Ionic Liquids as Mobile Phase Additives for Feasible Assay of Naphazoline in Pharmaceutical Formulation by HPTLC–UV–Densitometric Method

A specific and reliable High-Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) with densitometry detection method has been developed for determination of naphazoline nitrate in nasal drops. The best separation of basic analyte, without spot tailing, was achieved using the mobile phase composed of acetonitrile:water (60:40,v/v) with 1.5 % (v/v) imidazolium-class ionic liquid added and the plates covered with stationary phase based on the RP-18 with F254S (10cm x 20cm). The presented results confirm that imidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquids are efficient suppressors of free silanols, which are considered to be responsible for troublesome and irreproducible chromatographic determinations of basic compounds. The developed chromatographic system was found to be convenient in use and at the same time providing a repeatable assay of naphazoline nitrate in nasal drops, which could not be obtained with the use of standard silanol suppressing mobile phase additives, like triethylamine (TEA) or dimethyloctylamine (DMOA)

Ticagrelor, but not clopidogrel and prasugrel, prevents ADP-induced vascular smooth muscle cell contraction: A placebo-controlled study in rats

Introduction: Off-target effects of novel antiplatelet agents due to their potential clinical benefits are currently an area of intensive investigation. We aimed to compare the effects of different P2Y12 antagonists on the reactivity of vascular smooth muscle cells. Materials and methods: Wistar rats (n=30) were pretreated with an investigated drug or placebo. Clopidogrel (50 mg/kg, n=7), prasugrel (10 mg/kg, n=7), ticagrelor (10 mg/kg, n=7) or placebo (n=9) were administered orally 12 and 2 hours before experiments. Constrictions of rat tail arteries induced with a stable analogue of adenosine diphosphate (2-MeS-ADP), phenylephrine and arginine vasopressin weremeasured as an increase in perfusion pressure. Effects of ticagrelor were assessed in the presence of ticagrelor (1 μM/L) added to the perfusion solution as this drug reversibly inhibits the P2Y12 receptor. Results: Pretreatmentwith clopidogrel and prasugrel did not inhibit 2-MeS-ADP-induced contraction while ticagrelor did. Experiments employing endothelium-deprived arteries provided similar results. Clopidogrel and prasugrel did not influence concentration-response curves in the presence of neither phenylephrine nor arginine vasopressin. The curves obtained for both vasopressors in the presence of ticagrelor and 2-MeS-ADP were shifted to the right with a significant reduction in the maximal response. Conclusions: Oral administration of ticagrelor, in contrast to clopidogrel and prasugrel, prevents adenosine diphosphate-induced contraction of vascular smooth muscle cells in a rat model. Both the clinical significance and detailed mechanism of our findings warrant further investigation

Annotating Words Using WordNet Semantic Glosses

An approach to the word sense disambiguation (WSD) relaying on the WordNet synsets is proposed. The method uses semantically tagged glosses to perform a process similar to the spreading activation in semantic network, creating ranking of the most probable meanings for word annotation. Preliminary evaluation shows quite promising results. Comparison with the state-of-theart WSD methods indicates that the use of WordNet relations and semantically tagged glosses should enhance accuracy of word disambiguation methods

Information Retrieval across Information Visualization

This article presents the analytical and retrieval potential of visualization maps. Obtained maps were tested as information retrieval (IR) interface. The collection of documents derived from the ACM Digital Library was mapped on the sphere surface. Proposed approach uses nonlinear similarity of documents by comparing ascribed thematic categories and thereby development of semantic connections between them. For domain analysis the newest IT trend - Cloud Computing was monitored across time period 2007-2009. Visualization reflects evolution, dynamics and relational fields of cloud technology as well as its paradigmatic property

Joint Bodies and the Regularization of Strategic Interaction: A Comparison of the European Union's Strategic Partnerships with Japan and India

In recent years, the European Union’s strategic partnerships have undergone a new wave of institutionalization. Relations with both India and Japan are a case in point: after a decade or more of under-institutionalized and situational interaction generally framed by political declarations, a more contractual model of bilateral relations has emerged and with it the proliferation of joint bodies. Such joint bodies and the overall regularization of bilateral contacts play an important but largely overlooked role in sustaining the strategic partnership. This article assesses the rationale and performance of joint institutional frameworks devised for the EU–Japan and EU–India strategic partnerships. Informed by an original conceptual approach, the article assesses the regularization and intensification of strategic interaction in these two partnerships

Towards a more reliable historical reanalysis: Improvements for version 3 of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis system

Historical reanalyses that span more than a century are needed for a wide range of studies, from understanding large‐scale climate trends to diagnosing the impacts of individual historical extreme weather events. The Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) Project is an effort to fill this need. It is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is facilitated by collaboration with the international Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth initiative. 20CR is the first ensemble of sub‐daily global atmospheric conditions spanning over 100 years. This provides a best estimate of the weather at any given place and time as well as an estimate of its confidence and uncertainty. While extremely useful, version 2c of this dataset (20CRv2c) has several significant issues, including inaccurate estimates of confidence and a global sea level pressure bias in the mid‐19th century. These and other issues can reduce its effectiveness for studies at many spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, the 20CR system underwent a series of developments to generate a significant new version of the reanalysis. The version 3 system (NOAA‐CIRES‐DOE 20CRv3) uses upgraded data assimilation methods including an adaptive inflation algorithm; has a newer, higher‐resolution forecast model that specifies dry air mass; and assimilates a larger set of pressure observations. These changes have improved the ensemble‐based estimates of confidence, removed spin‐up effects in the precipitation fields, and diminished the sea‐level pressure bias. Other improvements include more accurate representations of storm intensity, smaller errors, and large‐scale reductions in model bias. The 20CRv3 system is comprehensively reviewed, focusing on the aspects that have ameliorated issues in 20CRv2c. Despite the many improvements, some challenges remain, including a systematic bias in tropical precipitation and time‐varying biases in southern high‐latitude pressure fields

Unintended Consequences – Chosen Aspects: Adam Smith vs Bernard Mandeville

The paper focuses on the chosen aspects of the role of unintended consequences in Adam Smith’s thought, including the issue of the invisible hand. However, without limiting his philosophical considerations the idea of unintended consequences the few instances where he mentions the invisible hand. Individuals when making decisions and undertaking actions are causing the unintended consequences, therefore due to the complexity of human motivations and behaviour it is extremely difficult to foresee other peoples’ behaviour and longterm results. This way unintended consequences play a crucial role in the process of modifying moral and social norms and institutions, in market exchange and development of the societies. Moreover some similarities and discrepancies between Adam Smith’s and Bernard Mandeville’s views on unintended consequences are pointed out. Mandeville notices that the consequences of actions we undertake can frequently differ from what was assumed when planning and criticized the ultimate belief in the power of a human mind

Libertarianism and Original Appropriation

The article is devoted to the problem of the structure of libertarian theory of justice. It tries to present a map of the main concepts and principles of this theory and to investigate its possible justifications. It explains such fundamental concepts as original appropriation, homesteading, labour theory of property or first possession theory of original appropriation. The article shows merits and drawbacks of alternative libertarian principles of justice in first acquisition and proposes a sketch of an original justification for the first possession theory of original appropriation

Relationships between changes in parameters of the manual function and electroencephalogram, heart rate variability as well as gas discharge visualization in children with spastic cerebral palsy caused by the Kozyavkin method

Introduction. It was reported earlier that in children with spastic forms of cerebral palsy (SFCP) after two-week course of rehabilitation by the Kozyavkin method the neural component of muscle tone (NCMT) was reduced in 79,3% cases, while in 13,8% cases changes were not detected and in 2 children even increased. It was assumed that such a variety of changes in NCMT is due to differently directed changes in the background activity of the nerve centers. Objectives. To analyse the relationships between changes (Ch) in NCMT as well as manual functional tests on the one hand, and parameters of EEG, HRV and Gas Discharge Visualization (GDV) on the other one. Material and Methods. The object of observations were 14 children (6 girls and 8 boys) aged 8÷15 years with SFCP. The state of motor development at GMFCS was on II÷IV level. The functional status of the hand with MACS was on II÷III level. The estimation of hand function was carried out by Dynamometry (D), Box and Block Test (B&B) and Nine Hole Peg Test (NHP). NCMT was also registered by the device ‘NeuroFlexor’ (Aggero MedTech AB, Sweden), HRV and EEG were tested simultaneosly by the hardware-software complex ‘Cardiolab+VSR’ and ‘NeuroCom Standard’ respectively (KhAI Medica, Kharkiv, Ukraine) as well as GDV by ‘GDV Chamber’ (‘Biotechprogress’, St-Pb, RF). Results. After two-week course of rehabilitation NCMT was reduced in 9 children from 19,8 ± 3,4 to 12,3 ± 2,8 Newtons (Ch: -7,5 ± 2,0 N), in 3 children NCMT was 8,2 ± 3,3 before and 7,9 ± 3,5 after rehabilitation (Ch: -0,3 ± 0,3 N) while in one girl NCMT increased from 15,1 to 17,9 N and in one boy from 6,1 to 19,4 N. Manual functional tests also changed ambiguously. The Ch in NCMT are correlated with Ch in parameters HRV&EEG (R2=0,786) as well as GDV (R2=0,556). The Ch in functional tests for the left hand are correlated with Ch in parameters HRV&EEG to the stronger extent (R2=0,931) and for the right hand the correlation is maximal (R2=0,997). As to GDV parameters, connections are weaker but they are also stronger for the right hand. Conclusion. In children with spastic forms of cerebral palsy caused by the Kozyavkin method, changes in manual functional tests and the neural component of the muscle tone are determined by changes in parameters of EEG and HRV as well as GDV which is a completely suitable non-invasive method for assessing the effectiveness of rehabilitation