Physiologic-Based Cord Clamping Maintains Core Temperature vs. Immediate Cord Clamping in Near-Term Lambs

Background: Physiologic-based cord clamping (PBCC) involves deferring umbilical cord clamping until after lung aeration. It is unclear if infant is at risk of becoming hypothermic during PBCC. Objectives: To test if PBCC would maintain core temperature more effectively than immediate cord clamping (ICC). Design: At 0.93 gestation, fetal lambs were surgically exteriorized and instrumented from pregnant ewes under general anesthesia. Prior to the start of the experiment, lambs were thoroughly dried, placed on hot water bottles, and core temperature was continuously monitored using a rectal thermometer. PBCC lambs (n = 21), received intermittent positive pressure ventilation (iPPV) for ≥5 min prior to umbilical cord clamping. In ICC lambs (n = 23), iPPV commenced within 60 s after umbilical cord clamping. iPPV was provided with heated/humidified gas. Lambs were moved under a radiant warmer after umbilical cord clamping. Additional warmth was provided using a plastic overlay, hairdryer, and extra water bottles, as needed. Two-way mixed and repeated measures one-way ANOVAs were used to compare temperature changes between and within a single group, respectively, over time. Results: Basal fetal parameters including core temperature were similar between groups. ICC lambs had a significant reduction in temperature compared to PBCC lambs (p < 0.001), evident by 1 min (p = 0.002). ICC lambs decreased temperature by 0.51◦C (± 0.42) and 0.79◦C (± 0.55) at 5 and 10 min respectively (p <

Anthroposophic therapy for chronic depression: a four-year prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Depressive disorders are common, cause considerable disability, and do not always respond to standard therapy (psychotherapy, antidepressants). Anthroposophic treatment for depression differs from ordinary treatment in the use of artistic and physical therapies and special medication. We studied clinical outcomes of anthroposophic therapy for depression. METHODS: 97 outpatients from 42 medical practices in Germany participated in a prospective cohort study. Patients were aged 20–69 years and were referred to anthroposophic therapies (art, eurythmy movement exercises, or rhythmical massage) or started physician-provided anthroposophic therapy (counselling, medication) for depression: depressed mood, at least two of six further depressive symptoms, minimum duration six months, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, German version (CES-D, range 0–60 points) of at least 24 points. Outcomes were CES-D (primary outcome) and SF-36 after 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 48 months. Data were collected from July 1998 to March 2005. RESULTS: Median number of art/eurythmy/massage sessions was 14 (interquartile range 12–22), median therapy duration was 137 (91–212) days. All outcomes improved significantly between baseline and all subsequent follow-ups. Improvements from baseline to 12 months were: CES-D from mean (standard deviation) 34.77 (8.21) to 19.55 (13.12) (p < 0.001), SF-36 Mental Component Summary from 26.11 (7.98) to 39.15 (12.08) (p < 0.001), and SF-36 Physical Component Summary from 43.78 (9.46) to 48.79 (9.00) (p < 0.001). All these improvements were maintained until last follow-up. At 12-month follow-up and later, 52%–56% of evaluable patients (35%–42% of all patients) were improved by at least 50% of baseline CES-D scores. CES-D improved similarly in patients not using antidepressants or psychotherapy during the first six study months (55% of patients). CONCLUSION: In outpatients with chronic depression, anthroposophic therapies were followed by long-term clinical improvement. Although the pre-post design of the present study does not allow for conclusions about comparative effectiveness, study findings suggest that the anthroposophic approach, with its recourse to non-verbal and artistic exercising therapies can be useful for patients motivated for such therapies

Magnetic structure of Sr2Fe2O5 brownmillerite by single-crystal Mossbauer spectroscopy

In order to determine orientation of the Fe3+ magnetic moments and electric field gradient (efg) axes in the brownmillerite-type strontium ferrite structure for both iron sublattices where the efg tensor is not axially symmetric, the Mossbauer spectra of powdered and oriented single-crystal Sr2Fe2O5 were analyzed by solving the complete Hamiltonian for hyperfine interactions in the excited and ground states of the Fe-57 nuclei. The magnetic moments of both octahedrally and tetrahedrally coordinated iron cations lie on the ac-plane of the orthorhombic unit cell and are parallel to the shortest c-axis, whilst the main efg axes are parallel to the longest crystallographic axis, b. This orientation is similar to that in Ca2Fe2O5, in spite of the structural differences of strontium and calcium ferrite brownmillerites at low temperatures. (c) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Revolutionary family life and the self respect movement in Tamil south India, 1926-49

During the second quarter of the 20th century, the Self Respect movement (cuyamariyatai iyakkam) introduced a programme of non-Brahmin uplift in Tarnil south India that consisted of a radical critique of social, political and economic relations. By following the coverage of family and marriage in the Self Respect popular press (the weekly newspaper Kudi Arasu in particular), and through interviews with Self Respecters who lived through the period 1926-49, this article attempts to sketch out how and why the family was interpolated both as an object of criticism and as a site of struggle. That is to say, Self Respect was not only a set of arguments, but also a set of practical strategies for transforming everyday and ritual life into revolutionary propaganda through choice of dress, names, home decor and domestic ritual, as well as through attending public meetings and reading newspapers. In particular, 'modern, Self Respecting Tamil couples' were projected as a resolution to what the Self Respect movement high-lighted as the social, political and economic problems perpetuated by the traditional joint family. Yet, over the course of the 20th century in the Tamil south, marriage and family proved to be unstable vehicles for the revolutionary transformation of socio-political domains