Patellofemoral Joint Arthroplasty: Early Results and Functional Outcome of the Zimmer Gender Solutions Patello-Femoral Joint System

BACKGROUND: Improved knee prosthesis designs have led to an increase in the use of patellofemoral arthroplasty as a primary treatment option in recent times. We report the early results and outcomes of the Zimmer Gender Solutions Patello-Femoral Joint (PFJ) system used to treat isolated patellofemoral osteoarthritis (PFA). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed and analysed data of patients who underwent PFJ replacement (PFJR) at our institution with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. RESULTS: Median Oxford Knee score (OKS) was 38 (interquartile range, 28 to 42) at the latest follow-up with a significant improvement from preoperative scores (p < 0.0005). Median OKS was 40 for unilateral PFJRs and 39 for nonobese patients (body mass index [BMI] < 30 kg/m²). There was no significant difference in OKS between unilateral and bilateral procedures (p = 0.462). Likewise, there was no significant difference in OKS between obese and nonobese patients (p = 0.272). Two knees (4%) were revised for progression of osteoarthritis. No complications were reported related to infectious or thromboembolic causes. CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed good early results of the PFJ system, at least equal to those of other leading brands in the National Joint Registry for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (NJR). There have been no complications related to either the implantation technique or prosthetic design for this new implant. Progression of tibiofemoral arthritis remains a major concern. Our study also suggests that PFJR in obese patients and bilateral procedures can have good results.

Study of the UK Pharmacy Education and the Pharmacy Registration Assessment: In England and Wales

Pharmacy education and training is continuously evolving to meet the requirement from the society in the UK. Most pharmacy schools offer the Master of pharmacy degree which is a four year undergraduate programme followed by a year of pre-registration placement spanning a year supervised by a professional pharmacist who has at least 3 years' post-registration experience; however, some universities provide either a 5-year sandwich course where the pre-registration training is split up into two periods of 6 months or a 2-year OSPAP programme for those who are already qualified as a pharmacist outside of the UK. The GPhC has announced that the format of the registration assessment is set to change in 2016. The exam questions from 2016 will be more clinical, practical and based around a patient in a real-life scenario. This article addresses important aspects of UK pharmacy education such as university curriculum, training programme, and licence exam, therefore, could potentially offer a significant contribution to the debate about raising academic standards of pharmacy education in South Korea.

Does Hearing Aid Use Increase the Likelihood of Cerumen Impaction?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Impacted cerumen is a common condition in adults. It is commonly believed that wearing hearing aids may increase the cerumen impaction, although no empirical evidence exist. The current study was aimed at studying if the use of hearing aids increase the likelihood of impaction of cerumen. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study used retrospective design. The study sample included 164 consecutive patients who were referred to cerumen clinic from Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Wales. Audiologist classified the cerumen impaction into four categories (i.e., no cerumen; non-occluding cerumen; occluding cerumen; and fully non-occluding cerumen and debris). Chi-square analysis was performed to study the association between hearing aid use and cerumen impaction. RESULTS: The current study results showed no association between hearing aid use and cerumen impaction. Also, there was no association between right/left ear and cerumen impaction. CONCLUSIONS: These results interesting and contrary to our assumption that hearing aid use increases the likelihood of cerumen impaction. More well-controlled studies with prospective designs are needed to confirm if these results are accurate.

A study on epidemiological characteristics and control methods of EHEC infection in Korea / 한국역학회지

E. coli is a bacterium that is commonly found in the gut of humans and warm-blooded animals. Most strains of E. coli are harmless. But some strains such as Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli(EHEC), can cause severe food borne disease. It is transmitted to humans primarily through consumption of contaminated foods, such as raw or undercooked ground meat. There is no widely agreed definition of when a shiga-toxin producing E. coli is considered to be an EHEC. But in Korea, the word "EHEC", "STEC", "VTEC" are often used as same meaning, which refer to the E.coli those producing shiga-toxin. We suggest the term STEC refers to those E. coli produce one or more shiga-toxins(stx), and the term EHEC refers only to STEC that cause a clinical illness. EHEC infection were designated as the class 1 notifiable disease in Korea in 2000. Although EHEC/STEC cases were not common in Korea, the number of STEC infection cases reported has increased since 2001. From 2001 to 2004, the number of STEC infection cases in Korea were 11, 8, 52, 118 respectively. These cases included 17 due to E. coli O157, 136 due to E. coli, serogroup non-O157, and 15 due to E. coli that were not serogrouped. The most common serotype implicated is E. coli O91 without virulent factor and clinical symptoms. But those cases involve in one epidemic in primary school in 2004. STEC infections in Korea occur in all age groups, with the highest frequencies in children less than 5 years old. Healthy cattle are the main animal reservoir for STEC and they harbor the organism as part of the bowel flora. The proportion of STEC in E. coli in animal feces was examined by using stool samples from 283 Korean beef cattle on 27 farms, 169 milk cattle on 28 frams, 455 swine on 50 farms. As determined by culture and toxin assay, the proportion of STEC was 25.8%(16 STEC/62 E. coli) in milk cattle, 18.8%(19 STEC/101 E.coli) in Korean beef cattle, 14.0%(25 STEC/178 E. coli) in swine. Effective surveillance of EHEC/STEC in humans is essential in order to protect the public health. EHEC infection is notifiable in many countries including USA, Japan, and Belgium, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom(UK), have sentinel systems. England, Wales, and Scotland have comprehensive national laboratory reporting schemes for STEC. And there has been an increase in the number of reported cases and outbreaks during the past decades in many countries Prevention of STEC infection requires control measures at all stages of surveillace, investigations and special pathogen tracing such as PulseNet.

A experiência britânica de privatizaçäo do setor saneamento / The britanic experience of privatization of sanitation sector

Descreve e analisa a experiência de privatização no setor saneamento da Inglaterra e País de Gales. Descreve a evolução histórica do processo de privatização e toma, por base, quatro períodos principais: antes de 1973, de 1973 a 1985, de 1985 a 1989, e de 1989 a 1999. Examina as principais características do modelo de regulação adotado, que previu uma estrutura bipartite, com separação funcional entre os reguladores econômicos e os reguladores da qualidade. Aborda as questões mais sensíveis do atual debate sobre privatização do setor saneamento britânico e a eficiência do modelo de regulação implantado.

Perinatal and postneonatal mortality in England and Wales among immigrants from the Indian subcontinent.

Perinatal and postneonatal mortality among immigrants to England and Wales from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (Asians) for the years 1982-85 showed significant differences not only between the immigrant and indigenous populations, but also among the different groups from the Indian subcontinent. Compared with the perinatal mortality rate of 10.1 per 1000 total births in UK born mothers, rates in infants of mothers born in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan were 12.5, 14.3 and 18.8 respectively. In contrast, postneonatal mortality in infants of Indian and Bangladeshi origin (3.9 and 2.8 per 1000 live births respectively) was lower than in the indigenous population (4.1), with Pakistani infants experiencing the highest rate (6.4). Excess perinatal mortality in infants of Asian origin was apparent at most maternal ages and parities. Pakistani infants had the highest rates of perinatal and postneonatal mortality in all age, parity and birth weight groups. The Asian groups showed higher mortality from congenital anomalies in both the perinatal and the postneonatal period, the rates in Pakistani infants being almost double those in Indian and Bangladeshi infants. A significant finding was the lower rates of sudden infant death in all the groups of Asian origin.

Investigaçäo de surtos de toxinfeccäo bacteriana causados por alimentos processados / Investigation of bacterial foodborne outbreaks caused by processed foods

Säo discutidas as causas de doenças de origem alimentar, a investigaçäo de surtos e a prevençäo da sua ocorrência. Säo comentadas as diversas etapas da investigaçäo de surtos: entrevista, curva epidêmica, cálculo da taxa de ataque e análises de laboratório. Também säo sugeridas medidas a ser adotadas para prevenir surtos de toxinfecçäo alimentar como controle de matérias-primas, controle do processamento, controle da higiene e estado de saúde dos manipuladores de alimentos e operaçöes de limpeza e desinfecçäo satisfatórias