The history of ideas of Nordic midwives’ excursions from the early 19th century to the millennium

The midwifery art has emphasised the uniqueness of human beings throughout its Nordic history. The educated Nordic midwife has in the last decade celebrated several hundred years of memories. This article studies how the key ideas of the midwifery art and patterns of ideas become evident in the zeitgeist from the beginning of the 19th century to the millennium in the Nordic countries. The legacy and pattern of ideas of the art of midwifery are interpreted in relation to the texts of the selected historical sources and based on Ricoeur's phenomenological-hermeneutic approach to the text and further to the dedication of understanding and interpretation. The historical sources refer to unprinted primary sources from historical archives and printed secondary and tertiary sources. The patterns of ideas include a tripartite whole: the true cultivation of the head, the philosophy and aesthetics of the hand, the strength of the heart and the drive of calling. These ideas open for unique visions and attest to the evident in modern midwives. Today's midwives have academic training with examinations, and the education is based on scientific evidence. The midwife profession is authorised by the state and supervised by the authorities.     

Interpersonal positive reframing in the daily lives of couples coping with breast cancer

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined word use as an indicator of interpersonal positive reframing in daily conversations of couples coping with breast cancer and as a predictor of stress.

Design: The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) were used to examine naturally occurring word use conceptually linked to positive reframing (positive emotion, negative emotion, and cognitive processing words).

Sample: Fifty-two couples coping with breast cancer.

Methods: Couples wore the EAR, a device participants wear, that audio-recorded over one weekend (>16,000 sound files), and completed self-reports of positive reframing (COPE) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale). LIWC, a software program, measured word use.

Findings: Both partners’ word use (i.e., positive emotion and cognitive processing words) was associated with their own reported positive reframing, and spouses’ word use was also indicative of patients’ positive reframing. Results also revealed that, in general, words indicating positive reframing predicted lower levels of stress.

Conclusions: Findings supported the hypothesis that partners—and particularly spouses of breast cancer patients—may assist each other’s coping by positively reframing the cancer experience and other negative experiences in conversation.     

Effectiveness of an HIV prevention intervention in prison among African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians.

Prisons and prison inmates present important targets for HIV/AIDS prevention interventions. Inmates often have histories of high-risk behavior that place them in danger of contracting HIV/AIDS, and rates of HIV/AIDS tend to be much higher in this population. The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a prison-based HIV/AIDS intervention to change attitudes toward HIV prevention, norms supporting HIV prevention, perceived behavioral control (i.e., self-efficacy) for HIV prevention behaviors, and intentions to engage in HIV prevention behaviors postrelease. The intervention also had the goal of encouraging inmates to become HIV/AIDS peer educators. The intervention appeared most successful at influencing beliefs and behaviors related to peer education and somewhat successful at influencing beliefs and intentions related to condom use. Analyses also showed some significant differences in effectiveness by race/ethnicity. Results are discussed from the perspectives of both research and practice with regard to prison-based HIV prevention efforts.     

Evidence for dopaminergic innervation on kitten retinal ganglion cells

Effects of iontophoretically applied dopamine and its receptor antagonists on physiologically identified retinal ganglion cells were studied in the optically intact eye of pentobarbitone anaesthetised kittens (7-9 weeks of age) and the results were compared with the effects obtained from adult cats (18-22 weeks of age). In both the adult and the kitten, dopamine had an inhibitory effect on visually evoked and spontaneous activity of the retinal ganglion cells, irrespective of cell type. However, unlike in the adult, the effects of dopamine in kittens were variable and not dependent on retinal eccentricity. In adult cells, only L-sulpiride (a potent D2 receptor antagonist) reduced the inhibitory effect of exogenous dopamine, whereas in kitten cells, both alpha-flupenthixol (a potent D1 receptor antagonist) and L-sulpiride did so. When applied alone, neither alpha-flupenthixol nor affected the activity of ganglion cells in adults, but in kittens both antagonists produced an excitatory effect in some cells. Physiologically active dopaminergic innervation seemed, therefore, to be present on the immature ganglion cells, but was subsequently 'eliminated' during the course of postnatal development. Furthermore, in immature cells, both D1 and D2 type receptors are present but only D2 receptors remain in adult. Therefore, there is a mismatch between dopamine receptors and dopamine in the adult retina and this mismatch may be the consequence of a developmental event.     

Dissociable roles of the ventral, medial and lateral striatum on the acquisition and performance of a complex visual stimulus-response habit.

The effects of discrete bilateral ibotenic acid lesions to 3 areas of striatum were examined on a conditional visual discrimination task involving temporal frequency (SLOW vs FAST flashes) that had previously been shown to be sensitive to the effects of dorsal striatal dopamine depletion. Two of the groups, namely, those with nucleus accumbens (ACC) and lateral caudate-putamen (LCP) lesions, were very disrupted in the acquisition of the task. The nature of the respective impairments of the 2 groups was dissociable, however. The performance of the ACC group could be improved either by manipulations of stimulus duration or inter-stimulus interval, implying an attentional deficit. In contrast, the rats with lesions of the LCP were not significantly improved by any of the behavioural challenges. Their performance was characterised by a bias to respond to the SLOW discriminandum. Under conditions of non-reward, the LCP group extinguished their responding at a similar rate to control rats whereas the ACC group were very much more persistent. Lesions of the medial caudate-putamen failed to affect any index of performance significantly. These data suggest that the LCP is necessary for the acquisition of arbitrary stimulus-response rules and that damage to an equivalent area in humans, such as in Huntington's disease, may explain deficits of procedural memory. The second part of the experiment investigated the effects of ACC lesions on established performance of the schedule. The lesioned group behaved identically to the ACC group that had been lesioned prior to acquisition, both in terms of accuracy and degree of persistence in extinction, further implying the role of attentional factors and inflexibility in the lesion-induced deficit.     

Development of neurochemical separation of ON and OFF channels at retinal ganglion cells

Anatomical and physiological segregation of neurons into ON (brightening detector) and OFF (darkening detector) channels in the retina and subsequent visual system ensure the high sensitivity required for contrast detection and spatial discrimination. This segregation is finest at the visual axis. Neurochemically, ON and OFF ganglion cells at the visual axis seem to be distinguished by different inhibitory transmitters but not excitatory transmitters. Microiontophoretic studies of inhibitory transmitters on the retinal ganglion cells in kittens and adult cats suggest that this neurochemical distinction is poor in immature ganglion cells at the visual axis. Initially both ON and OFF cells seem to be supplied by GABAergic, glycinergic, and catecholaminergic amacrine cells, but in adults, ON cells remain supplied only by GABAergic amacrines, while OFF cells are supplied by glycinergic amacrines. Postnatal elimination of multiple inputs and strengthening of the appropriate inputs, as seen in the central nervous system, also seem to occur at the retinal neurotransmitter synapses during development.     

FEASIBILITY OF CONDUCTING CARDIOVASCULAR OUTCOME RESEARCH IN AUSTRALIAN GENERAL PRACTICE: RESULTS FROM THE ANBP2 PILOT STUDY

1. The present study aimed to determine the feasibility of conducting a 5 year cardiovascular outcome trial of the treatment of 6000 elderly hypertensive patients in Australian general practices. 2. General practitioners (GPs) were invited to participate by mail and personal follow-up. Patient records were reviewed to identify subjects for a blood pressure (BP) screening programme. Blood pressure was measured on three occasions and eligible subjects were included if the average BP was 160 mmHg systolic or 90 mmHg diastolic if systolic BP was 140 mmHg. 3. Seven hundred and forty-one GPs were approached and 89 were enrolled in the study (12% of mail invites and 75% of those receiving a personal contact). In 16 practices where screening was completed, 82 000 records were reviewed to identify 4% patients eligible for screening. Twenty-two per cent of eligible subjects attended screening. Of 1938 subjects screened, 180 (9%) had BP 5=160/90 mmHg. Forty-seven percent of subjects (n = 916) were receiving antihypertensive therapy and 184 (20%) were withdrawn from therapy. One hundred and sixteen (63%) of these subjects had BP return to study entry levels within 6 weeks. Fifty-seven newly diagnosed and 81 previously treated subjects were randomized (7% of the screened population). 4. Based on the high participation rate of GPs, the response rate of patients to attend a BP screening programme and the 7% randomization to screening ratio for entry into the study, the ANBP2 pilot study has demonstrated that it is feasible to recruit subjects from Australian general practices to a cardiovascular outcome trial.