Michael Moser

Onset and duration of action of ketotifen 0.025% and emedastine 0.05% in seasonal allergic conjunctivitis : efficacy after repeated pollen challenges in the vienna challenge chamber.

AbstractObjective: To compare the efficacy, onset and duration of action, and the safety of ketotifen fumarate 0.025% ophthalmic solution and emedastine difumarate 0.05% ophthalmic solution in subjects with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) induced by allergen exposure, using the Vienna Challenge Chamber model. Design and setting: This was a double-masked, randomised, comparative, crossover study conducted at an allergy outpatient clinic in Austria. Study participants: Subjects with an allergy to grass pollen were exposed to the allergen in a pollen chamber for 4 hours, followed by a 3-hour break and then a second exposure for 3 hours. Interventions: Study participants were randomised to a treatment sequence (ketotifen followed by emedastine or emedastine followed by ketotifen), receiving 1 drop per eye of ketotifen or emedastine 2 hours after the initial allergen exposure in the pollen chamber. Outcomes: Individual and composite ocular, individual and composite nasal, and total (ocular + nasal) symptom complex scores were determined by repeated exposure to allergen 0–2 hours and 5–8 hours after dosing. Onset of action was defined as the time to the first observation of a 20% reduction from baseline in the composite ocular symptom score. Results: All 37 subjects enrolled completed the study. The median time to onset of action was 15 minutes for ketotifen and 30 minutes for emedastine. This difference was significant using the generalised linear model (p = 0.048), but not for the log-rank test analysis. In the initial 2 hours post dose, ketotifen provided significantly greater relief of both composite ocular symptoms (p = 0.026) and total symptom complex (p = 0.014). Both medications were effective in reducing symptoms 5 to 8 hours after dosing. No adverse events were reported for either treatment. Conclusions: In the Vienna Challenge Chamber model, ketotifen and emedastine both effectively alleviated ocular symptoms of SAC after single-dose administration. Ketotifen had a faster onset of action and provided better symptom relief than emedastine during the first 2 hours after dosing. The rapid onset of action and symptom control make ketotifen a valuable treatment for SAC.

Rusyn: A New-Old Language In-between Nations and States

Wherever modern Rusyn activists have mapped their territory, Rusyn and Ukrainian national and linguistic identities are still competing with each other: some regard Rusyns as a separate fourth East Slavic people and Rusyn as a separate language, whilst others maintain that Rusyns are a branch of the Ukrainian people, Rusyn idioms are local variants of Ukrainian, and Modern Standard Ukrainian is a perfectly appropriate standard language for all Rusyns/Ukrainians.1

Clifford algebras in finite quantum field theories; 2, Reducible Yukawa finiteness condition

Finite quantum field theories may be constructed from the most general renormalizable quantum field theory by forbidding, order by order in the perturbative loop expansion, all ultraviolet-divergent renormalizations of the physical parameters of the theory. The relevant finiteness conditions resulting from this requirement relate all dimensionless couplings in the theory. At first sight, Yukawa couplings which are equivalent to the generators of some Clifford algebra with identity element represent a very promising type of solutions of the condition for one-loop finiteness of the Yukawa couplings. However, under a few reasonable and simplifying assumptions about their particular structure, these Clifford-like Yukawa couplings prove to be in conflict with the requirements of one- and two-loop finiteness of the gauge coupling and of the absence of gauge anomalies, at least for all simple gauge groups up to and including rank 8.

QUADRATIC DIVERGENCES IN GUTS WITH VANISHING ONE-LOOP BETA FUNCTIONS

All members of a recently proposed new set of (nonsupersymmetric) grand unified theories with one-loop-level vanishing beta functions for the gauge, Yukawa, and scalar-boson self-interaction coupling constants are shown to involve, already at the one-loop level, quadratically divergent contributions to both the vector-boson and scalar-boson masses.

Zur jüngsten Sprachensituation in der Ukraine (2012–2016)

The tragic events of the most recent history of Ukraine, particularly, the “Euromaidan” of 2013–2014 and the subsequent war in Eastern Ukraine, have been closely linked with problems of Ukrainian identity and language. Currently, an overall positive development of the Ukrainian language can be observed in many spheres, as corroborated by a variety of statistic data. Some significant initiatives in the sphere of language legislation have been made; the unconstitutional language law of 2012 is likely to be cancelled soon. Most importantly, the civic society of Ukraine is strongly supporting the position of the Ukrainian language.

Osnova and the Origins of the Valuev Directive

After the Crimean War, Ukrainian intellectuals utilized the temporary liberalization in the Russian Empire to extend the use of the Ukrainian language beyond the spheres of folklore and fine literature, to develop Ukrainian into a modern standard language, and to set measures to disseminate this language among speakers of Ukrainian. These processes were reflected, inter alia, in the journal Osnova ( The Foundation ) of 1861-62. As my study shows, when the Russian administration issued the Valuev Directive in 1863, it did not ban the Ukrainian language as such, but it effectively banned its standardization and dissemination.

Learning about Taraškevica

The difficult language situation of Belarusian is even further complicated by the fact that two standards of Belarusian language co-exist. The so-called Taraskevica variant refers to standard traditions from a period preceding Stalinist terror; its adherents regard it as the “purer” variant of Belarusian. The official variant is based on norms that were introduced along with other measures of Stalinist terror in 1933 and aimed at making Belarusian more similar to Russian. This sketch analyzes what information on Taraskevica one can get if one uses the Internet only. It also demonstrates that searches in different languages yield different results.