Baby bottle tooth decay occurs in young children when their teeth or gums are exposed to infant formula, milk, juice, or other sweet drinks for long periods of time. This often happens when infants or toddlers fall asleep while sucking on a bottle. Breastfed infants are usually not at risk, unless they feed for extended periods. The carbohydrates in the drink (lactose in milk, or fructose in fruit drinks) mix with the normal bacteria in the mouth. This bacteria is found in the plaque on teeth and gums. When plaque mixes with carbohydrates, acids are formed that dissolve tooth enamel, causing tooth decay and dental caries. To prevent baby bottle tooth decay, a child should not be put in bed with a bottle; and the bottle should be taken away as soon as mealtime is over. Further, only formula or water should be put in a bottle; juices and sweet drinks should be offered in a cup.

SEE ALSO INFANT NUTRITION; ORAL HEALTH.

Heidi J. Silver

Bibliography

American Dietetic Association (1996). "Oral Health and Nutrition: Position of the American Dietetic Association." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 96:184–189.

Johnsen, D. and Nowjack-Raymer, R. (1989). "Baby Bottle Tooth Decay (BBTD): Issues, Assessment, and an Opportunity for the Nutritionist." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 89:1112–1116.

Internet Resource

American Academy of Pediatrics. Baby Bottle Tooth Decay. Available from <http://medem.com>

(SEE: Lifestyles)

Baby bonds are savings-type securities that are available in small dollar denominations, typically $5000 or less. In the past, small dollar bonds were common in the United States, especially during wartime. During the Civil War, for example, the Union government financed most of the costs of fighting the war by selling baby bonds, often in amounts of $50 or less. During World War I, bonds again helped pay for U.S. war efforts; the popular Liberty Bonds were available in denominations as low as 25 cents.

In 1935, the U.S. government issued a series of bonds that are also commonly referred to as baby bonds. Launched in March of that year, the bonds were the first savings-type bond to be offered to the average, everyday investor. Bonds issued that year were known as A bonds, with B bonds following in 1936, C bonds in 1937 and 1938, and D bonds from 1938 to 1941. The bonds were a huge success, as the government raised a total of $3.9 billion selling the low-denomination bonds to citizens.

The bonds were sold at 75 percent of face value in denominations that ranged from $75 to $1000. They had a 10-year maturity period, and if they were held for the entire 10-year period, they accrued interest at 2.9 percent, compounded semi-annually. Available across the country at every branch of the U.S. Post Office (or from the U.S. Treasurer's office), the bonds featured tax-free interest. While most of the baby bonds have already been cashed in, they still pop up from time to time today when elderly customers of the early savings bonds pass away. The government still honors the bonds and will pay up the full face value of $1,000 if they are cashed in.

In the current bond market, the term baby bonds does not usually refer to those early U.S. government bonds, but instead to small denomination municipal bonds issued by cities and states to fund construction and other high-cost projects. The bonds typically have maturity periods of 8 to 15 years and are zero coupon bonds, usually rated A or better on the bond market. There is no purchase commission on the bonds, and they are typically bought in person by the small investor from the city or state treasurer's office that is issuing the bonds. An example of a baby bond is one issued by the city of New York. As described in Forbes, it offered a bond that could be purchased for $975 that held a $5000 face value if redeemed at full-term in the year 2019, which is a 6.4 percent interest yield.

Buyers are responsible for managing the bonds themselves, from finding a safe place to keep the actual bond, to knowing when the bond has reached maturity and can be cashed in. The bonds can be deposited in a regular brokerage account, if the buyer has one, and some financial institutions are recognizing that baby bonds are a growing market and are beginning to offer management services. The first such service was offered in 1993 by the Midwest Securities Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Chicago Stock Exchange. Under the company's Baby Bond Safekeeping Program, small investors who owned bonds of less than $1000 in face value received book-entry settlement, automated payment of interest and redemption money, and safekeeping of the bonds themselves. According to The Bond Buyer, more than 2,000 bonds were entered into the program in its first five days.

In the late 1990s, another type of bond was gaining popularity under the name baby bond. First launched in England, this type of baby bond is a savings instrument that parents can use to build a nest egg for their child. Under a baby bond plan, parents contribute money to a tax-free bond fund that guarantees a minimum lump sum payment to their child when the child reaches the age of 18. The plan has to last a minimum of 10 years, during which time the parents can make monthly contributions ranging from 10 to 25 British pounds. Participants did not have to pay income tax or capital gains taxes on the baby bond investments.

FURTHER READING:

" 'Baby Bonds' Are Offered Safekeeping in New Service from Chicago Exchange." The Bond Buyer. December 13, 1993.

"It's Tough to Kiss Babies Good-Bye." Forbes. June 21, 1993.

SEE ALSO: Bonds

In basic English usage, an infant is defined as a human child at the youngest stage of life, specifically before they can walk and generally before the age of one (see also child and adolescent).

The term "infant" derives from the Latin word in-fans, meaning "unable to speak." There is no exact definition for infancy. "Infant" is also a legal term with the meaning of minor; that is, any child under the age of legal adulthood.

A human infant less than a month old is a newborn infant or a neonate. The term "newborn" includes premature infants, postmature infants and full term newborns.

Upon reaching the age of one or beginning to walk, infants are subsequently referred to as "toddlers" (generally 12-36 months). Daycares with an "infant room" often call all children in it "infants" even if they are older than a year and/or walking; they sometimes use the term "walking infant".

The newborn

Appearance

A newborn's shoulders and hips are narrow, the abdomen protrudes slightly, and the arms and legs are relatively short. The average birth weight of a full-term newborn is approximately 7 ½ lbs.(3.2 kg), but is typically in the range of 5.5–10 pounds (2.7–4.6 kg). The average total body length is 14–20 inches (35.6–50.8 cm), although premature newborns may be much smaller. The Apgar score is a measure of a newborn's transition from the uterus during the first minutes of life.

A newborn's head is very large in proportion to the rest of the body, and the cranium is enormous relative to his or her face. While the adult human skull is about 1/8 of the total body length, the newborn's is about 1/4. At birth, many regions of the newborn's skull have not yet been converted to bone, leaving "soft spots" known as fontanels. The two largest are the diamond-shaped anterior fontanel, located at the top front portion of the head, and the smaller triangular-shaped posterior fontanel, which lies at the back of the head. Later in the child's life, these bones will fuse together in a natural process. A protein called noggin is responsible for the delay in an infant's skull fusion.

During labour and birth, the infant's skull changes shape to fit through the birth canal, sometimes causing the child to be born with a misshapen or elongated head. It will usually return to normal on its own within a few days or weeks. Special exercises sometimes advised by physicians may assist the process.

Some newborns have a fine, downy body hair called lanugo. It may be particularly noticeable on the back, shoulders, forehead, ears and face of premature infants. Lanugo disappears within a few weeks. Likewise, not all infants are born with lush heads of hair. Some may be nearly bald while others may have very fine, almost invisible hair. Some babies are even born with a full head of hair. Amongst fair-skinned parents, this fine hair may be blond, even if the parents are not. The scalp may also be temporarily bruised or swollen, especially in hairless newborns, and the area around the eyes may be puffy.

Immediately after birth, a newborn's skin is often grayish to dusky blue in color. As soon as the newborn begins to breathe, usually within a minute or two, the skin's color returns to its normal tone. Newborns are wet, covered in streaks of blood, and coated with a white substance known as vernix caseosa, which is hypothesised to act as an antibacterial barrier. The newborn may also have Mongolian spots, various other birthmarks, or peeling skin, particularly on the wrists, hands, ankles, and feet.

A newborn's genitals are enlarged and reddened, with male infants having an unusually large scrotum. The breasts may also be enlarged, even in male infants. This is caused by naturally-occurring maternal hormones and is a temporary condition. Females (and even males) may actually discharge milk from their nipples (sometimes called witch's milk), and/or a bloody or milky-like substance from the vagina. In either case, this is considered normal and will disappear in time.

The umbilical cord of a newborn is bluish-white in color. After birth, the umbilical cord is normally cut, leaving a 1–2 inch stub. The umbilical stub will dry out, shrivel, darken, and spontaneously fall off within about 3 weeks. Occasionally, hospitals may apply triple dye to the umbilical stub to prevent infection, which may temporarily color the stub and surrounding skin purple.

Newborns lose many of the above physical characteristics quickly. Thus prototypical older babies look very different. While older babies are considered "cute", newborns can be "unattractive" by the same criteria and first time parents may need to be educated in this regard.

The newborn's senses

Newborns can feel all different sensations, but respond most enthusiastically to soft stroking, cuddling and caressing. Gentle rocking back and forth often calms a crying infant, as do massages and warm baths. Newborns may comfort themselves by sucking their thumb, or a pacifier. The need to suckle is instinctive (see suction in biology) and allows newborns to feed.

Newborn infants have unremarkable vision, being able to focus on objects only about 18 inches (45 cm) directly in front of their face. While this may not be much, it is all that is needed for the infant to look at the mother’s eyes or areola when breastfeeding. Generally, a newborn cries when wanting to feed. When a newborn is not sleeping, or feeding, or crying, he or she may spend a lot of time staring at random objects. Usually anything that is shiny, has sharp contrasting colors, or has complex patterns will catch an infant's eye. However, the newborn has a preference for looking at other human faces above all else. (see also: infant metaphysics and infant vision)

While still inside the mother, the infant could hear many internal noises, such as the mother's heartbeat, as well as many external noises including human voices, music and most other sounds. Therefore, although a newborn's ears may have some catarrh and fluid, he or she can hear sound from before birth. Newborns usually respond to a female voice over a male voice. This may explain why people will unknowingly raise the pitch of their voice when talking to newborns. The sound of other human voices, especially the mother's, can have a calming or soothing effect on the newborn. Conversely, loud or sudden noises will startle and scare a newborn.

Newborns can respond to different tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter, and salty substances, with a preference toward sweets.

A newborn has a developed sense of smell at birth, and within the first week of life can already distinguish the differences between the mother's own breast milk and the breast milk of another female.

Infant mortality

Care and feeding

Infants cry as a form of basic instinctive communication. A crying infant may be trying to express a variety of feelings including hunger, discomfort, overstimulation, boredom or loneliness. Many caregivers employ the use of baby monitors or babycams which enable them to hear or see an infant's cries from another room.

Feeding is typically done by breastfeeding, which is the recommended method of feeding by all major infant health organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, if breastfeeding is not possible or desired, bottle feeding may be done with expressed breast-milk or with infant formula. Infants have a sucking instinct allowing them to extract the milk from the nipples of the breasts or the nipple of the baby bottle, as well as an instinctive behavior known as rooting with which they seek out the nipple. Sometimes a wet nurse is hired to feed the infant, although this is rare, especially in developed countries.

As infants age, and their appetites grow, many parents choose from a variety of commercial, ready-made baby foods to supplement breast milk or formula for the child, while others adapt their usual meals for the dietary needs of their child. Infants are incontinent, therefore diapers are generally used in industrialized countries, while methods similar to elimination communication are common in third world countries. Practitioners of these techniques assert that babies can control their bodily functions at the age of six months and that they are aware when they are urinating at an even earlier age. Babies can learn to signal to the parents when it is time to urinate or defecate by turning or making noises. Parents have to pay attention to the baby's actions so they can learn the signals.

Children need a relatively larger amount of sleep to function correctly (up to 18 hours for newborn babies, with a declining rate as the child ages).

Babies cannot walk, although more mature infants may crawl or scoot; baby transport may be by perambulator (stroller or buggy), on the back or in front of an adult in a special carrier, cloth or cradle board, or simply by being carried in the arms. Most industrialized countries have laws requiring infants to be placed in special child safety seats when in motor vehicles.

Infants' social presence is different from that of adults, and they may be the focus of attention. Fees for transportation and entrance fees at locations such as amusement parks or museums are often waived. This special attention will wear out as the child grows older.

Common care issues for infants:

• Baby colic and/or gas.
• Childhood development.
• Hygiene:
• Bathing or showering.
• Umbilical cord and navel.
• Day care.
• Diaper rash.
• Feeding: Breastfeeding or Infant formula (Baby bottle).
• Immunization.
• Paternal bond.
• Pacifier use.
• Sleep: bassinet and infant bed.
• Teething.

Attachment

Attachment theory is primarily an evolutionary and ethological theory whereby the infant or child seeks proximity to a specified attachment figure in situations of alarm or distress, for the purpose of survival. The forming of attachments is considered to be the foundation of the infant/childs's capacity to form and conduct relationships throughout life. Attachment is not the same as love and/or affection although they often go together. Attachment and attachment behaviors tend to develop between the age of 6 months and 3 years. Infants become attached to adults who are sensitive and responsive in social interactions with the infant, and who remain as consistent caregivers for some time. Parental responses lead to the development of patterns of attachment which in turn lead to 'internal working models' which will guide the individuals feelings thoughts and expectations in later relationships. There are a number of attachment 'styles' namely 'secure', 'anxious-ambivalent', 'anxious-avoidant', (all 'organized') and 'disorganized', some of which are more problematical than others. A lack of attachment or a seriously disrupted capacity for attachment could potentially amount to serious disorders.

Bibliography

References

See also

External links

• Discovery Health's Parenting Games
• Discovery Health's Infant & Toddler Center
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• CIA FactBook with infant mortality rates in different countries and other health indicators
• The World Health Report 2005 – Make Every Mother and Child
• Your Baby's Eyes
• GMA NEWS.TV, video, (Filipino language) Baby born without skull - 01/19/2008

The computer was built around a Williams tube, a particular type of cathode ray tube (CRT) which had been developed by Williams at the Telecommunications Research Establishment in July-November 1946, before he joined the University of Manchester in December 1946. Working with Kilburn at the university they increased the storage capacity of the CRT from one bit to 2048-bits by October 1947 using a 64 by 32 array. This could be used for a computer's memory, with the advantage of allowing random access to memory, rather than the sequential access of the delay line memory units.

The SSEM was a very limited machine, designed to test the Williams tube and other hardware rather than as a practical computer. The SSEM had a single 32 by 32-bit word store, a second CRT to hold a single 32-bit accumulator, and a third CRT to hold the current instruction and its address. A fourth CRT was the output device, displaying the bit pattern of any chosen storage tube. The input device was a set of 32 buttons with manual switches to set the bit pattern of any word.

A whole 32-bit word was used for each instruction. Bits 0–12 represented the memory address of the operand to be used and bits 13–15 the defined the operation to be applied to the data. The other 16-bits of the instruction were unused. The second operand of any operation was the accumulator i.e. the SSEM had a single operand architecture. An instruction was executed in 1.2 milliseconds and the main store was refreshed every 16 instructions.

Storage on the SSEM was very limited, it could store a total of only 32 numbers and 32 instructions. The instruction set was also very limited. As only 3-bits were available to identify the operation in an instruction, there was a maximum 8 (2³) different instructions. The initial seven instructions were:

• Jump to the instruction at the specified memory address.
• Relative jump indirect.
• Take the number from the specified memory address, negate it, and load it into the accumulator.
• Store the number in the accumulator at the specified memory address.
• Subtract the value at the specified memory address from the accumulator, and store the result in the accumulator.
• If the value in the accumulator is negative, skip the next instruction.
• Stop.

It is worth note that there was no add instruction. This was due to the need to minimise the size of the instruction set; an "add" could be constructed using the subtract instruction.

A division program was written, using pencil-and-paper method, operating on one bit at a time. It was used to divide 2³⁰-1 by 31, giving the answer in about 1.5 seconds. Then this routine was used in a program to show that 314,159,265 and 217,828,183 are relatively prime. Finally, a program was written to find the largest divisor of integers, by testing all numbers from a starting point down as possible divisors, with repeated subtraction used for division. This program consisted 17 instructions and it was written by Kilburn. (A 19-instruction amended version of it has been published.) It ran successfully on June 21, 1948, first on small integers. Within a few days it was run on 2³⁰-1 by trying every number from 2¹⁸-1 down. It ran for 52 minutes, executing 3.5 million accesses to memory and 2.1 million instructions, and produced the correct answer.

The SSEM developed into the Manchester Mark I, which led to the Ferranti Mark I, the world's second commercially available general-purpose computer. At around the same time EDSAC was being developed at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory.

A working replica of the SSEM was created in 1998 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the running of its first program. This is on display at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.

References

• A History of Computing Technology, by Michael R. Williams, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1997.
• Annals of the History of Computing, Vol 27, No. 3, Jul-Sep 2005, IEEE Computer Society
• History of Manchester Computers, S.H. Lavington, NCC Publications, Manchester 1975, ISBN 0-85012-155-8

External links

• Computer 50
• A brief history of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine
• Computer Conservation Society
• Anderson, David "Was the Manchester Baby conceived at Bletchley Park?". Alan Mathison Turing 2004: A celebration of his life and achievements .
• Manchester Baby Simulator software