Obstacles to gender equality in East Champaran district of Bihar, North India : exploration of the right to healthcare for children under five

Child rights, especially the right to health for children, is a concept of human development. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the obstacles to gender equality in the right to healthcare for children under five years in East Champaran, Bihar, North India. Ten key informant interviews and nine focus group discussions with mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers were conducted to research the barriers of guardians to accessing healthcare for their children, including their root beliefs and choices, which causes health inequalities. It was found that a strong patriarchal tradition predominates in these communities in North India, which favour sons and disadvantages daughters in healthcare provision. Despite the existing child rights and human rights policies that have been legislated, in India traditional practices that discriminate against female children remain dominant in the society, and limit development in East Champaran, Bihar, North India.Development StudiesM.A. (Development Studies

Free-breathing 3D whole-heart joint T₁/T₂ mapping and water/fat imaging at 0.55 T

Purpose: To develop and validate a highly efficient motion compensated free-breathing isotropic resolution 3D whole-heart joint T 1/T 2 mapping sequence with anatomical water/fat imaging at 0.55 T. Methods: The proposed sequence takes advantage of shorter T 1 at 0.55 T to acquire three interleaved water/fat volumes with inversion-recovery preparation, no preparation, and T 2 preparation, respectively. Image navigators were used to facilitate nonrigid motion-compensated image reconstruction. T 1 and T 2 maps were jointly calculated by a dictionary matching method. Validations were performed with simulation, phantom, and in vivo experiments on 10 healthy volunteers and 1 patient. The performance of the proposed sequence was compared with conventional 2D mapping sequences including modified Look-Locker inversion recovery and T 2-prepared balanced steady-SSFP sequence. Results: The proposed sequence has a good T 1 and T 2 encoding sensitivity in simulation, and excellent agreement with spin-echo reference T 1 and T 2 values was observed in a standardized T 1/T 2 phantom (R 2 = 0.99). In vivo experiments provided good-quality co-registered 3D whole-heart T 1 and T 2 maps with 2-mm isotropic resolution in a short scan time of about 7 min. For healthy volunteers, left-ventricle T 1 mean and SD measured by the proposed sequence were both comparable with those of modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (640 ± 35 vs. 630 ± 25 ms [p = 0.44] and 49.9 ± 9.3 vs. 54.4 ± 20.5 ms [p = 0.42]), whereas left-ventricle T 2 mean and SD measured by the proposed sequence were both slightly lower than those of T 2-prepared balanced SSFP (53.8 ± 5.5 vs. 58.6 ± 3.3 ms [p &lt; 0.01] and 5.2 ± 0.9 vs. 6.1 ± 0.8 ms [p = 0.03]). Myocardial T 1 and T 2 in the patient measured by the proposed sequence were in good agreement with conventional 2D sequences and late gadolinium enhancement. Conclusion: The proposed sequence simultaneously acquires 3D whole-heart T 1 and T 2 mapping with anatomical water/fat imaging at 0.55 T in a fast and efficient 7-min scan. Further investigation in patients with cardiovascular disease is now warranted.</p

High‐resolution diffusion‐weighted imaging identifies ischemic lesions in a majority of transient ischemic attack patients

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is defined as focal neurological deficit caused by ischemia resolving within 24 hours. In a secondary analysis of a large monocentric cohort of 446 TIA patients, we explored the frequency and determinants of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Overall, 240 (54%) of all TIA patients presented with DWI lesions. These patients had higher National Institute of Health Stroke Scale and ABCD2 scores and presented more frequently with vessel occlusion and perfusion deficits, but had similar functional outcome at 3 months. Taken together, high-resolution DWI provides evidence of ischemic brain injury in the majority of TIA patients. ANN NEUROL 201

results of the prospective observational Berlin Beat of Running study

Objectives: While regular physical exercise has many health benefits, strenuous physical exercise may have a negative impact on cardiac function. The ‘Berlin Beat of Running’ study focused on feasibility and diagnostic value of continuous ECG monitoring in recreational endurance athletes during a marathon race. We hypothesised that cardiac arrhythmias and especially atrial fibrillation are frequently found in a cohort of recreational endurance athletes. The main secondary hypothesis was that pathological laboratory findings in these athletes are (in part) associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Design: Prospective observational cohort study including healthy volunteers. Setting and participants: One hundred and nine experienced marathon runners wore a portable ECG recorder during a marathon race in Berlin, Germany. Athletes underwent blood tests 2–3 days prior, directly after and 1–2 days after the race. Results: Overall, 108 athletes (median 48 years (IQR 45–53), 24% women) completed the marathon in 249±43 min. Blinded ECG analysis revealed abnormal findings during the marathon in 18 (16.8%) athletes. Ten (9.3%) athletes had at least one episode of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, one of whom had atrial fibrillation; eight (7.5%) individuals showed transient ST-T-segment deviations. Abnormal ECG findings were associated with advanced age (OR 1.11 per year, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.23), while sex and cardiovascular risk profile had no impact. Directly after the race, high-sensitive troponin T was elevated in 18 (16.7%) athletes and associated with ST-T-segment deviation (OR 9.9, 95% CI 1.9 to 51.5), while age, sex and cardiovascular risk profile had no impact. Conclusions: ECG monitoring during a marathon is feasible. Abnormal ECG findings were present in every sixth athlete. Exercise-induced transient ST-T-segment deviations were associated with elevated high-sensitive troponin T (hsTnT) values. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01428778; Results

Mesoscale physical–biological–biogeochemical linkages in the open ocean : an introduction to the results of the E-Flux and EDDIES programs

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 55 (2008): 1133-1138, doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.03.001.Mesoscale currents, fronts, and eddies are ubiquitous and energetic features of ocean circulation. These phenomena, sometimes referred to as the “internal weather of the sea,” accommodate a diverse set of physical, chemical, and biological interactions that influence marine biogeochemistry on a wide range of timescales. These biogeochemical processes include the “biological pump”, i.e. the transfer or flux of biologically produced organic matter and associated elements from the surface ocean to depth (Ducklow et al., 2001; Volk and Hoffert, 1985). Within ~ 80% of the world’s oceans, the productivity and species composition of the autotrophic organisms that contribute to the biological pump are typically limited by major nutrients (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica), or trace metals (e.g. iron). Primary production in such oligotrophic regions therefore depends mostly on intense recycling of nutrients within the surface sunlit waters, with only a small fraction supported by that entering from the atmosphere, or from the physical transport of nutrients from nutrient-rich deep waters below. Evidence that mesoscale and submesoscale phenomena play a role in the latter process dates back more than two decades (Angel and Fasham, 1983; Franks et al., 1986; Ring Group, 1981; Tranter et al., 1980; Venrick, 1990; Woods, 1988).E-Flux and EDDIES were supported by the National Science Foundation Chemical, Biological, and Physical Oceanography Programs. Additional support for the EDDIES project was provided by NASA