Early visual experience and its role in the development of a child

The function of the visual analyzer plays one of the leading roles in the development of the child. From the first days of a child’s life, vision is closely associated with touch, hearing, smell and other types of sensitivity. As a result, complex dynamic systems of connections are formed, which are the sensory basis of all mental activity and orientation of the child in space. Understanding the processes and creating optimal conditions for early neuro-sensory development is important both for caring for a healthy newborn and young child, and for organizing developmental care for premature and sick children in a hospital setting. The newborn is able to recognize contrasting images (faces and eyes), which are rounded and easier to observe, since their eye muscles have not yet had much practice in making sudden movements. The visual apparatus of a premature newborn has additional functional limitations and points of vulnerability. The article discusses aspects of the visual system in the neonatal period, with a more detailed analysis of the features associated with prematurity, describes the mechanisms explaining the negative impact on the processes of visual development of intense direct light, the absence of objects and patterns in focus, lack of attention (for example, sedation), lack of changes in the environment, lack of movement, complete darkness, or lack of adequate lighting on waking. A long period of nursing a premature baby in a hospital in the intensive care unit, in an incubator microclimate in compliance with a protective regime, the impossibility of full maternal care, and therefore in the absence of sensitive stimuli, falls on the most important period of the development of the nervous system. It is at this age that an adequate and timely start of neurosensory development is very important, in connection with which the need for research is increasing to determine the optimal start dates and methodology for early developmental care

The use of computer vision technologies for an objective assessment of indicators of concentration of attention in newborns and infants with visual stimulation for the purpose of developmental care

Assessment of visual function in the first few days after birth is mainly limited to the study of eye movements, the ability to fix a gaze and follow an object. In order to determine how the child's gaze moves when looking at an object, how long it is fixed on the object, techniques are needed to record the movements of the eyeballs and determine the trajectory of the gaze. THE AIM OF THE study is to develop a method based on machine learning technology and computer vision for the automated analysis of eye movement and fixation of the gaze of a newborn and an infant during visual stimulation. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The proposed method includes video filming of newborns and children of the first year of life in hospital and outpatient. Video recordings from mobile phone cameras with a length of 15 s to 3 min were used as the initial data. Of the 150 videos of newborns, 73 videos were selected, of which 61 recordings of sufficient quality were selected, in which the child was recognized in at least 30% of frames. For each recording, a track was recorded of the state of the newborn during visual stimulation. Facial recognition was implemented using a widely used pre-trained model based on machine learning and ultra-precise networks. The algorithm for the study of eye movement includes searching for a face, determining the position of the head by the location of the eyes, nose, lips, searching for the eye zone, searching for the pupil, determining the relative and absolute direction of gaze. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A neural network was developed and trained for recognizing facial images of newborns and babies and for locating the eyes on a child's face. The method made it possible to obtain data on the direction of the child's gaze in real time using the camera of an ordinary smartphone or a simple web camera. Depending on the size of the displayed image and the distance to it, the system calculates the total time of concentration on the image, and also detects moments when the child is not interested in the image. CONCLUSION: The proposed method can be used to analyze the effectiveness of early visual stimulation in children, in the context of long-term effects on psychomotor and cognitive development, as well as to objectify data from various programs for early assessment of visual function in newborns and infants

Validation study of the Dinamap ProCare 200 upper arm blood pressure monitor in children and adolescents

PurposeTo validate the Dinamap ProCare 200 blood pressure (BP) monitor against a mercury sphygmomanometer in children 7 to 18 years old in accordance with the 2010 International Protocol of European Society of Hypertension (ESH-IP2) and the British Hypertension Society (BHS) protocol.MethodsForty-five children were recruited for the study. A validation procedure was performed following the protocol based on the ESH-IP2 and BHS protocols for children and adolescents. Each subject underwent 7 sequential BP measurements alternatively with a mercury sphygmomanometer and the test device by trained nurses. The results were analyzed according to the validation criteria of ESH-IP2.ResultsThe mean (±SD) difference in the absolute BP values between test device and mercury sphygmomanometer readings was 1.85±1.65 mmHg for systolic BP (SBP) and 4.41±3.53 mmHg for diastolic BP (DBP). These results fulfilled the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation criterion of a mean±SD below 5±8 mmHg for both SBP and DBP. The percentages of test device-observer mercury sphygmomanometer BP differences within 5, 10, and 15 mmHg were 96%, 100%, and 100% for SBP, and 69%, 92%, and 100% for DBP, respectively, in the part 1 analysis; both SBP and DBP passed the part 1 criteria. In the part 2 analysis, SBP passed the criteria but DBP failed.ConclusionAlthough the Dinamap ProCare 200 BP monitor failed an adapted ESH-IP2, SBP passed. When comparing BP readings measured by oscillometers and mercury sphygmomanometers, one has to consider the differences between them, particularly in DBP, because DBP can be underestimated

THE STUDY OF INDIRECT CALORIMETRY-BASED ENERGY EXCHANGE AMONG NEWBORN CHILDREN

The work deals with the research of indirect calorimetrya based energy exchange conducted on 145 newborn children of various gestational and postnatal age. The authors showed that thermal conditions are one of the most significant factors, which influence the size of energy exchange. there is dynamics of rest energy exchange (kcal/kg/day) and respiratory coefficient through the first months of life of the full aterm newborns with normal — or lowabirth weight, premature children of the 1st and 2nd degrees and very premature children.Key words: energy exchange, indirect calorimetry, respiratory coefficient, newborn children, premature children, very premature children.<br /

THE STUDY OF INDIRECT CALORIMETRY-BASED ENERGY EXCHANGE AMONG NEWBORN CHILDREN

The work deals with the research of indirect calorimetrya based energy exchange conducted on 145 newborn children of various gestational and postnatal age. The authors showed that thermal conditions are one of the most significant factors, which influence the size of energy exchange. there is dynamics of rest energy exchange (kcal/kg/day) and respiratory coefficient through the first months of life of the full aterm newborns with normal — or lowabirth weight, premature children of the 1st and 2nd degrees and very premature children.Key words: energy exchange, indirect calorimetry, respiratory coefficient, newborn children, premature children, very premature children

ENERGY EXCHANGE AND WEIGHT INCREASE IN PREMATURE BABIES

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Congenital cytomegalovirus infection: Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection is an infectious disease that results from antenatal transplacental transmission of cytomegalovirus to a fetus. The above virus is the most common cause of congenital infections worldwide. Congenital cytomegalovirus infection may develop both after primary infection of a seronegative pregnant women (primary) and due to reactivation of the virus or reinfection with other virus strains during pregnancy (non-primary). In the neonatal period, 85-90% of children infected in utero are observed to have an asymptomatic or subclinical course of the disease. In other cases, the clinical picture is characterized by lesions of various organs and by frequent CNS involvement. In its severe course, the disease is treated with antiviral drugs that are so far referred to as an “off-label” group. Even in the absence of symptoms in the neonatal period, the babies infected with CMV in utero may develop late sequels, with hearing loss being most common. Preschool hearing control and ophthalmologic and neurologic monitoring are recommended for the timely treatment and rehabilitation of late manifestations of congenital cytomegalovirus infection. The important strategy to reduce the incidence of congenital cytomegalovirus infection is its prevention in pregnant women, by disseminating information about the disease in the publicly accessible sources of information and by teaching simple hygienic practices

Basic principles of enteral feeding in premature infants

То optimize the feeding of preterm infants is now one of the priority areas in neonatology and pediatrics because neonatal malnutrition has a negative impact on the health and development of a preterm infant, including on those at a later age. Current recommendations for the enteral feeding of preterm infants are based on the knowledge of their anatomic and physiological features and the need to prevent a menacing disease, such as necrotizing enterocolitis. The feeding of preterm infants at any gestational age with their mother's native breast milk is most optimal. Recommendations for breast milk enrichment are warranted for preterm infants with higher nutrient requirements. The paper presents the differential algorithms and regimens for the feeding of preterm infants with both breast milk and milk formulas depending on many factors, such as gestational age, birth weight, and clinical status