Profiling a set of personality traits of text author: what our words reveal about us

Authorship profiling, i.e. revealing information about an unknown author by analyzing their text, is a task of growing importance. One of the most urgent problems of authorship profiling (AP) is selecting text parameters which may correlate to an author’s personality. Most researchers’ selection of these is not underpinned by any theory. This article proposes an approach to AP which applies neuroscience data. The aim of the study is to assess the probability of self-destructive behaviour of an individual via formal parameters of their texts. Here we have used the “Personality Corpus”, which consists of Russian-language texts. A set of correlations between scores on the Freiburg Personality Inventory scales that are known to be indicative of self-destructive behaviour (“Spontaneous Aggressiveness”, “Depressiveness”, “Emotional Lability”, and “Composedness”) and text variables (average sentence length, lexical diversity etc.) has been calculated. Further, a mathematical model which predicts the probability of self-destructive behaviour has been obtained

SOFOSBUVIR: TREATMENT OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS C AND THE MAIN TRENDS IN PATENT PROTECTION

The purpose of the study was to analyze and systematize the literature data on the benefit/risk ratio of sofosbuvir administration in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C and the main trends in its patent protection. Studies were conducted using databases on the Internet: Ukrainian patent office, the European patent office, the US patent office, the Food and drug administration, European Medicines Agency (EMEA), State enterprise “The State Expert Center” of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. It has used retrospective, logical, systematic and analytical methods. Data from clinical studies abroad and meta-analyses indicate that sofosbuvir is one of the most promising drugs for the treatment of chronic HCV infection. Its indisputable advantages are that this drug can be used with different genotypes of the virus, decompensated liver function, it is well tolerated. Sofosbuvir has an improved safety profile and a low probability of viral resistance. The high cost of sofosbuvir is due to the powerful patent protection. As mechanisms for working with patent barriers, it is recommended to use the flexible mechanisms of the TRIPS Agreement: the grant of compulsory licenses, the implementation of parallel imports, the tightening of the criteria for patentability (prohibition of patenting new forms that do not improve therapeutic efficacy)

The basic principles of the European state and dynamics of the political and legal development within the Russian Federation

The aim of the article is to identify the basic principles of European State and its approval within modern Russia, as well as the specifics of political and legal development of the latter. The methodological basis of research work used the dialectical, phenomenological analysis and synergetic methods to reveal the essence of the basic principles of a European state and the specificity of their adoption in contemporary Russia. The study authors concluded that the implementation of the above principles in practice of political and legal development in Russia is associated with the activity of its civil society, in dialectical interaction with the state.peer-reviewe

State stimulation of development of small entrepreneurship in developing countries

Purpose – This article offers a hypothesis that small business cannot activate in developing countries without state stimulation, as distortion of market mechanism does not allow creating necessary competitive environment and eliminating incoming barriers. The purpose of the article is to verify this hypothesis, determine perspective, and develop recommendations for state stimulation of development of small entrepreneurship in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach – As methods of conduct of scientific research, this work uses the method of systemic, problem, comparative, and structural & functional analysis, as well as method of modeling and formalization. Findings – The authors determine specifics and role of small entrepreneurship in developing countries. The work views practice of state regulation of development of small entrepreneurship in developing countries, which allowed determining positive and negative aspects of such management and barriers for development of small business. Originality/value – The largest scientific novelty and value belongs to the developed proprietary model and recommendations for stimulation of development of small entrepreneurship in developing countries.peer-reviewe

Control of the Transdermal Delivery Process of Active Substances of the Phytocomplex during Phonophoresis in Model Experiments

BACKGROUND: The scientific substantiation for the selection of therapeutically significant dosage of phytocomplex in the dosage form for phonophoresis, control over the delivery of active substances into the body, and what affects this process require the study of the kinetics of phytocomplex flavonoids delivery during phonophoresis. AIM: The aim was to study the possibilities of controlling the process of transdermal delivery of phytocomplex active substances (flavonoids) during phonophoresis in vitro model experiments. METHODS: Working compositions with different concentrations of phytocomplex for phonophoresis were used. The content of flavonoids in the compositions was determined using the spectrophotometric method and was calculated equivalent to quercetin, the flavonoid prevailing in the phytocomplex. The study of the kinetics of flavonoids delivery from working compositions was carried out using Franz diffusion cells and Carbosyl-P membranes. The authors determined the main parameters of the process and established the dependence of the delivery rate of flavonoids on their initial concentration in the working composition. The authors studied the effect of dimethyl sulfoxide and the base-forming substances of the working composition on the kinetics of phytocomplex flavonoid delivery during phonophoresis. RESULTS: The authors recorded an increase in the rate of delivery of the active substances from working compositions containing dimethyl sulfoxide into the model medium by almost 1.5-2 times during the first ten minutes of the experiment (approximate duration of the phonophoresis procedure). The authors proposed technological techniques for improvement of the phonophoresis method for the phytocomplex. The possibilities of control over the process of transdermal delivery of the phytocomplex active ingredients during phonophoresis in vitro model experiments were shown. CONCLUSION: The obtained results provide information for further pharmacological studies of the nature and mechanism of the effect of phytocomplex flavonoids during phonophoresis in the rehabilitation of patients with osteoarthrosis

Detection of angiospastic disorders in the microcirculatory bed using laser diagnostics technologies

The evaluation of the microcirculatory bed functional state and the identification of angiospastic disorders with related complications, when the pathological changes are reversible, have an important role in medical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using optical noninvasive methods and the cold pressor test to solve this problem. A total of 33 patients with rheumatological diseases and 32 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Laser Doppler flowmetry, tissue reflectance oximetry and pulse oximetry were used as optical noninvasive methods. The parameters were recorded before, immediately after and 20(Formula presented.)min after the cold pressor test. Based on the measured parameters, the complex parameters of the microcirculatory bed were calculated. A detailed statistical analysis of the parameter changes for each individual in the two groups displayed diverse microcirculatory bed parameter responses upon cold exposure, with differing recovery of parameters after CPT. New diagnostic criteria were proposed for the identification of angiospastic disorders. According to the proposed criteria, 27 people of the volunteers group were confirmed to not display any disorders. In the patient group, however, 18 people were observed to have a relatively normal functional state of the microcirculatory bed, while 15 people were observed to have a possible tendency to angiospasm. To highlight the differences between a relatively normal state and presence of angiospastic disorders, statistical analysis of experimental data was carried out, which revealed significant differences. Further analysis of data with angiospastic disorders identified a relationship between their diagnoses and the results of laboratory studies. Thus, the evaluation of combined noninvasive optical diagnostic method use, the cold pressor test and proposed diagnostic criteria showed a positive result. This approach can be used to detect the presence of possible angiospastic disorders and related complications, as well as microcirculatory bed disorders against the background of other diseases

Influence of Flavonoids on the Cytotoxic Activity of Mononuclear Blood Cells in Model Tests

BACKGROUND: The spread of phytocomplex application and justification of its selective effects on tumour cells (mainly due to the presence of flavonoids) require research of its cytotoxic and immunomodulatory activity. AIM: The goal was to study the direct cytotoxic effect of the phytocomplex and its modulating effect on the cytotoxic activity of the donor's mononuclear blood cells in in vitro experiments. METHODS: The phytocomplex was a dry extract from marsh cinquefoil, creeping alfalfa and common hop; its main active ingredients were flavonoids. Transplantable monolayer cultures of lung adenocarcinoma, colorectal cancer, erythroblastic leukaemia, and fibroblasts were used as target cells. The cytotoxic activity was assessed using a cytotoxic test based on the selective ability to live cells to reduce MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethyltriazol-2-yl]-2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) to formazan in mitochondria. Quantitative determination of formazan was performed using spectrophotometry. RESULTS: A direct cytotoxic effect of the phytocomplex in concentrations of at least 2.5 mg/ml on tumour cells has been established. Its modulating effect on the cytotoxic activity of mononuclear blood cells at a concentration of 0.05 mg/ml was shown. The phytocomplex in doses of 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml increased the killer activity of the mononuclear cells in a diseased person's blood, but did not affect these blood cells in a healthy donor. Incubation of lymphocytes with a phytocomplex for 24 hours increased the cytotoxic activity of mononuclear cells by 20-25%. CONCLUSION: The direct cytotoxic effect of the phytocomplex and its modulating effect on the cytotoxic activity of mononuclear blood cells in model experiments in vitro have been established

Water-Based Suspensions of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles with Electrostatic or Steric Stabilization by Chitosan: Fabrication, Characterization and Biocompatibility

Present day biomedical applications, including magnetic biosensing, demand better understanding of the interactions between living systems and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs). In this work spherical MNPs of maghemite were obtained by a highly productive laser target evaporation technique. XRD analysis confirmed the inverse spinel structure of the MNPs (space group Fd-3m). The ensemble obeyed a lognormal size distribution with the median value 26.8 nm and dispersion 0.362. Stabilized water-based suspensions were fabricated using electrostatic or steric stabilization by the natural polymer chitosan. The encapsulation of the MNPs by chitosan makes them resistant to the unfavorable factors for colloidal stability typically present in physiological conditions such as pH and high ionic force. Controlled amounts of suspensions were used for in vitro experiments with human blood mononuclear leukocytes (HBMLs) in order to study their morphofunctional response. For sake of comparison the results obtained in the present study were analyzed together with our previous results of the study of similar suspensions with human mesenchymal stem cells. Suspensions with and without chitosan enhanced the secretion of cytokines by a 24-h culture of HBMLs compared to a control without MNPs. At a dose of 2.3, the MTD of chitosan promotes the stimulating effect of MNPs on cells. In the dose range of MNPs 10-1000 MTD, chitosan "inhibits" cellular secretory activity compared to MNPs without chitosan. Both suspensions did not caused cell death by necrosis, hence, the secretion of cytokines is due to the enhancement of the functional activity of HBMLs. Increased accumulation of MNP with chitosan in the cell fraction at 100 MTD for 24 h exposure, may be due to fixation of chitosan on the outer membrane of HBMLs. The discussed results can be used for an addressed design of cell delivery/removal incorporating multiple activities because of cell capability to avoid phagocytosis by immune cells. They are also promising for the field of biosensor development for the detection of magnetic labels