Parental Leave Policies and Second Births: A Comparison of Czechia and Slovakia

Population Research and Policy Review - The paper investigates the transition to second births in Czechia and Slovakia in the context of the development of parental leave policies since the...     

Synergy evaluation of non-normalizable dose–response data: Generalization of combination index for the linear effect of drugs

The study of drug synergy plays a prominent role in the search for drug combinations with beneficial interactions. Firstly, in this process, the drug-effect response of individual parts and the mixture needs to be derived. This function is usually well described by Hill (or other logistic or sigmoid) curve. Due to its boundedness, it allows the measured data to be normalized. The normalized data can then be processed by interaction analysis using the Loewe, Bliss, or other models to evaluate possible synergy or antagonism of two or more drugs. However, sometimes, the drug-effect responses observed in pharmaceutical research do not appear to be bounded. Theoretically, the drug-effect curve cannot grow to infinity, but it may be impossible to determine its upper bound within the observed region. In this case, standard models cannot be used, since they assume that data are normalized. The approach of this article bypasses the need to normalize the data, allowing its broader application and usefulness in finding potential synergies in pharmaceutical research.     

实验用熔炉中同步进行结晶测试

在先前的文献中描述了一种空气冷却的测试管,该测试管拥有一系列的插座和插头(在结晶过程中使用的转换插座),可以安装在实验室箱式熔炉中。该装置的用途是调节物质在坩埚槽中结晶过程的晶面和结晶速率。在本文中我们讨论一种改进型的内部冷却器——锯齿状的空气冷却管(结晶架)。这种改进型的冷却器可以简单地搭建和操作,可以延长和弯曲成为各种形状,可以用于坩埚和熔炉管中。该冷却器可以通过简单的调控对不同结晶参数和物质同步进行结晶测试,利用实验用熔炉就可以达到从一系列新型的具有层状晶体结构的化合物中得到晶体的目的。