Efficacy and Tolerance of Vascular Electrical Stimulation Therapy in the Management of Vaso-Occlusive Crises in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: A Phase II Single-Centre Randomized Study in Ivory Coast.

Background: Vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) is the primary cause of hospitalization in patients with sickle cell disease. Treatment mainly consists of intravenous morphine or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which have many dose-related side effects. The question arises as to whether vascular electrical stimulation therapy (VEST) could be effective or not on VOCs.

French intensive training course in laparoscopic surgery (HUGOFirst) on live porcine models: Validation of a performance assessment scale and residents' satisfaction in a prospective study.

Introduction: Simulation as a method for practical teaching of surgical residents requires objective evaluation in order to measure the student's acquisition of knowledge and skills. The objectives of this article are to publish our evaluation and validation grids and also the measure of student satisfaction.

Method: A teaching platform based on practical exercises with a porcine model was created in 2009 at seven French University Hospitals.

The VIZIER project: preparedness against pathogenic RNA viruses.

Life-threatening RNA viruses emerge regularly, and often in an unpredictable manner. Yet, the very few drugs available against known RNA viruses have sometimes required decades of research for development. Can we generate preparedness for outbreaks of the, as yet, unknown viruses? The VIZIER (VIral enZymes InvolvEd in Replication) (http://www.