Understanding patient-reported knowledge of hernia surgery: a quantitative study

Abdominal wall; Knowledge; PatientPared abdominal; Conocimiento; PacienteParet abdominal; Coneixement; PacientPurpose The objective of this study was to gather information on patient-reported knowledge (PRK) in the field of hernia surgery. Methods A prospective quantitative study was designed to explore different aspects of PRK and opinions regarding hernia surgery. Patients referred for the first time to a surgical service with a presumed diagnosis of hernia and eventual hernia repair were eligible, and those who gave consent completed a simple self-assessment questionnaire before the clinical visit. Results The study population included 449 patients (72.8% men, mean age 61.5). Twenty (4.5%) patients did not have hernia on physical examination. The patient’s perceived health status was “neither bad nor good” or “good” in 56.6% of cases. Also, more patients considered that hernia repair would be an easy procedure (35.1%) rather than a difficult one (9.8%). Although patients were referred by their family physicians, 32 (7.1%) answered negatively to the question of coming to the visit to assess the presence of a hernia. The most important reason of the medical visit was to receive medical advice (77.7%), to be operated on as soon as possible (40.1%) or to be included in the surgical waiting list (35.9%). Also, 46.1% of the patients considered that they should undergo a hernia repair and 56.8% that surgery will be a definitive solution. Conclusion PRK of patients referred for the first time to an abdominal wall surgery unit with a presumed diagnosis of hernia was quite limited and there is still a long way towards improving knowledge of hernia surgery.Open Access Funding provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

The relationship between depression and risk of violence in portuguese community-dwelling older people

Background: Mental disorders are highly prevalent in older people, being depression a predominant disorder. Evidence points to a possible relationship between depression and violence against older people. Nonetheless, the role of the depressive symptomology severity in the risk of violence against older people remains unclear. Thus, this study’s main objective was to analyze the relationship between geriatric depressive symptomatology and the risk of violence against older people. Methods: This exploratory study involved 502 community-dwelling older persons aged 65 to 96 years (73.3 ± 6.5). Measures were performed using the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Risk Assessment of Violence against the Non- Institutionalized Elderly scale. Results: One hundred nineteen older people (23.7%) had mild/moderate depressive symptomology, and twenty-six (5.2%) had severe depressive symptomology. There were significant relationships between the severity of depressive symptomatology and the risk of violence (p < 0.05). The presence of depressive symptomatology increased the likelihood of being victims of violence, particularly among women (odds ratio: 2–8, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The severity of depressive symptomatology plays an essential role in the risk of violence against community-dwelling older people. Moreover, it was found that older persons with depression symptomatology were at higher risk of being victims of violence. Our study findings support the need for protective measures within mental health national or regional policies to prevent depression and violence against community-dwelling older people

Automatic classification of field-collected dinoflagellates by artificial neural network

Automatic taxonomic categorisation of 23 species of dinoflagellates was demonstrated using field-collected specimens. These dinoflagellates have been responsible for the majority of toxic and noxious phytoplankton blooms which have occurred in the coastal waters of the European Union in recent years and make severe impact on the aquaculture industry. The performance by human 'expert' ecologists/taxonomists in identifying these species was compared to that achieved by 2 artificial neural network classifiers (multilayer perceptron and radial basis function networks) and 2 other statistical techniques, k-Nearest Neighbour and Quadratic Discriminant Analysis. The neural network classifiers outperform the classical statistical techniques. Over extended trials, the human experts averaged 85% while the radial basis network achieved a best performance of 83%, the multilayer perceptron 66%, k-Nearest Neighbour 60%, and the Quadratic Discriminant Analysis 56%

Recovery of early meteorological records from Extremadura region (SW Iberia): The ''CliPastExtrem'' (v1.0) database

In this work, we provide instrumental meteorological data recovered for the Extremadura region (interior SW Iberia), from 1826 to mid-20th century. Meteorological variables such as air temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, wind direction and humidity, among others, were retrieved. In total, more than 750 000 instrumental data in 157 meteorological series belonging to 131 different locations throughout Extremadura were rescued. It must be noted that daily resolution data constitutes 80% of the database. This great effort of digitization and data collection has been carried out with the aim of contributing to a significant expansion of the length of the databases with meteorological information in this region. Therefore, this database will provide a better understanding of climate variability, trends and extreme events of the Extremadura region

Changes in the functional diversity of modern bird species over the last million years

Despite evidence of declining biosphere integrity, we currently lack understanding of how the functional diversity associated with changes in abundance among ecological communities has varied over time and before widespread human disturbances. We combine morphological, ecological, and life-history trait data for >260 extant bird species with genomic-based estimates of changing effective population size (Ne) to quantify demographic-based shifts in avian functional diversity over the past million years and under pre-anthropogenic climate warming. We show that functional diversity was relatively stable over this period, but underwent significant changes in some key areas of trait space due to changing species abundances. Our results suggest that patterns of population decline over the Pleistocene have been concentrated in particular regions of trait space associated with extreme reproductive strategies and low dispersal ability, consistent with an overall erosion of functional diversity. Further, species most sensitive to climate warming occupied a relatively narrow region of functional space, indicating that the largest potential population increases and decreases under climate change will occur among species with relatively similar trait sets. Overall, our results identify fluctuations in functional space of extant species over evolutionary timescales and represent the demographic-based vulnerability of different regions of functional space among these taxa. The integration of paleodemographic dynamics with functional trait data enhances our ability to quantify losses of biosphere integrity before anthropogenic disturbances and attribute contemporary biodiversity loss to different drivers over time

Análisis del somatotipo de jugadores juveniles de fútbol asociación

The anthropometric characteristics of the subjects in association football were rarely considered in the selection of young soccer players in relation to their positions on the pitch. At present, in this sport it is becoming more and more frequent, as well as adding variables that contribute to the improvement of sports performance. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to identify and analyze the somatotype of amateur level players enrolled in the delfines academy who participate in the Veracruz soccer league, within the selection criteria of the participants is that they are in the age range of 14-17 years, they were evaluated for body composition through the bioimpedance technique (tanita tbf 300a, manual), with this the values ​​of weight, height, and BMI were obtained. Likewise, the anthropometry technique was obtained to obtain a complete profile of each player taking as a reference the calculation of the Heath - Carter somatotype, one of the results obtained is the prevalence of the endomorph somatotype for the forwards (2.87 ± 0. 76), defenders (2.99±0.55) and midfielders (2.55±0.47) and mesomorph: forwards (5.34±1.17), defenders (5.86±1.55) and midfielders (4.71±0.67), It was shown that the means present less mesomorphy and greater ectomorphy with (3.64±1.29). It is concluded from the results obtained that the predominance is of the balanced mesomorphic component, a situation that coincides with the results of other investigations, where the players of the amateur sector and professional soccer players according to the position they occupy on the pitch presenting a somatotype similar to those found in the studyLas características antropométricas de los sujetos en el fútbol asociación pocas veces eran consideradas en la selección de los jóvenes futbolistas en relación con sus posiciones dentro del terreno de juego. En la actualidad, en este deporte se hace cada vez más frecuente, así como sumar variables que coadyuvan a la mejora del rendimiento deportivo. Por tanto, el objetivo principal de esta investigación es identificar y analizar el somatotipo de jugadores de nivel amateur inscritos en la academia delfines que participa en la liga veracruzana de fútbol, dentro de los criterios de selección de los participantes es que estén en el rango de edad de 14-17 años, a ellos se les evaluación de composición corporal a través de la técnica de bioimpedancia (tanita tbf 300a, manual), con ello se obtuvieron los valores de peso, talla, IMC. Así mismo se utilizó la técnica de antropometría para obtener un perfil completo de cada jugador tomando como referencia el cálculo del somatotipo de Heath – Carter, alguno de los resultados obtenidos es la prevalencia del somatotipo de endomorfo para los delanteros (2,87±0,76), defensas (2.99±0,55) y medios campistas (2,55±0,47) y mesomorfo: delanteros (5,34±1,17), defensas (5,86±1,55) y medios campistas (4,71±0,67), Se observó que los medios presentan menor mesomorfia y mayor ectomorfia con (3,64 ±1,29). Se concluye por los resultados obtenidos que la predominancia es del componente mesomórfico balanceado, situación que coinciden con los resultados de otras investigaciones, donde los jugadores del sector amateur y jugadores de fútbol profesional de acuerdo a la posición que ocupan en el terreno de juego presentan un somatotipo similar a los hallazgos en el estudio

Phytochemicals as antibiotic alternatives to promote growth and enhance host health

There are heightened concerns globally on emerging drug-resistant superbugs and the lack of new antibiotics for treating human and animal diseases. For the agricultural industry, there is an urgent need to develop strategies to replace antibiotics for food-producing animals, especially poultry and livestock. The 2nd International Symposium on Alternatives to Antibiotics was held at the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, France, December 12-15, 2016 to discuss recent scientific developments on strategic antibiotic-free management plans, to evaluate regional differences in policies regarding the reduction of antibiotics in animal agriculture and to develop antibiotic alternatives to combat the global increase in antibiotic resistance. More than 270 participants from academia, government research institutions, regulatory agencies, and private animal industries from >25 different countries came together to discuss recent research and promising novel technologies that could provide alternatives to antibiotics for use in animal health and production; assess challenges associated with their commercialization; and devise actionable strategies to facilitate the development of alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) without hampering animal production. The 3-day meeting consisted of four scientific sessions including vaccines, microbial products, phytochemicals, immune-related products, and innovative drugs, chemicals and enzymes, followed by the last session on regulation and funding. Each session was followed by an expert panel discussion that included industry representatives and session speakers. The session on phytochemicals included talks describing recent research achievements, with examples of successful agricultural use of various phytochemicals as antibiotic alternatives and their mode of action in major agricultural animals (poultry, swine and ruminants). Scientists from industry and academia and government research institutes shared their experience in developing and applying potential antibiotic-alternative phytochemicals commercially to reduce AGPs and to develop a sustainable animal production system in the absence of antibiotics.Fil: Lillehoj, Hyun. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; ArgentinaFil: Liu, Yanhong. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Calsamiglia, Sergio. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Fernandez Miyakawa, Mariano Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; ArgentinaFil: Chi, Fang. Amlan International; Estados UnidosFil: Cravens, Ron L.. Amlan International; Estados UnidosFil: Oh, Sungtaek. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; ArgentinaFil: Gay, Cyril G.. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; Argentin

MRCP compared to diagnostic ERCP for diagnosis when biliary obstruction is suspected: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) is an alternative to diagnostic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for investigating biliary obstruction. The use of MRCP, a non-invasive procedure, may prevent the use of unnecessary invasive procedures. The aim of the study was to compare the findings of MRCP with those of ERCP by the computation of accuracy statistics. METHODS: Thirteen electronic bibliographic databases, covering biomedical, science, health economics and grey literature were searched. A systematic review of studies comparing MRCP to diagnostic ERCP in patients with suspected biliary obstruction was conducted. Sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, acceptability and adverse events were reported. RESULTS: 25 studies were identified reporting several conditions including choledocholithiasis (18 studies), malignancy (four studies), obstruction (three studies), stricture (two studies) and dilatation (five studies). Three of the 18 studies reporting choledocholithiasis were excluded from the analysis due to lack of data, or differences in study design. The sensitivity for the 15 studies of choledocholithiasis ranged from 0.50 to 1.00 while specificity ranged from 0.83 to 1.00. The positive likelihood ratio ranged: from 5.44–47.72 and the negative likelihood ratio for the 15 studies ranged from 0.00–0.51. Significant heterogeneity was found across the 15 studies so the sensitivities and specificities were summarised by a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. For malignancy, sensitivity ranged from 0.81 to 0.94 and specificity from 0.92 to 1.00. Positive likelihood ratios ranged from 10.12 to 43 and negative likelihood ratios ranged from 0.15 to 0.21, although these estimates were less reliable. CONCLUSION: MRCP is a comparable diagnostic investigation in comparison to ERCP for diagnosing biliary obstruction

Impaired Mitophagy and Protein Acetylation Levels in Fibroblasts from Parkinson's Disease Patients

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder. While most PD cases are idiopathic, the known genetic causes of PD are useful to understand common disease mechanisms. Recent data suggests that autophagy is regulated by protein acetylation mediated by histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) activities. The changes in histone acetylation reported to be involved in PD pathogenesis have prompted this investigation of protein acetylation and HAT and HDAC activities in both idiopathic PD and G2019S leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) cell cultures. Fibroblasts from PD patients (with or without the G2019S LRRK2 mutation) and control subjects were used to assess the different phenotypes between idiopathic and genetic PD. G2019S LRRK2 mutation displays increased mitophagy due to the activation of class III HDACs whereas idiopathic PD exhibits downregulation of clearance of defective mitochondria. This reduction of mitophagy is accompanied by more reactive oxygen species (ROS). In parallel, the acetylation protein levels of idiopathic and genetic individuals are different due to an upregulation in class I and II HDACs. Despite this upregulation, the total HDAC activity is decreased in idiopathic PD and the total HAT activity does not significantly vary. Mitophagy upregulation is beneficial for reducing the ROS-induced harm in genetic PD. The defective mitophagy in idiopathic PD is inherent to the decrease in class III HDACs. Thus, there is an imbalance between total HATs and HDACs activities in idiopathic PD, which increases cell death. The inhibition of HATs in idiopathic PD cells displays a cytoprotective effect

Shrike predation on the lizard Mesalina adramitana in Qatar; a review of reported reptile and amphibian prey

We report, for the first time, evidence of predation by a shrike (Lanius sp.) on the lizard Mesalina adramitana. This is the first record of predation by shrikes on lizards in Qatar. Whilst we did not directly observe the event, the presence of shrikes in the area and the method of impalement indicate shrikes as the predator. The lizard was found freshly impaled on a palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera), at 150 cm above ground. Bird species of the genus Lanius are well-known predators of lizards, and in arid environments reptiles are likely common prey for these birds. We provide a review of literature concerning predatory events by shrikes on reptiles and amphibians. We suggest inspection of shrubs for animals impaled by shrikes can improve biodiversity inventories, complementing other commonly used methods