Implant Site Nexplanon Reaction?

Nexplanon (Schering-Plough Limited/Merck Sharp & Dohme Limited (MSD)) is a long active reversible contraceptive method that provides effective contraception for 3 years. It consists of a single, flexible, rod-shaped implant, containing 68 mg etonogestrel. It is 4 cm long, consists of an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, a non-absorbable material, and also contains 15 mg of barium sulfate, which makes it visible by X-ray. We describe a case of a 39-year-old woman who experienced a local reaction to the barium sulfate in Nexplanon. She was given medical treatment, but only the removal of the implant resolved the symptoms. After removal there was gradual improvement and 72 h later the patient was asymptomatic. Allergic reaction to barium sulfate is extremely rare: until now, there have only been two cases associated with Nexplanon described in the literature

Fetal Growth Restriction - a 4-Year Case Series

Overview and aims: Fetal growth restriction (FGR) affects 15% of pregnancies and is associated with both increased perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality and long-term effects in adult life. Our aim was to describe cases and outcomes of FGR from a tertiary perinatal care centre and identify the predictors of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Study design: retrospective cohort. Population: pregnancies with early or late FGR caused by placental factors followed from 2006 to 2009 in a tertiary perinatal care centre. Methods: we collected data from clinical records on demographics, clinical history and fetal ultrasound parameters. Perinatal and neonatal outcomes were stratiied according to gestational age (above or below 28 weeks) and we used bivariate analysis to identify any associations with clinical and imaging indings. Results: we included 246 pregnancies; hypertension was the most prevalent maternal risk factor (16%). There were 15 cases of early FGR, 11 of which had cesarean delivery due to deterioration of fetal Doppler parameters. Outcomes in this group included one fetal and three neonatal deaths. Of 231 cases of late FGR, 64% were delivered early given a non-reassuring fetal status i.e. due to changes in Doppler evaluation or altered Manning biophysical proile. There were four cases of perinatal death in this group, three of which delivered at 28 weeks. Neonatal morbidity was associated with lower gestational age, lower birthweight and progressive placental dysfunction (p<0.01). Conclusion: there was an association between neonatal morbidity and gestational age, birthweight and Doppler deterioration, particularly for deliveries below 28 weeks. The assessment of vascular changes through Doppler analysis allows anticipation of fetal deterioration and is a helpful tool in deciding the optimum timing of delivery

Enhanced salience of musical sounds in singers and instrumentalists

Music training has been linked to facilitated processing of emotional sounds. However, most studies have focused on speech, and less is known about musicians’ brain responses to other emotional sounds and in relation to instrument-specific experience. The current study combined behavioral and EEG methods to address two novel questions related to the perception of auditory emotional cues: whether and how long-term music training relates to a distinct emotional processing of nonverbal vocalizations and music; and whether distinct training profiles (vocal vs. instrumental) modulate brain responses to emotional sounds from early to late processing stages. Fifty-eight participants completed an EEG implicit emotional processing task, in which musical and vocal sounds differing in valence were presented as nontarget stimuli. After this task, participants explicitly evaluated the same sounds regarding the emotion being expressed, their valence, and arousal. Compared with nonmusicians, musicians displayed enhanced salience detection (P2), attention orienting (P3), and elaborative processing (Late Positive Potential) of musical (vs. vocal) sounds in event-related potential (ERP) data. The explicit evaluation of musical sounds also was distinct in musicians: accuracy in the emotional recognition of musical sounds was similar across valence types in musicians, who also judged musical sounds to be more pleasant and more arousing than nonmusicians. Specific profiles of music training (singers vs. instrumentalists) did not relate to differences in the processing of vocal vs. musical sounds. Together, these findings reveal that music has a privileged status in the auditory system of long-term musically trained listeners, irrespective of their instrument-specific experience.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Surface abundances of ON stars

Massive stars burn hydrogen through the CNO cycle during most of their evolution. When mixing is efficient, or when mass transfer in binary systems happens, chemically processed material is observed at the surface of O and B stars. ON stars show stronger lines of nitrogen than morphologically normal counterparts. Whether this corresponds to the presence of material processed through the CNO cycle or not is not known. Our goal is to answer this question. We perform a spectroscopic analysis of a sample of ON stars with atmosphere models. We determine the fundamental parameters as well as the He, C, N, and O surface abundances. We also measure the projected rotational velocities. We compare the properties of the ON stars to those of normal O stars. We show that ON stars are usually helium-rich. Their CNO surface abundances are fully consistent with predictions of nucleosynthesis. ON stars are more chemically evolved and rotate - on average - faster than normal O stars. Evolutionary models including rotation cannot account for the extreme enrichment observed among ON main sequence stars. Some ON stars are members of binary systems, but others are single stars as indicated by stable radial velocities. Hence, mass transfer is not a simple explanation for the observed chemical properties. We conclude that ON stars show extreme chemical enrichment at their surface, consistent with nucleosynthesis through the CNO cycle. Its origin is not clear at present.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures (+ appendix). A&A accepte

Structure evolution during deformation of novel polymer systems based on poly(ethylene terephthalate) reinforced with inorganic particles

Inorganic particles have been incorporated into poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, matrix with the aim of offering some aesthetic effects to the standard transparent beverage packaging. To assess to the effect of different type of inorganic particles (with different interaction with the polymeric matrix) in the deformation behaviour of PET composites, particles such as aluminium, bronze, nanoclay, graphite and mica, were used. Two types of processing methods, ensuring a good mixing, were adopted for the composite preparation: i) melt-blending in an asymmetric batch mini-mixer followed by compression and ii) melt-blending in a twin screw extruder followed by injection moulding. The structural and mechanical behaviours of neat PET and its composites were evaluated during uniaxial stretching at temperatures above the glass transition temperature, Tg, namely at 85, 90, 95, 100 ºC, using a standard tensile stretching machine equipped with an environmental chamber. This study aims at understanding the deformation behaviour of the materials at temperatures found in conventional transformation methods used for packaging. To interpret the structural evolution occurring in the samples, off-line techniques such as DSC, WAXD and SEM were used. A detailed structural evolution was accomplished by applying different stretching ratios to the samples up to a maximum of 5x. Injection moulded samples were also characterized for their mechanical properties at room temperature in order to assess the materials behaviour in service. From all particles studied the PET/Aluminium and PET/Bronze composites are the ones showing the best combination of aesthetic effects, deformation behaviour and final mechanical properties. Comparing to neat PET, their general properties are the same during the deformation process making the new materials suitable for conventional processing techniques. It was found that both particles offer superior molecular mobility to PET at room temperature. In other words, these composites present a higher deformation capacity, however its elastic modulus and tensile strength at yield are slightly reduced

Antimicrobial potential of Eucalyptus globulus against biofilms of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis

Staphylococcus aureus are among the most common species isolated from bovine mastitis. The pathogenesis of this bacterium is facilitated by a number of virulence factors, including the ability to adhere to abiotic surfaces and/or host tissues often leading to biofilms formation. From the clinical perspective, the most important feature of Staphylococcus species biofilms is their high tolerance to the conventional antimicrobial therapy. So, the increasing number of bovine mastitis and the higher levels of Staphylococcus species resistance to traditional antimicrobial agents are considered an important alert for the necessity to focus the future research on identification and development of new strategies to combat S. aureus mastitis. Recently, the interest in natural alternatives based on plant extracts has been rising. In addition to their health benefits, their antimicrobial potential has been increasingly reported. Taking this into consideration, the evaluation of hydromethanolic extracts of E. globulus against S. aureus biofilms was tested and compared with penicillin, one of the antibiotics most often used in the treatment of cattle infections. All mastitis isolates tested were good-biofilm producers. As expected penicillin has demonstrated poor activity against S. aureus biofilms (<1 log reduction). However, E. globulus Labill was bactericidal, promoting a biofilm cell reduction of 2-3 log. Therefore, the present work showed the potential antimicrobial activity of E. globulus against S. aureus from bovine mastitis, namely in biofilm mode of growth and drew attention to its promising use as an alternative to penicillin

Intensificação ecológica da agricultura: uma opção para a preservação ambiental com lucratividade.

As perspectivas futuras sugerem que uma verdadeira revolução nos processos de produção agrícola terá que acontecer. Se por um lado o modelo produtivista, oriundo da revolução verde, tem mostrado seus limites, principalmente no que diz respeito ao uso insustentável de recursos naturais e nos impactos negativos que causam ao meio ambiente, por outro, estima-se que a população mundial deverá chegar a 9 bilhões de pessoas em 2050, aumentando assim a demanda por alimentos, fibras, madeiras e, junte-se a essa lista: biocombustíveis. Esse aumento na demanda será ainda maior do que uma simples progressão do aumento populacional, já que uma substancial melhora na qualidade de vida das populações menos favorecidas é esperada. Essa melhora na qualidade de vida terá que passar, inevitavelmente, por um maior uso per capta de produtos provenientes da agricultura.bitstream/item/123090/1/Intensificacao-Ecologica.pd