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The purpose of this study was to assess whether applying dorsal table tilt to a seated parturient positioned for neuraxial anaesthesia (i.e. facing laterally with her legs over the side of the table) increased the size of the target area for the neuraxial needle. We performed lumbar ultrasonography on 20 pregnant women with the table level (0°) and tilted 8° and 15° dorsally. For each position, the size of the 'target area', defined as the visible length of the ligamentum flavum in the longitudinal paramedian view, and the interlaminar distance, were measured at the L3-4 interspace. There were significant increases in the mean (SD) size of the target area with increasing table tilt (10.7 (1.3) mm at 0°, 11.5 (1.3) mm at 8° and 12.2 (1.7) mm at 15°; p < 0.0001). Interlaminar distances were not significantly increased. These data show that using dorsal table tilt in obstetric patients increases the target area for neuraxial needles. Additional research is required to assess whether this eases the placement of neuraxial needles in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We designed and internally validated an aggregate weighted early warning scoring system specific to the obstetric population that has the potential for use in the ward environment. Direct obstetric admissions from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre's Case Mix Programme Database were randomly allocated to model development (n = 2240) or validation (n = 2200) sets. Physiological variables collected during the first 24 h of critical care admission were analysed. Logistic regression analysis for mortality in the model development set was initially used to create a statistically based early warning score. The statistical score was then modified to create a clinically acceptable early warning score. Important features of this clinical obstetric early warning score are that the variables are weighted according to their statistical importance, a surrogate for the FIO2/PaO2 relationship is included, conscious level is assessed using a simplified alert/not alert variable, and the score, trigger thresholds and response are consistent with the new non-obstetric National Early Warning Score system. The statistical and clinical early warning scores were internally validated using the validation set. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.995 (95% CI 0.992-0.998) for the statistical score and 0.957 (95% CI 0.923-0.991) for the clinical score. Pre-existing empirically designed early warning scores were also validated in the same way for comparison. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.955 (95% CI 0.922-0.988) for Swanton et al.'s Modified Early Obstetric Warning System, 0.937 (95% CI 0.884-0.991) for the obstetric early warning score suggested in the 2003-2005 Report on Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in the UK, and 0.973 (95% CI 0.957-0.989) for the non-obstetric National Early Warning Score. This highlights that the new clinical obstetric early warning score has an excellent ability to discriminate survivors from non-survivors in this critical care data set. Further work is needed to validate our new clinical early warning score externally in the obstetric ward environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of these family friend groups showed that success in creating them was exceedingly significant in the success of the family as measured by its resistance to divorce, to desertion, and to juvenile delinquency and its ability to climb up the economic and educational ladders. Successful families have more intimate family friends and have more in common with their friends than unsuccessful families do. This clear relationship between the homogamy of family friend groups and mutual protection against spousal break-ups and juvenile delinquency gives strong support to the concept that the "good" social structure depends upon the "good" family and these two unite to create each other. The process pictured here statistically is the same as the living process stemming from each marriage. What these families have done after moving to Long Beach is what every well-intended family tries to do everywhere once it is formed by mating. Thus, homogamic mating is a beginning of and adjunct to homogamous family friends and a sound and creative social structure. The study also has the following implications. First, the basic "social" family principle is that of common values. Its values are not only unique but "purposeful" in terms of group existence in a compromise world. This unique, purposeful common value principle begins with mating and extends onward in time and outward in social space. It has traditionally been observed that children and grandchildren of parents tend to follow both "good" and "bad" values of their predecessors. We have measured this homogamy from mating to fifth family friend, a measurement in social space rather than time. Second, the development of this principle of homogamy in social space and its consequences shows that we have probably measured a type of fundamental cause in family actions. We can expect some common values within a household to arise unconsciously and without choice and understand how children and their families would reflect... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses different family types. The general political struggle of two World Wars and the revolutionary demoralism accompanying them has produced a great many propagandistic, Utopian, and indirect experience conceptions concerning the relation between political regime and family type. One conception is that the democratic regime has a democratic family type which is midway between the authoritarianism of the fascist groups, on the one hand, and the complete Utopian freedom of the Marxian family on the other. The assumption back of this theory is that perfect freedom exists in the communist family and perfect tyranny exists in the fascist family. In between is a democratic family with its mixture of authoritarianism and complete freedom. U.S. has been deluged by quack family doctors who recommend such fantastic things as that you must not speak reprovingly to your own children because such is the act of a tyrant and merely makes a fascist out of your child. The good citizen has been told that if he must stray from the normal everyday family behavior customary of the old type that the most favored direction is toward mildness and freedom. Then, if the child does not become a good democratic citizen, he will at least become a good communist.

The article presents the author's view on the family system in the U.S. and his predictions regarding possible changes in the system by the end of twentieth century. He says that marriage vows have become anachronistic and have lost much of their meaning. According to him, twentieth century will witness the movement of many values formerly associated with family membership over to the individual.

This article presents brief descriptions of several events and developments in colleges and universities and governmental agencies and a note on the life history of American sociologist, Luther Lee Bernard who died on January 23, 1951. It reports that the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Boston University has initiated a program in criminology and correctional treatment of offenders. The program offers a general plan of study in criminology designed to be of value to those working in the fields of crime prevention, probation, probational parole, and correctional administration. Researcher Lloyd Warner of the Sociology Department of the University of Chicago has received a grant of $10,000 from the Hill Family Foundation of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Foundation awarded him for a study of social mobility in American business. The United States Department of Agriculture has announced on June 1, 1951, that around six hundred agricultural specialists from all parts of the United States are needed to represent this country abroad in technical cooperation programs, including the Point Four program, under present plans of expansion. The Department's Office of Personnel is developing a national roster of professional agriculturists to be used by the Department, and other Federal and public international organizations, in recruiting personnel for foreign assignments.

The article presents a list of books related to sociology. Some of the books included in the list are as follows: "Handbook on Major Regional Farm Supply Purchasing Cooperatives, 1948 and 1949," by Martin A. Abrahamsen and Jane L. Scearce; "Rural Social Organization in Dent County," by Ronald B. Almack, and Lawrence M. Hepple; "Protecting Children Through County Sodium Flouride Programs," by Elin L. Anderson; "The Consolidation of Fragmented Agricultural Holdings," by Bernard Binns; "The Hired Farm Working Force-1948 and 1949," by Gladys K. Bowles, Louis J. Ducoff and Margaret Jarman Hagood; "Clinton county Health Survey," "Electricity on Farms in the Eastern Livesstock Area of Iowa," by Joe F. Davis and Paul E. Strickler; "Survey of Blood Banks in the United States and Possessions," by Frank G. Dickinson and Everett L. Welker; "Comparisons of State Physician-Population Ratios for 1938 and 1949," by Frank G. Dickinson, Charles E. Bradley and Frank V. Cargill; "Migratory Farm Workers in 1949," by Louis J. Ducoff, "Social and Psychological Factors Affecting Fertility," by Ronald Freedman and P.K. Whelpton

Much of the current social science is based upon the idea that social change characterizes primarily only this times or this generation. This is not true. In order to understand the farm family and the family farm one must be acquainted with the fact that social and cultural change has been a perennial characteristic of the civilization. Everything is always changing in rural life, including the farm family and the family farm. Neither the family farm nor the farm family has been the same from one broad period to another from the Homeric period to date. However, the farm family and the family farm have shown a certain recurrence of patterns although under somewhat different conditions. Forms of family organization, strength of domestic institutions, and forms of social challenge have been very much the same in the primitive, the middle and the late periods of each of the three great swings of Western culture. Furthermore, the family and the family farm are components of larger organizations of culture. What happens to them is generally decisive in many larger affairs.

Studies of basic personality cover what was formerly discussed by rural sociologists under the concept of the rural mind. Rural life demonstrates three basic organizations of personality, that emphasizing the family (Homeric), that emphasizing land and homestead (Hesiodic), and that completely engulfed in the money economy (Aristophanic). At any one time different social classes in agriculture express one or the other versions of these three basic personalities. The small isolated farm groups are primarily Homeric. Others like the Pennsylvania Germans illustrate the Hesiodic. The large capitalist aggregates emphasize the Aristophanic. Western society may be divided into periods according to which of these mentalities is most dominant. At present we are in an extremely Aristophanic period. An understanding of these three mentalities will help us to evaluate the strength and weaknesses of our present rural culture. An "ideal" rural social system would seek to promote all three values, family, land and homestead, and money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article illustrates the developing family crisis in the world. The author of the article cites examples from western as well as the eastern societies of the world. Western society, of which the United States is the most extreme present manifestation, has gone through two great family crises during its history and is about to reach the maximum development of a third. An understanding of these crises and the difficulties should be very helpful in contemplating the problems of the future. In all the history of family society in China has been practically only one standard of reference one family Bible, the Confucianist system of li or moral behavior. In Hindu society, almost from its beginning to now, the Ramayana epic has been the Bible of the masses. The author discusses the family crisis in China as well as India, which represents the eastern society of the world. This article also discusses the Greek family crisis and also the Roman family crisis.

The article reports that the journal "Rural Sociology," a new editorial board takes over. Certain changes in policy are being instituted. The editors want to make the Journal now directly self supporting and independent from any subsidy so far as possible. They plan to spread the editorial responsibility over a larger number of persons so as to have several acquainted with each job in case the emergency should require the services of any individual. They hope to cooperate more closely with the Catholic Rural Life Movement to bring into direct support of our efforts all agencies attempting to promote a more permanent and lasting ruralism on the American continents. This is particularly important because the great bodies of rural French Canadians, Spanish Americans in their own Southwest, Mexicans, Central and South Americans are primarily of the Catholic faith.

Communities like other organisms, include parasitic types. A study of Littleville shows how an almost chronically parasitic community greatly improved itself during the recent depression. This is due to its long training in the field of parasitic existence which has made it more adept at exploiting such opportunities. The technique of assessing high taxes upon the outsider and of granting subventions to members of the family is definitely a recent development in Littleville. But the parasitic principle and the parasitic psychology, which had been impressed upon the Littles by state supervision and by racial differences for 300 years, undoubtedly developed this particular mechanism of parasitism to its full extent within a very short time.

The basic American rural population is divided into seven broad regional groups, about two and one-half of which suffer debilitatingly from widespread but easily controllable diseases. These diseases are carried by certain parasites, the nature of the control of which everyone understands, or they arise in sets of conditions which are now subject to eradication. Since these diseases cause widespread human misery but are easily minimized or eradicated, the challenge arises. Operation Public Welfare Number One could eradicate most of these diseases and centers of human misery as well as Operation Crossroads can test the atomic bomb. found. The seven basic regions of American ruralism are the Northeast, the Appalachian-Ozarks region, the Cotton South, the Cornbelt, the Wheat Regions, the Arid West, and the Pacific Area. All of these regions have definite physiographic reasons for existence, developmental historical experiences, and produce well-recognized typical personalities.

At the present time Euro-American populations seem to be in a period of unusually rapid change between the urbanity and the country and within both city and community. In addition, there is evidence that the present period is one in which former trends of relations between the city and community are either reversing themselves or moving in new and somewhat unexpected lines. In order to study these problems, the author has started upon the investigation. The first part was an attempt to apply the typological analysis of Frederic Le Play and Max Weber to an understanding of the North American community. He classified the communities by types and tried to distinguish the nature of the community and its changes by differential types. Many of the important variations could be understood only if the local community were evaluated conceptually as representing some elements of nominalism, formalism and realism as an extra-individual unity. He study the archives of each village, its history, its demographic and other records as far as they exist in the church books and all available historical material.

The article discusses the book, Rural Modernization in India, by K.C. and J. Panchanadikar. The book is the second book by the authors, concerning Indian rural development and modernization. The authors use selected areas of the state of Gujarat as indicative of the country, since it is in the Northern Plains region, the world's largest alluvial area, in which most of the Indians live. The author of the article considers it a privilege to point out the unique value of the work for understanding that large section of the world where the problems of rural development are now unavoidably critical, not only for the local masses but probably also for the remainder of the world. The idea of modernizing rural life in the country began to take shape under the Great Britain's rule but gained headway with independence after 1947, so that by 1952-55 'community' projects were begun. The book analyzes what was attempted and the difficulties encountered in an average Gujarat district, Vijapur Taluka; a richer one, Anand; and a very poor one, Nausari.

An abstract of the study "A survey of post-sternotomy chronic pain following cardiac surgery," by C. Carle and colleagues is presented.

The article presents the views of author on the book "The Community of the Future and the Future of the Community," by Arthur E. Morgan. According to the author, Morgan notes that much has been written about the community during the past fifty years, but as yet we have no fitting analysis which uncovers the fate of the community in our rapidly changing society. He points out the inevitability of needs for both localism and cosmopolitanism in the life of modern man. The book is exceedingly valuable as a text on the community and as a rounded interpretation of the now-developing ecology of modern industrial societies. The rearrangements of the population in the U.S. bear out this. People are moving out from the crowds as much as possible. Each new main highway to the hinterlands is quickly bracketed by small factories, and each of these has its localistic community and housing development. This new pattern of life is growing apace. Rural sociologists are constantly being called for direction and advice upon the development of the localistic community.

This article presents a suggestion of one of the readers of the journal "Educational Research" to the Book Review section editor. The reader thinks it might be worth while in the next book review section of "Rural Sociology" to issue a warning to the clientele not to waste any money on the current issue of Educational Research, Volume VII, No. 1, February, 1937, 112 pages, devoted to the alleged purpose of listing all research in Educational Sociology that has appeared within the last five years. His objection to this volume is the almost total omission of anything dealing with the rural situation. There are a couple of pamphlets of Anderson's listed, Landis' Rural Adult Education and two or three Master's theses prepared by students of the Committee that was responsible for the issue. There is no mention of the studies by McKinley Robinson of the Kalanuzoo Teachers College; not a single listing, except those quoted, of about a score of agricultural college bulletins dealing with youth or the social aspects of education.