פרסומים

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a new drug candidate for treatment of rheumatic diseases. However, its oral administration is associated with a number of drawbacks. The objective of this study was to design a transdermal delivery system for CBD by using ethosomal carriers. CBD ethosomes were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Results indicated that CBD and phosphatidylcholine form an eutectic mixture. In vivo application of ethosomal CBD to CDI nude mice produced a significant accumulation of the drug in the skin and in the underlying muscle. Upon transdermal application of the ethosomal system to the abdomen of ICR mice for 72 h, steady-state levels were reached at about 24 h and lasted at least until the end of the experiment, at 72 h. Furthermore, transdermal application of ethosomal CBD prevented the inflammation and edema induced by sub-plantar injection of carrageenan in the same animal model. In conclusion, ethosomes enable CBD's skin permeation and its accumulation in a depot at levels that demonstrate the potential of transdermal CBD to be used as an anti-inflammatory treatment.

The present invention discloses the use of a lycopene coated with a water non-sol. thin film comprising amphiphilic protein polymer for coloring with red color, foods, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics having fat and/or oil contents higher than 5 %. The invention further discloses a process for the prepn. of stable lycopene formulation comprising: (a) treating an isolated protein to form a protein in a mol. form; (b) dispersing lycopene in an aq. soln. comprising an isolated protein in a mol. form; (c) grinding said dispersion to form lycopene particle size of 1 to 10 $μ$m forming an homogenized mixt. comprising fine particles; and optionally (d) drying the homogenized mixt. [on SciFinder(R)]

H. J. Polotsky’s “Syntaxe amharique et syntaxe turque” (1960a), the Master’s only article in a properly speaking General Linguistics (typological-comparative) genre, the paper opening Polotsky’s Collected Papers (Jerusalem: the Magnes Press, 1971), has drawn little attention outside the small circle of the Jerusalem School and its adherents, perhaps because of an hermetic quality of style, as well as the exclusive Ethiopistic forum of publication. And yet, it is a wonderful fruit of Polotsky’s annus mirabilis, an insightful and sensitive exposé of an instance of the non-geographical, cross-genealogical Sprachbund and what may be called the historical-connection-indifferent typological rapprochement As is generally realized today, the Sprachbund phenomenon is varied and complex, reflecting the variety of languages-in-contact scenarios and their historical configuration. The relatively rare non-adjacent or non-geographical Sprachbund is less well understood and falls between the stools of typological and genetic comparison, and goes, to mix metaphors, against the grain of conventional comparativist temperament.The “Eurafrican” (so Wagner in Transactions of the Philological Society 1969) hypothesis, first outlined in modern times at least as early as 1990 by John Morris-Jones, has been for most of the last century associated almost exclusively with the names of Julius Pokorny and his disciple, Heinrich Wagner. I believe it now deserves detailed objective re-appreciation, in view of the considerable expansion in our knowledge of Celtic and the advance in the unveiling of the languages commonly known as Afro-Asiatic or Hamito-Semitic, and especially of Egyptian and Coptic. Although it is generally not clear which languages are invoked on the Afro-Asiatic side — “Semitic” (which languages?) “Egyptian” (which phase or phases in its near four millennia of evolution?), Arabic, North-West Semitic, Accadian, Berber — a vagueness contributive to the scepticism with which the theory is still regarded (not that there is a generally accepted idea about hierarchies and chronologies inside the Celtic branch of Indo-European); nor is there any real confidence about either the chronological parameters, or the hierarchical structuring of syntactical and non-syntactical comparata of the comparison.

Ceramide, the basic structural unit of sphingolipids, controls the balance between cell growth and death by inducing apoptosis. We have previously shown that accumulation of ceramide, triggered by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) or by short-chain ceramide analogs, induces apoptosis of lung epithelial cells. Here we elucidate the link between caspase-3 activation, at the execution phase, and ceramide accumulation, at the commitment phase of apoptosis in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells. The induction of ceramide accumulation by various triggers of ceramide generation, such as H(2)O(2), C(6)-ceramide, or UDP-glucose-ceramide glucosyltransferase inhibitor dl-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol, triggered the activation of caspase-3. This ceramide elevation also induced the cleavage of the death substrate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase and was followed by apoptotic cell death. Ceramide-mediated apoptosis was blocked by a general caspase inhibitor, Boc-d-fluoromethylketone, and by overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2. Notably, overexpression of Bcl-2 reduced the basal cellular levels of ceramide and prevented the induction of ceramide generation by C(6)-ceramide, which implies ceramide generation as a possible target for the antiapoptotic effects of Bcl-2.

Cheap Talk in Games with Incomplete Information The paper studies Bayesian games which are extended by adding pre-play communication. Let G be a Bayesian game with full support and with three or more players. The main result is that if players can send private messages to each other and make public announcements then every communication equilibrium outcome, q, that is rational (i.e., involves probabilities that are rational numbers) can be implemented in a sequential equilibrium of a cheap talk extension of G, provided that the following condition is satisfied: There exists a Bayesian Nash equilibrium s in G such that for each type ti of each player i the expected payoff of ti in q is larger than the expected payoff of ti in s. Journal of Economic Literature classification number: C7. Key words: communication, Bayesian games, sequential equilibrium. 

The purpose of this study was to examine client satisfaction, perceived helping components, and perceived frequency of condom use among men and women who participated in an HIV/STD relationship-based preventive intervention. Method: 107 participants completed evaluation forms at the end of the last of five weekly intervention sessions. Levels of overall satisfaction, what participants liked and learned, what they felt helped them in the intervention, and their report on the frequency of male and female condom use pre- and postintervention were evaluated. Results: The intervention was highly regarded by participants. The helpful components of the intervention were the couples' ability to communicate better with their main partner and the special strategies the facilitators used. Gender differences in immediate HIV risk reduction behavior changes were found. Conclusions: It is important to evaluate client perceptions of the helping components in combination with structured assessment of targeted outcomes in treatment and preventive interventions.

When the amount of information to be dealt with exceeds people s short-term memory capacity, they must resort to the sampling of information. In the present study we show that, under conditions of cognitive overload (which could result from decision-making under stress, time constraints or information abundance), individuals exhibit systematic differences in estimating variance. Moreover, these differences critically depend on the format of the evidence presented: Variance is downward attenuated when information is presented analogically, but amplified when it is presented numerically. These distortions in the perception of variance affect individuals pricing of risky alternatives. We suggest that these results may help to explain economic anomalies, such as excess trading in financial markets. We also point out possibilities for manipulating the perception of variability and normative implications concerning the presentation of information on the variance of phenomena.