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This study analyzes the use of e-portfolios in Higher Education, specifically, participants' opinion concerning various aspects of the experience and the teaching methods used. Its main purpose is to determine the influence of professors in student satisfaction in this virtual environment, through a descriptive study performed using a mixed focus that combines quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The data collection instruments were a questionnaire for recording the students' opinions and a structured interview of three professors. The study's sample of 251 was drawn from students who were enrolled in different subjects. According to the results obtained, the professor is a decisive variable in student satisfaction when analyzing pedagogical issues concerning the e-portfolio, students' opinions about the professor's teaching actions, and usability of the platform. The students' opinions differ most on issues of time management and collaborative learning, but also on issues such as participation, motivation, and reflection on learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Bile duct injury ( BDI) after cholecystectomy is a serious complication. In a small subset of patients with BDI, failure of surgical or non-surgical management might lead to acute or chronic liver failure. The aim of this study was to review the indications and outcome of liver transplantation ( LT) for BDI after open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods Patients with BDI after cholecystectomy who were on the waiting list for LT between January 1987 and December 2010 were identified from LT centres in Spain. A standardized questionnaire was sent to each unit for extraction of data on diagnosis, previous treatments, indication and outcome of LT for BDI. Results Some 27 patients with BDI after cholecystectomy in whom surgical and non-surgical management for BDI failed were scheduled for LT over the 24-year interval. Emergency LT for acute liver failure was indicated in seven patients, all after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Two patients died while on the waiting list and only one patient survived more than 30 days after LT. Elective LT for secondary biliary cirrhosis after a failed hepaticojejunostomy was performed in 13 patients after open and seven after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. One patient from the elective transplantation group died within 30 days of LT. The estimated 5-year overall survival rate was 68 per cent. Conclusion Emergency LT for acute liver failure was more common in patients with BDI after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and associated with a poor outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hepatocyte transplantation (HT) has the potential to become a promising treatment to temporarily support liver function in patients with liver failure. Methods: Two patients, who had already received a liver transplant (LT) in the past, with an end-stage liver disease due to recurrent hepatitis C virus cirrhosis, suffering acute-on-chronic liver failure while on the waiting list for an LT, received HT as a bridge to whole-organ retransplantation. After HT and during intensive care unit admission, blood tests and ammonia levels were determined every 12 and 24 h, respectively, before and after each hepatocyte infusion. Results: The present study describes monitoring of analytical and clinical parameters and improvement of liver function following HT. In both patients, we managed to lower the blood ammonia levels and clinically improve the degree of hepatic encephalopathy, thus serving as a bridge to liver retransplantation in 1 patient. Conclusions: We believe that this therapy may be an alternative treatment in patients with chronic liver disease who suffer episodes of acute decompensation as a bridge to conventional LT. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. This work presents the protocol carried out in the development and validation of an augmented reality system which was installed in an operating theatre to help surgeons with trocar placement during laparoscopic surgery. The purpose of this validation is to demonstrate the improvements that this system can provide to the field of medicine, particularly surgery. Method. Two experiments that were noninvasive for both the patient and the surgeon were designed. In one of these experiments the augmented reality system was used, the other one was the control experiment, and the system was not used. The type of operation selected for all cases was a cholecystectomy due to the low degree of complexity and complications before, during, and after the surgery. The technique used in the placement of trocars was the French technique, but the results can be extrapolated to any other technique and operation. Results and Conclusion. Four clinicians and ninety-six measurements obtained of twenty-four patients (randomly assigned in each experiment) were involved in these experiments. The final results show an improvement in accuracy and variability of 33% and 63%, respectively, in comparison to traditional methods, demonstrating that the use of an augmented reality system offers advantages for trocar placement in laparoscopic surgery [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between the polymorphism of large molecular weight proteasome (LMP) (LMP2-LMP7) and transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) (TAP1-TAP2) genes and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods: Sixty RA patients and 102 ethnically matched unrelated healthy subjects were typed for LMP, TAP, and disease associated HLA-DRB1 alleles by using a new strategy based on polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) with amplification created restriction sites.Results: The polymorphism of LMP (LMP2-LMP7) and TAP (TAP1-TAP2) genes was examined in shared epitope positive and negative RA patients and controls. No significant differences in the LMP or TAP allele frequencies were observed between the total patient and control groups or the patients and controls groups or the patients and controls positive or negative for the shared epitope.Conclusion: The data suggest that the polymorphisms of LMP and TAP genes do not have an important influence in the pathogenesis of RA, although larger studies will be needed to provide more conclusive evidence on the role of these genes in RA. A new, highly reliable strategy for typing LMP alleles is also described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article determines the frequency of idiopathic thrombocytosis in patients with myelodysplastic features and analyzes the clinical and hematological data of patients who had a platelet count higher than 600 x 109 per liter to clarify their relationship with myelodysplastic syndromes or myelodysplastic syndromes/myeloproliferative syndromes. It has been observed that dysplasia without excess of blasts and had ringed sideroblasts. This dysplastic feature and the presence of giant hyperlobulated megakaryocytes were the two most consistent and distinguishing morphological findings in this group of patients.