The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Facile preparation of embedded polar group-containing pentafluorophenyl stationary phases for highly selective separations of diverse analytes

Pentafluorophenyl (PFP) stationary phase is one of the most important phases after the C18 phase in terms of its applications. Three embedded polar groups (EPG)-containing stationary phases were newly synthesized to act the EPGs as additional interaction sites. The silica surface was initially modified with (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APS). The APS-modified silicas were coupled with 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzoic acid, 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenylacetic acid, and 2,3,4,5,6-pentafluoro-anilino(oxo)acetic acid to obtain Sil-PFP-BA, Sil-PFP-AA, and Sil-PFP-AN phases, respectively. The new phases were characterized by elemental analysis, ATR-FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The phases were evaluated with the Tanaka and Neue tests in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). In addition, they were characterized as hydrophilic phases by the Tanaka test protocol used in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) separation mode. The Sil-PFP-AA phase showed the highest molecular shape selectivity in RPLC, while Sil-PFP-AN achieved the highest separability in HILIC compared to the commercial PFP reference column. The Sil-PFP-AA phase was successfully applied for the analysis of capsaicinoids from real samples of fresh chili peppers (Capsicum spp.) in RPLC and the Sil-PFP-AN phase for vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in HILIC.Abul Khayer Mallik highly acknowledges the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the award and partial support to carry out the research work. We also acknowledge Matthias Epple, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany for giving us the opportunity to measure the ATR-FTIR and SEM.Peer reviewe

Supporting Information - Surface modification of silica with β-alanine derivatives for unique applications in liquid chromatography

More details are in the experimental, materials and method sections; additional physical properties of the stationary phase and other comparative results.Peer reviewe

Enhancement of Thermal Stability and Selectivity by Introducing Aminotriazine Comonomer to Poly(Octadecyl Acrylate)-Grafted Silica as Chromatography Matrix

This paper introduces a poly(octadecyl acrylate) (pODA)-based organic phase on silica, which is assisted by 2-vinyl-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine (AT), for a chromatography stationary phase. The ODA-AT copolymer grafting onto silica surface was characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). An endothermic peak top of the copolymer-grafted silica was increased to 46 °C from 38 °C, which was a peak top of pODA homopolymer. For high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) application, the molecular selectivity increased with an increase in the AT contents of the ODA-AT copolymer as organic phase. The co-existence of an aminotriazine moiety in the copolymer promoted side-chain ordering of the poly(octadecyl) moiety, thus enhancing molecular planarity selectivity for PAHs in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Surface modification of silica with β-alanine derivatives for unique applications in liquid chromatography

Column purchasing cost is an important issue for an analyst to analyze complex sample matrices. Here, we report the development of an amino acid (β-alanine)-derived stationary phase (Sil-Ala-C12) with strategic and effective interaction sites (amide and urea as embedded polar groups with C12 alkyl chain) able to separate various kinds of analytes. Owing to the balanced hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of the phase, it showed exceptional separation abilities in both reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) as a hydrophobic phase and hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) as a hydrophilic phase. Remarkably, the baseline separation was achieved for the challenging β- and γ-isomers of tocopherol. Usually, three columns such as pentafluorophenyl or C30, C18, and sulfobetaine HILIC are required for the analysis of vitamin E, capsaicinoids, and vitamin C in chili peppers (Capsicum spp.), respectively. However, only Sil-Ala-C12 was able to separate these analytes. A single column can serve 3–4 purposes, which suggests that Sil-Ala-C12 had the potential to reduce column purchasing costs.Dr. Abul K. Mallik highly acknowledges Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for their fellowship and partial research grant for this research work.Peer reviewe

Enhancement of thermal and mechanical properties of PMMA composites by incorporating mesoporous micro-silica and GO

The application of polymer-based composite materials is on the rise due to their enhanced thermal and mechanical properties compared to polymers themselves. For the first time in this study, the combination of graphene oxide (GO) and mesoporous micro-silica particles (with varying pore sizes) was used as fillers into PMMA matrices via in-situ bulk polymerization with ultrasonication. Two types of mesoporous silica were used at a fixed amount of 3 wt% with varying GO composition from 0.1 wt% to 1.2% to investigate the synergistic effect of GO and silica and increment of pore size of silica filler on the thermomechanical properties of the composites. The glass transition temperature Tg, thermal stability (the temperature at 10% and 60% weight loss) Td10 and Td60 of the same composite were increased by 21.5 °C, 46.5 °C, and 32.3 °C, respectively, compared to that of neat PMMA. Its tensile strength was increased remarkably by 329% compared with the PMMA. This work offers the possibility of further enhancement of thermal and mechanical properties of polymer-based composites by incorporating more than one filler with diverse properties

Molecular Shape Recognition through Self-Assembled Molecular Ordering: Evaluation with Determining Architecture and Dynamics

The relationship between molecular gel-forming compound-based double-alkylated l-glutamide-derived functional group-integrated organic phase (Sil-FIP) structure and chromatographic performance is investigated and compared with widely used alkyl phases (C₃₀, polymeric and monomeric C₁₈) as references. The functional group-integrated molecular gel on silica is chemically designed newly in a way that the weak interaction sites are integrated with high orientation and high selectivity can be realized by multiple interactions with the solutes. Its functions can be emphasized by being immobilizable with a terminal carboxyl group and the fact that five amide bonds including β-alanine subunit are integrated per molecule. Furthermore, its self-assembling function can be detected by monitoring of the chiroptical property. Temperature-dependent circular dichroism (CD) intensity was determined as an indicator of chirality for the gel forming compounds. ¹³C cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR spectra of the Sil-FIP phase indicate that predominance of gauche conformations exists at higher temperature (above 30 °C). ²⁹Si CP/MAS NMR were carried out to investigate the degree of cross-linking of the silane and silane functionality of the modified silica. Temperature-dependent ¹³C CP/MAS NMR and suspended-state ¹H NMR measurements of the Sil-FIP phase exhibit the dynamic behavior of the alkyl chains. To correlate the NMR and CD results with temperature-dependent chromatographic studies, standard reference materials (SRM 869b and SRM 1647e), column selectivity test mixture for liquid chromatography was employed. Additional shape selectivity text mixtures were also used to clarify the mechanism of shape selectivity performance of Sil-FIP compared with commercially available columns. The evaluation with the spectroscopic and chromatographic analyses presents very important information on the surface morphology of the new organic phase and the molecular recognition process. Integrated and ordered functional groups were investigated to be the main driving force for very high molecular shape selectivity of the Sil-FIP phase

Preparation of high-selective HPLC packing materials based on alternating copolymer-grafted silica

Three alternating copolymer-grafted silica stationary phases with different monomers (styrene (ST), N-methylmaleimide (MMI), N-octadecylmaleimide (OMI), and octadecyl acrylate (ODA)) were newly prepared to be used in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The alternating copolymer-grafted silicas (Sil-poly(ST-alt-MMI), Sil-poly(ST-alt-OMI), and Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI)) were characterized by elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT), and 13C cross polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Aspects of molecular shape selectivity were evaluated for three different columns with Standard Reference Material (SRM) 869b, Column Selectivity Test Mixture for Liquid Chromatography. Selectivity for isomer separations was enhanced for the stationary phase prepared with Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI), which was enable to separate 16 PAHs (SRM 1647e) in an isocratic elution. Sil-poly(ODA-alt-OMI) showed best molecular-shape selectivity and separation ability among the other phases investigated. In this paper, the effectiveness of this phase is also demonstrated by the separation of tocopherol isomers