Religiosity and condom use with casual sex partners in Ghana

Level of religiosity is an indicator of the degree of involvement of people in religious beliefs/activities and a measure of attitudes to sexual-related activities, such as casual sex or using condoms to avert unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections. This paper uses nationally representative cross-sectional data collected in 2011/2012 to examine the relationship between religiosity and the likelihood of engaging in casual sex and condom use in Ghana. A sample of 4,168 males and females was used to assess sexual activities and condom use with casual sexual partner using binary logistic regression analysis. The study was based on the Reference Group Theory which suggests that religious teachings often dictate the sexual behaviors/attitudes of individuals and was informed by the fact that most conventional religions discourage pre-marital sex and adultery. The study examined how religiosity expressed by individuals impacts casual sex, which is considered a form of adultery. An attempt was made to discover if religiosity impacts condom use as a form of protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy. The results indicate that persons who attend religious meetings more than once a week are less likely to have a casual sexual partner compared to others who attend occasionally or less frequently. No differences between groups with lower level of religiosity are apparent. The level of religiosity did not affect condom use among those who have sex, when other variables are controlled for. Differences in age, sex, level of education, rural/urban residency and marital status are statistically related to condom use with a casual sex partner. The paper concludes that condom use with a casual sex partner may not largely depend on how religious or otherwise one may be, but rather on the individual’s risk perception based on a person’s socioeconomic status, particularly with respect to a person’s level of education

Relationship between clinical signs and postmortem test status in cattle experimentally infected with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Various clinical protocols have been developed to aid in the clinical diagnosis of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which is confirmed by postmortem examinations based on vacuolation and accumulation of disease-associated prion protein (PrP^d) in the brain. The present study investigated the occurrence and progression of sixty selected clinical signs and behaviour combinations in 513 experimentally exposed cattle subsequently categorised postmortem as confirmed or unconfirmed BSE cases. Appropriate undosed or saline inoculated controls were examined similarly and the data analysed to explore the possible occurrence of BSE-specific clinical expression in animals unconfirmed by postmortem examinations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on the display of selected behavioural, sensory and locomotor changes, 20 (67%) orally dosed and 17 (77%) intracerebrally inoculated pathologically confirmed BSE cases and 21 (13%) orally dosed and 18 (6%) intracerebrally inoculated but unconfirmed cases were considered clinical BSE suspects. None of 103 controls showed significant signs and were all negative on diagnostic postmortem examinations. Signs indicative of BSE suspects, particularly over-reactivity and ataxia, were more frequently displayed in confirmed cases with vacuolar changes in the brain. The display of several BSE-associated signs over time, including repeated startle responses and nervousness, was significantly more frequent in confirmed BSE cases compared to controls, but these two signs were also significantly more frequent in orally dosed cattle unconfirmed by postmortem examinations.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings confirm that in experimentally infected cattle clinical abnormalities indicative of BSE are accompanied by vacuolar changes and PrP^daccumulation in the brainstem. The presence of more frequently expressed signs in cases with vacuolar changes is consistent with this pathology representing a more advanced stage of disease. That BSE-like signs or sign combinations occur in inoculated animals that were not confirmed as BSE cases by postmortem examinations requires further study to investigate the potential causal relationship with prion disease.</p

Legacy effects override soil properties for CO 2 and N 2 O but not CH 4 emissions following digestate application to soil

The application of organic materials to soil can recycle nutrients and increase organic matter in agricultural lands. Digestate can be used as a nutrient source for crop production but it has also been shown to stimulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from amended soils. While edaphic factors, such as soil texture and pH, have been shown to be strong determinants of soil GHG fluxes, the impact of the legacy of previous management practices is less well understood. Here we aim to investigate the impact of such legacy effects and to contrast them against soil properties to identify the key determinants of soil GHG fluxes following digestate application. Soil from an already established field experiment was used to set up a pot experiment, to evaluate N2O, CH4 and CO2 fluxes from cattle‐slurry‐digestate amended soils. The soil had been treated with farmyard manure, green manure or synthetic N‐fertilizer, 18 months before the pot experiment was set up. Following homogenization and a preincubation stage, digestate was added at a concentration of 250 kg total N/ha eq. Soil GHG fluxes were then sampled over a 64 day period. The digestate stimulated emissions of the three GHGs compared to controls. The legacy of previous soil management was found to be a key determinant of CO2 and N2O flux while edaphic variables did not have a significant effect across the range of variables included in this experiment. Conversely, edaphic variables, in particular texture, were the main determinant of CH4 flux from soil following digestate application. Results demonstrate that edaphic factors and current soil management regime alone are not effective predictors of soil GHG flux response following digestate application. Knowledge of the site management in terms of organic amendments is required to make robust predictions of the likely soil GHG flux response following digestate application to soil

Coughing May Lead to Spontaneous Chylothorax and Chylous Ascites

Chylous ascites is a rare form of ascites resulting from the accumulation of lymph in the abdominal cavity. It is due to an interruption in the lymphatic system. Surgical management is indicated in cases of recurrence or failure after conservative treatment. We report a case of spontaneous chylous peritonitis after chylothorax, which is a rare clinical event. The primary reason was unclear and the outcome of medical and surgical treatment was successful

Diets containing the highest levels of dairy products are associated with greater eutrophication potential but higher nutrient intakes and lower financial cost in the United Kingdom

Purpose: Previously, the nutritional contribution, environmental and financial costs of dairy products have been examined independently. Our aim was to determine the nutritional adequacy, financial cost and environmental impact of UK diets according to dairy content. Methods: in this cross-sectional study of adults (19–64 years) from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey years 1–4 (n = 1655), dietary intakes assessed from 4-day estimated food diaries were organized into quartiles (Q) total grams of dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, dairy desserts) and analyzed using ANCOVA controlling for age, sex and energy intake with Bonferroni post hoc test for nutritional adequacy, Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI-2010), environmental impact [greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE), eutrophication and acidification potentials], financial cost, markers of health and cardio-metabolic diseases. Results: nutritional adequacy, particularly for protein, calcium and iodine (+ 18 g, + 533 mg, + 95 g, respectively, all P < 0.0001) and AHEI-2010 (P < 0.0001) were significantly higher and systolic BP (− 2 mmHg, P = 0.019) was significantly lower for the higher-dairy diets (Q4, 274–1429 g/day dairy), compared with diets containing lower dairy (Q1, 0–96 g/ day dairy). Diets in Q4 had lower financial cost (− 19%, P < 0.0001) and the greatest eutrophication potential, compared with Q1 (+ 29%, P < 0.0001). Yet the environmental (GHGE) and financial costs per unit nutrient (riboflavin, zinc, iodine, magnesium, calcium, potassium) were lower in Q4 than Q1 (all P < 0.0001). Conclusion: diets with the highest dairy content had higher nutrient composition, better diet quality, were associated with lower BP and financial cost, but with higher eutrophication potential. Robust environmental data for many of food groups are limited and this needs an urgent addressing. Trial registration: this trial was registered on clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03407248