No abstract

This retrospective study was conducted to determine whether increased length of hospital stay (LOS) and mortality are associated with nutritional risk upon hospital admission in gastrointestinal cancer patients, using a computerized screening tool developed by a university hospital. We included adult gastrointestinal cancer patients whose hospital stays ranged from 24 hours to 90 days. The sample included 4,345 patients. The average age of the patients was 60.5 ± 11.4 years and 2,959 (68.1%) were males. The mean of LOS was 8.2 ± 8.2 days and the mortality rate was 3.4% (n = 146). The majority of the patients were at low risk (LG) (n = 3,102 [71.4%]), while 779 patients (17.9%) were at moderate risk (MG), and 464 (10.7%) were at high risk (HG). In comparing the three groups based on nutritional risk, hospital LOS was significantly longer in the HG (11.4 ± 11.4 days) than it was in the LG (7.7 ± 7.9 days) and the MG (7.9 ± 7.9 days) (p < 0.0001). Significant differences were found in the hospital mortality rate, which was the highest in the HG (13.6%) and the lowest in the LG (1.5%) (p < 0.0001). In the multiple logistic regression analysis, moderate-to-severe nutritional risk, increased age, and emergency admission were selected as significant variables for increased LOS and mortality. Further research is needed to evaluate the benefits of nutritional screening and intervention and their effect on outcomes in various disease populations.

Isoprenoid biosynthesis involves mostly head to tail addition of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP), to its isomer dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) synthesizing geranyl diphosphate (GPP). Isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) isomerase catalyses the interconversion of IPP to dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). In the present study, the gene coding for Isopentenyl‐diphosphate Isomerase (idi) was isolated from the marine bacterium, Kocuria gwangalliensis. The idi gene coding for IPP isomerase consists of 543 base pairs encoding 180 amino acids residues. The nucleotide sequence of the idi gene was analyzed and compared with that of other species, including K. rhizophila and S. keddieii, and it turned out to be well conserved during evolution. An expression plasmid containing the idi gene was constructed and expressed in E. coli, and produced a recombinant protein of approximately 20 kDa, corresponding to the molecular weight. In order to increase production of astaxanthin, pET‐44a(+)‐idi was co‐transformed into E. coli containing the pCR‐XL‐TOPO‐crt‐full carrying crtEBIYWZ genes required for astaxanthin biosynthesis. This engineered E.coli strain containing both idi gene and astaxanthin biosythesis gene cluster produced 900 ug/g DCW of astaxanthin, resulting 2‐fold increased production of astaxanthin.