Behavioural Characteristics of Children with Developmental Disorder Risks

The article is devoted to the study of the temperament and behaviour of children with developmental disorder risks. Early age is most significant in terms of early identifying deviant development markers for implementing effective programmes for early intervention. The article deals with the peculiarities of using the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire - Revised (IBQ-R) and its application in scientific research; the results of domestic and foreign research into temperament as a marker/predictor of deviant behaviour are presented. The paper describes the results of a pilot study of differences in behaviour in a sample of 49 children aged 5.6 months. The research involved two groups of test children, a reference group (typically developing children) and the children of developmental risk groups (which included prematurity, family risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD)/attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), paediatric arterial ischemic stroke). The significant impact of developmental disorder risks on the Perceptual Sensitivity Scale (IBQ-R) as well as the effect of sexand risks on the Approach, Vocal Reactivity (IBQ-R) scale were discovered. There are suggestions that prematurity may have a negative impact on the development of temperament in children aged 6 months. However, in comparison with such factors as the genetic predisposition to atypical development or local brain damage due to paediatric arterial ischemic stroke, prematurity (excluding extremely premature) probably has less influence on the development of temperament and behavioural characteristics. There is a significant heterotypic continuity of individual differences in temperament indicators at an early age, which highlights the need for further research into the issue and the formation of large cohorts of children. Keywords: deviant development markers, behaviour, IBQ-R questionnaire

Developmental psychology: Parent responsiveness and its role in neurocognitive and socioemotional development of one-year-old preterm infants

Background. It has been demonstrated that preterm birth negatively affects the neurocognitive and socioemotional development of a child. It is therefore important to identify the factors that can decrease potential risks for atypical development in preterm infants. The social environment which surrounds a child is considered to be one such factor. We hypothesize that parent responsiveness positively influences the development of a preterm child. Objective. The purpose of this research is to reveal differences in the development of two one-year-old preterm children whose parents have exhibited opposite types of parent responsiveness. Design. Based on the analysis of video recordings of child-parent interactions, we identified two children whose parents registered opposite patterns of responsiveness. Parent responsiveness was measured based on Parent Responsiveness Markers Protocol methodology. The Bayley-III was used to assess the children's cognitive and socioemotional development. Results. We identified that the preterm child whose parent showed a high level of parental responsiveness had normative levels of neurocognitive development, socioemotional skills and adaptive behavior. The preterm child, whose parent showed a low level of parental responsiveness, scored lower on the Bayley-III. Conclusion. Preterm birth not only affects infant development, but also has a psychological impact on parents, evoking fear and anxiety for their child. This affects parental behavior and their responsiveness towards their child. This study showed that parent responsiveness has a positive effect on the neurocognitive and socioemotional development of a preterm child. Further research should focus on assessing the role of parent responsiveness in child development using a larger sample. © Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2019. Russian Psychological Society, 2019.19-513-92001\19The research was supported by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation RFBR № 19-513-92001\19

Some species of <i>Valeriana</i> L.: comparative description of fruit morphology

A case study of 33 cenopopulations (South Urals, and Central Yakutia) and 8 herbarium specimens of Valeriana L. was used to make a comparative analysis of qualitative (fruit shape, color, and pubescence) and quantitative (fruit length, width, and length-to-width ratio) morphological characters, and 1000 fruit weight among the species Valeriana officinalis L., V. alternifolia Ledeb., V. dubia Bunge, V. wolgensis Kazak. and V. tuberosa L. Fruits of V. officinalis were found to be relatively light and small, those of V. alternifolia and V. tuberosa were relatively heavy, and those of V. wolgensis were large. Fruit indices (length-to-width ratios) of V. officinalis and V. wolgensis were higher than 2, while those of the remaining species were about 2. Dependence of fruit size characteristics on altitudes, latitudes, and weather conditions was shown. Intrapopulation variability of morphological features in fruits was, as a rule, low or very low. Fruit length variability was lower in most species than the variability of their fruit widths or fruit indices. The contribution of interspecific variability to the variation in the quantitative traits of fruits exceeded the contribution of interpopulation variability. Qualitative and quantitative fruit characters of Valeriana L. spp. can be used as additional taxonomic indicators for their differentiation. The keys are provided for identification of species according to their fruit characters

Indicative role of membranolysis markers in the prognosis of uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia in children of school age

Aim. To evaluate the indicative role of membranolysis markers in the prognosis of uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia in school children and to establish its relation with zinc status indices. Methods. The study included 229 children aged 7 to 17 years with community-acquired pneumonia. The patients were divided into three groups based on morphological form of lung involvement: focal (103 children - group 1), segmental (64 patients - group 2), and lobar pneumonia (62 subjects - group 3). The state of cell membranes was evaluated by the activity of 5’-nucleotidase and rate of sodium-lithium countertransport in erythrocyte membrane. Intensity of peroxidation processes was evaluated by the level of end toxic products and total antioxidative activity, and additionally the blood concentration of zinc was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Results. Significant effect of membranolysis processes on the clinical course of pneumonia was revealed. The most prominent pathological changes of the studied indices were registered in patients with focal form of the disease (group 1): increase of the concentration of lipid peroxidation products in average to 5.4±0.06 umol/L and the level of 5’-nucleotidase to 233.90±9.15 nkat, decrease of serum level of zinc to 9.73±0.09 mmol/L and total antioxidative activity to 23.22±0.29%. It was associated with prolonged course and tendency to slow reversal of physical findings in the lungs compared to patients from groups 2 and 3 (p 0.05, respectively). Conclusion. Damage of cytoplasmic membrane in the focus of inflammation can be an objective marker of the course of community-acquired pneumonia in children and a sensitive prognostic sign and can allow identifying children into groups of high risk of prolonged course

First national survey of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Azerbaijan and risk factors analysis.

SETTING: Civilian population of the Republic of Azerbaijan. OBJECTIVES: To determine patterns of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance among new and previously treated pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases, and explore their association with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. DESIGN: National cross-sectional survey conducted in 2012-2013. RESULTS: Of 789 patients (549 new and 240 previously treated) who met the enrolment criteria, 231 (42%) new and 146 (61%) previously treated patients were resistant to any anti-tuberculosis drug; 72 (13%) new and 66 (28%) previously treated patients had multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Among MDR-TB cases, 38% of new and 46% of previously treated cases had pre-extensively drug-resistant TB (pre-XDR-TB) or XDR-TB. In previously treated cases, 51% of those who had failed treatment had MDR-TB, which was 15 times higher than in relapse cases (OR 15.2, 95%CI 6-39). The only characteristic significantly associated with MDR-TB was a history of previous treatment (OR 3.1, 95%CI 2.1-4.7); for this group, history of incarceration was an additional risk factor for MDR-TB (OR 2.8, 95%CI 1.1-7.4). CONCLUSION: Azerbaijan remains a high MDR-TB burden country. There is a need to implement countrywide control and innovative measures to accelerate early diagnosis of drug resistance in individual patients, improve treatment adherence and strengthen routine surveillance of drug resistance

An Empirical Model for the Radio Emission from Pulsars

A model for slow radio pulsars is proposed which involves the entire magnetosphere in the production of the observed radio emission. It is argued that observations of pulsar profiles suggest that a feedback mechanism exists between the star surface and the null charge surface, requiring particle flow in both directions. In their flow to and from the surface the particles execute an azimuthal drift around the magnetic pole, thereby creating a ring of discrete `emission nodes' close to the surface. Motion of the nodes is observed as the well-known subpulse `drift', but is interpreted here as a small residual component of the real particle drift. The nodes can therefore move in either direction, or even remain stationary. A precise fit is found for the pulsar PSR0943+10. Azimuthal interactions between different regions of the magnetosphere depend on the angle between the magnetic and rotation axes and influence the conal type, as observed. The requirement of intermittent weak pair-production in an outergap suggests a natural evolutionary link between radio and gamma-ray pulsars.Comment: 17 pages 8 figure

Performance of a plastic scintillator developed using styrene monomer polymerization

This paper presents a newly developed plastic scintillator produced in collaboration with Turkiye Energy, Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK). The scintillator is manufactured using thermal polymerization of commercially available styrene monomer. The absorption spectrum of the scintillator exhibited two absorption bands at 225 nm and 340 nm, with an absorption edge observed at 410 nm. The wavelength of the emitted light was measured in the range of 400-800 nm, with a maximum intensity at 427 nm. Monoenergetic electrons from the 137Cs source were used to evaluate the characteristics of the new scintillator, particularly its light yield. As the light readout the MAPD-3NM type silicon photomultiplier array (4 x 4) with an active area of 15 x 15 mm2, assembled using single MAPDs with an active area of 3.7 x 3.7 mm2, was used. The light yield of the scintillator was determined to be 6134 photons/MeV. In addition, the efficiency of the scintillator for gamma rays with an energy of 662 keV was found to be approximately 1.8 %. A CmBe neutron source was employed to evaluate its fast neutron detection performance. However, neutron/gamma discrimination using pulse shape discrimination (charge integration) method was not observed. The results demonstrate the potential of a newly produced plastic scintillator for various applications, particularly in radiation monitoring and detection systems.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Observations of Non-radial Pulsations in Radio Pulsars

We introduce a model for pulsars in which non-radial oscillations of high spherical degree (l) aligned to the magnetic axis of a spinning neutron star reproduce the morphological features of pulsar beams. In our model, rotation of the pulsar carries a pattern of pulsation nodes underneath our sightline, reproducing the longitude stationary structure seen in average pulse profiles, while the associated time-like oscillations reproduce "drifting subpulses"--features that change their longitude between successive pulsar spins. We will show that the presence of nodal lines can account for observed 180 degree phase jumps in drifting subpulses and their otherwise poor phase stability, even if the time-like oscillations are strictly periodic. Our model can also account for the "mode changes" and "nulls" observed in some pulsars as quasiperiodic changes between pulsation modes of different l or radial overtone n, analogous to pulsation mode changes observed in oscillating white dwarf stars. We will discuss other definitive and testable requirements of our model and show that they are qualitatively supported by existing data. While reserving judgment until the completion of quantitative tests, we are inspired enough by the existing observational support for our model to speculate about the excitation mechanism of the non-radial pulsations, the physics we can learn from them, and their relationship to the period evolution of pulsars.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures (as separate png files), Astrophysical Journal, in pres

Апробация методики «Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development – Third Edition»

Introduction. There is currently no universal comprehensive measurement tool for the assessment of children development in the Russian Federation (RF). The Bayley-III scales developed by American researchers are widely used as such a tool. Numerous research groups recognize the need to modify the original scales before using them in a new linguistic and socio-cultural environment. Methods. The authors (a) translated the original Bayley-III manual into Russian, (b) tested the tool by assessing cognitive, language, and motor development of 163 Russian children aged 2–11 months, and (c) made an indirect comparison of the mean scale scores of neuropsychological development and those obtained from the original American sample of children using Student’s t-test. Results. The modified version of the Bayley-III manual has been successfully tested in the RF. The indices of language and motor development of the children examined in this study did not statistically differ from the original American data (10 points). Higher scores were obtained for the cognitive scale (10.7 versus 10; p = 0.003). However, this effect was not very pronounced (Cohen’s d = 0.25). Discussion. The indices of neuropsychological development of Russian children fully comply with the original Bayley-III norms, which opens up new possibilities for its use in the RF. Slightly higher scores of the cognitive scale among Russian children do not generally affect the compliance with the original tool, since the difference was not significant. The results of this study can be extrapo-lated to full-term Caucasian children aged 2–11 months, whose parents have at least secondary education and average level of earnings. The widespread use of Bayley-III requires its further adaptation in larger and more representative samples of children from different regions of the RF with the additional assessment of social-emotional development as well as adaptive behavior. © 2020, Russsian Psychological Society. All rights reserved

The structure of the oropharyngeal genus Candida fungi community in HIVinfected patients

At the present time virtually no data are available about the structure of the genus Candida fungus able to target HIV-infected patients and serve as an etiological factor of candidiasis. The aforementioned shaped the aim of the study: to examine structure of the Candida genus community colonizing the oropharynx in HIV-infected patients with clinical manifestations of oropharyngeal candidiasis. There was conducted a microbiological study of the oropharynx in 31 HIV-infected patients (51.6% males and 48.4% females) with clinical manifestations of oropharyngeal candidiasis treated at Moscow Infectious Clinic No. 2 inpatient department in the years 2015–2017. We confirmed the diversity of the oropharyngeal Candida spp. community found in HIV-infected patients. Total 52 isolates of the genus Candida were isolated. C. albicans dominated in 57.7% cases, whereas C. glabrata prevailed (21.1%) among non-albicans species. Minor components were represented by C. tropicalis (11.5%) and C. krusei (9.6%). C. albicans and C. glabrata were sensitive to polyenes, whereas minor community components — to itroconazole and clotrimazole. The vast majority of fungal strains were resistant to fluconazole. The genus Candida community reveals a unique architecture so that any member may exist in the oropharyngeal biotope of HIV-infected patients as a monoculture or in association: homogeneous, consisting of a single species strains, or heterogeneous, formed by several species. Candida fungi in 18 patients (58.1%) were isolated as a monoculture, whereas in 13 (41.9%) subjects — in association consisting of 34 isolates (65.4% of total number), of which 16 (30.8%) and 18 (34.6%) were isolated from homogeneous and heterogeneous associations, respectively. There were identified 9 two-component associations (69.2%), and 4 (30.8%) consisting of three or more components. It turned out that pattern of the examined community was mainly determined by species composition that agrees with previous data. Most common associations were presented by C. krusei (100%) and C. albicans (73.3%). Upon that, most often C. albicans (72.7%) formed a homogeneous type of associations. Sensitivity of Candida fungi to antimycotic drugs also depended on the architecture of related community. C. albicans isolates in heterogeneous associations revealed a wide range of resistance acquired by contact with non-albicans species