Consultant dietitians: the opportunity is now

Times have never been better for the consultant dietitian who must not only maintain cost effectiveness while providing quality clinical services, but initiate innovative, marketable dietary services to generate revenue.

Position of the American Dietetic Association: liberalized diets for older adults in long-term care

Malnutrition, weight loss, and resident satisfaction are serious issues that need to be addressed by dietetics professionals working in long-term-care facilities. Medical nutrition therapy for older adults in long-term care is multifaceted and critical to reducing the risks of malnutrition and weight loss. To meet the needs of every resident, dietetics professionals must consider each person holistically, including personal goals, overall prognoses, benefits and risks of treatment, and perhaps most important, quality of life. For some long-term-care residents the use of liberalized diets, when appropriate, can enhance both quality of life and nutritional status, thus increasing the resident's satisfaction with the meals provided and reducing the risks of malnutrition and weight loss.

Structure-function analyses for aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase II (APH(3')-II)

Mutant strains containing APH(3')-II were constructed via site-directed mutagenesis of the cloned gene and by random mutagenesis of a strain containing the APH(3')-II gene on a conjugative plasmid. Substitutions at highly conserved amino acid residues produced APH(3') enzymes which in general showed reduced activity and conferred reduced levels of resistance to their substrates. Substitutions at Tyr 218 altered substrate specificity for the enzymes. Random mutagenesis produced plasmid-borne mutations conferring amikacin resistance. Two of these mutations appeared to be localized to the APH(3')-II structural gene.