Real American children: The challenge for after-school programs

Several million American children are currently unsupervised during the hours between school and parents' leaving for and/or return from the workplace. Many families would prefer other arrangements, but cost or availability factors present insurmountable barriers. Although growing, the public response continues to fall far short of the need; in the meantime, private entrepreneurs are moving to fill the gaps in available services. But if these programs for school-aged children are to serve functions other than the aggrandizement of their sponsors, they must be focused on the real needs that exist among real American children. Among the real children in need of care are those who are impoverished, unsupervised, unfit physically, unprepared for the demands of school and workplace, hurried into premature adulthood, and/or disconnected from the social worlds around them. Professional child and youth care workers with experience in day care and residential settings have the preparation needed to take leadership roles in creating developmentally appropriate, effective programs to meet the emerging demands for school-age child care and to weave them into a fabric of youth-centered community services.     

Tear mucus crystallization in children with cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is characterized by an abnormally high electrolyte concentration in exocrine secretions. The authors performed the tear mucus ferning test in 26 eyes of children with cystic fibrosis and compared the results to those in an equal number of age-matched normals. The results suggest that the increased electrolyte concentration could be responsible for the increased hyperviscosity of mucus. The tear mucus ferning test appears to be a suitable diagnostic test for the assessment of cystic fibrosis.     

An analysis for blood manganese used to assess environmental exposure

In this graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometric method for measuring manganese in whole blood, we use a pyrolytic platform to minimize interference by sample matrix. For optimal sample ashing we denature the sample within the furnace with nitric acid and use oxygen as the purge gas at low temperatures. The mean manganese concentration found in blood from 15 unexposed city dwellers was 215 (2 SD 135) nmol/L. By comparison, the range of manganese concentrations in blood sampled from a group of Australian aborigines living near a surface manganese ore deposit on Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory, was much higher (median 405 nmol/L, range 175 to 990 nmol/L).     

Brain mechanisms in the control of food intake—30 years on

Do brain systems exist which control not only increases or decreases in food intake, but also bring about specific changes in the size and distribution of meals consumed, alter the selection of particular macronutrients and adjust feeding responses to the perceived pleasantness (hedonic value) of the food? A cautious yes can be given to each of these questions. Moreover, since most experimental work has been carried out on the brains of animals, we can also ask how well these animal data relate to the human condition; given the methodological issues involved in making such inferences, the answer is remarkably well.     

地塞米松促胎儿肺成熟的三种用药方式对母体糖代谢的影响

【目的】探讨地塞米松的用药方式对孕妇糖代谢的影响。【方法】对 1999年 9月至 2 0 0 1年 1月在本院住院的15 0名不同用药方式使用地塞米松促胎儿肺成熟的孕妇进行研究 ,在用药前及用药后 18～ 2 4h抽取肘前静脉血查空腹血糖、血浆C肽 ,糖负荷后 2h血糖、血浆C肽。【结果】使用地塞米松后 ,空腹血糖值、糖负荷后 2h血糖值、空腹C肽及糖负荷后 2hC肽值较用药前高 ;用药方式对母体空腹血糖值和空腹C肽值的影响差异无统计学意义 (P >0 0 5 ) ,对母体糖负荷后 2h血糖值和糖负荷后 2hC肽值的影响差异有统计学意义 (P <0 0 5 ) ;不同糖代谢状态的受试者使用地塞米松后 ,空腹C肽值、糖负荷后 2hC肽值的改变差异有统计学意义 (P <0 0 5 )。【结论】孕妇使用地塞米松促胎儿肺成熟对母体的糖代谢均有一定程度的影响 ,用药过程中和用药后需严密监测母体血糖和胎儿宫内状况