text:
\section{Introduction}

It has become common practise to assume that the $\lambda$21~cm line of
neutral atomic hydrogen emission is in most cases an {\it optically
thin\ } tracer of the atomic gas mass in external galaxies. A number of
recent results are beginning to throw doubt on this conjecture. Careful
imaging studies of \ion{H}{1} absorption at low latitude in the Galaxy
reveal {\it highly} saturated absorption associated with the velocities
of spiral arms, with only lower limits to $\tau$ of 5 or 6 toward the
supernova remnant Cas~A (Bieging {\it et al.}, 1991) and the HII region
complex W43 (Liszt {\it et al.}, 1993). Such highly saturated
absorption is seen fairly uniformly over the several parsec spatial
extent of these sources. These high opacities can not be attributed to
velocity crowding along these lines-of-sight, since they are well
removed from the ``difficult'' longitudes of 0, 70 and 180$^\circ$,
where Galactic rotation and geometry conspire to give a minimal
gradient of line-of-sight velocity with Galactocentric distance. In
addition, the absorption profiles have a high degree of structure in
velocity, which is more consistent with an origin in discrete
components rather than a smoothly increasing opacity with path length
per velocity interval. Comparable \ion{H}{1} opacities are therefore
likely to be observed toward such spiral arm segments even if the
Galaxy were viewed face-on. Since only a few low latitude
lines-of-sight have received careful study, it is not yet possible to
estimate the prevalence of such regions. A program to significantly
extend the sample of well-imaged low latitude regions in \ion{H}{1}
absorption is now underway (Burton and Braun, 1995).

\subsection{Emission Brightness as an Opacity Tracer}

There is another, more accessible, tracer of the distribution of high
opacity neutral hydrogen. The emission brightness itself, T$_B$, is
tightly correlated with the absorption opacity, $\tau$, in the solar
neighborhood (Braun and Walterbos 1992, hereafter BW92). The simplest
interpretation of this correlation is that on physical scales of about
1~kpc, a single temperature of cool gas is prevalent. This is not to
say that only a single temperature {\it phase\ } of neutral gas is
present on these spatial scales. On the contrary, Galactic
lines-of-sight seem to exhibit as much as about 5~Kelvin of emission
without detectable associated absorption, implying the existence of a
widespread warm neutral phase with a kinetic temperature greater than
about 5000~K. However, it is striking that all lines-of-sight with more
than about 5~K of emission do have detectable associated absorption
suggesting that the warm neutral phase rarely attains a high column
density, at least in the solar neighborhood. Neither is it the case
that there is strict temperature equality of the cool gas over 1~kpc
scales. The solar neighborhood data are contained in an envelope
corresponding to a 50\% variation about a well-defined mean cool phase
temperature of about 110~K. This agrees with the peak brightness
temperature seen directly in emission along the local Galactic plane.
This general consistency is also borne out on a smaller scale. In a
study of some 50 cross-cuts spanning associated molecular and atomic
zones of optically identified Galactic dust lanes, Anderson {\it et
al.} (1991) see evidence that the high brightness, atomic hydrogen
envelopes of molecular clouds routinely have high \ion{H}{1} opacity
($\tau>1-2$) such that the {\it resolved\ } peak \ion{H}{1} brightness
temperature, T$_B$ is identical to the \ion{H}{1} kinetic temperature.
Furthermore, they observe (but do not comment on) higher \ion{H}{1}
kinetic temperatures in their outer Galaxy objects (R~$\sim$~11~kpc)
than in either the solar neighborhood or the inner Galaxy. A recent
analysis of the Galactic \ion{H}{1} emission properties based on the
Leiden/Dwingeloo survey (Braun, Burton and West 1996) has elucidated
the distribution of peak T$_B$ with radius in the Galaxy. A radial
increase in T$_B$ is observed out to about 10~kpc, with a subsequent
decline. Simulations of the Galactic data are most consistent with high
mean opacities of the gas over the radial interval over which the
temperature gradient is found. This same radial gradient of both the
peak T$_B$ together with the {\it identical\ } \ion{H}{1} kinetic
temperature is seen in M31 via HI absorption and associated emission
detected along multiple lines-of-sight (BW92) through the gaseous disk
of that system. Kinetic temperatures of about 70~K are typical at 5~kpc
radius in M31, while they increase to about 175~K at 15~kpc. The fact
that widespread regions are observed in M31 with a high emission
brightness in \ion{H}{1} which is comparable to the implied local
kinetic temperature suggests that regions of relatively high opacity in
\ion{H}{1} are similarly widespread.

\subsection{Resolving \ion{H}{1} Emission}

A necessary condition for observing the \ion{H}{1} kinetic temperature
of an opaque region directly as an emission brightness temperature is
that the region be resolved both spatially and in velocity. Since
structure in Galactic \ion{H}{1} is known to exist down to size scales
of less than a parsec, this may appear to be a rather elusive goal. The
physical resolution available to BW92 in the case of M31 was 33~pc
spatially and 5.2~km~s$^{-1}$. This is comparable to the physical
resolution in HI attained at the distance of the Galactic center with a
100~m filled aperture. Comparison of Galactic emission spectra at
various physical resolutions (eg. Fig.~2 of Dickey and Lockman 1990)
suggests that although detailed structures may certainly be
under-resolved with a larger beam, the peak brightness is not
substantially diluted even with 160~pc resolution (36~arcmin at
15~kpc). In a companion paper (Braun and Walterbos 1996) we consider in
detail the degree to which \ion{H}{1} emission structures in M31 have
been resolved with the resolution of BW92. It is shown that spatial
smoothing to 130~pc resolution gives a mean dilution of peak brightness
of only 8\% while velocity smoothing to 10~km~s$^{-1}$ gives rise to a
15\% mean dilution of peak brightness. The major emission complexes, or
atomic super-clouds, which give rise to high brightness \ion{H}{1}
emission regions apparently have typical dimensions larger than about
100~pc and line-widths which are only marginally resolved with
5~km~s$^{-1}$. This assessment is in very good agreement with that of
Elmegreen and Elmegreen (1987) who deduce a typical radius of 100~pc
for \ion{H}{1} super-clouds in the Galaxy and a typical velocity
dispersion of 5~km~s$^{-1}$.

The combination of spatial and velocity resolution necessary to resolve
the \ion{H}{1} super-clouds in galactic disks had never been applied to
external galaxies beyond Messier 31. The study of M31 (Braun, 1990 and
BW92) revealed higher brightnesses of \ion{H}{1} than ever before
detected in the Galaxy (up to 180~K) as well as the systematic increase
of the \ion{H}{1} kinetic temperature with radius noted above. What
other attributes and trends are waiting to be discovered in galaxies of
other morphological type? We set out to answer this question by
selecting a sample for resolved \ion{H}{1} imaging of the nearest
external galaxies beyond the local group. An effort was made to span a
large range of morphological type although the selection was limited
primarily by the need for proximity. This is because a sufficiently
high brightness sensitivity is necessary to actually detect the
\ion{H}{1} emission. For example, the A-configuration of the VLA could
provide angular resolution at $\lambda$21~cm of about 2~arcsec
(corresponding to 150~pc at 15~Mpc) but would achieve a brightness
sensitivity of only about 150~K per 5~km~s$^{-1}$ channel in an eight
hour integration. When limited to modest integration times of about
eight hours, the practical limiting angular resolution is the 6~arcsec
of the VLA B-configuration for which a brightness sensitivity of about
15~K is realized. This in turn imposes an upper limit to the distance
of about 5~Mpc to maintain a spatial resolution of better than 150~pc.

The observations and data reduction of our nearby galaxy sample are
described in \S~2 of this paper. This is followed by a brief
presentation of results in \S~3. The reader is referred to a companion
paper (Braun 1996, hereafter B96) for a more extensive analysis of the
data.

\section{Observations and Data Reduction}

Neutral hydrogen observations of the eleven program galaxies were
obtained with the VLA between March 1989 and November 1990. The B, C
and D configurations (with effective integration times of about 7, 0.5
and 0.4 hours) were utilized to image a region 0.5 degree in diameter
at 6 arcsec resolution for each of the eight Northern galaxies. In
addition, a small hexagonal mosaic in the D configuration (with 0.4
hours effective integration on each of 7 positions) was used to image a
1 degree diameter field at 65 arcsec resolution. Similar resolution and
sampling was obtained for the three southerly galaxies by observing in
the BnA, CnB and DnC configurations. Observing dates, field centers and
other particulars are summarized in Table 1. Namely, the galaxy name in
column (1), the B1950 pointing center in (2), the observation dates for
the three observed configurations in (3), (4) and (5), the central
velocity and number of frequency channels in (6) and (7). The assumed
inclination, position angle of receding line-of-nodes and major axis
radius at which the blue optical surface brightness is 25
mag~arcsec$^2$ (from de Vaucouleurs, de Vaucouleurs and Corwin, 1976,
hereafter the RC2) is given in columns (8), (9) and (10). The galaxy
type, approximate distance, total blue magnitude and luminosity are
given in columns (11) to (14). Standard calibration and imaging
techniques were used to produce a series of narrow-band images
separated by 5.16~km~s$^{-1}$ over a velocity range of 330~km~s$^{-1}$
(or 660~km~s$^{-1}$ when necessary) centered on the nominal
heliocentric systemic velocity of each galaxy. Since a uniform
frequency taper was applied in the correlator, the effective velocity
resolution was 6.2~km~s$^{-1}$. A continuum image, formed from the
average of line-free channels was subtracted from each image. A
simultaneous deconvolution based on the Maximum Entropy Method (as in
Cornwell 1988) was carried out on the seven pointings of the low
resolution mosaic to determine the smoothest model brightness
distribution at each velocity consistent with the data (corrected for
primary beam attenuation) and the measurement noise. The model
brightness distributions were then convolved with a two-dimensional
Gaussian fit to the synthesized beam to which were added the residuals
of the deconvolution. Since the zero level of each narrow-band image
remains unconstrained due to the absence of total power data, the mean
brightness in a region outside of the source was then subtracted from
each. The good response to extended structure (as large as about 30
arcmin) obtained in this low resolution mosaic was incorporated into
the series of high resolution images by replacing the inner Fourier
plane of each (as in Braun 1988). The high resolution images were not
subjected to deconvolution, since the good sampling, uniform weighting
and Gaussian tapering (at 25~k$\lambda$) already provided a very nearly
Gaussian instrumental response with a maximum near-in sidelobe level of
only a few percent. The only substantial short-coming of this database,
the so-called ``short spacing bowl'', was accurately removed by
including the low resolution mosaic data as discussed above. The image
brightness scale (in Kelvin) was defined on the basis of integrating
the actual instrumental response in elliptical annuli. This resulted in
a small correction (about 5\%) relative to the best fitting elliptical
Gaussian beam. The best fitting elliptical Gaussian beam parameters as
well as the beam integrals are listed in columns (2) and (3) of Table~2.

\subsection{Images of Peak Brightness}

Smoothed versions of the high resolution (6~arcsec) \ion{H}{1}
data-cubes were formed at resolutions of 9, 15, 25 and 65~arcsec. The
absolute flux density and surface brightness scales are estimated to be
accurate to better than 5\%. The rms sensitivity in a single frequency
channel is given in terms of flux density and surface brightness in
columns (4) and (5) of Table~2. The surface brightness sensitivity
after convolution to a circular Gaussian beam of 9, 15, 25 and
approximately 65~arcsec is given in columns (6) through (9) of the
table. Images were formed of the peak brightness observed along each
spatial pixel and the corresponding line-of-sight velocity. Images of
the peak brightness at the full spatial resolution are shown in panel
(a) of Figs.~1--10 for all program galaxies but NGC~4826. (Various
images of NGC~4826 have appeared previously in Braun et al. 1994.) The
noise properties of such peak brightness images are somewhat peculiar
and deserve some explanation. When no detectable signal is present in
the spectrum corresponding to any particular spatial pixel, a peak
value of about 3$\sigma$ is found from the 50 or so independent
velocity pixels which make up that spectrum. When a signal is present
at a level of greater than about 3$\sigma$ it is detected with an
uncertainty of 1$\sigma$. If the signal profile is broad relative to
the velocity resolution, a positive bias level will be introduced due
to the Gaussian noise statistics. It will be seen below that our
velocity resolution of 6.2~km~s$^{-1}$ is only sufficient to marginally
resolve the emission line profiles at high spatial resolution so that
the bias level of signals greater than about 4$\sigma$ is negligible.
Since only a single pointing position was observed for each galaxy at
high resolution, the peak brightness images show the radially
increasing 3$\sigma$ noise floor due to the primary beam correction
(corresponding approximately to a Gaussian of 30 arcmin FWHM). The
obvious implication is that the detection level is a function of
distance from the pointing direction. Since the typical 1$\sigma$ noise
at full spatial resolution is 18~K, the 3$\sigma$ noise floor climbs
from about 55~K at the pointing center to about 110~K at a radius of
1800~arcsec.

\subsection{Images of Integrated Emission}

Images of the integrated \ion{H}{1} emission were produced at various
resolutions by masking each cube with a positive 3$\sigma$ threshold
level of a lower resolution cube and then forming the sum. For example,
the 9~arcsec resolution integral images shown in panel (b) of
Figs.~1--10 were formed by imposing a mask based on a 3$\sigma$
threshold level in the 25~arcsec resolution cube. Only at the lowest
resolution of 65~arcsec, with masking by a 130~arcsec cube was the
total (un-masked) flux recovered. These low resolution integral images
are shown in panel (d) of Figs.~1--10. The use of a
3$\sigma$ threshold level insured that no more than the total flux was
obtained in the sum. In contrast, the use of a positive 2$\sigma$
threshold level, produces a positive bias in the blanked sum of more
than 20\% in excess of the total line flux.

\subsection{Images of Line-of-sight Velocity}

The line-of-sight velocity of the peak emission brightness at 65~arcsec
resolution is shown in panel (c) of Figs.~1--10. This method of
generating the projected velocity field is superior to the more commonly
used method of generating the first moment since it is insensitive to
the asymmetric profiles which are often observed at moderate spatial
resolutions for galaxies of non-zero inclinations. This same advantage
is gained over fits of a single Gaussian to the line profiles in
addition to offering a greater robustness in cases of low
signal-to-noise. With the high surface brightness sensitivity obtained
at this low spatial resolution it is possible to determine the velocity
field reliably out to the low column densities of the diffuse outer
disk.

\subsection{Emission Integrals}

Total detected line fluxes were determined by evaluating the integral
of the data cube at full spatial resolution within the region defined
by a contour drawn at a peak brightness of 4~K in the 65 arcsec
resolution peak brightness image. (Due to the method of data reduction
these integrals are necessarily identical at spatial resolutions of 9,
15 and 25~arcsec.) The integral was also evaluated within the
contiguous spatial region defined by the contour of zero integrated
intensity in the 65~arcsec resolution mosaic database. These two values
are listed in columns (10) and (11) of Table 2. In most cases 5 to 20\%
more line flux is detected with the second method. This is due to
both the presence of extremely diffuse gas (with less than 4~K
brightness) as well as the larger field of view of the mosaic database.
In the case of NGC~4826, the 4~K threshold method only allowed
detection of about 10\% of the total flux. Recent total power
measurements in the literature (as tabulated in Huchtmeier and Richter,
1989) generally lie between the values determined by the two methods
above.

\subsection{Search for \ion{H}{1} Absorption}

The continuum images of each field were searched for discrete sources
toward the \ion{H}{1} disks of the program galaxies. A two component
least squares fit was then made to small regions (about 3 beam-widths,
or 20~arcsec in diameter) in each continuum subtracted channel map to
solve for the amplitude of the elliptical Gaussian source
($1-e^{-\tau}$) and the amplitude of a constant interpolated background
level (T$_B$) as a function of velocity. This method of deriving
line-of-sight absorption and emission spectra was employed with success
by Braun and Walterbos (1992) in the case of M31. An important
difference between that study and the present one is the physical
resolution. The physical resolution available to BW92 for M31 was 35~pc
and the dimensions of the fitting region were about 100~pc. As
discussed in \S~1, the scale size of major emission regions in M31 is
about 100~pc, so that the fitting region was a reasonable match to this
scale-size. In the present study the physical resolution available for
our program galaxies was designed to be matched to this scale-size of
about 100~pc but our fitting region is necessarily about 300~pc in
extent. We therefore expect our derived spectra to have a higher
fluctuation level due to confusion effects resulting from variable
intensity levels within our fitting window. Inspection of the derived
absorption and emission spectra reveals that this is sometimes the
case. In these cases, the spatial baseline model was extended with
inclusion of first or second order polynomial terms. The rms
fluctuation level in the spectra in the presence of emission is still
somewhat increased over that expected statistically. In the many cases
of a slightly resolved continuum source this lost sensitivity is at
least partially compensated by the detection of the source over several
independent pixels.

\section{Results}

\subsection{General Emission Properties: The Super-Cloud Network }

Examination of the peak \ion{H}{1} brightness images in panel (a) of
Figs.~1--10 reveals how the distribution of atomic gas in our sample
galaxies becomes decomposed at 100~pc linear resolution into a high
brightness filamentary network of \ion{H}{1} super-clouds. The
continuity is best seen at low to moderate inclinations, while edge-on
systems like NGC~55 and 4244 appear entirely filled as seen in
projection. The super-cloud network corresponds globally to both the
grand-design, as well as the flocculent, spiral arms traced by massive
star formation and particularly by dust lanes in the various galaxies.
A worthwhile comparison is that with the (B-O) color image of NGC~5457
in Schweizer (1976, his Fig.~3g). An interesting trend seen in many
galaxies is for the lowest brightnesses to be observed at the smallest
radii. This is most obvious in systems like NGC~3031, 4736 and 5457
which have a high luminosity stellar disk, but is also seen in NGC~247,
2403 and 7793. Extreme values of less than about 50~K are found at kpc
radii in NGC~4736 for example. The opposite is also true, namely that
the highest brightnesses occur at large radii. Emission brightnesses of
150 to 200~K are observed at large radii in NGC~247, 3031, and 5457
with a clear systematic increase of brightness temperature with radius.
{\it In fact, all of the sample galaxies show the same systematic
behavior of the super-cloud brightness temperature with radius; an
initial increase out to some radius, a flattening and a subsequent
decline.}

\subsection{Absorption Properties}

The line-of-sight emission and absorption properties toward the 54
brightest continuum sources in the 11 observed fields are given in
Table 3. The galaxy field is indicated in column (1) of the table, the
B1950 position of each source in (2), the (deconvolved) major and minor
axis dimensions and major axis position angle in (3), the observed
values (without primary beam correction) of integrated and peak flux
density in (4) and (5), the primary beam attenuation factor at the
position of the source in (6), the rms error in the line-of-sight
optical depth in a single velocity channel based on the peak source
brightness in (7), the integral over the emission profile where the
brightness exceeds 5 K in (8), the velocity interval over which the
emission brightness exceeds 5 K in (9), the mean spin temperature or
3~$\sigma$ lower limit based on the ratio of emission to absorption in
(10) (3~$\sigma$ lower limits are calculated using the values of
integral emission and velocity width of columns 8, 9 together with the
$\sigma$ of column 7 divided by the square root of the number of
contributing velocity channels), the maximum emission brightness in
(11), the galactic disk radius intercepted by the line-of-sight in (12)
and a code in (13) which indicates whether the continuum source may be
intrinsic to the galaxy. Code R indicates a diffuse radio continuum
morphology, code H the presence of H$\alpha$ emission at the galaxy
redshift, code N indicates a nuclear source and a question mark
indicates some uncertainty in the galactic identification.

The small number of randomly distributed background sources brighter
than about 5~mJy/beam have only a very low probability of occurring
along a direction which intercepts the super-cloud network of HI
emission. The positions of the sources analyzed for the presence of
emission and absorption are overlaid on the images of peak HI
brightness and integrated emission in Figs.~1--10. Continuum sources
associated with recent massive star formation within the galaxies, such
as HII regions and supernova, while usually probing gas-rich
lines-of-sight, only rarely have a sufficient continuum brightness to
allow the detection of absorption. And even when they do, their
location within the galaxies confuses the interpretation, since only
the unknown fraction of the gas seen in emission which lies between us
and the continuum source can contribute to the absorption. Significant
absorption is only detected in a small number of cases. Spectra for the
lines-of-sight in NGC~55, 247, 2366, 2403 and 3031 are shown in
Fig.~11, while the spectrum for the NGC~4826 line-of-sight has appeared
previously in Braun et al. (1994). A high quality detection is made
only in NGC~247 toward what appears to be a true background source,
while 3 to 5 $\sigma$ detections are made toward HII region complexes
within NGC~55, 2403 and 4826. Only statistical detection of absorption
is seen toward a source intrinsic to NGC~2366 by summing the channels
with emission brightness greater than 5~K. Comparison of the source
locations with the peak brightnesses in panel (a) of Figs.~1--10
indicates that in all these cases but that of NGC~55, the continuum
sources are located within local minima of the \ion{H}{1} peak
brightness, and therefore do not probe the super-cloud opacity
directly. The bright nuclear source in NGC~3031 allows detection of
faint absorption (5\%) near a velocity of 0~km~s$^{-1}$ which is very
likely due to foreground gas in the Galaxy.

Comparison of column (10) of Table~3 with the images of peak brightness
in panel (a) of Figs.~1--10 suggests that the spin temperatures and
lower limits seen in absorption are consistent with the super-cloud
brightness temperatures seen in emission at similar radii in each
galaxy. Opacities toward the super-cloud network are therefore likely
to be substantial.

\subsection{Data Analysis}

As indicated in the Introduction, extensive analysis of the database
presented here can be found in a companion paper (B96). In that paper we
present many properties of the \ion{H}{1} super-cloud population as a
function of radius in the various galaxies, including the fractional
\ion{H}{1} line flux, the surface covering factor and measures of the
spatial and velocity compactness. We develop a detailed physical model
in terms of radial profiles of gas density and temperature which can
account for the observables quite successfully.

\acknowledgements

The generous allocation of VLA observing time by the NRAO to carry out
this project is gratefully acknowledged. It is a pleasure to
acknowledge the assistance of Sabrina di Grandi and Lucia Lazzari with
the extraction of absorption properties towards continuum sources in
the galaxy fields. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is operated
by Associated Universities, Inc., under cooperative agreement with the
National Science Foundation.

\begin{deluxetable}{lccccccccccccc}
\tablecolumns{14}
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{2pt}
\scriptsize
\tablecaption{Log of Observations \label{tbl-1}}
\tablewidth{0pt}
\tablehead{
\colhead{Galaxy}      &\colhead{R.A.(1950), Dec.(1950)} &
\colhead{B or BnA}    &\colhead{C or CnB} &
\colhead{D or DnC}    &\colhead{V$_{Cen}$} &
\colhead{N$_{Ch}$}    &\colhead{Inc.} &
\colhead{PA}          &\colhead{R$_{25}$} &
\colhead{Type}        &\colhead{Dist.} &
\colhead{B$_T$}       &\colhead{L$_B$} \nl
\colhead{\ }          &\colhead{\ } &
\colhead{\ }          &\colhead{\ } &
\colhead{\ }          &\colhead{(km/s)} &
\colhead{\ }          &\colhead{($^\circ$)} &
\colhead{($^\circ$)}  &\colhead{(")} &
\colhead{\ }          &\colhead{(Mpc)} &
\colhead{(mag)}       &\colhead{(10$^9$L$_\odot$)} \nl
\colhead{(1)}          &\colhead{(2)} &
\colhead{(3)}          &\colhead{(4)} &
\colhead{(5)}          &\colhead{(6)} &
\colhead{(7)}          &\colhead{(8)} &
\colhead{(9)}          &\colhead{(10)} &
\colhead{(11)}          &\colhead{(12)} &
\colhead{(13)}          &\colhead{(14)}
}
\startdata
N55 &00 12 24.00 $-$39 28 00.0 &N/A &20-05-89 &20-10-89 &+140 &64 &80
&110 &972 &Sc &2.0 &8.22 &3.2 \nl
N247 &00 44 40.00 $-$21 02 24.0
&04/05-03-89 &20-05-89 &20-10-89 &+160 &64 &75 &170 &600 &Sc &2.5 &9.51
&1.5 \nl
N2366 &07 23 37.00 +69 15 05.0 &19/28-03-89 &29-11-90
&01-12-89 &+100 &64 &58 &39 &228 &SBm &3.3 &11.46 &0.44 \nl
N2403 &07
32 01.20 +65 42 57.0 &19-03-89 &29-11-90 &01-12-89 &+130 &64 &62 &125
&534 &Sc &3.3 &8.89 &4.7 \nl
N3031 &09 51 27.60 +69 18 13.0 &16-03-89
&29-11-90 &01-12-89 &$-$45 &128 &60 &330 &774 &Sb &3.3 &7.86 &12. \nl
N4236 &12 14 21.80 +69 44 36.0 &28-03-89 &29-11-90 &01-12-89 &0 &64 &73
&161 &558 &SBd &3.3 &10.06 &1.6 \nl
N4244 &12 14 59.90 +38 05 06.0
&23-03/02-05-89 &29-11-90 &30-11-89 &+245 &64 &80: &233 &486 &Scd &4
&10.60 &1.4 \nl
N4736 &12 48 32.40 +41 23 28.0 &30-03-89 &29-11-90
&30-11-89 &+305 &64 &33 &305 &330 &Sab &3.8 &8.92 &6.1 \nl
N4826 &12 54
16.90 +21 57 18.0 &22-03-89 &29-11-90 &30-11-89 &+415 &128 &66 &300
&282 &Sab &3.8 &9.37 &4.0 \nl
N5457 &14 01 26.60 +54 35 25.0 &21-03-89
&29-11-90 &01-12-89 &+230 &64 &27 &40 &810 &Sc &6.5 &8.18 &35. \nl
N7793 &23 55 16.00 $-$32 52 06.0 &04/05-03-89 &20-05-89 &20-10-89 &+230
&64 &48 &289 &276 &Sd &3.4 &9.65 &2.5 \nl
\enddata
\end{deluxetable}

\begin{deluxetable}{lcccccccccc}
\tablecolumns{11}
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{6pt}
\scriptsize
\tablecaption{Data Attributes and Results \label{tbl-2}}
\tablewidth{0pt}
\tablehead{
\colhead{Galaxy} &\colhead{a b p} &\colhead{$\Omega_B$} &
\colhead{$\Delta$S$_F$}    &\colhead{$\Delta$T$_F$} &
\colhead{$\Delta$T$_9$}    &\colhead{$\Delta$T$_{15}$} &
\colhead{$\Delta$T$_{25}$} &\colhead{$\Delta$T$_{65}$} &
\colhead{$\int F_4 dV$}    &\colhead{$\int F_0 dV$} \nl
\colhead{\ }               &\colhead{(") (") ($^\circ$)} &
\colhead{(a.s.$^2$)}       &\colhead{(mJy/bm)} &
\colhead{(K)}              &\colhead{(K)} &
\colhead{(K)}              &\colhead{(K)} &
\colhead{(K)}              &
\multicolumn{2}{c}{(Jy-km~s$^{-1}$)} \nl
\colhead{(1)}          &\colhead{(2)} &
\colhead{(3)}          &\colhead{(4)} &
\colhead{(5)}          &\colhead{(6)} &
\colhead{(7)}          &\colhead{(8)} &
\colhead{(9)}          &\colhead{(10)} &
\colhead{(11)}
}
\startdata
N55 &16.0 12.2 $-$15 &220 &3.5 &10.9 &... &... &3.98 &0.93 &1525 &1525
\nl
N247 &6.58 6.01 $-$10 &61.6 &1.9 &21.1 &12.7 &6.47 &3.78 &0.76 &765 &860
\nl
N2366 &5.67 5.66 $-$40 &33.8 &1.3 &26.4 &11.2 &4.58 &1.94 &0.73 &235 &250
\nl
N2403 &6.25 6.12 +66 &48.0 &1.2 &17.2 &9.73 &4.85 &2.52 &0.68 &1320 &1440
\nl
N3031 &6.13 5.84 $-$1 &45.6 &1.1 &16.6 &8.98 &4.31 &2.52 &0.70 &1455 &1865
\nl
N4236 &5.93 5.79 $-$38 &49.2 &1.2 &16.8 &8.98 &4.85 &2.52 &0.63 &550 &610
\nl
N4244 &6.84 5.95 $-$82 &55.6 &1.4 &17.4 &10.5 &5.12 &2.62 &0.57 &410 &435
\nl
N4736 &6.55 5.87 +85 &48.8 &1.3 &18.3 &9.73 &4.58 &2.23 &0.58 &43 &70
\nl
N4826 &6.49 6.10 $-$67 &46.4 &1.3 &19.2 &9.73 &4.58 &2.23 &0.58 &... &47
\nl
N5457 &6.04 5.86 +69 &44.8 &1.1 &16.8 &8.23 &4.31 &2.43 &0.62 &1495 &1880
\nl
N7793 &6.98 6.06 $-$5 &53.2 &2.0 &26.0 &17.2 &8.09 &3.69 &0.82 &210 &270
\nl
\enddata
\end{deluxetable}

\clearpage
\begin{deluxetable}{lcccccccccccc}
\tablecolumns{13}
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{2pt}
\scriptsize
\tablecaption{HI absorption data \label{tbl-3}}
\tablewidth{0pt}
\tablehead{
\colhead{Galaxy}        &\colhead{R.A.(1950), Dec.(1950)} &
\colhead{a b p}         &\colhead{S$_{tot}$} &
\colhead{S$_{pk}$}      &\colhead{PBa} &
\colhead{$\sigma_\tau$} &\colhead{$\int T_BdV$} &
\colhead{$\Delta$V}     &\colhead{$<T_{sp}>$} &
\colhead{T$_{B max}$}   &\colhead{R$_{gal}$} &\colhead{Cl} \nl
\colhead{\ }            &\colhead{\ } &
\colhead{(") (") ($^\circ$)} &\colhead{(mJy)} &
\colhead{(mJy/bm)}      &\colhead{\ } &
\colhead{\ }            &\colhead{K km s$^{-1}$} &
\colhead{km s$^{-1}$}   &\colhead{(K)} &
\colhead{(K)}           &\colhead{(arcsec)} &\colhead{\ } \nl
\colhead{(1)}          &\colhead{(2)} &
\colhead{(3)}          &\colhead{(4)} &
\colhead{(5)}          &\colhead{(6)} &
\colhead{(7)}          &\colhead{(8)} &
\colhead{(9)}          &\colhead{(10)} &
\colhead{(11)}          &\colhead{(12)} &
\colhead{(13)}
}
\startdata
N55 &00 12 26.98 $-$39 29 00.8 &26.3 9.0 150 &19.93 &8.22 &1.00 &0.43 &4836
&92.9 &140$\pm$40 &140 &49: &R \nl
\ &00 12 29.81 $-$39 29 14.6 &38.3 27.4 156
&52.09 &8.09 &1.00 &0.43 &4754 &87.7 &$>$175 &100 &52: &R \nl
\ &00 12 43.79
$-$39 27 26.3 &0.0 0.0 0 &25.57 &25.78 &1.03 &0.14 &544 &77.4 &$>$65 &20.3
&308: &... \nl
N247 &00 44 21.01 $-$20 58 53.7 &6.5 5.9 81 &7.47 &3.77 &1.07
&0.50 &12.9 &5.2 &$>$2 &2.7 &931 &... \nl
\ &00 44 44.88 $-$21 07 36.2 &6.0
2.9 154 &47.4 &31.4 &1.06 &0.06 &1313 &87.7 &63$\pm$15 &38.9 &349 &...
\nl
\ &00 44 53.89 $-$21 17 45.0 &5.9 5.2 148 &39.8 &22.4 &2.01 &0.08 &21.3 &10.3
&$>$12 &2.7 &980 &... \nl
\ &00 44 56.41 $-$21 05 50.1 &0.0 0.0 0 &5.62 &5.07
&1.06 &0.37 &84.1 &25.8 &$>$7 &4.7 &782 &... \nl
N2366 &07 23 25.17 +69 17
29.0 &4.5 4.4 101 &8.70 &5.38 &1.00 &0.24 &1748 &77.4 &145$\pm$60 &65 &76 &H
\nl
\ &07 25 06.93 +69 12 03.9 &1.7 1.5 133 &9.48 &8.79 &1.36 &0.15 &0 &0 &...
&1.8 &1822: &... \nl
N2403 &07 29 29.48 +65 34 33.7 &6.6 2.6 52 &19.26 &12.12
&2.45 &0.10 &13.3 &5.2 &$>$9 &2.6 &2091 &... \nl
\ &07 30 19.23 +65 59 44.7
&9.1 2.1 54 &17.20 &9.19  &3.06 &0.13 &0 &0 &... &1.5 &1499 &... \nl
\ &07 30
24.47 +65 46 23.9 &2.5 2.2 59 &10.53 &9.22 &1.35 &0.13 &419 &56.8 &$>$63 &30
&739 &... \nl
\ &07 32 18.37 +65 43 21.3 &14.5 5.1 81 &10.27 &3.12 &1.00 &0.38
&1198 &98.0 &53$\pm$15 &45.2 &171 &H \nl
\ &07 32 41.72 +65 36 24.2 &2.6 2.4
167 &9.34 &8.02 &1.16 &0.15 &409 &41.3 &$>$62 &25 &554 &... \nl
\ &07 33 02.14
+65 47 14.0 &2.2 1.0 77 &11.13 &10.36 &1.15 &0.12 &223 &36.1 &$>$45 &25 &910
&... \nl
\ &07 33 09.08 +65 55 47.5 &5.0 2.5 71 &7.34 &5.29 &1.84 &0.23 &0 &0
&... &2.0 &1852 &... \nl
\ &07 33 09.89 +65 55 52.3 &7.4 2.6 116 &8.92 &5.29
&1.85 &0.23 &0 &0 &... &1.8 &1866 &... \nl
\ &07 33 56.27 +65 44 34.5 &3.3 1.8
63 &29.49 &25.05 &1.50 &0.05 &109 &25.8 &$>$63 &6 &1146 &... \nl
N3031 &09 49
02.49 +69 17 59.2 &7.0 6.4 11 &33.77 &14.99 &1.60 &0.07 &89.7 &25.8 &$>$37 &4
&1394 &... \nl
\ &09 49 04.03 +69 18 11.3 &13.5 6.4 43 &31.39 &8.63 &1.58
&0.13 &87.8 &25.8 &$>$20 &4 &1371  &... \nl
\ &09 50 05.52 +69 13 02.5 &3.5
2.3 169 &5.39 &4.36 &1.23 &0.25 &44.5 &15.5 &$>$7 &3 &1067 &... \nl
\ &09 50
36.38 +69 31 57.2 &5.5 4.8 174 &10.00 &5.76 &1.82 &0.19 &178 &25.8 &$>$27 &10
&1100 &... \nl
\ &09 51 12.96 +69 24 04.4 &0.0 0.0 0 &3.13 &3.04 &1.09 &0.36
&469 &56.8 &$>$25 &22 &406 &H? \nl
\ &09 51 27.32 +69 18 08.3 &2.3 2.0 141
&90.28 &79.87 &1.00 &0.014 &17.7 &5.2 &$>$80 &2.5 &0.0 &N \nl
\ &09 52 46.82
+69 11 12.2 &0.0 0.0 0 &4.25 &3.79 &1.31 &0.29 &213 &41.3 &$>$17 &10 &654 &...
\nl
\ &09 53 42.81 +69 24 48.7 &5.8 3.6 154 &23.80 &14.71 &1.70 &0.07 &81.7
&25.8 &$>$34 &3 &1634 &... \nl
\ &09 53 43.57 +69 25 05.7 &6.1 3.6 32 &16.97
&10.15 &1.72 &0.11 &64.2 &20.6 &$>$19 &3 &1658 &... \nl
N4236 &12 13 03.90 +69
48 14.6 &6.6 3.3 46 &6.94 &4.01 &1.15 &0.30 &0 &0 &... &2 &1113 &... \nl
\ &12
13 15.06 +69 50 22.3 &3.1 2.7 133 &8.21 &6.60 &1.18 &0.18 &45.1 &15.5 &$>$9 &6
&852 &... \nl
\ &12 14 13.97 +69 44 40.2 &0.0 0.0 0 &5.16 &4.70 &1.00 &0.26
&825 &61.9 &$>$59 &33 &128 &H? \nl
\ &12 14 14.07 +69 50 16.4 &0.0 0.0 0 &7.22
&6.71 &1.07 &0.18 &485 &51.6 &$>$55 &28 &418 &? \nl
\ &12 14 18.23 +69 45 41.1
&4.5 3.9 153 &12.0 &8.00 &1.00 &0.15 &863 &72.2 &$>$99 &47 &69 &H \nl
N4244
&12 13 52.65 +37 49 20.9 &9.8 3.4 91 &10.9 &5.39 &3.40 &0.26 &0 &0 &... &2
&4112: &... \nl
\ &12 14 28.72 +38 11 26.3 &7.7 7.1 5 &14.0 &5.95 &1.22 &0.24
&0 &0 &... &2 &7529: &... \nl
\ &12 15 40.47 +38 16 34.2 &6.0 3.8 146 &10.1
&6.31 &1.74 &0.22 &0 &0 &... &1.5 &3845: &... \nl
N4736 &12 48 31.93 +41 23
31.5 &6.7 5.1 176 &18.05 &9.36 &1.00 &0.14 &137 &46.4 &$>$21 &4 &0.0 &N
\nl
\ &12 48 35.59 +41 23 24.3 &11.1 5.0 178 &7.69 &2.87 &1.00 &0.45 &430 &87.7
&$>$15 &20 &38 &H \nl
N4826 &12 53 43.86 +21 59 48.9 &7.9 7.7 6 &5.68 &2.25
&1.17 &0.58 &0 &0 &... &2 &519 &... \nl
\ &12 53 51.67 +21 58 38.6 &0.0 0.0 0
&21.0 &13.6 &1.08 &0.10  &0 &0 &... &2 &415 &... \nl
\ &12 54 05.77 +21 44
19.7 &0.0 0.0 0 &10.0 &9.93 &1.65 &0.13 &0 &0 &... &1.5 &1843 &... \nl
\ &12
54 16.28 +21 57 12.7 &17.0 12.7 110 &53.9 &8.31 &1.00 &0.16 &987 &129
&60$\pm$10 &14 &2 &H \nl
\ &12 54 23.23 +22 09 42.4 &0.0 0.0 0 &7.15 &6.81
&1.55 &0.19 &0 &0 &... &1.5 &1740 &... \nl
\ &12 54 32.26 +22 08 28.1 &2.3 2.0
15 &9.58 &8.56 &1.47 &0.15 &0 &0 &... &1 &1718 &... \nl
\ &12 54 32.50 +22 08
50.1 &4.6 2.4 18 &6.20 &4.62 &1.52 &0.28 &0 &0 &... &1.5 &1770 &... \nl
\ &12
54 52.59 +21 45 19.3 &0.0 0.0 0 &7.22 &7.18 &1.84 &0.18 &0 &0 &... &1.5 &1197
&... \nl
N5457 &14 00 01.08 +54 43 17.1 &6.8 4.3 76 &33.3 &17.8 &1.85 &0.06 &0
&0 &... &2 &985 &... \nl
\ &14 01 14.69 +54 28 49.5 &12.2 9.3 17 &6.40 &1.51
&1.12 &0.71 &735 &51.6 &$>$20 &38 &418 &H \nl
\ &14 01 31.59 +54 36 21.9 &7.2
7.0 113 &10.1 &4.18 &1.00 &0.26 &191 &36.1 &$>$18 &20 &72 &... \nl
\ &14 01
32.65 +54 36 15.4 &6.4 5.6 168 &7.80 &3.87 &1.00 &0.28 &197 &36.1 &$>$17 &20
&73 &... \nl
\ &14 01 39.13 +54 44 47.7 &0.0 0.0 0 &4.36 &4.31 &1.28 &0.26
&191 &31.0 &$>$19 &30 &590 &... \nl
\ &14 01 55.35 +54 33 26.5 &10.6 6.0 44
&16.8 &5.84 &1.04 &0.19 &872 &67.1 &$>$82 &72 &308 &H \nl
\ &14 02 09.48 +54
23 05.8 &3.8 2.5 71 &5.83 &4.53 &2.32 &0.24 &0 &0 &... &2 &929 &... \nl
\ &14
02 15.94 +54 27 04.9 &5.5 4.2 146 &8.92 &5.37 &1.40 &0.20 &60.0 &20.6 &$>$10
&4 &738 &... \nl
\ &14 02 43.39 +54 38 09.4 &9.5 7.0 148 &8.94 &3.08 &1.44
&0.36 &814 &56.8 &$>$44 &68 &717 &H \nl
N7793 &23 54 56.02 $-$32 54 09.7 &5.7
4.7 0 &6.67 &4.09 &1.04 &0.49 &303 &61.9 &$>$12 &7 &866 &? \nl
\enddata
\end{deluxetable}

\clearpage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
        <title>mednote</title>
        <meta charset="utf-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, user-scalable=no">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css" type="text/css" media="screen" charset="utf-8">

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: Password field with validation and "Show password" option in AngularJS I'm trying to make an password field, that matches the following criteria:

*

*Valid password should be from 6 to 24 symbols long, and have at least one digit.

*When the field contains invalid password, it should always be have .ng-invalid class.

To make password symbols visible I use two inputs synchronized through model:
<form name="form" ng-app="myApp" ng-controller="Controller" novalidate>

   Password:
    <input type="password" name="uPass" maxlength="24" ng-hide="formFlags.showpass" ng-model="user.pass" ng-required validate-pass />
    <input type="text" name="uPass" maxlength="24" ng-show="formFlags.showpass" ng-model="user.pass" ng-required validate-pass />
    Must be from 6 to 24 symbols long ang contain at least one digit.

    <input type="checkbox" name="uShowPass" ng-model="formFlags.showpass" toggle-pass/>Show password

</form>

See full code here: http://jsfiddle.net/adept/9uCGQ/44/ .
Here I'm trying to do the following:

*

*I enter an invalid password. The input field gets.ng-invalid class
(red border).

*I click "Show password". Password input  gets
    hidden, text input gets visible.

The problem is that  is not validated until I change it's value. How do I make it validate immediately after it is shown?
UPD: in AngularJS of versions 1.2.x and higher my example works properly, the issue is relevant only for lower versions.

A: Just add formatters.unshift too, so it will also look to model changes, not only view ones.
Edited fiddle:
http://jsfiddle.net/9uCGQ/5/
Added code:
       ctrl.$formatters.unshift(function(viewValue) {
            if (viewValue.length >= scope.formFlags.minpasslength && PASS_REGEXP.test(viewValue)) {
                // it is valid
                ctrl.$setValidity('pass', true);
            } else {
                // it is invalid
                ctrl.$setValidity('pass', false);
            }
            // update model anyway to sync password fields
            return viewValue;
        });

More about the two properties (parsers and formatters) on the ng-controller documentation: http://docs.angularjs.org/api/ng.directive:ngModel.NgModelController

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Last night on Into the Badlands, old foes came face to face and everyone saw the depth of what the gift could do beyond fighting. Here's a recap of "The Boar and the Butterfly".
It turns out that M.K. followed Nix right to Sunny but still took a loss. M.K. was preparing to smash her head in when Sunny stepped in and used a metal rod to keep him locked to a table. Afterward, the duo went to find Ankara for answers. While the Master told Minerva it was time to fight for something bigger, Pilgrim doubted an injured M.K.'s loyalty. In return, M.K. revealed the location of the monastery so Pilgrim could recruit more dark ones.
Bajie headed to the monastery and ended up getting roped into training Minerva. Their training was interrupted by a mission to find Ankara to get her knowledge on Pilgrim. The Master found Ankara's location by using her gift to search for her and connect to her mind. The older woman was injured by members of the Black Lotus. Sunny and Nix agreed to get her to safety in exchange for information.
Elsewhere, Gaius and Tilda left Lydia and made their way to his mother's home. Fans got to meet his half brother and Mama Chau, who was downright unpleasant. She refused to reveal Juliette's location and told Gaius that she should have let Juliette slit his throat. After his brother revealed his sister's location, Gaius took him out of the room and gave Tilda permission to kill his mother.
In the woods, Bajie and Minerva began to heal their relationship. The next morning, Cressida rolled up with a few dark ones to Widow's HQ. Lydia and Moon were less than happy to see her but could only comply with her demands for food and to allow Pilgrim's guards to replace the house butterflies. It wasn't a hard decision when it looked like Nathaniel would have been up against two dark ones on his own.
M.K. grew concerned when Pilgrim began to act strange, having a vision of Castor blaming him for his death. He advised that they rest. Elsewhere, Widow and Bajie weren't far behind Nix, Sunny, and Ankara. While Sunny went looking for a man who could secure Ankara a spot on a ship, Bajie and Widow split up. The Widow was concerned that Sunny would try to kill her when he saw her and she was right. She tried to apologize for Veil but Sunny wouldn't listen and went after her. In his injured state, he held his own but still ended up on the ground. Bajie was able to convince him that they were there together and on the same.
While the adults tried to hash things out, Ankara healed herself and knocked out Nix, hoping to escape. She didn't get far before the Widow injected her with a compound that the Master gave them if Ankara refused to come quietly. As the Black Lotus crept in closer to Ankara and company, Pilgrim and his forces arrived at the base of the mountain.
I miss the young and learning M.K. He's turned into such an annoyance who's shifting loyalties and temper make him unbearable to watch. On a better note, I'm happy to see Nix get some camera time and come more to the forefront of the Into the Badlands story. One of my favorite parts of "The Boar and the Butterfly" was seeing all of the different uses of the gift. With the Master's shown control of the gift, it's hard to imagine Pilgrim will get a win during their first meeting.
I was also happy to have the Widow's involvement in Veil's death revisited. Veil was one of my favorite characters because she wasn't a warrior but a healer. She offset Sunny well and at the time she was the only black woman on the show. Even with the introduction of Cressida and the Master, she's missed. Looking forward to watching Sunny and Widow deal with their tension.
I'm giving "The Boar and the Butterfly" a 9 out of 10.
Into the Badlands airs Mondays at 10 PM EST.
« And if you know your recent history….


Can you help phase out plastic packaging?
The plastic-free movement is growing! From supermarkets to street corners, brilliant new initiatives designed to remove plastic packaging from our everyday lives are being put in place.
Can you give these campaigns your support and cut your own plastic use in the process?
Belsize Park isn't the first place that springs to mind when you think of revolution, yet community supermarket Thornton's Budgens is changing the 'big shop' forever by introducing completely plastic-free zones.
More than 1,700 of their usual product lines have been converted to non-plastic packaging, including meats, cheese, vegetables and even crisps. It's the start of a journey that promises to take the store "virtually plastic-free" within three years.
How you can help: Jump on social media or email and ask your usual supermarkets why they're not doing the same. Take your own containers shopping and buy loose where possible, otherwise choose products packaged in glass, metal or biodegradable materials before resorting to plastic packaging.
Thames Water have joined forced with the Mayor of London to introduce hundreds of new drinking water fountains across the capital. By offering lovely clean tap water to those out and about, the hope is to drive down the number of single use plastic drinks bottles ending up in landfill or polluting our rivers and oceans.
How you can help: Carry a plastic-free refillable bottle for your daily hydration. Top up for free from the tap, water fountains or businesses showing the Refill logo.
Ever tried a Lush shampoo bar? Firstly, locks love their nurturing natural ingredients. Secondly, they seem to last forever! In fact, one small shampoo bar does the same number of hair washes as roughly three 250g plastic bottles of liquid shampoo.
The always innovative team behind Lush went one step beyond in their quest for complete sustainability. They got naked! Well, not personally. But 65% of their regular products did.
In 2018, they opened their very first Naked shops in Milan, Berlin and Manchester. Hair care, skincare, bath bombs, shower gels and everything in between - completely packaging-free.
How you can help: Give Lush's Naked products a go, or why not try making your own natural cosmetics at home using ingredients sourced in plastic-free packaging?
More of us are developing a taste for the zero waste lifestyle as hundreds of these sustainable shops open their doors for plastic-free shopping across the country.
From herbs and spices to bulk bins of rice, pasta and pulses; from plastic-free toothpaste, cotton buds and sanitary products to eco-detergent refills and unpackaged soaps: the range of items we can buy without generating any new plastic waste just keeps growing.
How you can help: Make a local zero waste shop part of your regular shopping routine. Tell your friends how much money you're saving!
Use the ZeroWaste Near Me directory search to find packaging-free shops in your area.
How are you helping to phase out plastic packaging? Share your ideas and thoughts with Greenredeem on Facebook or .


Another Butterfly Basics project like yesterday. I love this stamp set.
All the supplies you need to make this project are in the ticker at the bottom of the page. You can click on the products or you can use the 'Shop Now' button at the top of this page to browse or buy the Stampin' Up! Online Shop.
Isn't it a wonderful set? Loads of lovely, varied stamps in this set, plus some gorgeous sentiments. This set is thankfully moving over to the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue which starts 1st june 2016.
I love monochromatic cards. So classy! Sometimes less is most definitely more. The pearls are the Metal Rimmed Pearls from Stampin' Up! of course.
Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment and please come back soon!


If there is something that may be of interest to you, we will try to make that information available.
CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). The main goal is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications.
Anyone can help. The only requirements are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.
In the picture: Each year, there is a major push to recruit CoCoRaHS observers in March.
CoCoRaHS March Madness is a friendly recruiting contest across the country. The object of the game is to see who can recruit the most new volunteers during the 31 days of March.
The contest is broken down into two categories: "Traditional Count" (the state recruiting the greatest number of new observers in March) and "Per Capita" (the state recruiting the greatest number of new observers per its population). The winning state in each category receives the "CoCoRaHS Cup" to keep and exhibit for a year.
In the video: An introduction to CoCoRaHS.


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text:
Good Shows Never Die…
– March 7, 2011Posted in: Entertainment
I don't pretend to be an expert in TV. My own instincts regarding which TV shows will succeed and which will fail are almost legendarily inaccurate. (I'd predicted that Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and Barney the Purple Dinosaur would flop.) I am pretty good at recognizing patterns, though, and over my years of viewership, I've learned a thing or two about the way the really great shows in television history come to an end. Most TV shows are born, run for a while, then fade away until they fail to be renewed. For the really great ones, dying just isn't good enough. Nope, they get to choose from a short list of approved exits. Let's take a look at them.
The Multi-Death
This is by far the most popular way to go. You see, the suits that make the decisions about what does and does not deserve to come back each year have a strong tendency to have their heads shoved pretty far up their own keisters, or as I like to say, "They suffer from the executive viewpoint." Thus, they will take a show that is much beloved by a small but devoted audience and ax it, rather than giving it a chance to be discovered or moving it to a more appropriate slot. Other times they cancel the show because they received thirteen letters from people saying they didn't like the subject matter of one 30 second portion of a single episode. When this happens, it isn't uncommon for them to subsequently receive 30,000 letters from people pointing out that the other 99.99% of the air time was superb and the only reason to actually watch the channel in question. On rare occasion, said channel will reconsider and give the show a second chance. Sometimes they waffle for too long and another station snaps up the show. What results is often several more seasons of top notch entertainment from a show that was previously thought to be a waste of air time. Mystery Science Theater 3000, Family Guy, and The Critic are all examples of shows too good to die just once. The Late Show with Conan O'Brien did an interesting variation of the multi-death that I call "The Reincarnation." His version of Late Night died when he went to The Tonight Show, but people tuning in to TBS at 11 PM Mon-Thurs will find it alive and kicking once again under a different name, or if you are anything like me, under the same name you've been calling it all along.
It is worth pointing out that the Multi-Death doesn't have a 100% success rate. The Critic, despite having been resurrected on television once and on the Internet once, never really got the respect it deserved. Scrubs didn't fare too well when it came back either. But the fact remains that it took more than one bullet to take each of them down.
The Bow Out
Whereas the Multi-Death Shows are at least initially underestimated, other shows are undisputed and undeniable hits. They are money makers, carrying the their time slot and making the careers of their stars. Great artists soon realize, though, that nothing lasts forever. Eventually the magic will fade. Perhaps it has already started to do so. Rather than die a withering death, these folks decide to go out on top; step off the air while still remembered fondly. Seinfeld and M*A*S*H are two key examples. This is probably how The Simpsons will end, too – although there are those who would say that it is too late for that.
The Bow Out is a classy way to go out, though it is worth pointing out that it seldom produces a terribly positive outcome for the actors. The sterling post-hit careers of Michael Richards, Loretta Swift, Jason Alexander, and David Ogden Stiers are all strong indicators that just because you made the choice to pull the plug on the cash cow before it turned sour, that doesn't mean it won't still take your career with it.
That'll do for now, but expect more coverage of TV and other media in the coming weeks. Sure, we love video games, but they put the AV Input button on the remote for a reason, right? And always, feel free to chime in with any shows or graceful exits I may have missed. Our newfangled comment system makes it painless to do so.
Tags: List, Rants, Television

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Dwyane Wade with Pat Riley after the Heat selected Wade with the No. 5 pick in the 2003 draft.
MIAMI — Draft picks don't excite Pat Riley. That's not a secret.
We know that just by the reputation Riley has built for constructing contenders primarily through free agency and trades. We know that by the fact the Heat have had no picks in two of the past three drafts, including zero selections in Thursday's draft because of past trades Miami has made.
Whether it's trading for Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O'Neal and Goran Dragic or signing LeBron James and Chris Bosh in free agency, Riley prefers to build around established veterans. But is it time to change that philosophy with the current collective-bargaining agreement rewarding teams more than ever for hitting on draft picks?
Take a look at how the Warriors built their superteam. Golden State drafted Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
How did the Celtics build their promising roster? Boston drafted Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum, and used a few picks in a trade to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Cavaliers.
The Sixers also used the draft to build their core, using the first overall pick to acquire Ben Simmons in 2016 and third overall pick to take Joel Embiid in 2014.
It's no coincidence those are three teams that are not only among the league's best right now, but are also set up for long-term success. The current CBA includes a designated player exception that provides more incentive for star players to stay put, giving teams the ability to sign their own stars who meet a certain criteria — including All-NBA selection — to long-term contracts for an extra fifth season and at a value of up to 35 percent of the salary cap that they would not be allowed to get in a contract elsewhere.
This designated player exception is only for players who are still on the team that drafted them or have been traded on their rookie deal to another team, which is designed to help push more stars to stay with the team that drafted them. That makes building contenders through free agency — like the Heat did in 2010 with the Big Three — that much harder because the number of top players moving around is expected to continue to dwindle.
So does all of this mean Riley and the Heat need to change their ways?
While Riley downplays the draft, don't forget that Miami drafted the greatest player in franchise history. The Heat landed Dwyane Wade with the fifth overall pick in 2003 and that worked out pretty well. Just that pick alone is enough to remind Riley how valuable the draft could be when a team makes the right choice.
The Heat understand the importance of the draft, whether picks are used to select a player or as assets to complete a blockbuster trade. Plus, the Heat's lack of recent first-rounders is actually easy to justify.
Miami's 2011 first-round pick was traded to the Raptors to complete a sign-and-trade agreement for Bosh. The Heat's 2013 and 2016 first-round selections were sent to the Cavaliers in the sign-and-trade that brought James to Miami.
You can't argue against those deals. The Heat won two NBA championships with Bosh and James in 2013 and 2014.
And Miami's 2018 and 2021 first-rounders were traded to Phoenix to acquire Dragic in 2015. That move didn't bring titles, but circumstances make it unfair to criticize that trade.
Just days after the Heat added Dragic to a core that already included Bosh and Wade, Bosh was diagnosed with his first blood clot issue. When Bosh returned the following season, the Heat outscored opponents by 92 points in 44 games – 26-18 record in those games — with Bosh and Dragic on the court together in 2015-16 before Bosh went out again due to blood clots.
The idea was that Dragic, Bosh and Wade would be good enough to contend in the Eastern Conference. But that group really never got a chance to play together because of Bosh's health issues.
Those first-round picks — 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018 and 2021 — are the only ones the Heat have traded in advance of the draft since 2011. It's easy to criticize the Heat's handling of draft picks, but it's also easy to justify each of those moves when you see what those selections were given away for.
There's no doubt that prioritizing the draft is important, especially under the current CBA. But the Heat will argue they've prioritized championships, with three titles since 2006.
After paying off most of its draft debt, Miami now has another chance to take advantage of the draft. The Heat hold their 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 (and beyond) first-round picks moving forward.
But if the opportunity arises to lift themselves into a championship contender, the Heat will trade away draft picks again. And nobody will argue.


Z-Tec Lightweight Robust Steel Stacking Fixed Height Adjustable Commode. Comes complete with a padded overseat and easy to remove pail with lid. These commodes may be stacked where more than 1 exist, for storage purposes.


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Posted on December 11, 2013 December 23, 2015 by Elizabeth Howell
Melting Glaciers May Push The West Antarctic's Ice Loss Ever Higher
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is losing the equivalent of a Lake Tahoe in ice every single year, according to new measurements from the European Space Agency CryoSat satellite — quite a bit more than what was measured earlier. That's 36 cubic miles or 150 cubic kilometers every single year.
The measured loss also affects sea levels around the world. Between 2005 and 2010, polar scientists previously calculated, oceans rose about 0.0110 inches (0.28 mm) a year due to West Antarctic melting. The new results suggest that the melting is about 15% higher. That would put the new sea-rise rate at 0.0115 inches (0.32 mm) a year.
"We find that ice thinning continues to be most pronounced along fast-flowing ice streams of this sector and their tributaries, with thinning rates of between 4–8 m [13 to 26 feet] per year near to the grounding lines – where the ice streams lift up off the land and begin to float out over the ocean – of the Pine Island, Thwaites and Smith Glaciers," stated Malcolm McMillan, a research fellow at the United Kingdom's University of Leeds.
West Antarctic thinning between 2010 and 2013, as measured by the European Space Agency's CryoSat satellite. Credit: CPOM/ESA
What scientists don't know is whether the ice is thinning faster due to melting glaciers or if CryoSat — the European Space Agency satellite that made these measurements by radar following its launch in 2010 — is simply mapping the same rate of loss but in higher resolution as what was seen before.
"Thanks to its novel instrument design and to its near-polar orbit, CryoSat allows us to survey coastal and high-latitude regions of Antarctica that were beyond the capability of previous altimeter missions, and it seems that these regions are crucial for determining the overall imbalance," stated Andrew Shepherd, a University of Leeds researcher who led the study.
The research was presented at the American Geophysical Union's fall meeting this week.
Source: European Space Agency
CategoriesAstronomy
2 Replies to "Melting Glaciers May Push The West Antarctic's Ice Loss Ever Higher"
The current overall sea rise rate from all causes, as noted in Wikipedia, is 3mm/year. This rate is widely expected to accelerate as time passes and the heat imbalance behind AGW gets worse.
ITSRUF says:
However, the Antarctica ice sheet is larger than any other time in recorded history. Stick that in yer AGW pipe and smoke it.
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AAP Policy
Topic/Program Collections
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Video Abstracts -- brief videos summarizing key findings of new articles
March 2008, VOLUME 121 / ISSUE 3
Effects of Prolonged and Exclusive Breastfeeding on Child Behavior and Maternal Adjustment: Evidence From a Large, Randomized Trial
Michael S. Kramer, Eric Fombonne, Sergei Igumnov, Irina Vanilovich, Lidia Matush, Elena Mironova, Natalia Bogdanovich, Richard E. Tremblay, Beverley Chalmers, Xun Zhang, Robert W. Platt for the Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT) Study Group
OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term effects of breastfeeding on child behavior and maternal adjustment.
METHODS. We followed up children who were in the Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial, a cluster-randomized trial of a breastfeeding promotion intervention based on the World Health Organization/United Nations Children's Fund Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. A total of 17046 healthy, breastfeeding mother–infant pairs were enrolled from 31 Belarussian maternity hospitals and affiliated polyclinics; 13889 (81.5%) were followed up at 6.5 years. Mothers and teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and supplemental questions bearing on internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems. Mothers also responded to questions concerning their relationships to their partner and child and their breastfeeding of subsequently born children.
RESULTS. The experimental intervention led to a large increase in exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months (43.3% vs 6.4%) and a significantly higher prevalence of any breastfeeding at all ages up to and including 12 months. No significant treatment effects were observed on either the mother or the teacher Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ratings of total difficulties, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, or prosocial behavior or on the supplemental behavioral questions. We found no evidence of treatment effects on the parent's marriage or on the mother's satisfaction with her relationships with her partner or child, but the experimental intervention significantly increased the duration of any breastfeeding, and mothers in the experimental group were nearly twice as likely to breastfeed exclusively the next-born child for at least 3 months.
CONCLUSIONS. On the basis of the largest randomized trial ever conducted in the area of human lactation, we found no evidence of risks or benefits of prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding for child and maternal behavior. Breastfeeding promotion does, however, favorably affect breastfeeding of the subsequent child.
peer relations
randomized trial
Given the frequently studied and reported associations between breastfeeding and cognitive development and the intimate mother–infant physical and emotional contact during the act of breastfeeding, surprisingly few studies have reported on the long-term effects of infant feeding on child behavior and maternal adjustment.1 Short-term studies during infancy reported effects on infant crying and fussing2,3 and sleep patterns4 but no effect on mother–infant attachment behavior.5 A recent US study reported a strong protective effect of breastfeeding (especially if prolonged) against nocturnal enuresis, which the authors attributed to accelerated neurodevelopmental maturation.6 A New Zealand study reported that first-year undergraduate psychology students who had been breastfed for >3 months had lower anxiety scores but showed no differences in neurotic or extroverted personality characteristics, compared with those who were never breastfed or were breastfed for a shorter duration.7 In long-term follow-up of a birth cohort study from New Zealand, adolescents who had been breastfed for ≥4 months reported their mothers as having been more caring and less overprotective but had no reduction in risk for juvenile offending, substance use, or mental illness.8 One Danish study reported a strong association between early weaning (within the first 2 weeks of birth) and early alcoholism among adult men.9 Finally, 2 long-term studies relating infant feeding to schizophrenia or affective disorder in adulthood reported conflicting results.10,11
All of this evidence is based on observational (nonexperimental) studies. Although many of these studies controlled statistically for demographic factors and socioeconomic differences among mothers with different feeding practices, all of their reported associations are likely to be confounded by more subtle differences in the mother's behavior or her interaction with the infant. These differences are extremely difficult to measure and virtually impossible to control for in observational studies. In the mid-1990s, we designed and implemented the Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial (PROBIT), a large, cluster-randomized trial in the Republic of Belarus.12 In this article, we report on measures of parent- and teacher-reported child behavior, maternal self-reported adjustment, and breastfeeding of the subsequent sibling on the basis of follow-up of the cohort when the children were 6.5 years of age. We hypothesized that the enhanced exclusivity and duration of breastfeeding previously reported to result from the intervention12 would increase maternal–infant physical contact and consumption of bioactive components of breast milk and thereby lead to long-term improvements in conduct and behavior.
The detailed methods of PROBIT and the results during the first year of follow-up have been previously reported.12 The experimental intervention was based on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, which was developed by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund to promote and support breastfeeding, particularly among mothers who have chosen to initiate breastfeeding,13 whereas control sites continued the practices and policies in effect at the time of randomization. The units (clusters) of randomization were maternity hospitals and 1 affiliated polyclinic (pediatric outpatient clinic for routine well-child and illness care) per hospital, with double randomization based on both a random-numbers table and a coin flip.12 The trial results are based on a total of 17046 healthy breastfed infants from 31 maternity hospitals/polyclinics; all were born at term in 1996–1997, weighed at least 2500 g, and were enrolled during their postpartum stay.12 Mothers consented in writing to participate in PROBIT interviews and examinations, but no details were provided about the experimental and control interventions. To our knowledge, PROBIT is the largest randomized trial ever undertaken in the area of human lactation. It conforms to the CONSORT recommendations for the design, analysis, and reporting of cluster-randomized trials.14
As previously reported,12 the 2 randomized groups were similar in baseline sociodemographic and clinical variables, including maternal age, education, number of other children at home, the proportion who had breastfed a previous child for at least 3 months, cesarean delivery, maternal smoking during pregnancy, birth weight, gestational age, and 5-minute Apgar score. The experimental intervention led to a substantial difference in the duration of any breastfeeding that was maintained throughout the first year of follow-up: 72.7% vs 60.0% were still breastfeeding at 3 months, 49.8% vs 36.1% were still breastfeeding at 6 months, 36.1% vs 24.4% were still breastfeeding at 9 months, and 19.7% vs 11.4% were still breastfeeding at 12 months in the experimental versus control groups, respectively. In addition, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was sevenfold higher in the experimental group at 3 months (43.3% vs 6.4%), although low in both groups at 6 months (7.9% vs 0.6%).12
At the age of 6.5 years, children (accompanied by a parent, usually [92%] the mother) attended a special study interview and examination held at the polyclinic between December 2002 and April 2005. The parent (usually the mother) who accompanied the child to the polyclinic for the 6.5-year follow-up visit consented in writing to the examination and testing procedures at that visit. While awaiting the examination and interview in the polyclinic waiting room, the parent completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), parent version. The SDQ is a brief scale devised for behavioral screening of children aged 3 to 16 years.15 The scale contains 25 items, some positive and others negative. The 25 items are divided into 5 scales of 5 items each, which generate scores for conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, emotional symptoms, peer problems, and prosocial behavior. In addition, as part of the SDQ impact supplement, both the parent and the teacher were asked a global question about whether the child has difficulties in any of the following areas: emotion, concentration, behavior, or being able to get along with other people.
The SDQ has been used widely in Europe and more recently in North America, and various comparative studies have shown that its reliability and validity are equal or superior to other competing scales, in particular the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist.16 There is abundant evidence of the cross-cultural validity of the SDQ in several European and developing countries.17–20 It has been translated, validated, and standardized in Russian. Once or twice a month, the polyclinic pediatricians distributed the teacher's version of the SDQ to teachers of children who had started formal schooling by the time of their follow-up visit. Teachers' names were reported by the parents at the polyclinic visit. The teacher version of the SDQ is identical to that of the parent version. Teachers were blind to the experimental versus control treatment allocation of the children. Internal consistency of the parents' and teachers' responses was assessed using Cronbach's α.
Test–retest reproducibility of the parents' SDQ was assessed by requesting completion of a repeat SDQ at the time of an audit visit for 5 randomly selected children for each of the 38 participating polyclinic pediatricians, for a total of 190 audited children. To ensure that all children were eligible to be audited, the audits were conducted an average of 17.7 months (range: 5.3–32.6 months) after the initial polyclinic visits. Reproducibility was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (and its 95% confidence interval [CI]).
In addition to the SDQ, parents and teachers responded to supplemental behavioral questions taken from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth.21 To provide a format comparable to that of the SDQ, each supplemental item was stated as a descriptor of the child's behavior, and the parent was asked whether the item was not true, somewhat true, or certainly true for that child. These questions were then grouped as relating to externalizing (5 items for parents, 8 for teachers) or internalizing (9 items for parents, 6 for teachers) behaviors. The score for each category was obtained by summing the scores on the component questions (0 for not true, 1 for somewhat true, and 2 for certainly true). For both the SDQ and supplemental behavioral questions, we also analyzed the scores dichotomously by defining "abnormal" as a score ≥85th percentile (or ≤15th percentile for prosocial behavior).
We also assessed several aspects of the mother's adjustment and behavior, including any change in her marital status since the index child's birth and her satisfaction with her relationship with her partner, with her relationship with her child, and with her experience as a mother in general. Responses to the 3 last questions used a 7-point Likert format ranging from "very dissatisfied" to "perfectly satisfied." Finally, we also inquired about the duration of any breastfeeding and of exclusive breastfeeding of siblings who were born subsequent to the index child. Because few mothers had >1 subsequent child, the analysis was limited to the next-born sibling.
All statistical analyses were based on intention to treat. Differences in outcome between the experimental and control groups were analyzed using the MIXED procedure in SAS 8.2 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). This is a multilevel statistical model that accounts for the clustered randomization and for clustering of children who shared the same teacher, thereby permitting inferences at level of the individual child and mother, rather than at the cluster (maternity hospital/polyclinic or teacher) level. The analogous GLIMMIX penalized quasi-likelihood procedure for generalized linear mixed models22 in SAS was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for dichotomous outcomes. The cluster-adjusted differences and ORs presented in the tables are virtually identical to those obtained from a multivariate mixed model that also adjusts for stratum-level variables, including geographic region (West versus East) and urban versus rural location, as well as the following individual-level covariates: age at follow-up, gender, birth weight, and both maternal and paternal education (results available on request). We also examined whether intervention effects differed in boys and girls by including treatment-by-gender multiplicative interaction terms in the MIXED models.
A total of 13889 children were seen in follow-up for PROBIT II, representing 81.5% of the 17046 originally randomly assigned children. Of the 3157 (17046–13889) children who were enrolled but not followed up, 88 had died, 2938 were lost to follow-up, and 131 were unable/unwilling to come for their PROBIT II visit. Follow-up rates were similar in the experimental (80.2%) and control (82.9%) polyclinics but varied considerably by polyclinic: from 56.1% at 1 of the Minsk polyclinics to 94.6% at Klimovichi, a small rural-based polyclinic. As shown in Table 1, the children who were followed up in the experimental and control groups were similar on baseline characteristics, with small differences paralleling those seen (and previously reported12) at randomization. The mean ± SD age at follow-up was 6.6 ± 0.3 years.
Baseline Comparison of Children Who Were Followed up at Age 6.5 Years in Experimental Versus Control Groups
Internal consistency was higher for the teacher SDQ than for the parent SDQ: 0.82 vs 0.73 for total difficulties, 0.81 vs 0.67 for hyperactivity, 0.81 vs 0.62 for prosocial behavior, 0.69 vs 0.60 for emotional symptoms, 0.69 vs 0.51 for conduct problems, and 0.49 vs 0.34 for peer problems. Test–retest reproducibility for the parent SDQ (comparing results from the initial polyclinic visit and the audit visit) were high, especially considering the 18-month average time elapsed between the 2 visits. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.74–0.85) for total difficulties, 0.77 (95% CI: 0.69–0.83) for emotional symptoms, 0.72 (95% CI: 0.64–0.79) for conduct problems, 0.77 (95% CI: 0.70–0.83) for hyperactivity, 0.64 (95% CI: 0.53–0.72) for peer problems, and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.51–0.71) for prosocial behavior.
Table 2 summarizes the results for the parent SDQ according to treatment group; it shows the number of children whose parents completed the questions relating to each subscale, the crude individual-based mean ± SD in the experimental and control groups, the ICCs reflecting the degree of within-polyclinic clustering, and the cluster-adjusted differences in means and their 95% CIs. ICCs were very low (≤0.03), reflecting that the responses were provided independently by nearly 14000 parents. Except for slightly lower scores on the emotional symptom scale among children in the experimental group, the means were extremely similar in the 2 randomly assigned groups, including scores on conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behavior, as well as the total difficulties score. Analysis of dichotomized scores (≥85th percentile or, for prosocial behavior, ≤15th percentile) yielded adjusted ORs near 1, ranging from 0.9 (95% CI: 0.7–1.1) for emotional symptoms to 1.1 (95% CI: 0.9–1.2) for conduct problems. Similar proportions of parents in the experimental and control groups reported at least some difficulties on the global SDQ question (46.1% vs 45.4%; clustered-adjusted OR: 1.0; 95% CI: 0.7–1.5).
Results for the Parent SDQ
Table 3 shows the corresponding results for the teacher SDQ. Teacher SDQs were completed for ∼87% of the children who were followed up; most of the remainder had not yet begun formal schooling at the time of the follow-up visit. The teachers' ratings were lower (less extreme) than the parents' ratings for all scales, including both problem and prosocial behaviors. None of the differences between the experimental and control groups was statistically significant, a result confirmed by analysis of dichotomized scores based on the 85th or 15th (for prosocial behavior) percentiles (adjusted ORs ranging from 0.9 [95% CI: 0.7–1.1] for emotional symptoms to 1.0 [95% CI: 0.8–1.4] for hyperactivity). Similar proportions of teachers reported at least some difficulties on the global SDQ question (43.1% vs 43.5% in the experimental versus control groups; cluster-adjusted OR: 0.9; 95% CI: 0.7–1.3).
Results for the Teacher SDQ
We also combined the parents' and teachers' SDQ ratings to compare the proportion of children whose behavior was rated as "abnormal" (≥85th percentile, or ≤15th percentile for prosocial behavior) by both respondents. The proportion of children who fell into this category ranged from 4% for total difficulties to 8% for peer problems but were similar in the experimental and control groups. Cluster-adjusted ORs ranged from 0.8 (95% CI: 0.6–1.2) for prosocial behavior to 1.1 (95% CI: 0.8–1.6) for peer problems.
We found no consistent evidence that intervention effects differed by child gender, although a borderline significant reduction in emotional difficulties was observed among girls in the experimental group (cluster-adjusted difference: −0.2 [95% CI: −0.4 to −0.03] for both parent and teacher versions of the SDQ). Spearman (rank) correlations between the parent and teacher versions of the SDQ were modest, albeit highly statistically significant (P < .0001 for all): 0.19 for emotional symptoms, 0.29 for conduct problems, 0.36 for hyperactivity, 0.19 for peer problems, 0.28 for total difficulties, and 0.19 for prosocial behavior.
Results for the supplemental behavior questions were similar to those for the SDQ. The mean ± SD externalizing behavior scores based on the parents' ratings were 1.9 ± 1.7 vs 1.8 ± 1.6 in the experimental and control groups, respectively, with a clustered-adjusted difference of 0.1 (95% CI: −0.05 to 0.3). The corresponding results for the teachers' ratings were 3.5 ± 3.3 and 3.3 ± 3.3, respectively, in the experimental and control groups, with a clustered-adjusted difference of 0.2 (95% CI: −0.2 to 0.5). The internalizing behavior scores were 4.1 ± 2.7 vs 4.2 ± 2.7 (cluster-adjusted difference: 0.0 [95% CI: −0.3 to 0.2]) based on the parents' ratings and 2.0 ± 2.0 vs 2.0 ± 2.0 (cluster-adjusted difference: −0.1 [95% CI: −0.4 to 0.1]) based on the teachers' ratings. The parent and teacher ratings were modestly correlated (Spearman ρ = 0.23 [P < .0001] for externalizing behaviors and 0.20 [P < .0001] for internalizing behaviors).
A slightly higher proportion of the mothers in the experimental group were no longer married and living with the same partner that they had at the time of the birth of the index child (18.6% vs 16.1%), but the cluster-adjusted OR was not significantly elevated (1.2; 95% CI: 0.95–1.5). Neither were significant differences noted in the mother's satisfaction in her relationship with her current partner (mean ± SD: 4.8 ± 1.3 in both groups on 7-point scale; cluster-adjusted difference: 0.0; 95% CI: −0.3 to 0.3), with the index child (mean ± SD: 5.7 ± 1.2 vs 5.8 ± 1.3; cluster-adjusted difference: −0.3; 95% CI: −0.6 to 0.1), or with her general experience of motherhood (mean ± SD: 6.2 ± 1.2 vs 6.3 ± 1.2; cluster-adjusted difference: −0.2; 95% CI: −0.5 to 0.2).
Mothers in the experimental group breastfed their subsequent child (n = 3323) significantly longer than those in the control group. The means ± SD for any breastfeeding were 7.6 ± 6.4 vs 6.1 ± 5.9 months, respectively, with a cluster-adjusted difference of 1.5 (95% CI: 0.7–2.3). For exclusive breastfeeding, the corresponding results were 4.2 ± 3.3 vs 3.5 ± 3.2 months (cluster-adjusted difference: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.1–1.2). The proportions who exclusively breastfed their subsequent child for at least 3 months were 69.9% and 55.3%, respectively (cluster-adjusted OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.4–2.8).
Our results show no consistent and significant differences in behavioral strengths or difficulties in children who were cluster-randomized to a breastfeeding promotion intervention. Despite the substantial increase observed in both the duration and the exclusivity of breastfeeding in the experimental group,12 that increase did not lead to any detectable reductions in emotional difficulties, hyperactivity, or conduct or peer problems or to improvement in prosocial behavior. Because breast milk in Belarus is provided almost exclusively via breastfeeding (<0.5% of PROBIT infants were receiving expressed breast milk at any of the follow-up visits during the first 12 months of life), the absence of any behavioral benefits does not support our hypothesized advantage of increased maternal–infant physical contact.
Although it would have been infeasible and unethical to randomly assign healthy mothers and infants to breastfeeding versus formula-feeding or to different degrees and durations of breastfeeding, it was both feasible and ethical to randomly assign them to receive or not to receive a breastfeeding promotion intervention. Because that intervention resulted in substantial increases in both the exclusivity (sevenfold higher at 3 months) and duration of breastfeeding,12 our large sample size should have enabled us to detect modest differences in the child's behavior. Indeed, as previously reported, the intervention resulted in significant detectable reductions in gastrointestinal infection and atopic eczema,12 as well as significant differences in growth trajectories,23 during the first year of follow-up; however, because all PROBIT children were initially breastfed, our results cannot be generalized to long-term behavioral outcomes in infants who are breastfed versus those who are formula-fed; neither can they be extrapolated to behavioral outcomes later in childhood or adulthood.
In the consent that mothers gave to participate in this study, they were informed that the maternity hospital at which they had given birth and the affiliated polyclinic at which their child would be subsequently followed were participating in a study to compare 2 approaches to assist mothers in breastfeeding. Although mothers who received the additional support for breastfeeding offered at experimental maternity hospitals and polyclinics undoubtedly appreciated that support, most mothers were probably unaware whether their hospital and polyclinic had been randomly assigned to the experimental or control intervention; therefore, we have no reason to believe that study mothers would report biased assessments of their children's behavior. That we observed similar results for the teachers' blinded assessments reinforces the validity of those provided by the mothers, because the 4098 participating teachers were unaware of the children's participation in the study and had an average of only 3 or 4 PROBIT children in their class.
Correlations between the parents' and teachers' assessments of the children's behavior were only modest. This is consistent with previous reports on consistency of child behavior ratings across raters24 and likely reflects a combination of factors, including the parents' greater familiarity with the child's behavior, the fact that the child's behavior may differ substantially at home and in school, and the larger size of the teachers' comparison group (accumulated experience with children of that age).
Our aim was to assess effects of prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding not on severe psychopathology but rather on behavioral functioning and adjustment as evaluated by parents and teachers. We reasoned that any behavioral advantages conferred by more exclusive or prolonged breastfeeding should have been evident by early school age, given the frequent contact with other children at school and play and the academic and behavioral demands of the school setting. We therefore did not carry out formal clinical evaluations of psychopathology in study children. In any case, it would have been infeasible to ensure the presence of a child psychiatrist or psychologist for nearly 14000 child visits that occurred across the entire country, including many small towns and villages.
We found no evidence that the breastfeeding promotion intervention affected the mother's relationship with her partner or with her child nor her satisfaction with motherhood in general. We did, however, note a significant carryover effect on mothers' breastfeeding of the next-born child among those who gave birth to subsequent children, with longer duration of any breastfeeding and of exclusive breastfeeding. This significant carryover effect was observed despite our having provided a similar breastfeeding promotion training workshop at control maternity hospitals and polyclinics after the first 12 months of follow-up of all children who were enrolled in PROBIT. We have no information, however, on where these subsequent children were born or followed up or on change in maternity hospital or polyclinic practices after the training workshop at control sites. Nonetheless, this encouraging long-term result suggests that a successful breastfeeding experience with the previous child may encourage prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding of subsequent children.
This research is funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr Fombonne holds a Canada Research Chair in Child Psychiatry. Dr Platt is a Monat-McPherson Career Investigator of McGill University and a career investigator (chercheur-boursier) of the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec.
Address correspondence to Michael S. Kramer, MD, Montreal Children's Hospital, 2300 Tupper St (Les Tourelles), Montreal, Quebec H3H 1P3, Canada. E-mail: michael.kramer{at}mcgill.ca
The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
This trial has been registered at www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn (ISRCTN37687716).
PROBIT—Promotion of Breastfeeding Intervention Trial • SDQ—Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire • CI—confidence interval • OR—odds ratio • ICC—intraclass correlation coefficient
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Michael S. Kramer, Eric Fombonne, Sergei Igumnov, Irina Vanilovich, Lidia Matush, Elena Mironova, Natalia Bogdanovich, Richard E. Tremblay, Beverley Chalmers, Xun Zhang, Robert W. Platt
Pediatrics Mar 2008, 121 (3) e435-e440; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2007-1248
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