Seasonally different carbon flux changes in the Southern Ocean in response to the southern annular mode.

Stratospheric ozone depletion and emission of greenhouse gases lead to a trend of the southern annular mode (SAM) toward its high-index polarity. The positive phase of the SAM is characterized by stronger than usual westerly winds that induce changes in the physical carbon transport. Changes in the natural carbon budget of the upper 100 m of the Southern Ocean in response to a positive SAM phase are explored with a coupled ecosystem-general circulation model and regression analysis. Previously overlooked processes that are important for the upper ocean carbon budget during a positive SAM period are identified, namely, export production and downward transport of carbon north of the polar front (PF) as large as the upwelling in the south. The limiting micronutrient iron is brought into the surface layer by upwelling and stimulates phytoplankton growth and export production but only in summer. This leads to a drawdown of carbon and less summertime outgassing (or more uptake) of natural CO2. In winter, biological mechanisms are inactive, and the surface ocean equilibrates with the atmosphere by releasing CO2. In the annual mean, the upper ocean region south of the PF loses more carbon by additional export production than by the release of CO2 into the atmosphere, highlighting the role of the biological carbon pump in response to a positive SAM event.

Predictability of Arctic sea ice on weather time scales.

The field of Arctic sea ice prediction on "weather time scales" is still in its infancy with little existing understanding of the limits of predictability. This is especially true for sea ice deformation along so-called Linear Kinematic Features (LKFs) including leads that are relevant for marine operations. Here the potential predictability of the sea ice pack in the wintertime Arctic up to ten days ahead is determined, exploiting the fact that sea ice-ocean models start to show skill at representing sea ice deformation at high spatial resolutions. Results are based on ensemble simulations with a high-resolution sea ice-ocean model driven by atmospheric ensemble forecasts. The predictability of LKFs as measured by different metrics drops quickly, with predictability being almost completely lost after 4-8 days. In contrast, quantities such as sea ice concentration or the location of the ice edge retain high levels of predictability throughout the full 10-day forecast period. It is argued that the rapid error growth for LKFs is mainly due to the chaotic behaviour of the atmosphere associated with the low predictability of near surface wind divergence and vorticity; initial condition uncertainty for ice thickness is found to be of minor importance as long as LKFs are initialized at the right locations.

Effect of discharge samples on duration of breast-feeding.

The breast-feeding patterns of 146 women who initiated breast-feeding during their hospital stay were evaluated to determine whether those women who received a hospital discharge package containing a manual breast pump breast-fed their infants for a longer period of time than did women who received a discharge package containing an infant formula. Women were randomly assigned to receive either a specially prepared pack containing a manual breast pump but no infant formula or a commercially available infant formula package. The women were interviewed in the hospital and by computer-assisted telephone interviews at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks postdischarge. Information obtained included infant-feeding practices, sociodemographic characteristics, and attitudinal data. Follow-up interviews were completed for nearly 85% of eligible women at each time period. Women who received a discharge pack containing a breast pump but no infant formula continued exclusive breast-feeding for a greater number of weeks (mean = 4.18 weeks) than did women receiving infant formula in their discharge package (mean = 2.78 weeks) (P less than .05). Also, women who indicated that ease of nighttime feeding was an important consideration were more likely to breast-feed over the entire 8-week period if they received the breast pump rather than infant formula (P less than .05). The conclusion is that an easily implemented, low-cost intervention, the inclusion of a breast pump in discharge packages, may increase the duration of breast-feeding.

Hospital infant formula discharge packages. Do they affect the duration of breast-feeding?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the duration of breast-feeding is affected by the contents of the hospital discharge package. DESIGN: A randomized clinical trial with 2 experimental interventions (a discharge package containing a manual breast pump only and a discharge package containing a commercially prepared infant formula and a manual breast pump) and a control group who received a commercially prepared infant formula discharge package only. Sociodemographic characteristics and information concerning prior births (including feeding methods) were obtained from each mother within 48 hours of her infant's birth. Sources of influence on the mother's feeding decision, maternal attitudes concerning breast-feeding, and maternal feeding preferences were also assessed. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 763 women who had given birth who were admitted to the maternal-fetal unit of a midwestern community hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Information concerning current method of infant feeding was obtained from telephone interviews conducted at 2-week intervals until the infant was 16 weeks old. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of variance, logistic regression analysis, and survival analysis. RESULTS: The content of the hospital discharge package did not affect whether the mother engaged in exclusive or partial breast-feeding during the 16-week follow-up interval. However, there was some evidence that providing formula samples at discharge from the hospital increased the duration of exclusive breast-feeding compared with providing a manual breast pump. CONCLUSION: This study does not support the assumption that inclusion of infant formula in hospital discharge packages decreases the duration of breast-feeding.

Electromyographic activity over facial muscle regions can differentiate the valence and intensity of affective reactions.

Physiological measures have traditionally been viewed in social psychology as useful only in assessing general arousal and therefore as incapable of distinguishing between positive and negative affective states. This view is challenged in the present report. Sixteen subjects in a pilot study were exposed briefly to slides and tones that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Facial electromyographic (EMG) activity differentiated both the valence and intensity of the affective reaction. Moreover, independent judges were unable to determine from viewing videotapes of the subjects' facial displays whether a positive or negative stimulus had been presented or whether a mildly or moderately intense stimulus had been presented. In the full experiment, 28 subjects briefly viewed slides of scenes that were mildly to moderately evocative of positive and negative affect. Again, EMG activity over the brow (corrugator supercilia), eye (orbicularis oculi), and cheek (zygomatic major) muscle regions differentiated the pleasantness and intensity of individuals' affective reactions to the visual stimuli even though visual inspection of the videotapes again indicated that expressions of emotion were not apparent. These results suggest that gradients of EMG activity over the muscles of facial expression can provide objective and continuous probes of affective processes that are too subtle or fleeting to evoke expressions observable under normal conditions of social interaction.

A radiotelemetry system for analyzing heart rate responses during playback experiments in blackbirds (Turdus merula ).

In acoustical stimulus-response tests on European blackbirds (Turdus merula ) in cages and an outdoor aviary, alteration in heart rate (HR) was used to measure reaction strenght. HR was measured by radiotelemetry. The miniature transmitters newly developed for this task had to fulfill the following requirements: Simultaneous recordings of HR in several interacting animals; uninterrupted transmission of HR signals, sufficient range and battery life combined with low weight and easy handling properties. The miniature transmitters successfully used in this experiment had a quartz-stabilized oscillator. They weighed between 4.1 and 5.2 g and had a range of 3 m and a lifetime of 72 hrs (circuit diagram, Fig.1). The transmitted signal corresponded to a unitary impulse representing the S-wave of the ECG (Fig. 4b). Implanted electrodes were used to record ECG potentials. The transmitter was carried by the birds like a small rucksack tied to their backs. Electrode implantation and transmitter installation are described in detail. HR signals stored on audio tape were later transformed to frequency curves on a chart recorder (Fig. 3, 4a). Typical HR response curves are shown (Fig. 5). Statistical analysis of the data was performed on a DEC-PDP-11 computer using a special set of programs. The system has been successfully used to provide answers to experimental questions not previously obtainable with classical methods.

Effects of collaborative education on patient satisfaction and knowledge.

This study details an experimental study that utilized a collaborative educational approach for teaching 50% of a group of patients diagnosed with Diabetic Macular Edema and who underwent Focal Argon Laser treatment. The control group received teaching only by their physician. The registered nurses cared for the control patients, providing comfort interventions and maintaining a safe environment, but did not participate directly in the teaching program.

Maternal attitudes as predictors of infant feeding decisions.

To achieve the goal of Healthy People 2000 of increasing the rate and duration of breast-feeding in the United States, it is important to determine how maternal attitudes influence choice of infant feeding method. This study of postpartum women explores the extent to which maternal attitudes concerning process (how the baby is fed) and product (what the baby is fed) can predict the method of infant feeding during the hospital stay. A cross-sectional analysis of mothers' attitudes and infant feeding behavior was conducted. The participants included 216 mothers of infants less than 48 hours of age. Sociodemographic characteristics and maternal attitudes were analyzed to determine their ability to predict choice of feeding method. The results of the study indicate that maternal attitudes are better predictors of feeding method than are sociodemographic factors. These attitudinal variables, reflecting concerns over food intake, infant nutrition, and parental role, were most strongly related to choice of infant feeding method. The study indicates that maternal attitudes concerning the process and product dimensions of infant feeding provide valuable information regarding the women most likely to select either breast-feeding or formula-feeding. To increase the rate of breast-feeding, interventions should be developed that are consonant with positive maternal attitudes concerning the process and product dimensions of breast-feeding.

Impact of attitudes on maternal decisions regarding infant feeding.

It is essential that physicians and other health care professionals seeking to increase the rate of initiation and duration of breast-feeding build on the body of information concerning factors that influence a woman's attitudes about breast-feeding. The relation between positive attitudes concerning breast-feeding and its initiation is important to the development of programs targeting women before they become pregnant, and to the provision of active support for breast-feeding throughout the pregnancy, perinatal, and postnatal period. However, it is not sufficient for these programs to target only the mother or potential mother; members of a woman's social network must be considered as information targets. Educational programs must also be directed to the appropriate racial or ethnic group to develop programs that reach the individuals (father, female relative, or friend) most likely to influence the mother's breast-feeding decision. Physicians may be very knowledgeable about the nutritional and immune properties of human milk and yet not be supportive of the act of breast-feeding. This lack of support may be manifested by the lack of verbal support for women who intend to or are in the process of breast-feeding, the provision of infant formula before or at the time of birth of the baby, or encouragement to terminate breast-feeding should the mother encounter any difficulties with lactation. To increase physician awareness of the process of breast-feeding and the properties of human milk, information about the benefits should be integrated in both the basic science and the clinical curricula of medical schools. Primary care training programs, including obstetrics, should actively involve trainees in the management of breast-feeding women so that trainees become aware of the spectrum of circumstances that confront women seeking to establish and maintain successful breast-feeding. This type of involvement would provide a contextual base for physicians' understanding the attitudes and behaviors supportive of breast-feeding. Attitudes and behavior of women, although more complex then demographic factors, provide a powerful tool for meeting the Healthy People 2000 goals for the initiation and duration of breast-feeding. It is important to build on the base of research reviewed here to develop new and and more powerful interventions. Thus the emphasis on the known health advantages of human milk or the discovery of additional health benefits of breast-feeding should continue to be discussed because they may tip the balance in favor of breast-feeding for some women. Nevertheless, it may ultimately be more important to increase the amount of information provided to women (and girls and boys) about the practical aspects of the breast feeding process (e.g., ease of night feeding, fathers ability to feed mother's milk by bottle, lower cost, strategies to control leaking) then to rely solely on the positive health outcomes related to breast-feeding.

Phase I/II study with a weekly 24-hour infusion of 5-fluorouracil plus high-dose folinic acid (HD-FU/FA) in intensively pretreated patients with metastatic breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: In metastatic breast cancer patients who have had prior exposure to anthracyclines, single agents induce less than 15% and combination chemotherapy less than 20%-30% of objective responses. Therefore more active and tolerable salvage regimens are needed. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-three patients with advanced breast cancer pretreated with 1-5 (median 2) different chemotherapy regimens were entered into this phase I/II trial. Treatment consisted of folinic acid (FA) (500 mg/m2, i.v., 2-hour infusion) followed by a 24-hour infusion of 5-fluorouracil (FU) which was escalated from 1.5 g/m2 (dose level (dl 1)), to 1.8 g/m2 (dl 2) to 2.1 g/m2 (dl 3). Therapy was given as outpatient treatment once weekly times 6 followed by a 2-week rest. RESULTS: HD-FU/FA was well tolerated. No dose-limiting toxicity occurred at dl 1 or 2. Only 3/32 (9%) patients had WHO grade 3/4 toxicities (gastrointestinal toxicities, hand-foot-syndrome) at dl 3. The response rate for all 32 of the patients treated at dl 3 was 41% (13/32). In the 24 patients with anthracycline-refractory disease, a response rate of 41% (10/24) was achieved. The median remission duration was 11 months and the median survival time 19 months. CONCLUSIONS: This schedule of FU/FA is a safe outpatient treatment with substantial activity in intensively pretreated breast cancer patients.