American Superconductor (Austria)

ABSTRACT Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic brought about changes in both the labour market and in family arrangements, when care, work and personal life all took place at home. The main aim of this article is to analyse the impact of the pandemic on family life in Spain from the subjective perspective of women. We develop a topology of narrative configurations on work-life balance through 20 semi-structured interviews with heterosexual women with children or dependants in Valencia, Spain. The most significative idea that emanates from the women’s discourse is a kind of romanticisation of family-domestic space and time generated during the lockdown despite the uneven distribution of caregiving and household responsibilities during this timeframe.

BackgroundOxytocin is widely used for induction and augmentation of labour, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we examined the effect of intra-partum Oxytocin use on neonatal encephalopathy.MethodsThe protocol for this study was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020165049). We searched Medline, Embase and Web of Science Core Collection databases for papers published between January 1970 and May 2021. We considered all studies involving term and near-term (≥36 weeks’ gestation) primigravidae and multiparous women. We included all randomised, quasi-randomised clinical trials, retrospective studies and non-randomised prospective studies reporting intra-partum Oxytocin administration for induction and/or augmentation of labour. Our primary outcome was neonatal encephalopathy. Risk of bias was assessed in non-randomised studies using the Risk Of Bias In Non-randomised Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. The RoB 2.0 tool was used for randomised studies. A Mantel-Haenszel statistical method and random effects analysis model were used for meta-analysis. Odds ratios were used to determine effect measure and reported with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsWe included data from seven studies (6 Case-control studies, 1 cluster-randomised trial) of which 3 took place in high-income countries (HICs) and 4 in LMICs. The pooled data included a total of 24,208 women giving birth at or after 36 weeks; 7642 had intra-partum Oxytocin for induction and/or augmentation of labour, and 16,566 did not receive intra-partum Oxytocin. Oxytocin use was associated with an increased prevalence of neonatal encephalopathy (Odds Ratio 2.19, 95% CI 1.58 to 3.04; p < 0.00001).ConclusionsIntra-partum Oxytocin may increase the risk of neonatal encephalopathy. Future clinical trials of uterotonics should include neonatal encephalopathy as a key outcome.

Abstract BackgroundCOVID-19 has restricted singing in communal worship. We sought to understand variations in droplet transmission and the impact of wearing face masks.MethodsUsing rapid laser planar imaging, we measured droplets while participants exhaled, said ‘hello’ or ‘snake’, sang a note or ‘Happy Birthday’, with and without surgical face masks. We measured mean velocity magnitude (MVM), time averaged droplet number (TADN) and maximum droplet number (MDN). Multilevel regression models were used.ResultsIn 20 participants, sound intensity was 71 Decibels (dB) for speaking and 85 dB for singing (p&lt;0.001). MVM was similar for all tasks with no clear hierarchy between vocal tasks or people and &gt;85% reduction wearing face masks. Droplet transmission varied widely, particularly for singing. Masks decreased TADN by 99% (p&lt;0.001) and MDN by 98% (p&lt;0.001) for singing and 86-97% for other tasks. Masks reduced variance by up to 48%. When wearing a mask, neither singing task transmitted more droplets than exhaling.ConclusionsWide variation exists for droplet production. This significantly reduced when wearing face masks. Singing during religious worship wearing a face mask appears as safe as exhaling or talking. This has implications for UK public health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Desde o início da conformação de suas fronteiras nacionais, a Amazônia Sul- Americana é disputada por nações não amazônicas e de outros continentes em função suas riquezas naturais. Essas disputas se deram com o processo de adentramento do território, sendo incorporados povos e culturas endógenas e exógenas à Amazônia. O desenvolvimento dessa região foi conseqüência de tudo isso, sendo caracterizado também como um processo lento, por conta da distância entre a região amazônica e os grandes centros de poder dos países que a possuem. Foi para promover esse desenvolvimento de forma mais eficaz, por meio da integração/cooperação, que o Tratado de Cooperação Amazônica foi criado.

While a considerable amount of work has been done in an effort to understand ac losses inpower transmission cables made of first generation high temperature superconductor (HTS)wires, use of second generation (2G) HTS wires brings in some new considerations. Thehigh critical current density of the HTS layer in 2G wires reduces the surfacesuperconductor hysteretic losses, for which a new formula is derived. Instead, gap andpolygonal losses, flux transfer losses in imbalanced two-layer cables and ferromagneticlosses for wires with NiW substrates constitute the principal contributions. A formula forthe flux transfer losses is also derived with a paramagnetic approximation for the substrate.Current imbalance and losses associated with the magnetic substrate can be minimizedby orienting the substrates of the inner winding inward and the outer windingoutward.