Since the mid-1990s, research on interpersonal acceptance and exclusion has proliferated, and several paradigms have evolved that vary in their efficiency, context specificity, and strength. This article describes one such paradigm, Cyberball, which is an ostensibly online ball-tossing game that participants believe they are playing with two or three others. In fact, the "others" are controlled by the programmer. The course and speed of the game, the frequency of inclusion, player information, and iconic representation are all options the researcher can regulate. The game was designed to manipulate independent variables (e.g., ostracism) but can also be used as a dependent measure of prejudice and discrimination. The game works on both PC and Macintosh (OS X) platforms and is freely available.

The antioxidant properties of silymarin (a mixture of at least 4 closely related flavonolignans, 60 to 70% of which is a mixture of 2 diastereomers of silybin) have been demonstrated in vitro and in animal and human studies. However, studies evaluating relevant health outcomes associated with these properties are lacking. Although silymarin has low oral absorption, oral dosages of 420 mg/day have shown some therapeutic potential, with good tolerability, in the treatment of alcoholic cirrhosis. Moreover, silybin 20 to 48 mg/kg/day has shown promise as an antidote for acute mushroom poisoning by Amanita phalloides; however, further studies paying attention to the amount of ingested mushroom and time elapsed before administration of treatment are needed to clarify its role in this indication. Studies in patients with the early onset of liver disease may demonstrate the liver regeneration properties that silymarin is promoted as possessing.

MediaLab is user‐friendly software researchers can use to create a variety of questionnaires. DirectRT is user‐friendly software capable of millisecond‐level resolution in the presentation of stimuli and collection of reaction time. Both MediaLab and DirectRT require computers running a Windows Operating System. More information and trial copies are available at www.empirisoft.com .

Etoricoxib is a cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2-selective NSAID with a higher COX-1 to COX-2 selectivity ratio than the other COX-2-selective NSAIDs rofecoxib, valdecoxib or celecoxib. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis, improvements in tender and swollen joint counts and patient and investigator global assessment of disease activity were significantly greater in etoricoxib than in placebo recipients in two studies. Etoricoxib was also significantly more effective than naproxen in one of these studies. In patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, etoricoxib was significantly more effective than placebo and had similar efficacy to naproxen with regards to improvements in pain and physical function scores and patient global assessment of disease status scores in two studies. Etoricoxib had similar efficacy to diclofenac in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Single-dose etoricoxib relieved pain in patients with postoperative dental pain in two studies. Similar scores assessing total pain relief over 8 hours (TOPAR8) were reported in etoricoxib and naproxen sodium or ibuprofen recipients, and higher TOPAR8 scores were reported with etoricoxib than with paracetamol (acetaminophen)/codeine. Pain relief was significantly better with etoricoxib than placebo in two studies in patients with chronic low back pain. Etoricoxib had similar efficacy to indomethacin in a study in patients with acute gout, and single-dose etoricoxib had similar efficacy to naproxen sodium in a study in women with primary dysmenorrhoea. Compared with non-COX-selective NSAIDs, etoricoxib was associated with significantly fewer upper gastrointestinal (GI) perforations, ulcers or bleeds, and was significantly less likely to result in treatment discontinuation because of NSAID-type GI symptoms or any GI symptoms.

Caspofungin is the first in a new class of antifungal agents, the glucan synthesis inhibitors, that interfere with fungal cell wall synthesis. Caspofungin exhibited in vitro and in vivo efficacy against a wide range of fungi and yeasts including Aspergillus and Candida species. A complete or partial response to caspofungin therapy was seen in 40.7% of immunocompromised adults with invasive aspergillosis who did not respond to, or did not tolerate, other antifungal agents in a noncomparative multicentre study. Caspofungin was effective in patients with oropharyngeal or oesophageal candidiasis, according to the preliminary results of 2 randomised double-blind trials. Caspofungin was generally well tolerated in a multicentre noncomparative trial involving patients with invasive aspergillosis. One or more drug-related clinical adverse effects were experienced by 13.8% of caspofungin recipients (the most common were fever, nausea, vomiting and complications associated with the vein into which caspofungin was infused). The tolerability of caspofungin appeared to be better than that of amphotericin B and similar to that of fluconazole in double-blind, randomised trials involving patients with mucosal candidiasis.