae. tauschii accessions insensitive to short day length. Similarly to a loss or reduced degree of vernalization requirement, the photoperiod-insensitive mutations were found only in the early flowering sublineage (TauL1b) of Ae. tauschii. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses using two F2 mapping populations showed that a QTL for heading time on the long arm of chromosome 5D was related to the early heading phenotype of the photoperiod-insensitive accessions under short-day conditions. In the photoperiod-insensitive accession, expression patterns of two flowering-related genes were altered under short-day conditions compared with the patterns in photoperiod-sensitive accessions. This study indicates that analysis of natural variations in the Ae. tauschii population is useful to find novel genetic loci controlling agronomically important traits.

Interleukin-12 (IL12) is a cytokine that is secreted by activated phagocytes and dendritic cells and that induces interferon-gamma production by natural-killer and T lymphocytes. It consists of two subunits, p35 and p40, which are encoded by IL12A and IL12B, respectively. The first reported patient with a genetic cytokine disorder was a Pakistani child, who was homozygous for a large loss-of-function deletion (g.482+82_856-854del) in IL12B. This IL12-deficient child suffered from infections caused by bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and Salmonella enteritidis. We herein report 12 additional patients from five other kindreds. In one kindred from India, the same large deletion that was described elsewhere (g.482+82_856-854del) was identified. In four kindreds from Saudi Arabia, a recessive loss-of-function frameshift insertion (g.315_316insA) was found. A conserved haplotype encompassing the IL12B gene suggested that a founder effect accounted for the recurrence of each mutation. The two founder mutational events-g.482+82_856-854del and g.315_316insA-were estimated to have occurred approximately 700 and approximately 1,100 years ago, respectively. Among a total of 13 patients with IL12 deficiency, 1 child had salmonellosis only and 12 suffered from clinical disease due to BCG or environmental nontuberculous mycobacteria. One patient also had clinical disease caused by virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis, five patients had clinical disease caused by Salmonella serotypes, and one patient had clinical disease caused by Nocardia asteroides. The clinical outcome varies from case to case, since five patients (aged 2-11 years) died of overwhelming infection, whereas eight patients (aged 3-12 years) are still in good health and are not currently taking antibiotics. In conclusion, IL12 deficiency is not limited to a single kindred, shows significant variability of outcome, and should be considered in the genetic diagnosis of patients with mycobacteriosis and/or salmonellosis. To date, two founder IL12B mutations have been identified, accounting for the recurrence of a large deletion and a small insertion within populations from the Indian subcontinent and from the Arabian Peninsula, respectively.

The effects of 7-ketocholesterol on rat hepatocytes prepared by collagenase perfusion were examined. The viability of cells incubated with 100 microM 7-ketocholesterol was significantly lower than those with cholesterol, although the LDH activity in the cultured medium remained unchanged during the incubation. Hepatocytes treated with 7-ketocholesterol produced large amounts of .NO and O2- in the early stage of incubation. Treatment of the hepatocytes with Carboxy-PTIO, which selectively scavenged .NO, or with L-NMMA, an inhibitor of .NO synthase, increased the cell viability. The addition of 7-ketocholesterol to the culture medium tended to increase the ratio of total sterol to phospholipid of the hepatocytes in a time-dependent manner without changing the content of phospholipid. No lipid peroxidation or oxidation of the cellular SH groups, protein SH and glutathione, was apparent. Vitamin E added 1 h before the addition of 7-ketocholesterol prevented the hepatocytes from cell death by suppressing the incorporation of 7-ketocholesterol into the hepatocytes and by scavenging O2-.

Two new natural pteridines have been isolated from the cultured medium of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides GM-1. The compounds are tentatively identified as 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-hydroxy-6-(1,2, 3,4-tetrahydroxybutyl)pteridine and 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-(3-hydroxy-4-phosphonoxy-1-butenyl)pteridine by degradative experiments and by electrophoretic and paper chromatographic comparison with authentic materials.

In this retrospective study from Saudi Arabia, which is a rich and sunny country, we report our experience with 34 adolescents (20 females, 10 males) with rickets. The commonest cause was vitamin D deficiency (58.8%) followed by rickets due to low calcium intake (11.8%) and genetic causes, including possible 25-hydroxylase deficiency (8.8%). The etiology of nutritional rickets is multifactorial, including lack of sun exposure and inadequate calcium intake. The clinical symptoms were nonspecific and therefore cases in this country are either underdiagnosed or missed. Vitamin D deficient patients needed an average of 19 months of treatment before recovery. High dose vitamin D plus calcium supplementation are recommended for treatment. Measures to prevent rickets in all age groups including adolescents are suggested. Further studies on nutritional and genetic forms of rickets are recommended.

The Southern Cone Initiative to control Chagas disease is a major public health success story [1]. Household insecticide spray programs have greatly diminished infestation by Triatoma infestans, the major domestic vector, blood bank and congenital Chagas disease screening have been implemented widely, and the estimated prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection has fallen by more than 50% in the last 20 years [2]. Morbidity and mortality from Chagas cardiomyopathy, the most serious manifestation of T. cruzi infection, have declined progressively with disruption of domestic vector-borne transmission and increasing availability of advanced cardiac care [3]. The major exception to this pattern of success is the Gran Chaco, an ecological zone shared among Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, and host to the highest rates of vector infestation and T. cruzi infection ever reported. Challenges include rapid reinfestation after spray campaigns, insecticide resistance, and sylvatic Tri. infestans populations [4]–[6]. Chagas cardiomyopathy occurs in an estimated 20%–30% of T. cruzi-infected individuals and features a chronic inflammatory process affecting the conduction system and myocardium [2], [7]. The earliest signs are typically bundle branch blocks and segmental wall motion abnormalities, usually beginning in early adulthood [8]. Later, patients may develop ventricular tachycardia, severe sinus bradycardia, high degree atrioventricular block (AVB), apical aneurysm, progressive dilated cardiomyopathy, and thromboemboli [2]. Syncope from heart block or severe bradycardia is common. Once conduction system abnormalities or arrhythmias are present, patients have shortened survival; signs of left ventricular dysfunction are associated with high short-term mortality [2]. Where accessible, advanced cardiac management has significantly improved the prognosis for patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy [9]. In 2011, we conducted a study of T. cruzi infection in seven villages in the Bolivian Chaco [6]. T. cruzi infection prevalence was 26.2% among residents younger than 20, 85.4% among 20–29-year-olds and 96.7% among participants 30 years or older. We then offered electrocardiograms (ECGs) to all study participants 20 years or older with T. cruzi infection. A total of 327 seropositive participants, 59% of infected study participants, had an ECG evaluated by the study cardiologists. Within a few days, we began to see patients who urgently needed pacemakers. In this article, we present a patient case report and a brief description of other patients found to need pacemakers, and we place these findings in the larger context of the Bolivian Chaco and the impact of Chagas heart disease there.

✓ Two sisters, aged 6 and 2 1/2 years, presented with macrocephaly and delayed motor development and were found on computerized tomography to have bilateral arachnoid cysts of the sylvian region. Cystoperitoneal shunting of the larger cysts resulted in considerable neurological improvement in both children. Subsequent screening of the patients' urine for organic acids showed that the two sisters were suffering from glutaric aciduria type I (GA-I). To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report to provide clear radiological and surgical evidence of the association between GA-I and bilateral arachnoid cysts of the sylvian region. The role of the shunting procedure used in these cases is discussed.

To determine the electromyographic characteristrics of normal infant walking, we studied 10 approximately one-year-old infants who were learning to walk. We examined the functional mechanisms of their leg muscles from the initial period of learning to walk through the transitional period to the adult walking pattern. The co-contraction of the antagonistic leg muscles, which indicated a lack of stable equilibrium, seemed to characterize the onset of independent walking around 12 months after birth. The period of transition to the child walking pattern, i.e., comparatively stable walking with the body inclined forward, seemed to take place around 2 or 3 months after the infant had learned to walk. The period of transition to the adult walking pattern, characterized by active motions of lifting the heel with the body erect, appeared to start around the end of the child’s second year of life.

Three infants, ages 3 months to 3 years, presented with chorea as the initial manifestation of herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) relapse. Patient 2, treated with repeated 10 day courses of 30 mg/kg/day of acyclovir, had no clear improvement in neurological status. Patient 1, treated with a repeated 10-day course, improved only to have another HSE relapse 4 years later. Patient 3 clearly improved soon after a 3-week course of acyclovir at conventional dosages. A fourth patient (Patient 4) who relapsed with chorea after what was thought to be HSE, and who did not respond to repeated acyclovir treatment, was negative for herpes simplex virus indicators on brain biopsy and DNA testing. We recommend treating all patients suffering from HSE with a minimum 3-week course of acyclovir at 30-35 mg/kg/day in 3 divided doses.

• The weights and heights of 1670 Harlem children aged 5 to 11 years (879 boys, 791 girls) were compared with the National Center for Health Statistics standards. The median height for age and weight for age were greater by 1.4 cm and 2.2 kg in boys and 2.7 cm and 2.8 kg in girls. Weight distribution was skewed to the right and showed a bimodal pattern. "Height-ages" were advanced by an average of 0.24 years in boys and 0.47 years in girls. Weight for height in 13.9% of girls and 13.6% of boys were above the 95th percentile. The results are consistent with early maturation. However, even after adjusting for height, shift to the right of the weight distribution persists with a large subgroup of boys and girls who are overweight. (AJDC. 1993;147:155-159)

Plasma and urinary taurine concentrations, growth, nitrogen balance, duodenal bile salt concentration and pattern, fecal bile acid excretion, and intestinal fat absorption were determined in appropriate for gestational age low-birth-weight infants fed either a whey-predominant cow milk formula or the same formula supplemented with taurine (45 mumol/kg/day). Mean plasma taurine concentration in the two groups did not differ. Mean urinary taurine concentration in the control and supplemented groups over the entire study period were 2.67 +/- 0.69 and 12.41 +/- 5.20 mumol/dl, respectively (P less than 0.05). Urinary taurine concentration in the supplemented infants, however, decreased significantly during the study period. Neither growth nor nitrogen retention differed between the two groups. Mean duodenal concentrations of taurine as well as glycine conjugates of both cholate and chenodeoxycholate were higher in supplemented infants. Total duodenal bile salt concentration correlated positively with taurine status as reflected by urinary taurine excretion (r = 0.71); this correlation plus the lower duodenal cholesterol concentration in supplemented infants suggests that conversion of cholesterol to bile acids was greater in supplemented infants. Mean intestinal fat absorption in control and supplemented infants, however, did not differ.

• Intestinal fat absorption and anthropometric and clinical variables were monitored weekly in 21 low-birth-weight (LBW) infants fed either a whey-predominant cow's-milk formula (formula 1) or identical formulas with medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) comprising 40% (formula 2) or 80% (formula 3) of the fat content. Fat absorption of infants fed formula 1 averaged 86.7% of intake, whereas that of infants fed formulas 2 and 3 averaged 93.8% and 95.4%, respectively. However, no differences in weight, length, head circumference, or skin fold thickness were observed. Moreover, intestinal symptoms were encountered more frequently in infants fed formulas 2 and 3. This demonstrated failure of the resulting small increase in fat absorption incident to MCTs either to promote enhanced growth or to confer obvious clinical benefit does not support the increasing use of MCT formulas for routine feeding of LBW infants. ( Am J Dis Child 1982;136:428-431)

To provide insight into the cause of metabolic acidosis (MA) observed in LBW infants fed high casein formulas, net acid balances (NAB) were preformed in infants (BW 900-1750g) fed formulas with a whey:casein ratio of either 18:82 (A; n=8) or 60:40 (B; n=8). Both provided 3.4g/kg.d of protein and 120 kcal/kg.d. Simultaneously, plasma and urinary amino acid (AA) concentrations including both bound and free cysteine concentrations (Malloy, et al, Anal. Biochem.112:407, 1981) were determined. Neither growth nor nitrogen retention of the 2 groups differed. No infant in A or B developed MA and NAB did not differ (A=-1.61 mEq/kg.d; B=-1.72 mEq/kg.d). However, urinary organic acid excretion (OA), a component of net acid intake (NAI), was greater in A(1.81±0.3 mEq/kg.d vs 1.45±0.12 mEq/kg.d; p