Prevalence and associated factors of non-exclusive breastfeeding of infants during the first six months in rural area of Sorro District,Southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background

Despite the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, a wide number of mothers practice non-exclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify prevalence and factors associated with non-exclusive breastfeeding in rural area of Sorro District in Southern Ethiopia.

Methods

A community based cross-sectional study was undertaken. The study population consisted of all mothers with infants aged of 0–5 months living in the randomly selected kebeles (lowest administrative unit) in the rural area of Sorro District. The study was conducted on 602 mothers with infants selected by using systematic sampling method from 12 August to 23 August 2015. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to assess the association between the study variables and to control possible confounding.

Results

The prevalence of non-exclusive breastfeeding in infants under 6 months was 49.4 %. Being currently unmarried [AOR (95 % CI)?=?3.85 (1.44, 10.27)], index infant’s age being within 2–3 months [AOR (95 % CI)?=?3.63 (2.06, 6.36)] and 4–5 months [AOR (95 % CI) =10.29 (5.60, 18.92)] compared to infant age 0–1 month, initiation of breastfeeding after 1 h of birth [AOR (95 % CI)?=?2.11 (1.37, 3.24)], no antenatal care visit during their last pregnancy [AOR (95 % CI) =2.60 (1.64, 4.10)] and no postnatal care visit after delivery [AOR (95 % CI)?=?1.90 (1.19, 3.04)] were significantly associated with non-exclusive breastfeeding.

Conclusion

In this study a large proportion of mothers with infants under 6 months of age were practicing non-exclusive breastfeeding which is one of the major risks for infant and child morbidity and mortality. Taking measures on identified associated factors with non-exclusive breastfeeding was recommended to improve the status of exclusive breastfeeding in the study area.

     

School Water,Sanitation, and Hygiene,Soil-Transmitted Helminths,and Schistosomes: National Mapping in Ethiopia

BackgroundIt is thought that improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) might reduce the transmission of schistosomes and soil-transmitted helminths, owing to their life cycles. However, few large-scale studies have yet assessed the real extent of associations between WASH and these parasites.Conclusions/SignificanceImproving school WASH may reduce transmission of these parasites. However, different forms of WASH appear to have different effects on infection with the various parasites, with our analysis finding the strongest associations between water and S. mansoni, sanitation and A. lumbricoides, and hygiene and hookworm.     

‘If an Eye Is Washed Properly,It Means It Would See Clearly’: A Mixed Methods Study of Face Washing Knowledge,Attitudes, and Behaviors in Rural Ethiopia

BackgroundFace cleanliness is a core component of the SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvements) strategy for trachoma control. Understanding knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to face washing may be helpful for designing effective interventions for improving facial cleanliness.MethodsIn April 2014, a mixed methods study including focus groups and a quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in the East Gojjam zone of the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Participants were asked about face washing practices, motivations for face washing, use of soap (which may reduce bacterial load), and fly control strategies.ResultsOverall, both knowledge and reported practice of face washing was high. Participants reported they knew that washing their own face and their children’s faces daily was important for hygiene and infection control. Although participants reported high knowledge of the importance of soap for face washing, quantitative data revealed strong variations by community in the use of soap for face washing, ranging from 4.4% to 82.2% of households reporting using soap for face washing. Cost and forgetfulness were cited as barriers to the use of soap for face washing. Keeping flies from landing on children was a commonly cited motivator for regular face washing, as was trachoma prevention.ConclusionsInterventions aiming to improve facial cleanliness for trachoma prevention should focus on habit formation (to address forgetfulness) and address barriers to the use of soap, such as reducing cost. Interventions that focus solely on improving knowledge may not be effective for changing face-washing behaviors.     

The phytomelanin layer in traditional members of Bidens and Coreopsis and phylogeny of the Coreopsideae (Compositae)

The phytomelanin layer on the pericarp of cypselae (achenes) of many members of traditional Bidens and Coreopsis, both considered polyphyletic, was studied with the help of scanning electron (SEM) and light (LM) microscopes. It is found to be more prominent in taxa kept within Bidens than in Coreopsis. The black ‘peg‐like’ phytomelanin found in traditional members of Bidens is also found in some members of Coreopsis. Some traditional members of Coreopsis display distinctive pericarp morphology but lack phytomelanin. The pericarp in Bidens is striated, i.e. it is interrupted by longitudinal bands of parenchyma through which the embryo emerges during seed germination. No striation was found in cypselae of traditional Coreopsis. Emergence of the seed in taxa with this type of pericarp morphology is observed to be by rupturing the carpel wall along the sutures. Characteristic morphology of the phytomelanin layer and other cellular secretions on the pericarp in representative species of these genera and segregates as well as the probable adaptive value of this layer and that of the parenchyma is discussed. Coreopsis sect. Tuckermannia (Nutt.) Blake, C. sect. Pugiopappus (A. Gray) Blake, and C. sect. Euleptosyne (A. Gray) Blake, are elevated to the genus Leptosyne DC., while Coreopsis sect. Electra (DC.) Blake is returned to Electra DC. A key to the segregate genera and the remaining sections of Coreopsis as well as new combinations and synonyms are provided.     

Defects of intergenomic communication: autosomal disorders that cause multiple deletions and depletion of mitochondrial DNA

Depletion and multiple deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been associated with a growing number of autosomal diseases that have been classified as defects of intergenomic communication. MNGIE, an autosomal recessive disorder associated with mtDNA alterations is due to mutations in thymidine phosphorylase that may cause imbalance of the mitochondrial nucleotide pool. Subsequently, mutations in the mitochondrial proteins adenine nucleotide translocator 1, Twinkle, and polymerase gamma have been found to cause autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia with multiple deletions of mtDNA. Uncovering the molecular bases of intergenomic communication defects will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for maintaining mtDNA integrity.     

Singular value decomposition-based regression identifies activation of endogenous signaling pathways in vivo

The ability to detect activation of signaling pathways based solely on gene expression data represents an important goal in biological research. We tested the sensitivity of singular value decomposition-based regression by focusing on functional interactions between the Ras and transforming growth factor beta signaling pathways. Our findings demonstrate that this approach is sufficiently sensitive to detect the secondary activation of endogenous signaling pathways as it occurs through crosstalk following ectopic activation of a primary pathway.     

Evaluation of major Acacia species in the nursery towards apicultural landscape restoration around Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Southwestern Saudi Arabia is described by a unique ecosystem and composed of apicultural landscapes where nearly 70% of the beekeeping activities are concentrated. However, this economically important resource is under continuous degradation threat urging restoration. Besides, profound information on the possible major biological components of future restoration; nursery level performances of the native plants, Acacia species is lacking. Hence, the study was aimed at evaluating performances of selected native Acacia species at nursery level as candidate biological tool for apicultural landscape restoration. For this, nine native Acacia species’ seedlings were prepared in accordance to appropriate techniques of nursery operations recommended for arid areas. Meanwhile, species were evaluated and compared based on some performance parameters. Accordingly, significant (P < 0.005) variations were observed among the species in shoot height, collar diameter, height to collar diameter ratio, number of leaves and seedling survival. Acacia origena Hunde, A. gerrardii Benth., and A. johnwoodii Boulos. were superior over the others in most parameters while A. etbaica Schiweinf. and A. asak (Forssk.) willd. were less vulnerable to chanced pathogens. Generally, nursery level performances of all Acacia species under experimentation were within the acceptable range and showed a remarkable score which may lead them to be considered as competent biological tools in the incorporation of the genotypes in apicultural landscape restoration efforts.     

Gaussian process regression model for normalization of LC-MS data using scan-level information

Background

Differences in sample collection, biomolecule extraction, and instrument variability introduce bias to data generated by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Normalization is used to address these issues. In this paper, we introduce a new normalization method using the Gaussian process regression model (GPRM) that utilizes information from individual scans within an extracted ion chromatogram (EIC) of a peak. The proposed method is particularly applicable for normalization based on analysis order of LC-MS runs. Our method uses measurement variabilities estimated through LC-MS data acquired from quality control samples to correct for bias caused by instrument drift. Maximum likelihood approach is used to find the optimal parameters for the fitted GPRM. We review several normalization methods and compare their performance with GPRM.

Results

To evaluate the performance of different normalization methods, we consider LC-MS data from a study where metabolomic approach is utilized to discover biomarkers for liver cancer. The LC-MS data were acquired by analysis of sera from liver cancer patients and cirrhotic controls. In addition, LC-MS runs from a quality control (QC) sample are included to assess the run to run variability and to evaluate the ability of various normalization method in reducing this undesired variability. Also, ANOVA models are applied to the normalized LC-MS data to identify ions with intensity measurements that are significantly different between cases and controls.

Conclusions

One of the challenges in using label-free LC-MS for quantitation of biomolecules is systematic bias in measurements. Several normalization methods have been introduced to overcome this issue, but there is no universally applicable approach at the present time. Each data set should be carefully examined to determine the most appropriate normalization method. We review here several existing methods and introduce the GPRM for normalization of LC-MS data. Through our in-house data set, we show that the GPRM outperforms other normalization methods considered here, in terms of decreasing the variability of ion intensities among quality control runs.