[Organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics of propolis in the Province Of Nuble, VIII Region-Chile]. / Características organolépticas y físico-químicas de propóleos de la Provincia De Nuble, VIII Región-Chile.

Propolis ("bee-glue") is a gummy resinous substance elaborated by honey bees (Apis mellifera) from different types of plant resins. The chemical composition of propolis is very complex and variable as it depends on the botanical source and the environmental conditions prevailing at the location where the resin is collected by bees. The objective [corrected] of this study was to determine the propolis organoleptic and physicochemical properties of different types in the Province of Nuble (VIII Región, Chile). Samples were collected at different sites located in the Central Valley, ranging from the coast to the mountain skirts. Analyses included humidity, ashes, wax content, total phenolics content, total flavonoids, mechanical impurities, oxidation time, and solubility in ethanol. Results showed that propolis extracts from coastal sites are better quality than those collected at mountain skirts, and these in turn are better than propolis obtained from the Central Valley. All propolis analyzed in this study can be classified according to the Brazilian norm as high flavonoid content. The same homogeneity is observed in the amounts of total phenolics found in the samples. In general terms, properties of the propolis samples analyzed fulfill the quality requirements of the current international standards.

Expanding DIOGENE with a clinical information system based on a new hospital-wide clinical findings dictionary.

The DIOGENE hospital information system has been expanded with a centralized and integrated patient clinical database recording structured patient data. The objective is to provide a standardized framework for the building of future clinical databases and for the integration of existing heterogeneous ones. The combined 'across time view' and 'across departments view' generated from the integrated clinical data will enable an evolutionary view of the patient state, both across time and across medical specialties. For this purpose and to permit the communication and exchange of data, a new controlled vocabulary for representing clinical data has been created. The construction of this vocabulary is based on the international ICD classification, already being used in DIOGENE for encoding patient diagnosis and procedures. A new extension of the ICD is proposed for medical information that goes beyond diagnosis and procedures encoding. The building of a common clinical findings dictionary, recording the definition of clinical entities, is based on this newly developed clinical vocabulary. This process is incremental, manual and substantial.

Chylous metrorrhagia.

Insufficiency of the cisterna chyli may result in chyloperitoneum, chyluria, chyloedema of the lower limbs and rarest of all--chylous metrorrhagia. One case of the latter complication is fully described and one other briefly mentioned. Both were treated by excision of all the dilated lymphatics around the vena cava and iliac veins with good results. Both cases showed lacunae in the flat bones which may be related to the lymphatic dysplasia.