Intimate partner violence and its association with maternal depressive symptoms 6-8 months after childbirth in rural Bangladesh

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is important to be addressed simply because it is a gross violation of human rights. Its prevalence is wide ranging across the world, with higher prevalence reported in low- and middle-income countries. Evidence shows that IPV has both direct and indirect impact on women’s health, mainly related to physical health. Little is known of impact of IPV on mental health of women, particularly after childbirth. Objective: To describe the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by women 6-8 months after childbirth, and the factors associated with IPV. The study also aims to investigate the association between IPV and maternal depressive symptoms after childbirth. Design: The study used cross-sectional data at 6-8months postpartum. The sample included 660 mothers of newborn children. IPV was assessed by physical, emotional, and sexual violence. The Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale assessed maternal depressive symptoms. Results: Majority of the women reported experiencing intimate partner violence categorised as physical (52%), sexual (65%) and emotional (84%) violence by spouse. Husband’s education (OR: 0.41, CI: 0.23-0.73), poor relationship with husband (OR: 2.64, CI: 1.07-6.54) and emotional violence by spouse (OR: 1.58, CI: 1.35-1.83) were significantly associated with physical IPV experienced by women. Having a fussy and difficult child (OR: 1.05, CI: 1.02-1.08), poor relationship with husband (OR: 4.95, CI: 2.55-9.62) and experience of physical IPV (OR: 2.83, CI: 1.72-4.64) were found to be significant predictors of maternal depressive symptoms amongst women 6-8 months after childbirth. Neither forced sex nor emotional violence by intimate partner was found to be significantly associated with maternal depressive symptoms 6-8 months after childbirth. Conclusion: It is important to screen for both IPV and depressive symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum. Since IPV and spousal relationships are the most important predictors of maternal depressive symptoms in this study, couple-focused intervention at the community level are suggested

Urinary incontinence in competitive women weightlifters

Urinary incontinence has the potential to diminish athletic performance and discourage women from participating in sport and exercise. This study determined the prevalence and possible risk factors for urinary incontinence in competitive women weightlifters. This research was a cross-sectional, survey-based study completed by 191 competitive women weightlifters. The frequency and severity of urinary incontinence was determined using the Incontinence Severity Index. Urinary incontinence was defined as an Incontinence Severity Index score >0. The survey questions focused on risk factors, the context and triggers for urinary incontinence, and self-care strategies. Approximately, 31.9% of subjects experienced urinary incontinence within 3 months of completing the survey. Incontinence Severity Index scores were significantly correlated with parity (r = 0.283, p = 0.01) and age (r = 0.216, p = 0.01). There was no significant correlation between the Incontinence Severity Index score and the number of years participating in any form of resistance training (r = −0.010, p = 0.886) or weightlifting (r = −0.045, p = 0.534), body mass index (r = 0.058, p = 0.422), or competition total (r = −0.114, p = 0.115). The squat was the most likely exercise to provoke urinary incontinence. Although the number of repetitions, weight lifted, body position, and ground impact may increase the likelihood of urinary incontinence occurring during a lift, it is difficult to determine which factor has the greatest influence. Some self-care strategies used by competitive women weightlifters who experience urinary incontinence, such as training while dehydrated, have the potential to diminish athletic performance

PULMONARY ADENOMATOSIS IN A NELLORE JODIPI RAM

A three-year-old Nellore Jodipi ram was presented to small ruminant ward, Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati with inappetence, dullness and profuse nasal discharge for one week. Haemato-biochemical examination revealed moderate anemia and leukocytosis. The animal was treated with parenteral and intranasal antimicrobial therapy for 3 days along with respiratory stimulants. Despite the medical management and supportive therapy animal was succumbed after three days. Upon detailed postmortem investigation of the carcass, lesions of ovine pulmonary adenoma were found in the lungs and were confirmed by histopathological examination and Oestrus ovis larvae were found in the lung tissue

Information and Communication Technology deployment and agricultural value chain nexus in Nigeria

This study examined the point of the agricultural value chain where the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is significant. The study used the data sourced from wave 4 (2018/2019) of the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Survey on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) and applied the Multinomial Logit (MNL) regression. The result showed that ICT deployment is significant for all actors along the agricultural value chain. However, though significant for all actors on the value chain, the estimated coefficients slightly differ. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is helpful for all the actors along the chain from the estimated coefficients but higher at the farmgate collectors. This can be based on the rationale that, unlike other actors in the chain, the farmgate collectors interact directly or more with the farmers, making ICT more crucial for them than other actors in the chain. The study concludes that ICT can provide farmers and value chain actors with information about the market, among others, new production skills and processes that will help them upgrade, leading to entry into higher-value markets

Competing biosecurity and risk rationalities in the Chittagong poultry commodity chain, Bangladesh

This paper anthropologically explores how key actors in the Chittagong live bird trading network perceive biosecurity and risk in relation to avian influenza between production sites, market maker scenes and outlets. They pay attention to the past and the present, rather than the future, downplaying the need for strict risk management, as outbreaks have not been reported frequently for a number of years. This is analysed as ‘temporalities of risk perception regarding biosecurity’, through Black Swan theory, the idea that unexpected events with major effects are often inappropriately rationalized (Taleb in The Black Swan. The impact of the highly improbable, Random House, New York, 2007). This incorporates a sociocultural perspective on risk, emphasizing the contexts in which risk is understood, lived, embodied and experienced. Their risk calculation is explained in terms of social consent, practical intelligibility and convergence of constraints and motivation. The pragmatic and practical orientation towards risk stands in contrast to how risk is calculated in the avian influenza preparedness paradigm. It is argued that disease risk on the ground has become a normalized part of everyday business, as implied in Black Swan theory. Risk which is calculated retrospectively is unlikely to encourage investment in biosecurity and, thereby, points to the danger of unpredictable outlier events

Perturbative expansion for master equation and it applications

We construct generally applicable small-loss rate expansions for the density operator of an open system. Successive terms of those expansions yield characteristic loss rates for dissipation processes. Three applications are presented in order to give further insight into the context of those expansions. The first application, of a two-level atom coupling to a bosonic environment, shows the procedure and the advantage of the expansion, whereas the second application that consists of a single mode field in a cavity with linewidth $\kappa$ due to partial transmission through one mirror illustrates a practical use of those expansions in quantum measurements, and the third one, for an atom coupled to modes of a lossy cavity shows the another use of the perturbative expansion.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

A comparison of antenatal classifications of ‘overweight’ and ‘obesity’ prevalence between white British, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi pregnant women in England; analysis of retrospective data

Background Maternal obesity increases women’s risk of poor birth outcomes, and statistics show that Pakistani and Bangladeshi women (who are born or settled) in the UK experience higher rates of perinatal mortality and congenital anomalies than white British or white Other women. This study compares the prevalence of maternal obesity in Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and white British women using standard and Asian-specific BMI metrics. Method Retrospective cross-sectional analysis using routinely recorded secondary data in Ciconia Maternity information System (CMiS), between 2008 and 2013. Mothers (n = 15,205) whose ethnicity was recorded as white British, Bangladeshi, Pakistani or Indian. Adjusted standardised residuals and Pearson Chi-square. Main outcome measures: Percentage of mothers stratified by ethnicity (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and white British) who are classified as overweight or obese using standard and revised World Health Organisation BMI thresholds. Results Compared to standard BMI thresholds, using the revised BMI threshold resulted in a higher prevalence of obesity: 22.8% of Indian and 24.3% of Bangladeshi and 32.3% of Pakistani women. Pearson Chi-square confirmed that significantly more Pakistani women were classified as ‘obese’ compared with white British, Indian or Bangladeshi women (χ 2 = 499,88 df = 9, p Conclusions There are differences in the prevalence of obese and overweight women stratified by maternal ethnicity of white British, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. Using revised anthropometric measures in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women has clinical implications for identifying risks associated with obesity and increased complications in pregnancy.</p

Magnitude and Kinetics of CD8+ T Cell Activation during Hyperacute HIV Infection Impact Viral Set Point

CD8[superscript +] T cells contribute to the control of HIV, but it is not clear whether initial immune responses modulate the viral set point. We screened high-risk uninfected women twice a week for plasma HIV RNA and identified 12 hyperacute infections. Onset of viremia elicited a massive HIV-specific CD8[superscript +] T cell response, with limited bystander activation of non-HIV memory CD8[superscript +] T cells. HIV-specific CD8[superscript +] T cells secreted little interferon-γ, underwent rapid apoptosis, and failed to upregulate the interleukin-7 receptor, known to be important for T cell survival. The rapidity to peak CD8[superscript +] T cell activation and the absolute magnitude of activation induced by the exponential rise in viremia were inversely correlated with set point viremia. These data indicate that rapid, high magnitude HIV-induced CD8[superscript +] T cell responses are crucial for subsequent immune control of acute infection, which has important implications for HIV vaccine design.Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationCollaboration for AIDS Vaccine DiscoveryWitten Family FoundationDan and Marjorie SullivanUrsula BrunnerGary and Loren CohenMark and Lisa Schwartz Foundation,International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (UKZNRSA1001)National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (R37AI067073)Center for AIDS Research (P30 AI060354

Enhanced antitumoral activity of TLR7 agonists via activation of human endogenous retroviruses by HDAC inhibitors

In this work, we are reporting that “Shock and Kill”, a therapeutic approach designed to eliminate latent HIV from cell reservoirs, is extrapolatable to cancer therapy. This is based on the observation that malignant cells express a spectrum of human endogenous retroviral elements (HERVs) which can be transcriptionally boosted by HDAC inhibitors. The endoretroviral gene HERV-V2 codes for an envelope protein, which resembles syncytins. It is significantly overexpressed upon exposure to HDAC inhibitors and can be effectively targeted by simultaneous application of TLR7/8 agonists, triggering intrinsic apoptosis. We demonstrated that this synergistic cytotoxic effect was accompanied by the functional disruption of the TLR7/8-NFκB, Akt/PKB, and Ras-MEK-ERK signalling pathways. CRISPR/Cas9 ablation of TLR7 and HERV-V1/V2 curtailed apoptosis significantly, proving the pivotal role of these elements in driving cell death. The effectiveness of this new approach was confirmed in ovarian tumour xenograft studies, revealing a promising avenue for future cancer therapies