Relationship between household wealth inequality and chronic childhood under-nutrition in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Household food insecurity and under-nutrition remain critically important in developing countries struggling to emerge from the scourge of poverty, where historically, improvements in economic conditions have benefited only certain privileged groups, causing growing inequality in health and healthcare among the population. METHODS: Utilizing information from 5,977 children aged 0-59 months included in the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey , this study examined the relationship between household wealth inequality and chronic childhood under-nutrition. A child is defined as being chronically undernourished or whose growth rate is adversely stunted, if his or her z-score of height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the median of international reference. Household wealth status is measured by an established index based on household ownership of durable assets. This study utilized multivariate logistic regressions to estimate the effect of household wealth status on adverse childhood growth rate. RESULTS: The results indicate that children in the poorest 20% of households are more than three time as likely to suffer from adverse growth rate stunting as children from the wealthiest 20% of households (OR=3.6; 95% CI: 3.0, 4.3). The effect of household wealth status remain significantly large when the analysis was adjusted for a child's multiple birth status, age, gender, antenatal care, delivery assistance, birth order, and duration that the child was breastfed; mother's age at childbirth, nutritional status, education; household access to safe drinking water, arsenic in drinking water, access to a hygienic toilet facility, cooking fuel cleanliness, residence, and geographic location (OR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.8, 3.2). CONCLUSION: This study concludes that household wealth inequality is strongly associated with childhood adverse growth rate stunting. Reducing poverty and making services more available and accessible to the poor are essential to improving overall childhood health and nutritional status in Bangladesh

Internet of Things for Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change

Our world is vulnerable to climate change risks such as glacier retreat, rising temperatures, more variable and intense weather events (e.g., floods, droughts, and frosts), deteriorating mountain ecosystems, soil degradation, and increasing water scarcity. However, there are big gaps in our understanding of changes in regional climate and how these changes will impact human and natural systems, making it difficult to anticipate, plan, and adapt to the coming changes. The IoT paradigm in this area can enhance our understanding of regional climate by using technology solutions, while providing the dynamic climate elements based on integrated environmental sensing and communications that is necessary to support climate change impacts assessments in each of the related areas (e.g., environmental quality and monitoring, sustainable energy, agricultural systems, cultural preservation, and sustainable mining). In the IoT in Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change chapter, a framework for informed creation, interpretation and use of climate change projections and for continued innovations in climate and environmental science driven by key societal and economic stakeholders is presented. In addition, the IoT cyberinfrastructure to support the development of continued innovations in climate and environmental science is discussed

Clinical Tissue Characterization: Online Determination of Magnitude and Time Delay Myocardial Backscatter. Video Journal of Echocardiography 1995;5(2):40-48

Implementation of an algorithm for the automated determination of the magnitude and time delay of the cardiac cycle-dependent variation of integrated backscatter is reported. This algorithm has been implemented in the experimental firmware of a commercially-available echocardiographic imaging system. Integrated backscatter and the cardiac cycle-dependent variation (cyclic variation) of integrated backscatter are described and their roles in myocardial tissue characterization are discussed. A brief description of the algorithm used for the determination of the magnitude and time delay is given, followed by accounts of the process of collecting cyclic variation data and the algorithm implementation on the cardiac system. This implementation demonstrates how tissue characterization techniques could be used to augment diagnostic ultrasound and may facilitate the further investigation of the diagnostic potential of the cyclic variation of myocardial backscatter

Ocular trauma and visual outcome secondary to paintball projectiles

To describe ocular injuries attributable to paintball-related trauma and their management and results. Retrospective, interventional case series. setting: University practice and emergency department. patient population: Thirty-six eyes of 36 patients who sustained ocular injuries secondary to paintballs between July 1, 1998 and January 1, 2005. observation procedure: Age, gender, laterality, setting, eye protection, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and initial diagnosis were documented. main outcome measures: Medical and surgical intervention within the first three days postinjury and further treatment after this time period were recorded. BCVA at the initial and final clinical visit were compared. The mean follow-up interval was 11.7 months (one to 40). Mean age was 21 years (three to 64), 31 (86%) were male, 34 (97%) were not wearing eye-protection device when injured, and initial BCVA was worse than 20/200 in 28 eyes (78%). The most common ocular finding was hyphema in 29 eyes (81%). Initially, 20 eyes (56%) were managed medically and nine eyes (25%) required primary repair of a ruptured globe. Ultimately, 29 eyes (81%) had surgical intervention including eight eyes (22%) enucleations. Final visual acuity was 20/40 or better in 13 eyes (36%), whereas 18 eyes (50%) were worse than 20/200. Visual acuity (VA) at initial presentation correlated strongly with final VA (r = 0.64; P < .001). Paintball-related ocular injuries are frequently severe and visually devastating. The compulsive use of protective eyewear may have eliminated 97% of injuries in this series and continues to need emphasis to paintball users