Multiple studies have examined the age of onset of major depression, indicating it is most frequent in adolescence and young adulthood. In this context, the offspring of depressed parents have a 2 to 4 time increased risk for depression compared with children of non-depressed parents.Treatment for depression in adolescents can be divided into psychosocial, psychopharmacologic, somatic and combined psychosocial-psychopharmacologic, psychosocial-psychosomatic and psychopharmacologic-psychosomatic.Depression in the children and adolescent population has been an area of research for over 20 years. Among novel therapeutic strategies, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has demonstrated the most favorable side effect profile. Until this time there are no published suicide attempts associated with this treatment and it may offer an option that is not associated with stigma of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or medications. Further research may provide more access to this therapy and hope to children, adolescents with depression and their families.

The design of innovative, more effective, less toxic therapy of multiple myeloma (MM) is emerging in parallel to a better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology of this common hematologic malignancy. Thalidomide has changed the treatment paradigm of patients with MM. Its efficacy, however, has been compromised by significant side effects. IMiDs (immunodulatory compounds) are structural and functional analogs of thalidomide that were specifically designed to create new agents with enhanced immunomodulatory and anticancer properties and better tolerability profiles. In this article, we review the clinical trial development of the second-generation IMiDs, lenalidomide and pomalidomide. Both agents demonstrate potent activity and are highly effective and well tolerated treatment options for patients with MM.

Background A common but debated technique in the management of swallowing difficulties is the chin tuck swallow, where the neck is flexed forward prior to swallowing. Natural variations in chin tuck angles across individuals may contribute to the differential effectiveness of the technique. Methodology To facilitate the study of chin tuck angle variations, we present a template tracking algorithm that automatically extracts neck angles from sagittal videos of individuals performing chin tuck swallows. Three yellow markers geometrically arranged on a pair of dark visors were used as tracking cues. Results The algorithm was applied to data collected from 178 healthy participants during neutral and chin tuck position swallows. Our analyses revealed no major influences of body mass index and age on neck flexion angles during swallowing, while gender influenced the average neck angle only during wet swallows in the neutral position. Chin tuck angles seem to be independent of anthropometry and gender in healthy adults, but deserve further study in pathological populations. Conclusion The proposed neck flexion angle extraction algorithm may be useful in future studies where strict participant compliance to swallowing task protocol can be assured.