Optimization of pharmacotherapy of COPD patients using EURO FORTA and STOPP/START criteria

Relevance. Polypharmacy in taking medicines as one of the main consequences of comorbid pathology is a well-known risk factor for adverse drug reactions (ADRs). ADRs are often the cause of worsening disease course, disability, and mortality, especially in the elderly. This trend necessitates optimization of pharmacotherapy used in elderly patients using analytical algorithms for safety assessment. Objective. To analyze the safety of antibacterial and bronchodilator pharmacotherapy in COPD patients over 65 years old by means of comparative analysis of the data obtained according to EURO FORTA system methods and STOPP/START criteria. Methods. To conduct the study, a patient portrait was made on the basis of inpatient records data with the determination of Charlson and ADO indices. The influence of the severity of COPD course and comorbid pathology on polypharmacy was determined using the Spearman correlation coefficient (r). Evaluation of efficiency in the application of EURO FORTA and STOPP/START analytical criteria was carried out using a comparative analysis method. Statistical processing of the obtained data was performed using the StatPlus 7.0 program. Results. 113 inpatient records of elderly patients with moderately severe and severe COPD were studied. On the background of high severity of comorbid pathology, polypharmacy was observed in 102 patients (90.2%). The application of EURO FORTA and STOPP/START analytical tools in the analysis of bronchodilator and antibacterial therapy revealed 71 prescriptions of potentially unrecommended drugs in 61 (53,9%) patients. Conclusion. The analysis showed a high rate of prescribing drugs with significant risk in elderly patients. The conducted comparative analysis of two analytical tools for evaluation of the used pharmacotherapy EURO FORTA and STOPP/START demonstrated the necessity of their joint use to achieve the best results in ensuring safety of treatment of elderly patients, as they successfully complement each other

ROC-ANALYSIS OF NEUROIMMUNOLOGIC INDICES IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC PSYCHOGENIC URTICARIA

Psychological stress connects with increased level of substance P, wherewith there may be interconnection between psychosomatic component and neuroimmunologic one in the chronic urticaria. Modern methods of findings statistical manipulation have been used in this work. Neuroimmunologic criteria of psychogenic urticaria were defined by the use of ROC-analysis. Substance P role in the pathogenesis of the disease have been indicated, correlation between substance P level and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity have been corroborated. Assessment of anxiety disorders level have been carried out

Peculiarities in produced particles emission in 208Pb + Ag(Br) interactions at 158 A GeV/c

The angular structures of particles produced in 208Pb induced collisions with Ag(Br) nuclei in an emulsion detector at 158 A GeV/c have been investigated. Nonstatistical ring-like substructures in azimuthal plane of the collision have been found and their parameters have been determined. The indication on the formation of the ring-like substructures from two symmetrical emission cones - one in the forward and other in the backward direction in the center-of mass system have been obtained. The ring-like substructures parameters have been determined. The experimental results are in an agreement with I.M. Dremin idea, that mechanism of the ring-like substructures formation in nuclear collisions is similar to that of Cherenkov electromagnetic radiation.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Report at the HADRON STRUCTURE'04 Conference, Smolenice, Slovakia, 30.8.-3.9.200

Genetic determinants of complicated pregnancy

The connections of polymorphic variants of the gene of vasoactive hormones with the level of arterial pressure in pregnant women, depending on the development of preeclampsia (PE), have been studie

Gate-dependent non-linear Hall effect at room temperature in topological semimetal GeTe

We experimentally investigate non-linear Hall effect as zero-frequency and second-harmonic transverse voltage responses to ac electric current for topological semimetal GeTe. A thick single-crystal GeTe flake is placed on the Si/SiO$_2$ substrate, where the p-doped Si layer serves as a gate electrode. We confirm, that electron concentration is not gate-sensitive in thick GeTe flakes due to the gate field screening by bulk carriers. In contrast, by transverse voltage measurements, we demonstrate that the non-linear Hall effect shows pronounced dependence on the gate electric field at room temperature. Since the non-linear Hall effect is a direct consequence of a Berry curvature dipole in topological media, our observations indicate that Berry curvature can be controlled by the gate electric field. This experimental observation can be understood as a result of the known dependence of giant Rashba splitting on the external electric field in GeTe. For possible applications, the zero-frequency gate-controlled non-linear Hall effect can be used for the efficient broad-band rectification

Current-induced control of the polarization state in a polar metal based heterostructure SnSe/WTe2_2

The concept of a polar metal proposes new approach of current-induced polarization control for ferroelectrics. We fabricate SnSe/WTe$_2$ heterostructure to experimentally investigate charge transport between two ferroelectric van der Waals materials with different polarization directions. WTe$_2$ is a polar metal with out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization, while SnSe ferroelectric semiconductor is polarized in-plane, so one should expect complicated polarization structure at the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface. We study $dI/dV(V)$ curves, which demonstrate sharp symmetric drop to zero $dI/dV$ differential conductance at some threshold bias voltages $\pm V_{th}$, which are nearly symmetric in respect to the bias sign. While the gate electric field is too small to noticeably affect the carrier concentration, the positive and negative threshold positions are sensitive to the gate voltage. Also, SnSe/WTe$_2$ heterostructure shows re-entrant transition to the low-conductive $dI/dV=0$ state for abrupt change of the bias voltage even below the threshold values. This behavior can not be observed for single SnSe or WTe$_2$ flakes, so we interpret it as a result of the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface coupling. In this case, some threshold value of the electric field at the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface is enough to drive 90$^\circ$ change of the initial SnSe in-plane polarization in the overlap region. The polarization mismatch leads to the significant interface resistance contribution, analogously to the scattering of the charge carriers on the domain walls. Thus, we demonstrate polarization state control by electron transport through the SnSe/WTe$_2$ interface

Switching ferroelectricity in SnSe across diffusionless martensitic phase transition

We experimentally investigate transport properties of a hybrid structure, which consists of a thin single crystal SnSe flake on a top of 5~$\mu$m spaced Au leads. The structure initially is in highly-conductive state, while it can be switched to low-conductive one at high currents due to the Joule heating of the sample, which should be identified as $\alpha$-$Pnma$ -- $\beta$-$Cmcm$ diffusionless martensitic phase transition in SnSe. For highly-conductive state, there is significant hysteresis in $dI/dV(V)$ curves at low biases, so the sample conductance depends on the sign of the applied bias change. This hysteretic behavior reflects slow relaxation due to additional polarization current in the ferroelectric SnSe phase, which we confirm by direct measurement of time-dependent relaxation curves. In contrast, we observe no noticeable relaxation or low-bias hysteresis for the quenched $\beta$-$Cmcm$ low-conductive phase. Thus, ferroelectric behavior can be switched on or off in transport through hybrid SnSe structure by controllable $\alpha$-$Pnma$ -- $\beta$-$Cmcm$ phase transition. This result can also be important for nonvolatile memory development, e.g. phase change memory for neuromorphic computations or other applications in artificial intelligence and modern electronics

Age and growth of blue Antimora Antimora rostrata (Moridae) in Southwestern Greenland waters

The results of determination of age and study on growth of blue antimora Antimora rostrata from the waters of Southwestern Greenland are presented. The results are based on the analysis of 200 fish otoliths. In the catches, we found specimens of antimora with total lengths of 18−70 cm, body weights of 23−2731 g, at the age of 7−38 years. Minimal age of males (not considering juvenile individuals) was 10 years at body length of 27−33 cm; maximal age was 18 years at 42 cm. Minimal age of females was 9 years at length of 21–27 cm; maximal age was 38 years at 70 cm. The rate of linear growth in blue antimora from Southwestern Greenland waters is comparable to that in the fish from New Zealand and Ross Sea waters but considerably lower than indicated earlier for fish from the waters of Iceland, Greenland, and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The age of reaching sexual maturity in males and females is preliminary determined as 15 and 19−20 years, respectively