Analgesics represent a large group of medicines which is used for suppresing subjectively perceived pain. Analgesics can be divided into two large groups, opioids and non-opioids. Some of the non-opioids can be used as anti-inflammatory and/or antipyretics as well. All non-opioids influence metabolism of prostaglandins. Diverse group of non-opioid analgesics is available in Czech pharmacies as prescription medicines or for sale over the counter. The aim of this work is mainly to assess the toxicity of over-the-counter analgesics and to find out the frequency of fatal intoxications caused by these analgesics in the Czech Republic and abroad. A list of peroral over-the-counter analgesics was created. A partial analysis of data from medical judicial departments of regional hospitals in the Czech Republic was performed in order to obtain total number of deaths caused by overdosing with these drugs. Using ÚZIS the number of deaths was extracted from information system Deceased. These logged deaths were caused only by acute intoxication with analgesics and were chosen on basis of precisely defined combinations of diagnostic codes (MKN10). Results were then expanded by similar enumeration from the National register of hospitalized, by which we specified the amount of intoxications where patients survived. Overall case report was evaluated from processed information. The number of deaths caused by analgesics and commonly misused addictive substances were compared by which the second hypothesis was clarified. The data was obtained from Annual reports about substance misuse and 6 years were compared in total. Identified risk of analgesic in Czech Republic was compared with registered cases of overdosing in world. Data used for comparing were gained from analysis of world literature. During the years 2006 ? 2011, 53 deaths and 2024 hospitalizations in the Czech Republic were caused by acute intoxication as a result of overdosing with mentioned medication. Our first hypotesis can be confirmed on the basis of these numbers, and therefor it can be said that over-the-counter medicines used for suppressing pain can cause death. On the basis of analysis of world literature a certain risk is seen in fact that these analgesics ? mainly paracetamol ? are often linked with suicides. For instance in United Kingdom thousands of cases of self-harm are caused by overdosing with paracetamol. In USA 16 500 deaths are thought to be caused by NSAIDS and 1600 acute liver failure incidents are caused by overdosing with paracetamol annualy. Illegal drugs caused 253 intoxications during the years 2006 -2011 compared to 53 cases of deaths caused by overdosing by analgesics. Annual reports about substance misuse report that deaths caused by illegal drugs are more common than deaths caused by over-the-counter analgesics in the Czech Republic. There remains a question: What percentage of analgesics intoxications, where patient survived or not, is caused only by over-the-counter analgesics without any other cause.

Este trabalho descreve o comportamento do Judiciário brasileiro com relação aos derivativos. Para tanto, exploramos decisões dos Tribunais de Justiça entre os anos de 2006 e 2010, conforme metodologia específica. Como suporte da pesquisa jurimétrica, analisamos os aspectos financeiros (utilidade e risco, espécies e estratégias, locais de negociação) e as características jurídicas (jogo e aposta, natureza contratual, valores mobiliários) dos derivativos. / This paper describes the position of the Brazilian courts on derivatives. For this purpose, we examine decisions rendered by the Courts of Appeals between the years of 2006 and 2010, in accordance with a specific methodology. As a foundation for jurimetrics research, we analyse the financial aspects (utility and risk, species and strategies, trade environment) and the legal characteristics (gambling, contractual nature, securities) of derivatives.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar e discutir a regulamentação e as principais características do mercado de balcão brasileiro como um todo, a fim de propor algumas modificações que o tornem mais seguro. Dentro do mercado de balcão, os negócios são realizados e estruturados de acordo com a vontade e as necessidades de ambas as partes, logo os contratos não são padronizados, também não existe um local determinado para as negociações acontecerem, sendo que estas podem ser realizadas por telefone ou via sistema eletrônico. No Brasil tal mercado é dividido em dois segmentos: o organizado, onde os contratos são pelo menos realizados ou registrados em órgãos que estão sob a supervisão da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) e o não organizado, em que os contratos são firmados ou registrados em órgãos que não são fiscalizados pela CVM, logo esta parte do mercado de balcão esta menos sujeita à regulações. É dentro deste último segmento que são negociados os contratos de soja verde, de troca de insumo por produto, de CPR de gaveta, dentre outros, que servem como financiamento da produção agropecuária brasileira. Estes contratos incorrem em muitos riscos já que são firmados entre as partes e não possuem qualquer tipo de garantia oferecida por órgãos regulatórios, no que tange à sua liquidação, ou seja, não contam em seu ambiente de negociação com um sistema de clearing house. Logo, este trabalho buscou por meio de documentação de fontes primárias e secundárias e entrevistas não estruturadas, realizadas com profissionais que trabalham diretamente com o mercado de balcão, elaborar uma agenda de sugestões para tornar o ambiente de balcão não organizado mais regulamentado. Concluiu-se que existem medidas que podem ser implantadas no segmento aqui em questão, como a padronização de alguns itens dos contratos negociados, tais como as unidades de negociação e os meses de vencimento e também a conscientização dos agentes de mercado da importância de registrar suas operações, que podem tornar o mercado de balcão não organizado mais transparente e seguro. / This study aims to analyze and discuss regulations and main characteristics of the Brazilian over-the-counter (OTC) market as a whole and propose some changes to make it safer. Within the OTC, business is conducted and structured according to wishes and needs of both parties, therefore contracts are not standardized, and there is no physical place to conduct negotiations, which can be made by phone or through an electronic system. In Brazil, this market is divided into two segments: the organized one, where contracts are at least made or registered in organs under the supervision of the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) and not organized, in which contracts are not made or registered nor inspected by CVM, thus, this type of OTC trade is less subject to regulation. Within this segment, contracts of soja verde (green soybean), exchange input product, off-the-record CPR, and others that serve for financing Brazilian agricultural production. These contracts are subjected to many risks as they are signed by the parties and do not have any warranty offered by regulators regarding liquidation, in others words, they do not make use of the clearing house. Therefore, this study aims to elaborate suggestions to provide regulation to the over-the-counter market through unstructured interviews conducted with professionals who work directly with the OTC market and documentation of primary and secondary sources. It can be concluded that there are measures to be implemented in the segment at issue here, such as the standardization of some items traded by contracts, such as bargaining units and the months of expiration and also raise awareness of the importance of market agents to register their operations, which can make the not organized OTC market more transparent and secure.

This master thesis introduces the pharmaceutical industrys marketing communication from the consumers point of view. It is aimed at consumers perception of the marketing communication in this area and at the way it influences their choice in purchases of over-the-counter drugs. Its goal is to find out which source of information leading to the final decision over the purchase of an over-the-counter drug the consumer considers to be the most reliable one, what role the marketing communication plays in the process and what other factors effect consumers while they are choosing and purchasing an over-the-counter drug. The thesis consists of a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part introduces the pharmaceutical industry, the marketing mix and consumer behaviour. The practical part is based on a questionnaire survey through which the main goal of the thesis is to be reached.

Introduction.Most over the counter (OTC) medications are labeled for storage in a room temperature environment (68 – 77oF) under dry conditions, i.e. kept away from moisture. Despite this, many households store medications in the bathroom, where both temperature and humidity extremes may be experienced during the course of the day. In this project, we sought to investigate the effect that long-term storage in a household bathroom had on potency of OTC ibuprofen (IBU) products. One degradation product, 4-isobutylacetophenone (4-IBP), has been shown to possess toxic properties. As such, the emergence of this breakdown product was also monitored. Methods. A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was developed for the quantitative determination of IBU and 4-IBP in aqueous samples. The assay utilized a UCT C18 column (2.1 x 100 mm; 1.8 micron) with acetonitrile as the organic phase and water as the aqueous phase, run in isocratic mode (15% A: 85% B). Ibuprofen was ionized in negative electrospray mode (-ESI) using m/z 205.09 and 4-IBU in +ESI mode at m/z 177.15. Calibration curves were created in the ranges of 0.1 – 2 mg/mL (IBU) and 2 – 100 mg/mL. Three brands each of IBU tablets (200mg) and suspensions (100mg/5mL) were purchased and assayed for IBU concentration at the initiation of the study. The samples were stored in a household bathroom, while temperature and humidity were continuously recorded using Extech Instruments RHT10 data-logger. Three tablets were removed from each bottle, and three 5-mL aliquots were removed from each suspension, for analysis each month. The samples were digested in 0.1M HCl for 1hr using sonication, and diluted to assay concentration (2 mg/mL for tablets; 0.2 mg/mL for suspensions) using acetonitrile. Each sample was assayed in triplicate and percent recovery was calculated against freshly prepared standards of IBU. Results. Acceptable potency range was defined as 90 – 110% of the labeled concentration. All tablets maintained acceptable average strength through three months, and a statistically significant change from initial concentration (as determined by a 2-way ANOVA, p = 0.05) was detected after 6 – 7 months. After ten months of storage, the average tablet strength was 74% of initial potency. All suspensions maintained acceptable average strength through five months, with statistically significant changes from initial concentration emerging after seven months storage. After 10 months of storage, the average suspension strength was 84% of initial potency. During the duration of the study, the average storage temperature was (20.9° C) and the average relative humidity was (65.7). The 4-IBU was not detected in any of the product samples during the duration of the study. Conclusions.These data indicate that, while the toxic degradation product, 4-IBU, has not been detected following bathroom storage of commercial IBU products, significant changes in product potency can negatively affect product efficacy. The container-closure systems used in OTC ibuprofen products do not protect against the effects of ongoing fluctuations in environmental temperature and humidity. Data indicate that suspension products are more resistant to temperature and humidity fluctuations, at least to the degree that would be present in a household bathroom.

Collateralization in over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets has grown rapidly over the past decade, and even faster in the past few years, due to the impact of the recent financial crisis and the particularly important attention to the counterparty credit risk in derivatives contracts. The addition of collateralization to such contracts significantly reduces the counterparty credit risk and allows to offset liabilities in case of default. We study the problem of valuation of OTC derivatives with payoff in a single currency and with single underlying asset for the cases of zero, partial, and perfect collateralization. We assume the derivative is traded between two default-free counterparties and analyze the impact of collateralization on the fair present value of the derivative. We establish a uniform generalized derivative pricing framework for the three cases of collateralization and show how different approaches to pricing turn out to be consistent. We then generalize the results to include multi-asset and cross-currency arguments, where the underlying and the derivative are in some domestic currency, but the collateral is posted in a foreign currency. We show that the results for the single currency, multi-asset case are consistent with those obtained for the single currency, single asset case.

<p>This dissertation comprises two essays on over-the-counter (OTC) markets, covering both the primary and secondary markets for municipal bonds.</p> <p>In the first chapter, I explore a novel channel through which exchange-traded funds (ETFs) improve pre-trade price transparency and thereby retail investors' bargaining power in OTC markets. ETFs are required to daily disclose their full holdings, often along with their constituents’ end-of-day prices, which are good timely references for investors to negotiate with broker-dealers, particularly when the securities have not traded recently. I find that ETF-held bonds have significantly lower retail markups than those of bonds not held by ETFs. This effect cannot be explained by selection or ETFs' own trading activity but is driven by the daily disclosures by ETFs holding the bonds. During 2010--2021, retail investors saved over $200 million when trading ETF-held bonds. There is also a spillover effect to the primary market---when municipalities have outstanding ETF-held bonds, their new issues have lower yields and smaller price dispersion.</p> <p>In the second chapter, I both theoretically and empirically document a non-monotonic relation between local municipal bond mutual funds, or informed investors, and underpricing in the municipal bond market. Empirically speaking, offering yields are higher in states that have open-end municipal bond funds, and with larger aggregate fund size. However, holding local fund size constant, yields decrease in the number of funds. Such relations hold when local funds' primary market participation is instrumented with the similarities in characteristics of new issues and existing bonds in their portfolios. I further confirm my empirical findings with a security underpricing model that incorporates the imperfect signals available to informed investors. Despite facing higher borrowing costs, issuers benefit from local funds' certification resulting in both institutional and retail investors' higher demand in the primary market.</p>

Advertising on complementary, alternative medicines and over the counter medicines (OTC) published in the printed journals for lay people from the view of Evidence Based Medicine Student: Schirlová. Z Tutor: Matoulková, P. Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic INTRODUCTION: Advertisements are important means of communicating information to public. The quality of the pharmaceutical advertising has been continuously discused. METHODS: The objective of the study was to assess availability of supporting scientific information for health claims stated in the food supplements and OTC (Over-the- Counter) medicines ads that were published during period September 2012 and June 2013 in the mostly read life style journals for women. For each advertisement, the emphasized claim/-s was compared to available scientific unbiased evidence. The literature search was conducted by using Pubmed database (mainly meta-analysis and randomized clinical trials). Further information was searched in the Scholar Google, Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (Consumer version) and Micromedex. Different keywords and their appropriate combinations were used to identify relevant information. Frequency analysis was used to assess frequency...

The main goal of the thesis is to sum up the communication mix tools on an example of a selected pharmacy and to evaluate the effect on a consumer's behavior. The OTC drugs group, precisely over-the-counter medications, particularly Coldrex product, was chosen as a target market segment for the examination of the communication tools. This thesis is divided into two parts - theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part deals with the theory of communication and the communication mix, as well as with the specifications of marketing in the pharmaceutical industry; this theoretical part also displays the summary of an important institutions in the pharmaceutical industry. The practical part contains an analysis of communication mix tools in AURA pharmacy Velka Bites, deals with the evaluation of marketing success and gives a proposal for an effective communication campaign of a certain selected pharmacy.

Au lendemain de la pire crise financière mondiale depuis les années 1930, plusieurs gouvernements réunis sous la coupe du G20 se sont accordés sur la réforme du système financier international. La régulation des marchés financiers fut étendue à de nouveaux territoires. Toutefois, si la crise est une condition du changement, elle ne montre ni l’étendue ni la séquence d’événements qui expliquent ce revirement de politique publique. Dès lors, une question se pose: quels sont les éléments qui peuvent expliquer cette évolution de la réglementation financière internationale ? Cette dissertation démontre que la politique domestique des États-Unis et des pays majeurs de l’Union Européenne ont directement influencé ce changement de politique publique. En se focalisant sur les marchés de dérivés de gré à gré, cette recherche démontrera que l’extension de la régulation financière à de nouveaux marchés est le produit de l’augmentation de l’attention du public ou « salliance politique » dans des pays influents sur la scène internationale. Toutefois, les trajectoires historiques uniques qui caractérisent ces États nous informent sur les contours uniques de ces nouvelles réglementations qui ne sont pas écrites sur une page blanche. Cette recherche examine en particulier l’évolution de la régulation financière sur les marchés de dérivés de crédit ou « credit-default swaps » aux États-Unis avec l’adoption de la loi Dodd-Frank et, en Europe, avec l’adoption de la régulation European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). Cette argumentation et cette étude empirique contribuent à l’étude de l’évolution des préférences des états dans le domaine de la réglementation financière internationale. / In the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-2010, international policymakers agreed to reform international financial regulation. New areas of financial markets were placed for the first time under the direct oversight of public regulators. However, the financial crisis explains neither the scope nor the sequence of the regulation that followed in its wake. Thus, the question remains: what explains these international financial regulation outcomes after the crisis? This dissertation argues that domestic politics within the United States and the major European Union member states explain the shift and form of that financial regulation. It focuses on over-the-counter credit derivative markets to show that previously unregulated markets were brought under greater supervision when public salience increases in influential states. However, a nation’s unique historical circumstances determine the concrete regulation policy that develops. This research examines the evolution of credit-default swaps regulation in the US under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and in the EU, with special attention to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). With its argument and case study, this dissertation contributes to the study of state preference formation over-time with regard to international financial regulation.