“The Green Sea Yard of Varna” – the innovative project in the focus of early child development

We present an innovative approach to early child development (ECD), designated as a priority for all societies. Traditional ECD services of the Bulgarian health system are predominantly medical or pedagogical provided by GPs and nurseries. This leaves space for interdisciplinary services based on the ideas of Françoise Dolto focused on child-parent relationships. The Green Sea Yard of Varna, Bulgaria, aims at providing accessible space for early socialization of children and preventive psychosocial services by experts in ECD.

The process oriented work combines: psychosocial accompaniment, social group & community work, psychoanalytic consultation with medical expertise. Specialists use direct observation, interviews, analysis of available information, hypothesis development. Questions to be answered: is there a recognized need for a space enhancing and stimulating the interaction between the three main subject in ECD child-parents-specialists; is there a need for a transitional space between the home and kindergarten enabling early child socialization; which are the most prevalent mental and behavioral problems and their earliest symptoms.

For 104 working days (December 2018-February 2020), 2 000 visits of 257 children have been performed, including 400 individual consultations of 51 children at risk. Smooth adaptation to nursery was experienced by 15,5% of children. The most prevalent problems are: insufficient to lacking parent-child verbal communication; delayed speech development; aggressive behavior towards peers.

The main lessons are: (1) There is a recognized by specialists, families and the community need for transitional spaces enabling children to experience first social encounters and concepts of social rules and norms; (2) the space stimulates both formal and informal quality communication between specialist and parents and mutual informal support between parents; (3) leading to a new view for the child as an autonomous person.

Key messages

The Green Sea Yard of Varna is the first innovative space for interdisciplinary approach to ECD, early socialization, care & prevention in our community fully applicable to other places and cultures. The project is in line with SDGs, contemporary scientific visions for the first 1000 days of a child's life and the WHO strategy for the prevention of child’s health in the family and in society.

EXPLORATION OF THE IMPACT OF THE EXTRACTION PARAMETERS ON BIOLOGICAL ACTIVE SUBSTANCES IN THE EXTRACTS FROM DRIED FRUIT BLACK BLUEBERRY (VACCINIUM MYRTILLUS L.)

The optimal parameters of the extraction process for the extraction of biologically active substances from the dried fruits of black blueberry have been established and experimentally confirmed. The phenolic complex of the extracts obtained at different parameters of the extraction process was investigated - selection of the extractant; extraction temperature; extraction time and hydromodule. Studied are the extracts obtained at the optimals extraction parameters for total phenols 7,34 g gallic acid / 100 g dry substance, phenolcarboxylic acids 0,61%, flavonoid phenolic compounds 194 mg%, sum anthocyanins 115 mg% and tannins 8,76 g catechin / 100g dry substance. On the basis of the experimental data, the technological regimes of the extraction process were selected. The use of 70% C2H5OH as an extractant is technologically warranted to produce extracts of dried fruits black blueberry with maximum content of phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins and tannins. Technologically justified extraction temperature is 65-80оС. By increasing the extraction temperature to 80°C, the quantity of anthocyanins in the extracts increases, which positively affects the organoleptic evaluation of the final products. The optimum extraction time is 3-4 hours. During this extraction period, a maximum content of the phenolic complex is obtained. The results obtained suggest that the most advantageous hydromodul for extraction is 1:30

Die Weiterleitung von substituenten- induzierten 13C-NMR-chemischen. Verschiebungen in para-substituierten 3-Phenylpropansäure-methylestern / The Transmission of Substituent-Induced 13C NMR Chemical Shifts in para-Substituted 3-Phenyl Propanoic Acid Methyl Esters

Carbon-13 chemical shifts have been measured of para-substituted 3-phenyl propanoic acid methyl esters. The substituent-induced 13C shifts of the side chain were related to Hammett substituent effects by the dual substituent parameter method. The transmission of substituent effects and the factors that influence 13C shifts are discussed

Variable-number tandem repeats that are useful in genotyping isolates of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovars Typhimurium and Newport

The genome of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium strain LT2 was analyzed for direct repeats, and 54 sequences containing variable-number tandem repeat loci were identified. Ten primer pairs that anneal upstream and downstream of each selected locus were designed and used to amplify PCR targets in isolates of S. enterica serovars Typhimurium and Newport. Four of the 10 loci did not show polymorphism in the length of products. Six loci were selected for analysis. Isolates of S. enterica serovars Typhimurium and Newport that were related to specific outbreaks and showed identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns were indistinguishable by the length of the six variable-number tandem repeats. Isolates that differed in their pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns showed polymorphism in variable-number tandem repeat profiles. Length of the products was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. Only 2 of the 10 loci contained exact integers of the direct repeat. Eight loci contained partial copies. The partial copies were maintained at the ends of the variable-number tandem repeat loci in all isolates. In spite of having partial copies that were maintained in all isolates, the number of direct repeats at a locus was polymorphic. Six variable-number tandem repeat loci were useful in distinguishing isolates of S. enterica serovars Typhimurium and Newport that had different pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns and in identifying outbreak-associated cases that shared a common pulsed-field gel pattern.

Epidemiologic import of tuberculosis cases whose isolates have similar but not identical IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns

Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from patients with epidemiologic links frequently demonstrate identical IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns (i.e., RFLP clustering) because they are infected with the same strain. Uncertainty arises with isolates that differ from one another by a few IS6110 hybridizing bands. During the period from 1 January 1996 to 31 December 1999, isolates from 585 tuberculosis (TB) cases were analyzed by RFLP, representing 98.2% of the 596 culture-positive TB cases reported in Arkansas during the study period. Of the 585 cases for which RFLP was available, 419 (71.6%) had an RFLP pattern with more than five copies of IS6110. Of the total 74 clusters, 48 comprised isolates with more than five copies of IS6110 and included 164 cases. Sixty-nine isolates with more than five copies of IS6110 comprising 16 clusters and 60 unique isolates were found to be similar to at least 1 other isolate (differing from it by one or two hybridizing bands). Among the 129 cases whose isolates were similar to other clustered or unique isolates, 16 cases were discovered with epidemiologic links: 14 (15.2%) were among the 92 cases with IS6110 RFLP patterns similar to those in clusters, and 2 (5.2%) were among the 37 unique cases that were similar to another unique case. The isolates from the epidemiologically linked patients shared common spoligotypes; all except one case shared common polymorphic GC-rich sequence (PGRS) patterns. Of the 129 patients whose isolates differed from another by one or two hybridizing IS6110 bands, 101 (78.3%) shared common spoligotypes and 87 (67.4%) shared common PGRS RFLP patterns.

The photochemistry of the 4-cyanobenzoic acid esters of trans- and cis-2-phenylcyclohexanol

Irradiation of trans-2-phenylcyclohexyl 4-cyanobenzoate (4) in methanol results in formation of the 1-phenylcyclohexene and 4-cyanobenzoic acid as the major products. The mechanism proposed for this example of the Norrish Type II-like reaction, normally inefficient for the π,π* state of esters, begins with intramolecular electron transfer in the excited singlet state. The next step, intramolecular proton transfer, is highly exergonic as a result of the increased acidity of the benzylic hydrogen of the radical cation and the increased basicity of the carbonyl oxygen of the radical anion. The final step is cleavage of the 1,4-biradical. This mechanism is proposed on the basis of product studies, absorption spectra, fluorescence spectra, oxidation and reduction potentials, and nanosecond laser flash photolysis spectra. The stereochemical requirements for the process have also been examined using solution NMR, the X-ray structure, and MM3 calculations. The stereoisomer, cis-2-phenylcyclohexyl 4-cyanobenzoate (5), undergoes cis to trans isomerization before photofragmentation. Photolysis of the cis isomer in methanol-OD demonstrated that the cis to trans isomerization occurred by inversion at C1.Key words : Norrish Type II, aromatic esters, intramolecular electron transfer.

Nosocomial transmission of Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guerin to children receiving cancer therapy and to their health care providers

A previous report of nosocomial infection due to Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) implicated contamination of chemotherapy solutions reconstituted under the same biosafety hood as BCG vaccine used for bladder cancer therapy. We report 3 similar BCG infections in children and describe evidence of respiratory transmission to health care workers (HCWs) from 1 patient. These children were receiving chemotherapy for leukemia when they presented with active tuberculosis. Each isolate was identified biochemically and by both gas-liquid chromatography and major polymorphic tandem repeat-polymerase chain reaction. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that 2 isolates were identical strains and identical to the Tice and Connaught strains licensed in the United States for bladder chemotherapy. The third isolate differed by a single fragment after DraI restriction. One patient with heavily positive sputum exposed numerous HCWs. Of 41 HCWs, 2 (5%) converted their purified protein derivatives (PPD) skin test. These data underscore the risk of nosocomial BCG transmission by contamination of chemotherapy solutions and demonstrate the potential for transmission to HCWs from patients with active pulmonary disease.

The home environment and salmonellosis in children

OBJECTIVE

To explore the role of foods and the home environment in the development of Salmonella infections in infants and children.

METHODS

Home investigations were conducted of patients younger than 4 years of age infected with Salmonella. Cultures were obtained from foods, persons residing in the home, animals/pets/insects, and environmental sources. Like serotypes encountered in the index patients and isolates from the home underwent typing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

RESULTS

Home inspections were conducted in approximately 66% of eligible homes on the average of 3.4 days after the confirmation of the Salmonella isolate. A total of 526 cultures from 50 homes were obtained from foods (120), household members (73), refrigerators (52), water (47), countertops (46), soil (42), can-openers (36), vacuum cleaners (34), animals/pets/insects (26), and others (50). Isolates with a serotype identical to those in the index patient were found in 16 homes, 3 of which included an isolate of a second serotype, and an isolate of a different serotype was recovered in 3 homes. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns of the isolates of identical serotypes from the subjects and from their environment were indistinguishable in all but 2 patients. Among isolates of the same serotype encountered in different homes, all patterns were different. The identical serotype was found in multiple locations (4), dirt surrounding front doors (4), household members (3), vacuum cleaner (1), animals/pets/insects (1), and a refrigerator shelf (1).

CONCLUSIONS

These data illustrate the importance of the child's environment in the development of salmonellosis. Clinicians should concentrate on educating the parents about the environmental spread of Salmonella. Contaminated foods in the home play a less significant role in the infection of infants and children.

Epidemiology and molecular identification of Salmonella infections in children

OBJECTIVE

To explore the role of foods and the environment in the development of infections with Salmonella in infants and children.

DESIGN

Case-controlled survey and the use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to establish DNA fingerprint patterns.

SETTING

Ambulatory and hospitalized patients at a children's hospital.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS

A consecutive sample of children younger than 4 years old who were infected with Salmonella and 3 age-matched controls per patient were to be surveyed. Of the 103 eligible cases of salmonellosis, 90 cases and 264 controls were included in the study.

DATA ANALYSIS

Univariate analysis was done using the Mantel-Haenszel chi2 test or the Fisher exact test. The Bonferroni correction was used for multiple comparisons. DNA fingerprints were inspected for identical banding.

RESULTS

Results demonstrated similar diets between cases and controls with the exception of more potato or macaroni salad or coleslaw consumption in the control group (P<.001). DNA fingerprints of Salmonella newport and Salmonella typhimurium demonstrated that all cases were due to unique isolates except in 5 instances involving 12 patients. Seven of these patients could be connected geographically.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the cases of salmonellosis in children younger than 4 years are of a sporadic nature and the major source of infection remains unidentified. For patients infected with identical isolates of Salmonella, a common food source could not be incriminated with the methods used. Environmental contamination or other sources of Salmonella are suggested by these epidemiological data.

Role of insulin-like growth factors and myogenin in the altered program of proliferation and differentiation in the NFB4 mutant muscle cell line

In the present study we used the mutant muscle cell line NFB4 to study the balance between proliferation and myogenic differentiation. We show that removal of serum, which induced the parental C2C12 cells to withdraw from the cell cycle and differentiate, had little effect on NFB4 cells. Gene products characteristic of the proliferation state, such as c-Jun, continued to accumulate in the mutant cells in low serum, whereas those involved in differentiation, like myogenin, insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II), and IGF-binding protein 5 (IGFBP-5) were undetectable. Moreover, NFB4 cells displayed a unique pattern of tyrosine phosphorylated proteins, especially in low serum, suggesting that the signal transduction pathway(s) that controls differentiation is not properly regulated in these cells. Treatment of NFB4 cells with exogenous IGF-I or IGF-II at concentrations shown to promote myogenic differentiation in wild-type cells resulted in activation of myogenin but not MyoD gene expression, secretion of IG-FBP-5, changes in tyrosine phosphorylation, and enhanced myogenic differentiation. Similarly, transfection of myogenin expression constructs also enhanced differentiation and resulted in activation of IGF-II expression, showing that myogenin and IGF-II cross-activate each other's expression. However, in both cases, the expression of Jun mRNA remained elevated, suggesting that IGFs and myogenin cannot overcome all aspects of the block to differentiation in NFB4 cells.