Knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among women with children aged between 9 and 12 months in Al-Sabah Children Hospital, Juba, South Sudan

Introduction: Breastfeeding is an important tool for preventing childhood illnesses, and obesity, and hypertension later on in life, and it reduces the cost of food for the family and the country. Appropriate practices that support exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months reduce childhood morbidity and mortality.Methodology: 384 mothers with children aged 9 to 12 months attending the immunization and paediatric outpatient clinics were interviewed. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data handling. Descriptive statistics and univariate logistic regression were used to analyse the data.Results: The majority of mothers were aged between 21 – 25 years (43.5%), had 2 - 4 children (55.5%) and primary education (48.2%). Most mothers had started breastfeeding within the first hour of delivery (76.8%), and knew that breastfeeding was nutritious to the baby. Parity and mother`s level of education were significant factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant association between occupation, age of the mother, mode of delivery and exclusive breastfeeding (p>0.05). There was no statistical difference in rate of exclusive breastfeeding in mothers attending the OPD and the immunization clinic (p value=0.09).Conclusion: Most mothers knew the benefits and definitions of exclusive  breastfeeding. The early measures supporting breastfeeding are well practiced. Parity and mothers` education significantly affected exclusive breastfeeding.Keys words: Exclusive breast feeding, child, nutritio

Cosmic Electromagnetic Fields due to Perturbations in the Gravitational Field

We use non-linear gauge-invariant perturbation theory to study the interaction of an inflation produced seed magnetic field with density and gravitational wave perturbations in an almost Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime. We compare the effects of this coupling under the assumptions of poor conductivity, infinite conductivity and the case where the electric field is sourced via the coupling of velocity perturbations to the seed field in the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) regime, thus generalizing, improving on and correcting previous results. We solve our equations for long wavelength limits and numerically integrate the resulting equations to generate power spectra for the electromagnetic field variables, showing where the modes cross the horizon. We find that the rotation of the electric field dominates the power spectrum on small scales, in agreement with previous arguments.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, published in PR

Instability of antiferromagnetic magnons in strong fields

We predict that spin-waves in an ordered quantum antiferromagnet (AFM) in a strong magnetic field become unstable with respect to spontaneous two-magnon decays. At zero temperature, the instability occurs between the threshold field $H^*$ and the saturation field $H_c$. As an example, we investigate the high-field dynamics of a Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a square lattice and show that the single-magnon branch of the spectrum disappears in the most part of the Brillouin zone.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted to PR

Do clinicians adhere to practice guidelines? A descriptive study at a referral hospital in Kenya

Background: Clinical guidelines when implemented correctly have shown to improve disease outcomes. This study describes utilization of Kenya National guidelines in managing ante partum haemorrhage (APH) in 3rd trimester.Objective: To describe adherence to clinical guideline in management of antepartum haemorrhage at Garissa Provincial General Hospital Design: Crossectional mixed methods studySetting: Garissa Provincial General HospitalSubjects: Medical records of patients managed for APH between 2002 and 2012 and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) of Health workers.Results: 36.1% of the cases assessed were managed with strict adherence to guidelines. 90% of health care workers had high levels of awareness of the existence of guidelines and sited utilization challenges attributed to resource inadequacies.Conclusion: Clinicians are skilled on APH guidelines, but adherence levels are still low. Therefore, continuous appraisal of clinical practices, availing equipment, facilities and supplies to reinforce adherence is recommended

Impact of Climate Change on the Hydrology of the Upper Awash River Basin, Ethiopia

This study investigated the impacts of climate change on the hydrology of the Upper Awash Basin, Ethiopia. A soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model was calibrated and validated against observed streamflow using SWAT CUP. The Mann–Kendall trend test (MK) was used to assess climate trends. Meteorological drought (SPEI) and hydrological drought (SDI) were also investigated. Based on the ensemble mean of five global climate models (GCMs), projected increases in mean annual maximum temperature over the period 2015–2100 (compared with a 1983–2014 baseline) range from 1.16 to 1.73 °C, while increases in minimum temperature range between 0.79 and 2.53 °C. Increases in mean annual precipitation range from 1.8% at Addis Ababa to 45.5% over the Hombole area. High streamflow (Q5) declines at all stations except Ginchi. Low flows (Q90) also decline with Q90 equaling 0 m3 s−1 (i.e., 100% reduction) at some gauging stations (Akaki and Hombole) for individual GCMs. The SPEI confirmed a significant drought trend in the past, while the frequency and severity of drought will increase in the future. The basin experienced conditions that varied from modest dry periods to a very severe hydrological drought between 1986 and 2005. The projected SDI ranges from modestly dry to modestly wet conditions. Climate change in the basin would enhance seasonal variations in hydrological conditions. Both precipitation and streamflow will decline in the wet seasons and increase in the dry seasons. These changes are likely to have an impact on agricultural activities and other human demands for water resources throughout the basin and will require the implementation of appropriate mitigation measures

Gauge invariant Boltzmann equation and the fluid limit

This article investigates the collisionless Boltzmann equation up to second order in the cosmological perturbations. It describes the gauge dependence of the distribution function and the construction of a gauge invariant distribution function and brightness, and then derives the gauge invariant fluid limit.Comment: 36 page

Rice Breeding Strategies in the Philippines

Rice is a major staple in the Philippines. The major goal of the rice sector in the country is to increase its productivity to meet the ever growing demand for rice. Breeding is one of the potential solutions to achieve rice self-sufficiency in the country. Rice variety development is led by research institutions such as PhilRice, IRRI, UPLB, and private companies and each adapts various breeding strategies. Rice variety normally takes 10-12 years of a journey from breeding to release and more than 300 varieties have been developed and released that were suited for various rice ecosystems. Sufficient varieties were available for production and this led to continuous in rice production for the past decade. However, yield increment has plateaued. To meet the increasing demand for rice, achieve self-sufficiency, and particularly, break the yield barrier (plateau) and achieve a leap in yield potential, breeding institutions particularly PhilRice should embrace new advances and technologies in rice breeding. The introduction of the concept of transforming breeding into a “factory line” type encouraging rapid generation advance, earlier multi-location trials, and increasing selection pressure, and employing genomic selection (GS) in handling a large quantity of materials/populations can improve breeding efficiency and outputs significantly

Density growth in Kantowski-Sachs cosmologies with cosmological constant

In this work the growth of density perturbations in Kantowski-Sachs cosmologies with a positive cosmological constant is studied, using the 1+3 and 1+1+2 covariant formalisms. For each wave number we obtain a closed system for scalars formed from quantities that are zero on the background and hence are gauge-invariant. The solutions to this system are then analyzed both analytically and numerically. In particular the effects of anisotropy and the behaviour close to a bounce in the cosmic scale factor are considered. We find that typically the density gradient in the bouncing directions experiences a local maximum at or slightly after the bounce.Comment: 33 pages, 17 picture

A framework to guide planetary health education

People around the world are increasingly facing the pressing challenges of today's interconnected environmental, social, and health crises. The COVID-19 pandemic has been an important wake-up call reminding us that we need a healthy planet to ensure the health of all people. The emerging field of planetary health is a framework for understanding these interconnections and identifying solutions to the complex challenges confronting our civilization. Building on the unique role and responsibility of education institutions in shaping our futures, embedding planetary health education in curricula is an essential step to achieving the transformative change needed. Planetary health education across all levels and disciplines will equip and enable learners to drive transdisciplinary and mutually reinforcing actions to protect and restore planetary health and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals