The atmosphere as a lens

The advent of manned satellites has made it possible for man to observe Earth from great distances. Many new phenomena have been discovered in the atmosphere. These are evidently caused by reflection, scattering or refraction of light on crystals and drops of water. It is possible to see small objects on the surface of Earth because of these anomalies

Stimulation of platelet glycoprotein IIb-IIIa (αIIbβ3-integrin) functional activity by a monoclonal antibody to the N-terminal region of glycoprotein IIIa

AbstractPlatelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb-IIIa complex (αIIbβ3-integrin) changes its conformation upon platelet activation that results in binding of RGD-containing ligands and expression of ligand-induced binding site (LIBS) neoepitopes. Anti-GIIb-IIIa monoclonal antibody (monAB) CRC54 bound to ≤10% of GPIIb-IIIa on resting platelets but binding was enhanced by the occupation of GPIIb-IIIa with RGDS peptide and by platelet activation indicating that CRC54 is directed against LIBS epitope. The epitope was located within the first 100 N-terminal residues of GPIIIa and differed from other LIBS epitopes. CRC54 as well as its Fab fragments were able to induce platelet aggregation. CRC54 also stimulated interaction of GPIIb-IIIa with its ligands (fibrinogen and fibronectin) and conformation-dependent antibodies. The results indicated that changes of GPIIb-IIIa conformation, binding of ligands and platelet aggregation could be stimulated via interaction of anti-LIBS antibody with the N-terminal part of GPIIIa

Estimation Method for Vector Field Divergence of Earth Crust Deformations in the Process of Mineral Deposits Development

An essential requirement for effective and safe deposit development is good geomechanical software. Nowadays software packages based on finite element method are used extensively to estimate stress-strain state of the rock mass. Their quality use can only be assured if boundary conditions and integral mechanical properties of the rock mass are known. In mining engineering this objective has always been achieved by means of experimental observations. The main source of information on initial and man-induced stress-strain state of the rock mass is natural measurement of displacement characteristics. Measurement of geodetic data (coordinates, heights, directions) in the period between alteration cycles allows to plot a field of displacement vectors for the points in question. Taken together, displacement vectors provide information on the objective stress-strain state of the Earth crust. Basing on it, strain tensors, displacement components, directions and rates of compression and tension can be calculated in the examined area. However, differential characteristics of any physical vector field – namely, curl and divergence – need to be taken into account. Divergence is a single value (scalar) associated with a single point. Vector field as a whole can be described with divergence scalar field. Divergence indicates the sign (positive or negative) of volume changes in the infinitesimal region of space and characterizes vector flux in the nearest proximity and in all directions from a given point. In the paper authors propose a method to estimate divergence using discrete geodetic observations of displacement occurring on the surface of examined territory. It requires construction of formulas that model vector field for any point of the area. It is proposed to use power polynomials that describe displacement in three directions (x, y, z). These formulas allow to estimate field vectors in any given point, i.e. to form vector tubes. Then areas of input and output cross-section, as well as divergence values are calculated. This increases the quality of geodetic observation and provides opportunities for more precise modeling of the rock mass disrupted by mining operations, using modern software packages

Diagnostics of thrombocytopenias

Laboratory methods used for the diagnostics of thrombocytopenias are reviewed. Differential diagnosis is usually carried out between immune and hypoproductive forms of thrombocytopenia. Immune thrombocytopenias are caused by appearance in blood of antiplatelet abtibodies and accelerated destruction of platelets sensibilized by those antibodies, and hypoproductive thrombocytopenias - by impaired platelet production in the bone marrow. Main directions of the laboratory diagnostics of thrombocytopenias - analysis of auto - and alloautoantibodies and evaluation of platelet production and turnover in the blood stream. The following methods are used for the investigation of antiplatelet antibodies: 1) measurement of platelet associated immunoglobulins; 2) determination of circulating antibodies reacting with platelets; 3) determination of antibodies using antigen specific methods - by their reactivity with isolated platelet antigens (glycoproteins). Efficacy of platelet production could be assessed by measuring in blood the amount of “young” (reticulated) platelets. One more method for the evaluation of platelet production as well as the rate of platelet turnover - measurement of plasma soluble glycocalicin, glycoprotein Ib fragment shed from the surface of platelets upon their destruction in spleen and liver. In patients with immune thrombocytopenia autoantibodies are evaluated in all cases, the percentage of reticulated platelets is significantly increased and the amount of plasma glycocalicin is within the normal range or increased. In patients with hypoproductive thrombocytopenia autoantibodies are not detected or detected at low level, the percentage of reticulated platelets is within the normal range or slightly increased and the amount of plasma glycocalicin is lowered. Diagnostics of hapten forms of immune thromocytopenias (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and others) and of alloimmune thrombocytopenias (neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia in particular) are considered in the separate sections of this review

The Influence of Socio-Cultural Factors on Oocyte Donors’ Motivations and Disclosure Decisions

Received 9 June 2022 © 2022. Accepted 23 September 2022. Published online 10 October 2022.The study focuses on the motivations of Russian oocyte donors and the socio-cultural factors affecting these motivations. We conducted 16 semi-structured interviews with actual or prospective oocyte donors. All of them were patients of two fertility clinics located in the city of Yekaterinburg (Russia) planning to become oocyte donors within the period from 2 weeks to 3 months. We built a profile of a Russian oocyte donor: it is a 26-year-old married woman with at least one child, she has a secondary vocational education and a low income. All the women in our study displayed multiple motivations: apart from the interest in a financial reward and purely altruistic motivations, for many women the decisive factor is their desire to help their friends or relatives struggling with infertility. Interestingly, almost all of our respondents described their decision to donate as an attempt to move past a traumatic situation they once endured and to achieve closure by doing something really important and good. For many women, oocyte donation becomes a way to boost their self-esteem, to feel more significant and to promote their personal autonomy. As for barriers to donation, one of the most important is associated with the donors’ unwillingness to make their identity known and to share this information even with their close circle of friends and relatives. For the majority of donors, anonymity is crucial. The disclosure of this information, in their view, will cause controversy in the donor’s family and immediate circle of friends at present and will threaten their privacy in the future. The prospective donors are also concerned about the negative public attitudes or lack of understanding.The study was conducted within the framework of the RSF grant No. 22-28-01694 dated December 20, 2021

Geometric estimation of volcanic eruption column height from GOES-R near-limb imagery-Part 2: Case studies

In a companion paper (Horváth et al., 2021), we introduced a new technique to estimate volcanic eruption column height from extremely oblique near-limb geostationary views. The current paper demonstrates and validates the technique in a number of recent eruptions, ranging from ones with weak columnar plumes to subplinian events with massive umbrella clouds and overshooting tops that penetrate the stratosphere. Due to its purely geometric nature, the new method is shown to be unaffected by the limitations of the traditional brightness temperature method, such as height underestimation in subpixel and semitransparent plumes, ambiguous solutions near the tropopause temperature inversion, or the lack of solutions in undercooled plumes. The side view height estimates were in good agreement with plume heights derived from ground-based video and satellite stereo observations, suggesting they can be a useful complement to established techniques

Criteria of outcome prognosis for neonatal adaptation of newborns who were born by women with gestosis

Object of the research: relying on the complex analysis of standard estimates of homeostasis of pregnant, clinical state and laboratory indices of newborns to determine criteria of outcome prognosis for neonatal adaptation of newborns who were born by women with gestosis. Performed: study analysis of 93 newborns who formed three groups of observations. Groups were formed basing on maternal pathology and type of course of early neonatal adaptation within the first 24 hours after birth. In order to establish the informative criteria of heaviness of the state of infants who were born by women with gestosis, the significance level of parameters of the developed clinical, instrument and laboratory database was determined. The most significant parameters are quantity of platelet and fibrinogen in the third trimester of pregnancy of a mother, weight and height of a new-born, Apgar score within the 1 -5 minute period after birth, irritability of newborns or central nervous central depression, hydrops fetalis, heartbeat frequency of newborns within the first 24 hours after birth, quantity of lymphocytes and segmentonuclear neutrophils with the first 24 hours after birth. All parameters had the increased significance level (reliability) from P 0.0001 to P 0.05. Among many parameters, that allow physicians to differentiate physiological state (dysadaptation) and transfer of the latter to disease, we specified the most simple and accessible criteria possessing high correlation dependency on duration and clinical course of neonatal adaptation. The performed analysis allowed us to reveal main risk factors of developing disadaptation of infants who were born by women with gestosis and to develop rules of prognosis for disaptation syndrome at an early ageЦель исследования: На основании комплексного анализа стандартных оценок гомеостаза беременной, клинического состояния и лабораторных показателей новорождённого установить критерии прогноза исходов неонатальной адаптации детей, родившихся от женщин с гестозом. Проведено исследование 93 новорождённых детей, которые составили три группы наблюдения. Формирование групп проводилось с учётом материнской патологии и характера течения ранней неонатальной адаптации в первые сутки жизни. Для решения задачи поиска информативных критериев состояния детей, родившихся от женщин с гестозом, определялся уровень значимости параметров из созданной базы клинических, инструментальных и лабораторных данных. К наиболее значимым параметрам относились количество тромбоцитов и фибриногена в третьем триместре беременности, рост и масса ребёнка при рождении, оценка по шкале Апгар на 1 и 5 минуте жизни, синдром повышенной нервно-рефлекторной возбудимости или угнетения, отёчный синдром, ЧСС у ребёнка в первые сутки, количество лимфоцитов и сегментоядерных нейтрофилов в 1 сутки. Все параметры имели высокий уровень значимости (достоверность от р<0,0001 до р<0,05. Выводы: среди множества признаков (всего 104), позволяющих дифференцировать физиологическое состояние, дизадаптацию и переход последней в болезнь, мы выделили наиболее простые и доступные критерии, имеющие высокую корреляционную зависимость от длительности и клинического течения неонатальной адаптации. Проведённый анализ позволил выявить основные факторы риска развития нарушений адаптации у детей, родившихся от женщин с гестозом и разработать правила прогноза синдрома дизадаптации в раннем неонатальном периоде

Maternal incompatibilities with fetal human platelet alloantigens -1a, -1b and -15 are the main causes of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia in Russia

The aim. Mechanisms underlying the development of neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT) in in Russia have been studied. Materials and methods. Genetic polymorphisms of human platelet alloantigens (HPA) -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, and -15 were evaluated in 27 families having the newborns with NAIT. NAIT was diagnosed according to the following criteria: (1) newborn with thrombocytopenia; (2) mother with no thrombocytopenia and no increase of platelet associated IgG, (3) presence of antibodies reacting with paternal platelets in maternal plasma / serum. HPA genotyping revealed incompatibilities in 23 out of 27 tested families. In these 23 families HPA-1 conflicts were detected in 16 ones (70%). In 8 cases mothers were homozygous carriers of rare HPA-1b allele and in another 8 cases - of HPA-1a allele which cased incompatibilities with fetal HPA-1a and HPA-1b respectively. In 5 out of 23 families (22%) there were incompatibilities with fetal HPA-15 (HPA-15a, n=2 and HPA-15b, n=3), in 1 family - with HPA-5b (4%), and in 1 family - with HPA-3b (4%) alloantigens. In conclusion the main causes of NAIT in Russia were HPA-1a and -1b conflicts and HPA-15 conflicts were the second frequent ones

Endothelial function, regulation of angiogenesis and embryonic central hemodynamics in ART-conceived pregnancies

This study was undertaken to compare the concentrations of pro- and anti-angiogenic growth factors, nitric oxide (NO) stable metabolites in maternal serum and embryonic left ventricular (LV) isovolumic relaxation time (IRT, ms) during the first trimester in two groups of women: with pregnancy conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART, nј39) and normally conceived (control group, nј68) pregnancy. The concentration of vasoconstrictor endothelin 1 was 45.5 times more in ART than in control group. On the contrary, the concentrations of NO stable metabolites in ART were 1.9 times less than in control women. The assessment of angiogenic suppressors in ART women demonstrates the decrease in s-endoglin concentration was 1.6 times and in soluble receptor to vascular endothelial growth factor concentration was 2.0 times in comparison with control group. There was a significant increase in LV IRT in ART embryos in comparison to control ones. These data suggest significant changes in pro-antiangiogenic factors balance and increase in vascular impedance in ART-conceived embryos