Antiarrhythmic and antioxidant activity of novel pyrrolidin-2-one derivatives with adrenolytic properties

A series of novel pyrrolidin-2-one derivatives (17 compounds) with adrenolytic properties was evaluated for antiarrhythmic, electrocardiographic and antioxidant activity. Some of them displayed antiarrhythmic activity in barium chloride-induced arrhythmia and in the rat coronary artery ligation-reperfusion model, and slightly decreased the heart rate, prolonged P–Q, Q–T intervals and QRS complex. Among them, compound EP-40 (1-[2-hydroxy-3-[4-[(2-hydroxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl]propyl]pyrrolidin-2-one showed excellent antiarrhythmic activity. This compound had significantly antioxidant effect, too. The present results suggest that the antiarrhythmic effect of compound EP-40 is related to their adrenolytic and antioxidant properties. A biological activity prediction using the PASS software shows that compound EP-35 and EP-40 can be characterized by antiischemic activity; whereas, compound EP-68, EP-70, EP-71 could be good tachycardia agents

Estimates of solutions for parabolic differential and difference functional equations and applications

The theorems on the estimates of solutions for nonlinear second-order partial differential functional equations of parabolic type with Dirichlet's condition and for suitable implicit finite difference functional schemes are proved. The proofs are based on the comparison technique. The convergent and stable difference method is considered without the assumption of the global generalized Perron condition posed on the functional variable but with the local one only. It is a consequence of our estimates theorems. In particular, these results cover quasi-linear equations. However, such equations are also treated separately. The functional dependence is of the Volterra type

Handel przetworzonymi produktami żywnościowymi Unii Europejskiej – podejście grawitacyjne

A significant feature of world trade development is the diminishing role of developed countries in the international agri-food market. The share of the European Union in processed food export has been reducing steadily from 2000, giving place to developing countries at the same time. Considering studies devoted to the factors influencing bilateral trade, the question to what extent the trade of processed food depends on consumer preferences represented by absolute differences of GDP per capita (Linder hypothesis), geography, and trade liberalization remains open. It is interesting in the context of the new demand-oriented trade theory and the globalization process that causes a shrinking distance. The main purpose of the paper is to indicate the impact of consumer preferences and geography on the export value of processed food of EU countries in 2000-2019. To achieve this goal, the gravity model was constructed and estimated via Hausman-Taylor panel regression. The dependent variable was the bilateral export value of processed food of EU countries. The independent variables included GDP, geographical distance between partners, differences of GDP per capita of exporters and importers as a proxy of the Linder hypothesis, membership in a preferential trade agreement, and being landlocked. Research confirmed the validity of the Linder hypothesis and the significance of geography and regional trade integration in shaping the export value of processed food of EU countries.Istotną cechą rozwoju handlu światowego jest malejąca rola krajów rozwiniętych w międzynarodowym rynku rolno-żywnościowym. Udział Unii Europejskiej w eksporcie żywności przetworzonej od 2000 roku systematycznie malał, ustępując jednocześnie miejsca krajom rozwijającym się. Biorąc pod uwagę badania poświęcone czynnikom wpływającym na handel dwustronny, otwarte pozostaje pytanie, w jakim stopniu handel żywnością przetworzoną zależy od preferencji konsumentów (hipoteza Lindera), geografii i liberalizacji handlu. Jest to interesujące w kontekście nowej teorii handlu zorientowanej na popyt lub procesu globalizacji przekładającej się na skracanie odległości. Głównym celem artykułu jest wskazanie wpływu preferencji konsumentów oraz geografii na wartość eksportu przetworzonej żywności z krajów UE w latach 2000-2019. Skonstruowano i oszacowano model grawitacji za pomocą regresji panelowej Hausmana-Taylora. Zmienną zależną była bilateralna wartość eksportu przetworzonej żywności z krajów UE. Zmiennymi niezależnymi były: PKB, odległość geograficzna między partnerami, różnice w PKB per capita eksportera i importera jako wyznacznik hipotezy Lindera, członkostwo w preferencyjnej umowie handlowej oraz brak dostępu do morza. Badanie potwierdziło słuszność hipotezy Lindera oraz znaczenie geografii i regionalnej integracji handlowej w kształtowaniu wartości eksportu żywności przetworzonej z krajów UE

A finite difference method for nonlinear parabolic-elliptic systems of second-order partial differential equations

This paper deals with a finite difference method for a wide class of weakly coupled nonlinear second-order partial differential systems with initial condition and weakly coupled nonlinear implicit boundary conditions. One part of each system is of the parabolic type (degenerated parabolic equations) and the other of the elliptic type (equations with a parameter) in a cube in R1+n. A suitable finite difference scheme is constructed. It is proved that the scheme has a unique solution, and the numerical method is consistent, convergent and stable. The error estimate is given. Moreover, by the method, the differential problem has at most one classical solution. The proof is based on the Banach fixed-point theorem, the maximum principle for difference functional systems of the parabolic type and some new difference inequalities. It is a new technique of studying the mixed-type systems. Examples of physical applications and numerical experiments are presented

Psychological state estimation from physiological recordings during robot-assisted gait rehabilitation

Robot-assisted treadmill training is an established intervention used to improve walking ability in patients with neurological disorders. Although it has been shown that attention to the task is a key factor for successful rehabilitation, the psychological state of patients during robot-assisted gait therapy is often neglected. We presented 17 nondisabled subjects and 10 patients with neurological disorders a virtual-reality task with varying difficulty levels to induce feelings of being bored, excited, and overstressed. We developed an approach to automatically estimate and classify a patient's psychological state, i.e., his or her mental engagement, in real time during gait training. We used psychophysiological measurements to obtain an objective measure of the current psychological state. Automatic classification was performed by a neural network. We found that heart rate, skin conductance responses, and skin temperature can be used as markers for psychological states in the presence of physical effort induced by walking. The classifier achieved a classification error of 1.4% for nondisabled subjects and 2.1% for patients with neurological disorders. Using our new method, we processed the psychological state data in real time. Our method is a first step toward real-time auto-adaptive gait training with potential to improve rehabilitation results by optimally challenging patients at all times during exercise

Determination of immunoglobulin concentrations and genetic parameters for colostrum and calf serum in Charolais animals

International audienceColostrum samples from 366 Charolais primiparous cows, as well as serum from their calves at 24 to 48 h of age, were collected to gain an overview of the situation regarding passive immune transfer in beef cattle, from both the phenotypic and genetic points of view. All samples were analyzed to quantify their G1 immunoglobulins by radial immunodiffusion (RID) and their IgG, IgA, and IgM using ELISA. The average concentrations obtained in colostrum were 84 mg/mL for RID-IgG1, and 158 mg/mL, 4.5 mg/mL and 10.8 mg/mL for ELISA-IgG, -IgA, and -IgM, respectively. The corresponding values in calf serum were 19.9, 30.6, 1.0, and 1.9 mg/mL. Apart from the general environmental effect (farm-year combination and laboratory conditions), the characteristics of the dams tested did not reveal any influence on colostrum immunoglobulin concentrations. Calving difficulty, as well as the birth weight and sex of calves, were found to be associated with serum concentrations in some cases. Heritability estimates were low to moderate, with the highest being for RID-IgG1 in colostrum (h2 = 0.28, standard error = 0.14) and serum (h2 = 0.36, standard error = 0.18). Phenotypic correlations among the different immunoglobulins were generally positive or null, and none of the genetic correlations were significant due to large standard errors. The phenotypic correlation between dam colostrum and calf serum values was 0.2 for RID-IgG1 and null for the 3 ELISA measurements. The correlation between RID-IgG1 and ELISA-IgG was, unexpectedly, null for colostrum and 0.4 for serum. Increased RID-IgG1 levels in calf serum were associated with improved survival, as well as better early growth and fewer health problems. These results thus showed that despite generally higher concentrations in beef than in dairy cattle, passive transfer was unsuccessful in a considerable number of calves. This should be brought to the attention of breeders to avoid negative effects on survival and subsequent performance. The heritability estimates were encouraging; however, obtaining phenotypes on a large scale constitutes a real limitation regarding these traits