European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020

The European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020 is the update of similar evidence based position papers published in 2005 and 2007 and 2012. The core objective of the EPOS2020 guideline is to provide revised, up-to-date and clear evidence-based recommendations and integrated care pathways in ARS and CRS. EPOS2020 provides an update on the literature published and studies undertaken in the eight years since the EPOS2012 position paper was published and addresses areas not extensively covered in EPOS2012 such as paediatric CRS and sinus surgery. EPOS2020 also involves new stakeholders, including pharmacists and patients, and addresses new target users who have become more involved in the management and treatment of rhinosinusitis since the publication of the last EPOS document, including pharmacists, nurses, specialised care givers and indeed patients themselves, who employ increasing self-management of their condition using over the counter treatments. The document provides suggestions for future research in this area and offers updated guidance for definitions and outcome measurements in research in different settings. EPOS2020 contains chapters on definitions and classification where we have defined a large number of terms and indicated preferred terms. A new classification of CRS into primary and secondary CRS and further division into localized and diffuse disease, based on anatomic distribution is proposed. There are extensive chapters on epidemiology and predisposing factors, inflammatory mechanisms, (differential) diagnosis of facial pain, allergic rhinitis, genetics, cystic fibrosis, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, immunodeficiencies, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis and the relationship between upper and lower airways. The chapters on paediatric acute and chronic rhinosinusitis are totally rewritten. All available evidence for the management of acute rhinosinusitis and chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps in adults and children is systematically reviewed and integrated care pathways based on the evidence are proposed. Despite considerable increases in the amount of quality publications in recent years, a large number of practical clinical questions remain. It was agreed that the best way to address these was to conduct a Delphi exercise. The results have been integrated into the respective sections. Last but not least, advice for patients and pharmacists and a new list of research needs are included.Peer reviewe

Electrical transport through single nanowires of dialkyl perylene diimide

We investigated electrical charge transport through individual strands of single-crystalline dipentyl perylene tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI-C 5) and dioctyl perylene tetracarboxylic diimide (PTCDI-C8) nanowires prepared by a solution-phase self-assembly method. Temperature-dependent mobility measurements (100-280 K) revealed distinct electrical transport characteristics in the two types of nanowires. The PTCDI-C8 nanowire having shorter intermolecular distances exhibited a transition in the electrical transport mechanism from a thermally activated process (the multiple-trap-and-release model) to a band-like transport (the signature of excellent electrical conduction) with increasing temperature. In contrast, the transport through the PTCDI-C5 nanowire was mostly determined by thermally activated behavior. The observation of band-like transport in the PTCDI-C8 nanowire was attributed to the small number of charge traps in the constituent molecules. Meanwhile, band-like transport was hardly attainable in the PTCDI-C5 nanowire due to the presence of a large number of charge traps, which followed an exponential energy distribution. Unlike the case of the single-crystal PTCDI-C8 nanowire, thin films of polycrystalline PTCDI-C8 contained significant numbers of exponentially distributed charge traps. Consequently, band-like transport was not observed. Overall, our results presented here demonstrate the importance of attaining good molecular ordering and orientation within the electrically active molecular layer with a high electronic purity for achieving superior electrical transport, i.e., band-like transport.close3