Tulathromycin disturbs blood oxidative and coagulation status

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of tulathromycin on serum oxidative status and coagulation factors in rabbits. Tulathromycin was administered to eight rabbits, and blood samples were obtained 0, 1, 5, 10 and 15 days after treatment. Indicators of serum oxidative status (malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, superoxide dismutase, retinol and -carotene) and coagulation values (antithrombin III, fibrinogen) were measured after tulathromycin treatment. In addition, routine serum biochemical values (creatine kinase-MB, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transferase, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein, amylase, total protein, albumin, glucose and calcium), haemacell counts (white and red blood cells) and arterial blood gas parameters (packed cell volume, hemoglobin, pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, partial pressure of oxygen, actual bicarbonate, standard bicarbonate, total carbon dioxide, base excess in vivo, base excess in vitro, oxygen saturation, sodium and potassium) were also determined. Tulathromycin increased (P < 0.05) the levels of malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and superoxide dismutase activity, and decreased (P < 0.05) the level of antithrombin III. In conclusion, tulathromycin may cause oxidative damage and coagulation disorders during the treatment period.Key words: Tulathromycin, oxidative damage, coagulation disorder

Water/Ethanol Soluble p-Type Conjugated Polymers for the Use in Organic Photovoltaics

We have developed two series of p-type conjugated polymers based on poly[2,3-bis-(3-octyloxyphenyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl-alt-thiophene-2,5-diyl] (TQ1) polymeric backbone utilizing polar pendant groups, i.e., tertiary amine and pyridine, to achieve switchable solubility in water and ethanol. By balancing the ratio between polar and non-polar side-groups, we could combine green-solvent processability with the manufacturing of functional photovoltaic devices. Due to the unavailability of water/alcohol soluble acceptors, the photovoltaic performance of these new polymers was evaluated using organic solvent by incorporating PC61BM. For water/alcohol soluble partial amine-based polymers, we achieve a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of ∼0.8% whereas alcohol soluble partial pyridine-based polymers show enhanced PCE of ∼1.3% with inverted device structure. We propose that the enhancement in PCE is a result of the reduction in amino-group content and the lower basicity of pyridine, both of which decrease the interaction between functionalized polymers with the anode interface material and reduce the miscibility of the donor and acceptor. Further improvement of the photovoltaic performance, in particular the open-circuit voltage (Voc), was achieved by using an anode buffer layer to mitigate the unfavorable interaction of the amino/pyridine groups with the MoO3 electrode. Our work demonstrated the possibility of substituent modification for conjugated polymers using tertiary amine and pyridine groups to achieve water/alcohol soluble and functional donor materials

On determining spectral parameters, tracking jitter, and GPS positioning improvement by scintillation mitigation

A method of determining spectral parameters p (slope of the phase PSD) and T (phase PSD at 1 Hz) and hence tracking error variance in a GPS receiver PLL from just amplitude and phase scintillation indices and an estimated value of the Fresnel frequency has been previously presented. Here this method is validated using 50 Hz GPS phase and amplitude data from high latitude receivers in northern Norway and Svalbard. This has been done both using (1) a Fresnel frequency estimated using the amplitude PSD (in order to check the accuracy of the method) and (2) a constant assumed value of Fresnel frequency for the data set, convenient for the situation when contemporaneous phase PSDs are not available. Both of the spectral parameters ( p, T ) calculated using this method are in quite good agreement with those obtained by direct measurements of the phase spectrum as are tracking jitter variances determined for GPS receiver PLLs using these values. For the Svalbard data set, a significant difference in the scintillation level observed on the paths from different satellites received simultaneously was noted. Then, it is shown that the accuracy of relative GPS positioning can be improved by use of the tracking jitter variance in weighting the measurements from each satellite used in the positioning estimation. This has significant advantages for scintillation mitigation, particularly since the method can be accomplished utilizing only time domain measurements thus obviating the need for the phase PSDs in order to extract the spectral parameters required for tracking jitter determination

Placenta increta causing hemoperitoneum in the 26th week of pregnancy: a case report

Abstract Introduction Placenta increta is a serious complication of pregnancy. We describe a case leading to uterine rupture associated with massive intra-abdominal hemorrhage. Case presentation A 34-year-old Caucasian Albanian woman, gravida 2, para 1, was admitted to the emergency department of our hospital for acute abdominal pain associated with profound secondary anemia. An anatomopathological diagnosis of placenta increta destruens was made. An urgent hysterectomy was performed after resuscitation procedures, applied due to the severe anemia and the abdominal drama accompanying the case. Intra-operatively, a uterus-saving procedure was found to be impossible, and hysterectomy remained the only surgical option. The uterine structures were sent for further microscopic evaluation. On histological examination, deep trophoblastic infiltration of the uterine wall was observed, justifying the surgeon's decision. Our patient received blood transfusions and antibiotics. Her sutures were removed on the eighth postoperative day and she was discharged the following day in a stable condition. Conclusion This case, describing a patient with uterine rupture and massive hemorrhage, illustrates a serious and potentially fatal complication of placenta previa. In such cases, surgery is essential, and hysterectomy may be the only viable option.</p

Tackling ionospheric scintillation threat to GNSS in Latin America

Scintillations are rapid fluctuations in the phase and amplitude of transionospheric radio signals which are caused by small-scale plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere. In the case of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, scintillation can cause cycle slips, degrade the positioning accuracy and, when severe enough, can even lead to a complete loss of signal lock. Thus, the required levels of availability, accuracy, integrity and reliability for the GNSS applications may not be met during scintillation occurrence; this poses a major threat to a large number of modern-day GNSS-based applications. The whole of Latin America, Brazil in particular, is located in one of the regions most affected by scintillations. These effects will be exacerbated during solar maxima, the next predicted for 2013. This paper presents initial results from a research work aimed to tackle ionospheric scintillation effects for GNSS users in Latin America. This research is a part of the CIGALA (Concept for Ionospheric Scintillation Mitigation for Professional GNSS in Latin America) project, co-funded by the EC Seventh Framework Program and supervised by the GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), which aims to develop and test ionospheric scintillation countermeasures to be implemented in multi-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS receivers

Fundamental social motives measured across forty-two cultures in two waves

How does psychology vary across human societies? The fundamental social motives framework adopts an evolutionary approach to capture the broad range of human social goals within a taxonomy of ancestrally recurring threats and opportunities. These motives—self-protection, disease avoidance, affiliation, status, mate acquisition, mate retention, and kin care—are high in fitness relevance and everyday salience, yet understudied cross-culturally. Here, we gathered data on these motives in 41 countries (N=15,885) in two cross-sectional waves, including 19 countries (N=11,095) for which data were gathered in both waves. Wave 1 was collected from 2016 through mid-2019 (32 countries, N=9353; 3537 male, 5574 female; Mage=24.58, SD=8.07). Wave 2 was collected from May through October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic (N=6532; 2194 male, 4165 female; Mage=28.82, SD=11.49). These data can be used to assess differences and similarities in people’s fundamental social motives both across and within cultures, at different time points, and in relation to other commonly studied cultural indicators and outcomes

Five-frequency Galileo long-baseline ambiguity resolution with multipath mitigation

© 2018, The Author(s). For long-baseline over several hundreds of kilometers, the ionospheric delays that cannot be fully removed by differencing observations between receivers hampers rapid ambiguity resolution. Compared with forming ionospheric-free linear combination using dual- or triple-frequency observations, estimating ionospheric delays using uncombined observations keeps all the information of the observations and allows extension of the strategy to any number of frequencies. As the number of frequencies has increased for the various GNSSs, it is possible to study long-baseline ambiguity resolution performance using up to five frequencies with uncombined observations. We make use of real Galileo observations on five frequencies with a sampling interval of 1 s. Two long baselines continuously receiving signals from six Galileo satellites during corresponding test time intervals were processed to study the formal and empirical ambiguity success rates in case of full ambiguity resolution (FAR). The multipath effects are mitigated using the measuremen ts of another day when the constellation repeats. Compared to the results using multipath-uncorrected Galileo observations, it is found that the multipath mitigation plays an important role in improving the empirical ambiguity success rates. A high number of frequencies are also found to be helpful to achieve high ambiguity success rate within a short time. Using multipath-uncorrected observations on two, three, four and five frequencies, the mean empirical success rates are found to be about 73, 88, 91, and 95% at 10 s, respectively, while the values are increased to higher than 86, 95, 98, and 99% after mitigating the multipath effects