Superstar Central Bankers

The personalities of central bankers moved center stage during the recent financial crisis. Some central bankers even gained superstar status. In this paper, we evaluate the pivotal role of superstar central bankers by assessing the difference an outstanding governor makes to economic performance. We employ school grades given to central bankers by the financial press. A superstar central banker is one receiving the top grade. In a probit estimation we first relate the grades to measures of economic performance, institutional features, and personal characteristics. We then employ a nearest neighbor matching approach to identify the central bankers which are closest to those receiving the top grade and compare the economic performance across both groups. The results suggest that a superstar governor indeed matters: a top-graded central banker faces a significantly more favorable output-inflation trade-off than his peers

Development And In Vitro Evaluation Of Pantoprazole-Loaded Microspheres

Pantoprazole is a proton pump inhibitor prodrug used in the treatment of gastric ulcers and gastroesophageal disease. Pantoprazole must be absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and because it is unstable under acidic conditions, enteric delivery systems are required. The purpose of this study was to prepare pantoprazole-loaded microspheres by emulsion-solvent evaporation technique using two different types of enteric-coating polymers: Eudragit S 100 and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phtalate. The microspheres have been characterized in terms of their morphology, encapsulation efficiency, and ability of stabilizing pantoprazole in acidic media. Pantoprazole determinations were carried out using a validated spectrophotometric method for the analysis of drug in dissolution media. All microspheres, except F2 formulation, were successfully obtained. The in vitro assay showed that especially F1 and F4 microspheres were more effective in protecting the drug than F3 microspheres in acidic media.WoSScopu

Antioxidative enzyme activities in Brassica juncea L. and Brassica oleracea L. plants under chromium stress

Chromium (Cr) is one of the most common heavy-metal contaminant in groundwater, soil and sediments. Cr is a toxic element that occurs in highly variable oxidation states. Since Cr (VI) is a strong oxidant, it may cause severe oxidative stress in plant tissue. However, the antioxidative responses of plants to excess Cr have not been studied critically. Thus, the present study was undertaken to assess antioxidative responses of Brassica juncea L. and Brassica oleracea L. plants as models because of their phytoremediation capacity of metal enriched soils under different levels of Cr (VI) treatments. Seedlings were grown in 15 cm x 17 cm pots containing turf mixture in a greenhouse for 6 weeks. Then plants were irrigated with the solutions containing 0, 0.05, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mM Cr (VI) for 10 weeks. Fully expanded leaves were collected from the plants at the end of the treatments for catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) analyses. Even though both species showed a similar trend in response to Cr (VI) treatments, the total enzyme activities were higher in Brassica oleracea L. than in Brassica juncea L. Cr (VI) treatments significantly decreased the activities of CAT depending on the Cr concentrations in both species. After the significant increase, a sharp decrease was observed in the activity of APX and GR in both species. Data indicated that a coordinated increase in APX and GR activities in both Brassica species under Cr stress played a role as signals to protect the plants from Cr-induced stress

Determination of ketorolac tromethamine in human eye samples by HPLC with photo diode-array detection

A sensitive and selective reversed-phase HPLC method for analysis of ketorolac in aqueous and vitreous humor from the human eye has been developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a 250 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5-mu m particle, C-18 analytical column. Photo diode-array detection was performed at 314 nm. Response was a linear function of ketorolac concentration from 10 to 800 ng mL(-1). The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were 3.0 and 10 ng mL(-1), respectively. Intra-day and inter-day bias were less than 2.05 and 2.28%, respectively, and intra-day and inter-day RSD were no higher than 3.60 and 5.80%, respectively. Fluid obtained from patients eyes' after topical application of Acular eye drops before retina decolman surgery was analyzed by use of the method. The method enabled successful quantification of levels of ketorolac in aqueous and vitreous humor

Increased use of catheters as vascular access: is it justified by patients' clinical conditions?

WOS: 000254092000004PubMed ID: 17393367Background: Over the last years many technical improvements have been made in hemodialysis treatment. Vascular access (VA) still remains an important problem. Although the use of indwelling vascular catheters is discouraged, in Europe there is an increasing use of them. The K/DOQI Guidelines recommend a native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) as VA of choice. As reported by DOPPS, there is considerable geographic variation in the distribution of type of VA used amongst hemodialysis patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the time patients in four European countries have to wait before undergoing their first surgery for VA (AVF or graft). Methods: All incident patients admitted to HD clinics located in Turkey, Italy, the UK and Portugal of the European FME clinics network between October 1, 2002 and September 30, 2004 were considered. Data were gained from the Clinical Database EuCliD (R). Results: 2,152 patients (males 55.9%, mean age 62.5 +/- 15.7 years, diabetics 27%) were selected. Italy and Portugal had a higher proportion of elderly patients. At time of admission, the proportion of patients starting dialysis with AVF ranged between 23% and 60% from Turkey to Italy respectively. Patients with an indwelling catheter at admission are expected to undergo VA surgery as soon as possible. After 3 months of follow-up, about 75% of all patients had undergone surgery, however in the UK less than 50% of the patients had had a VA procedure. Overall, males have significantly higher probability of undergoing surgery, whilst elderly patients have a lower probability (27% and 14% respectively). Conclusion: Significant differences exist between countries in the time interval from referral to creation of VA. Health care system related problems seem to be the major reason to explain such differences. Patients in the UK have longer waiting times than the other countries studied

Subretinal fluid levels of topical, oral, and combined administered ciprofloxacin in humans

AIMS—To investigate the subretinal fluid (SRF) penetration of ciprofloxacin following topical, oral, and combined administration.
METHODS—34 patients undergoing conventional retinal reattachment surgery were randomly assigned to three groups. Twelve patients received topical ciprofloxacin, 11 patients received oral ciprofloxacin, and the other 11 patients received combined drug administration. SRF drug level was measured by using high performance liquid chromatography method.
RESULTS—The highest drug concentrations of all tested modes were attained following combined administration and lowest following topical administration (p <0.001). The SRF drug concentration following oral administration was also significantly higher than that of topical administration (p <0.001). Concentrations after oral and combined administration did not differ significantly (p = 0.217).
CONCLUSIONS—Topical ciprofloxacin can penetrate SRF. Ocular bioavailability of ciprofloxacin in SRF after oral and combined administration is equivalent.


Blood transfusion in the erythropoietin ERA: Is it still an issue?

42nd Annual Meeting of the European-Renal-Association/European-Dialysis-and-Transplant-Association (ERA-EDTA) -- JUN 04-07, 2005 -- Istanbul, TURKEYWOS: 000234376901386European Renal Assoc, European Dialysis & Transplant Asso