Withdrawal from Negotiations as the Basis for Pre-Contractual Liability under Russian and Foreign Law

The paper analyzes the criteria for unfair termination of negotiations as a basis for pre-contractual liability. There are 3 components of unfair interruption of negotiations: 1) entry into negotiations without the intent to conclude an agreement and their subsequent interruption; 2) arbitrary termination of negotiations if the counterparty has confidence in the conclusion of the contract; 3) untimely notification of the counterparty about withdrawing from the negotiation process. The author analizes the criteria for unfair breakdown of negotiations. They include the following: the counterparty has reasonable confidence in the conclusion of the contract and the absence of a valid reason for terminating business contacts. These criteria are relevant only for the second composition of the elements of unfair termination of negotiations. To be held liable for entering into negotiations without intending to conclude an agreement and for the subsequent withdrawal from them, it is not required to establish such criteria, and in case of untimely notification of the severance of business contacts, it is necessary to establish only one criterion, namely, the counterparty can reasonably believe in conclusion of the agreement. As a general rule, participants in pre-contractual relations have the right to conduct parallel negotiations with other persons. This possibility may be limited by entering into an exclusivity agreement. At the same time, in some cases, entering into parallel negotiations can be qualified as unfair behavior even without the conclusion of such an agreement.

Serotonin Toxicity Versus Withdrawal: Clonidine One Size Fits All?

Serotonin discontinuation syndrome (SDS) can result in a constellation of symptoms exhibited by infants exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or other psychotropic drugs during pregnancy. Currently, there is no consensus regarding the pharmacologic management of SDS. We report our experience with clonidine for the management of a term infant with poor neonatal adaption. The infant exhibited biphasic symptoms of acute toxicity at birth and a plateauing of symptoms, followed by subsequent withdrawal symptomatology requiring the use of clonidine in doses up to 4 mcg/kg/dose every 3 hours for control of symptoms. The 38-week gestation Caucasian male infant was born to a mother with major depressive disorder, which was managed with sertraline, trazodone, venlafaxine, and buspirone throughout her pregnancy. The infant exhibited severe hypertonia at delivery and continued to have hypertonia, tremors, hypoglycemia, and feeding issues upon admission to the NICU. The initial Modified Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence scores were extremely elevated, and clonidine was started at 1 mcg/kg/dose every 3 hours and then the dose was titrated up to 4 mcg/kg/dose. This is the first report documenting the use of clonidine to manage serotonin toxicity at birth followed by subsequent neonatal withdrawal associated with maternal antidepressant drug use during pregnancy.

Effects of Early Sub-Therapeutic Antibiotic Administration and its Subsequent Withdrawal on Body Composition, Gut Microbiota and Metabolite Profiles in a Pig Model

Background: Antibiotic exposure in early life has shown to be a significant risk factor for later fat accumulation in human. However, whether early sub-therapeutic antibiotic (STA) exposure affects body composition and its mechanisms remains unclear. The present study used a combination of comparative slaughter method, microbiota, and metabolomics measurement to investigate the effects of early STA administration and its subsequent withdrawal on body composition, colonic microbiota and metabolite profiles in a pig model. The piglets were fed the same basal starter diet added with STA (STA) or without STA (CON) for two weeks during the administration period, and then all piglets were switched to the same nursery diet without STA during the withdrawal period until they reached approximately 25 kg body weight. Results: Results showed that STA did not significantly improve piglet growth performance during the administration period and the withdrawal period. Piglets treated with the STA had a lower body water deposition (g/d) during the withdrawal period, and tended to have increased body lipid deposition (g/d) during the withdrawal period and the whole period than CON group. It was found that STA was initially effective in decreasing the abundance of pathogenic bacteria during the administration period, such as Alloprevotella, Bacteroides, Solobacterium, and Sutterella. However, they could not continue the effect during the withdrawal period, leading to the rebound of pathogenic bacteria such as Alloprevotella and the increase of the abundance of other pathogenic bacteria like Oscillibacter. Remarkably, STA treatment decreased the abundance of Blautia that play a potential protective role against obesity either during the administration period or the withdrawal period. Metabolomic analysis indicated that STA mainly altered amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism during the two periods. Furthermore, Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the gut microbiota was highly correlated with microbial metabolites changes. Conclusion: These results suggest that STA administration may alter tissue deposition through reshaping the gut microbiota and their metabolite profiles.

Development of new methods of rice cultivation for the reclamation and water management complex of the Lower Kuban

According to long-term studies of the influence of rice cultivation show that meadow-black soil, meadow, alluvial, meadow-swamp (heavy black soils) soils of the reclamation and water management complex of the Lower Kuban, with the beginning of their use for rice cultivation, lose their favorable physical properties and become degraded, merged, viscous and gleyed formations, which leads to a decrease in the yield and quality of the resulting grain, loss of soil fertility, as a rule, with the subsequent withdrawal of lands from the irrigation fund. In order to prevent these negative consequences, it is necessary to use the accumulated world experience of rice cultivation in a timely manner. For a number of reasons, many scientific achievements in the field of selective breeding and rice production technologies remain unpopular. Today, the level of information technology allows studying the advanced experience of rice cultivation in a short time. The world leader in rice production is the PRC, where for more than 10 years they have been practicing the cultivation of rice using drip watering under mulching film, considering this method to be one of the most effective and resource-saving. However, the rice-growing regions of the PRC are located in subtropical and tropical climates with the sum of active temperatures and solar activity during the growing season significantly exceeding the average values of these values for the rice-growing regions of the reclamation and water management complex of the Lower Kuban. Consequently, to implement this technology on the rice irrigation systems of the Krasnodar Territory, it is necessary to adapt them to the natural and climatic conditions of the region. Therefore, the paper proposes the technology of underground drip watering of rice, the introduction of which has proven its effectiveness and feasibility.

Evaluation of Colostral Immunity Against Equine Herpesvirus Type 1 (EHV-1) in Martina Franca's Foals

Eight Martina Franca pregnant jennies were selected in order to evaluate the transfer of colostral antibodies against equine herpesvirus type 1 in their relative foals after immunization with a commercial inactivated vaccine, compared with an unvaccinated group. Samples of serum and colostrums/milk were collected from jennies and foals under study starting from 10 min before and up to 21 days after the foaling. Specific anti-EHV-1 antibody titers were evaluated by means of a serum neutralization test, and the results obtained from both groups were analyzed. The serological titers in the vaccinated jennies was significantly higher (p < 0.01). No significant differences were found in the specific time-point intervals in both groups examined (p > 0.05). The antibody titers in milk at the time of delivery and subsequent withdrawal (T0 and T1) were very high in both groups, but no significant differences were found between the two groups (p > 0.05). In the foal sera, a significant difference was found between foals in the vaccinated group compared with those in the unvaccinated group (p < 0.05). Finally, a significant correlation (p < 0.05) was observed between the antibody titers found in serum and colostrum of jennies and the foal titers in the first time-point sampling (up to 12 h after foaling). The results confirm a substantial homology in the antibody production compared with other most investigated equids, highlighting the efficacy of the vaccination against EHV-1 of the jennies to ensure the protective immunity to their foals during the first weeks after delivery.

Political Institutions and Supply-Side Climate Politics: Lessons from Coal Ports in Canada and the United States

In recent years, a new “supply-side” climate politics has emerged as activists have turned their attention from fossil fuel combustion to fossil fuel extraction and transport. This article investigates conditions for success of anti–fossil-fuel activism by comparing the fate of two proposed coal terminals on either side of the Canada–United States border. Both cases highlight that fossil fuel transport infrastructure is especially vulnerable to opposition as a result of concentrated costs and limited economic benefits in transit jurisdictions that did not produce the fossil fuels in question. Still, not all contexts are equally amenable to supply-side contestation. Institutional differences explain approval of a new coal port in Canada, while a similar US facility was rejected: a weaker environmental assessment regime and more limited opportunities for local government and Indigenous vetoes. However, the regulator’s subsequent withdrawal of the still-pending Canadian terminal’s permit five years later reveals that delay can be as good as victory for opponents when markets for fossil fuels decline.

Acute respiratory failure

Acute respiratory failure is a common reason for admission to the intensive care ward and it is frequently accompanied by haemodynamic instability. Obligatory assessments in every patient should include left ventricular function, left atrial and left ventricular filling pressures in addition to an assessment of right ventricular function and the pulmonary circulation. A systematic echo protocol is warranted to judiciously decide on treatment strategy, including optimization of the patient’s preload, contractility, heart rate, and afterload. This allows for a more effective management of the respiratory disequilibrium, which can continue to be monitored by ultrasound examination. Monitoring of lung parenchyma and pleural space adds to the echo derived information and assist the physician in deciding on an optimal ventilation strategy, need for bronchoscopy, pleural drainage, and patient positioning including proning. The appropriateness of prescribed therapy for the acute respiratory failure can then be monitored by echocardiography and lung ultrasonography to optimize pulmonary gas exchange without haemodynamic deterioration and conversely improve the patient’s haemodynamic status without adding an unnecessary burden onto the respiratory system. After respiratory failure responds to treatment, echocardiography can then assist with the weaning and subsequent withdrawal of mechanical ventilatory support. Where respiratory failure does not respond to conventional measures, a rapid assessment with echocardiography and chest ultrasound helps to decide whether to proceed to extracorporeal life support and, if adopted, its optimal configuration.