BACKGROUND: The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has had a serious impact on the functioning of gastrointestinal endoscopy Units. The Asociación Española de Gastroenterología (AEG) and the Sociedad Española de Endoscopia Digestiva (SEED) have proposed the EPAGE guidelines for managing postponed colonoscopies.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the EPAGE guidelines as a management tool compared to the immunologic faecal occult blood test (iFOBT) and compared to risk score (RS) that combines age, sex and the iFOBT for the detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and significant bowel disease (SBD).
METHODS: A prospective, single-centre study enrolling 743 symptomatic patients referred for a diagnostic colonoscopy. Each order was classified according to the EPAGE guidelines as appropriate, indeterminate or inappropriate. Patients underwent an iFOBT and had their RS calculated.
RESULTS: The iFOBT (p<0.001), but not the EPAGE guidelines (p = 0.742), was an independent predictive factor of risk of CRC. The ROC AUCs for the EPAGE guidelines, the iFOBT and the RS were 0.61 (95% CI 0.49-0.75), 0.95 (0.93-0.97) and 0.90 (0.87-0.93) for CRC, and 0.55 (0.49-0.61), 0.75 (0.69-0.813) and 0.78 (0.73-0.83) for SBD, respectively. The numbers of colonoscopies needed to detect a case of CRC and a case of SBD were 38 and seven for the EPAGE guidelines, seven and two for the iFOBT, and 19 and four for a RS ≥5 points, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: The EPAGE guidelines, unlike the iFOBT, is not suitable for screening candidate patients for a diagnostic colonoscopy to detect CRC. The iFOBT, in combination with age and sex, is the most suitable strategy for managing demand for endoscopy in a restricted-access situation.

The preparation of parents of children who should undergo cardiac surgery requires special treatment such as the explanations about the event. This study aims to compare the effects of standardized nursing guidelines with routine institutional orientation on the anxiety of parents of children undergoing cardiac surgery.
Randomized clinical trial. The sample consisted of parents of children who underwent cardiac surgery from December 2010 to April 2011. Twenty-two parents were randomized to the intervention group (IG) and received the standard nursing guidelines and 22 participated in the control group (CG) and received the routine guidelines from the institution. Anxiety was assessed by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) applied in the preoperative period, between 12 and 20 hours before surgery and before receiving standard or institutional guidelines and 48 hours after surgery. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures was performed to evaluate the differences between the variations in STAI scores between the groups during the studied period. The level of significance was 0.05.
There were no significant differences in baseline anxiety scores between groups with regard to trait anxiety as well as state anxiety: STAI-trait (CG 42.6±4.9 vs. IG 41.4±6.0, P=0.48); STAI-state (CG 42.3±5.7 vs. IG 45.6±8.3, P=0.18). Likewise, the variation in score after 48 hours was similar between groups (STAI-trait P=0.77; STAI-state P=0.61).
There were no significant differences in the parents\' anxiety levels when comparing the two types of guidelines: the standard nursing and the institutional orientation.

BACKGROUND: When performing, classical guitarists interact with many elements which constitute their own \"workstation\". One of those elements is the support for guitar positioning. Support dimensions, form and materials may determine posture and affect the musician\'s comfort and performance.
OBJECTIVE: To propose design requirements for new supports for guitar positioning, based on postural assessment, anthropometric criteria, self-efficacy and comfort perception.
METHODS: Nine healthy Classical Guitar students were recruited. A postural assessment was undertaken using REBA, and 3DSSPP software with three different supports for guitar positioning. After the use of each support, a questionnaire about self-efficacy and comfort perception was completed by the participants.
RESULTS: The higher scores of risk and a significant difference (ANOVA, p =≤05) regarding the left leg elevation were found with footstool usage. However, this one was identified by participants as the best support in terms of self-efficacy and comfort assessment.
CONCLUSIONS: To improve performance and prevent physical injuries for guitarists, there is a need for designing guitar positionings supports based on ergonomics principles. This paper proposes eleven guidelines for designing these supports.

The role of prophylactic vena cava filters (pVCFs) in trauma patients remains controversial. After 20 years of data collection and experience, we reviewed our venous thromboembolism guideline for the efficacy of pVCFs in preventing pulmonary embolism (PE). A retrospective cohort study was performed using our Level I trauma center registry from January 1997 thru December 2016. This population was then divided by the presence of pVCFs. Univariate analysis was performed comparing the incidence of PEs, deep vein thrombosis, and mortality between those with and without a pVCF. There were 35,658 patients identified, of whom 2 per cent (n = 847) received pVCFs. The PE rate was 0.4 per cent in both groups. The deep vein thrombosis rate for pVCFs was 3.9 per cent compared with 0.6 per cent in the no-VCF group (P < 0.0001). Given that there was no difference in the rates of PEs between the cohorts, the subset of patients with a PE were analyzed by their risk factors. Only ventilator days > 3 were associated with a higher risk in the no-pVCF group (0.2 vs 1.5%, P = 0.033). pVCFs did not confer benefit reducing PE rate. In addition, despite their intended purpose, pVCFs cannot eliminate PEs in high-risk trauma patients, suggesting a lack of utility for prophylaxis in this population.

V600EBRAF mutated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a subtype (10%) with overall poor prognosis, but the clinical experience suggests a great heterogeneity in survival. It is still unexplored the real distribution of traditional and innovative biomarkers among V600EBRAF mutated mCRC and which is their role in the improvement of clinical prediction of survival outcomes.
Data and tissue specimens from 155 V600EBRAF mutated mCRC patients treated at eight Italian Units of Oncology were collected. Specimens were analysed by means of immunohistochemistry profiling performed on tissue microarrays. Primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).
CDX2 loss conferred worse OS (HR = 1.72, 95%CI 1.03-2.86, p = 0.036), as well as high CK7 expression (HR = 2.17, 95%CI 1.10-4.29, p = 0.026). According to Consensus Molecular Subtypes (CMS), CMS1 patients had better OS compared to CMS2-3/CMS4 (HR = 0.37, 95%CI 0.19-0.71, p = 0.003). Samples showing less TILs had worse OS (HR = 1.72, 95%CI 1.16-2.56, p = 0.007). Progression-free survival analyses led to similar results. At multivariate analysis, CK7 and CMS subgrouping retained their significant correlation with OS.
The present study provides new evidence on how several well-established biomarkers perform in a homogenousV600EBRAF mutated mCRC population, with important and independent information added to standard clinical prognosticators. These data could be useful to inform further translational research, for patients\' stratification in clinical trials and in routine clinical practice to better estimate patients\' prognosis.

Our aim was to assess the usefulness of KDIGO 2012 risk classification to predict total and cardiovascular mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2).
Prospective cohort study that included DM2 patients. Clinical end-points were total and cardiovascular mortality. The main predictive variable was KDIGO risk classification, which is a combination of urinary albumin excretion and glomerular filtration rate. The predictive value was evaluated by the integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) index.
453 patients (39.3% males, aged 64.9 [SD 9.3] and with a mean diabetes duration of 10.4 [SD 7.5] years) were included. During a median follow-up of 13 years, mortality rates per 1000 patients/year (26.5 vs. 45.1 vs. 79,2 vs. 109,8; p<0,001) and cardiovascular mortality (8.1 vs. 17.4 vs. 24.7 vs. 57.5; p<0,001) were progressively increased in successive KDIGO categories. In the multivariate analysis, there was also a progressive increase of mortality risk (HR[moderate risk]=1.29; HR[high risk])=1.83; HR[very high risk]=2.15; p=.016) and cardiovascular mortality risk (HR[moderate risk]=1.73; HR[high risk]=2.27; HR[very high risk]=4.22; p=.007) in the successive categories. KDIGO classification was able to improve the mortality risk prediction (IDI=0.00888; p=.047) and cardiovascular mortality risk prediction (IDI=0.01813; p=.035).
KDIGO risk classification can effectively stratify total and cardiovascular mortality risk in DM2 patients.

Adults\' face processing may be specialized for the dimensions of young adult faces. For example, young and older adults exhibit increased accuracy in normality judgments and greater agreement in attractiveness ratings for young versus older adult faces. The present study was designed to examine whether there is a similar young adult face bias in facial age estimates. In Experiment 1, we created a face age continuum by morphing an averaged young adult face with an averaged older adult face in 5% increments, for a total of 21 faces ranging from 0 to 100% old. Young and older adults estimated facial age for three stimulus age categories [young (morphs 0-30%), middle-aged (morphs 35-65%), and older adult (morphs 70-100%)]. Both age groups showed the least differentiation in age estimates for young adult faces, despite showing greater consensus across participants in estimates for young faces. In Experiment 2, young and older adults made age estimates for individual young and older adult identities. Both age groups were more accurate and showed greater consensus in age estimates for young faces. Collectively, these results provide evidence for a bias in processing young adult faces beyond that which is often observed in recognition and normality/attractiveness judgment tasks.

A retrospective study was performed to characterize trends in centralization of care and compliance with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for resected cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), and their impact on overall survival (OS).
Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB) 2004-2015 we identified patients undergoing resection for CCA. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses identified time periods and hospital volume groups for comparison. Propensity score matching provided case-mix adjusted patient cohorts. Cox hazard analysis identified risk factors for OS.
Among the 40,338 patients undergoing resection for CCA, the proportion of patients undergoing surgery at high volume hospitals increased over time (25%-44%, p < 0.001), while the proportion of patients undergoing surgery at low volume hospitals decreased (30%-15%, p < 0.001). Using ROC analyses, a hospital volume of 14 operations/year was the most sensitive and specific value associated with mortality. Surgery at high volume hospitals [HR] = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.88-0.97, p < 0.001) and receipt of care compliant with NCCN guidelines (HR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83-0.91, p < 0.001) were independently associated with improved OS.
Both centralization of surgery for CCA to high volume hospitals and increased compliance with NCCN guidelines were associated with significant improvements in overall survival.

BACKGROUND: In the future, elderly care workers need to have competence of various different conditions due to greater amount of multimorbid elderly. Further, knowledge of national level guidelines is important since they are closely linked to improving quality of care and implementing better practices at work places. The impact of national level guidelines on quality of care at care units is, however, not widely examined in the Finnish context. In this study, the aim was to find out if worker\'s experience of his/her own competence is associated with quality of care. Secondly, we aimed to see how common is addressing national guidelines and policies at workplaces, and if they are associated with quality of care. Thirdly, we aimed to see whether there are differences between different occupational statuses in competence and addressing national guidelines and policies.
METHODS: Total number of respondents was 1997 from 273 different units. Xtreg procedure was used for examining the associations of age, occupational status, unit type, professional competence and addressing the guidelines and policies with quality of care.
RESULTS: Higher grade for QoC was associated with age, supervisor position, working in institutionalized care, better competence in supporting the self-determination of a person with memory disorders and falls prevention and addressing the act for elderly care and memory policy.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that national policies and guidelines are not widely addressed among Finnish elderly care workers. The study also showed that experienced competence of workers and discussion of policies and guidelines are related to quality of care. Especially competence related to memory disorders was associated with higher QoC. However, the relationship between quality of care and things influencing it seems complex and a major part of the variation in QoC remained unexplained. Although the relationships between guidelines, competences and quality of care are weak, national policies and competences seem to have impact on actual care provided. Therefore, sufficient time to address the guidelines should be provided at workplace and competences developed, which can be seen as a supervisor\'s task. With knowledge about the guidelines, workers are able to change their practices at work places.

To compare the incidence of intrauterine device (IUD) provision within the beneficiary population of a military tertiary care facility from 2008 to 2014 and in correlation with the publication of landmark contemporary guidelines for contraceptive use.
This was a retrospective observational study conducted in a military tertiary care facility using coding data to examine the trend in IUD provision correlated with published contraceptive practice guidelines from November 2008 to December 2014. The incidence of device provision was calculated per 1,000 female beneficiaries more than the age of 14 per month. The primary outcome was the mean monthly incidence of IUD in correlation with publication of the U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (2010) and the Practice Guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2011). For the subset of provisions that occurred by Family Medicine providers, the American Academy of Family Physicians (2012) was the second comparison clinical guideline.
A total of 3,950 IUDs were placed during the study period. There was a statistically significant increase in the overall mean monthly incidence of IUD placement from 0.48 (SE 0.04) before guideline publication to 1.96 (SE 0.07) after the publications (analysis of variance, p < 0.01). Each publication was associated with a statistically significant sequential increase in the incidence of IUD provision. The incidence of provision remained elevated above baseline levels (range 0.93-3.03) for the 34 studied months after the 2011 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Practice Guideline.
The incidence of IUD provision significantly increased during the study period and in association with published guidelines guiding contraceptive management.