The choice of study design for guideline implementation studies will determine the confidence with which the observed effects can be attributed to the interventions under study. In general, cluster randomized trials, of which there are different types, provide the most robust design. However, the use of these designs has implications for the power, conduct and analysis of studies. Wherever poss...

The phenomenon of bullying has multidimensional character: it involves young people above all, but it is amplified by hush and passivity of the adults. Main objective of our research is to explore the several factors of this phenomenon, in order to identify prevention strategies and to increase the awareness among scholastic authorities.

Proper normalization of quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) data is a crucial component of gene -expression analysis. Although arbitrarily selected housekeeping genes have been used to normalize many published mRNA RT-PCR datasets, there is a growing awareness that such normalizers should be first validated empirically. The use of stable reference genes is particularly needed for qRT-PCR of microRNA ...

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Despite all the recent progress in neuroscience, we still do not understand the basic principles according to which the brain functions. This may be due, at least in part, to our lack of knowledge how the brain's intrinsic activity, the brain's input, impacts stimulus-induced changes in the brain. We here discuss the neuronal, experimental and methodological relevance of the brain's resting sta...

The TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has well-described anti-inflammatory effects in models of autoimmune disease, including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). In this issue of Neuron, Aktas, Smorodchenko, and colleagues present evidence that TRAIL exerts anti-inflammatory effects, but also induces neuronal apoptosis, in EAE. This report poses the therapeutic challeng...

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is one of the best-documented animal models of autoimmune disease. We examined the role of CD8+CD122+ regulatory T cells, which we previously identified as naturally occurring regulatory T cells that effectively regulate CD8+ T cells, in EAE. Depletion of CD8+CD122+ regulatory T cells by in vivo administration of anti-CD122 mAb resulted in persist...