Baby Hair Research Articles

Substrate Specificity of Bacillus megaterium UСM B-5710 Keratinase

The specifics of the processing of livestock and poultry products is that in the process of obtaining the main marketable products, about half the feedstock at various stages of the technological process turns into waste that pollutes the environment. These by-products contain large amounts of the hard-to-digest keratin protein. The use of specific enzymes capable of degrading this protein helps not only to reduce the negative anthropogenic impact on nature but also to obtain valuable hydrolysates that can be used as a fertilizer for plants or a feed additive. The aim of this work was to study the ability of Bacillus megaterium UCM B-5710 to split various keratin-containing substrates: black and white chicken feathers, white turkey feathers, parrot feathers of various colors, sheep wool, pig bristles, and baby hair and nails. Methods. The culture was grown under conditions of submerged cultivation at 40 °C, with a nutrient medium stirring rate of 201 rpm for 6 days. For growth, a basic nutrient medium containing 0.5% defatted chicken feathers or other keratin-containing substrates as sole sources of carbon and nitrogen were used. Keratinase activity was assessed by UV absorption at 280 nm of hydrolysis products of keratin-containing raw materials. Protein was determined by the Lowry method, caseinolytic (total proteolytic) activity was determined by the Anson method modified by Petrova, and amino acid content was determined by the ninhydrin method. The degree of hydrolysis of the substrates was evaluated by the ratio of the initial and final weight of the substrate. Results. It was shown that the synthesis of keratinase by the culture of B. megaterium UCM B-5710 begins from the 6th hour of cultivation. The level of protein and proteolytic activity and the content of amino acids increased throughout the entire period of culture growth. The supernatant of the culture liquid of B. megaterium UCM B-5710 was most effective in splitting white chicken’s and turkey’s feathers, a little slower — feathers of black chicken and blue parrots, as well as wool of white sheep. According to the degree of splitting, the substrates used can be arranged in the following order: white turkey feathers > white chicken feathers > black chicken feathers > blue parrot feathers > white sheep wool > baby nails > pig bristle > baby hair. The study of the effect of feather color on the resistance to decomposition showed that black, blue, and red feathers are more resistant, which coincides with the literature data. Conclusions. B. megaterium UCM B-5710 produces keratinase capable of splitting both α- and β-keratins, however, with different efficiencies and rates.

Compliance to Topical Minoxidil and Reasons for Discontinuation among Patients with Androgenetic Alopecia.

This study assessed the levels of compliance to topical minoxidil (TM) among male and female patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and analyzed the factors associated with minoxidil discontinuation. A retrospective study was conducted among 400 consecutive patients with AGA who presented to a dermatology clinic and who were prescribed minoxidil 2% or 5% in the past 5years. Demographic factors, other previous treatments, and minoxidil parameters including the dose (2% or 5%), total duration of use, treatment results, and side effects were collected. The mean age of the patients was 32.41years [standard deviation (SD) 8.18], and 66.5% were female. The majority of patients (82.5%) did not receive any previous treatment for AGA. Of the total patients, 345 (86.3%) have discontinued minoxidil. Discontinuation rate showed no association with sex (p = 0.271), age category (p = 0.069), or previous treatment (p = 0.530). Furthermore, the likelihood of minoxidil discontinuation decreased with the increase in treatment duration (p < 0.001) and was significantly lower among patients who reported improvement (69.3%) or stabilization of hair shedding (64.1%) compared with those who reported baby hair (88.9%) or no efficacy (95.3%) (p < 0.001). Furthermore, having experienced an adverse effect of minoxidil was associated with 93.6% discontinuation rate compared with 75.8% in the case of no side effects (p < 0.001). Adjusted analysis showed that minoxidil discontinuation was independently association with longer duration of use [> 1year; odds ratio (OR) 0.22; p < 0.001], perceived improvement (OR 0.17; p < 0.001) or stabilization (OR 0.14; p < 0.001), and the occurrence of side effects (OR 3.06; p = 0.002). The clinical use of TM in AGA is limited by a substantially low compliance even in absence of adverse effects. We emphasize the importance of educating patients regarding the treatment's side effects and the need to use minoxidil for a minimum of 12months to assess treatment efficacy.

UJI KUALITAS PADA SEDIAAN BABY HAIR LOTION DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN MINYAK ATSIRI BIJI KETUMBAR

Baby hair lotion is a baby cosmetic preparation that has a function to make hair strong and thick. There are already many baby skin and hair care products sold in the market. Baby's skin is at high risk of skin damage due to allergies, extravasation, and infection because the skin is very delicate. Emollients or preparations that soften the skin must be free of fragrances, dyes or preservatives. Among specifications, a product must consist of at least 95% organic ingredients to be called "organic." For this reason, it is important to know what ingredients are contained in the products used on baby's skin. This study aims to determine the effect of variations in the concentration of Almond oil, Aloe vera, and aquades on the final results of lotion preparations, and to determine the feasibility of lotion preparations in each variation carried out. Tests carried out on Baby Hair Lotion preparations are pH tests. Spreadability test, stickiness test, organoleptik test, and homogeneity. The variables used are independent variables, namely Almond oil content (36%, 30%, 25%, 15%, 12%), Aloe vera content (22%; 21.75%; 25%; 15%; 10.05%) , levels of Aquades (38.45%; 44.7%; 46.45%; 66.45%; 74.4%), for the dependent variable, namely levels of Cetearyl Alcohol (1%), Coriander seed oil (0.05% ), Lexgard Natural (0.5%), Plantasen (2%), while for the dependent variable the heating temperature is 60 -70oC.

THE MESSAGE OF DAKWAH IN THE CULTURE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF AKIKAH IN LEPPANGANG, PINRANG REGENCY (SEMIOTICS ANALYSIS)

This thesis discusses about cultural da'wah messages in the implementation of akikah in Leppangang, Pinrang Regency which combines sharia and culture by using semiotic analysis. This study aims to reveal the meaning of denotation and connotation in the implementation of akikah in Leppangang, Pinrang Regency. As well as knowing the meaning of cultural da'wah messages in the implementation of akikah in Leppangang, Pinrang Regency. This research is a qualitative research using a cultural da'wah review with semiotic analysis. The research approach used is more emphasis on theological and phenomenological. The sources of data for this research are traditional leaders, community, religious leaders, and the government. Data collection methods used in this study were observation, interviews, and documentation. The data processing technique used is the inductive method. The results of this study are reveal the meaning of denotation and connotation. So that in every tradition of carrying out aqikah in Leppangang, a concept is born of an embodiment or appearance of a sacred tradition and mythical thoughts emerge about what is believed and ultimately do not match what has been thought so far. In addition, it classifies three processes, namely: 1) The implementation of aqikah according to Islamic law, including: slaughtering aqikah animals, shaving the baby's hair, and giving names that contain da'wah messages in the form of worship, shari'a and morals 2) The process of Islamization in the implementation of akikah, includes: Reading barzanji ,Massorong reinforcements, and dio ute blood, 3) Traditions in the implementation of aqikah, include: serving reinforcements, carrying babies around the house, eating offerings, and mappenre tojang. The two processes that do not include the implementation of aqikah according to Islamic law contain a cultural meaning, namely the meaning of tafa'ul which is a prayer and good hope for the life of the child from the implementation of akikah.

Tradisi Barzanji dan Implementasinya di Rantau Parapat

This article aims to explain the History of the Barzanji Tradition. The Barzanji tradition has been carried out since Islam entered Indonesia. It is undeniable that the entry of Islam had a major influence on Bugis culture. Likewise with the tradition of reading Barzanji in the Rantau Parapat community. In society, the reading of Barzanji is usually done on occasions, such as the pilgrimage. But it's not limited to just that commemoration, the Barzanji tradition is also held on various occasions, as a tribute to the achievement of something better. For example, at the time of the birth of a baby, shaving the baby's hair (akikah), circumcision, weddings and other ceremonies at Rantau Parapat. This research is a qualitative research using the historical method. So the steps taken in this research are heuristics (data collection), verification (Source Criticism), interpretation and historiography. In data collection techniques, the authors collect data from two sources, namely primary sources and secondary sources. From the data collection, then the data is analyzed and interpreted based on chronological order.

Cheesecake

Cheesecake Anna Denejkina (bio) She was tall, but I don't remember her age. In fact, I don't know what age she was. All I know is she was tall, had black curly hair, long fingers, and wore tight jeans. It doesn't really matter what she looked like or how old she was or even her name, but what matters is that one morning she was walking to a cake shop near the beach in some suburb in Sydney's east. It was the day before Christmas. Half of her family met on Christmas Day, and the other, on this day in a house of one of her aunts somewhere by the beach in Sydney's east. Standing at the glass counter, the tall girl with long fingers scrutinized the display, thinking deeply about which cake to get for the faux-Christmas family lunch. She always did this; even at the bar in a club where the music was too loud to hear yelling in your ear, she would consider what she wanted, her arm on the bar, long fingers touching her chin, asking the bartender for options before ordering another sugar-free Red Bull with or without cheap vodka. And so she considered the cakes when another woman stopped at the glass counter. "What are you getting?" She asked the woman she didn't know as they both looked over the glass display, and they chatted about the cakes at the counter, considering out loud the pros and cons of each, describing their likes and dislikes, too rich, too dry, too big, too sweet. The girl with black curly hair told the woman-she-didn't-know that she was buying a cake for her family's lunch on that day. "But I'm also thinking about getting a slice of that cheesecake for the walk over." Her finger moved slightly from her chin to point in the direction of a baked slice of cake. "Though I feel guilty eating before I get to the lunch." "Just get the cheesecake," the woman she didn't know replied. The tall girl in tight jeans with long fingers and black curly hair looked away from the cakes in the glass counter and at the woman she didn't know. The woman was older, fifty, maybe sixty, and gaunt. A cream and red scarf was tied around her head, covering the baby hair regrowth that peered out at the sides above her temples. "Life's too short. Eat the cheesecake," the woman said again. [End Page 118] Anna Denejkina Anna Denejkina is a writer and academic based in Sydney, Australia. She is a Lecturer at Western Sydney University, and her research focuses on intergenerational trauma transmission. Her fiction, poetry, and journalism have been published in the United States and Australia. Copyright © 2022 Wayne State University Press

Makna Simbolik Budaya Marhabaan bagi Kalangan Nahdlatul Ulama

This paper describes the relationship between Islam and local culture. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the process and symbolic meaning of the marhabaan culture among Nahdlatul Ulama, precisely at Al-Quwwah Islamic Boarding School, Bandung City. The method used in this research is qualitative, which clearly defines various kinds of research procedures, so that it will produce descriptive data from what is observed in marhabaan cultural activities, both written and oral. This method aims to know and understand a phenomenon experienced by research subjects such as motives, behavior, opinions, interactions, language, actions, motivation and so on naturally by using various natural methods. The results of this study explain the marhabaan process from beginning to end, then explain the shaving of baby's hair, the symbolic meaning of banana, the symbolic meaning of menyan, the symbolic meaning of ulen (glutinous rice), the symbolic meaning of traditional cakes, and the symbolic meaning of water. All of this emphasizes that there is a traditional combination from the community between Islamic teachings and local culture.

“I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros”: Black majesty and the fault-lines of colonialism

This article interrogates the politics and aesthetics of Black majesty that Meghan Markle and other cultural interlocutors such as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter both inform and embody. At the same time, it probes the cultural-historical significance of Black queenship and its relationship to a tradition of Black insurgency and anticolonial resistance from the Age of Revolution to the present, looking closely at Meghan Markle in conversation with Marie-Louise Christophe, first Queen of Haiti. It nevertheless problematises the proposition that any iteration or interpretation of majesty can truly be considered ‘radical’ when it so often hinges on capitalist ideals of meritocracy, social inequality and what Paul Gilroy has termed ‘bootstraps neoliberalism’. It also considers whether this model of Black majesty presents a robust challenge to the ‘interlocking systems’ of oppression that bell hooks has constituted as ‘imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’. Above all, it contends that the concept of Black majesty represents a symbolic point of rupture that exposes colonial fault-lines.

Volatile chemical emissions from fragranced baby products

Fragranced consumer products have been associated with adverse effects on human health. Babies are exposed to a variety of fragranced consumer products, which can emit numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some considered potentially hazardous. However, fragranced baby products are exempt from disclosure of all ingredients. Consequently, parents and the public have little information on product emissions. This study investigates VOCs emitted from a range of fragranced baby products, including baby hair shampoos, body washes, lotions, creams, ointments, oils, hair sprays, and fragrance. The products were analysed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) headspace analysis. Of the 42 baby products tested, 21 products made claims of green, organic, or all-natural. Results of the analysis found 684 VOCs emitted collectively from the 42 products, representing 228 different VOCs. Of these 684 VOCs, 207 are classified as potentially hazardous under federal regulations, representing 43 different VOCs. The most common VOCs emitted were limonene, acetaldehyde, ethanol, alpha-pinene, linalool, beta-myrcene, acetone, and beta-pinene. A comparison between ingredients emitted and ingredients listed reveals that only 5% of the 684 VOCs, including 12% of 207 potentially hazardous VOCs, were listed on the product label, safety data sheet, or website. More than 95% of both green and regular products emitted one or more potentially hazardous VOCs. Further, emissions of the most prevalent VOCs from green, organic, or all-natural products were not significantly different from regular products. Results from this study can help improve public awareness about emissions from baby products, with the aim to reduce pollutant exposure and potential adverse effects on babies.

Correction to: Human baby hair amino acid natural abundance 15N-isotope values are not related to the 15N-isotope values of amino acids in mother's breast-milk protein.

In the article (Romek et al. 2013) we reported the values of δ15N (‰) and δ13C (‰) obtained by.

Tolerance of natural baby skin-care products on healthy, full-term infants and toddlers

PurposeTo evaluate the tolerance of baby skin-care products with at least 95% naturally derived ingredients on infants and toddlers.Materials and methodsHealthy, full-term infants and toddlers aged 1–36 months were enrolled. In study 1, a lightly fragranced natural baby hair and body wash (n=30), a lightly fragranced natural baby shampoo (n=30), or a lightly fragranced natural baby lotion (n=32) were assessed over 2 weeks. In study 2, a lightly fragranced natural baby hair and body wash and a lightly fragranced natural baby lotion (n=33) were assessed as a regimen over 4 weeks. The wash and shampoo were used three or more times per week, but not more than once daily. Lotions were applied in the morning or after a bath. Clinicians assessed the arms, legs, torso, or scalp for erythema, dryness, peeling/flakiness (study 1 only), tactile roughness, edema (study 1 only), rash/irritation (study 2 only), and overall skin condition (study 2 only) at baseline, week 1, and weeks 2 or 4. Parents completed skin assessment questionnaires. In study 2, stratum corneum hydration was measured. Subjects were monitored for adverse events.ResultsNo significant changes in clinical grading scores were observed, indicating that all products were well tolerated. By the end of each study, >90% of parents/caregivers believed each product was mild and gentle. In study 2, improvement in stratum corneum hydration was observed (+37% at week 1 and +48% at week 4, P<0.05 for both). In study 1, one baby experienced mild erythema on the neck and scalp after using the shampoo (possibly related to treatment). In study 2, there were no product-related adverse events.ConclusionThe natural baby skin-care products were well tolerated by infants and toddlers when used alone or as part of a skin-care regimen.

Human baby hair amino acid natural abundance 15N-isotope values are not related to the 15N-isotope values of amino acids in mother’s breast milk protein

Since exclusively breast-suckled infants obtain their nutrient only from their mother's milk, it might be anticipated that a correlation will exist between the (15)N/(14)N isotope ratios of amino acids of protein of young infants and those supplied by their mother. The work presented here aimed to determine whether amino nitrogen transfer from human milk to infant hair protein synthesized within the first month of life conserves the maternal isotopic signature or whether post-ingestion fractionation dominates the nitrogen isotope spectrum. The study was conducted at 1month post-birth on 100 mother-infant pairs. Isotope ratios (15)N/(14)N and (13)C/(12)C were measured using isotope ratio measurement by Mass Spectrometry (irm-MS) for whole maternal milk, and infant hair and (15)N/(14)N ratios were also measured by GC-irm-MS for the N-pivaloyl-O-isopropyl esters of amino acids obtained from the hydrolysis of milk and hair proteins. The δ(15)N and δ(13)C (‰) were found to be significantly higher in infant hair than in breast milk (δ(15)N, P<0.001; δ(13)C, P<0.001). Furthermore, the δ(15)N (‰) of individual amino acids in infant hair was also significantly higher than that in maternal milk (P<0.001). By calculation, the observed shift in isotope ratio was shown not to be accounted for by the amino acid composition of hair and milk proteins, indicating that it is not simply due to differences in the composition in the proteins present. Rather, it would appear that each pool-mother and infant-turns over independently, and that fractionation in infant N-metabolism even in the first month of life dominates over the nutrient N-content.

Carrying a Baby, and: Desert Duende

Carrying a Baby, and: Desert Duende Jennifer Givhan (bio) Carrying a Baby On an airplane, Lucy ate her cheese baby, and in this my favorite episode before she squirrels her cheeks with it, she burps the hulking cheese, slick and stinking in a blanket. I’m carrying loads of baby wannabes like unpopped caviar strung to my cauliflower ovaries, wondering at which point I’ll need to stop and reconsider this choice burden, at which exit I’ll actually let go. An Amish woman on the train from Albuquerque to Chicago, traveling with kin to a convention, bundled a perfect-painted baby doll, honey-colored eyelashes and baby hair curled around her porcelain face. At nightfall, she rocked and sang her to sleep, like Amish girls who wrap rags around logs, pretending they’re dolls. Only this one had a face, perhaps to prove something to the eyes of God. Beneath the woman’s white bonnet, her drape-heavy black dress, her smell of sweat, body odor thick as stockings in the dank coach car, she carried an ache, ripping at the crisp edges. [End Page 81] Desert Duende after Emily loaded she says. loaded. but locked. she doesn’t wonder at the cage. the click. the barrel. stock. stop. unhinge. she is spark-exhausted. she barricades. mines the spine. heart. cacti. bleeds. no one explains when. to die. no one has to. nature. of thirst. instinct. blinking back extinction. near the brink. always. the brick. the oven. near loaded. not shot. the rains meant to come. she wanders. pecking livers. mouthwashing dust. speckling silt. end trails. rattles. bullhorns. bullets. bullshit. unloaded. sand-skirts. she kicks herself. bricks come. later. and fast. she never held a. gun. she glistens. metal sun-spit. cacti rungs. she tugs. triggers. ignites. [End Page 82] Jennifer Givhan Jennifer Givhan’s poetry and fiction have appeared in more than forty journals, including Contrary, the Los Angeles Review, and Crab Creek Review. She was a Venice Quebodeaux Pathways Prize finalist for her poetry collection Red Sun Mother. Copyright © 2013 University of Nebraska Press

I FIND YOUR DRY FLY FISHING GEAR

3 1 R I F I N D Y O U R D R Y F LY F I S H I N G G E A R J O A N S W I F T Dusty jars lids that say Bernarden Mason Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter Kerr’s Self-Sealing labeled raptor, bird fur English hare’s ear guard hairs. A whole jar bulging with sky as if a flock of lazuli buntings were trapped in there. A jar of rain: saddle hackles, bucktail a deer can be so many di√erent shades of baby hair honey and roan, brown horse hair, cream coyote, grizzle at the bottom wrapped in something like a turkey neck. The magnifier poises its crane over slender colors: Dry Spruce Fly, Pale Watery Dun, Black Midge 3 2 Y so light over the pale green ripples of the river. Tape curls on a jar for peach preserves, Primaries. Smucker’s jam jar: duck quill, ring-necked pheasant tail. Below, a drawer full of needle-nose pliers slender grasp of neoprene thread tying everything together before you let each one go: Light Variant Adams Irresistable Bird’s Stone Fly ...

Prenatal tactile stimulation attenuates drug-induced behavioral sensitization, modifies behavior, and alters brain architecture

Based on the findings of postnatal tactile stimulation (TS), a favorable experience in rats, the present study examined the influence of prenatal TS on juvenile behavior, adult amphetamine (AMPH) sensitization, and structural alteration in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the striatum. Female rats received TS through a baby hair brush throughout pregnancy, and the pups born were tested for open field locomotion, elevated plus maze (EPM), novel object recognition (NOR), and play fighting behaviors. Development and persistence of drug-induced behavioral sensitization in adults were tested by repeated AMPH administration and a challenge, respectively. Structural plasticity in the brain was assessed from the prefrontal cortical thickness and striatum size from serial coronal sections. The results indicate that TS females showed enhanced exploration in the open field. TS decreased the frequency of playful attacks whereas the response to face or evade an attack was not affected. Anxiety-like behavior and cognitive performance were not influenced by TS. AMPH administration resulted in gradual increase in locomotor activity (i.e., behavioral sensitization) that persisted at least for 2 weeks. However, both male and female TS rats exhibited attenuated AMPH sensitization compared to sex-matched controls. Furthermore, the drug-associated alteration in the prefrontal cortical thickness and striatum size observed in controls were prevented by TS experience. In summary, TS during prenatal development modified juvenile behavior, attenuated drug-induced behavioral sensitization in adulthood, and reorganized brain regions implicated in drug addiction.

Mercury in first-cut baby hair of children with autism versus typically-developing children

Children with autism were examined to determine amounts of mercury (Hg) in their baby hair and the factors that might affect Hg body burden. US children with autism (n = 78) and matched controls (n = 31) born between 1988 and 1999 were studied. Hg in first-cut baby hair was determined using cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS). Twenty samples were split and also measured with Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA). Logistic regression analysis showed that compared to children with higher levels of mercury (above 0.55 mcg g−1), children with lower levels of mercury in their hair (below 0.55 mcg g−1) were 2.5-fold more likely to manifest with autism. Children with autism had similar mercury exposure as controls from maternal seafood and maternal dental amalgams. Children with autism also had 2.5-fold higher incidence of oral antibiotic use during their first 18 months of life. Their mothers were possibly more likely to use oral antibiotics during pregnancy or nursing. The amount of Hg in the baby hair of children with autism showed a significant correlation with the number of maternal dental amalgams. The lower level of Hg in the baby hair of children with autism indicates an altered metabolism of Hg, and may be due to a decreased ability to excrete Hg. This is consistent with usage of higher amounts of oral antibiotics, which are known to inhibit Hg excretion in rats due to alteration of gut flora, and may exert a similar effect in humans. Higher usage of oral antibiotics in infancy may also partially explain the high incidence of chronic gastrointestinal problems seen in individuals with autism.

From Territories

From Territories LaRose T. Parris (bio) 1 Traffic on East 176th Street is risky. Baby hair at my neck-back prickles at the fear in Ma and Dad’s voices. Their darting black eyes are glistening marbles that threaten, as they make us swear to look up and down the street two-three times before crossing. Then, their eyes go still. Magnets sucking the three of us into their trance, interrupted only by warnings that crackle and sing. “Listen, nuh. Unnu cyaan’t jus cross di street like unnu deh a coun-tree. Dem heah Americans . . . especially di mad heroine junky dem, jus lo-o-vah drag race. An dem no care if dem lick down innocent, likkle pickney, like unnu. Naw, sah. Is pure sport fi dem. Unnu mus mind.” Summertime, our parents patrol the front yard. Ma at least squats down to weed her plot of roses and sunflowers, frowning over her shoulder at the thought of us daring to cross. But Dad just strides. Stretching his long legs five-six paces, back and forth, forth and back across our shoebox yard. His bulging arms fold tight across his chest, matching the stiff scowl creasing his sweat-shine forehead. “Ple-e-e-ea-ea-se, Ma?” I screw up my face pitifully and tug her red, gold, black and green dashiki’s crisp, pointed sleeve. “I promise I’ll stay right by the living room window—right underneath.” Then, I remind her that I have no choice, I have to play by myself since none of our friends are home, Johnny’s napping and it’s Marie’s turn to help with dinner (even though I know she’s at our desk in a trance, etching tiny motions, enlarging her favorite scene from the latest Fantastic Four). “Please, Ma. We’ll be eleven in three days. “Pre-teens.” “No boddah rush-rush so fi grow big, Miss. Ang. Almost is another word fi not quite. And you’re still a child.” Not for long . . . in a few years we will be teenagers dressing up in go-go boots and hot pants just like Cousin Kim, just like those girls on Soul Train with Afros bouncing and free smiles lighting the way. But for now I can play. Tilt my head to catch a glimpse outside the living room window and see mounds of snow piled up against our gate. I have to get outside. “Jus doan mek me see yu even tink ‘bout crossin’ dat street by yuself. Y’understand?” “Thanks, Ma.” [End Page 818] Yank my parka from the hall closet, hangers clang and I race down the steps with my hat jumping off my ears. Tug the front door open over the stubborn shag carpet and a blast of late February wind tears my eyes. I zip up my coat and pull my wool hat all the way down over my ears. A loud sigh transforms into a frosty puff of air that melts into the humming of our block. Blaring car horns from an orange Volkswagen bus and a mint van announce a fight. “Hey, man! You drive like tha mothafuckin’ pigs!” “Fuck you, maricon!” They fly all the way up the block just as the number 27 bus groans and whines to a stop on Soundview Avenue. And the six train’s boiling kettle screech signals its stop so I jump and jangle, jump from the doorstep onto the driveway to join in. The jingle-jangling weight of Dad’s spare change draws down one side of my parka. Same coat from last year and the other pocket’s ripped so I tilt to one side, the heavy change dragging me to the left, lopsided. Ma and Dad say we have to economize, cut back on things cause of inflation. But every night Dad still adds more coins to the growing stacks of quarters and Kennedy silver dollars on his dresser top. And I take handfuls to fill my pockets. A whoosh of air nothing like winter wind passes through me before I see the thing’s shadow. Not ready yet, not without my magic machete—my bark-stripped tree branch hidden in...

High Tea, and: In the Pool, and: Winter Sauna

High Tea When a friend invites me to tea with her grandmother's Wedgwood set that's blue as the ferry to Swan Island, blue as the calm, if it were a color, I drop a dress the color of wild gooseberries over my head, pulling toddler breeches onto my daughter's legs, her good foot kicking, and bring nothing in the haste to leave the house, on this rare occasion, but my two-year old daughter and diapers and a sudden interest in heirlooms unpacked from a padded box that said "Save" on all sides – Cups, saucers, and a pot with white trees and women on blue. On the carpet in the sun, my child plays the games of hands, watching the light stay, watching it fade, moving her body from casted legs, right to left, sitting and sitting. This pregnant friend turns her seven months' form with the elegance of a mime, picks up the images of two trees, her husband's and her own, and pushes them, the calligraphied branches and gold leaves, into my view and onto [End Page 66] the fine linen space beside my cup. Names in careful hand fill the clean lines of both. "English," she says, "all English – Our trees are pure and I know we won't have a child like yours, forgive me, but you know what I mean." Behind the branches, uniform and detailed, nothing appears accidental, rigged by an invisible hawser. I consider my own pale kin who brought with them the scattered heirlooms of the inter-race, thinking of drunk Uncle Charlie, the Abnaki, Ellis, the sad Welshman, Nana who was farmed out through the Depression and farmed out after. Not even a sharp kick under the table of polished silver will touch this woman across from me who stirs her tea in the parallel universe of comforting illusions. My old self, pre-mother girl, also dreamed . . . Beautiful in her ripening, she pats my daughter's head of pink scars, putting one thing down, picking up another, the hammer for a feather. [End Page 67] In the Pool I lift her up and down in the pool hands under her armpits she is cold but happy in the clear blue water with music from her large lolling head a kind of lowing for she is not yet verbal on this tape that will come she appears without words wide bandages stuck like white bangs that belong to the siren and the ward at the edge of the lens At the edge of the lens like white bangs that belong to the siren and the ward she appears without words wide bandages stuck for she is not yet verbal on this tape that will come from her large lolling head a kind of lowing but happy in the clear blue water with music in the pool hands under her armpits she is cold I lift her up and down Winter Sauna Unsure of the new, wide hips, slack stomach, and milk-heavy breasts, she's sweating beads, blushing roses, as bodies glowing in the white moon, the sauna door cracked open by a poplar branch – From this station, looking out at others, she watches mothers poised in the same boat, [End Page 68] babies not quite nearly like hers: the hostess who fixed bowls of herbs, sorted candles to light. That one's baby's small, and hers was large, that one has a child with a fish-mouth, that one's baby's nape is sweet, lolls its head when held. She sits on the highest, hottest bench above, watches them groan and turn to one another, speaking to the attunement of common bells, believing they are happy, scouring in sweat somewhere between air and ground – I am one of them, sinking into dark cedar, my terrors tucked. My baby's always sick, and that one, hers, is gone. Black licorice – her baby's hair was the...

Resurrecting Islam

This past weekend I participated in an akika, a naming ceremony for the newborn child of a Muslim family. This family, like so many in the United States, is ethnically mixed: the mother is American and the father is Senegalese. As the ceremony progressed, the guests acclimated to the many languages that were being spoken and to the explanations that had to be provided for each aspect of the akika. Everyone's understanding of the application of this aspect of Islam was being enhanced. The father recited the Quran and made dhikr over his son, the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) was made in one ear and the takbeer (God is Great!) recited in the other. A friend of the father shaved and collected the baby's hair (its weight in silver would be given as charity [sadaqa] to the poor by the parents), the father sacrificed two sheep and a family friend from Egypt helped cook the meat. I was given the honor of holding the baby, little Muhammad Al-Mustafa, while his head was shaved. I cried as I contemplated the significance of the occasion. We were practicing our Islam in North America. We were the answer to the prayer of the slave.

Angel's stigma.

DJ, the third year medical student, told me about the patient in room four: Angel, an 18-month-old girl whose mother had noticed that she felt warmer than usual last night. Angel had a temperature of 38.3°C and rhonchi, so DJ and I went through the list of usual suspects. Before we walked down the clinic hallway to room four, DJ added that Angel was the only child of this 40-ish woman. She'd told DJ about using drugs in her past, becoming clean, and winning back custody of her daughter. We walked into the room together to find Angel sound asleep face down on her mother's ample chest. The baby's hair was braided into many neat little cornrows. Her left hand was slowly loosening its grip on a half-empty bottle of milk, which had come to rest in the crook of her mother's elbow. Mom was wearing a small, dark green felt hat with the brim turned up in front. She wore no make-up except some pink lipstick. As we talked, I noticed the child's noisy but unlabored breathing. I untied the flimsy, bright yellow hospital gown to make room for my stethoscope on her back. A bluish oval mark, about 1 by 2 centimeters, just to the right of her spine caught my eye. I ran my fingers over it and turned to DJ. “Do you know what this is?” I asked him. (It had been an unusually quiet morning and I was looking for teaching points.) DJ hesitated: “A birthmark?” “Right. This kind is called a Mongolian spot. I went on to explain to him why this one was so typical, and then I became aware that Angel's mother was staring at me wide eyed. “I always thought it was a mark they put on my baby in the hospital,” she said. I must have looked confused. “Because I was an addict when she was born.” She paused but continued when she realized I did not understand. “I thought the nurses took some ink and put a mark on her so people would know.” “You thought they did that in the hospital nursery?” Now I was the wide-eyed one. She explained the way “they all talk about the addicts” on the maternity ward. She told us about having the baby taken away in the hospital, then working to earn her back. And she kept returning to the blue stain on An gel's back. It just always seemed obvious to her that the nurses would want to brand Angel as an “addict's baby”. “I thought the nurses took some ink and put a mark on her so people would know.” Now that she'd heard a different explanation, complete with a medical-sounding name, relief washed over her face. She happily discarded her interpretation and embraced mine. Next week, she said, she'd tell the people at Narc-Anon about this. DJ and I finished examining the now-awake Angel and made a plan for dealing with her respiratory infection. No, she probably won't be all better for a couple of days. Yes, she should stay home from day care tomorrow (an early intervention program—Mom hates for her to miss a day). The fever might go up and down... call us if she's having trouble breathing... the nurse will come in and show you how to take her temperature...