The development of anticipation in the fetus: a longitudinal account of human fetal mouth movements in reaction to and anticipation of touch

Background: Research suggests that fetuses open or close their mouth in relation to directed movements (e.g. Myowa-Yamakoshi & Takeshita, 2006) but it is unclear whether mouth opening anticipates the touch or is a reaction to touch, as there has been no analysis so far of 1) the facial area of touch and 2) the sequential ordering of touch and mouth movements. If there is prenatal development of touch we would expect the frequency of fetal mouth opening immediately preceding the arriving hand at the mouth area to increase with fetal age. Participants: Fifteen healthy fetuses, 8 girls and 7 boys, underwent four additional 4-D scans at 24, 28, 32 and 36 weeks gestation. Results: Changes in the frequency of touch for different facial regions indicated a significant decline in touch upper and side part of the face and a significant increase in touching lower and perioral regions of the face with increasing gestational age. Results supporting the hypothesis showed a significant increase in the proportion of anticipatory mouth movements before touching increasing by around 8% with each week of gestational age. Additionally there was a decrease in the proportion of reactive mouth movements decreasing by around 3% for each week of gestational age

Ultrasound observations of subtle movements: a pilot study comparing fetuses of smoking and non-smoking mothers

Aim: One way to assess fetal health of smokers is to ask mothers to count perceived movements, an unreliable method hiding differences in prenatal development. The aim of this pilot study was to assess subtle fetal movements in ultrasound-scans and establish whether they differ in fetuses of mothers who smoked and non-smoking mothers. Methods: This longitudinal pilot-study recruited twenty mothers (16 non-smoking; 4 smoking) scanned four times from 24-36 weeks gestation (80 ultrasound scans). Two types of fine grained movements were coded offline and analysed using a Poisson log-linear mixed model. Results: Fetuses of smoking mothers showed a significantly higher rate of mouth-movements compared to fetuses of non-smoking mothers (p=0.02), after controlling for maternal stress and depression. As pregnancy progressed, these differences between the smoking and non-smoking groups widened. Differences between the two groups in the rate of fetal facial self-touch, remained constant as pregnancy progressed and was borderline significant (p=0.07). Conclusion: Rates of fetal mouth-movement and facial self-touch differ significantly between smokers and non-smokers. A larger study is needed to confirm these results and to investigate specific effects, including the interaction of maternal stress and smoking. Additionally, the feasibility of this technique for clinical practice should be assessed

The effects of nonlocality on the evolution of higher order fluxes in non-equilibrium thermodynamics

The role of gradient dependent constitutive spaces is investigated on the example of Extended Thermodynamics of rigid heat conductors. Different levels of nonlocality are developed and the different versions of extended thermodynamics are classified. The local form of the entropy density plays a crucial role in the investigations. The entropy inequality is solved under suitable constitutive assumptions. Balance form of evolution equations is obtained in special cases. Closure relations are derived on a phenomenological level.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Emotional expressiveness of 5–6 month-old infants born very premature versus full-term at initial exposure to weaning foods

Facial expressions of 5–6 month-old infants born preterm and at term were compared while tasting for the first time solid foods (two fruit and two vegetable purées) given by the mother. Videotapes of facial reactions to these foods were objectively coded during the first six successive spoons of each test food using Baby FACS and subjectively rated by naïve judges. Infant temperament was also assessed by the parents using the Infant Behaviour Questionnaire. Contrary to our expectations, infants born preterm expressed fewer negative emotions than infants born full-term. Naïve judges rated infants born preterm as displaying more liking than their full-term counterparts when tasting the novel foods. The analysis of facial expressions during the six spoonfuls of four successive meals (at 1-week intervals) suggested a familiarization effect with the frequency of negative expressions decreasing after tasting the second spoon, regardless of infant age, type of food and order of presentation. Finally, positive and negative dimensions of temperament reported by the parents were related with objective and subjective coding of affective reactions toward foods in infants born preterm or full-term. Our research indicates that premature infants are more accepting of novel foods than term infants and this could be used for supporting the development of healthy eating patterns in premature infants. Further research is needed to clarify whether reduced negativity by infants born prematurely to the exposure to novel solid foods reflects a reduction of an adaptive avoidant behaviour during the introduction of novel foods

A non-invasive imaging approach for improved assessments on the construction and the condition of historical knotted-pile carpets

The appraisal of the design and the weaving structure of Islamic knotted-pile carpets can tell plenty about the context in which they were produced, and the identification of signs of deterioration can help to establish their condition. These are often somewhat imprecise and laborious examinations, especially when considering carpets of large dimensions. Analytical methods that support these disciplines urge further exploration so that improved interpretations can be obtained.  An interdisciplinary combination of art history, analytical science and textile conservation aimed, on the one hand, to improve the weaving examination of these complex textile objects – by considering the spin of threads and the ply of yarns; the knot count and density; and the weaving structure of warps, wefts and piles – and on the other, to help their condition assessment – by mapping of damaged areas, old repairs and contaminations. For this purpose, the possibilities and limitations of several non-invasive imaging techniques, namely transmitted, raking or incident visible, ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) illumination through Visual Spectral Comparator (VSC), as well as conventional X-radiography, mammography and (micro) CT scanning, were assessed to support the conventional visual examination of the weaving details and present condition of two 17th-century Safavid knotted-pile carpet fragments.  Observation with NUV and NIR imaging with VSC, as well as CT techniques, offered enriching overviews about weaving characteristics, damaged areas or contaminations that were not easily discernible with the naked eye, thus supporting the conventional visual examination. As a result, detailed digital mappings about the technological structure and the condition of the fragments could be obtained in a relatively efficient and accessible way. Moreover, combining art historical identification of the design with the analysis of the weaving structure confirmed that both carpet fragments are border corners that originally belonged to much larger carpets made in the so-called “Indo-Persian” style. The outcome of this interdisciplinary research brings very useful contributions for future art historical and conservation assessments of historical carpets, and it encourages further exploration of imaging techniques in the examination of other textile objects in museums and private collections

Strong-coupling expansions for the anharmonic Holstein model and for the Holstein-Hubbard model

A strong-coupling expansion is applied to the anharmonic Holstein model and to the Holstein-Hubbard model through fourth order in the hopping matrix element. Mean-field theory is then employed to determine transition temperatures of the effective (pseudospin) Hamiltonian. We find that anharmonic effects are not easily mimicked by an on-site Coulomb repulsion, and that anharmonicity strongly favors superconductivity relative to charge-density-wave order. Surprisingly, the phase diagram is strongly modified by relatively small values of the anharmonicity.Comment: 34 pages, typeset in ReVTeX, 11 encapsulated postscript files include

A non-invasive imaging approach for improved assessments on the construction and the condition of historical knotted-pile carpets

The appraisal of the design and the weaving structure of Islamic knotted-pile carpets can tell plenty about the context in which they were produced, and the identification of signs of deterioration can help to establish their condition. These are often somewhat imprecise and laborious examinations, especially when considering carpets of large dimensions. Analytical methods that support these disciplines urge further exploration so that improved interpretations can be obtained. An interdisciplinary combination of art history, analytical science and textile conservation aimed, on the one hand, to improve the weaving examination of these complex textile objects – by considering the spin of threads and the ply of yarns; the knot count and density; and the weaving structure of warps, wefts and piles – and on the other, to help their condition assessment – by mapping of damaged areas, old repairs and contaminations. For this purpose, the possibilities and limitations of several non-invasive imaging techniques, namely transmitted, raking or incident visible, ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) illumination through Visual Spectral Comparator (VSC), as well as conventional X-radiography, mammography and (micro) CT scanning, were assessed to support the conventional visual examination of the weaving details and present c

Index finger movement imitation by human neonates: motivation, learning, and left-hand preference

Imitation of a fine motor movement, index finger protrusion, was examined in 39 neonates using an ethologically based objective coding system. Results confirmed that imitation of finger movements exists, and infants demonstrated "learning" as imitation developed through an incomplete imitation stage. Neonatal imitation was more frequently left-handed, an early sign of laterality in motivation to be investigated further. The existence of index finger imitation in human neonates indicates that volitional control of individuated finger movements develops much earlier than previously thought. The differential increase of index finger protrusion movements during the imitation periods suggests that this behavior is not an automatic response triggered by general arousal but instead is a true indicator of purposeful neonatal imitation

Care for perinatal illness in rural Nepal: a descriptive study with cross-sectional and qualitative components

BACKGROUND: Maternal, perinatal and neonatal mortality rates remain high in rural areas of developing countries. Most deliveries take place at home and care-seeking behaviour is often delayed. We report on a combined quantitative and qualitative study of care seeking obstacles and practices relating to perinatal illness in rural Makwanpur district, Nepal, with particular emphasis on consultation strategies. METHODS: The analysis included a survey of 8798 women who reported a birth in the previous two years [of whom 3557 reported illness in their pregnancy], on 30 case studies of perinatal morbidity and mortality, and on 43 focus group discussions with mothers, other family members and health workers. RESULTS: Early pregnancy was often concealed, preparation for birth was minimal and trained attendance at birth was uncommon. Family members were favoured attendants, particularly mothers-in-law. The most common recalled maternal complications were prolonged labour, postpartum haemorrhage and retained placenta. Neonatal death, though less definable, was often associated with cessation of suckling and shortness of breath. Many home-based care practices for maternal and neonatal illness were described. Self-medication was common. There were delays in recognising and acting on danger signs, and in seeking care beyond the household, in which the cultural requirement for maternal seclusion, and the perceived expense of care, played a part. Of the 760 women who sought care at a government facility, 70% took more than 12 hours from the decision to seek help to actual consultation. Consultation was primarily with traditional healers, who were key actors in the ascription of causation. Use of the government primary health care system was limited: the most common source of allopathic care was the district hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Major obstacles to seeking care were: a limited capacity to recognise danger signs; the need to watch and wait; and an overwhelming preference to treat illness within the community. Safer motherhood and newborn care programmes in rural communities, must address both community and health facility care to have an impact on morbidity and mortality. The roles of community actors such as mothers-in-law, husbands, local healers and pharmacies, and increased access to properly trained birth attendants need to be addressed if delays in reaching health facilities are to be shortened