Efficacy and safety of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate in patients with baseline serum potassium level ≥ 5.5 mmol/L: pooled analysis from two phase 3 trials.

BackgroundReliable, timely-onset, oral treatments with an acceptable safety profile for patients with hyperkalemia are needed. We examined the efficacy and safety of sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC; formerly ZS-9) treatment for ≤ 48 h in patients with baseline serum potassium level ≥ 5.5 mmol/L.MethodsData were pooled from two phase 3 studies (ZS-003 and HARMONIZE) among patients receiving SZC 10 g three times daily. Outcomes included mean and absolute change from baseline, median time to potassium level ≤ 5.5 and ≤ 5.0 mmol/L, and proportion achieving potassium level ≤ 5.5 and ≤ 5.0 mmol/L at 4, 24, and 48 h. Outcomes were stratified by baseline potassium. Safety outcomes were evaluated.ResultsAt baseline, 125 of 170 patients (73.5%) had potassium level 5.5-< 6.0, 39 (22.9%) had potassium level 6.0-6.5, and 6 (3.5%) had potassium level > 6.5 mmol/L. Regardless of baseline potassium, mean potassium decreased at 1 h post-initial dose. By 4 and 48 h, 37.5% and 85.0% of patients achieved potassium level ≤ 5.0 mmol/L, respectively. Median (95% confidence interval) times to potassium level ≤ 5.5 and ≤ 5.0 mmol/L were 2.0 (1.1-2.0) and 21.6 (4.1-22.4) h, respectively. Fifteen patients (8.8%) experienced adverse events; none were serious.ConclusionsSZC 10 g three times daily achieved serum potassium reduction and normokalemia, with a favorable safety profile.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: ZS-003: NCT01737697 and HARMONIZE: NCT02088073

Improvement of Impaired Memory in Mice by Taurine

Taurine was extracted from Pegasus later-narius Cuvier to study its effects on learning and memory in mice. Mice were treated with different doses of taurine (10 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg). The mice were treated with various chemical agents (pentobarbital, cycloheximide, sodium nitrite, alcohol) to disrupt the normal memory process. We measured the effect of taurine on step-down latency (SDL) and escape latency (EL) in a passive avoidance task after 10 or 30 days. Treatment with taurine alone did not change either SDL or EL. Taurine protected mice .from the memory disruption induced by alcohol, pentobarbital, sodium nitrite, and cycloheximide but had no obvious effect on motor coordination, exploratory activity, or locomotor activity as measured using the rota-rod test and the hole board test. We conclude that taurine can be effective in attenuating the amnesia produced by alcohol, pentobarbital, cycloheximide, and sodium nitrite without compromising the behavioral aspects of the animals tested

Evaluating the Durability Properties of Self Compacting Concrete made with Recycled Concrete Aggregates

This paper reports the durability properties of Self Compacting Concrete (SCC) made with Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) as partial/full replacement of Natural Coarse Aggregates (NCA). The effect of RCA on fresh properties of SCCs was measured using slump flow test, V-funnel test, L-box test and J-ring test. Whereas the durability properties like such as initial surface absorption, water permeability, capillary suction and rapid chloride penetrability were investigated to study the effect of varying content of RCA on SCC. The compressive strength of different SCC mixes was also determined for reference. The results indicate that increasing the content of RCA in SCC leads to deterioration in durability related properties of SCC. The compressive strength has also been found to decrease with increasing RCA content.  It has been seen that the reduction in the performance has been marginal up to 50% replacement level of RCA, but 100% replacement of RCA has been found to significantly affect the durability related properties and compressive strength

Abordagens Terceiro-Mundistas para o Direito Internacional: um manifesto

O processo de globalização tem tido efeitos deletérios no bem-estar das populações de terceiro mundo. O direito internacional desenvolve um papel crucial ao ajudar na legitimização e manutenção de processos e estruturas desiguais que se manifestam através da crescente divisão Norte-Sul. Infelizmente, as TWAIL (abordagens terceiro-mundistas ao direito internacional) não têm sido capaz de criticar efetivamente o direito internacional neoliberal e tampouco de projetar uma visão alternativa do direito internacional. Este artigo busca dar um pequeno passo nessa direção, apresentando uma crítica à globalização do direito internacional e propondo um conjunto de estratégias voltadas para a criação de uma ordem mundial baseada na justiça social. O objetivo é de iniciar um debate sobre o assunto e não de fazer uma afirmação definitiva. O trabalho está dividido em cinco seções. A Seção II considera se ainda faz sentido falar sobre um “terceiro mundo”. A Seção III discute as diferentes maneiras pelas quais a relação entre o Estado e o direito internacional está sendo reconstituída na era da globalização, em clara desvantagem aos Estados e povos do Terceiro Mundo. A Seção IV examina a ideologia da globalização do direito internacional. A Seção V analisa a teoria e o processo de resistência às leis internacionais injustas e opressivas. A Seção VI identifica certos elementos de uma agenda futura das TWAIL. Seção VII contém breves observações finais

Efficiency factors for bottle-shaped struts in deep beams Made of recycled coarse aggregate

Based on reanalysis of the shear test results of reinforced concrete beam specimens made of recycled coarse aggregates reported in the literature, this study points out that the strut-and-tie modeling (STM) provisions developed for natural coarse aggregate concrete can be applied to recycled coarse aggregate concrete with no reduction in the efficiency factors of bottle-shaped struts. The experimentally obtained strut efficiency factors in beams made of recycled coarse aggregate concrete were comparable to those in beams made of natural coarse aggregate concrete. The study also highlights lack of conservatism in the STM provisions of current design codes irrespective of the type of coarse aggregates used