Essential fatty acid deficiency is present in young cystic fibrosis subjects in the absence of protein-energy malnutrition. It means that this deficiency is probably related to specific defects in fatty acid metabolism.

Nutritional interventions are not routine in patients undergoing oropharyngeal radiotherapy. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of early nutritional intervention. Forty-five outpatients undergoing radiotherapy for oropharyngeal cancer were prospectively managed by nutritionists (intervention group). In this group, a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) was inserted before radiotherapy in any patient in whom at least one of the following applied: weight loss >10%; BMI <20 kg/m(2); age >70 years. Data were compared with those recorded in an historical control group of 45 paired patients. A PEG was inserted in 33 (74%) of the 45 patients in the intervention group, as against 5 (11%) of the 45 in the control group ( P<0.001). The mean weight loss and the frequency of hospital admission for dehydration were lower in the intervention group than in the control group ( P<0.01). In conclusion, early nutritional intervention, including PEG insertion, is feasible and efficient in preventing dehydration in oropharyngeal cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. It may improve quality of life by decreasing the frequency of hospital admissions.

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International audienceThe Andean Cordillera and piedmont significantly influence river system and dynamics, being the source of many of the important rivers of the Amazon basin. The Beni River, whose upper sub-catchments drain the Andean and sub-Andean ranges, is a major tributary of the Madeira River. This study examines the river in the south-western Amazonian lowlands of Bolivia, where it develops mobile meanders. Channel migration, meander-bend morphology and ox-bow lakes are analysed at different temporal and spatial scales. The first part of this study was undertaken with the aim to link the erosion–deposition processes in the active channel with hydrological events. The quantification of annual erosion and deposi- tion areas shows high inter-annual and spatial variability. In this study, we investigate the conditions of sediment exportation in the river in relation to three hydrological parameters (flood intensity, date of discharge peak and duration of the bank-full stage level). The second part of this study, focusing on the abandoned meanders, analyses the cutoff processes and the post-abandonment evolution during 1967–2001. This approach shows the influence of the active channel behaviour on the sediment diffusion and sequestration of the abandoned meanders and allows us to build a first model of the contemporary floodplain evolution

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