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This study was undertaken to find optimum conditions of tryptone, yeast extract, glucose, Tween 80, and incubation temperature for the growth of Lactobacillus casei YIT 9018 and to assess the effects of these factors by use of response surface methodology. A central composite design was used as an experimental design for allocation of treatment combinations. A second-order polynomial regression model, which was used at first for analysis of the experiment, had a significant lack of fit. Therefore, cubic and quartic terms were incorporated into the regression model through variable selection procedures. Effects involving incubation temperature, yeast extract, glucose, and tryptone were significant, whereas the only significant effect involving Tween 80 was the interaction effect between temperature and Tween 80. It turned out that growth of L. casei YIT 9018 was most strongly affected by the incubation temperature. Estimated optimum conditions of the factors for growth of L. casei YIT 9018 are as follows:

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The antimicrobial susceptibility of 37 strains of bifidobacteria to 18 antimicrobial agents was determined by a macrodilution broth method. Most of the strains used were isolated from commercial yogurts and starters. Tested organisms were usually sensitive to Gram-positive spectrum antibiotics (bacitracin, erythromycin, lincomycin, and vancomycin), and most of the organisms were inhibited by a concentration < 1.56 micrograms/ml. Erythromycin was the most active agent; all strains were inhibited by < .19 microgram/ml. beta-Lactam antibiotics (penicillin G, ampicillin, methicillin, and cephalothin), showing a wide range of minimum inhibitory concentration, were less effective than Gram-positive spectrum antibiotics. Most strains were somewhat resistant to cephalothin, exhibiting inhibition at concentrations of 6.25 to 25.0 micrograms/ml. Test organisms were most resistant to kanamycin, neomycin, paromomycin sulfate, nalidixic acid, and polymyxin B sulfate; inhibition occurred only at > or = 50 micrograms/ml, and strains were somewhat less resistant to gentamicin and streptomycin. Susceptibility to nitrofurantoin and tetracycline was variable; minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 1.56 to 50.0 and .39 to 50.0 micrograms/ml, respectively, but chloramphenicol had a narrow range from 1.56 to 6.25 micrograms/ml.

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BVA combined with physiotherapy remains clinically effective 1 year after treatment and may help improve long-term quality of life in patients with AC of the shoulder.

This study is a double-blind randomized controlled trial on the effect of intradermal acupuncture on insomnia after stroke. Hospitalized stroke patients with insomnia were enrolled in the study and were randomly assigned to either a real intradermal acupuncture group (RA group) or a sham acupuncture group (SA group). The RA group received intradermal acupuncture on Shen-Men (He-7) and Nei-Kuan (EH-6) for three days, and the SA group received sham acupuncture on the same points. The effect of acupuncture on insomnia was measured using Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) at baseline and three days after treatment. To assess the effect of acupuncture on the autonomic nervous function, the subjects' blood pressure and heart rate variability were monitored. Fifty-two subjects (27 in the RA group and 25 in the SA group) were included in the final analysis. The insomnia-related scales ISI and AIS showed greater improvement of insomnia in the RA group than in the SA group. Moreover, there is a greater reduction of the number of non-dippers and a greater decrease of the LF/HF ratio (heart rate variability) in the RA group than in the SA group. These results indicate that sympathetic hyperactivities were stabilized in the RA group. It can thus be concluded that intradermal acupuncture on Shen-Men and Nei-Kuan is a useful therapeutic method for post stroke-onset insomnia as it reduces sympathetic hyperactivities.