Daily FOUR score assessment provides accurate prognosis of long-term outcome in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Background: The accurate prediction of outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is of major importance. The recently described Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) is well adapted to mechanically ventilated patients and does not depend on verbal response.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of FOUR assessed by intensivists to accurately predict outcome in OHCA.

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of tartrazine, patent blue V, and indigo carmine in commercial products by partial least squares and principal component regression methods.

Two multivariate calibration methods, partial least squares (PLS-1) and principal component regression (PCR) were proposed and successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of three dyes, tartrazine (T) (E-102), patent blue V (P) (E-131), and indigo carmine (I) (E-132) in mixtures by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrophotometry. Calibration models were evaluated by internal validation (prediction of dyes concentration in its own designed training set of calibration), by cross-validation (obtaining statistical parameters that show the efficiency for a calibration fit model), and by external validation over 19 synthetic mixtures of the three dyes in different ratios containing 2.4-17.

Micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method for the determination of letrozole, citalopram and their metabolites in human urine.

A new micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method has been developed to analyse human urine samples containing a combination of a drug used for the treatment of breast cancer (letrozole), an antidepressant (citalopram) and their main metabolites. Best results were obtained by using 15 mM borate buffer (pH 9.2) containing 20 mM sodium dodecyl sulphate and 12% (v/v) 2-propanol as the background electrolyte.

Assay validation for three antidepressants in pharmaceutical formulations: practical approach using capillary gas chromatography.

An easy and fast capillary gas chromatographic FID method, which was already described by the same authors for the simultaneous determination of fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and clomipramine without derivatization step, is now submitted to a validation procedure in several pharmaceutical formulations. Main aspects of the validation method are examined and discussed, since methods for regulatory submission in most cases must demonstrate: specificity in presence of all potential components, concentration range over which the response is lineal, accuracy, precision, acceptable detection and quantitation limits and stability of the procedure. The pharmaceutical preparations subject of validation were: 'Prozac' (capsules), 'Dumirox' (tablets) and 'Anafranil' (tablets) containing fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and clomipramine, respectively.

Play in Mayan children.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of play activities and playfulness in a group of Mayan children in southern Belize.

Method: This qualitative study involved participant observation in the daily occupations of 20 children from five Mayan families over a 2-week period. Analysis of the field notes, using open and closed coding, revealed themes specific to customs of child rearing, play activities, and playfulness.