Anal mucosectomy for haemorrhoids: should we start to speak Chinese?

AIM: Circular stapled mucosectomy is the standard therapy for the treatment of symptomatic third-degree haemorrhoids and mucosal prolapse. Recently, new staplers made in China have entered the market offering an alternative to the PPH stapling devices. The aim of this prospective randomized study was to compare the safety and efficacy of these new devices. METHODS: Fifty patients with symptomatic third-degree haemorrhoids were randomized to mucosectomy either by using stapler A (CPH32; Frankenman International Ltd, Hong Kong, China; n = 25) or stapler B (PPH03; Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Spreitenbach, Switzerland; n = 25). All procedures were performed by two experienced surgeons. After the stapler was fired by one surgeon, the other surgeon, who was blinded for stapler type, evaluated the stapler line. Postoperative outcome including pain, complications and patient satisfaction were analysed. RESULTS: Demographic and clinical features were no different between the groups. There was no significant difference regarding venous bleeding (P = 0.55), but arterial bleeding was significantly more frequent when stapler B was used (P < 0.001). This led to significantly more suture ligations (P = 0.002). However, no differences regarding operation time (P = 0.99), weight of the resected mucosa (P = 0.81) and height of the stapler line (anterior, P = 0.18; posterior, P = 0.65) were detected. Postoperative pain scores (visual analogue scale) and patient satisfaction were no different either (P = 0.91 and P = 0.78, respectively). No recurrence or incontinence occurred during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: CPH32 required significantly fewer sutures for bleeding control along the stapler line after circular mucosectomy. However, operation time, rate of postoperative complications and patient satisfaction were similar in both groups.

L'ús actual de les xarxes socials en relació a la promoció de l'activitat física saludable a 14 hospitals Nord-americans

Estudi que cerca esbrinar quina es la incidència que tenen les xarxes socials de comunicació per Internet en la promoció de l'exercici físic per a millorar la salut analitzant l'ús que en fan els hospitals escollits de les diferents xarxes Facebook, Twitter, canal Youtube i web.

L'ús de les xarxes socials en activitats de promoció de l'activitat física en hospitals americans

En la present investigació s'analitzen catorze hospitals ubicats als Estats Units, amb l'objectiu d'analitzar l'ús de les xarxes socials, centrant-nos en la promoció que en realitzen de l'activitat física, a partir de les diferents xarxes socials.

L'ús dels mitjans de comunicació socials en la promoció de l'alimentació saludable als hospitals nord-americans

En el present estudi s'ha analitzat, de quina manera els millors hospitals dels EEUU, fan servir els mitjans de comunicació social per promocionar un tipus de vida saludable, en concret, una dieta saludable. Els mitjans més utilitzats són la pàgina web, YouTube, Facebook, Twiter i els blogs, i l'ús que se'n fa d'aquests mitjans va des de la promoció de dietes saludables, fins a consells nutricionals en general o en casos de malalties o embaràs.

Ús dels recursos web per part dels hospitals americans en la promoció de l'alimentació saludable

Revisió de l'ús que fan els centres hospitalaris americans dels recursos que ofereix Internet, amb l'objectiu de promoure l'alimentació saludable entre la població.

Molecular characterisation of hepatitis B virus in the resident Chinese population in Panama City

Despite the effectiveness of current hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccines, it is estimated that 350 million individuals suffer from chronic HBV infection and more than 50% of these affected individuals live on the Asian continent. Panama is a country with a great diversity of foreign groups; the Chinese community is a large example of this phenomenon. There is an urgent need to perform studies that evaluate the prevalence and the genetic diversity of HBV in this community. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HBV and its genotypes and mutant variants in the Chinese population residing in Panama. In total, 320 subjects were enrolled in the study. Forty-two subjects (13.1%) were positive for HBsAg and HBV-DNA from 18 subjects revealed the presence of genotypes B2 and C1. Secondary mutations associated with drug resistance at positions rtV207L and rtN239T of the reverse transcriptase gene were identified. Additionally, the mutation pair A1762T/G1764A was found in three samples and the mutation G1896A was detected in an HBeAg-negative subject. In conclusion, to our knowledge, this is the first study to report high HBV prevalence rates in resident ethnic Chinese in Central America and the presence of genotypes B2 and C1 in this region.

A genome-wide association search for type 2 diabetes genes in African Americans.

African Americans are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2DM) yet few studies have examined T2DM using genome-wide association approaches in this ethnicity. The aim of this study was to identify genes associated with T2DM in the African American population. We performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using the Affymetrix 6.0 array in 965 African-American cases with T2DM and end-stage renal disease (T2DM-ESRD) and 1029 population-based controls. The most significant SNPs (n = 550 independent loci) were genotyped in a replication cohort and 122 SNPs (n = 98 independent loci) were further tested through genotyping three additional validation cohorts followed by meta-analysis in all five cohorts totaling 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs had evidence of association in the GWAS (P<0.0071), were directionally consistent in the Replication cohort and were associated with T2DM in subjects without nephropathy (P<0.05). Meta-analysis in all cases and controls revealed a single SNP reaching genome-wide significance (P<2.5×10(-8)). SNP rs7560163 (P = 7.0×10(-9), OR (95% CI) = 0.75 (0.67-0.84)) is located intergenically between RND3 and RBM43. Four additional loci (rs7542900, rs4659485, rs2722769 and rs7107217) were associated with T2DM (P<0.05) and reached more nominal levels of significance (P<2.5×10(-5)) in the overall analysis and may represent novel loci that contribute to T2DM. We have identified novel T2DM-susceptibility variants in the African-American population. Notably, T2DM risk was associated with the major allele and implies an interesting genetic architecture in this population. These results suggest that multiple loci underlie T2DM susceptibility in the African-American population and that these loci are distinct from those identified in other ethnic populations.

The History of the European Union (Chinese version)

Descriu i analitza el procés d'integració europea des dels seus inicis, els anys cinquanta, fins als nostres dies. L'objectiu consisteix a oferir una visió de conjunt d'un procés que va començar modestament amb la integració dels mercats del carbó i de l'acer dels sis membres fundadors i que ha derivat en una Unió Europea de 27 estats membres i més de 500 milions d'habitants, amb polítiques comunes, una cooperació estreta en els àmbits més sensibles de la sobirania estatal i una moneda única en setze estats

Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans Agency Performance Plan

Agency Performance Plan