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Early Months (early + month)
Selected AbstractsSeasonal patterns in biomass smoke pollution and the mid 20th-century transition from Aboriginal to European fire management in northern AustraliaGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2007David M. J. S. Bowman ABSTRACT Aim, Globally, most landscape burning occurs in the tropical savanna biome, where fire is a characteristic of the annual dry season. In northern Australia there is uncertainty about how the frequency and timing of dry season fires have changed in the transition from Aboriginal to European fire management. Location, In the tropical eucalypt savannas that surround the city of Darwin in the northwest of the Northern Territory of Australia. Methods, Our study had three parts: (1) we developed a predictive statistical model of mean mass (µg) of particulates 10 µm or less per cubic metre of air (PM10) using visibility and other meteorological data in Darwin during the dry seasons of 2000 and 2004; (2) we tested the model and its application to the broader air shed by (a) matching the prediction of this model to PM10 measurements made in Darwin in 2005, (b) matching the predictions to independent measurements at two locations 20 km to the north and south of Darwin and (c) matching peaks in PM10 to known major fire events in the region (2000,01 dry seasons); and (3) we used the model to explore changes in air quality over the last 50 years, a period that spans the transition from Aboriginal to European land management. Results, We demonstrated that visibility data can be used reliably as a proxy for biomass burning across the largely uncleared tropical savannas inland of Darwin. Validations using independent measurements demonstrated that our predictive model was robust, and geographically and temporally representative of the regional airshed. We used the model to hindcast and found that seasonal air quality has changed since 1955, with a trend to increasing PM10 concentrations in the early dry season. Main conclusions, The results suggest that the transition from Aboriginal to European land management has been associated with an increase in fire activity in the early months of the dry season. [source] Spirituality in African-American Mothers Coping With a Seriously Ill InfantJOURNAL FOR SPECIALISTS IN PEDIATRIC NURSING, Issue 3 2001Sonja M. Wilson ISSUES AND PURPOSE. To describe how African-American mothers' spirituality helped them cope during the time of their infants' hospitalization for a serious illness. DESIGN AND METHODS. Fourteen mothers whose infants were seriously ill in the early months of life were interviewed for this retrospective, descriptive study. RESULTS. The core theme related to prayer. Four mothers reported a strengthened faith, while two mothers continued to have difficulty relating to God or attending church. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. These findings support the importance of understanding and respecting the spiritual needs and expressions of spirituality in African-American mothers who are coping with a serious illness in one of their children. [source] An Observational Study of Early Heterosexual Interaction at Middle School DancesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, Issue 4 2007Anthony D. Pellegrini In this longitudinal, observational study of heterosexual interaction at middle school dances we examined the degree to which boys' and girls' groups became more gender integrated over time. The results show groups became more integrated over time with the pattern differing by gender. Boys had a relatively low level of contact with girls over the early months with an accelerated increase in the latter months. Girls had an increase in contact with boys over the early months but then a decrease in contact over the latter months. Further, changes in the dynamic covariate, aggression, were associated with changes in integration, and the static covariate, initial physical attractiveness, was predictive of integration trajectories. Physical attractiveness and aggression did relate to gender integration, but counter to our hypotheses, each strategy did not vary by gender, as predicted by sexual selection theory. Results are discussed in terms of different methods in assessing the roles of aggression and physical attractiveness in gender integration. [source] Sustainability of humoral responses to varicella vaccine in pediatric transplant recipients following a pretransplantation immunization strategyPEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 8 2009Michelle Barton Abstract:, Varicella infections pose serious challenges for organ transplant recipients. To determine the safety and immunogenicity of the OMVV and determine the maintenance of OMVV responses in transplanted subjects at varying periods of immunosuppression within the first two yr following transplantation. Eligible subjects given a two-dose OMVV pretransplantation were monitored for AE. Antibody levels were assessed at baseline, six wk post-OMVV, pretransplantation and up to 24 months post-transplantation. Seroprotection was defined as ,5 gpEU. Twenty-one seronegative children were vaccinated. Following 42 doses, no vaccine-related serious AE occurred. Mab_titer were 17.8 (5.7,910.2) and 183.5 EU (18.8,8116.4) at six and 12 wk, respectively (p < 0.0001). Fourteen (66.7%) participants were transplanted at a median of 16 months (1.5,56) following OMVV and had Mab_titer of 27.2 EU (9.0,236.2) just prior to transplantation. Of 11 who had post-transplantation serology, seroprotection was sustained at three, six and 12 months post-transplantation in 10/11, 12/12 and 8/10 subjects. In five of six subjects with two-yr follow-up, antibody levels remained seroprotective. No breakthrough varicella infections occurred. The receipt of OMVV prior to transplantation induced humoral responses which persisted in the early months following transplantation and up to two yr post-transplantation and was not associated with any serious adverse consequences. [source] The White House Office of Presidential PersonnelPRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2001BRADLEY H. PATTERSON One of the greatest challenges of a new presidential administration is recruiting and bringing on board the political appointees who will help the new president lead the executive branch. The people who carry out this task for the president work in the Office of Presidential Personnel (OPP). This article presents an overview of the OPP and how it functions during the transition and early months of a new administration. It first sets out the scope of the job by specifying the number and types of political appointments for which the OPP is responsible. Next, an account of how the office has developed will be presented along with the predictable challenges from pressures for appointments from the Hill, the campaign, and cabinet secretaries. Finally, obligations of the OPP after initial recruitment has been accomplished will be examined. [source] Body image and sexual problems in young women with breast cancerPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 7 2006Pat Fobair Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of body image and sexual problems in the first months after treatment among women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 50 or younger. Background: Breast cancer treatment may have severe effects on the bodies of younger women. Surgical treatment may be disfiguring, chemotherapy may cause abrupt menopause, and hormone replacement is not recommended. Methods: A multi-ethnic population-based sample of 549 women aged 22,50 who were married or in a stable unmarried relationship were interviewed within seven months of diagnosis with in situ, local, or regional breast cancer. Results: Body image and sexual problems were experienced by a substantial proportion of women in the early months after diagnosis. Half of the 546 women experienced two or more body image problems some of the time (33%), or at least one problem much of the time (17%). Among sexually active women, greater body image problems were associated with mastectomy and possible reconstruction, hair loss from chemotherapy, concern with weight gain or loss, poorer mental health, lower self-esteem, and partner's difficulty understanding one's feelings. Among the 360 sexually active women, half (52%) reported having a little problem in two or more areas of sexual functioning (24%), or a definite or serious problem in at least one area (28%). Greater sexual problems were associated with vaginal dryness, poorer mental health, being married, partner's difficulty understanding one's feelings, and more body image problems, and there were significant ethnic differences in reported severity. Conclusions: Difficulties related to sexuality and sexual functioning were common and occurred soon after surgical and adjuvant treatment. Addressing these problems is essential to improve the quality of life of young women with breast cancer. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Intimate social behavior in infant interactions in Cebus apella,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Gayle Byrne Abstract The development and individual stability of three intimate social behaviors (Lipsmacking, Carrying Attempts, and Facial Inspection) were examined for 43 group-housed Cebus apella infants from birth to 2 years of age. Occurrence of these behaviors was scored from 10-min videotape samples recorded three times a week over that time. Frequency of Lipsmacking and Carrying Attempts by adult males, adult females, and juveniles were all highest in early months and decreased to low levels by the end of the first year. Facial Inspection of partners by infants, in contrast, first began at 3,4 months and increased over time, at least to adult males and juveniles. Correlational analyses indicated stable individual differences in these interactions with infants and outlined a relationship between these intimate behaviors and more general social patterns reported previously for these animals. Results suggest that adult males may play a special role in affording juveniles opportunities for social learning of foraging and manipulative skills. Am. J. Primatol. 71:77,85, 2009. Published 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] TESTING THE NET BUYING PRESSURE HYPOTHESIS DURING THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS: EVIDENCE FROM HANG SENG INDEX OPTIONSTHE JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006Kam C. Chan Abstract We investigate net buying pressure in the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index options market during the Asian financial crisis from July 1997 to August 1998. Our findings suggest that during this period, the dramatic changes in volatility overwhelmed the dynamics of supply and demand in the options market. The extremely high realized volatility drove market participants' expectations about future market volatility in the early months of the crisis. Findings during the late-crisis, pre-crisis, and post-crisis periods are consistent with the net buying pressure hypothesis. [source] Hospital system costs of artificial infant feeding: estimates for the Australian Capital TerritoryAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2002Julie P. Smith Objective: To estimate the attributable ACT hospital system costs of treating selected infant and childhood illnesses having known associations with early weaning from human milk. Method: We identified relative risks of infant and childhood morbidity associated with exposure to artificial feeding in the early months of life vs breastfeeding from cohort studies cited by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 1997 as establishing the protective effect of breastfeeding. Data for ACT breastfeeding prevalence is assessed from a 1997 prospective population-based cohort study of 1,295 women. ACT Hospital Morbidity Data and DRG treatment costs were used to estimate the attributable fraction of costs of hospitalisation for gastrointestinal illness, respiratory illness and otitis media, eczema, and necrotising enterocolitis. Results: Although initiation rates were high (92%), less than one in 10 ACT infants are exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months, mainly due to supplementation or weaning on to formula within the first three months and the early introduction of solids by breastfeeding mothers. This study suggests the attributable hospitalisation costs of early weaning in the ACT are about $1 -2 million a year for the five illnesses. Conclusions and implications: Early weaning from breast milk is associated with significant hospital costs for treatment of gastrointestinal illness, respiratory illness and otitis media, eczema, and necrotising enterocolitis These costs are minimum estimates of the cost of early weaning as they exclude numerous other chronic or common illnesses and out-of-hospital health care costs. Higher rates of exclusive breastfeeding would reduce these costs. Interventions to protect and support breastfeeding are likely to be cost-effective for the public health system. [source] | |||||||||||||