Opicapone as adjunct to levodopa in treated Parkinson\u27s disease without motor complications: A randomized clinical trial

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.Background: Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitors are routinely used to manage motor fluctuations in Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). We assessed the effect of opicapone on motor symptom severity in levodopa-treated patients without motor complications. Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind, 24-week, placebo-controlled study of opicapone 50 mg as adjunct to levodopa (NCT04978597). Levodopa-treated patients without motor complications were randomized to 24 weeks of double-blind treatment with adjunct opicapone 50 mg or matching placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was the mean change from baseline to week 24 in Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale Part III (MDS-UPDRS-III) total score. Results: A total of 355 patients were randomized (opicapone 50 mg n = 177, placebo n = 178) and 322 (91%) completed the double-blind period. The adjusted mean [95% CI] change from baseline to week 24 in MDS-UPDRS-III subscore was −6.5 [−7.9, −5.2] in the opicapone group versus −4.3 [−5.7, 3.0] in the placebo group resulting in a significant difference of −2.2 [−3.9, −0.5] favoring opicapone (p = 0.010). There was no difference in the incidence of patients who developed motor complications (5.5% with opicapone vs. 9.8% with placebo) and the incidence of adverse events considered related to study medication was similar between groups (opicapone 10.2% vs. placebo 13.5%). Conclusions: Treatment with once-daily adjunct opicapone was well tolerated, improved motor severity, and did not induce the development of motor complications. These results support the clinical usefulness of opicapone in the management of PD patients without motor complications

Fast Low Voltage Analog Four-Quadrant Multipliers Based on CMOS Inverters

The paper presents quarter-square analog four-quadrant multipliers, based on proprietary architecture using four CMOS inverters. The most important upgrade on already published own circuit implementation is the use of the same inverter "core" of the circuit with completely redesigned auxiliary and steering blocks. Two variants of new driving peripherals are considered: one with differential pair, the second with CMOS inverters. The proposed circuit solutions are suitable for RF applications in communication systems due to simple architecture comprising building blocks with RF CMOS transistors having sufficiently large biasing currents. Postlayout simulation results done on the basis of 180nm CMOS UMC Foundry Design Kit are also presented

Rapidity and transverse momentum structure in Pi+ and K+ collisions with Al and Au nuclei at 250 GeV/c

Contains fulltext : 27569___.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Surface geochemical anomalies in the vicinity of the Wańkowa Oil Field (SE Polish Carpathians)

The oil accumulations discovered in the Skole Synclinorium (eastern part of Polish Outer Carpathians) are located in zones of pinch-out of the Kliva Sandstone. An example is the Wańkowa Oil Field, which contains the largest oil reserves in the region. As the seismic identification of this type of hydrocarbon trap is ambiguous, a surface geochemical survey was carried out in the vicinity of the Wańkowa Oil Field along an experimental line perpendicular to the fold axes. A traverse across the zones with anomalous seismic records indicated the presence of undiscovered lithological traps. During the surface geochemical survey, 94 samples of soil gas were collected from a depth of 1.2 m and then investigated chromatographically. The spacing of sampling sites was 100 m, which was reduced to 50 m in the Wańkowa Oil Field area. The maximum concentrations of CH4 and total alkanes C2-C5 detected in samples were: 4250.0 ppm (0.425 vol. %) and 0.43 ppm, respectively. The first of these was detected at measurement point no. 86, located over the Wańkowa Field and the second at point no. 59, about 1,300 m south of the Wańkowa Field. The chemical analyses also detected maximum values of total alkenes C2-C4, H2 and CO2: 0.147 ppm, 0.042 vol. % and 4.4 vol. %, respectively. The results of the surface geochemical survey were integrated with observations on subsurface geological structures, which were interpreted on the basis of seismic data. This procedure permitted the documentation of anomalous concentrations of alkanes in the near-surface zone and contributed to an understanding of the tectonics of the hydrocarbon reservoirs in depth. The pattern of geochemical anomalies here is controlled by anticlines made up of Early Oligocene–Paleocene sediments and by overthrusts that displace these structures. The hydrocarbons migrated from condensate and/or oil accumulations located at various depths. The character of the anomalous zone discovered over the Wańkowa Oil Field is related to the effective sealing of hydrocarbon traps and/or the relatively low pressure caused by the production of oil for 130 years. However, this anomaly also may be the result of hydrocarbon migration from deeper, as yet undiscovered gas or gas-condensate accumulations, hosted in older reservoirs forming the hinge of the Ropienka-Łodyna Mine Anticline. The most pronounced anomalies were detected over the Wańkowa Village - Bandrów and Grabownica-Załuż anticlines. The active hydrocarbon dispersion in this zone may have resulted from the presence of overthrusts displacing the structures. Moreover, these anomalies may indicate the presence of shallow, maybe poorly sealed hydrocarbon accumulations

Sowjetischer Aussenhandel Tendenzen und aktuelle Probleme

Bibliothek Weltwirtschaft Kiel YY 11,374 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Stability and control of power grids with diluted network topology

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Chaos 29, 123105 (2019) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5111686.We consider sparse random networks of Kuramoto phase oscillators with inertia in order to mimic and investigate the dynamics emerging in high-voltage power grids. The corresponding natural frequencies are assumed to be bimodally Gaussian distributed, thus modeling the distribution of both power generators and consumers, which must be in balance. Our main focus is on the theoretical analysis of the linear stability of the frequency-synchronized state, which is necessary for the stable operation of power grids and the control of unstable synchronous states. We demonstrate by numerical simulations that unstable frequency-synchronized states can be stabilized by feedback control. Further, we extend our study to include stochastic temporal power fluctuations and discuss the interplay of topological disorder and Gaussian white noise for various model configurations and finally demonstrate that our control scheme also works well under the influence of noise. Results for synthetic Erdös–Renyi random networks with low average connectivity and with symmetric or asymmetric bimodal frequency distributions are compared with those obtained by considering a real power grid topology, namely, the grid of Italy.DFG, 163436311, SFB 910: Kontrolle selbstorganisierender nichtlinearer Systeme: Theoretische Methoden und Anwendungskonzept