Blueing green water from forests as strategy to cope with climate change in water scarce regions: The case of the Catalan river basin District.

Water scarcity in Mediterranean basins is a critical concern exacerbated by climate change and afforestation of abandoned lands. This study addresses the impact of forest management on water availability, specifically blue water, at a regional scale. Utilizing the SWAT + model, we assess water yield increases resulting from various forest thinning scenarios (light, moderate, heavy) and compare benefits to costs.

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography for the management of choledocholithiasis in older patients.

Background: older adults are increasing in number and frequently seek hospital care for acute illness. This study aimed to measure the utilization and safety of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients aged 85 and older in our hospital.

Methods: a single-site, retrospective, observational and descriptive study was performed.

New fecal bacterial signature for colorectal cancer screening reduces the fecal immunochemical test false-positive rate in a screening population.

Guidelines recommend routine screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) in asymptomatic adults starting at age 50. The most extensively used noninvasive test for CRC screening is the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), which has an overall sensitivity for CRC of approximately 61.0%-91.

Significant decrease in the prevalence of hepatitis C infection after the introduction of direct acting antivirals.

Background And Aim: Accurate information on the epidemiology of hepatitis C and B infection is mandatory to establish a national/regional plan. We aim to update the prevalence of hepatitis C and B infection in Catalonia using point-of-care tests to analyze the risk factors related and to implement a linkage-to-care circuit.

Methods: This is a community-based study.

Reduction of faecal immunochemical test false-positive results using a signature based on faecal bacterial markers.

Background: Colorectal cancer is the second commonest cause of cancer mortality. Some countries are implementing colorectal cancer screening to detect lesions at an early stage using non-invasive tools like the faecal immunochemical test. Despite affordability, this test shows a low sensitivity for precancerous lesions and a low positive predictive value for colorectal cancer, resulting in a high false-positive rate.

Update on the management of Helicobacter pylori infection. Position paper from the Catalan Society of Digestology.

More than 30 years after its discovery, Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection remains the most common cause of gastric and duodenal diseases. H.

[Emergency care of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding in regional hospitals in Catalonia].

Objective: To evaluate the resources available in Catalan regional hospitals for the emergency care of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Methods: We analyzed a survey sent to 32 hospitals on the availability, composition and resources of a duty endoscopy service for the year 2009.

Results: Responses were obtained from 24 centers, covering 3,954,000 inhabitants.

Susceptibility genetic variants associated with colorectal cancer risk correlate with cancer phenotype.

Background & Aims: Ten common low-penetrant genetic variants have been consistently associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk; little is known about the correlation between these variants and CRC phenotype. Characterization of such a correlation would improve CRC management and prevention programs. We assessed the association between these genetic variants and CRC phenotype in patients and modeled pairwise combinations to detect epistasis.

Cyclooxygenase 2 expression in colorectal cancer with DNA mismatch repair deficiency.

Background: Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) overexpression is a frequent but not universal event in colorectal cancer. It has been suggested that COX-2 protein expression is reduced in colorectal cancer with a defective mismatch repair (MMR) system, a phenomenon commonly associated with hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) but also present in up to 15% of sporadic tumors.

Aim: To assess COX-2 expression in a large series of fully characterized colorectal cancer patients with respect to the MMR system and to dissect the mechanisms responsible for altered COX-2 expression in this setting.

Postoperative surveillance in patients with colorectal cancer who have undergone curative resection: a prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.

Purpose: Although systematic postoperative surveillance of patients with colorectal cancer has been demonstrated to improve survival, it remains unknown whether a more intensive strategy provides any significant advantage. This prospective, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial was aimed at comparing the efficacy of two different surveillance strategies in terms of both survival and recurrence resectability.

Patients And Methods: Patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer were allocated randomly to either a simple surveillance strategy including clinical evaluation and serum carcinoembryonic antigen monitoring, or an intensive strategy in which abdominal computed tomography or ultrasonography, chest radiograph, and colonoscopy were added.