Motives for khat use and abstinence in Yemen - a gender perspective

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Khat consumption is widespread in Yemeni society and causes problems both in economic development and public health. Preventive measures have been largely unsuccessful and the cultivation continues to proliferate. The gender-specific motives for khat use and abstinence were studied to create a toe-hold for more specific interventions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a quota sample with equal numbers of males, females, abstainers and consumers, 320 subjects were interviewed on their specific opinions about khat and its impact on subjective and public health, and on social and community functioning. Strata were compared in their acceptance and denial of opinions. Notions that could predict abstinence status or gender were identified with multivariate logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Male khat users had a strong identification with khat use, while females were more ambivalent. The notion that khat consumption is a bad habit (odds ratio (OR) 3.4; p < 0.001) and consumers are malnuorished (OR 2.2; p = 0.046) were associated with female gender among khat users. Among the females worries about health impact (OR 3.2; p = 0.040) and loss of esteem in the family (OR 3.1; p = 0.048) when using khat predicted abstinence. Male abstainers opposed khat users in the belief that khat is the cause of social problems (OR 5.1, p < 0.001). Logistic regression reached an accuracy of 75 and 73% for the prediction of abstinence and 71% for gender among consumers. (All models p < 0.001.)</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Distinct beliefs allow a differentiation between males, females, khat users and abstainers when targeting preventive measures. In accordance to their specific values female khat users are most ambivalent towards their habit. Positive opinions scored lower than expected in the consumers. This finding creates a strong toe-hold for gender-specific public health interventions.</p

Growth and reproductive performance of Fogera cattle breed at Andassa Livestock Research Center

The objective was to evaluate the growth and reproductive performances of Fogera cattle breed at Andassa Livestock Research Center, Ethiopia. The data covers the period from 1992 to 2013 that were collected from farm records of the center. The fixed effects were birth year, season, sex, parity, mating type and dam source. The least squares means and standard errors of birth and weaning weight were 21.4±0.09 and 102±0.77 kg, respectively; whereas age at first service, age at first calving, calving interval and number of service per consumption were 38.9±0.72 month, 51.8±0.72 month, 19.5±0.32 month and 1.17±0.01, respectively. Weaning weight and other reproductive performance traits showed slight up and down trends across the years which indicated fluctuation of management and other husbandry practices at the center. Almost all the non-genetic factors considered in the study had an effect on the production and reproductive performances of the breed