Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in South America: A systematic review

BACKGROUND The worldwide epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is rapidly changing.Increasing Crohn’s disease(CD)and ulcerative colitis(UC)incidence and prevalence have been recorded in developing regions such as Asia,Africa and Eastern Europe where it was previously thought to be uncommon.Whether this is also the case in South America is not well known.Demonstration that developing regions worldwide have increasing IBD incidence would indicate that environmental change plays a significant role in the development of IBD.AIM To report the incidence,prevalence and disease characteristics of CD and UC within the South American continent.METHODS A systematic review was conducted by searching published studies in major international and regional databases(MEDLINE,EMBASE and Scopus)between January 1990 and December 2018.Outcomes considered were incidence,prevalence,phenotype,environmental and genetic factors,ethnicity and gender.A pair of independent reviewers screened and reviewed all identified articles.RESULTS One hundred and sixty two citations were initially retrieved with 18 studies included in this systematic review.The majority of included studies were from Brazil(n=13,72%).The incidence of UC ranged from 4.3-5.3/100000 personyears whilst the incidence of CD ranged from 0.74-3.5/100000 person-years.Prevalence ranged from 15.0-24.1/100000 inhabitants for UC and from 2.4-14.1/100000 inhabitants for CD.The incidence and prevalence of both UC and CD has increased significantly in Brazil over the past 21 years.Pancolitis was the most common disease distribution in patients with UC whilst colonic involvement was the most common distribution in CD.People residing in urban areas were at higher risk of developing both CD and UC.CONCLUSION The IBD burden in South America is increasing at a rate possibly even greater than other developing regions around the world.There is a paucity of highquality epidemiological studies and further robust and representative data are required to further explore modifiable risk factors and disease phenotypes.

Representing surface wind stress response to mesoscale SST perturbations in western coast of South America using Tikhonov regularization method

Interaction between mesoscale perturbations of sea surface temperature(SSTmeso)and wind stress(WSmeso)has great influences on the ocean upwelling system and turbulent mixing in the atmospheric boundary layer.Using daily Quik-SCAT wind speed data and AMSR-E SST data,SSTmeso and WSmeso fields in the western coast of South America are extracted by using a locally weighted regression method(LOESS).The spatial patterns of SSTmeso and WSmeso indicate strong mesoscale SST-wind stress coupling in the region.The coupling coefficient between SSTmeso and WSmeso is about 0.0095 N/(m^2·℃)in winter and 0.0082 N/(m^2·℃)in summer.Based on mesoscale coupling relationships,the mesoscale perturbations of wind stress divergence(Div(WSmeso))and curl(Curl(WSmeso))can be obtained from the SST gradient perturbations,which can be further used to derive wind stress vector perturbations using the Tikhonov regularization method.The computational examples are presented in the western coast of South America and the patterns of the reconstructed WS meso are highly consistent with SSTmeso,but the amplitude can be underestimated significantly.By matching the spatially averaged maximum standard deviations of reconstructed WSmeso magnitude and observations,a reasonable magnitude of WSmeso can be obtained when a rescaling factor of 2.2 is used.As current ocean models forced by prescribed wind cannot adequately capture the mesoscale wind stress response,the empirical wind stress perturbation model developed in this study can be used to take into account the feedback effects of the mesoscale wind stress-SST coupling in ocean modeling.Further applications are discussed for taking into account the feedback effects of the mesoscale coupling in largescale climate models and the uncoupled ocean models.

Petroleum Distribution Characteristics of the Americas and the Exploration Prospect Analysis

The world＇s present demand for oil and gas is still in a rapid growth period, and traditional oil and gas resources account for more than 60% of the global oil and gas supply. The Americas is the world＇s second largest production and consumption center of liquid fuel, and is also the world＇s largest natural gas producer. In 2016, the Americas had 85.3 billion tons of proven oil reserves and 18.7 trillion m3 of proven natural gas reserves, which account for 35.4% and 10.0% of world＇s total reserves, respectively. It produced 1267.1 Mt of oil and 1125.4 billion m3 of natural gas, which account for 28.9% and 31.7% of the world＇s total production, respectively. The crude oil and natural gas reserves are mainly distributed in the U.S., Canada and Venezuela. The U.S. is the earliest and most successful country in shale gas exploration and development, and its shale gas is concentrated in the southern, central and eastern U.S., including the Marcellcus shale, Barnett shale, EagleFord shale, Bakken shale, Fayettevis shale, Haynsvill shale, Woodford shale and Monterey/Santos shale. The potential oil and gas resources in the Americas are mainly concentrated in the anticline and stratigraphic traps in the Middle- Upper Jurassic slope deposition of the North Slope Basin, the Paleozoic Madsion group dolomite and limestone in the Williston Basin, dominant stratigraphic traps and few structural traps in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, the Eocene structural-stratigraphic hydrocarbon combination, structural- unconformity traps and structural hydrocarbon combination, and the Upper Miocene stratigraphic- structural hydrocarbon combination in the Maracaibo Basin of Venezuela, the stratigraphic-structural traps and fault horst, tilting faulted blocks and anticlines related to subsalt structure and basement activity in the Campos Basin, the subsalt central low-uplift belt and supra-salt central low-uplift belt in the Santos Basin of Brazil, and the structural-stratigraphic traps in the Neuquen Basin of Argentina. In addition, the breakthrough of seismic subsalt imaging technology makes the subsalt deepwater sea area of eastern Barzil an important oil and gas potential area.

China's Dinosaur Egg Fossil Made its Way Home after Being Smuggled to America for 28 Years

On 28 February 2012, under the close judiciary of and diplomatic cooperation between the United States and China for five years, a fossilized nest containing 22 dinosaur eggs, which was smuggled to America, finally made its way home.

America's Difficulties after the War and the International Political Consequences of the War

The U. S. A will succeed militarily in the Iraq war. However, it is far away from the true meaning of victory in war defined by distinguished strategic thinker B. H. Liddell Hart, even inaccessible. Using Hart’s own word, the true victory in war is to attain a better state of peace and improve the quality of life for the survivors after the war is over. What await America after the basic success in Iraq are grave military and political difficulties. Moreover, there may be bigger economic and financial troubles as well.

Assessments of America's Global Strategy

Ever since Bush entered the White house, especially after 9/11 events, America has successively published series of strategic documents, such as the Nuclear Posture Review, Quadrennial Defense Review, National Security Strategy of the United States of America, National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction. After its unilateralist practices gained points military and lost points politically in the Afghan war and the Iraq war, the multi-lateralist posture on dealing with

“Transition States” Testing America's Global Strategy

Elexible variety has all along been a hallmark of America’s global strategy withdifferentiated treatment for specific nations. In the new century, Washingtondivides the major world forces into four categories in light of a comprehensive crite-rion of whether they have been fused into the international system, are going to-ward democracy or benefit world stability. They include: insiders or allies (Europeand Japan), marginalized ones (some underdeveloped African nations), outsidersor "rogues" (Iraq, North Korea) and finally, travelers on the way or "transitionstates". Interpretations by U.S. strategic reports define the "transition states"

Evaluating Benefits of Sport Mega-Events on the Host Cities＂ Effects of the 34th America＇s Cup on Naples

Sport tourism events refer to sport activities with potential to attract tourists, media, athletes, and other sporting officials, with the primary purpose for travel being participating in or viewing sport. Sport mega-events, such as America＇s Cup, have been recognized as a strong component of tourism, and are becoming an integral and major part of tourism development and marketing strategies. As a catalyst for change, sport mega-events can accelerate the host city economic, political, and social development. This paper focuses on the case of the 34th America＇s Cup for Naples. In order to evaluate the benefits of this event on the city, the authors first propose a general framework of main benefits that sport mega-events may bring to host cities, and subsequently, the authors applied this framework to the Naples case.

Essay on Haruki Murakami’s The Last Lawn of the Afternoon:The Shadow of America Lurking in the Everyday Order

The Last Lawn of the Afternoon is one of Haruki Murakami’s most important early short stories.In this paper,I avoid conventional arguments,focusing my analysis on the encounter between the middle-aged woman and Boku,and the work’s historical backdrop and setting instead.This reveals how Boku’s personal experience speaks to the everyday lives of Japanese citizens at the mercy of circumstances in postwar Japan under American influence and international events.It appears that Murakami attempts to convert the personal minority“memories”,lurking in the everyday order of postwar Japan,into“novels”as open collaborative storiesin his early short stories.

On Latin American Protests in 2019

A large-scale wave of mass protests broke out in fifteen Latin American countries during 2019.Some protests led to the resignation of the president and the collapse of the government.Others caused social unrest and bloody conflicts.Some protests led to a national"curfew",and the government was forced to cancel major international conferences.For a time,over ten countries were engaged in turbulent and chaotic activities.Accordingly,the 2019 Latin American protests were also dubbed"Latin America’s Turmoil"by the international media.The scale,scope and impact of the protests have been rarely seen over the last forty years.They constituted part of the global chaos of 2019.The cause was not only the anxious response of the Latin American countries facing global changes not seen for a century,but also a concentrated outbreak of political,economic and social contradictions that has been accumulating in certain Latin American countries over a long period of time.Facing unprecedented global change over a century,the Latin American countries will be able to usher in the"Latin American Spring"only if they carry out profound reform with great courage,and achieve significant progress in their political systems,economic structures,and social security systems.

ZTE Wins North America's 2008 3G CDMA Industry Achievement Award

ZTE Corporation continues to receive international recognition in offering the best and high quality telecom

Let's Go to America!

The United States and China have signed an agreement to facilitate Chinese group leisure travel to the United States. This agreement provides the necessary framework to permit group leisure travel from China to the United States. U.S. companies can now enter into business relationships with Chinese travel agencies to organize and market travel packages for group leisure travel to the United States. It also attracts more and more Chinese to go to America, as more and more convenience and comforts are coming up during the travel.……

OECD Highlights China's Role in Economic Development of Latin America

Xinhua reported on October 28 that Latin America had been more resilient to the economic crisis by diversifying commercial and financial exchanges with Asian economies, with China as the main driver in the last three years, said Angel Gurria, General Secretary of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and

America's Global Surveillance Record

Foreword In June 2013, the media in the UK, the United States and China＇s Hong Kong exposed the National Security Agency＇s clandestine surveillance program, codenamed PRISM, using documents released by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The leaked information provoked shock and outrage. Subsequently, an investigation carried out by various Chinese govem- ment departments over several months confirmed the existence of snooping activities directed a^ainst China.

Understanding China's Relations with Latin America

This essay deals with the fast growing Sino-Latin American relations,touching upon the issues of the importance of Latin America to China;pros and cons of the bilateral relations;the U.S.factor;the opportunities that might be emerged from the financial crisis for the bilateral relations;China's first policy paper towards the region;the overseas Chinese contribution to the bilateral relations;Taiwan problem;the so-called neo-colonialism and the role of Europe.

Inflammatory bowel disease: A descriptive study of 716 local Chilean patients

AIM: To demographically and clinically characterize inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from the local registry and update data previously published by our group.METHODS: A descriptive study of a cohort based on a registry of patients aged 15 years or older who were diagnosed with IBD and attended the IBD program at Clínica Las Condes in Santiago, Chile. The registry was created in April 2012 and includes patients registered up to October 2015. The information was anonymously downloaded in a monthly report, and the information on patients with more than one visit was updated. The registry includes demographic, clinical and disease characteristics, including the Montreal Classification, medical treatment, surgeries and hospitalizations for crisis. Data regarding infection with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) were incorporated in the registry in 2014. Data for patients who received consultations as second opinions and continued treatment at this institution were also analyzed.RESULTS: The study included 716 patients with IBD: 508 patients (71%) were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC), 196 patients (27%) were diagnosed with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 12 patients (2%) were diagnosed with unclassifiable IBD. The UC/CD ratio was 2.6/1. The median age was 36 years (range 16-88), and 58% of the patients were female, with a median age at diagnosis of 29 years (range 5-76). In the past 15 years, a sustained increase in the number of patients diagnosed with IBD was observed, where 87% of the patients were diagnosed between the years 2001 and 2015. In the cohort examined in the present study, extensive colitis (50%) and colonic involvement (44%) predominated in the patients with UC and CD, respectively. In CD patients, non-stricturing/non-penetrating behavior was more frequent (80%), and perianal disease was observed in 28% of the patients. There were significant differences in treatment between UC and CD, with a higher use of corticosteroids, and immunosuppressive and biological therapies was observed in the patients with CD (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). Significant surgical differences were also observed: 5% of the UC patients underwent surgery, whereas 38% of the CD patients required at least one surgery (P < 0.01). The patients with CD were hospitalized more often during their disease course than the patients with UC (55% and 35% of the patients, respectively; P < 0.01). C. difficile infection was acquired by 5% of the patients in each group at some point during the disease course. Nearly half of the patients consulted at the institution for a second opinion, and 32% of these individuals continued treatment at the institution.CONCLUSION: IBD has continued to increase in the study cohort, slowly approaching the level reported in developed countries.

Thoughts on Visiting Museums in the US

Starting from scratch, America’s museums are as rich as encyclopedias now, which impress me deeply.I believe someday China will not only have museums in which we can recall our long history and glorious cultures but also emerge more windows to see the world.