Repurposing – second life for drugs

Drug repurposing refers to finding new indications for existing drugs. The paradigm shift from traditional drug discovery to drug repurposing is driven by the fact that new drug pipelines are getting dried up because of mounting Research & Development (R&D) costs, long timeline for new drug development, low success rate for new molecular entities, regulatory hurdles coupled with revenue loss from patent expiry and competition from generics. Anaemic drug pipelines along with increasing demand for newer effective, cheaper, safer drugs and unmet medical needs call for new strategies of drug discovery and, drug repurposing seems to be a promising avenue for such endeavours. Drug repurposing strategies have progressed over years from simple serendipitous observations to more complex computational methods in parallel with our ever-growing knowledge on drugs, diseases, protein targets and signalling pathways but still the knowledge is far from complete. Repurposed drugs too have to face many obstacles, although lesser than new drugs, before being successful.

Acrylate and Methacrylate Polymers’ Applications: Second Life with Inexpensive and Sustainable Recycling Approaches

Polymers are widely employed in several fields thanks to their wide versatility and the easy derivatization routes. However, a wide range of commercial polymers suffer from limited use on a large scale due to their inert nature. Nowadays, acrylate and methacrylate polymers, which are respectively derivatives of acrylic or methacrylic acid, are among the most proposed materials for their useful characteristics like good biocompatibility, capping ability toward metal clusters, low price, potentially recyclability and reusability. Here, we discuss the advantages and challenges of this class of smart polymers focusing our attention on their current technological applications in medical, electronic, food packaging and environmental remediation fields. Furthermore, we deal with the main issue of their recyclability, considering that the current commercial bioplastics are not yet able to meet the global needs as much as to totally replace fossil-fuel-based products. Finally, the most accredited strategies to reach recyclable composites based on acrylic polymers are described.

LATE ROMAN COIN FINDS IN UKRAINE: HISTORY OF RESEARCH

Analyzing the published researches by previous researchers of new finds of coins of the different periods we were determining as one of the actual directions of research in the medieval numismatics in Ukraine. Examining the scientific achievements of the Ukrainian numismatists, we have determined a significant gap in the focus of research on the findings of coins of the Western Roman Empire and the territory of Ukraine, in particular, the sporadic conclusions are also published by researchers analyzing the existence of Roman coins in this period. The aim of the study. The main purpose of the article is to discover the historiography of the study of the findings of coins of the Western Roman Empire in the period of the IV – the beginning of the V cent. in Ukrainian historiography. Research methodology. In the process of scientific research of the topic the general scientific methods were used: analytical, chronological, and topographic, as well as special methods: critical, metrological and iconographic. The scientific novelty is that for the first time conclusions of scientific current development of the topography of finds of late Roman coins on the territory of Ukraine were introduced into scientific circulation, some observations on the introduction of these finds into scientific circulation were given. The Conclusions. Most of the finds introduced by numismatists into scientific circulation belong to those found in the nineteenth century, about only part of which are preserved information about their transfer to museum collections. Subsequently, almost the same published finds were re-introduced into scientific circulation, republished in various topographies of finds, somewhat supplemented by new discoveries of coins of the Western Roman Empire. It should also be noted that in most cases the descriptions of the finds contain sufficiently abbreviated and concise information, there are no descriptions of coins, an indication of their varieties, mostly the issuer is indicated, the denomination, less often – the legend is transmitted. It is an unfortunate fact that severely damaged coins are found, the identification of which becomes possible only approximately, and in the topographies of such messages processed by the authors a rather significant number. The most famous treasures and finds of coins, which have been published by a number of authors and mentioned in numerous popular science publications, are the treasure from the village of Laski, the dubious treasure of Roman coins from historical Obolon, the find in the Uspensky and Vydubichi Cathedrals – information about which compilations and all compiled archaeological maps of numismatists during the twentieth century – thus becoming a classic treasures. In modern Ukrainian the numismatics and scientists publishing the findings discovered during the official archaeological professional searches, as well as unauthorized amateur and accidental finds. At the present stage of studying this issue, it is necessary to compile a complete topographic map of the findings of Roman coins of IV-V centuries with their analysis to obtain conclusions on the distribution and existence of these coins in Ukraine. Finds of the Roman gold coins always attract a special and more attention, so there are several separate examples of similar finds in Ukraine, published by scientists. The finds of Roman gold medallions deserve special attention, because each of them is extremely rare. Information on individual numismatic finds in the process of official archaeological exploration with available coins of the Western Roman Empire was published by archaeologists. In ancient times, it was common to use coins as jewelry – giving them a «second life». In the outlined chronological period, the coin finds also differed in a significant number of silver and gold coins with available soldered ears – turned into pendants, neck ornaments. As the prospects of further research we see we see the introduction into scientific circulation and processing of new finds of Roman coins of this period in Ukraine to display the highest quality and complete topographic map.