Predictors of Maternal Responsiveness

PURPOSE: To explore maternal responsiveness in the first 2 to 4 months after delivery and to evaluate potential predictors of maternal responsiveness, including infant feeding, maternal characteristics, and demographic factors such as age, socioeconomic status, and educational level. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used to assess the variables of maternal responsiveness, feeding patterns, and maternal characteristics in a convenience sample of 177 mothers in the first 2 to 4 months after delivery. The 60-item self-report instrument included scales to measure maternal responsiveness, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life as well as infant feeding questions and sociodemographic items. An online data-collection strategy was used, resulting in participants from 41 U.S. states. FINDINGS: Multiple regression analysis showed that satisfaction with life, self-esteem, and number of children, but not breastfeeding, explained a significant portion of the variance in self-reported maternal responsiveness scores. In this analysis, sociodemographic variables such as age, education, income, and work status showed little or no relationship to maternal responsiveness scores. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides additional information about patterns of maternal behavior in the transition to motherhood and some of the variables that influence that transition. Satisfaction with life was a new predictor of maternal responsiveness. However, with only 15% of the variance explained by the predictors in this study, a large portion of the variance in maternal responsiveness remains unexplained. Further research in this area is needed.     

Topically active carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. 1. O-acyl derivatives of 6-hydroxybenzothiazole-2-sulfonamide

A series of O-acyl derivatives of 6-hydroxybenzothiazole-2-sulfonamide (4, L-643,799) was prepared and the potential utility of each series member as a topically active inhibitor of ocular carbonic anhydrase was determined. In vitro studies showed these esters to be substrates for ocular esterases which liberate 4 during corneal translocation. The most interesting series member, 2-sulfamoyl-6-benzothiazolyl 2,2-dimethylpropionate (22, L-645,151), acting as a prodrug form of 4, was found to enhance delivery through the isolated albino rabbit cornea by 40-fold when compared to the parent phenol 4. Studies in rabbits revealed that 22 is a potent topically active ocular hypotensive carbonic anhydrase inhibitor.     

Immunohistochemical localization of fibronectin in the chinchilla cochlea

The purpose of this study was to better understand the molecular composition of the cochlea. Fibronectin (FN), a well characterized adhesive glycoprotein, was localized by immunofluorescence microscopy in fresh and fixed cochlear tissues, and in fixed kidney tissue, using a polyclonal, affinity-purified, rabbit, anti-fibronectin antibody and a secondary antibody coupled to FITC. The FN antibody was free from cross-reactivity with other known basement membrane and cell matrix molecules. FN reactivity in the cochlea was most intense in the basilar membrane, latero-basal borders of Boettcher's cells, otic capsule, endothelial basement membranes (particularly those of the stria vascularis), and as a diffuse, fan-shaped network radiating into the spiral ligament. Little FN labelling was present in the epithelial basement membranes. Negative control tissue showed no immunoreactivity; whereas, positive kidney control tissue showed appropriate FN immunoreactivity in the mesangium of the glomerulus. The most significant finding of this study was that FN is a major component of the basilar membrane and its distribution appears to correspond to the amorphous ground substance. FN was not localized in the organ of Corti or at the tips of the hair-cell stereocilia.     

Immunolymphoscintigraphy of pulmonary and mediastinal lymph nodes in dogs: a new approach to lung cancer imaging

Despite improved resolution with new imaging techniques, surgical confirmation of mediastinal lymph node status is often required for reliable staging of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Recent scintigraphic studies suggest that s.c. administration of radiolabeled antibodies can be more efficient than the i.v. route for targeting regional lymph nodes in animals and humans. To determine if this approach could be applied to the lymphatics of the lung, we injected both specific and irrelevant radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies via a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope through the mucosa of lobar bronchi in normal dogs. The injected antibodies were expected to drain by way of local lymphatic vessels toward the central lymph nodes, in effect following the same pathway as do cells metastasizing to these nodes during early regional tumor dissemination. To accomplish this, anesthetized dogs were intubated and then coinjected with the two labeled antibodies [600 microCi/100 micrograms (total)] through a fiberoptic bronchoscope. The animals were serially imaged and then autopsied 14-36 h after injection. Individual hilar and carinal nodes contained over 1% of the injected 131I-labeled specific antibody dose and the average selectivity was 2.5:1 with respect to a coinjected irrelevant IgG. Distant organs (mesenteric lymph node, liver, spleen, bone marrow, and lung parenchyma other than the injection site) contained much less radioactivity, and those sites accumulated a greater fraction of the non-specific labeled antibody. The ratio of iodine-131 to iodine-125 counts between hilar/carinal lymph nodes and abdominal lymph nodes ranged from 15:1 to 100:1. These initial studies indicate efficient delivery of antibody to a subset of the regional nodes via pulmonary lymphatics. They suggest the feasibility of this technique which may be of use in the detection and perhaps therapy of human lung cancer metastases in regional lymph nodes.     

Neuroschisis of the cervical spinal cord in a patient with Klippel-Feil syndrome

During the neurological work-up of a young patient with Klippel-Feil syndrome, the presence of a neuroschisis of the cervical spinal cord was detected. The patient presented with a transient and acute hemisensory loss and a Horner's syndrome of the opposite side. The unusual presentation and radiological findings in a patient with Klippel-Feil syndrome prompted this report.     

Biological characteristics of newly diagnosed poor prognosis acute myelogenous leukemia

A pilot study was conducted of the biological characteristics of the leukemia cells of newly diagnosed patients with poor prognosis acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). This study included measurements of the pretherapy proliferative rate of the leukemia cells in vivo, assessment of differentiation in vivo during remission induction therapy, and the level of expression of the fms, myc, and IL1β genes in pretherapy leukemia cells. Short cell cycle times were characteristic of the best prognostic category and were associated with a rapid reduction in marrow leukemia cells in cytosine arabinoside (araC)-sensitive patients. Expression of c-fms was associated with rapid reduction in marrow leukemia cells during araC therapy and with a successful treatment outcome. Expression of the IL1β gene was associated with short remissions. These studies suggest that when compared to newly diagnosed standard prognosis AML, the leukemia of poor prognosis patients is more likely to exhibit long cell cycle times, low levels of fms expression, and is less likely to be associated with myeloid differentiation during remission induction therapy. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.