Features of gas composition and acid-base state of blood in newborns with intrauterine infections

Aim. To study the features of the gas composition and acid-base state in newborns with specific intrauterine infections.Material and methods. The examination was conducted based on the neonatal pathology unit of the SI NMCShifobakhsh.The degree of oxygenation of blood and skin was determined using daily pulse-oximetry. The partial pressure of gases and the study of the acid-base state (CBS) of blood was carried out using Convergys/liquid device.Result and discussion. The results of our study of blood gases and the acid-base indicator of blood in newborns with severe IUI showed noticeable hypoxemia, moderate hypercapnia, and a deficiency of buffer States, which indicate a violation of gas exchange function in the lungs with the development of compensatory respiratory-metabolic acidosis in children of this group. In patients with a very severe course of IUI, as the syndrome of respiratory disorders and the severity of hyperventilation syndrome increased, deeper changes in blood gas parameters and the acid-base state of the blood were noted. It indicates significant damage to the ventilation function of the lungs, diffuse perfusion processes, gas, and acid-base homeostasis.Conclusions. Impairment of the function of organs and systems that developed against the background of a severe or very severe course of IUI, depending on the degree of severity of deviations in blood gas parameters and acid-base balance, shows the need for adequate corrective therapy.

Strategic Triangles and Balancing in World Politics

Trilateral diplomacy is a common format of interaction in international relations, which forms various configurations of the balance of power within the framework of triangles. The concept of a “triangle” is characterized by ambivalence, has a variety of characteristics and principles of formation.The article provides an overview of the theoretical discourse on strategic triangles, as well as of practical examples of trilateral diplomacy of the past and present day. The main characteristics of strategic triangles and the features of changes in their configuration are identified (the case of USA–PRC–USSR triangle). Classification of both symmetric and asymmetric triangles (unicenter and bicenter) are given, the concept of buffer states, as well as regional conflicts with the participation of a great power as a defender, are presented.The most influential countries at the global and regional levels, forming geopolitical triangles, are identified basing on the Composite Index of National Capability (CINC). The concept of pivot states is analyzed permitting to indicate relatively small but geopolitically important countries, forming triangles together with influential states.The main strategic triangles of the modern world order are analyzed, presenting mostly countries of Asia (China, Japan, India), Russian Federation, USA and EU. The main trends of global competition based on geopolitical triangles in the XXI-st century are identified.

Research on the Reliability Allocation Method for a Production System Based on Availability

This paper involves a production system, which is composed of units (workstations) and buffers. The buffer is used to store semifinished and finished products in the production process, to reduce the impacts of bad equipment in the production system on the entire system performance. Considering the characteristics of the large number of components and the state of the buffers in the production system, this paper considers the influences of buffer states on upstream and downstream units. When using the availability as the allocation index and combining it with Markov theory, the production unit (workstation) and upstream and downstream buffers are regarded as an equivalent unit (workstation) with multiple output states. We establish the relationship between the availability of each equivalent unit (workstation) and the production system availability and determine a scaling factor for the availability of the equivalent unit to account for the system availability. The expected availability goal of the production system is allocated to each equivalent unit (workstation) by the scaling factor; then, the availability of each equivalent unit (workstation) is assigned to each unit. Finally, the Plant Simulation software is used to simulate and analyze the production system to verify the correctness of the allocation method and realize the reliability allocation from a complex production system to a unit.

The Habsburg Legacy

This chapter discusses the Habsburg grand strategy. The Habsburg Empire had an especially pressing need to engage in the pursuit of grand strategy because of its vulnerable location and the unavailability of effective offensive military instruments with which to subdue the threats around its frontiers. Weakness is provocative, and apathy is rarely rewarded in even the most forgiving of strategic environments. For an impecunious power in the vortex of east-central European geopolitics, these traits, if permitted to coexist for long, would lead to the extinction of the state. This was the signal lesson from the wars of the eighteenth century, which had culminated in a succession struggle that saw a militarily weak Austria dangerously bereft of allies invaded from three directions and almost destroyed. These experiences spurred Habsburg leaders to conceptualize and formalize the matching of means to large ends in anticipation of future threats. The result was a conservative grand strategy that used alliances, buffer states, and a defensive army to manage multifront dynamics, avoid strains beyond Austria’s ability to bear, and preserve an independent European center under Habsburg leadership.

The Euro-Moat

European governments acting alone and collectively through Frontex and NATO are intercepting asylum seekers and other migrants far from their shores. Patrolling the moat is tightly linked to buffering. In lieu of offshore processing, European governments collaborate with coastal states in North Africa, Albania, and Turkey to prevent departures and accept readmission of people intercepted at sea. The weakness of coastal states’ control capacity has then led European governments to drive further inland and build expanding rings of land buffers around the moat. The modest constraints on Europe’s moat strategy are the supranational judiciary and monitoring of conditions at sea and in coastal buffer states by NGOs, investigative journalists, and the UNHCR.