International Consensus Statement on Rhinology and Allergy: Rhinosinusitis

Background: The 5 years since the publication of the first International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Rhinosinusitis (ICAR‐RS) has witnessed foundational progress in our understanding and treatment of rhinologic disease. These advances are reflected within the more than 40 new topics covered within the ICAR‐RS‐2021 as well as updates to the original 140 topics. This executive summary consolidates the evidence‐based findings of the document. Methods: ICAR‐RS presents over 180 topics in the forms of evidence‐based reviews with recommendations (EBRRs), evidence‐based reviews, and literature reviews. The highest grade structured recommendations of the EBRR sections are summarized in this executive summary. Results: ICAR‐RS‐2021 covers 22 topics regarding the medical management of RS, which are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Additionally, 4 topics regarding the surgical management of RS are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Finally, a comprehensive evidence‐based management algorithm is provided. Conclusion: This ICAR‐RS‐2021 executive summary provides a compilation of the evidence‐based recommendations for medical and surgical treatment of the most common forms of RS

storage at 5 degrees C

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of methionine and lipoic acid on ram sperm parameters during liquid storage (5 degrees C). Ejaculates collected from five Merino rams were pooled at 37 degrees C. Each pooled ejaculate was divided into five equal aliquots and diluted (37 degrees C) with five extenders, one of which was without additives, two of which contained methionine at two different doses, and the other two of which contained lipoic acid at two different doses. Sperm parameters were determined at 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of liquid storage at 5 degrees C.The extenders containing 2 and 4 mM of methionine resulted in higher motility percentages, in comparison to the control, up to 96 h of storage. Methionine at doses of 2 and 4 mM led to higher viability and sperm mitochondrial activity percentages, when compared to the controls during 48, 72 and 96 h of liquid storage (P < 0.05). The findings of this study showed that methionine was of greater benefit to ram sperm parameters during liquid storage. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

activity rate

The aim of this study was to describe an optimal sonication procedure for sperm cells. Therefore, we used several parameters such as damaged spermatozoa rate (%), mitochondrial activity rate (%), levels of lipid peroxidation, and total antioxidant potential. Ejaculates were collected from rams (n = 3) and were divided into aliquots and 3-, 6-, and 10-s duration times; 1, 3, 5, and 8 repetitive application groups were established. In the groups with 3-, 6- and 10-s duration times, with the increasing number of repeated applications, damaged spermatozoa rates increased (P < 0.05) while mitochondrial activity rates decreased (P < 0.05). In relation with sonication duration time, total antioxidant potential levels increased (P < 0.05) in single-application groups compared to those in control groups and gradually decreased as the repetitions increased. The most effective results were obtained in the group with 8 repetitions and 10-s duration based on damaged spermatozoa rate and mitochondrial activity rate

Time-varying parameters Realized GARCH models for tracking attenuation bias in volatility dynamics

This paper proposes novel approaches to the modelling of attenuation bias effects in volatility forecasting. Our strategy relies on suitable generalizations of the Realized GARCH model by Hansen et al. (2012) where the impact of lagged realized measures on the current conditional variance is weighted according to the accuracy of the measure itself at that specific time point. This feature allows assigning more weight to lagged volatilities when they are more accurately measured. The ability of the proposed models to generate accurate forecasts of volatility and related tail risk measures, Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES), is assessed by means of an application to a set of major stock market indices. The results of the empirical analysis show that the proposed specifications are able to outperform standard Realized GARCH models in terms of out-of-sample forecasting performance under both statistical and economic criteria

Effect of dynamic high pressure on functional and structural properties of bovine serum albumin

Dynamic high pressure (DHP) has been investigated as an innovative suitable method to induce protein modifications. This work evaluated the effect of DHP (up to three passes at 100, 150 and 200 MPa, with an inlet temperature of 20 °C) on functional and structural properties of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Results indicated that DHP process applied up to an energy limit of 100 MPa increased the protein foaming capacity (FC) (p < 0.05 - increase up to 63% after 1 pass at 100 MPa) and the utilization of multiple passes at high pressure promoted a reduction in this property (p < 0.05 - reduction up to 31.6% after 3 passes at 200 MPa). Similar results were observed for sulfhydryl group, indicating an influence of free thiol groups on FC. Complementarily, DHP process promoted an increase of proteins particles size, suggesting a new rearrangement of their conformational structure. DHP did not affect tryptophan microenvironment in BSA; however, this process induced the rearrangement of secondary structure elements. In the first cycle, the pressure increase resulted in a loss of secondary structure, while in the second and third cycles the DHP process resulted in the gain of secondary structure elements. These results indicated that the second and third passes triggered a molecular rearrangement of the protein structure, giving rise to a novel and more stable conformational state. This conclusion was also supported by thermal unfolding studies (melting temperature reduction from 67.5 to 54.6 °C after 1 pass at 200 MPa), in which the additional cycles of DHP caused the occurrence of an initial denaturation at high temperatures, compared to the first cycle