The influence of reported paternal attitudes on the decision to breast-feed

Objective: To identify factors that influence a woman's decision to breast-feed.
Methodology: Five hundred and fifty-six women were recruited from the maternity wards of two Perth hospitals. Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire completed by participants prior to discharge. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors influencing the initiation of breast-feeding.
Results: At discharge from hospital 83.8% of women were breast-feeding, including 6% who were giving complementary formula feeds. After controlling for potentially confounding demographic and biomedical factors, the father's reported preference for breast-feeding was found to be the most important factor influencing a woman's decision to breast-feed (OR 10.18).
Conclusion: Fathers participate in and influence the choice of infant feeding method and should be included in breast-feeding discussions.     

Margin of safety for discharge after apnea in preterm infants

OBJECTIVE: Most neonatologists include an apnea-free period in the criteria for the discharge of preterm infants. However, the length of time one should wait after the cessation of apnea before sending an infant home without a monitor is debated. We undertook this study in an attempt to define a minimal and safe observation period between the time of the last apnea episode and discharge. METHODS: We reasoned that in infants with idiopathic apnea of prematurity, the intervals between days on which apnea occurs gradually increase until some point at which clinically significant apnea ceases. Therefore, knowledge about the intervals between days on which apnea occurred just before the last apnea would provide a reasonable estimate of the minimal safe observation interval between the last apnea and discharge. We reviewed the charts of 266 infants born in 1993 and 1994 at 相似文献   

Inhibition of cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adducts in rat tissues by dietary oltipraz

The present study investigated the effects of dietary oltipraz on cigarette smoke-related lipophilic DNA adduct formation. Female Sprague- Dawley rats were exposed daily to sidestream cigarette smoke in a whole- body exposure chamber 6 h/day for 4 consecutive weeks. One group of rats was maintained on control diet while another group received the same diet supplemented with either a low (167 p.p.m.) or high (500 p.p.m.) dose of oltipraz, starting 1 week prior to initiation of smoke exposure until the end of the experiment. Analysis of lipophilic DNA adducts by the nuclease P1-mediated 32P-post-labeling showed up to five smoke-related adducts. Adduct no. 5 predominated in both the lung and the heart while adduct nos 3 and 2 predominated in the trachea and bladder, respectively. Quantitative analysis revealed that the total adduct level was the highest in lungs (270+/-68 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), followed by trachea (196+/-48 adducts/10(10) nucleotides), heart (141+/-22 adducts/10(10) nucleotides) and bladder (85+/-16 adducts/10(10) nucleotides). High dose oltipraz treatment reduced the adduct levels in lungs and bladder by >60%, while the reduction in lungs in the low-dose group was approximately 35%. In trachea, the effect of low and high dietary oltipraz on smoke DNA adduction was equivocal, while smoke-related DNA adducts in the heart were minimally inhibited by high-dose oltipraz. In a repeat experiment that employed a 3-fold lower dose of cigarette smoke, oltipraz (500 p.p.m.) was found to inhibit the formation of DNA adducts in rat lungs and trachea by 80 and 65%, respectively. These data clearly demonstrate a high efficacy of oltipraz in inhibiting the formation of cigarette smoke-induced DNA adducts in the target tissues.      

The effect of asphyxia on superior mesenteric artery blood flow in the premature sheep fetus

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine superior mesenteric artery blood flow changes during and after an asphyxial insult in utero in chronically instrumented unanaesthetised premature fetal sheep. METHODS: Fetal sheep at 0.7 gestation (103 to 104 days) underwent 25 minutes of complete umbilical cord occlusion (n = 6) or sham occlusion (n = 6). Fetal heart rate, blood pressure, superior mesenteric artery (SMA) blood flow and vascular resistance, electroencephalographic activity, and nuchal electromyographic activity were measured from 6 hours before occlusion until 3 days after occlusion. Fetal gastrointestinal tissue was taken for histological assessment. RESULTS: During occlusion, cardiovascular response was characterised by 3 phases: initial redistribution of blood flow away from the gut to maintain vital organ function, subsequently partial failure of this redistribution, and finally near terminal cardiovascular collapse with profound hypotension and gastrointestinal hypoperfusion. Postasphyxia there was a secondary period of hypoperfusion that was mediated by increased vascular resistance, not hypotension. There was no evidence of injury on standard histological assessment after 3 days of recovery. CONCLUSIONS: SMA blood flow is not only significantly reduced during asphyxia, but also for several hours after an asphyxial insult. The authors speculate that these perturbations of gastrointestinal blood flow could compromise gut wall integrity potentially leading to increased vulnerability to necrotising enterocolitis.     

Genitalverstümmelung und Strafrecht

Some of the girls who live in Germany and have Muslim parents are threatened by female genital mutilation. This report describes the kinds and medical consequences of female genital mutilation as well as the criminal judgement. Female genital mutilation is considered as dangerous bodily harm, not as grievous bodily harm. Consent does not justify the infringement of rights. The argument that Islam justifies the infringement of rights is irrelevant by law. The human right of bodily intactness has priority over the right of religious freedom. Finally the legal regulations about dealing with personal data are presented. A legal compulsory registration still does not exist.     

选择性头部降温对胎羊缺血性脑损伤纹状体神经元凋亡和星形胶质细胞增殖的影响

目的研究选择性头部降温对缺血性脑损伤胎羊纹状体神经元凋亡和星形胶质细胞增殖的影响。方法胎羊于妊娠117~124d时通过双侧颈动脉阻塞30min造成双侧脑缺血损伤,损伤后将胎羊随机分为:损伤组(n=10)、2h低温组(损伤后2h开始亚低温治疗,n=7)和6h低温组(损伤后6h开始亚低温治疗,n=8),另设正常对照组(n=5)。通过冷循环水进行选择性头部降温,取脑组织用免疫组化法检测胎羊纹状体caspase-3(半胱天冬氨酸酶-3),GFAP(胶质纤维酸性蛋白)和PCNA(增殖细胞核抗原)的表达。结果①纹状体神经元凋亡:正常对照组中,caspase-3表达极少(11.00±13.77),损伤组caspase-3免疫阳性细胞为177.70±48.69,明显增加(P=0.000),损伤后2h治疗组(54.14±39.44,P=0.000)和损伤后6h治疗组(122.43±52.36,P=0.017)均能减少caspase-3免疫阳性细胞。②纹状体星形胶质细胞增殖:与正常对照组(163.40±21.98)相比,缺血性脑损伤组的GFAP免疫阳性细胞明显增多(433.25±66.69,P=0.000),损伤后2h开始亚低温治疗(219.50±35.31,P=0.000)和损伤后6h开始亚低温治疗(272.50±86.20,P=0.000)均能减少GFAP免疫阳性细胞。③纹状体PCNA阳性细胞的表达:在正常对照组中,PCNA免疫阳性细胞较少,为153.40±12.46,缺血性脑损伤组的PCNA免疫阳性细胞明显增多(353.70±45.60,P=0.000),损伤后2h开始亚低温治疗(187.14±26.26,P=0.000)和损伤后6h开始亚低温治疗(230.25±67.46,P=0.000)均能减少PCNA免疫阳性细胞。结论亚低温可以抑制纹状体神经元的凋亡和星形胶质细胞的增殖,该作用可能为选择性头部降温的脑保护作用机制之一。