PLACID study: A randomized trial comparing the efficacy and safety of inhaled loxapine versus intramuscular aripiprazole in acutely agitated patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

The aim of the study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of inhaled loxapine compared with the intramuscular (IM) antipsychotic aripiprazole in acutely agitated patients with schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder. PLACID was an assessor-blind, parallel-group trial conducted in 23 centres in the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, and Russia. Patients (aged 18-65 years) diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder experiencing acute agitation (Clinical Global Impression [CGI]-Severity score ≥ 4) while hospitalized or attending an emergency room were randomized to receive up to two doses of inhaled loxapine 9.

Health care and societal costs of the management of children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Spain: a descriptive analysis.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition in childhood (5.3% to 7.1% worldwide prevalence), with substantial overall financial burden to children/adolescents, their families, and society.

Effect of chondroitin sulphate on synovitis of knee osteoarthritic patients.

Objective: To evaluate by ultrasonography the effect of chondroitin sulfate (CS) on synovitis in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). To collaborate in the understanding of the biochemical mechanisms involved in the synovial inflammation process.

Methods: Randomized, single-blind, controlled trial involving 70 patients with primary KOA treated for 6 months with CS or acetaminophen (ACT).

Effects of chondroitin sulfate on brain response to painful stimulation in knee osteoarthritis patients. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis is causing pain and functional disability. One of the inherent problems with efficacy assessment of pain medication was the lack of objective pain measurements, but functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has emerged as a useful means to objectify brain response to painful stimulation. We have investigated the effect of chondroitin sulfate (CS) on brain response to knee painful stimulation in patients with knee osteoarthritis using fMRI.

Separation of derivatized glucoside anomers using supercritical fluid chromatography.

Preparative scale supercritical fluid chromatography was used to separate derivatized anomeric monosaccharides. Methyl 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzoyl-α-d-glucopyranoside and methyl 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-benzoyl-β-d-glucopyranoside were synthesized by benzoyl derivatization of the parent anomerically pure monosaccharides. The elution profiles of each anomer were studied, suggesting that separation was possible.

Comparative efficacy of intra-articular hyaluronic acid and corticoid injections in osteoarthritis of the first carpometacarpal joint: results of a 6-month single-masked randomized study.

Objective: The study aim was to compare the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid and betamethasone in the management of patients with osteoarthritis of the thumb.

Methods: Eighty-eight evaluable patients diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the thumb (Kellgren-Lawrence grade II-III) received ultrasound-guided intra-articular treatment with hyaluronic acid (48) or betamethasone (40). In total, 3 local injections were scheduled at 7-day intervals.

Treating enuresis in a patient with ADHD: application of a novel behavioural modification therapy.

We report the case of a 6-year-old patient diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and comorbid enuresis disorder, who was treated with methylphenidate for the past 3 months and a novel behavioural modification therapy by using an application called 'Enuresis Trainer'. This therapeutic application is basically an interactive 'Bedwetting Calendar', based on traditional cognitive behavioural modification therapies and positive reinforcement systems. Enuresis is defined as the failure of voluntary control of the urethral sphincter.

Isolation of prebiotic carbohydrates by supercritical fluid extraction. Scaling-up and economical feasibility.

Production of prebiotic carbohydrates at competitive prices is a challenge nowadays since the well-established production processes involve many purification steps which are labour intensive and require important amounts of reagents and products thus increasing prebiotic's price. Several processes have been studied in our laboratory involving the use of Supercritical Fluid Technology to fractionate and purify carbohydrate solid mixtures. Research carried out at laboratory scale using theoretical mixtures (lactose/lactulose and galactose/tagatose), commercially available carbohydrate mixtures and carbohydrate mixtures produced by enzymatic transglycosylation and isomerized with complexating reagents demonstrated that purification of prebiotic carbohydrates was technically possible by supercritical fluid extraction.

Characterization of galactooligosaccharides derived from lactulose.

Galactooligosaccharides are non-digestible carbohydrates with potential ability to modulate selectively the intestinal microbiota. In this work, a detailed characterization of oligosaccharides obtained by transgalactosylation reactions of the prebiotic lactulose, by using β-galactosidases of different fungal origin (Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus aculeatus and Kluveromyces lactis), is reported. Oligosaccharides of degree of polymerization (DP) up to 6 were detected and quantified by HPLC-ESI MS from a complex mixture produced by transgalactosylation reaction with A.

Repression of ergosterol biosynthesis is essential for stress resistance and is mediated by the Hog1 MAP kinase and the Mot3 and Rox1 transcription factors.

Hyperosmotic stress triggers a complex adaptive response that is dominantly regulated by the Hog1 MAP kinase in yeast. Here we characterize a novel physiological determinant of osmostress tolerance, which involves the Hog1-dependent transcriptional downregulation of ergosterol biosynthesis genes (ERG). Yeast cells considerably lower their sterol content in response to high osmolarity.

Levetiracetam as an alternative therapy for Tourette syndrome.

Tourette syndrome is a common childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by chronic tics and frequent comorbid conditions such as attention deficit disorder. Most currently used tic-suppressing drugs are frequently associated with serious adverse events. Thus, alternative therapeutic agents with more favorable side-effect profiles are being evaluated.

Selective recovery of tagatose from mixtures with galactose by direct extraction with supercritical CO2 and different cosolvents.

A selective fractionation method of carbohydrate mixtures of galactose/tagatose, using supercritical CO(2) and isopropanol as cosolvent, has been evaluated. Optimization was carried out using a central composite face design and considering as factors the extraction pressure (from 100 to 300 bar), the extraction temperature (from 60 to 100 degrees C), and the modifier flow rate (from 0.2 to 0.

[Evolutionary aspects of affective disorders, critical review and proposal of a new model].

Evolutionary psychopathology incorporates psychiatry into biology via theory of evolution, generating new etiological hypothesis for mental disorders. For evolutionary psychopathology emotions are a response system or a genetically programmed, specialized state of functioning, formed by natural selection, that allows us to adapt to the environment, increasing the ability to cope with threats and opportunities. Emotions exert their function by coordinated physiological, psychological and behavioral changes.

Chlorotrimethylsilane as a reagent for gas chromatographic analysis of fats and oils.

Chlorotrimethylsilane can be used as a reagent to transform triglycerides into volatile fatty esters. The volatile esters can then be analysed by GC. The results are fully comparable to those obtained by alternative methods used worldwide.

HIV infection in psychiatric patients: an unlinked anonymous study.

Background: Recent surveys suggest that psychiatric patients are at increased risk of being infected with HIV, although very little information is available concerning the seroprevalence of HIV infection among this population outside the US. The aim of this study is to determine the seroprevalence of HIV-I among patients admitted to a psychiatric in-patient unit and to gather linked anonymous risk-factor information.

Method: An unlinked serosurvey was made, using HIV-1 antibody testing of remnant blood specimens collected for routine medical purposes, of patients consecutively admitted to an acute psychiatric unit in Madrid.