IMPLEMENTING A CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE DEMENTIA SCREENING TOOL FOR FILIPINO PATIENTS

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Breastfeeding patterns and exposure to suboptimal breastfeeding among children in developing countries: review and analysis of nationally representative surveys

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal breastfeeding is associated with higher mortality among infants and young children in the developing world. We describe patterns in 'exclusive breastfeeding' and 'any breastfeeding' rates and quantify exposure to suboptimal breastfeeding among children aged two years or younger in developing countries. METHODS: We reviewed nationally representative surveys that collected data on breastfeeding rates in 94 developing countries. Surveys were categorized by completeness and comprehensiveness of data. Complete and comprehensive data were analysed with minimum chi-square regression. With a fitting procedure, estimated parameters were used to impute missing observations for incomplete or non-comprehensive surveys. Breastfeeding indicators were calculated and are reported for 135 developing countries by UN region. RESULTS: Amongst infants aged six months or younger in the developing world, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding is 39% and the prevalence of no breastfeeding is 5.6%. The prevalence of continued breastfeeding is 86% and 68% for infants and children aged 6–11 and 12–23 months, respectively, in the developing world. Imputation expands population coverage of indicators, especially for infants. Breastfeeding trends are highly linear and estimated parameters defining the age-specific attrition hazard are robust. Survey-reported rates, particularly for exclusive breastfeeding, appear to have systematic upward bias, and exposure estimates must be considered conservative. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance with breastfeeding recommendations in developing countries is low, and more attention should be given to increasing breastfeeding – especially exclusive breastfeeding – and to monitoring trends. Although the introduction of more standardized and better validated survey instruments is desirable, since data coverage, completeness and comprehensiveness are extensive, global exposure assessment is relatively robust. Moreover, the regularity of breastfeeding patterns show existing survey data capture real biological and social phenomena. Our method for the analysis of breastfeeding rates provides a potent tool for summarizing trends, validating observations, translating and extrapolating indicators (as well as projecting and imputing estimates when necessary) and should support more effective child health monitoring

Two-Item Sentence Comprehension by a Dog (Canis familiaris)

Syntax use by non-human animals remains a controversial issue. We present here evidence that a dog may respond to verbal requests composed of two independent terms, one referring to an object and the other to an action to be performed relative to the object. A female mongrel dog, Sofia, was initially trained to respond to action (point and fetch) and object (ball, key, stick, bottle and bear) terms which were then presented as simultaneous, combinatorial requests (e.g. ball fetch, stick point). Sofia successfully responded to object-action requests presented as single sentences, and was able to flexibly generalize her performance across different contexts. These results provide empirical evidence that dogs are able to extract the information contained in complex messages and to integrate it in directed performance, an ability which is shared with other linguistically trained animals and may represent a forerunner of syntactic functioning

Chagas disease: an impediment in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Latin America

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Achieving sustainable economic and social growth through advances in health is crucial in Latin America within the framework of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Health-related Millennium Development Goals need to incorporate a multidimensional approach addressing the specific epidemiologic profile for each region of the globe. In this regard, addressing the cycle of destitution and suffering associated with infection with <it>Trypanosoma cruzi</it>, the causal agent of Chagas disease of American trypanosomiasis, will play a key role to enable the most impoverished populations in Latin America the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Most cases of Chagas disease occur among forgotten populations because these diseases persist exclusively in the poorest and the most marginalized communities in Latin America.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>Addressing the cycle of destitution and suffering associated with <it>T. cruzi </it>infection will contribute to improve the health of the most impoverished populations in Latin America and will ultimately grant them with the opportunity to achieve their full economic potential.</p

Evaluation of Cause of Deaths' Validity Using Outcome Measures from a Prospective, Population Based Cohort Study in Tehran, Iran

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of cause of death stated in death certificates in Tehran using outcome measures of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS), an ongoing prospective cohort study. METHODS: The cohort was established in 1999 in a population of 15005 people, 3 years old and over, living in Tehran; 3551 individuals were added to this population three years later. As part of cohort's outcome measures, deaths occurring in the cohort are investigated by a panel of medical specialists (Cohort Outcome Panel--COP) and underlying cause of death is determined for each death. The cause of death assigned in a deceased's original death certificate was evaluated against the cause of death determined by COP and sensitivity and positive predictive values (PPV) were determined. In addition, determinants of assigning accurate underlying cause of death were determined using logistic regression model. RESULT: A total of 231 death certificates were evaluated. The original death certificates over reported deaths due to neoplasms and underreported death due to circulatory system and transport accidents. Neoplasms with sensitivity of 0.91 and PPV of 0.71 were the most valid category. The disease of circulatory system showed moderate degree of validity with sensitivity of 0.67 and PPV of 0.78. The result of logistic regression indicated if the death certificate is issued by a general practitioner, there is 2.3 (95% CI 1.1, 5.1) times chance of being misclassified compared with when it is issued by a specialist. If the deceased is more than 60 years, the chance of misclassification would be 2.5 times (95% CI of 1.1, 5.9) compared with when the deceased is less than 60 years

‘Nothing about us without us’ : disabled people determining their human rights through the UNCRPD

The human rights and fundamental freedoms of disabled persons are set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). This paper firstly focuses on the importance of the involvement of disabled people at all levels of decision-making. The second part of the paper identifies those aspects of the UNCRPD that reflect the direct involvement of disabled people. Finally, it considers how human rights bodies can best build on this specific aspect of the UNCRPD in order to realize the potential of the Convention as a determining factor in affirming disabled people rights in an effective and meaningful manner.peer-reviewe

Sympathetic cooling of positrons to cryogenic temperatures for antihydrogen production

The positron, the antiparticle of the electron, predicted by Dirac in 1931 and discovered by Anderson in 1933, plays a key role in many scientific and everyday endeavours. Notably, the positron is a constituent of antihydrogen, the only long-lived neutral antimatter bound state that can currently be synthesized at low energy, presenting a prominent system for testing fundamental symmetries with high precision. Here, we report on the use of laser cooled Be+ ions to sympathetically cool a large and dense plasma of positrons to directly measured temperatures below 7 K in a Penning trap for antihydrogen synthesis. This will likely herald a significant increase in the amount of antihydrogen available for experimentation, thus facilitating further improvements in studies of fundamental symmetries