High initiation and long duration of breastfeeding despite absence of early skin-to-skin contact in Karen refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border: a mixed methods study

Background

Early skin-to-skin contact (SSC) after birth is recommended as part of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) baby friendly health initiative to promote optimum breastfeeding. This paper reports rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration in a low resource environment, where early SSC is not practised, and explores views of pregnant women and midwives surrounding breastfeeding and swaddling.

Methods

Data from records from a single hospital on the Thai-Myanmar border where refugee women gave birth during a one-year period (2010) were used to determine breastfeeding initiation rates and the time of the first breastfeed, and duration of breastfeeding of the previous alive child in multigravidae. Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted to obtain information from pregnant women attending antenatal care about their intended or previous duration of breastfeeding and views on breastfeeding. Interviews with local midwives explored reasons for high rates of breastfeeding in this setting and the practice of newborn swaddling.

Results

Of 1404 live births in 2010 in Maela refugee camp there were 982 evaluable mother-newborn pairs, including 80 infants born before 37 weeks gestation. Initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after birth and exclusive breastfeeding at discharge in term mother-newborn pairs was 91.2% (823/902) and 99.3% (896/902); and before 37 weeks gestation, 48.8% (39/80) and 98.8% (79/80). Reported duration of previous breastfeeding was 19 (range 2 to 72) months.During FGD all primigravidae (n?=?17) intended to breastfeed and all multigravidae (n?=?33) had previously breastfed; expected or previous duration of feeding was for more than one year or longer. The major theme identified during FGD was breastfeeding is “good”. Women stated their intention to breastfeed with certainty. This certainty was echoed during the interviews with midwifery staff. SSC requires a delay in early swaddling that in Karen people, with animistic beliefs, could risk loss of the spirit of the newborn or attract malevolent spirits.

Conclusions

In a population with a strong culture of breastfeeding and robust breastfeeding practices, high rates of initiation and duration of breastfeeding were found despite a lack of early skin-to-skin contact. Local preferences, traditions and practices that protect, support and maintain high rates of breastfeeding should be promoted.

     

The maintenance of extreme amino acid diversity at the disease resistance gene, RPP13, in Arabidopsis thaliana

We have used the naturally occurring plant-parasite system of Arabidopsis thaliana and its common parasite Peronospora parasitica (downy mildew) to study the evolution of resistance specificity in the host population. DNA sequence of the resistance gene, RPP13, from 24 accessions, including 20 from the United Kingdom, revealed amino acid sequence diversity higher than that of any protein coding gene reported so far in A. thaliana. A significant excess of amino acid polymorphism segregating within this species is localized within the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domain of RPP13. These results indicate that single alleles of the gene have not swept through the population, but instead, a diverse collection of alleles have been maintained. Transgenic complementation experiments demonstrate functional differences among alleles in their resistance to various pathogen isolates, suggesting that the extreme amino acid polymorphism in RPP13 is maintained through continual reciprocal selection between host and pathogen.     

Identification of the active amino acid residue of the polypeptide of ATP-dependent protein breakdown

The heat-stable polypeptide of the ATP-dependent proteolytic system was previously found to form covalent conjugates with proteins and to be activated by ATP in an adenylylation mechanism. To identify the functional amino acid of the polypeptide, the activated residue was specifically labeled by the reductive cleavage of the intermediate with [3H]borohydride. Following acid hydrolysis, the reduced labeled derivative was found to be completely oxidizable by periodate with formation of [3H]formaldehyde, and was identified as ethanolamine by thin layer chromatography, electrophoresis, and amino acid analyzer chromatography. These results indicate that the activated amino acid residue of the polypeptide is COOH-terminal glycine.     

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in red kangaroos: isolation and characterisation of the causative organisms

This is the first report of cutaneous leishmaniasis in kangaroos where infection was acquired within Australia. The diagnosis is based on the clinical criteria used for humans, the lesion histopathology, the detection and isolation of parasites from the lesions, and the analysis of the small subunit ribosomal RNA genes using the polymerase chain reaction. Despite a clear indication that the parasites belong to the genus Leishmania, no assignation to a known Leishmania species could be made using these or other less conserved genetic loci such as the non-transcribed spacer of the mini-exon repeat. As is the case in humans, some but not all animals harbouring lesions had antibodies to the isolated parasites or to several other Leishmania species. The isolated parasites displayed two well characterised Leishmania glycoconjugates, the lipophosphoglycan and proteophosphoglycan. They were infectious for mouse macrophages in vitro and established long-term infection at 33 degrees C but not at 37 degrees C. Our findings raise the possibility of transmission to humans, which may be unrecognised and suggest the possibility that imported species of Leishmania could become endemic in Australia.     

Influence of food size and food quantity on the feeding of the mussel Dreissena polymorpha

Summary In common with many other suspension feeders, the freshwater mussel Dreissena polymorpha has a maximum filtration rate at low food concentrations and a maximum ingestion rate at high food concentrations. These high rates, which reflect the potential maximum food uptake of the animal, are called the filtration capacity and the ingestion capacity respectively. The ingestion capacity was attained without forming pseudofaeces with Chlamydomonas reinhardii as food. The incipient limiting level could be calculated as the quotient of these two values. A decrease of the filtration rate at high food concentrations was correlated with changes in pumping activity, which showed more frequent interruptions, or a lower level of water transport. Dreissena can filter out particles of diameter greater than 0.7 m from the water. Retention reaches a plateau at about 5 m particle diameter. Scanning electron micrographs of the arrangement of the cilia on the gill filaments are given.     

MITOSIS AND CYTOKINESIS IN THE PRASINOPHYCEAE. I. MANTONIELLA SQUAMATA (MANTON AND PARKE) DESIKACHARY

Mitosis in Mantoniella squamata (Manton and Parke) Desikachary, a small scale-covered green monad, is presented. Organelle replication precedes nuclear division and begins with the replication of the chloroplast. As the chloroplasts separate, the Golgi and flagellar apparatuses divide. The discoid microbody enlarges and becomes ‘V'-shaped, with the arms extending toward depressions in the pyrenoid stalks of the chloroplasts. At prophase, microtubules produced by an amorphous microtubule organizing center enter the nucleus via polar fenestre. The nuclear membrane remains intact. As the chloroplasts migrate further apart, the spindle pole-to-pole distance increases. By metaphase, daughter-cell lobes are discernible as a cleavage furrow, which appears as early as prophase, and begins to incise the cell. A single Golgi apparatus is situated near the spindle pole; the flagellar apparatus lies adjacent to the pole. The cleavage furrow continues to constrict the cell, resulting in a narrowing isthmus containing the elongate microbody, nucleus and a rootlet system connecting the basal bodies of the daughter flagella. At telophase, no extra-nuclear microtubular systems other than the previously observed rootlet are present and the nuclei remain separated from each other. In cells undergoing multiple divisions to produce more than two daughter cells, the orientation of organelles changes somewhat, with the basal bodies and the Golgi apparatus separating daughter nuclei prior to the onset of cytokinesis. The mechanics of mitosis in Mantoniella are compared with other green monads and the evolutionary implications discussed.     

Regulation of mammalian hexokinase: regulatory differences between isoenzyme I and II

Mammalian hexokinase isoenzymes I and II have been shown to differ qualitatively in response to various modifiers. Although both enzymes are inhibited by glucose 6-phosphate, only isoenzyme II exhibits a slow response to the presence of this inhibitor. P_i decreases the affinity of glucose 6-phosphate for Sarcoma 37 hexokinase I, but has no effect on hexokinase II from the same cell. P_i overcomes all of the inhibition of red cell hexokinase by glucose-6-P and hence the two effectors act competitively. At pH 6.5, catecholamines increase the V of isoenzyme I of Sarcoma 37 and brain in the soluble and mitochondrial forms but do not activate these forms of tumor isoenzyme II. Citrate activates brain and tumor isoenzyme I when they are inhibited by tris(hydroxy-methyl)aminomethylethane sulfonate (TES) and ADP; however, tumor isoenzyme II is not activated.     

Newly generated interspecific wine yeast hybrids introduce flavour and aroma diversity to wines

Increasingly, winemakers are looking for ways to introduce aroma and flavour diversity to their wines as a means of improving style and increasing product differentiation. While currently available commercial yeast strains produce consistently sound fermentations, there are indications that sensory complexity and improved palate structure are obtained when other species of yeast are active during fermentation. In this study, we explore a strategy to increase the impact of non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae inputs without the risks associated with spontaneous fermentations, through generating interspecific hybrids between a S. cerevisiae wine strain and a second species. For our experiments, we used rare mating to produce hybrids between S. cerevisiae and other closely related yeast of the Saccharomyces sensu stricto complex. These hybrid yeast strains display desirable properties of both parents and produce wines with concentrations of aromatic fermentation products that are different to what is found in wine made using the commercial wine yeast parent. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that the introduction of genetic material from a non-S. cerevisiae parent into a wine yeast background can impact favourably on the wine flavour and aroma profile of a commercial S. cerevisiae wine yeast.