Determination of Loratadine in Human Plasma by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Mass Spectrometry and Studies on Its Pharmacokinetics and Relative Bioavailability

A new HPLC MS method to determine loratadine in human plasma was established. The method involved extracting drug with organic solvent under basic conditions. The samples were seperated by ODS column and determined by mass detector. The calibration curve of loratadine was linear within the range of 0.4～100 ng·mL -1 with r=0.9995 . The recovery of this method was within 95%～104%, within day and between day RSD were less than 12%. To study the pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of loratadine tablets, two formulations of loratadine tablets were given to 18 healthy male volunteers according to a randomized 2 way cross over design. The C max , AUC 0 t and T max values of the two formulations were 51.89±20.18 ng·mL -1 and 52.48±22.35 ng·mL -1 ; 140.75±88.42 ng·h·mL -1 and 147.24±92.33 ng·h·mL -1 ; 0.81±0.35 h and 0.81±0.27 h respectively. Results from statistic analysis showed that there were no significant difference between the C max , AUC 0-t and T max values of the two formulations. The relative bioavailability of tablets I with respect to tablets II was 97%±13% from the AUC 0 t measurement. Bioequivalance was observed between the two tablets.

UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODEL OF ISOLATED ROTORIN LARGE-AMPLITUDE MANEUVERS

To improve the rotor off-axis response prediction, aerodynamic models must include the wake distortion effects of the maneuvering rotor. And the crux of the matter is to obtain a precise wake curvature parameter KR. A Peters-He finite-state wake model is improved to incorporate the operating-state-dependent KR to embody maneuver-induced effects. The curvature parameter KR varies with rotor forward speed, thrust and maneuvering angular rate according to a smoking experiment. Moreover, aerodynamic force/moment experiment indicates that after a quasi-step angular input, both on-axis and off-axis rotor responses show that an overshoot and its amplitude increases with the pitching rate. The comparison between theoretical and experimental results shows that the operating-state-accurate curvature parameter must be adopted to obtain accurate aerodynamic forces/moments, especially for the off-axis response. Additionally, combined with a dynamic wake distortion model, the obtained correlation agrees well with experimental data.

Treatment of dyslipidemia in the elderly

Dyshpidemia is a well-established risk factor for atherosclerosis. Treating dyslipidemia in elderly patients requires specific knowledge and understanding of common dyslipidemias and the relative safety of various pharmacologic agents in the presence of possible multiple comorbidities. Lifestyle modification remains the first step in the treatment of dyslipidemia; however, it can be difficult to sustain and achieve acceptable compliance in the elderly and it is best used in combination with drug therapy. Statins are widely accepted as the first-line therapy. Several recent studies have demonstrated that statins are safe and effective in the elderly. However, it is important to note that there is very limited data regarding the effects of dyslipidemia treatment on morbidity and mortality in patients over 85 years of age. In summary, the clinicians must recognize that the presence of dyslipidemia in the elderly poses substantial risk of coronary events and stroke. The available evidence has demonstrated that in most elderly patients who are at increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, treatment of dyslipidemia with appropriate therapy reduces the risk, and when used carefully with close monitoring for safety, the treatment is generally well tolerated. With increasing life expectancy, it is critical for physicians to recognize the importance of detection and treatment of dyslipidemia in the elderly.

Archaeoacoustics Analysis and Ceremonial Customs in an Ancient Hypogeum

The archeaoacoustic properties and the historical rituals of two ancient unaergrounu ~Ly~,u~ ~,~ v Malta is more widely known and researched; the second in Italy has been studied by SB Research Group （SBRG] and presents some similarities to the Maltese hypogeum. The results show that archaeoacoustics is an interesting new method for reanalyzing ancient sites, and it uses different study parameters to re-discover forgotten technology which operates on the human emotional sphere. The effect on the psyche of ancient people through the acoustic proprieties suggests that the builders of these sites had knowledge of this process and probably used it to enhance their rituals.

Condition to Gain More Profits and Promote Cooperation by Tit-for-Tat Strategy in Finite and Repeated Prisoner＇s Dilemma

As a basic study to prevent accidents or concealment caused by violation of rules or regulations （which are regarded as uncooperative behavior）, an attempt was made to clarify the condition necessary for promoting cooperation when the tit-for-tat strategy is adopted in the finite and repeated prisoner＇s dilemma situations. A mathematical model, in which three different strategies （tit-for-tat, all defection （individualism）, and all cooperation （altruism）） exist, was constructed in order to demonstrate the condition that can promote cooperative behaviors. As a result of an agent-agent computer simulation, it was shown that the tit-for-tat strategy promoted more cooperation than other strategies when the number of agents adopting the tit-for-tat strategy was dominant in the population and the discount parameter was larger. Next, it was explored how the tit-for-tat strategy in the finite and repeated prisoner＇s dilemma promotes cooperation using a human-agent computer simulation. In other words, the condition under which cooperative behavior is encouraged was clarified. In the simulation experiment, the discount rate was controlled as an experimental variable. As well as the first experiment above, the dominant occupation of the tit-for-tat strategy was found to lead to the promoted cooperation. Concerning the effect of discount parameter on the cooperative behavior, the cooperation rate tended to increase with the increase of discount parameter only when the t-t-for-tat strategy is dominant. As a whole, the type of change of discount parameter did not affect the cooperation rate.

Techno-psychological Aspects of Social Media Behaviors

Social media has become an inevitable part of our lives in the age of network society. People establish multiple identities for themselves, with or without references to the real world, and behave according to those identities. Self-made components of virtual presence are not limited to identities only; many users also create hyper-personalities for themselves with the help of new technologies. Then, the fundamental question becomes： Why do people create self-made identities and hyper-personalities to portray or hide themselves in social media environments？ The answer to this question has certain connections and implications for behaviors of social media users. Therefore, researchers have investigated why some people find social media attractive and attend whenever possible, while others are afraid of social media and hesitate to attend. Positive and negative behaviors of social media users can be classified as braggadocian and preventative. Braggadocian behaviors are related to courageously taking advantage of social media, whereas preventative behaviors are concerned with avoidance of social media. The dominant behavioral pattern of a user depends on what one can achieve through attending or preventing social media. This paper first discusses basic elements of human behavior that drive social media such as altruism, hedonism, connectionism, homophily, multiple identities, memetics, narcissism, and tribalism. Then, it focuses on precautionary elements of human behavior such as avoidance, escape, blocking, fear, hiding, removal, and protectionism. Whether they are attentive or not, one thing is clear： People refrain or enrich their own lives in social media rather than being abused or watching others in industrial media.

A Preliminary Study of ＂I＂ and ＂We＂ in Teachers＇ Talk in a Military Academy

This paper is a qualitative study of how and why English teachers in military academy use personal pronoun I and inclusive and exclusive we. Through analysis of teachers＇ use of/and we in the taped videos, some differences in the frequency use of inclusive we and exclusive we have been found and a number of effects the inclusive pronouns create are illustrated. Specifically, the paper reveals how 1 and we help teachers create a sense of authority in the classroom, showing how teachers are aligning with the students. Inclusive pronouns can act as a positive politeness device by imparting knowledge, organizing the contents, and highlighting the important and difficult points. It is noticed that there is fuzziness between inclusive personal pronoun and exclusive pronoun, which can be manipulated by the teacher to create authority or closeness with students.

Statins for primary cardiovascular prevention in the elderly

The elderly population is increasing worldwide, with subjects 〉 65 years of age constituting the fastest-growing age group. Furthermore, the elderly face the greatest risk and burden of cardiovascular disease mortality and morbidity. Although elderly patients, particularly those older 〉 75, have not been well represented in randomized clinical trials evaluating lipid-lowering therapy, the available evidence supporting the use of statin therapy in primary prevention in older individuals is derived mainly from subgroup analyses and post-hoc data. On the other hand, elderly patients often have multiple co-morbidities that require a high number of concurrent medications; this may increase the risk for drug-drug interactions, thereby reducing the potential benefits of statin therapy. The aim of this review was to present the relevant literature regarding statin use in the elderly for theft primary cardiovascular disease, with the associated risks and benefits of treatment.

Comparison of the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target value and the preventive effect of statins in elderly patients and younger patients

Objective To assess whether the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL-C） target value and preventive effect of statins are different between elderly and younger patients. Methods We investigated 304 patients with previous percutaneous coronary intervention who underwent coronary angiography from January 2007 to December 2016 for examination of recurrent ischemia beyond the early restenosis. Patients were classified into two groups： age ≥ 75 years （elderly group： n = 140） and 〈 75 years （younger group： n = 164）. Relationships between the achieved LDL-C level, incidence of late coronary events, and the effectiveness of statins were evaluated. Results During follow-up, 179 patients underwent late coronary revascularization. Recurrent ischemia presenting as acute coronary syndrome （ACS） occurred in 83 cases. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis revealed that in the younger group, recurrent ACS was significantly lower in patients with LDL-C 〈 70 mg/dL than in those with LDL-C ranging from 70 to 〈 100 mg/dL （P = 0.035）; however, there was no difference between these in the elderly group （P = 0.863）. Instead, recurrent ACS was less frequent in patients with LDL-C ranging from 70 mg/dL to 〈 100 mg/dL than in those with LDL-C ≥ 100 mg/dL in the elderly group （v = 0.033）. Statin use was associated with decreased recurrent ACS （P = 0.005）; moreover, only using statins was an independent predictor in the elderly group （HR： 0.375; P = 0.007）. Conclusions Strict control of LDL-C to 〈 70 mg/dL was effective for reducing the incidence of recurrent ACS in younger patients. However, LDL-C 〈 100 mg/dL might be sufficient as the target value of LDL-C-lowering therapy for secondary prevention of ischemic events in Japanese elderly patients.