Intestinal helminth infections and dietary diversity score predict nutritional status of urban schoolchildren from southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is a major public health problem in developing countries like Ethiopia where schoolchildren are among the vulnerable groups. However, limited attention has been given for the nutritional status of schoolchildren including the lack of available evidence on the magnitude and modifiable risk factors in different parts of the country. Thus, we aimed at determining the magnitude and predictors of undernutrition among schoolchildren in Arba Minch town, southern Ethiopia. METHODS: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in March and April, 2014 involving 532 schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 years. A two-stage probability sampling procedure was applied to select study schools and subjects. Anthropometry measurements were taken using standardized techniques and calibrated equipment. Intestinal parasite infections were determined from stool samples using direct saline method and formal ether concentration technique; whereas data on demographic and relevant risk factors were gathered through structured interview of caretakers. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify predictors of stunting and wasting in the study population. RESULTS: The prevalence of stunting and wasting were 26.0% (95% CI: 22.3, 30.1%) and 11.7% (95% CI: 9.1, 14.9%), respectively. In multivariable model, poor household wealth [AOR (95% CI) = 3.2 (1.2, 8.5)], living in large family [AOR (95% CI) = 2.3 (1.0, 5.1)], lack of maternal formal education [AOR (95% CI) = 4.1 (1.8, 9.4)], low Dietary Diversity Score [AOR (95% CI) = 2.3 (1.2, 4.7)], A. lumbricoides [AOR (95% CI) = 5.0 (2.7, 9.4)], hookworm [AOR (95% CI) = 8.0 (4.0, 15.8)] and T. trichuria [AOR (95% CI) = 6.3 (2.8, 14.1)] infections were associated with stunting. Wasting status was independently associated with not living with both parents [AOR (95% CI) = 2.0 (1.0, 4.1)], poor household wealth [AOR (95% CI) = 8.9 (2.0, 39.2)], and recent illnesses [AOR (95% CI) = 6.3 (3.1, 12.6)]. CONCLUSIONS: Both acute and chronic malnutrition are prevalent among schoolchildren in the study area where intestinal parasite infections, poor dietary quality and common illnesses are important modifiable risk factors. A comprehensive school-based health and nutrition intervention involving parents may help to alleviate the problem including regular deworming and promotion of personal hygiene and balanced diet

Comparative clinico-haematological analysis in young Zebu cattle experimentally infected with Trypanosoma vivax isolates from tsetse infested and non-tsetse infested areas of Northwest Ethiopia

Background: Ethiopia, particularly in the Northwest region, is affected by both tsetse and non-tsetse fly transmitted trypanosomosis, with significant impact on livestock productivity. The aim of this study was to determine and compare clinical findings and haematological values between experimental infections induced by Trypanosoma vivax isolates from areas of either transmission mode. Sixteen young (aged between 6 and 12 months) Zebu cattle (Bos indicus), purchased from a trypanosome-free area and confirmed to be trypanosome-negative, were randomly assigned into four groups of four animals. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were infected with an isolate from a tsetse infested or one of two isolates from a non-tsetse infested area, and group 4 was a non-infected control. All animals in the infected groups were inoculated intravenously with 2 × 106 trypanosomes from donor animals. The experimental animals were monitored for eight consecutive weeks post infection for clinical signs, parasitaemia and haematological changes in packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hgb), total red blood cell (RBC) and white blood cell (WBC) counts, differential WBC count and blood indices (mean corpuscular volume [MCV], mean corpuscular haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration).<p></p> Results: Infection was characterized by reduced feed intake, weakness, pyrexia, parasitaemia, rough hair coat, enlarged prescapular lymph nodes, lacrimation, weight loss, pallor mucus membrane and dehydration. Body weight loss in all infected groups was significantly higher than in the non-infected control. Similarly, body weight loss was higher (P < 0.001) in animals infected with the tsetse infested isolate than with the non-tsetse infested isolates. The mean PCV, Hgb, total RBC and WBC counts were lower (P < 0.001), and mean MCV was higher (P = 0.01) in all infected groups than in non-infected control animals at different time points during the study period. Except for minor variations in haematological values, the overall changes were similar in all infected groups.<p></p> Conclusion: Clinical signs and significant reduction in haematological values in the infected groups indicated the pathogenicity of the T. vivax parasites. Pathogenicity of T. vivax from the non-tsetse infested area can be considered as nearly as important as that of its counterpart derived from the tsetse infested area

On the minimum exit rate for a diffusion process pertaining to a chain of distributed control systems with random perturbations

In this paper, we consider the problem of minimizing the exit rate with which a diffusion process pertaining to a chain of distributed control systems, with random perturbations, exits from a given bounded open domain. In particular, we consider a chain of distributed control systems that are formed by $n$ subsystems (with $n \ge 2$), where the random perturbation enters only in the first subsystem and is then subsequently transmitted to the other subsystems. Furthermore, we assume that, for any $\ell \in \{2, \ldots, n\}$, the distributed control systems, which is formed by the first $\ell$ subsystems, satisfies an appropriate H\"ormander condition. As a result of this, the diffusion process is degenerate, in the sense that the infinitesimal generator associated with it is a degenerate parabolic equation. Our interest is to establish a connection between the minimum exit rate with which the diffusion process exits from the given domain and the principal eigenvalue for the infinitesimal generator with zero boundary conditions. Such a connection allows us to derive a family of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations for which we provide a verification theorem that shows the validity of the corresponding optimal control problems. Finally, we provide an estimate on the attainable exit probability of the diffusion process with respect to a set of admissible (optimal) Markov controls for the optimal control problems.Comment: 12 Pages. (Additional Note: This work is, in some sense, a continuation of our previous paper arXiv:1408.6260.