Internal Quality and Job Satisfaction in Health Care Services.

(1) Background: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the health services' internal quality level in Greek public hospitals and to investigate whether there is a relation between internal quality and health care professionals' job satisfaction. (2) Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in six public hospitals (four general and two specialized hospitals). The following tools were used to collect data: (a) the SERVQUAL questionnaire, which is designed to measure service quality through five dimensions, and (b) the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) questionnaire, which is designed to measure employees' job satisfaction. Convenience sampling was used as a sampling technique. (3) Results: The level of internal quality service was found to be low as regards the dimensions of: reliability, assurance, responsiveness, and empathy, while the "tangibles" dimension was the only one which was assessed as having a satisfactory internal quality level. Τhe results also revealed a positive correlation between the job satisfaction subscales and the quality dimensions. Regarding demographic characteristics and their effect on employees' perceptions of internal quality dimensions, the study found that the gender and the educational factor had no effect while younger employees have a more positive perception of the quality of responsiveness dimension in the health organizations where they work. In terms of profession, administrative staff had a lower perception of the quality of tangibles dimension than doctors and nurses. Concerning years of experience, the results indicated that employees with more previous working experience had a worse perception of the quality of reliability, responsiveness, and assurance dimensions. (4) Conclusions: According to the results, establishing a sense of trust and understanding between management and health professionals through effective communication, transparent evaluation, and reward is critical to developing, enhancing, and promoting an internal quality culture in a hospital setting.

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in human colorectal cancer: evidence and perspectives.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of death in the civilized world. Transient receptor potential channels (TRPs) are a heterogeneous family of cation channels that play an important role in gastrointestinal physiology. TRPs have been linked with carcinogenesis in the colon and their role as potential therapeutic targets and prognostic biomarkers is under investigation.

Expression Profiling of the Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) Channels 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Mucosal Epithelium of Human Ulcerative Colitis.

The Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of selective and non-selective ion channels is well represented throughout the mammalian gastrointestinal track. Several members of the Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid (TRPV) subfamily have been identified in contributing to modulation of mobility, secretion and sensitivity of the human intestine. Previous studies have focused on the detection of TRPV mRNA levels in colon tissue of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) whereas little information exists regarding TRPV channel expression in the colonic epithelium. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression levels of TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3 and TRPV4 in mucosa epithelial cells of colonic biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) in comparison to colonic resections from non-IBD patients (control group). Immunohistochemistry, using specific antibodies and quantitative analyses of TRPV-immunostained epithelial cells, was performed in semi-serial sections of the samples. TRPV1 expression was significantly decreased whereas TRPV4 expression was significantly increased in the colonic epithelium of UC patients compared to patients in the control group (p < 0.05). No significant difference for TRPV2 and TRPV3 expression levels between UC and control specimens was detected (p > 0.05). There was no correlation between TRPV channel expression and the clinical features of the disease (p > 0.05). Further investigation is needed to clarify the role of TRPV channels in human bowel inflammatory response.