EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF FIXED RAMIPRIL + FELODIPINE COMBINATION IN TREATMENT OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY-FORECAST

Approximately 30-50% of the world's adult population suffer from arterial hypertension, and only 30-35% is successfully treated. A large number of patients with arterial hypertension require a combination of antihypertensive medications to achieve target blood pressure. The ESH/ESC recommendations suggest the use of fixed dose combinations for treatment simplification and improved adherence to treatment.The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of fixed ramipril + felodipine combination in therapy of essential arterial hypertension.This multicentric, cross-sectional, non-interventional study evaluated 1.341 adult patients with essential arterial hypertension, defined by systolic and diastolic blood pressure increase (BP≥140/90 mmHg), only systolic blood pressure increase or antihypertensive therapy usage. All patients were treated with fixed-dose combination therapy ramipril + felodipine (5+5mg and 2.5+2.5mg) (Triapin® and Triapin mite®) therapy for at least two months. Efficacy was evaluated by proportion of patients who achieved target blood pressure values (<140/90 mmHg and <130/80 mmHg in diabetics) or defined blood pressure reduction (≥15/10mmHg). Safety of ramipril + felodipine therapy was evaluated based on the incidence of adverse events (AE) and therapy discontinuation rate during observational period. Therapy prescription was based on physician decision according to everyday clinical practice and 15 consecutive eligible patients were enrolled by each physician from the cohort of hypertensive patients treated in ambulatory setting.Patient population consisted of 647 (48.4%) males and 690 (51.7%) females (mean age 60.15±11.84 and mean duration of hypertension 9.5±7.34 years). Males were significantly younger (58.74±15.5 vs. 61.45±11.04, p<0.01) without difference in body mass index. There were 47.5% of patients with stage II, 29.2% with stage I and 23.3% with stage III. There was a significant reduction of systolic/diastolic BP and heart rate in patients with ramipril + felodipine combination (162.6±17/97.2±9 mmHg and 79.4±12/min) compared to baseline values prior to treatment (136.9±17/84.2±9 mmHg and 73.2±10 /min, p<0.01). Group with Triapin mite had lower reduction of systolic/diastolic BP compared to Triapin 21.4±15.9/11.6±9.8 vs. 28.9±19.2/14.1±11.0 mmHg and lower reduction of heart rate 6.1 vs. 6.3 /min (p<0.01). In total, 39.3% of patients reached target BP with or without target BP reduction, 30.0% reached only BP reduction and 30.7% did not reach target values. More patients reached target BP (48.4 vs 32.%) and less achieved defined BP reduction (18.8 vs. 38.9%) on Triapin mite therapy compared to Triapin (p<0.01). The proportion of patients who failed to reach any of these endpoints is similar in both treatment modalities. AEs were present in 34 patients (2.5%): headache in 9 (0.7%), lower leg swelling in 8 (0.6%) and dry cough in 4 (0.2%) cases – these were reported as the most frequent. None of reported adverse events was serious. Therapy continuation was reported in 92.6% of patients. Reasons for therapy discontinuation were insufficient drug efficacy in 29 (2.2%) patients; AE in 28 (2.1%) patients and other reasons in 34 (2.6%) patients. Triapin therapy efficacy and safety evaluated by physicians were: excellent efficacy in 824 (61.4%) patients and excellent safety in 870 (64.9%) patients.Fixed dose combination of ramipril + felodipine was shown to be an effective antihypertensive therapy in patients with essential arterial hypertension and an alternative approach to monotherapy for the initial management of essential hypertension. Small proportion of patients discontinued from ramipril+felodipine therapy and rare AEs indicate excellent safety profile

Smanjenje šuma i osjetljivosti uporabom SC filtara

The discrete time switched capacitor (SC) based filters have number of advantages over the classical continuous time active RC based filters, the one most important being reduced circuit silicon area, allowing SC filters to be integrated to a single monolithic integrated circuit (IC). In this paper we have designed fifth order Chebyshev low pass SC filter, with a cut-off frequency f_x=3.4 kHz, and pass-band ripple a_ma x =-0.5 dB, and we have compared its time and frequency performance with a performance of the active RC based filter. The both SC and active RC filters are realized as a cascade of two second order sections and one first order section. All filter analysis has been performed using MATLAB and SPICE program packages where SC based filter has shown significant noise and sensitivity improvement, when compared with active RC based filter.Vremensko diskretni filtri s preklapanim kapacitetima imaju niz prednosti nad klasičnim vremensko kontinuiranim aktivnim RC filtrima. Jedna od važnijih prednosti jest smanjena površina silicija, omogućavajući integraciju filtra u integriranoj thenologiji (IC). U ovom radu dizajniran je Chebyshev nisko propusni filtar s preklapanim kapacitetima s graničnom frekvencijom f_c = 3.4 kHz i valovitosti alpha_max = -0.5 dB, te su mu vremenska i frekvencijska svojstva uspoređena sa svojstvima aktivnog RC filtra. Oba filtra realizirana su kao kaskada dviju sekcija drugog reda te jedne sekcije prvog reda. Analiza oba filtra izvršena je u MATLAB i SPICE programskim paketima, te je kod SC filtra pokazano znatno smanjenje šuma i osjetljivosti u usporedbi s aktivnim RC filtrom

Primena funkcionalnih normi za regularizaciju rangiranja nad temporalnim podacima

Quantifying the properties of interest is an important problem in many domains, e.g., assessing the condition of a patient, estimating the risk of an investment or relevance of the search result. However, the properties of interest are often latent and hard to assess directly, making it dicult to obtain classication or regression labels, which are needed to learn a predictive models from observable features. In such cases, it is typically much easier to obtain relative comparison of two instances, i.e. to assess which one is more intense (with respect to the property of interest). One framework able to learn from such kind of supervised information is ranking SVM, and it will make a basis of our approach...Kvantikovanje osobina (karakteristika) od interesa je vazan problem u mnogim domenima, npr. utvrdivanje tezine bolesti kod pacijenata, ocena rizika investicije ili relevantnost vracenih rezultata pretrage. Medutim, osobine od interesa su cesto latentne i tesko se mogu izmeriti direktno, sto otezava dobijanje klasikacionih oznaka (labela) ili ciljeva za regresiju, koji su potrebni za ucenje prediktivnih modela iz merljivih karakteristika. U takvim slucajevima obicno je mnogo lakse pribaviti relativno poredenje dva slucaja, tj. proceniti koji od dva je intenzivniji (iz ugla karakteristike od interesa). Jedna klasa algoritama koji mogu uciti iz ovakvih informacija je SVM za rangiranje i on ce biti osnova ovde predlozenog pristupa..

Noise and sensitivity comparison for different BP filter designs

In this paper, the analysis of noise and sensitivity for different BP filter designs is observed. Calculation of the voltage noise spectral density, root mean square (RMS) value of the noise voltage, Schoeffler sensitivity and the multi-parameter sensitivity is done for the simply designed (SD) active RC, noise and sensitivity optimized (NO and SO) active RC, operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA-C) and switched capacitor (SC) filter designs. This is observed for the fourth-order Chebyshev band-pass filter, with central frequency fc = 4 kHz, bandwidth 1 kHz and pass-band ripple αmax = −0.1 dB. Cascade of two second-order sections is used for fulfilment realization of all four observing designs. Programming tools, such as MATLAB and SPICE (LTspice), are also used for the analyses. Highlights • We used three different designs and optimization (noise and sensitivity) procedure for design and optimize the fourth-order Chebyshev band-pass filter • Our results suggest which design is best to use for improving noise and sensitivity of this filter • MATLAB and SPICE software were used for calculations and simulations of different band-pass filter designs and analysis of noise and sensitivit

An increase of hydro-aggregate's installed power and efficiency factor before the revitalization phase

The revitalization of hydro-aggregates should be performed before the life-time expiry of most their parts. But, as in our practice aggregates have been under exploitation much longer then theoretical life-time advices (40, even 50 years), there is a need to estimate the equipment's condition through more sophisticated monitoring, providing the maximum level of safety and availability with minimum investment expenses, before the revitalization finally takes place. That estimation is based on appropriating calculations and measurements needed to take the competent decision. Results of that analysis can be also useful for estimation of the aggregate's power and parameters after the revitalization. In this paper the results of appropriate calculations and measurements for the Hydropower station HE Zvornik are given

An increase of hydro-aggregate's installed power and efficiency factor before the revitalization phase

The revitalization of hydro-aggregates should be performed before the life-time expiry of most their parts. But, as in our practice aggregates have been under exploitation much longer then theoretical life-time advices (40, even 50 years), there is a need to estimate the equipment's condition through more sophisticated monitoring, providing the maximum level of safety and availability with minimum investment expenses, before the revitalization finally takes place. That estimation is based on appropriating calculations and measurements needed to take the competent decision. Results of that analysis can be also useful for estimation of the aggregate's power and parameters after the revitalization. In this paper the results of appropriate calculations and measurements for the Hydropower station HE Zvornik are given

Correlation of Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO-2) with Endoscopic and Histological Features in Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease Patients

Background and Objectives. Determination of inflammatory bowel disease activity determines further therapeutic approach and follow-up. The aim of our study was to investigate correlation between patients' reported symptoms and endoscopic and histological disease activity. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in consecutive newly diagnosed patients with inflammatory bowel disease in a tertiary care referral center. The initial evaluation included patient-reported outcome for stool frequency subscore and rectal bleeding. Endoscopic activity was determined using the Mayo scoring system for ulcerative colitis and the Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's disease. Histopathological activity was assessed using a validated numeric scoring system. Results. We included 159 patients (63 Crohn's disease with colonic involvement and 96 with ulcerative colitis). We found significant correlation between the Mayo endoscopic subscoring system and histology activity in ulcerative colitis, while no correlation was found in patients with Crohn's disease. Patient-reported outcome showed inverse correlation with endoscopic and histological activity in Crohn's disease (rs=-0.67; rs=-0.72), while positive correlation was found in ulcerative colitis (rs=0.84; rs=0.75). Interpretation and Conclusions. Patient-reported outcome is a practical and noninvasive tool for assessment of disease activity in ulcerative colitis patients but not in Crohn's disease

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Artemisia alba Turra

The essential oil of the fresh plant material of Artemisia alba Turra (collected in Dimitrovgrad, Serbia) was hydrodistilled using a Clevenger-type apparatus and the obtained essential oil was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The yield of the essential oil was 0.057%, w/w (based on the weight of fresh plant material). Two hundred and eleven different constituents were identified in the volatile fraction of A. alba amounting to 98.3% of the total oil. The major volatiles detected were germacrene D (27.8%), trans-p-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol (13.3%), an isomer of santalone (7.8%) and 1,8-cineole (5.6%). The antioxidant activity was screened using two different tests: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay (DPPH) [1] and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) radical cation decolorization assay (ABTS) [2] and the results were quantified as Trolox equivalents (TE) per milligram of the essential oil weight. The antioxidant activity determined by the DPPH assay was 23.3 μg TE/mg of the essential oil, whereas ABTS was 4.5 μg TE/mg of the essential oil. Double bonds existing in the dominant compounds of the essential oil (germacrene D, trans-p-mentha-2,8-dien-1-ol) could potentially be free radical binders, which can explain the scavenging activity of the essential oil by free radical inhibition

Investigation of photo(electro)catalytic efficiency of BaTi1-xSnx, ZnO and ZnO@BaTi1-xSnx (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10) powders

The aim of this research was to improve photo(electro)catalytic properties of BaTi1-xSnx (BTS, x = 0, 0.05, 0.10) powders. For that purpose we employed ZnO to prepare ZnO@BTS composite. In situ microwave processing of a ZnO precipitate on previously synthesized BTS particles was used to produce ZnO@BTS composites. The phase composition and crystal structure of BTS, ZnO and ZnO@BTS were examined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The powders particles morphology was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The optical properties were studied using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Linear voltammetry was used to examine the photoelectrochemical properties of the materials. Photocatalytic properties were tested based on the decolorization of methylene blue (MB) dye in the presence of powder particles, under the influence of simulated sunlight radiation. BTS powders have good electron transfer properties, which has been shown in their function as electrocatalysts, where they have shown better properties than ZnO and ZnO@BTS composites. In contrast, they showed poor photocatalytic efficacy. The precipitation of ZnO particles on BTS, by the method of microwave processing, significantly improves the photocatalytic efficiency of the formed composites, concerning the starting BTS powders. Among the composites, ZnO@BT composite proved to be the most effective photocatalyst

Bioinformatic characterization and validation of miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of oral cancer

Oral cancer is the most prevalent type of head and neck cancer, characterized by rising incidence, high relapse occurrence and low survival. There is a high demand for the identification of novel and sensitive diagnostic and prognostic molecular biomarkers of oral cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considered as promising candidates. Previously conducted meta-analysis on high throughput miRNA profiling in oral cancer emphasized consistent down-regulation of miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p. We aimed to validate these findings in oral cancer clinical samples and to test the diagnostic and prognostic potential of these miRNAs. Bioinformatical prediction of investigated miRNAs target genes was executed through the intersection of multiple miRNA target prediction algorithms. Enrichment analysis of miRNA target genes was performed using miRPathDB V2.0 software on GO:BP database. RNA was isolated from oral cancer and adjacent noncancerous tissue from 30 patients by miRVana kit. cDNA was synthesized by TaqMan microRNA reverse transcription kit. TaqMan gene expression kit was used for relative quantification of miRNAs normalized to RNU6B. Relative expression was calculated by comparative Ct method. The diagnostic potential was estimated by the ROC curve analysis. Expression of miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p was dichotomized as high or low by the median. Association with clinicopathological features and miRNAs expression was calculated by χ2 test. Bioinformatical analysis demonstrated both enrichment of miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p targets in biological processes associated with cancer pathology and complementarity in regulation of these processes thus ensuring non-redundant regulation. Both miRNA were significantly down-regulated in oral cancer compared to non-cancerous tissue (Wilcoxon test: p=0.0004, p=0.001, respectively). According to the ROC curve analysis, both miRNAs might be used as potential tools for discrimination between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue (miR-30a-5p AUC=0.677, p=0.019; miR-139-5p AUC=0.656, p=0.038). There was a significant correlation between the expression of miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p in cancerous tissue (Spearman rank test r=0.901, p0.05) which indicates that miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p can’t be used as prognostic biomarkers of oral cancer. Our results suggest that miR-30a-5p and miR-139-5p might be used as good diagnostic biomarkers for discrimination between oral cancer and non-cancerous tissue.Special Edition of Book of Abstract