Anxiety-Related Disorders

Anxiety is a common experience, a physiologic mechanism that lets us cope with a stressor, but if it occurs without a stimulus or it is exaggerated and general functioning is impaired, it becomes pathological. Treating anxiety disorders requires pharmacotherapy to lower anxiety levels and psychological therapies to learn to cope with stressors adaptively. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been considered as part of the Anxiety Disorders chapter up to the fourth edition of the DSM (DSM IV-TR), while from the fifth edition (DSM-5) it is placed in a separate chapter. The nosographic autonomy of this disorder depends on the fact that the anxious manifestations, even if present, would be secondary and dependent on the obsessive contents. A group of conditions related to OCD from a clinical, epidemiological, and sometimes aetiopathological perspective is included in the DSM chapter about “obsessive-compulsive and related disorders”. After a traumatic experience, one person physiologically develops a limited-in-time reaction. In some cases, more pronounced depressive, anxious, intrusive, and/or dissociative symptoms occur. The biological basis for trauma-related disorders is not fully understood, but insights so far have let us choose pharmacological treatments alongside with psychotherapy in order to control symptoms and elaborate the traumatic experience

Geographic information retrieval in a mobile environment: evaluating the needs of mobile individuals

This paper describes research that aims to define the information needs of mobile individuals, to implement a mobile information system that can satisfy those needs, and finally to evaluate the performance of that system with end-users. First a review of the emerging discipline of geographic information retrieval (GIR) is presented as background to the more specific issue of mobile information retrieval. Following this, a user needs study is described evaluating the requirements of potential users of a mobile information system; the study finds that there is a strong geographic component to users' information needs. Next, four geographic post-query filters are described which attempt to represent the region of space associated with an individual's query made at some specific spatial location. These filters are spatial proximity (distance in space), temporal proximity (travel time), speed-heading prediction surfaces (likelihood of visiting locations) and visibility (locations that can be seen). Two of these filters — spatial proximity and speed-heading prediction surfaces — are implemented in a mobile information system and subsequently evaluated with users in an outdoor setting. The results of evaluation suggest that retrieved information to which post-query geographic filters have been applied is considered more relevant than unfiltered information, and that users find information sorted by spatial proximity to be more relevant than that sorted by a prediction surface of likely future locations. The paper closes with a discussion of the wider implications of these results for developers of mobile information systems and location-based services

One week of levofloxacin plus dexamethasone eye drops for cataract surgery: an innovative and rational therapeutic strategy

Background: Cataract surgery is the most common operation performed worldwide. A fixed topical corticosteroid-antibiotic combination is usually prescribed in clinical practice for 2 or more weeks to treat post surgical inflammation and prevent infection. However, this protracted schedule may increase the incidence of corticosteroid-related adverse events and notably promote antibiotic resistance. Methods: This International, multicentre, randomized, blinded-assessor, parallel-group clinical study evaluated the non-inferiority of 1-week levofloxacin/dexamethasone eye drops, followed by 1-week dexamethasone alone, vs. 2-week gold-standard tobramycin/dexamethasone (one drop QID for all schedules) to prevent and treat ocular inflammation and prevent infection after uncomplicated cataract surgery. Non-inferiority was defined as the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval (CI) around a treatment difference >\u201310%. The study randomized 808 patients enrolled in 53 centres (Italy, Germany, Spain and Russia). The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients without anterior chamber inflammation on day 15 defined as the end of treatment. Endophthalmitis was the key secondary endpoint. This study is registered with EudraCT code: 2018-000286-36. Results: After the end of treatment, 95.2% of the patients in the test arm vs. 94.9% of the control arm had no signs of inflammation in the anterior chamber (difference between proportions of patients = 0.028; 95% CI: 120.0275/0.0331). No case of endophthalmitis was reported. No statistically significant difference was evident in any of the other secondary endpoints. Both treatments were well tolerated. Conclusions: Non-inferiority of the new short pharmacological strategy was proven. One week of levofloxacin/dexamethasone prevents infection, ensures complete control of inflammation in almost all patients and may contain antibiotic resistance

Effects of an H3R Antagonist on the Animal Model of Autism Induced by Prenatal Exposure to Valproic Acid

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders primarily characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted repetitive behaviors and interests. Ligands of histamine receptor 3 (H3R) are considered potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of different brain disorders and cognitive impairments. Considering this, the aim of the present study is to evaluate the actions of ciproxifan (CPX), an H3R antagonist, on the animal model of autism induced by prenatal exposure to valproic acid (VPA). Swiss mice were prenatally exposed to VPA on embryonic day 11 and assessed for social behavior, nociceptive threshold and repetitive behavior at 50 days of life. The treatment with CPX (3 mg/kg) or saline was administered 30 minutes before each behavioral test. The VPA group presented lower sociability index compared to VPA animals that were treated with CPX. Compared to the Control group, VPA animals presented a significantly higher nociceptive threshold, and treatment with CPX was not able to modify this parameter. In the marble burying test, the number of marbles buried by VPA animals was consistent with markedly repetitive behavior. VPA animals that received CPX buried a reduced amount of marbles. In summary, we report that an acute dose of CPX is able to attenuate sociability deficits and stereotypies present in the VPA model of autism. Our findings have the potential to help the investigations of both the molecular underpinnings of ASD and of possible treatments to ameliorate the ASD symptomatology, although more research is still necessary to corroborate and expand this initial data