Specific Database Research Articles

Unveiling the peptidases of parasites from the office chair - The endothelin-converting enzyme case study.

The emergence of high-throughput methodologies such as next-generation sequencing and proteomics has necessitated significant advancements in biological databases and bioinformatic tools, therefore reshaping the landscape of research into parasitic peptidases. In this review we outline the development of these resources along the -omics technologies and their transformative impact on the field. Apart from extensive summary of general and specific databases and tools, we provide a general pipeline on how to use these resources effectively to identify candidate peptidases from these large datasets and how to gain as much information about them as possible without leaving the office chair. This pipeline is then applied in an illustrative case study on the endothelin-converting enzyme 1 homologue from Schistosoma mansoni and attempts to highlight the contemporary capabilities of bioinformatics. The case study demonstrate how such approach can aid to hypothesize enzyme functions and interactions through computational analysis alone effectively and emphasizes how such virtual investigations can guide and optimize subsequent wet lab experiments therefore potentially saving precious time and resources. Finally, by showing what can be achieved without traditional wet laboratory methods, this review provides a compelling narrative on the use of bioinformatics to bridge the gap between big data and practical research applications, highlighting the key role of these technologies in furthering our understanding of parasitic diseases.

Burnout in nursing staff, impact on patient safety

Introduction: Burnout not only impairs the physical and mental health of staff but can also increase the incidence of adverse events and compromise the quality of care. Our objective is to analyze the impact of burnout on patient safety and the quality of care in nursing staff. Methods: Systematic literature review, following the PRISMA method, with a search in specific databases and the use of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Sixteen relevant studies addressing the relationship between burnout in nurses and patient safety were selected. Results: The findings revealed a significant association between burnout in nursing staff and patient safety, highlighting emotional exhaustion, professional wear, and excessive workload as factors that can compromise the quality of care and patient safety. Additionally, a significant correlation between nurses' burnout and their safety culture was identified. Conclusions: The relationship between burnout in nursing and patient safety appears evident, highlighting how emotional exhaustion and workload overload compromise patient care and safety. Burnout is associated with reduced safety perception, higher risk of errors, and diminished care quality. Addressing burnout through emotional support, improving working conditions, and promoting self-care is essential for healthcare safety and quality.

Measurement properties of assessment tools of Kinesophobia in patients with cardiovascular disease: A systematic review

ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the measurement properties and methodological quality of assessment tools for Kinesophobia among patients with cardiovascular disease and provide a reference for healthcare professionals in selecting high-quality assessment tools. MethodsA systematic search was performed on specific databases: Embase, the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang database, China Biological Medicine disc, CINAHL, and China Science and Technology Journal Database, from inception to April 1, 2023. The researchers retrieved studies on the measurement attributes of the exercise fear scale in patients with cardiovascular diseases. They also traced back the references of the included studies to supplement relevant literature. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, screening and data extraction were independently undertaken by two reviewers. Two researchers individually used the Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) Risk of Bias Checklist to assess the methodological quality of the scale, applied the COSMIN criteria to evaluate the measurement properties of the scale, and used a modified Grading, Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system to assess the certainty of evidence. ResultsSeventeen studies were identified that reported the psychometric properties of six patient reported outcome measurement tools (included different languages version) The methodological quality of content validity was adequate in only two studies, the remaining patient-reported outcome measures demonstrated doubtful content validity. Limited information on cross-cultural validity/measurement invariance, measurement error, and responsiveness was retrieved. The Swedish version and the Chinese version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia Heart were graded “A.” The remaining instruments were graded “B.” ConclusionsThe methodological and measurement attributes of the Swedish and Chinese versions of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia Heart are relatively high quality and can be tentatively recommended. The measurement properties of the remaining scales remain to be verified.

Improving Load Forecasting with Data Partitioning: A K-Means Approach to An Office Building

In recent years, the energy landscape has undergone significant transformations, characterized by the integration of renewable energy sources, smart grids, and the proliferation of IoT-enabled devices. As a result, the efficient management of energy resources has become paramount, requiring advanced methodologies in load forecasting and clustering. This article presents an enhanced methodology for short-term load forecasting that focuses on load consumption profile recognition within a smart building environment. The methodology is designed to analyze and identify recurring load consumption profiles and measures of sensors, thereby enhancing load consumption profile recognition capabilities within the smart building context. The interaction between single and grouped datasets is explored to enhance the accuracy and interpretability of predictions, contributing to optimized energy consumption and providing valuable information for demand response programs. The default forecasting methods used in the methodology are artificial neural networks and k-nearest neighbors. For comparing results and evaluating the proposed approach, XGBoost is also employed. The dataset is selected from a specific database, and the clustering method, partitioning type, is applied with k-means. The results, validated with error evaluation models and statistics, reveal the advantages of the proposed approach, especially with three clusters, where the results achieved by the Artificial Neural Network are the best. The clustering process, particularly the partitioning type, demonstrates a strong capability in improving load forecasting in smart buildings and helps understand load consumption patterns and achieve energy savings.

Skipping breakfast is associated to inadequate nutrient intakes among Tunisian children: a cross-sectional study.

Breakfast is widely acknowledged as a crucial meal of the day, particularly for children, owing to its role in supplying essential nutrients and energy necessary for optimal growth and cognitive function. This study aims to examine differences in nutrient intake between breakfast skippers and non-skippers among children. A representative sample of 1,200 Tunisian preschool and schoolchildren, aged 3-9 years, was randomly selected from kindergartens and primary schools in the Greater Tunis region which includes four governorates (Tunis, Ariana, Manouba and Ben Arous) using a two-stage cross-sectional design. Stratification was carried out depending on each of the selected governorates and urban/rural areas. Dietary intake was evaluated using the 24-hour recall method and a diet history covering the week preceding the survey. Nutritional food composition was derived from a specific Tunisian food composition database. Nutrient intake below age- and sex-specific reference values was considered inadequate. The findings indicate that the daily intake of energy and nutrients was lower among breakfast skippers compared to regular breakfast eaters. After adjusting for energy, gender, age, BMI and household economic proxy, the daily consumption of total sugar, riboflavin, vitamin B-5, phosphorus and calcium was higher among breakfast consumers while saturated fatty acid intake was higher among skippers. A comparative analysis of daily mean food category intake between the two groups revealed a higher consumption of milk and dairy products among breakfast consumers. Regular breakfast consumption is an important part of maintaining a balanced diet and healthy weight.

Effect of protein modification in synbiotic infant formula on probiotic metabolic activity and bacterial composition in an infant gut-model.

Aim: Microbial colonization of the neonatal gut is pivotal in priming the infant's immune system. Human milk (HM) is the best nutrition for infants and supports the development of the microbiota due to prebiotic compounds and probiotic microorganisms. When exclusive breastfeeding is not possible, infant formula (IF) with probiotics is a strategy to support the infant's microbiome development. However, knowledge about the effects of the infant gut microbiota and different compounds in IF on individual probiotic strains is limited, as strain-level detection in a complex ecosystem is challenging. The aim of the present study was to show the effects of IF with different protein forms on the metabolic activity of two probiotic strains isolated from HM in a complex ecosystem. Methods: By using an ex-vivo infant gut model containing infant donor-microbiota, the effects of IF with either intact or extensively hydrolyzed protein on the metabolic activity of the donor microbiota, as well as two probiotic strains [Limosilactobacillus fermentum (L. fermentum) CECT 5716 (Lf) and Bifidobacterium breve (B. breve) DSM 32583 (Bb)], were analyzed. A new bioinformatic pipeline combined with a specific infant microbiome database was used to explore shotgun metagenome datasets (1200 Megabases) for taxonomic identification and strain-level tracking. Results: Both protein forms (i.e., intact or extensively hydrolyzed protein) in IF supported infant gut microbial metabolic activity equally, as evidenced by similar levels of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Interestingly, gut microbial metabolic activity was found to be differently activated in a strain-dependent manner. Taxonomic profiling of the microbiome at the strain level enabled monitoring of the prevalence and abundance of both probiotic strains, even in a complex ecosystem. Conclusion: Food matrix and host microbiota interactions should be considered when evaluating strain-specific probiotic effects in the future.

STRUCTURAL EVALUATION OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE COMPREHENSIVE CARE UNITS IN BRAZIL.

The most efficient way to prevent complications from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is to provide patients with optimized care. Nonetheless, in Brazil, there is no validated methodology for evaluating health services recognized as comprehensive care units (CCU), making it difficult to assess the quality of care provided. To understand the current scenario, map the distribution of centers and identify strengths and weaknesses, considering local and regional characteristics. The study was carried out in three phases. Initially, the Brazilian Organization for Crohn's disease and colitis (GEDIIB) developed 22 questions to characterize CCU in Brazil. In the second phase, all GEDIIB members were invited to respond to the survey with the 11 questions considered most relevant. In the last phase, an interim analysis of the results was performed, using the IBM SPSS Statistics v 29.0.1.0 software. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the center's profile. The chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. There were 53 responses from public centers (11 excluded). Most centers were concentrated in the Southeastern (n=22/52.4%) and only 1 (2.4%) in the Northern region of Brazil. Thirty-nine centers (92.9%) perform endoscopic procedures, but only 9 (21.4%) have access to enteroscopy and/or small bowel capsule endoscopy. Thirty-three centers (78.6%) offer infusion therapy locally, 26 (61.9%) maintain IBD patient records, 13 (31.0%) reported having an IBD nurse, 34 (81.0%) have specific evidence-based protocols and only 7 (16.7%) have a patient satisfaction methodology. In the private scenario there were 56 responses (10 excluded). There is also a concentration in the Southeastern and Southern regions. Thirty-nine centers (84.8%) have access to endoscopic procedures and 19 perform enteroscopy and/or small bowel capsule endoscopy, more than what is observed in the public environment. Infusion therapy is available in 24 centers (52.2%). Thirty-nine centers (84.8%) maintain a specific IBD patient database, 17 (37%) have an IBD nurse, 36 (78.3%) have specific evidence-based protocols, and 22 (47. 8%) apply a patient satisfaction methodology. IBD CCU in Brazil were mainly located in the Southeastern and Southern regions of the country. Most centers have dedicated multidisciplinary teams and IBD specialists. There is still a current need to improve the proportion of IBD nurses in IBD care in Brazil. •In Brazil, there is no validated methodology for evaluating health services recognized as comprehensive care units (CCU), making it difficult to assess the quality of care provided. •Most CCU were concentrated in the Southeast region and only one (2.4%) in the Northeast region of Brazil. This pattern follows the epidemiological trends of IBD in the country. •There is still difficulty in accessing enteroscopy and/or small bowel capsule endoscopy in the public health system. •Most centers have dedicated multidisciplinary teams and IBD specialist doctors. •There is still a current need to improve the proportion of nurses treating IBD in Brazil.

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy. The Dutch approach

Aims/Purpose: To share the structure of care for patients with Leber Hereditary Optic neuropathy (LHON) in the Netherlands. This includes the role of Expertise centers in coordinating rapid diagnosis and start of treatment, as well at the introduction of a specific database to track data of patients with LHON.Methods: Dutch LHON Expertise centres are organized to act as central points for patient referrals from regional hospitals with the aim to speed up the diagnostics and treatment of LHON patients. The database of Dutch LHON patients has been created and is online today, to provide demographical, epidemiological, clinical characteristics and effects of treatment with Idebenone on disease progression.Results: Three LHON Expertise centers provide fast diagnostic, coaching and treatment services in the whole of the Netherlands. Patient referral is done easily due to the small geography. A DNA test on primary and non‐primary mtDNA mutations is performed as standard, including the DNAJC30 gen. Additional parameters are obtained to monitor disease progression: Visual Acuity Score by ETDRS letters chart, HRR colour tests, OCT of ganglion cell layer and retinal neurofibral layer, Visual field by Goldmann kinetic perimetry or Humphry static perimetry. All patients have access to a social worker. They are provided with a flyer about LHON disease and contact details of the relevant patient association.Conclusion: A thoroughly organized clinical path for LHON patients provides rapid diagnostics and start of treatment. Patients referrals is done easily and treatment delay minimized. The centralization of Dutch LHON patients in three expertise centres enables us to maintain a central database with important clinical and epidemiological data. This information is relevant to optimize current therapy options with Idebenone and also for supporting future studies on novel therapy options.

Computational approaches for identifying disease-causing mutations in proteins.

Advancements in genome sequencing have expanded the scope of investigating mutations in proteins across different diseases. Amino acid mutations in a protein alter its structure, stability and function and some of them lead to diseases. Identification of disease-causing mutations is a challenging task and it will be helpful for designing therapeutic strategies. Hence, mutation data available in the literature have been curated and stored in several databases, which have been effectively utilized for developing computational methods to identify deleterious mutations (drivers), using sequence and structure-based properties of proteins. In this chapter, we describe the contents of specific databases that have information on disease-causing and neutral mutations followed by sequence and structure-based properties. Further, characteristic features of disease-causing mutations will be discussed along with computational methods for identifying cancer hotspot residues and disease-causing mutations in proteins.

L1 novice writing as a missing piece in the Learner Corpus Research puzzle

Abstract This paper investigates the possible benefits of integrating an L1 novice corpus into the study of learner writing, through a study on hedging adverbials and complement clauses. A more traditional tripartite comparison is first drawn between French EFL learner writing, L1 English novice writing, and English expert writing. Then, a comparison is made between L1 French novice writing and French EFL learner writing. The study uses data from the following corpora: the Varieties of English for Specific Purposes dAtabase (VESPA; Paquot et al., 2022) (French EFL learner writing), the British Academic Written English (BAWE; Heuboeck et al., 2008) corpus and the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers (MICUSP; Ädel & Römer, 2012) (both L1 English novice writing), the Kulturell Identitet i Akademisk Prosa: nasjonal versus disiplinavhengig (KIAP‑EN; Fløttum et al., 2006) corpus (English expert writing), and the The French Academic wRiting (FAR) corpus (L1 French novice writing). The results speak to the importance of including a L1 novice component to the current methodologies employed in Learner Corpus Research (LCR), since such inclusion helps to provide a better and more nuanced interpretation of the findings obtained by means of a more traditional tripartite approach.

BIOPHYSIT: A Novel Biophysical Profile Database for Fetal Stress Measurement in High-Risk Pregnancies

Pregnancy is a time of change. Stress during pregnancy can increase the chances of having a premature baby or a low birth weight baby. Any unusual changes in the heart rate of the baby in the uterus can be examined using Electronic fetal monitoring (EFM). Over the past decades, enormous devices and methods have been developed for EFM. Few devices are invasive and few are non-invasive in nature, larger in size, and high in cost. The main parameter needed to be analyzed during pregnancy is the stress in the fetus as well as the mother. For fetal stress monitoring, two main tests have been used such as CTG (Cardiotocography) and BPP (Biophysical Profile). The BPP test is very important in determining whether the fetus is in a suspicious or normal condition based on a specific BPP score. However, BPP is still used as a visualization method to assess the condition of the fetus. As a result, a quantitative analysis of the BPP parameters is required. But still, now there is no specific BPP database for evaluating the condition of the fetus. So, a novel database for Biophysical profile is proposed named “BIOPHYSIT”, which is used to analyze the health condition of the fetus using various BPP parameters.

The Influence of NiTi File Design Features on the Apically Extruded Debris During Endodontic Treatment A concise reviews

Expelling debris and irrigating solution during cleaning and shaping is an inevitable incidence during endodontic treatment. Any irritation of the periapical area can initiate a flareup situation which can affect the prognosis of endodontic treatment. Thus, Controlling the amount of apically extruded debris increases the success rate of endodontic treatment. Furthermore, the incidence of flare-ups during endodontic treatment can be reduced by selecting the NiTi file system with the lowest apically extruded debris. Despite the advances in endodontic file design that aims to conservatively prepare the apical third of root canals, extruding debris toward the apex is still a non-eliminated issue with all instrumentation systems. The purpose of this review is to identify the effect of each design characteristic on the amount of debris expelled beyond the apical foramen. The strategy of this review focused on reviewing specific electronic databases, time, keywords, and standardized methods. Literature reviewing included studies from almost 20 years ago and up to 2022. In conclusion, the design of the NiTi endodontic file has a significant impact on the amount of apically extruded debris.

Embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater reuse strategies in Indian Himalayan region

Increasing water stress and high energy requirements in urban water systems (UWSs) makes it imperative to reduce water demand by adopting wastewater reuse. However, there is a gap in the existing literature about analysing the operation of hilly urban water systems (UWSs) and suggesting energy efficient and environmentally benign wastewater reuse strategies. The objective of this study is to investigate the water-energy-greenhouse gas (GHG) nexus for different wastewater reuse strategies in UWS located in the Indian Himalayan region. Potential scenarios for the direct potable and non-potable reuse in the region were analysed. The system boundary consisted of the construction and operation phase inputs. The functional unit of the study was 1 m3 of water supplied to the UWS. The data inventory was developed using process designs, site specific information, engineering calculations and commercial databases. The total embodied energy and total GHG emissions were estimated using the existing models based on mass balance approach. The hilly UWS uses 17.6 kWh/m3 of total embodied energy and emits 6.2 kgCO2eq/m3 GHG emissions in its present operation. Over 90% of energy and GHG emissions were associated with pumping, which is required to cover over 1000 m of elevation head. The combined reuse scenario comprising both non-potable and direct potable reuse had the lowest embodied energy use and GHG emissions with a magnitude of 12.9 kWh/m3 and 4.3 kgCO2eq/m3. By comparative assessment of potential reuse scenarios, the study provides rationale for adopting appropriate strategy based on water savings, energy use, and environmental interventions.

Research on technologies for accessing relational databases using MS SQL Server

In the modern world, hundreds of large projects are developed every day, and thousands of startups with a wide variety of topics appear, developers start creating their projects, companies modernize old projects. Each of these activities has something in common - the way they store and manipulate data. Almost all modern projects have a database, because it becomes simply impossible to interact with the client without it. Now, no matter what your application, service, game or anything else is, it is necessary for the user to be able to have his account page, save progress, anything that needs to be saved locally or in the cloud or on the server. And a modern developer can use the database directly or through special database access technologies, including through ORM or Micro ORM. The subject is the study of access technologies for working with relational databases. The goal is to compare the efficiency, flexibility and use of various access technologies when working with the MS SQL SERVER database. Task: to investigate access technologies to MS SQL SERVER. Collect the technical characteristics of queries when using different database access technologies. Compare the results. Methods: analysis of MS SQL SERVER access technologies, experimental research, statistical analysis of results. Results: it is shown how access technologies such as ORM Entity Framework, Micro ORM Dapper and ADO.NET differ in use, it is shown that the performance is most effective in ADO.NET, followed by Dapper and in third place among the access technologies used in terms of efficiency is Entity Framework . But it is shown how the type of request contributes to the efficiency of execution by various technologies. Conclusions: ORMs are used in cases where it is necessary to work with a database using an object-oriented approach. ORM transforms data from the database into objects in the application, which facilitates interaction with the database and reduces the amount of code that must be written to work with the database. Micro ORMs are used when the speed of execution of requests to the database is required, or if the project is small in scope and does not need the full functionality of ORM. Micro ORM is smaller, faster and easier to use than ORM. ADO.NET is recommended when direct interaction with databases is needed.. ADO.NET allows you to create multithreaded and distributed applications, interact with databases using transactions, and manage data security. It is more extensible and scalable than ORM and Micro ORM, but requires more code to interact with the database.

DB-BERT: making database tuning tools “read” the manual

DB-BERT is a database tuning tool that exploits information gained via natural language analysis of manuals and other relevant text documents. It uses text to identify database system parameters to tune as well as recommended parameter values. DB-BERT applies large, pre-trained language models (specifically, the BERT model) for text analysis. During an initial training phase, it fine-tunes model weights in order to translate natural language hints into recommended settings. At run time, DB-BERT learns to aggregate, adapt, and prioritize hints to achieve optimal performance for a specific database system and benchmark. Both phases are iterative and use reinforcement learning to guide the selection of tuning settings to evaluate (penalizing settings that the database system rejects while rewarding settings that improve performance). In our experiments, we leverage hundreds of text documents about database tuning as input for DB-BERT. We compare DB-BERT against various baselines, considering different benchmarks (TPC-C and TPC-H), metrics (throughput and run time), as well as database systems (PostgreSQL and MySQL). The experiments demonstrate clearly that DB-BERT benefits from combining general information about database tuning, mined from text documents, with scenario-specific insights, gained via trial runs. The full source code of DB-BERT is available online at https://itrummer.github.io/dbbert/.

Inclusive cultural heritage in Europe: co-designing an accessible user experience for digital architectural conservation

ABSTRACT The lack of accessibility to the information associated with European built heritage is a significant factor of exclusion that precludes many European citizens from appropriating a shared cultural heritage. Nowadays, three-dimensional scanning, modelling, and rendering technologies provide many highly effective tools to virtually access the available digital heritage of many European buildings in different historical periods through images, videos, texts, libraries, or specific databases of information associated with historical-scientific knowledge. However, several factors, such as the availability of human, economic, and technical resources, the heterogeneity of the standards and the lack of regulations, still hinder the possibility of translating data into usable content for a wider audience and the chances of creating collaboration between professional experts and scholars. Considering that, the paper focuses on defining the User Experience (UX) of INCEPTION’s web platform, a European-funded multidisciplinary research project that has adopted new web technologies to develop open-source three-dimensional models of cultural heritage buildings for digital architectural conservation. The paper evaluates the importance of adopting a User-Centred Design (UCD) approach and involving stakeholders and end-users throughout the design development process, as they actively contributed to fostering more accessibility and inclusiveness for the final INCEPTION’s web configuration.

Databases on aromatic plants

Essential oils are a mixture of isoprenoid-type organic compounds that have many biological properties and have been widely used in the cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical industries, among others. That is why there is a lot of information on this broad group of molecules, in fact, there are specialized databases with detailed information on different essential oils from different types of plants. This review aimed to search the existing databases with information on essential oils. The search of the databases was carried out using the keywords databases and essential oils in different search engines. This yielded a variety of specialized databases with detailed information on essential oils and their sources of obtaining them, as well as chemical structures, physicochemical properties, forms of extraction, pharmacological and biological properties, and utility, among others. In conclusion, these essential oil databases have advantages such as the potential to discover new medicines from nature and gather important information for users so that they can easily browse, search, download, and view data on a natural product of interest.

Septic Transfusion Reactions Involving Burkholderia cepacia Complex: A Review.

This review was conducted to assess the global incidence of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) caused by contamination of blood components with the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc). Our search encompassed various specialized databases such as Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Scielo, ScienceDirect, and ClinicalKey. An analysis of the literature revealed a total of eleven reported cases where blood components contaminated with Bcc had been transfused, resulting in sepsis among the affected patients. Of these cases, eight were documented in the literature, while the remaining three occurred within the institution involving the authors of this review. A comparative examination was conducted, considering factors such as primary diagnosis, transfused blood component, time elapsed between transfusion and manifestation of symptoms, administration of antibiotics, and final outcome. Interestingly, regardless of the storage temperature, all blood components were found to be susceptible to Bcc contamination. Furthermore, the cases investigated revealed diverse sources of contamination, and it was observed that all the affected patients had compromised immune systems due to underlying illnesses. Based on these findings, a series of preventive strategies were derived to mitigate and decrease the occurrence of similar cases.

South African Legal Framework to Prepare Pre-Service Teacher Education Programmes: A Freirean Approach

The education sector in South Africa is governed by a complex legal framework that outlines guidelines, policies and standards for pre-service teacher education programmes. In order to prepare pre-service teachers for the classroom, universities must navigate this legal framework and ensure that their programmes comply with the requirements set forth by various regulatory bodies. However, the authors argue that these requirements are not enough to prepare student teachers for the classroom. Rather, by using Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy as a theoretical lens, they argue that student teachers should be conscientized to become agents of change in the classroom and promote social justice, while adhering to legal guidelines in their teacher training. Furthermore, education spaces need to consider the context of schools and higher education institutions, student society, teaching and scientific endeavours, educational administration, pedagogical imageology and intercultural education to address these standardisation challenges. Through a desktop analysis, this article provides an overview of the legal framework for integrating learning into pre-service teacher education programmes in South Africa. The study asks: what are the legal requirements and guidelines that universities must follow to prepare pre-service teachers for the classroom in South Africa? To answer this question, the authors conducted a literature review of relevant legal frameworks and guidelines, including legal documentations, case law, academic literature and publications from professional organisations. The research methodology primarily consisted of a search for literature using specific search terms and databases. The article provides recommendations for how universities can effectively navigate the legal framework in training pre-service teachers, drawing on key findings from the literature review. These include the need for universities to ensure that their teacher education programmes are socially just.

Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Quality in Italy: A Nationwide Study.

International guidelines advise improving esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) quality in Western countries, where gastric cancer is still diagnosed in advanced stages. This nationwide study investigated some indicators for the quality of EGD performed in endoscopic centers in Italy. Clinical, endoscopic, and procedural data of consecutive EGDs performed in one month in the participating centers were reviewed and collected in a specific database. Some quality indicators before and during endoscopic procedures were evaluated. A total of 3,219 EGDs performed by 172 endoscopists in 28 centers were reviewed. Data found that some relevant information (family history for GI cancer, smoking habit, use of proton pump inhibitors) were not collected before endoscopy in 58.5-80.7% of patients. Pre-endoscopic preparation for gastric cleaning was routinely performed in only 2 (7.1%) centers. Regarding the procedure, sedation was not performed in 17.6% of patients, and virtual chromoendoscopy was frequently (>75%) used in only one (3.6%) center. An adequate sampling of the gastric mucosa (i.e., antral and gastric body specimens) was heterogeneously performed, and it was routinely performed only by 23% of endoscopists, and in 14.3% centers. Our analysis showed that the quality of EGD performed in clinical practice in Italy deserves to be urgently improved in different aspects.