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

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

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

Differential Spinal and Supraspinal Activation of Glia in a Rat Model of Morphine Tolerance

Development of tolerance is a well known pharmacological characteristic of opioids and a major clinical problem. In addition to the known neuronal mechanisms of opioid tolerance, activation of glia has emerged as a potentially significant new mechanism. We studied activation of microglia and astrocytes in morphine tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia in rats using immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and RNA sequencing in spinal-and supraspinal regions. Chronic morphine treatment that induced tolerance and hyperalgesia also increased immunoreactivity of spinal microglia in the dorsal and ventral horns. Flow cytometry demonstrated that morphine treatment increased the proportion of M2-polarized spinal microglia, but failed to impact the number or the proportion of M1-polarized microglia. In the transcriptome of microglial cells isolated from the spinal cord (SC), morphine treatment increased transcripts related to cell activation and defense response. In the studied brain regions, no activation of microglia or astrocytes was detected by immunohistochemistry, except for a decrease in the number of microglial cells in the substantia nigra. In flow cytometry, morphine caused a decrease in the number of microglial cells in the medulla, but otherwise no change was detected for the count or the proportion of M1-and M2-polarized microglia in the medulla or sensory cortex. No evidence for the activation of glia in the brain was seen. Our results suggest that glial activation associated with opioid tolerance and opioid-induced hyperalgesia occurs mainly at the spinal level. The transcriptome data suggest that the microglial activation pattern after chronic morphine treatment has similarities with that of neuropathic pain. (C) 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

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

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

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

Predictors of epilepsy in children after ischemic stroke

Objective. To determine clinical/instrumental predictors of symptomatic epilepsy after ischemic stroke in children. Material and methods. One hundred and thirty-six patients, aged 0-15 years, with the diagnosis of ischemic stroke (ICD-10 I63.0-I63.9) were examined. The duration of the study was 18 months - 12 years. Patients were stratified into post-stroke (n=22) and control (n=114) groups, the latter included patients without epilepsy regardless of the presence of convulsive seizures in the acute stage of stroke. Predictors were determined based on EEG and characteristics of convulsive syndrome in the acute stage of stroke. Results and conclusion. The following prognostic criteria were found: generalized type of seizures, focal type of seizures with secondary generalization, epileptiform (peak and/or peak-wave) activity, focal character of epileptiform activity, generalized type of seizures in the combination with slow wave background activity on EEG, generalized type of seizures in the combination with slow wave activity and disorganized activity on EEG. © 2016, Media Sphera. All Rights Reserved

Governance of cross-border migration in Asia

An inter-ethnic migration issue has arisen due to contradictory tendencies. The relevance of the topic lies in the study and analysis of tendencies in terms of the movement of the workforce in Southeast Asia. In several Asian countries where there is a labour surplus, the migration has become one of the largest sources of income. This study examines the basic tendencies of the labour movement in the countries of Southeast Asia. The statistical data as regards the number of labour migrations for 2015-2017 have been analysed; alongside the drivers of labour migration have been identified. The main reasons for the migration are labour productivity, differences in revenues, rapidly growing number of young workers, the ageing population in other countries, reduced transport and communication costs in East and Southeast Asia. All these indicators undoubtedly have made a significant contribution to the development of migration processes. There are signs, which continually demonstrate that dependence on foreign labour has become a specific feature of some of the rich countries in the East and Southeast Asia. © 2020