BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to assess the tolerance of early oral feeding after total laryngectomy. METHOD A randomized multicenter study was conducted that included 89 individuals subjected to total laryngectomy. The participants were allocated to 2 groups: early (n = 44), early oral feeding; and late (n = 45), late oral feeding. The participants in the early group were assessed...

BACKGROUND Although breastfeeding is expected to reduce the incidence of diabetes in women with gestational diabetes, the effect has not been clearly confirmed. We examined whether or not high-intensity breastfeeding reduces the incidence of abnormal glucose tolerance and investigated the effect of high-intensity breastfeeding on insulin resistance during the first year postpartum in Japanese w...

BACKGROUND McKeown-type esophagectomy combined with retrosternal reconstruction is a common surgical treatment for esophageal cancer. Various enteral feeding options are available post-esophagectomy, but no definitive preference exists. METHOD "Retrosternal Route Gastrostomy Feeding (RGF)" was developed as an alternative enteral feeding approach that requires few additional surgical intervent...

BACKGROUND Malnutrition remains a severe problem in the recovery of critically ill patients and leads to increased in-hospital morbidity and in-hospital stay. Even though early enteral nutrition has been shown to improve overall patient outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU), tubefeed administration is often complicated by delayed gastric emptying and gastroesophageal reflux. Acupuncture has...

Objective. To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Infant Gastrointestinal Symptom Questionnaire (IGSQ), a tool to assess feeding tolerance in infants. Methods. Qualitative methods were used to develop IGSQ content across 5 symptom clusters, yielding a 13-item index of parent-reported infant digestion and elimination behaviors over the prior 7 days. Classical psychometric methods evalua...

Most metazoans undergo dynamic, circadian-regulated changes in behavior and physiology. Currently, it is unknown how circadian-regulated behavior impacts immunity against infection. Two broad categories of defense against bacterial infection are resistance, control of microbial growth, and tolerance, control of the pathogenic effects of infection. Our study of behaviorally arrhythmic Drosophila...

Interspecific interactions between insect herbivores predominantly involve asymmetric competition. By contrast, facilitation, whereby herbivory by one insect benefits another via induced plant susceptibility, is uncommon. Positive reciprocal interactions between insect herbivores are even rarer. Here, we reveal a novel case of reciprocal feeding facilitation between above-ground aphids (Amphoro...

.................................................................................................. 3 LIST OF PAPERS......................................................................................... 4 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................... 6 Biological invasions The Baltic Sea and the North American Great Lakes – invasion ho...

Rice is a staple food crop that plays pivotal role in global security, feeding more than half of the world’s population. Soil salinity one most important problems affecting rice productivity. Salt stress at seedling stage inhibits root growth, impairs nutrient and water uptake, affects overall plant vigor, resulting poor establishment reduced growth. Therefore, acquiring salt tolerance, especia...