Partner relationship satisfaction and maternal emotional distress in early pregnancy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recognition of maternal emotional distress during pregnancy and the identification of risk factors for this distress are of considerable clinical- and public health importance. The mental health of the mother is important both for herself, and for the physical and psychological health of her children and the welfare of the family. The first aim of the present study was to identify risk factors for maternal emotional distress during pregnancy with special focus on partner relationship satisfaction. The second aim was to assess interaction effects between relationship satisfaction and the main predictors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Pregnant women enrolled in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (n = 51,558) completed a questionnaire with questions about maternal emotional distress, relationship satisfaction, and other risk factors. Associations between 37 predictor variables and emotional distress were estimated by multiple linear regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Relationship dissatisfaction was the strongest predictor of maternal emotional distress (β = 0.25). Other predictors were dissatisfaction at work (β = 0.11), somatic disease (β = 0.11), work related stress (β = 0.10) and maternal alcohol problems in the preceding year (β = 0.09). Relationship satisfaction appeared to buffer the effects of frequent moving, somatic disease, maternal smoking, family income, irregular working hours, dissatisfaction at work, work stress, and mother's sick leave (<it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Dissatisfaction with the partner relationship is a significant predictor of maternal emotional distress in pregnancy. A good partner relationship can have a protective effect against some stressors.</p

Effect of toroidal plasma currents on the Wendelstein 7-X Scrape-Off Layer

The role of toroidal plasma currents for the island divertor scrape-off layer in the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X is investigated using reciprocating electric probes. Experiments show that small amounts (of a few kA) of plasma current are sufficient to significantly affect the scrape-off layer plasma conditions, whereas higher plasma currents above 10kA result in more drastic changes. This behavior is linked to the effect of the plasma current on the rotational transform profile, which can result in significant shifts of the edge magnetic islands. These shifts affect the interaction of the islands with the divertor and can eventually result in a transition from a diverted to a limited plasma configuration. The probe observations are complemented by further edge diagnostics including plasma flow measurements, divertor Langmuir probes, divertor thermography and impurity spectroscopy.This work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 and 2019-2020 under grant agreement number 633053

Diagnostic design for steady-state operation of the W7-X stellarator

The status of the diagnostic developments for the quasistationary operable stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (maximum pulse length of 30 min at 10 MW ECRH heating at 140 GHz) will be reported on. Significant emphasis is being given to the issue of ECRH stray radiation shielding of in-vessel diagnostic components, which will be critical at high density operation requiring O2 and OXB heating