Revisiting the Dexamethasone Suppression Test in unipolar major depression: an exploratory study

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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

Thiopentone elimination in newborn infants: exploring Michaelis-Menten kinetics.

Background: Thiopentone elimination has been described using Michaelis-Menten pharmacokinetics in adults after prolonged infusion or overdose, but there are few reports of elimination in neonates. Methods: Time-concentration profiles for neonates (n=37) given single-dose thiopentone were examined using both first-order (constant clearance) and mixed-order (Michaelis-Menten) elimination processes using nonlinear mixed effects models. These profiles included a 33-week post-menstrual age (PMA) neonate given an overdose. A two-compartment mamillary model was used to fit data. Parameter estimates were standardized to a 70 kg person using allometric models. Results: There were 197 observations available for analysis from neonates with a mean post-menstrual age of 35 (SD 4.5) weeks and a mean weight of 2.5 (SD 0.9) kg. They were given a mean thiopentone dose of 3 (SD 0.4) mg/kg as a rapid bolus. Clearance at 26 weeks PMA was 0.015 l/min/70 kg and increased to 0.119 l/min/70 kg by 42 weeks PMA. The maximum rate of elimination (V(max) ) at 26 weeks PMA was 0.22 mg/min/70 kg and increased to 4.13 mg/min/70 kg by 42 weeks PMA. These parameter estimates are approximately 40% adult values at term gestation. The Michaelis constant (K(m) ) was 28.3 [between subject variability (BSV) 46.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.49-99.2] mg/l; intercompartment clearance was 0.44 (BSV 97.5%, 95% CI 0.27-0.63) l/min/70 kg; central volume of distribution was 46.4 (BSV 29.2%, 95% CI 41.7-59.8) l/70 kg; peripheral volume of distribution was 95.7 (BSV 70.3%, 95% CI 61.3-128) l/70 kg. Conclusions: Both first-order and mixed-order processes satisfactorily described elimination. First-order elimination adequately described the time-concentration profile in the premature neonate given an overdose. Clearance is immature in the pre-term neonate although there is rapid maturation around 40 weeks PMA, irrespective of post-natal age

Bettergeoedu: the use of minecraft as an interactive tool to facilitate the knowledge on rocks and minerals in primary school students

The use of games as learning tools has become a valuable way to help students to learn while having fun. Based on this idea, BetterGeo is a modification created by the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) on Minecraft, one of the most popular games in the world, to improve to help primary school students to get familiarised with the importance of raw materials in modern life and start learning basic concepts on geology, minerals, mining, mineral processing, and circular economy. Together with the development of the mod, BetterGeo projects also work in the development of learning materials to help teachers and students in this approach to the Raw Materials sector. The project developing this initiative, named BetterGeoEdu, is developed with the support of EIT Raw Materials, one of the eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) initiated by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology), funded by the European Commission, and whose mission is to help boost the competitiveness, growth, and attractiveness of the European raw materials sector through radical innovation and guided entrepreneurship. The Technical University of Madrid is one of the partners participating in this pioneering initiative, and in this paper, the idea behind BetterGeo, the goals, and the partners of the consortium are described together with the innovative development of exercises and educational material designed to make easy to primary school students the first contact with raw materials. One of the exercises, which is described in this paper, is a new, fast, simple, and efficient learning tool on rocks and minerals, in the form of an interactive game complementing BetterGeo. It is designed for pre-university level students, with or without a vocation for natural sciences. With the support of four sample boxes containing igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary, and mineral rocks for the exercise, the student randomly chooses a sample and starts the game. The game raises several questions about the sample that the student must answer intuitively with a click. If the answer is affirmative, the system offers a route with more information about the sample. If the answer is negative, the system forces the student to go back and start again. If the students can complete the exercise, they will have access to the name of the rock or mineral and will be able to access the sample boxes to start a new analysis. The commands are interactive and intuitive, to better capture the student’s attention. This system offers several advantages: the student manages the entire process by himself, learns without prior knowledge, understands instantly the meaning of the questions and answers as they arise based on comparison with objects and situations known to the student. Additionally, it teaches the applications and uses of minerals and rocks in everyday life

Low IL-8 is associated with anxiety in suicidal patients: genetic variation and decreased protein levels.

Recent studies indicate that inflammation may play a role in the pathophysiology of suicidality. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a chemokine that in addition to its function in the immune system also exert neuroprotective properties. The involvement of this chemokine in neuropsychiatric conditions is incompletely known