A practical reference on neurotrophic factor: what it is, how it behaves, what the literature reports, and where the honest uncertainties sit.
Reviewed 2025-11-16. Anything still debated is marked as such rather than presented as settled.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. It corresponds to the ACTH(4-7) fragment extended at the C-terminus by a Pro-Gly-Pro tripeptide, an addition intended to slow enzymatic breakdown. The molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and the molecular mass is approximately 814 daltons. In the literature it is often described as an ACTH(4-10) analog, although that label reflects a naming convention as much as a precise structural relationship. The compound was developed in Russia and remains most closely associated with that research tradition.
Laboratory descriptions of the material are consistent across suppliers. It appears as a white to off-white lyophilized powder that dissolves readily in water and in polar organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide. Aqueous solutions are clear and colorless at low concentrations. Because the peptide contains methionine, oxidation at the sulfur atom is a recognized degradation pathway, and handling notes usually call for protected, desiccated storage. Reported purity for research-grade lots is generally above 95 percent as measured by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.
Development of the compound took place in the Soviet Union during the 1980s, largely through peptide research groups affiliated with the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute and Moscow State University. Investigators screened fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone for activity on the central nervous system while attempting to separate cognitive effects from hormonal ones. The shortened sequence was selected because it retained behavioral activity in animal models without stimulating corticosteroid release. Early publications described the molecule as an ACTH(4-10) analog.
Published research on this peptide originates mainly from Russian laboratories, and the wider international literature is comparatively thin. Studies have used rodent models of stroke, hypoxia, and memory tasks, with a smaller number of human trials reported. Reported outcomes include changes in attention and memory measures, along with effects on neurotrophic factor expression in some experiments. Small sample sizes, inconsistent dosing protocols, and limited independent replication are widely noted limitations, so the strength of the clinical evidence remains an open question.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide whose sequence is Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. The first four residues correspond to the ACTH(4-10) fragment, while the terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension was added to improve metabolic stability. Its molecular formula is C37H51N9O10S and its monoisotopic mass is approximately 813.9 Da. The compound is classified as a peptide research chemical and as a registered pharmaceutical product in Russia, but it does not hold marketing approval in the European Union or the United States. Naming conventions vary across supplier catalogs.
| Property | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Molecular formula | C37H51N9O10S | Contains one methionine sulfur atom |
| Molecular mass | Approximately 814 Da | Consistent with a seven-residue peptide |
| Appearance | White to off-white powder | Typical lyophilized form |
| Solubility | Freely soluble in water | Also soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide |
| Typical storage | -20 °C, desiccated | Limits methionine oxidation |
Terminology around the compound varies by source. It appears in catalogues and papers as Semax, as the heptapeptide ACTH(4-7)-Pro-Gly-Pro, and under various alphanumeric laboratory codes used by individual suppliers. These names refer to the same sequence but may imply different salt forms, purity grades, or counter-ions. Peptide databases usually list the free base mass, while product descriptions sometimes report acetate or trifluoroacetate salts with a different formula weight. Because naming conventions for research peptides are not standardised across vendors, checking the declared sequence and measured mass is more reliable than relying on a trade name alone.
Semax is a synthetic heptapeptide with the sequence Met-Glu-His-Phe-Pro-Gly-Pro. Its design combines the ACTH(4-7) core fragment with a C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro extension, a modification intended to improve stability and prolong activity. The molecule is hydrophilic, carries no lipid chains or glycosylation, and has a theoretical mass just over 810 daltons in its free form. All seven residues are proteinogenic amino acids, so no non-natural building blocks appear in the backbone. A free N-terminal methionine and C-terminal proline define the unmodified parent peptide.
The compound was developed during the 1980s at the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Moscow as part of research on fragments of adrenocorticotropic hormone. Early work examined short ACTH-derived sequences that retained neurotrophic effects while lacking the endocrine activity of the full hormone. Semax entered clinical use in Russia during the 1990s, where it received registration for several neurological indications. Outside that region it remained primarily a laboratory research material rather than an approved therapeutic. English-language literature on it grew more slowly and frequently cited the original Russian studies.
Development took place during the 1980s at institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where peptide fragments of ACTH were screened for cognitive and neuroprotective effects. The compound received regulatory approval in Russia as a nasal preparation, marketed for conditions such as ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attacks, and optic nerve disorders. Registration in other countries has not followed. Most published clinical reports originate from a small number of Russian research groups, and independent replication outside that setting remains limited. The regulatory status therefore differs sharply between Russia and the rest of the world.
Laboratory work points toward modulation of neurotrophic signaling, particularly expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in hippocampal tissue. Studies also describe effects on monoamine turnover, inflammatory mediators, and oxidative markers. These observations come mainly from animal models and cultured cells, so the causal chain in humans is not firmly established. Whether the reported molecular changes translate into measurable clinical benefit is an open question. Reviews generally present the mechanism as plausible rather than demonstrated.
Some say we should hold elections tomorrow, those have no chances of being free and fair." and added "Ultimately what the long term political leadership is going be, it’s going to be up to Venezuelans." During a conference in Saint Kitts and Nevis with other Caribbean nations on 25 February, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US recognizes the need for fair, democratic elections in Venezuela, saying "We do believe that a prosperous, free Venezuela who’s governed by a legitimate government who has the interests of their people in mind could also be an extraordinary partner and asset to many of the countries represented here today." Juan Pablo Guanipa, ally of Machado and political prisoner released during a mass political prisoner release in Venezuela in 2026, said for Spanish newspaper El País, that elections are under way and that Chavismo has lost its ability to impose conditions.
The AQSIQ announced on 5 October that all tests showed all milk produced after 14 September were free from contamination. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine stated all dairy products made before 14 September will be tested for melamine. They gave notice to all supermarkets, shops, and all city, town and village-level vendors to urgently remove and seal up all powdered milk and liquid milk made before 14 September, pending further testing. Five government agencies, including the Ministry of Health, issued a joint statement on 9 October setting the legally acceptable level of melamine content in infant formula at 1 ppm (1 mg/kg), and at 2.5ppm in other dairy products (including milk) - in line with standards recognised by the World Health Organization and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. A researcher at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that any amount exceeding 1 ppm would give reason to suspect its presence was intentional.
=== Fungal === Fungal steroids include the ergosterols, which are involved in maintaining the integrity of the fungal cellular membrane. Various antifungal drugs, such as amphotericin B and azole antifungals, use this information to kill pathogenic fungi. Fungi can alter their ergosterol content (e.g. through loss of function mutations in the enzymes ERG3 or ERG6, inducing depletion of ergosterol, or mutations that decrease the ergosterol content) to develop resistance to drugs that target ergosterol. Ergosterol is analogous to the cholesterol found in the cellular membranes of animals (including humans), or the phytosterols found in the cellular membranes of plants. All mushrooms contain large quantities of ergosterol, in the range of tens to hundreds of milligrams per 100 grams of dry weight. Oxygen is necessary for the synthesis of ergosterol in fungi. Ergosterol is responsible for the vitamin D content found in mushrooms; ergosterol is chemically converted into provitamin D2 by exposure to ultraviolet light. Provitamin D2 spontaneously forms vitamin D2. However, not all fungi use ergosterol in their cellular membranes; for example, the pathogenic fungal species Pneumocystis jirovecii does not, which has important clinical implications (given the mechanism of action of many antifungal drugs). Using the fungus Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an example, other major steroids include ergosta‐5,7,22,24(28)‐tetraen‐3β‐ol, zymosterol, and lanosterol. S. cerevisiae uses 5,6‐dihydroergosterol in place of ergosterol in its cell membrane.
== Etymology == The word "kitten" derives from the Middle English word kitoun, which in turn came from the Old French chitoun or cheton. Juvenile big cats are called "cubs" rather than kittens. For the young of smaller wild felids, such as ocelots, caracals, and lynxes, either term may be used, though "kitten" is more common.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Since the early 21st century, the dried fruit, occasionally compared to raisins, has been marketed as a health food, with unsupported health claims about its benefits. In the wake of those claims, dried and fresh goji berries were included in many snack foods and food supplements, such as granola bars. There are products of whole and ground wolfberry seeds and seed oil.
The purest metal is obtained from nickel oxide by the Mond process, which gives a purity of over 99.99%. The process was patented by Ludwig Mond and has been in industrial use since before the beginning of the 20th century. In this process, nickel is treated with carbon monoxide in the presence of a sulfur catalyst at around 40–80 °C to form nickel carbonyl. In a similar reaction with iron, iron pentacarbonyl can form, though this reaction is slow. If necessary, the nickel may be separated by distillation. Dicobalt octacarbonyl is also formed in nickel distillation as a by-product, but it decomposes to tetracobalt dodecacarbonyl at the reaction temperature to give a non-volatile solid. Nickel is obtained from nickel carbonyl by one of two processes. It may be passed through a large chamber at high temperatures in which tens of thousands of nickel spheres (pellets) are constantly stirred. The carbonyl decomposes and deposits pure nickel onto the spheres. In the alternate process, nickel carbonyl is decomposed in a smaller chamber at 230 °C to create a fine nickel powder. The byproduct carbon monoxide is recirculated and reused. The highly pure nickel product is known as "carbonyl nickel".
Victoria confronts her father, General Byng, about the town's problems, and he instructs her to start taking her Joy again and check in on Dr. Verloc at Haworth Labs, where he is working on a permanent replacement for Joy. However, her progress is halted by a strike by the lab workers, who demand that Sally be reinstated to her position in the lab. After helping suppress the strike, Victoria confronts Dr. Verloc. Realizing that Dr. Verloc has no permanent solution and is willing to let the populace die off to "sustainable" levels, Victoria resolves to cut off the town's Joy supply to wean them off the drug. In order to achieve these, she destroys both the pill allocator and water treatment plant responsible for distributing Joy throughout the town. She is arrested and thrown in jail, where she remembers how her mother was imprisoned in India for supporting Indian independence from Britain. General Byng helps her escape, and informs her about his safe house where he has stockpiled supplies and an escape boat. Shocked at her father's cowardice and willingness to abandon the town to its fate, Victoria rejects his offer and resolves to save the town. In order to permanently stop all Joy production, she demolishes Haworth Labs, narrowly escaping its destruction. The combination of the destruction of the Joy supply and the broadcast of Uncle Jack's final recording sends Wellington Wells into complete anarchy as the enraged citizens slaughter each other.
Their labels and websites say no more than "fermented according to traditional Asian methods" or "similar to that used in culinary applications". The labeling on these products often says nothing about cholesterol lowering. If products do not contain lovastatin, do not claim to contain lovastatin, and do not make a claim to lower cholesterol, they are not subject to FDA action. Two reviews confirm that the monacolin content of red yeast rice dietary supplements can vary over a wide range, with some containing negligible monacolins.
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of infectious diseases characterized by fever and systemic damage to the circulatory system caused by RNA viruses. Viral hemorrhagic fevers cause symptoms ranging from mild to life-threatening, depending on the virus involved, but generally cause internal bleeding that leads to sudden onset of muscle pain, fever, and hypotension. In severe cases, it can cause life-threatening shock and bleeding from internal organs. While some VHFs are generally mild, such as nephropathia epidemica (caused by two species of hantavirus), many are debilitating or lethal without treatment. Outbreaks of VHFs tend to have high case fatality rates and disproportionately affect communities with poor health infrastructure. Therefore, the emergence of VHFs is a growing public health concern. VHFs are often zoonoses, meaning they can be transmitted from wild animals to human populations; for instance, the Lassa arenavirus is spread by mice. Viral hemorrhagic fevers are caused by members of seven families of single-stranded RNA viruses: Arenaviridae, Filoviridae, Flaviviridae, Nairoviridae, Phenuiviridae, Hantaviridae and Peribunyaviridae.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
=== Small revival === The current chairman of the party is Klaus Brall. The party is affiliated with the European Christian Political Party. In 2022, former Alternative for Germany member Uwe Witt joined the party while still holding his seat in the Bundestag. It is the first time since 1957 that the party has held a seat in the Bundestag. Witt subsequently left in August of the same year. The party also got its first representation in the European Parliament on 10 June 2022, when the former AfD co-chairman Jörg Meuthen joined the party. However, Meuthen left the party in September 2023.
The energy levels of a single particle in a quantum dot can be predicted using the particle in a box model in which the energies of states depend on the length of the box. For an exciton inside a quantum dot, there is also the Coulomb interaction between the negatively charged electron and the positively charged hole. By comparing the quantum dot's size to the exciton Bohr radius, three regimes can be defined. In the 'strong confinement regime', the quantum dot's radius is much smaller than the exciton Bohr radius, respectively the confinement energy dominates over the Coulomb interaction. In the 'weak confinement' regime, the quantum dot is larger than the exciton Bohr radius, respectively the confinement energy is smaller than the Coulomb interactions between electron and hole. The regime where the exciton Bohr radius and confinement potential are comparable is called the 'intermediate confinement regime'.
=== Turkey === The first therapies in Turkey using 177Lu-DOTATATE PRRT were carried out in early 2014, for treatment of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) at the Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa.
Mammals are a diverse class of animals, mostly terrestrial but some are aquatic and others have evolved flapping or gliding flight. They mostly have four limbs, but some aquatic mammals have no limbs or limbs modified into fins, and the forelimbs of bats are modified into wings. The legs of most mammals are situated below the trunk, which is held well clear of the ground. The bones of mammals are well ossified and their teeth, which are usually differentiated, are coated in a layer of prismatic enamel. The teeth are shed once (milk teeth) during the animal's lifetime or not at all, as is the case in cetaceans. Mammals have three bones in the middle ear and a cochlea in the inner ear. They are clothed in hair and their skin contains glands which secrete sweat. Some of these glands are specialized as mammary glands, producing milk to feed the young. Mammals breathe with lungs and have a muscular diaphragm separating the thorax from the abdomen which helps them draw air into the lungs. The mammalian heart has four chambers, and oxygenated and deoxygenated blood are kept entirely separate. Nitrogenous waste is excreted primarily as urea. Mammals are amniotes, and most are viviparous, giving birth to live young. Exceptions to this are the egg-laying monotremes, the platypus and the echidnas of Australia. Most other mammals have a placenta through which the developing foetus obtains nourishment, but in marsupials, the foetal stage is very short and the immature young is born and finds its way to its mother's pouch where it latches on to a teat and completes its development.
Excess adipose tissue in the pubic region can obscure penile length, a condition known as buried penis. In such cases, the penis is of normal size but is partially or completely hidden by the surrounding fat pad. A cross-sectional study of 680 obese boys found that 30.88% had buried penis, while 9.12% met criteria for micropenis based on stretched penile length measurements. Standard clinical measurement of penile length involves pushing the pre-pubic fat pad to the pubic bone to obtain an accurate reading, distinguishing true penile length from apparent length.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
It is registered as a pharmaceutical product in Russia, where it is typically supplied as a nasal solution. In most other countries it is not an approved drug and is traded as a research chemical instead. Approval status depends entirely on the jurisdiction involved.
Most published work uses intranasal administration, matching the route of the registered Russian formulation. Some animal experiments use intravenous or intraperitoneal injection. The route matters because the intact peptide is cleared rapidly from blood, so exposure differs between methods.
A purity value describes the share of the powder accounted for by the target peptide, usually by high-performance liquid chromatography. It does not confirm that the sequence is correct, which requires mass spectrometry or amino acid analysis. Purity and identity are separate checks.
It is a synthetic peptide of seven amino acids. Its backbone corresponds to a fragment of adrenocorticotropic hormone extended at the carboxyl end. The material is distributed as a lyophilized solid for laboratory use.