Multilevel analysis of factors associated with unmet need for family planning among Malawian women

Background: Malawi has a high fertility rate which is also characterized by a relatively high prevalence of unmet need for contraception. However, little is known about the influence of individual- and community- level characteristics on unmet need in Malawi. This study examined the individual- and community- level factors associated with unmet need for family planning (FP) among Malawian women. Methods: Data from the 2015–16 Malawi demographic and health survey were used to analyze 15, 931 women. The association between individual- and community- level factors and unmet need was assessed using multilevel binary logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of total unmet need was 21.0%. Women aged ≥35 years were more likely to have total unmet need [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04–1.35] compared with those aged 15–24 years. Women who were married [aOR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.35–0.48], and those employed [aOR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.71–0.85] were associated with less likelihood of having total unmet need compared with unmarried, and unemployed women, respectively. At community-level, women from communities with a high percentage of women from rich households [aOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67–0.96], and those from communities with a middle and high percentage of educated women [aOR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.76–0.96 and aOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.70–0.93, respectively] were less likely to have total unmet need for FP compared with those from communities with low percentages of rich and educated women, respectively. The proportional change in variance showed that about 36.0% of total variations in the odds of unmet need across the communities were explained by both individual- and community-level factors. Moreover, the intraclass correlation showed that about 3.0% of the total variation remained unexplained even after controlling for both individual- and community-level factors. Conclusion: Both individual- and community- level factors influenced unmet need for FP in Malawi. Public health practitioners should conduct community profiling and consider individual and community factors when designing FP programs

Growth Hormone Promotes Hair Cell Regeneration in the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Inner Ear following Acoustic Trauma

BACKGROUND: Previous microarray analysis showed that growth hormone (GH) was significantly upregulated following acoustic trauma in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) ear suggesting that GH may play an important role in the process of auditory hair cell regeneration. Our objective was to examine the effects of exogenous and endogenous GH on zebrafish inner ear epithelia following acoustic trauma. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We induced auditory hair cell damage by exposing zebrafish to acoustic overstimulation. Fish were then injected intraperitoneally with either carp GH or buffer, and placed in a recovery tank for either one or two days. Phalloidin-, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-, and TUNEL-labeling were used to examine hair cell densities, cell proliferation, and apoptosis, respectively. Two days post-trauma, saccular hair cell densities in GH-treated fish were similar to that of baseline controls, whereas buffer-injected fish showed significantly reduced densities of hair cell bundles. Cell proliferation was greater and apoptosis reduced in the saccules, lagenae, and utricles of GH-treated fish one day following trauma compared to controls. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to examine the localization of GH mRNA in the zebrafish ear. At one day post-trauma, GH mRNA expression appeared to be localized perinuclearly around erythrocytes in the blood vessels of the inner ear epithelia. In order to examine the effects of endogenous GH on the process of cell proliferation in the ear, a GH antagonist was injected into zebrafish immediately following acoustic trauma, resulting in significantly decreased cell proliferation one day post-trauma in all three zebrafish inner ear end organs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that exogenous GH promotes post-trauma auditory hair cell regeneration in the zebrafish ear through stimulating proliferation and suppressing apoptosis, and that endogenous GH signals are present in the zebrafish ear during the process of auditory hair cell regeneration

The human secretome

The proteins secreted by human cells (collectively referred to as the secretome) are important not only for the basic understanding of human biology but also for the identification of potential targets for future diagnostics and therapies. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of proteins predicted to be secreted in human cells, which provides information about their final localization in the human body, including the proteins actively secreted to peripheral blood. The analysis suggests that a large number of the proteins of the secretome are not secreted out of the cell, but instead are retained intracellularly, whereas another large group of proteins were identified that are predicted to be retained locally at the tissue of expression and not secreted into the blood. Proteins detected in the human blood by mass spectrometry-based proteomics and antibody-based immuno-assays are also presented with estimates of their concentrations in the blood. The results are presented in an updated version 19 of the Human Protein Atlas in which each gene encoding a secretome protein is annotated to provide an open-access knowledge resource of the human secretome, including body-wide expression data, spatial localization data down to the single-cell and subcellular levels, and data about the presence of proteins that are detectable in the blood