The Living Conditions of Children with Shared Residence – the Swedish Example

Among children with separated parents, shared residence – i.e., joint physical custody where the child is sharing his or her time equally between two custodial parents’ homes – is increasing in many Western countries and is particularly common in Sweden. The overall level of living among children in Sweden is high; however, the potential structural differences between children in various post-separation family arrangements have not been sufficiently studied. Potential risks for children with shared residence relate to the daily hassles and stress when having two homes. This study aims at investigating the living conditions of children with shared residence compared with children living with two custodial parents in the same household and those living with one custodial parent, respectively. Swedish national survey data collected from children aged 10–18 years (n ≈ 5000) and their parents were used. The outcomes were grouped into: Economic and material conditions, Social relations with parents and peers, Health and health behaviors, Working conditions and safety in school and in the neighborhood, and Culture and leisure time activities. Results from a series of linear probability models showed that most outcomes were similar for children with shared residence and those living with two custodial parents in the same household, while several outcomes were worse for children living with one parent. However, few differences due to living arrangements were found regarding school conditions. This study highlights the inequalities in the living conditions of Swedish children, with those living with one parent having fewer resources compared with other children.     

Plasma oxytocin levels in women during labor with or without epidural analgesia: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: Epidural analgesia (EDA) has been reported to prolong labor. Whether this is by interference with endogenous oxytocin release or other mechanisms is unclear. With increasing numbers of women receiving an EDA, it is important to study its effects on labor. The aim was to study the concentration of plasma oxytocin and the progress of labor in women with and without EDA. METHODS: Thirty-four full-term women in spontaneous labor were included, 17 with epidural and 17 controls, matched for cervical dilatation and parity. Oxytocin was measured by radioimmunoassay before analgesia, 60 min later and after placental discharge. No oxytocin augmentation was given during the first hour. RESULTS: EDA during labor was associated with a fall in plasma oxytocin. There was no difference in plasma oxytocin levels between the groups at inclusion. One hour later, oxytocin concentrations had decreased in the epidural and increased in the control group (Student's t-test, p = 0049). The change in oxytocin levels between the first and second sample differed significantly between the groups (ancova, p = 0.028). No difference in cervix dilatation between the groups 1 h after inclusion was noted, but women with EDA had a longer labor compared with those without, especially those with epidural and oxytocin augmentation during the later phase of the first stage of labor. CONCLUSION: EDA during labor may interfere with the release of plasma oxytocin, which may be one mechanism behind prolongation of labor. Larger studies are needed to clarify the effects of epidural analgesia and the role of oxytocin during labor.     

Children in classrooms: peer status,status distribution and mental well-being

This study focuses on social relations in school classes and their importance for mental well-being in middle childhood in a Scottish city. The aspect of social relations under study is peer status and both the individual's own status position and the status distribution of the school class as a whole was considered. The number of children analysed was 13,932 and the number of school classes 524. The results show a clear association at individual level: the higher the status position the more uncommon is malaise. This is true both when malaise is reported by the teacher and by a parent, for both boys and girls and irrespective of the number of friends. The association was also generally present within school. It exists regardless of grade, type of school and class size. Furthermore, a minority of the classes had a more compressed status distribution and here malaise was less common in all status positions. This was especially the case when the school class did not contain marginalized children. Consequently, that some children are marginalized in the group indicates problematic conditions for the persons in question but also for the other group members.     

Soft fruit traceability in food matrices using real-time PCR

Food product authentication provides a means of monitoring and identifying products for consumer protection and regulatory compliance. There is a scarcity of analytical methods for confirming the identity of fruit pulp in products containing Soft Fruit. In the present work we have developed a very sensible qualitative and quantitative method to determine the presence of berry DNAs in different food matrices. To our knowledge, this is the first study that shows the applicability, to Soft Fruit traceability, of melting curve analysis and multiplexed fluorescent probes, in a Real-Time PCR platform. This methodology aims to protect the consumer from label misrepresentation.     

A randomized comparative study of highly purified follicle stimulating hormone and human menopausal gonadotrophin for ovarian hyperstimulation in an oocyte donation programme

A randomized comparative study of highly purified human follicle-stimulatinghormone (FSH-HP), administered s.c, and human menopausal gonadotrophin(HMG), administered i.m., was carried out in 41 volunteer oocytedonors. The response to ovarian hyperstimulation was similarin both groups. One cycle in both groups was cancelled. Thenumber of oocytes recovered was 16.0 ± 7.9 (mean ±SD) following stimulation with 32.8 ± 103 ampoules ofFSH-HP (n = 19) over 12.3 ± 1.7 days. Following stimulationwith 29.8 ± 10.6 ampoules of HMG over 11.5 ± 1.6days, the number of oocytes collected was 18.4 ± 12.7(n = 20). The oocyte recipients were allocated 9.2 ±3.6 oocytes in the FSH-HP group (n = 33) and 9.6 ± 4.6oocytes in the HMG group (n = 37). The fertilization rate (2PN/cell)was significantly higher in the HMG group (48%, 170/355) thanin the FSH-HP group (36%, 109/304) (P < 0.01). The numberof embryos transferred per recipient was 2.0 ± 0.4 inthe FSH-HP and 2.0 ± 03 in the HMG group. The pregnancyrate per embryo transfer was 25% in the FSH-HP (5/20) and 26%(8/31) in the HMG group. Fertile donors with body mass index£25 made up a poor responder group to s.c FSH-HP, possiblyindicating reduced absorption of the drug.     

Favourable pregnancy results with insemination of in vitro matured oocytes from unstimulated patients

BACKGROUND: The purpose has been to develop an in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) method for a wide range of patients. METHODS: A total of 239 cycles with immature oocyte retrieval (IOC) were carried out without hormonal priming. Patients with regular cycles and normal or polycystic ovaries (PCO) and anovulatory cycles with PCOS were included. Insemination or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) according to sperm quality was alternatively used in fertilization of the matured oocytes. RESULTS: A total of 971 immature oocytes (mean 8.0 +/- 5.2) were collected in 122 IVM-IVF cycles and 851 oocytes (mean 7.3 +/- 4.4) in 117 IVM-ICSI cycles. The oocyte maturation and fertilization rate was 62.6% and 37.7% after insemination, and 53.9% and 69.3% after ICSI, respectively. The mean number of embryos transferred was 1.6. Clinical pregnancy rate per IOC was 23.8% in IVM-IVF and 17.1% in IVM-ICSI (ns). Implantation rate was higher in IVM-IVF (24.2%) than in IVM-ICSI (14.8%) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Insemination of IVM oocytes functions well, resulting in comparable pregnancy rates per IOC between IVM-IVF and IVM-ICSI. Good pregnancy results can be achieved both in patients with regular cycles and with PCO(S) by transferring only one or two embryos at a time.     

Abortion rate and contraceptive practices in immigrant and Swedish adolescents

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To analyze if immigrant girls request early pregnancy termination more frequently than ethnic Swedish girls and, if so, study possible explanations, including contraceptive practices and attitudes. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: All women under 19 years of age who attended a large abortion clinic during one year were interviewed. Out of 126 adolescents, 36% were born outside Sweden. The immigrant girls (37 born abroad and 23 with at least one parent born abroad) were compared to 66 ethnic Swedish girls regarding contraceptive habits, reasons for abortion and social factors. RESULTS: The proportion of adolescents born abroad was larger than expected: 38 (29%) were born outside Sweden, compared to 18% in corresponding areas of Stockholm. The ethnic Swedish girls had fewer previous pregnancies than first and second generation immigrants and had more experience of contraceptive counselling. The most common reason for abortion in both groups was the wish to finish education. Ethnical Swedish girls claimed young age as reason for abortion more often than immigrants; economic reasons and reasons related to partner relationship were also common. CONCLUSION: First generation immigrant girls are over-represented among adolescents who seek termination of pregnancy. This can be explained by the fact that the immigrant girls had less experience of contraceptive use and contraceptive counselling than ethnical Swedish girls.