TABLE 3.

Variations in fecal flora populations within each volunteer (CV_long) and between volunteers (CV_inter)

Population and stain or probe	Counta		CVtotala	CVlongb	CVinterc
	Mean	SD
Total bacteria
DAPI	2.8 × 1011	1.1 × 1011	0.40	0.16	0.30
Bact338	2.8 × 1011	1.2 × 1011	0.43	0.27	0.33
Bacteroides/Bfra602-Bdis656	5.7 × 1010	4.2 × 1010	0.73	0.45	0.62
C. coccoides-E. rectale/Erec482	8.1 × 1010	4.8 × 1010	0.60	0.39	0.50
Low G+C #2 gram-positive bacteria/Lowgc2P	3.3 × 1010	2.0 × 1010	0.61	0.44	0.56
Bifidobacteria/Bif164	9.4 × 109	6.9 × 109	0.74	0.59	0.63

^aMeans, standard deviations, and CV_total values were calculated with all of the 78 fecal samples analyzed. CV_total includes the assay error. Counts are represented as cells per gram (dry weight) of feces. 

^bCV_long values were calculated from the coefficient of variations for each volunteer over time, corrected for the assay error. 

^cCV_inter values were calculated from the coefficients of variation between the volunteers for each month, corrected for the assay error.