56 research outputs found
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 patientâs perceived health status was âneither bad nor goodâ or âgoodâ 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
Assessment of pollution risk ascribed to Santa Margarida Military Camp activities (Portugal)
Santa Margarida Military Camp (S.M.M.C.) is
the only one Portuguese military training area, including
firing ranges for tactical military manoeuvres of mechanised
divisions. For this reason, various negative effects on
the environment were expected due to the military activities,
as the Military Campâs area is classified as a high
vulnerability area to pollution of its multilayer porous
aquifers. The aim of this study was to identify and characterise
local/regional geochemical impacts caused by the
continuing military training activities performed at
S.M.M.C. in the course of 52 years. An overview of the
geochemical research issues as a basis for risk assessment
is presented. A special attention has been put on the
quality of local and regional surface waters, shallow
groundwaters and groundwaters. Local soils and sediments
as well as fragments of shells and bullets were sampled
and analysed. The results so far obtained, indicated that none pollution effects were a consequence of the military
training activities. Till now, the geochemical signatures
such as, high levels of K, Cl and NO3 in waters, detected
in particular sites, should be faced as tracers of diffuse
pollution ascribed to urban waste disposal and cattle
breading
Plant communities as a tool in temporary ponds conservation in SW Portugal
Pond conservationTemporary ponds are seasonal wetlands
annually subjected to extreme and unstable ecological
conditions, neither truly aquatic nor truly terrestrial.
This habitat and its flora have been poorly
studied and documented because of the ephemeral
character of the flora, the changeable annual weather
that has a great effect on the small, herbaceous taxa
and the declining abundance of temporary ponds. The
objectives of this study are: (a) to define plant
community diversity in terms of floristic composition of ephemeral wetlands in SW Portugal, (b) to identify
temporary pond types according to their vegetation
composition and (c) to identify those ponds that
configure the European community priority habitat
(3170* â Mediterranean temporary ponds).
Vegetation sampling was conducted in 29 ponds,
identifying 168 species grouped among 15 plant
communities. Soil texture, pH, organic C and N
content were measured, but only N and percent of
clay appear to be related with the distribution of each
community type. The results showed that ephemeral
wetlands could be classified into four type: vernal
pools, marshlands, deep ponds and disturbed wetlands.
Vernal pools correspond to the Mediterranean
temporary ponds (3170*), protected as priority habitat
under the EU Habitats Directive. Submersed
Isoetes species (Isoetes setaceum and Isoetes velatum)
represents, together with Eryngium corniculatum,
the indicator species for vernal pools. We
identify also indicator plant communities of this
priority habitat, namely I. setaceum and E. corniculatumâ
Baldellia ranunculoides plant communities. In
this region, the conservation of temporary ponds has
so far been compatible with traditional agricultural
activities, but today these ponds are endangered by
the intensification of agriculture and the loss of
traditional land use practices and by the development
of touris
Molecular phylogenetics and temporal diversification in the genus Aeromonas based on the sequences of five housekeeping genes
Several approaches have been developed to estimate both the relative and absolute rates of speciation and extinction within clades based on molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of evolutionary relationships, according to an underlying model of diversification. However, the macroevolutionary models established for eukaryotes have scarcely been used with prokaryotes. We have investigated the rate and pattern of cladogenesis in the genus Aeromonas (Îł-Proteobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteria) using the sequences of five housekeeping genes and an uncorrelated relaxed-clock approach. To our knowledge, until now this analysis has never been applied to all the species described in a bacterial genus and thus opens up the possibility of establishing models of speciation from sequence data commonly used in phylogenetic studies of prokaryotes. Our results suggest that the genus Aeromonas began to diverge between 248 and 266 million years ago, exhibiting a constant divergence rate through the Phanerozoic, which could be described as a pure birth process
The efficacy of a behavioral activation intervention among depressed US Latinos with limited English language proficiency: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Seasonal and altitudinal changes of culturable bacterial and yeast diversity in Alpine forest soils
Comparative genome analysis of Pediococcus damnosus LMG 28219, a strain well-adapted to the beer environment
Cellular reprogramming in farm animals: an overview of iPSC generation in the mammalian farm animal species
Long-term bio-cultural heritage: exploring the intermediate disturbance hypothesis in agro-ecological landscapes (Mallorca, c. 1850â2012)
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