Kawasaki-multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children in the delayed period of coronavirus infection (covid-19): modern state of the problem and possible new approaches to treatment (plasmapheresis)

COVID-19 infection usually occurs in children in a mild form, but some of them in a delayed period (one or several weeks after acute infection with COVID-19) may develop a severe inflammatory disease with clinical manifestations similar to toxic shock syndrome (Kawasaki disease), classified as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MISC). It is possible that the syndrome has only a temporary connection with the COVID-19 infection. In the future, new associations of such clinical manifestations with other infectious (or non-infectious) diseases may appear. But currently, all children in the described cohorts with MISC have an association with COVID-19 infection. It is believed that the syndrome is initiated by an excessive adaptive immune response with the formation of autoantibodies. Treatment is based on anti-inflammatory, including steroid therapy, the possible use of intravenous immunoglobulin, aspirin, interleukin 1 and 6 receptor antagonists. The article analyzes current views on Kawasaki-multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children in the delayed period of COVID-19 coronavirus infection in the aspects of diagnosis, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations (with a discussion of foreign and Russian studies) and approaches to therapy and possible prevention, including the possibility of using plasmapheresis in complex therapy.

Flicker in the Networks with Distributed Generation Plants and Its Removal Using Group Prognostic Controller

The use of distributed generation (DG) plants in electrical energy system (EES) produces unambiguous effect on power quality. The presence of DG plants allows to reduce losses associated with power transmission and maintain the required voltage levels. In this case, the presence of DG can cause voltage fluctuation, leading to the appearance of flicker, which is understood as a feeling of instability of visual perception. Similar processes can occur at sharp disturbances close proximity to the DG. The situation can be aggravated by improperly configured DG generators controllers. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an accurate assessment of the DG plants impact on the power grid, which is a rather time consuming task. The article presents results of the EES working modes simulation with a DG plant implemented on the basis of synchronous turbine generators. The results obtained indicated that during temporary connection of heavy load in the connection unit of DG plant and the use of non-concordantly tuned controllers, there are fluctuations in rotor speed and voltage of generators, the analysis of which indicates the presence of flicker. The same effect can obtained a sudden change in the forecast time for individual controllers of turbine generators speed. Flicker can be removed by applying group control of generators speed controllers.

An Optimized Utilization of Battery Backup in MANET Using Modified Firefly Algorithm

Temporary connection failures and route changes happen in a Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET). MANET enjoys extensive variety of applications like in tactical networks, Sensor networks. Much battery backup is required while tuning a node that is far from the sender node While compared to the node which is near in respect to sender, In this paper we are proposing an approach of optimized utilization of battery backup in MANET Battery Backup is a main constraint in mobile ad hoc networks Most of the battery is wasted in tuning to the networks repeatedly there by making the mobile node vulnerable to Jail. This paper emphasize on proper utilization of battery backup by varying the signal strength according the distance of the nodes. Modified FireFly Algorithm (MFFA) is greatly utilized in this research for boosting up of battery backup. The cluster head should maintain a table for battery backup and decision of task distribution will be based on this table.

ВРЕМЕННАЯ ПЕРСПЕКТИВА РОДИТЕЛЕЙ, ВОСПИТЫВАЮЩИХ ДЕТЕЙ С УМСТВЕННОЙ ОТСТАЛОСТЬЮ

Представлены результаты эмпирического исследования, направленного на изучение временной перспективы родителей, воспитывающих детей с умственной отсталостью. В ходе исследования у данной категории родителей выявлены три типа временной перспективы – один гармоничный и два деформированных, причем чаще встречались деформированные типы временной перспективы. При гармоничном типе наблюдалось сбалансированное сочетание ориентаций на позитивное прошлое, гедоническое настоящее и будущее. Деформированная временная перспектива 1-го типа характеризовалась сочетанием фаталистического настоящего, негативного прошлого и низкой ориентацией на будущее. Деформированная временная перспектива 2-го типа сочетала негативное прошлое, гедоническое настоящее и низкую ориентацию на будущее. Все родители с гармоничным типом временной перспективы, выполняя графический тест Т. Коттла, показали временную связь между прошлым, настоящим и будущим. У родителей, имеющих деформированную временную перспективу 1-го или 2-го типа, по данному тесту временные зоны были либо автономными, либо взаимосвязанными. Важно отметить, что бо́льшая часть родителей с гармоничным типом временной перспективы имеет возраст от 40 до 45 лет, высшее образование, средний или высокий материальный достаток, высокий воспитательный потенциал. Трудная жизненная ситуация, связанная с присутствием в семье ребенка с умственной отсталостью, в большинстве случаев приводит к временной дезинтеграции родителей.The article analyzes the results of an empirical study aimed at studying the time perspective of parents raising children with mental retardation. In the course of the study, three types of temporal perspectives were revealed in this category of parents – one harmonious and two deformed ones, and more often deformed types of temporal perspectives were encountered. With a harmonious type of temporal perspective, a balanced combination of orientations towards a positive past, a hedonic present, and a future was observed. The deformed time perspective of type 1 was characterized by a combination of a fatalistic present, a negative past and a low orientation to the future. A deformed time perspective of type 2 combined a negative past, a hedonic present, and a low orientation toward the future. All parents with a harmonious type of time perspective, performing T. Cottle’s graphic test, showed a temporary connection between the past, present and future. For parents with a deformed time perspective of type 1 or 2, in this test, the time zones were either autonomous or interconnected. It is important to note that most of the parents with a harmonious type of time perspective were between the ages of 40 and 45, have a higher education, medium or high material wealth, and high educational potential. Summarizing the results of the study, we can say that the difficult life situation associated with the presence of a child with mental retardation in the family, in most cases leads to temporary disintegration of parents.

Plankton community dynamics in a subtropical lagoonal system and related factors

ABSTRACT Changes of the plankton community in a shallow, subtropical lagoonal system and its relation to environmental conditions were investigated during an annual cycle to provide information on its spatial and seasonal variation pattern. The study carried out at four sites (three in the Peixe lagoon and one in the Ruivo lagoon), which are located in the Lagoa do Peixe National Park, southern Brazil. The system has a temporary connection to the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow channel. The phytoplankton density was higher in the Peixe lagoon whereas the specific richness was higher in the Ruivo lagoon which is also a site with the lower salinity. The phytoplankton biomass near the channel showed seasonal variation with the highest value in fall and lowest in winter. Zooplankton richness was inversely correlated with salinity, and had the highest values in the Ruivo lagoon. Ordination analysis indicated seasonal and spatial patterns in plankton community in this lagoonal system, related to variation in salinity. In addition, the wind action and precipitation were important factors on the spatial and seasonal salinity changes in the lagoon with direct influence on the plankton community dynamics.

Análisis de termografías infrarrojas dinámicas mediante técnicas de procesamiento de imágenes. (Analysis of Dynamic Infrared Thermographies through the Application of Image Processing Techniques.)

ResumenEl acceso a imágenes fuera del espectro visible ha abierto grandes posibilidades para la caracterizaciónde procesos y materiales en muchas áreas de la actividad humana, particularmente, las termografías sonnotablemente útiles en el estudio del comportamiento de los fenómenos de propagación del calor, en estecaso, los análisis se han limitado a verificar distribuciones de calor en un momento dado y solo estáticamente. El enlace temporal de las isotermas y de los centros de generación del calor permite obtener información de carácter dinámico y realizar análisis más completos sobre el comportamiento de los equipos o materiales bajo estudio. En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de aplicar técnicas de análisis de secuencias de imágenes a termografías de diferentes procesos, se demuestra que con ellas se logra un entendimiento más preciso del comportamiento del calor al circular por los objetos, de cómo sus fuentes y sumideros asimilan diferentes condiciones y de la evolución general de flujos constantes o variables de perfiles de temperatura. AbstractAccess to images out of visible spectrum range has opened a wide field of possibilities for processes and material characterization in many areas of human activity. Thermography is particularly useful in analyzing the behavior of heat propagation phenomena. In this case, the analysis has been limited to verify the heat distribution at a given time, it means, the static aspect of the phenomena. The temporary connection of isotherms and heat generation areas can yield dynamic information that enables a more comprehensive analysis of equipment or materials behavior of interest. This paper presents the results obtained from the application of analytical techniques in dierent processes of some image sequences. The results show that it achieves a more precise understanding of the heat behavior circulation through the objects, it also reveals how sources and sinks assimilate the dierent conditions and the temperature profiles trends of constant or variable flow’s general evolution.

Men, Masons and Melancholy: The Singularly Masculine Ghost Stories of Rudyard Kipling

Kipling's Indian ghost stories concern men – and men in company – just as much as they concern the occult or indeed the Empire and its British cultural origins. They arguably differ, though, from the conventional ghost story through their marked insistence upon the communal response to occult visitation – the need or drive to make haunting something which, if faced alone, is necessarily shared, and so dissipated in the act of communication. Masculinity, too, is characteristically interrogated here. In place of comfortable, familial – and familiar – surroundings, the protagonist is disorientated by the mutability of his environment, its shifts between imposed British paradigms and realities and enduring indigenous difference. In Kipling's supernatural fiction, the cliché of male bonding that promotes single-sex collegiate, fraternal or professional relationships perceptibly sustains the sometimes-temporary connection between disparate individuals immersed in the unprecedented stresses of colonial hauntings, ocean-borne monstrosity or wartime trauma.

Genetic structure of the ornamental tetra fish species Piabucus melanostomus Holmberg, 1891 (CHARACIDAE, IGUANODECTINAE) in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands inferred by mitochondrial DNA sequences

The subfamily Iguanodectinae comprises a group of small Neotropical fishes composed by two genera and 11 nominal species widely distributed in the Atlantic drainages of South America. Piabucus is the only genus of Iguanodectinae found in the Paraguay River basin, especially in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso State, where it is represented by Piabucus melanostomus. Given the wide distribution and the low dispersion capacity of this species, due the ecological constraints, it is possible that many interesting genetic features could be found in different populations. In this way, the aim of his work was to perform the phylogeographic pattern of P. melanostomus populations using mitochondrial DNA sequences. A total of 13 individuals from three rivers belonging the Mato Grosso wetland were sampled. The ATP sintetase (subunits 6 and 8) gene was completely sequenced, the mean of nucleotide base composition in the sequences was 31.2% (T), 30.2% (C), 26.9% (A) and 11.9% (G), with no gene saturation. The population analysis in the TCS program generated a network with six haplotypes (A to F), where the ancestral haplotype (A) has a frequency of 25% and is composed by individuals from Cuiabá and Paraguay Rivers. The phylogenetic analysis showed the occurrence of two mtDNA lineages (1 and 2), the distance observed between the two lineages was 0.6%. The phylogenetic and phylogeographic results as well as the negative values of Fst for some populations, indicate a possible occurrence of gene flow among the analyzed populations. These results highlights the importance of flood pulse existent on wetland as a vehicle that permits a temporary connection among isolated population maintaining the species genetic variability.