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Introduction: The role of Olanzapine therapeutic drug monitoring is controversial. The present study explores the associations of Olanzapine plasma concentrations with clinical response and metabolic side effects in first episode psychosis (FEP) after 2 months of treatment. Methods: Forty-seven patients were included. Improvement in clinical symptomatology was assessed using the PANSS. Metabolic assessment included weight, blood pressure, waist circumference, blood glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides. Results: The Olanzapine plasma concentrations after 2 months of treatment were positively correlated with weight gain (r = 0.49, p = 0.003), and a concentration > 23.28 ng/mL was identified as a positive predictor of weight gain (≥ 7%). The Olanzapine concentration to dose (C/D) ratio was positively correlated with the percentage of improvement in the total PANSS (r = 0.46, p = 0.004), and a C/D ratio > 2.12 was identified as a positive predictor of a good response (percentage of improvement > 30%) after 2 months of treatment. We also identified several factors that could alter Olanzapine pharmacokinetics: gender (p = 0.03), diagnosis (p = 0.05), smoking habit (p = 0.05), and co-medications such as valproic acid (p = 0.05) and anxiolytics (p = 0.01). Discussion: In conclusion, our results suggest that therapeutic drug monitoring of Olanzapine could be helpful to evaluate therapeutic efficacy and metabolic dysfunction in FEP patients treated with Olanzapine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance measurement in Judo usually focuses on some KPIs whose values indicate the final performance of the athlete. This paper deals with firstly identifying which these main Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Judo are. Once this is done, the KPIs are classified into four different clusters: Physical training, Specific training, Psychology and Lifestyle. Then, it moves into analyzing possible quantitative techniques to identify cause-effect relationships between KPIs in order to link not only the impact of the Judo KPIs with the achievement of the judoka's strategic objectives but also to identify both the relative and the global importance of each of these KPIs. Finally, it points out the Analytic Network Technique as the one that could be ideally applied in this context and offers future research actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles made of High Refractive Index dielectric materials have been proposed as an alternative to metals driven by their low-losses and magnetic response. The coherent effects between the electric and magnetic resonances are responsible for their exceptional directionality properties that make them attractive in applications where enhancing light-matter interaction and controlling the radiation direction is extremely relevant. These nanoparticles, when used as unit-cells of more complex systems, such as metasurfaces, result to be essential in the design of novel optical devices. Their low-losses, strong confinement of electromagnetic energy and the outstanding scattering efficiencies show these nanoantennas as promising candidates for Surface Enhanced Spectroscopies, non-linear phenomena or sensing. Here, we describe and discuss the origins and recent advances in this rapidly developing field of dielectric nanophotonics, paying special attention to the main significant contributions we have done since its startup to boost its progress. In particular, light directivity, steering and switching of light, spectroscopy, sensing and non-linear phenomena, third harmonic generation are some of the applications that motivated this brief overview. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Population ageing and changes in the epidemiological profile of neurological pathologies has resulted in an increase in patients with disabilities. Rehabilitation strategies such as Modified Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMTm) play a key role in treating patients with neurologic deficiencies and motor impairments. This intervention is intended to mitigate disability, promote maximum functional independence, and optimize social and economic participation of patients with upper extremity weakness. Our goal was to assess the recovery of functional independence in patients after a stroke using to CIMTm. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Thirty-six subjects who had suffered stroke took part in a randomised clinical trial. The treatment was applied through either collective or individual modalities for three hours per day for a period of ten days. Participant's functional independence was assessed using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scale at the before and after of the intervention. RESULTS: An analysis of covariance carried out on the pre-test assessments indicates that the dependent variable presents significant differences (F1.31 = 42.78, p < 0.001, η2 p = 0.72) in favour of the collective intervention modality. CONCLUSION: Both modalities of CIMTm intervention promote functional independence. However, the greatest improvements were observed in participants in the collective modality. Improvements in functional independence pursue a reduction in learned non-use behaviours through greater use of the paretic upper extremity in everyday activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Methods: b We addressed macrophage lymphoma cell co-cultures using macrophage cell lines, primary human and murine macrophages, humanized aggressive lymphoma cell model hMB, and primary CLL patient cells. B Introduction: b Treatment response in lymphoma depends on the interaction of macrophages as important effector cells for tumor cell clearance by antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP). [Extracted from the article]

After the introduction of West Nile virus (WNV) into North America, bird mortalities associated with West Nile disease have dramatically increased in this continent and, to a lesser extent, in Europe. The different West Nile disease incidence in birds in these 2 continents demands an explanation, and experimental studies can provide important information. The authors inoculated thirteen 9-week-old red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) with 107 plaque-forming units of a WNV strain isolated in New York in 1999. The objective was to study the pathogenesis of the infection in a native Euro-Mediterranean bird species with a WNV strain known to be highly pathogenic for numerous native American bird species. Additionally, the authors evaluated the dynamics of inflammatory cell activation and recruitment into the brain. WNV was detected in tissues 3 days postinoculation (dpi), and the birds developed macroscopic and microscopic lesions. Two partridges succumbed to the disease. The most affected tissues were the heart, brain, and spinal cord. The main microscopic findings were the presence of mononuclear infiltrates in the heart and brain, gliosis, and degeneration and necrosis of cardiomyocytes and neurons. These lesions were aggravated in the birds that died or were euthanized 7 dpi or later. In the brain, there was an upregulation of microglial cells and astrocytes and an increase in the number of T cells, especially after 7 dpi. These results show that this WNV strain is of moderate virulence for the red-legged partridge and that WNV-infected red-legged partridges develop an immune cell response in the brain similar to that of mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tackles a problem of surface wind speed reconstruction based on synoptic-scale meteorological fields. Specifically, two different approaches are discussed and compared: a pure Machine Learning method, formed by a Support Vector Regression and a genetic algorithm that only considers synoptic pressure as input variable, and a Weather Regimes Classification Technique, based on a k-means clustering of the main three principal components of the geopotential height field and a simple, but efficient, linear regression between the surface pressure gradient and the observed surface wind. Both algorithms are shown to be accurate enough for wind speed reconstruction at medium latitude regions, even when there are only a few years of observations. These methodologies can also be used for filling gaps in wind speed series and, with some modifications and further research, they could be used for wind speed forecasting. The algorithms proposed are fully described and compared in this paper, and their performance has been comparatively evaluated in several real problems of wind speed reconstruction at three sites (Cabauw (The Netherlands), Capel (Wales, UK) and Kaegnes (Denmark)), obtaining excellent results in terms of wind speed reconstruction with moderate complexity in data processing and algorithms. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]