Food assistance to tuberculosis patients: lessons from Afghanistan.

Poverty, food insecurity and poor nutrition in the population are important contributors to the burden of tuberculosis (TB). For poor and food-insecure individuals, accessing and successfully completing anti-tuberculosis treatment over an extended period of time is challenging. Food and nutritional support as an incentive and enabler is employed by national TB control programmes (NTPs) worldwide as a means to encourage treatment initiation and adherence and to improve the nutritional status of patients with TB. It also offers a safety net for food-insecure households affected by TB to mitigate the financial consequences of the disease. This paper reports on the primary lessons from the review of the World Food Programme's (WFP's) Food Assistance Programme for TB patients in Afghanistan. It aims to inform the design, implementation and scale-up of TB programmes in settings where food insecurity and malnutrition are prevalent. It also documents qualitative findings that suggest that patients, their families and providers viewed food support as an important asset and an essential element of the national TB control strategy. While the impact on treatment success or case detection could not be quantified, it is likely that the WFP intervention had a positive impact on the patients and their households, therefore contributing to the success of the DOTS-based NTP

Are low tolerable upper intake levels for vitamin a undermining effective food fortification efforts?

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major health problem, particularly in low-resource countries, putting an estimated 125-130 million preschool-aged children at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. Vitamin A supplementation reduces VAD and increases child survival; it is complemented by fortifying foods with vitamin A. Concern over increased risk of bone fracture associated with vitamin A intakes below the tolerable upper intake level (UL) among populations in affluent countries conflicts with the need to increase intakes in less developed countries, where populations are at greater risk of VAD and intakes are unlikely to reach the UL as diets include fewer foods containing retinol while vitamin A from carotenoids poses no risk of overdose. With the implementation of recently developed risk management tools, vitamin A can be used safely in food fortification, including point-of-use fortification in the context of supplementation among specific target groups in low-resource countrie

Photoproduction of pi0 omega off protons for E(gamma) < 3 GeV

Differential and total cross-sections for photoproduction of gamma proton to proton pi0 omega and gamma proton to Delta+ omega were determined from measurements of the CB-ELSA experiment, performed at the electron accelerator ELSA in Bonn. The measurements covered the photon energy range from the production threshold up to 3GeV.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figure

The {\eta}'-carbon potential at low meson momenta

The production of $\eta^\prime$ mesons in coincidence with forward-going protons has been studied in photon-induced reactions on $^{12}$C and on a liquid hydrogen (LH$_2$) target for incoming photon energies of 1.3-2.6 GeV at the electron accelerator ELSA. The $\eta^\prime$ mesons have been identified via the $\eta^\prime\rightarrow \pi^0 \pi^0\eta \rightarrow 6 \gamma$ decay registered with the CBELSA/TAPS detector system. Coincident protons have been identified in the MiniTAPS BaF$_2$ array at polar angles of $2^{\circ} \le \theta _{p} \le 11^{\circ}$. Under these kinematic constraints the $\eta^\prime$ mesons are produced with relatively low kinetic energy ($\approx$ 150 MeV) since the coincident protons take over most of the momentum of the incident-photon beam. For the C-target this allows the determination of the real part of the $\eta^\prime$-carbon potential at low meson momenta by comparing with collision model calculations of the $\eta^\prime$ kinetic energy distribution and excitation function. Fitting the latter data for $\eta^\prime$ mesons going backwards in the center-of-mass system yields a potential depth of V = $-$(44 $\pm$ 16(stat)$\pm$15(syst)) MeV, consistent with earlier determinations of the potential depth in inclusive measurements for average $\eta^\prime$ momenta of $\approx$ 1.1 GeV/$c$. Within the experimental uncertainties, there is no indication of a momentum dependence of the $\eta^\prime$-carbon potential. The LH$_2$ data, taken as a reference to check the data analysis and the model calculations, provide differential and integral cross sections in good agreement with previous results for $\eta^\prime$ photoproduction off the free proton.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1608.0607

Relationship of homestead food production with night blindness among children below 5 years of age in Bangladesh

Abstract Objective To examine the relationship between homestead food production and night blindness among pre-school children in rural Bangladesh in the presence of a national vitamin A supplementation programme. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting A population-based sample of six rural divisions of Bangladesh assessed in the Bangladesh Nutrition Surveillance Project 2001-2005. Subjects A total of 158 898 children aged 12-59 months. Results The prevalence rates of night blindness in children among those who did and did not receive vitamin A capsules in the last 6 months were 0·07 % and 0·13 %, respectively. Given the known effect of vitamin A supplementation on night blindness, the analysis was stratified by children's receipt of vitamin A capsules in the last 6 months. Among children who did not receive vitamin A capsules in the last 6 months, the lack of a home garden was associated with increased odds of night blindness (OR = 3·16, 95 % CI 1·76, 5·68; P = 0·0001). Among children who received vitamin A capsules in the last 6 months, the lack of a home garden was not associated with night blindness (OR = 1·28, 95 % CI 0·71, 2·31; P = 0·4). Conclusions Homestead food production confers a protective effect against night blindness among pre-school children who missed vitamin A supplementation in rural Banglades

Photoproduction of meson pairs: First measurement of the polarization observable I^s

The polarization observable I^s, a feature exclusive to the acoplanar kinematics of multi-meson final states produced via linearly polarized photons, has been measured for the first time. Results for the reaction g p -> p pi0 eta are presented for incoming photon energies between 970 MeV and 1650 MeV along with the beam asymmetry I^c. The comparably large asymmetries demonstrate a high sensitivity of I^s to the dynamics of the reaction. Fits using Bonn-Gatchina partial wave analysis demonstrate that the new polarization observables carry significant information on the contributing partial waves.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, v2 to appear in Phys. Lett.

High statistics study of the reaction γp→p 2π0\gamma p\to p\;2\pi^0

The photoproduction of 2$\pi^0$ mesons off protons was studied with the Crystal Barrel/TAPS experiment at the electron accelerator ELSA in Bonn. The energy of photons produced in a radiator was tagged in the energy range from 600\,MeV to 2.5\,GeV. Differential and total cross sections and $p\pi^0\pi^0$ Dalitz plots are presented. Part of the data was taken with a diamond radiator producing linearly polarized photons, and beam asymmetries were derived. Properties of nucleon and $\Delta$ resonances contributing to the $p\pi^0\pi^0$ final state were determined within the BnGa partial wave analysis. The data presented here allow us to determine branching ratios of nucleon and $\Delta$ resonances for their decays into $p\pi^0\pi^0$ via several intermediate states. Most prominent are decays proceeding via $\Delta(1232)\pi$, $N(1440)1/2^+\pi$, $N(1520)3/2^-\pi$, $N(1680)5/2^+\pi$, but also $pf_0(500)$, $pf_0(980)$, and $pf_2(1270)$ contribute to the reaction.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, 7 table

Quasi-free photoproduction of eta-mesons of the neutron

Quasi-free photoproduction of eta-mesons off nucleons bound in the deuteron has been measured with the CBELSA/TAPS detector for incident photon energies up to 2.5 GeV at the Bonn ELSA accelerator. The eta-mesons have been detected in coincidence with recoil protons and recoil neutrons, which allows a detailed comparison of the quasi-free n(gamma,eta)n and p(gamma,eta)p reactions. The excitation function for eta-production off the neutron shows a pronounced bump-like structure at W=1.68 GeV (E_g ~ 1 GeV), which is absent for the proton.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Photoproduction of eta mesons from the neutron: cross sections and double polarization observable E

Photoproduction of $\eta$ mesons from neutrons} \abstract{Results from measurements of the photoproduction of $\eta$ mesons from quasifree protons and neutrons are summarized. The experiments were performed with the CBELSA/TAPS detector at the electron accelerator ELSA in Bonn using the $\eta\to3\pi^{0}\to6\gamma$ decay. A liquid deuterium target was used for the measurement of total cross sections and angular distributions. The results confirm earlier measurements from Bonn and the MAMI facility in Mainz about the existence of a narrow structure in the excitation function of $\gamma n\rightarrow n\eta$. The current angular distributions show a forward-backward asymmetry, which was previously not seen, but was predicted by model calculations including an additional narrow $P_{11}$ state. Furthermore, data obtained with a longitudinally polarized, deuterated butanol target and a circularly polarized photon beam were analyzed to determine the double polarization observable $E$. Both data sets together were also used to extract the helicity dependent cross sections $\sigma_{1/2}$ and $\sigma_{3/2}$. The narrow structure in the excitation function of $\gamma n\rightarrow n\eta$ appears associated with the helicity-1/2 component of the reaction

Modification of the ω\omega-Meson Lifetime in Nuclear Matter

The photo production of $\omega$ mesons on the nuclei C, Ca, Nb and Pb has been measured using the Crystal Barrel/TAPS detector at the ELSA tagged photon facility in Bonn. The dependence of the $\omega$ meson cross section on the nuclear mass number has been compared with three different types of models, a Glauber analysis, a BUU analysis of the Giessen theory group and a calculation by the Valencia theory group. In all three cases, the inelastic $\omega$ width is found to be $130-150 \rm{MeV/c^2}$ at normal nuclear matter density for an average 3-momentum of 1.1 GeV/c. In the restframe of the $\omega$ meson, this inelastic $\omega$ width corresponds to a reduction of the $\omega$ lifetime by a factor $\approx 30$. For the first time, the momentum dependent $\omega$N cross section has been extracted from the experiment and is in the range of 70 mb.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure