Time Of First Contact Research Articles

Fathers’Birth Attendance, Early Extended Contact, and Father‐Infant Interaction at Five Months Postpartum

ABSTRACT: Forty couples and their 5‐month old infants were observed in their homes in a study of the relationships between fathers’birth attendance, early extended contact, and involvement with their babies at five months postpartum. Fathers who were excluded from the birth were more involved with their babies, in the presence of their wives, than were fathers who attended births. The three aspects of early extended contact that were found to be significantly associated with fathers’caregiving and social involvement at five months were time of first contact, length of first contact, and total hours fathers spent with children in the hospital. The implications for research and for policy concerning early father‐infant contact are discussed.

Recent Ethnology of the Northwest Coast

As recently as 1970, Erna Gunther (77) apologized for the enormous effort she had made assembling early travelers' accounts of the Northwest Coast, by reminding her readers that there was virtually no time-depth to our knowledge of the area. Given the prevalence of wooden artifacts and the rainy climate, everyone assumed that little could be. unearthed. But the pioneering of wet-site archaeology in the 19608 soon brought the realization that Coast culture, as first seen by Europeans in the eighteenth century, and as described by ethnographers beginning in the nineteenth, had an historical continuity of roughly 5000 years during which time there had been little discernible change (41). In 1975, Knut Fladmark (68) presented a general synthesis in which he argued that the Coast as a whole probably had become habitable about 15,000 BP, though nothing from that date had been then (nor has been now) uncovered. At the depth of 10,000 BP, however, there were two adaptations, with Johnson Straits as the dividing line. Then about 5000 BP, Fladmark argued, the environment became sufficiently stable that people could rely on the runs of anadromous fish as a basic resource of their diet. At this point, the adaptation becomes essentially indistinguishable from the adaptation at the time of first contact with Europeans. It formerly was thought that because of the apparent similarities with Asiatic, Oceanic, and Mesoamerican forms, the great number of languages and dialects recorded, as well as the simultaneous presence at the same level of culture of both matrilineal and patrilineal societies, that only an hypothe­ sis of recent origin could account for such an undigested amalgam of traits. So it was common practice to conjecture a history from the legends of migrations in the oral literature; from the geographical distribution of speakers of the various languages and dialects; and from the patterns of trait

Ultrastructural observations on rapid formation of neuro-muscular junctions in vitro.

The development of neuro-muscular junctions (mouse, rat) from the time of first contact between neurons and myotubes in culture and the changes which lead to the formation of functional synaptic contacts have been investigated using light microscopy and ultrastructural techniques. An extensive basal lamina was present when the neuronal cell population was added to the developing myotubes in culture. The nerve cells were initially strongly attracted to each other and nerve cell aggregates formed rapidly. It was only when nerve fibers began to grow out of these aggregates to contact developing myotubes that changes within the cytoplasm of the two adjacent cells were observed. These developments included accumulations of filaments, membrane densities, mitochondria and large clear vesicles within both cells in the region of contact. In addition, collections of glycogen granules and an extensive membrane reticular complex were found within myotubes, and an extensive granular material filled many of the nerve processes. The basal lamina within the intercellular space appeared more electron-dense that elsewhere and was traversed by strands linking the two cell membranes. These features all appeared to be stages of the initial formation of neuro-muscular junctions. It was only after these events had occurred that presynaptic vesicles gradually appeared within the future nerve terminal. The results of this paper therefore support the view that synaptic transmissions at developing mammalian neuro-muscular junctions is not necessarily dependent on the presence of presynaptic vesicles.

Short and Long Term Adverse Reactions in Young Drug Abusers

A total of 100 young drug abusers registered in a treatment program were examined clinically during therapy and personally followed-up 3 and 6 years later. At the time of first contact, 69% had previously experienced flashbacks. It was found that not only users of psychedelic drugs, but also users of ephedrine, organic solvents and antihistaminic drugs reported “bad trip” experiences and flashbacks. Few physical adverse reactions were observed. At the end of the period, 40% of the males and 21% of the females still were bothered by flashbacks, but none of these had shown signs of a lasting psychotic symptomatology. Clinical examination revealed no lasting physical damage due to the abuse of drugs. Up to the time of last follow-up, 4 persons, all males, had died.

Ground reaction forces in distance running

Ground reaction forces and center of pressure (C of P) patterns were studied in 17 subjects running at 4.5 ms −1. The subjects were classified as rearfoot or midfoot strikers according to the location of the C of P at the time of first contact between foot and ground. The C of P path in the rearfoot group showed a continuous anterior movement during support while the C of P in most of the midfoot group migrated posteriorly during the first 20 ms of the support phase. Variability in both groups was most marked during early support. The mean peak to peak force components were 3 BW, 1 BW and 0.3 BW in the vertical, anteroposterior and mediolateral directions respectively. Consistent differences between groups were noted in all three components, but individual differences within a given group were also considerable. The C of P patterns are presented in conjunction with ground reaction force data, and the implications of the results in the areas of running mechanics, shoe design and sports injury are discussed.

Categories of attempted suicide: a longitudinal study.

A series of 151 index suicide attempts was categorized on the basis of situation and motivation: (a) 56 per cent occurred in a state of heightened emotionality due to a relatively limited stress;(b) 9 per cent were characterized by a life crisis which seriously challenged the patient' emotional homeostasis; and (c) 35 per cent attempted suicide in relation to the symptomatology of a pre-existing serious psychiatric disorder. At the time of first contact, usually in the general hospital emergency room, 69 per cent were sent home, the remainder being admitted for medical care (18 per cent) or transferred to a psychiatric hospital (13 per cent). In follow-up ambulatory care, successful referral correlated with the intensity of staff efforts during the early post-attempt contacts. The findings suggest that a brief hospitalization, perhaps two to three days, might be regularly utilized as a bridgehead for further ambulatory care, particularly for stress category patients with a high appointment failure rate. In a two-year follow-up, 16 of the 151 index cases re-attempted and two committed suicide. At the time of the index attempt, 24 (16 per cent) were in ongoing treatment. Among these 24 patients were many substance abusers and prior attempters as well as the two committed suicides of the follow-up period. Ongoing treatment should be weighed as a high risk factor suggesting particular caution in arranging the disposition for such patients.

Mass communications and Canada's Eskimos

Since the time of first contact with Europeans, the social system of the Eskimos of Canada has undergone a severe alteration in its structure and function.1 Under a generally paternal and directive administration, this process of social change has been very disorderly and has produced a continuing state of crisis in present-day Eskimo society. Indications of this state of crisis are the incidences among Eskimos of poverty, unemployment, venereal disease, drunkenness, and juvenile delinquency at rates that are markedly higher than among other Canadians, taken as a group (Rowley, 1972; Economic Council of Canada, 1968, p 121). Further change in Eskimo society is inevitable, but the speed at which change occurs and the directions it will take are controllable. Recognizing this fact, many Eskimos and non-Eskimos see the need for a new and more enlightened northern administration, one that would enable the Eskimos to cope with, adapt to, and share control of the institutions that now shape their lives.

Antigen recognition: early surface-receptor phenomena induced by binding of a tritium-labeled antigen.

The rate of antigen binding by mouse lymphoid cells has been investigated with polymerized flagellin of Salmonella adelaide that had been biosynthetically labeled with tritium. Autoradiographs of lymphnode cells incubated with the tritiated antigen at 37 degrees showed aggregation of antigen receptors to one cell pole. This was followed 4-5 hr later by the appearance of antigen receptors on the cell surface, at a density severalfold higher than at the time of first contact with the antigen. Antigen-binding cells exposed in vitro to antigen concentrations known to cause high zone tolerance induction failed to form polar antigen caps once they had entered the phase of increased receptor formation. The data suggest that sufficient crosslinking of receptors by the antigen to cause their aggregation triggers the cell to differentiate and to increase its density of antigen receptors. In the presence of antigen concentrations favoring high zone tolerance, receptors may become interlinked to such an extent that they are prevented from aggregation. Such a "frozen" state of the antigen recognition system would render the cell unresponsive to antigenic stimuli.

Swarming and Mating Behavior in Laboratory Colonies of Aedes triseriatus (Diptera: Culicidae)1

Swarming and mating behavior were studied in a laboratory colony of Aedes triseriatus (Say). Swarming occurred only in the evening. The origin of a swarm can be detected by the flight characteristics of a single male. The configuration of a swarm is influenced by the size of the male population. Mating occurred only when males swarmed. The sequence of events in mating is described from the time of first contact to the final copulating position. The relationship of age to swaiming and mating is described.

Cosmic noise absorption during the solar eclipse of 20 July 1963

Riometers on 18 and 30 Mc/s at Rockport, Massachusetts, were used to observe eclipse effects where maximum obscuration at the 100 km level was 97 per cent. Minimum absorption occurred within a few minutes of maximum phase, and the change in absorption compared to the no-eclipse level at this time was 0·65 dB on 18 Mc/s. No positive effects were seen on 30 Mc/s. Total cosmic noise absorption on 18 Mc/s at time of first contact is deduced to be about 1·17 ± 0·29 dB, with most of it occurring in the D-region. Absorption changes due to the eclipse became noticeable within 15 min after first contact. By assuming that “ quasi-equilibrium” conditions obtained throughout the eclipse period, it is possible to express the change in absorption as a function of the fraction of unobscured solar disc. The results indicate that quasi-equilibrium did, in fact, exist. Evidence is presented to support the contention that D-region ionization can be attributed in part to localized sources of Lyα and X-radiation on the solar disc.

PERSISTENCE OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS IN PENICILLIN IN VITRO.

Summary: After exposure of Staphylococcus aureus strain Oxford (h) to penicillin in vitro under conditions leading to the death of at least 99·9% of the exposed population, the offspring of surviving cocci (‘persisters’) showed the same sensitivity as the original population. Successive exposure of the offspring of persisters did not increase the proportion of survivors nor their resistance. Persisters were not the most resistant cocci in the original population; their offspring showed the same distribution of cocci resistance as the parent culture. The number of survivors, about 1 in 2500 cocci, was proportional to the original number when exposed to penicillin in a small volume (10–20 ml.), but not in a larger volume (40-200 ml.). Inocula of less than 10 staphylococci allowed to multiply to 103/ml. before addition of penicillin yielded persisters. Populations greater than about 2 x 108/ml. were not acted upon by penicillin, even when the majority of the cocci were only 4 hr old, unless the mixtures were shaken. The proportion of survivors at 37° from equal volumes of penicillin broth containing 105–108 organisms/ml. was not affected by the age and growth phase of the exposed bacteria, conditions of previous storage of the inoculum, initial exposure at low temperature, type of container, aeration by shaking, clumping of cocci, a 1000-fold increase in the dose of penicillin, or addition of streptomycin. When removed from penicillin, persisters and their offspring multiplied at the same rate as the parent culture without requiring a recovery period. The persisters were neither spheroplasts nor L forms. Indirect evidence indicates that persisters survived because at the time of first contact with the penicillin they were in a state unfavourable to initiation of division or cell wall synthesis.

Preventive Work With Street-Corner Groups: Hyde Park Youth Project, Chicago

Group work with predelinquent youths outside of building-centered programs is an aspect of delinquency pre vention to which settlement houses, neighborhood centers, and youth-servicing agencies are increasingly giving attention. Such group work follows the same general pattern as work with delinquent gangs, but there are significant differences in the nature and intensity of the workers' relationships with parents and other adults which have to be observed. The Hyde Park Youth Project, described in this paper, selected groups of teen-age youths who were believed to have a high potential for delinquent behavior and provided them with in tensive staff service for periods from six to eighteen months. A comparison of the frequency of individual antisocial behavior at the outset of the staff service and termination indicated that the youths who were participating in little or no antisocial behavior when staff service was first provided continued to avoid delinquency. The staff was least successful with youths who, at time of first contact, already had a history of anti social behavior.

Gatherers and Farmers in the Greater Southwest: A Problem in Classification

KROEBER said in 1928, in his discussion of the gradual widening of the anthropologist's concept of the native American Southwest: It is clear that if this larger Southwest is a true cultural entity, the old Pueblo or even Arizona-New Mexico Southwest is but a fragment, whose functioning is intelligible only in terms of the larger growth (p. 376). This symposium deals with the Southwest essentially in the older and narrower sense only, that is, with its scientifically best known portion, but the inclusion of an introductory paper on the Greater Southwest shows the growing realization among workers in the field of what Kroeber said twenty-five years ago. My discussion will deal with the problem of whether the Greater Southwest is a true cultural entity or not. The opening paper of this symposium could have been presented either by an archeologist or by an ethnologist. The archeologist has the advantage of being familiar with several historic periods, and thus could discuss our problem in relation to various time levels. The ethnologist, though limited to a shorter time span, has other advantages in that he disposes of information on a wider range of cultural phenomena and their functional interrelationships and, if he focuses his interest on the time of first contact with Europeans, on a greater number of peoples-practically all that existed at that time. Information for that period, it is true, usually is very sketchy, but sufficient to enable us to see similarities and differences which point to the contemporaneous existence of regional cultures or culture areas. When judiciously supplemented by the so much richer data which modern field work has supplied for those individual cultures that are still alive today, a total picture emerges which the archeologist cannot hope to obtain for any preceding period. As a result, the ethnologist is more likely to think in terms of larger regions and regional cultures, and this may be the reason why an ethnologist and not an archeologist was asked to open this discussion. But while the ethnologist's data may offer the most convenient starting point for a classification of the native cultures of the Southwest, the archeologist will have to carry this study backward into earlier periods and back to the moment when the historically known regional cultures of the Greater Southwest first came into existence.

Effect of pollen contact upon the age of onset of hay fever

Exposure to pollen is a very important factor in the development of hay fever. European-born sufferers require the same “incubation period” after the first contact with ragweed pollen, regardless of their age at the time of first contact. The concentration of the exposure may also be a factor. In support of this is the larger number of male sufferers in the first decade of life. Exposure to substances other than pollen, such as house dust, orris root, etc., may account for poor results of specific treatment, particularly in women.

A CASE OF PITUITARY INFANTILISM TREATED WITH COMMERCIAL ANTERIOR PITUITARY PREPARATIONS

Pituitary infantilism is no rarity. However, the treatment of such cases is still in the experimental stage, hence interest attaches to any success achieved. H. N., a boy, aged 16 years, was admitted to the Endocrine Clinic on March 22, 1932. His presenting complaints were dwarfism, lack of genital development and asthma. His childhood diseases were measles, pertussis,mumps, occasional colds, and “bronchial asthma” since the age of three years. There was no history of a delay in teething, walking or talking. His growth, however, was slow. He has one brother ten years of age who is about the same size as the patient. The latter at the time of first contact was attending the third grade at high school. He was particularly troubled about the fact that he had not been able to gain in height or weight for the preceding few years.

Determination of the time of first contact of eclipse, August 1932

Determination of the time of first contact of eclipse, August 1932