No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

College students with diabetes are at risk for improvised diabetes care due to their age, newly acquired independence, and erratic schedules. The purpose of this study was to employ focus groups and interviews to identity factors that affect the ability of these students to engage in appropriate self-care behaviors. Focus group and interview questions were developed to address variables of the Expanded Health Belief Model. Two focus groups and fifteen interviews were conducted. Barriers to successful diabetes management were time management, stress hypoglycemic reactions, diet management constraints, and inadequate finances. Several psychosocial issues that affected successful management also were identified. These issues were grouped into three categories: (1) inconveniences of diabetes management, (2) motivators to managing diabetes, and (3) social support issues. The findings show the value of formative evaluation that can then be used to design diabetes education programs to meet clients' perceived needs.

No abstract

The growth limits of a mixture of five strains of Salmonella Typhimurium in tryptic soy broth were examined at different environmental conditions. The response of the pathogen was monitored in a total of 350 combination treatments of temperature (10 to 35 degrees C), pH (3.76 to 6.44), and water activity (aw, 0.913 to 0.990) for 62 days. No growth/growth (turbidity) data were modeled by logistic polynomial regression. The concordance index of the logistic model was 99.8%, indicating a good fit to the observed data. The minimum pH and aw values that permitted growth were 3.94 and 0.942, respectively, and occurred in the temperature range of 25 to 35 degrees C. At temperatures below this range, the minimum pH and aw allowing growth increased as the temperature decreased. The results showed an abrupt change in the probability of growth close to the boundary with minor changes of the environmental factors. The probabilities predicted by the model were compared with published data on the actual response of Salmonella Typhimurium or other salmonellae serotypes in 50 cases of food products, including salad dressing, mayonnaise, meat, cheese, vegetables, and fruits. The model predicted successfully the response of the pathogen in 90% of the tested cases. The results of the study indicated that the developed model predicts satisfactorily the growth/no growth interface of Salmonella Typhimurium in foods and can provide useful quantitative data for the development of safer food products and processes.

The antimicrobial effects of sodium hypochlorite (SH, 200 ppm, at an adjusted pH of 6.80 +/- 0.20 and at an unadjusted pH of 10.35 +/- 0.25), quaternary ammonium compound (pH 10.20 +/- 0.12, 200 ppm), and peroxyacetic acid (PAA, pH 3.45 +/- 0.20, 150 ppm) on previously acid-adapted or nonadapted Listeria monocytogenes inoculated (10(5) CFU/ml) into beef decontamination water washings were evaluated. The effects of the sanitizers on suspended cells (planktonic or deattached) and on cells attached to stainless steel coupons obtained from inoculated washings stored at 15 degrees C for up to 14 days were studied. Cells were exposed to sanitizers on days 2, 7, and 14. The pathogen had formed a biofilm of 5.3 log CFU/cm2 by day 2 of storage (which was reduced to 4.6 log CFU/cm2 by day 14), while the total microbial populations showed more extensive attachment (6.1 to 6.6 log CFU/cm2). The sanitizers were more effective in reducing populations of cells in suspension than in reducing populations of attached cells. Overall, there were no differences between previously acid-adapted and nonadapted L monocytogenes with regard to sensitivity to sanitizers. The total microbial biofilms were the most sensitive to all of the sanitizers on day 2, but their resistance increased during storage, and they were at their most resistant on day 14. Listeria monocytogenes displayed stronger resistance to the effects of the sanitizers on day 7 than on day 2 but had become sensitized to all sanitizers by day 14. SH at the adjusted pH (6.80) (ASH) was generally more effective in reducing bacterial populations than was SH at the unadjusted pH. PAA generally killed attached cells faster at 30 to 300 s of exposure than did the other sanitizers, except for ASH on day 2. PAA was more effective in killing attached cells than in killing cells treated in suspension, in contrast to the other sanitizers.