Strictly-defined pediatric bipolar I disorder (BP-I) is a serious condition. Although lithium is a benchmark treatment and has shown effectiveness in adults for decades, no definitive efficacy or long-term safety studies had been performed in pediatric patients with BP-I.

This study provides evidence to support the efficacy of lithium in the acute treatment of youths with BP-I who are currently in a manic or mixed state. Lithium had an adverse effect profile that was acceptable for most patients. (Read the full article)

Over one hundred languages should help make a few conversations easier to get through, but that's still well short of the hundreds of languages Gboard typing supports.

Sick of the same-old on-screen keyboard you get with iOS? Download and install a new one and experience keyboard nirvana.

Ashkan Negahban, assistant professor of engineering management, and Satish Srinivasan, assistant professor of information science, will lead projects that help address the COVID-19 crisis, thanks to seed grants from the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

Silvia Neid, who led Germany to Olympic gold in 2016, was named best coach at The Best FIFA Football Awards as Melanie Behringer just missed out on the top player gong.

Pernille Harder, Ada Hegerberg and Amandine Henry are shortlisted for the 2017/18 UEFA Women's Player of the Year award.

Source: www.mediaite.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
(() => { window.amJwVideos = window.amJwVideos || []; const iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); const jwBaseUrl = 'https://content.jwplatform.com/players/'; iframe.setAttribute('allowfullscreen', true); iframe.jwUrlWithAds = jwBaseUrl + 'tmqgnsNB-KfS9hzfO.html'; iframe.jwUrlWithNoAds = jwBaseUrl + 'tmqgnsNB-I23UVzQH.html'; amJwVideos.push(iframe); })(); Want to avoid video ads? Subscribe to Mediaite+ Marcus Arbery , father of slain unarmed jogger Ahmaud Arbery , gave a wrenching description of his son’s killing even as he said he did not believe the suspects who have been arrested in the crime should be put to death. On Friday night’s edition of CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime , Mr. Arbery and family attorney Benjamin Crump joined host Chris Cuomo to discuss the Feb. 23 killing that was captured on a video that was leaked this week, but which police have had since the crime was committed. “What do you want people to know about your son, and what this means to you?” Cuomo asked. “I just want people to know that he was a very good young man, and he loved the people, and I just want people to remember him as a good-hearted young man,” Mr. Arbery said, adding that his late son “was the type of young man, if he had one dollar, and you needed that one dollar, he would give it to you. That’s just how good his heart was.” Mr. Arbery went on to say that “to see him just get lynched like that by a racial mob, it’s just devastating to our fam

A Fin24 reader currently under debt wants to know how lockdown will affect his monthly debt repayment order.

After more than six years and 800 blog posts, I am wrapping up my contributions to Education Week. Before I go, a look at innovation vs. improvement and how we can all support creating a future that works for everyone.

Lyon extended their record tally of final wins to six while their run of four victories in a row is twice the next best.

Source: www.reuters.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Little Richard, the self-proclaimed "architect of rock 'n' roll" who built his ground-breaking sound with a boiling blend of boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues and gospel, died on Saturday at the age of 87, Rolling Stone magazine reported.

Source: www.nbcnews.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
The U.S. unemployment rate reached 14.7 percent for April - the worst monthly rate since the Great Depression. The White House has projected optimism, saying they expect the economy to rocket upward once coronavirus restrictions are lifted. But many experts think that is not a realistic expectation.

This interactive map offers a quick way to examine state-by-state grades and summary data.

Some educators and advocates fear the rule will dissuade immigrants from seeking certain government benefits, and that further burdens will fall on schools.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Riyadh’s account of the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, saying the murder was the result of a meticulously planned plot and calling on the Saudi king to hold all culprits to account.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has “blood on his hands” in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a top aide to Turkey’s president said, in his country’s first direct accusation against the power behind the Saudi throne.

Stuckeman School graduate student Debora Verniz, who is a doctoral candidate in architecture, has been awarded the 2020 Alumni Association Dissertation Award from the Graduate School at Penn State for her research work in planning affordable housing structures in low-income areas.

Alors que se préparent les célébrations du cinquantenaire de l’indépendance de la République démocratique du Congo, le 30 juin prochain, deux événements très récents viennent rappeler l’extrême fragilité du processus de reconstruction de l’Etat entrepris depuis l’élection de Joseph Kabila en 2006, et les risques existants pour la stabilité du pays.

Insufficient political will has thwarted regional efforts to stop the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) but vigorous diplomacy led by the African Union (AU), an immediate military push and complementary civilian initiatives could end the misery of thousands.

Trois semaines après la réélection contestée de Joseph Kabila en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), Thierry Vircoulon, responsable de l'Afrique centrale à l'International Crisis Group dresse un premier bilan des élections congolaises.

Alors qu’une tentative de coup d’Etat contre Pierre Nkurunziza, émanant de l’ex-chef d’état-major, Godefroid Niyombaré, est en cours au Burundi, Thierry Vircoulon chercheur à l'International Crisis Group, explique qui est le général putschiste et analyse, plus généralement, l'appareil sécuritaire du Burundi.

The current political crisis has reopened the wounds of Burundi’s past. Hardliners now dominant in the government brutally stifle dissent, fuel ethnic hatred, and undermine the Arusha accord that framed Burundi’s peace for the past decade. The international community should push toward real dialogue, and prepare to intervene if violence escalates.

What should be included in a measure of school quality? If not by standardized test scores, how should we measure student achievement? Julian Vasquez Heilig and I each have some thoughts.

Federal law requires states to report student test scores in achievement levels, but leaders in the Golden State want to take a different approach.

News.

Background. CLSI and EUCAST susceptibility breakpoints for voriconazole and C. albicans differ by one dilution (≤0.125 and ≤0.06 mg/l, respectively) whereas the epidemiological cutoff values (ECOFF/ECV) with both methodologies are the same (0.03 mg/L). We therefore determined the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) breakpoints of voriconazole against C. albicans for both methodologies with an in vitro PK/PD model, which was validated using existing animal PK/PD data.

Methods. Four clinical wild-type and non-wild-type C. albicans isolates (voriconazole MICs 0.008-0.125 mg/l) were tested in an in vitro PK/PD model. For validation purposes, mouse PK were simulated and in vitro PD were compared with in vivo outcome. Human PK were simulated and the exposure-effect relationship fAUC_0-24/MIC was described for EUCAST and CLSI24/48h methods. PK/PD breakpoints were determined using the fAUC_0-24/MIC associated with half-maximal activity (EI₅₀) and Monte Carlo simulation analysis.

Results. The in vitro 24h-PD EI₅₀ of voriconazole against C. albicans were 2.5-5 (1.5-17) fAUC/MIC. However, the 72h-PD were higher, 133 (51-347) fAUC/MIC for EUCAST and 94 (35-252) fAUC/MIC for CLSI. The mean (95% confidence interval) probability of target attainment (PTA) was 100(95-100)%, 97(72-100)%, 83(35-99)%, and 49(8-91)% and 100(97-100)%, 99(85-100)%, 91(52-100)% and 68(17-96)% for EUCAST and CLSI MICs 0.03, 0.06, 0.125, and 0.25 mg/L, respectively. Significantly, >95% PTAs were found for EUCAST/CLSI MICs ≤0.03 mg/ll. For MICs 0.06-0.125 mg/l trough levels 1-4 mg/ll would be required.

Conclusion. A PK/PD breakpoint of C. albicans voriconazole at the ECOFF/ECV of 0.03 mg/L was determined for both EUCAST/CLSI methods, indicating the need for breakpoint harmonization for the reference methodologies.

Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine has shown excellent efficacy and tolerability in malaria treatment. However, concerns have been raised of potentially harmful cardiotoxic effects associated with piperaquine. The population pharmacokinetics and cardiac effects of piperaquine were evaluated in 1,000 patients, mostly children enrolled in a multicentre trial from 10 sites in Africa. A linear relationship described the QTc-prolonging effect of piperaquine, estimating a 5.90ms mean QTc-prolongation per 100ng/mL increase in piperaquine concentration. The effect of piperaquine on absolute QTc-interval estimated a mean maximum QTc-interval of 456ms (EC₅₀=209ng/mL). Simulations from the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic models predicted 1.98-2.46% risk of having QTc-prolongation > 60ms in all treatment settings. Although piperaquine administration resulted in QTc-prolongation, no cardiovascular adverse events were found in these patients. Thus, the use of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine should not be limited by this concern.

Background: MRSA pose significant therapeutic challenges, related to their: frequency in clinical infections; innate virulence properties; and propensity for multi-antibiotic resistance. MRSA are among the most common causes of endovascular infections, including infective endocarditis (IE).

Objective: To employ transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to evaluate the effect of exebacase, a novel direct lytic agent, in experimental aortic valve MRSA IE.

Study Design: TTE was utilized to evaluate the in vivo effect of exebacase on MRSA-infected vegetation progression when combined with daptomycin (vs daptomycin alone). Primary intravegetation outcomes were: maximum size; weights at sacrifice; and MRSA counts at infection baseline vs after 4 days of daptomycin treatment (alone or in addition to exebacase administered once on treatment Day 1).

Results: A single dose of exebacase in addition to daptomycin cleared significantly more intravegetation MRSA than daptomycin alone. This was associated with a statistical trend toward reduced maximum vegetation size in the exebacase + daptomycin vs the daptomycin-alone therapy groups (p = 0.07). Also, mean vegetation weights in the exebacase-treated group were significantly lower vs daptomycin-alone (p < 0.0001). Maximum vegetation size by TTE correlated with vegetation weight (p = 0.005). In addition, intravegetation MRSA counts in the combination group were significantly lower vs untreated controls (p<0.0001) and the daptomycin-alone group (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: This study suggests that exebacase has a salutary impact on MRSA-infected vegetation progression when combined with daptomycin, especially in terms of vegetation MRSA burden, size and weight. Moreover, TTE appears to be an efficient non-invasive tool to assess therapeutic efficacies in experimental MRSA IE.

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is one of the main causes of death due to cardiomyopathy and heart failure in Latin American countries. The treatment of Chagas disease is directed at eliminating the parasite, decreasing the probability of cardiomyopathy, and disrupting the disease transmission cycle. Benznidazole (BZ) and nifurtimox (NFX) are recognized as effective drugs for the treatment of Chagas disease by the World Health Organization, but both have high toxicity and limited efficacy, especially in the chronic disease phase. At low doses, aspirin (ASA) has been reported to protect against T. cruzi infection. We evaluated the effectiveness of BZ in combination with ASA at low doses during the acute disease phase and evaluated cardiovascular aspects and cardiac lesions in the chronic phase. ASA treatment prevented the cardiovascular dysfunction (hypertension and tachycardia) and typical cardiac lesions. Moreover, BZ+ASA-treated mice had a smaller cardiac fibrotic area than that in BZ-treated mice. These results were associated with an increase in the number of eosinophils and reticulocytes and level of nitric oxide in the plasma and cardiac tissue of ASA-treated mice relative to respective controls. These effects of ASA and BZ+ASA in chronically infected mice were inhibited by pretreatment with the LXA₄ receptor antagonist, Boc-2, indicating that the protective effects of ASA are mediated by ASA-triggered lipoxin. These results emphasize the importance of exploring new drug combinations for treatments of acute phase of Chagas disease that are beneficial for chronic patients.

The off-label use of third generation cephalosporin (3GC) during in ovo vaccination or vaccination of newly hatched chicks, was a common practice worldwide. CMY-2-producing Escherichia coli have been disseminated among broiler production. The objectives of this study were to determine the epidemiological linkage of bla_CMY-2-positive plasmids among broilers both within and outside Japan because grandparent stock and parent stock were imported in Japan. We examined the whole genome sequences of 132 3GC-resistant E. coli isolates collected from healthy broilers during 2002-2014. The predominant 3GC-resistance gene was bla_CMY-2, which was detected in the plasmids of 87 (65.9%) isolates. The main plasmid replicon types were IncI1-I (n=21; 24.1%), IncI (n=12; 13.8%), IncB/O/K/Z (n=28; 32.2%), and IncC (n=22; 25.3%). Those plasmids were subjected to gene clustering and network analyses and plasmid multi-locus sequence typing (pMLST). The chromosomal DNA of isolates was subjected to MLST and single nucleotide variant (SNV)-based phylogenetic analysis.

MLST and SNV-based phylogenetic analysis revealed high diversity of E. coli isolates. ST429 harboring bla_CMY-2-positive IncB/O/K/Z was closely related to isolates from broiler in Germany harboring bla_CMY-2-positive IncB/O/K/Z. pST55-IncI and pST12-IncI1-I and pST3-IncC were prevalent in western Japan. pST12-IncI1-I and pST3-IncC were closely related to those detected in E. coli isolates from chicken in American continent, whereas 26 IncB/O/K/Z were related to those in Europe. These data will be useful to reveal the whole picture of transmission of CMY-2-producing bacteria in and out of Japan.

The records involved conversation logs between Microsoft support agents and customers across the globe, dating back to 2005. Most of the records were redacted of customer contact information, but not all.

The password-fatigued masses will be pleased to find Keeper's new 30 percent off deal, which brings it down to $20.99 per year from its typical $29.99.

Unprecedented demand for online services and entertainment during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, along with a scramble for haven investments, have helped set South African stocks on course for a record month.

The rand strengthened against the greenback as it peaked at a session high of R18.30 before it was recorded trading 1.41% firmer at R18.32/$ at 17.00

Although it's pricey, the intuitive Salesforce Pardot offers standout features, making it a leader among today's marketing automation platforms.

Erling Braut Haaland and Robert Lewandowski continued to hit the net, although injury means the latter is likely to miss the second leg.

God uses Janet to reach people through one-on-one encounters at a bookshop in a closed country.

Benetech, a Palo Alto, Calif. based software company, is embarking on is third 5-year award with the U.S. Department of Education to create books for students with print disabilities.

The Penn State Smeal College of Business has announced the recipients of its spring 2020 Senior Awards.

With speed and ingenuity, more than 100 researchers across Penn State are shifting their research programs to address the COVID-19 crisis, thanks to funding from a seed grant initiative led by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. In total, the initiative awarded $2.25 million to 47 teams of researchers from three campuses, 10 colleges and more than 25 departments.

MASC has successfully designed and delivered critical equipment and supplies needed to protect health care workers and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students celebrated for athletic and student life achievements during the Finally Finished Fest

Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are the hot spots for card fraud in South Africa, according to a report on global fraud activity.

Payments Association of South Africa has warned consumers to be cautious when sharing personal information which can be used by fraudsters to make unauthorised debit orders.

Fin24 users speak of their frustrations with banks, calling for a crackdown on debit order fraud that sees payments they didn't authorise being deducted from their bank accounts each month.

Credit card fraud increased to 19.47% as at the end of March 2019, compared to 12.2% reported at the beginning of January 2019.

With credit card fraud rising at an alarming rate in the first quarter of the year, the Ombudsman for Banking Services has provided 10 tips to avoid becoming a victim of scammers.

Automated EFT payments enabled by technology from fintech company Ozow may be a secure alternative method to transact than card payments.

Germany's Shekiera Martinez, at 16, has written herself into UEFA's record books by scoring nine goals in a final tournament.