Evaluation on the Nutrition Quotient Scores of Elderly People Living Alone in Korea

As the Korean society is aging rapidly, the issues on physical, social, economic, and mental disabilities of single-person households aged 65 years or older has also increased. This study aimed to investigate the nutrition-related dietary conditions of elderly people living alone and determine their dietary behavior by calculating the nutrition quotient for elderly (NQ-E). One hundred and three elderly people living alone who were basic living recipients were recruited from six senior welfare centers in Seoul, and the data were collected using a questionnaire from 19 July 2016 to 17 August 2016, with a 1:1 in-depth interview using the modified version of the NQ-E questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 for Mac (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA); a p value of <0.05 was considered significant. The nutrition-related dietary conditions of the elderly living alone were limited, and many of them received support from the government, which helped improve their diet. The nutrition quotient score of the elderly living alone was 50.14, which was lower than the NQ-E mean score (57.6) of the Korean elderly and the NQ-E (62 points), which is the top 25% of the national survey subjects according to the criteria value presented by the Korean Nutrition Society. Elderly people living alone often have poor dietary habits and nutritional status. The NQ-E presented in this study can be used to evaluate the dietary conditions of the elderly and is expected to be used as an indicator for developing community programs for health promotion and evaluating their effectiveness.

Evaluation of the nutrient quotient for the elderly (NQ-E) using congregate meal services according to their oral health conditions

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the nutritional status and dietary habits of the elderly using the nutrition quotient for the elderly (NQ-E) and to analyze the differences in the NQ-E according to their levels of oral health.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

The survey was administered to 123 elderly people receiving congregate meal services in Seoul. The questionnaire comprised 3 domains: oral health status, general characteristics, and the NQ-E for the elderly.

RESULTS

The respondents were divided into 2 groups based on the average score of their levels of oral health (the group with high oral health scores: 4.42 points and the group with low oral health scores: 2.89 points). As a result of evaluating nutritional status using the NQ-E, it was found that the average NQ-E score was 58.7 points, with 46.0 points in the balance domain, 47.0 points in the diversity domain, 72.9 points in the moderation domain, and 61.8 points in the dietary behavior domain. The NQ-E score (62.3 points) of the group with high oral health scores is significantly higher than the NQ-E score (54.7 points) of the group with low oral health scores (P < 0.001). Concerning the NQ domain scores, the elderly with good oral health status had “favorable” results in terms of balance and dietary behavior, and the elderly with poor oral health status had “favorable” results only in terms of balance.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, several dietary areas needed improvement in general. Those with poor oral health conditions urgently needed to improve related factors to minimize the risk of increasing imbalanced nutrition and comorbidities due to insufficient nutrition and undesirable eating habits.

Ocular toxicity and distribution of subconjunctival and intravitreal rapamycin in horses

In vitro photosensitivity of rapamycin (RAPA) and ocular toxicity and distribution of intravitreal and subconjunctival RAPA was evaluated in normal horses. RAPA (2.5 mg, 5 mg, and 10 mg) was placed in 10 mL of PBS and maintained in a water bath at 37 degrees C, kept in the dark or subjected to room light, and sampled for up to 3 months for RAPA levels. Six normal adult horses received either 5 mg (n = 2) or 10 mg (n = 2) of RAPA intravitreally or 10 mg (n = 2) subconjunctivally. Ophthalmic exams and electroretinography (ERG) were performed prior to injection and on days 1, 7, 14, and 21 post-injection. Eyes were enucleated and samples were collected for RAPA concentrations and histopathology. No difference in light vs. dark RAPA concentrations was observed, suggesting a lack of RAPA phototoxicity. No evidence of ocular toxicity was noted on ophthalmic examination or histopathology. RAPA was not detected intraocularly 7 days post-injection in eyes receiving subconjunctival RAPA, but was detected in the vitreous at 21 days post-injection. Drug could be detected in both the aqueous and vitreous humor after intravitreal injection. Further study is needed to determine the efficacy of intravitreal RAPA.

Effects of stimulus intensity for electroretinogram in conscious Miniature Schnauzers

The aim of this study was to determine the most effective light intensity for flash electroretinogram (ERG) examination in conscious dogs using ERG equipment with a contact lens electrode with a built-in LED light source. ERG was performed on the bilateral eyes of ten clinically healthy Miniature Schnauzers at 6 different intensities (0.025, 0.079, 0.25, 0.79, 2.5 and 7.9 cd.s/m2) after dark adaptation for 20 min. With the increase in stimulus intensity, the most significant increase in a and b-wave amplitudes were observed at 2.5 cd.s/m2 (p<0.05). As the intensity of light was increased, the implicit times of both waves significantly decreased. Therefore, the most effective intensity of stimulus was 2.5 cd.s/m2 in the conscious Miniature Schnauzers. This suggests that this procedure would be applicable for evaluation of retinal function in conscious dogs, especially in high-risk patients.

Comparison of the rebound tonometer (TonoVet) with the applanation tonometer (TonoPen XL) in normal Eurasian Eagle owls (Bubo bubo)

OBJECTIVE

To examine the feasibility and accuracy of a handheld rebound tonometer, TonoVet, and to compare the intraocular pressure (IOP) readings of the TonoVet with those of an applanation tonometer, TonoPen XL, in normal Eurasian Eagle owls.

ANIMALS STUDIED

Ten clinically normal Eurasian Eagle owls (20 eyes).

PROCEDURES

Complete ocular examinations, using slit-lamp biomicroscopy and indirect ophthalmoscopy, were conducted on each raptor. The IOP was measured bilaterally using a rebound tonometer followed by a topical anesthetic agent after 1 min. The TonoPen XL tonometer was applied in both eyes 30 s following topical anesthesia.

RESULTS

The mean +/- SD IOP obtained by rebound tonometer was 10.45 +/- 1.64 mmHg (range 7-14 mmHg), and by applanation tonometer was 9.35 +/- 1.81 mmHg (range 6-12 mmHg). There was a significant difference (P = 0.001) in the IOP obtained from both tonometers. The linear regression equation describing the relationship between both devices was y = 0.669x + 4.194 (x = TonoPen XL and y = TonoVet). The determination coefficient (r(2)) was r(2) = 0.550.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that readings from the rebound tonometer significantly overestimated those from the applanation tonometer and that the rebound tonometer was tolerated well because of the rapid and minimal stress-inducing method of tonometry in the Eurasian Eagle owls, even without topical anesthesia. Further studies comparing TonoVet with manometric measurements may be necessary to employ rebound tonometer for routine clinical use in Eurasian Eagle owls.

The determination of dark adaptation time using electroretinography in conscious miniature Schnauzer dogs

The optimal dark adaptation time of electroretinograms (ERG's) performed on conscious dogs were determined using a commercially available ERG unit with a contact lens electrode and a built-in light source (LED-electrode). The ERG recordings were performed on nine healthy Miniature Schnauzer dogs. The bilateral ERG's at seven different dark adaptation times at an intensity of 2.5 cd·s/m² was performed. Signal averaging (4 flashes of light stimuli) was adopted to reduce electrophysiologic noise. As the dark adaptation time increased, a significant increase in the mean a-wave amplitudes was observed in comparison to base-line levels up to 10 min (p < 0.05). Thereafter, no significant differences in amplitude occured over the dark adaptation time. Moreover, at this time the mean amplitude was 60.30 ± 18.47 µV. However, no significant changes were observed for the implicit times of the a-wave. The implicit times and amplitude of the b-wave increased significantly up to 20 min of dark adaptation (p < 0.05). Beyond this time, the mean b-wave amplitudes was 132.92 ± 17.79 µV. The results of the present study demonstrate that, the optimal dark adaptation time when performing ERG's, should be at least 20 min in conscious Miniature Schnauzer dogs.

Effect of intratesticular injection of xylazine/ketamine combination on canine castration

This study was performed to compare the effect of intratesticular (IT) injection of xylazine/ketamine combination for canine castration with those of intramuscular (IM) or intravenous (IV) injection. Xylazine and ketamine was administered simultaneously via intratesticularly (IT group), intramuscularly (IM group) or intravenously (IV group) at doses of 2 and 10 mg/kg, respectively. Pain response at the time of injection, mean induction time, mean arousal time, mean walking time and cardiopulmonary function during anesthesia were monitored after the xylazine and ketamine administration. In IV and IM groups, heart rates were significantly decreased 30 and 45 min after xylazine and ketamine administration, respectively (p < 0.05). Respiratory rates were significantly decreased in the IV group (p < 0.05). In the IT group, there was no significant changes in heart and respiratory rates. The occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias was less severe in IT group compared with those in IM and IV groups. The route of administration did not affect rectal temperature. Mean induction time was significantly (p < 0.05) longer in IT group than in IM and IV groups. On the contrary, mean arousal time and mean walking time were shortened in IT group. Clinical signs related to pain response at the time of injection and vomiting were less observed in IT group than in IM group, and head shaking was less shown in IT group than in IM and IV groups during recovery period. These results indicated that intratesticular injection of xylazine/ketamine for castration has several advantages such as less inhibition of cardiopulmonary function and fast recovery from anesthesia without severe complications, and would be an effective anesthetic method for castration in small animal practice.

Reverse Effects of Tetraarsenic Oxide on the Angiogenesis Induced by Nerve Growth Factor in the Rat Cornea

To compare the antiangiogenic effects of tetraarsenic oxide (As4O6) with those of diarsenic oxide (As2O3) in the rat cornea, rat cornea micropocket assay was conducted to induce angiogenesis by implantation of the pellet contained 1.0 ng of nerve growth factor (NGF). Ten of thirty eyes of Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups, namely, control group (no medication), As2O3 group (50 mg/kg As2O3, PO, s.i.d.), and As4O6 group (50 mg/kg As4O6, PO, s.i.d.). After implantation, the number of new vessels, vessel length and clock hour of neovascularization were examined under the microscope from day 3 to day 7. The area of neovascularization was calculated using a mathematical formula. Although new vessels in control and As2O3 groups were first noticed at day 3, whereas those of As4O6 group were first observed on day 5. The number, length, clock hour of neovascularization and areas of the vessels in As4O6 group showed more significant inhibition than those of control and As2O3 groups from day 5 (P<0.05). However, there were no differences in all parameters between control group and As2O3 group during the entire study period. These results showed that As4O6 had antiangiogenic effects on the new vessels induced by NGF in the rat cornea.