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Showing posts from January, 2016

Breast Milk & Baby Spit

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Last summer Angela Garbes interviewed me for an incredible essay “ The More I Learn About Breast Milk, The More Amazed I Am .” A subject we discussed was one of those things you can’t unlearn: Baby Spit Backwash. During the interview, I emphasized that the specific "baby saliva triggers immunofactors to increase in breastmilk" remains a hypothesis. But key links in this pathway have been empirically demonstrated: Artwork by Kd Neely 1) Moms increase the concentration of some immunofactors in breastmilk when babies are sick (but moms are not) (Hassiotou et al. 2013; Breakey et al. 2015). 2) When babies suckle, nipple diameter increases and  there is a vacuum with negative pressure,  delivering fluids  from the infant oral cavity — a cocktail of milk and saliva— back into the ducts of the breast. For the record the technical term for "baby spit backwash" is "retrograde milk flow" ( Geddes et al. 2008;  Geddes 2009;  Geddes et al. 2012; Ramsey et al. 2004 ).

Work in Progress: Changing Academic Culture

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I find myself often thinking of the Make Love, Not Warcraft episode of South Park. Every time Stan, Cartman, Kyle and Kenny load into Azeroth to go questing, a way-higher-level dude shows up and kills them , even though they don’t agree to duel. They concoct an elaborate long-term strategy to avoid the guy by hiding in the forest, slaying boars, to gain levels in order to eventually be strong enough to defeat him. The exchange at the end is the most poignant to me.   Stan: I can't believe it's all over. What do we do now? Cartman: What do you mean? Now we can finally play the game. Unlike a cartoon about a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game , however, there isn’t just one person ruining the game. There is an entire academic culture organized around professional privilege and imbalances of power. And multiple harassers and assaulters are navigating these landscapes targeting vulnerable trainees . In the midst of whispers, outright disclosures, and even confirmatory