Women’s persistent utilisation of unskilled birth attendants in Kakamega County, Kenya

Background: Minority of births in sub-Saharan Africa are conducted by skilled birth attendants. Having the highest world maternal mortality ratios and most deaths being associated with lack of trained supervision at delivery. Changing delivery practices is a major priority in this region.Objective: To determine the factors that contribute to persistent utilisation of unskilled birth attendance by women in Kakamega County.Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study .Setting: Kakamega County, KenyaSubjects: Post-natal mothers with children aged less than six months who delivered without skilled attendance.Results: Antenatal attendance rate of 92.7% while proportion of skilled birth attendance was at 48.6%. The following factors were found to influence utilisation of UBAs in theStudy area: age (X2=8.65, df=3, P= 0.013), occupation (X2=10.04, df=3, P=0.006), religion (X2=19.73, df=5, P=0.0001), monthly income (X2=7.59, df=2, P=0.002), marital status (X2=10.10424, df=2, P=0.005) and education level (X2=9.472, df=4, P=0.002). Negative attitude of healthcare providers, socio-cultural practices and insecurity also enhanced utilisation of unskilled birth attendance.Conclusion: Birth preparedness should be advocated for every pregnant woman and health facilities to address the discrepancy between antenatal attendance and delivery by skilled birth attendance. We hope that the information generated from this study will be used by the policy makers leading to appropriate interventions or strategies which will reduce the number of home deliveries and maternal deaths

Static Analysis of Electrostatically Actuated Micro Cantilever Beam

AbstractElectrostatically actuated micro devices experience a fundamental limit on their stable travel range due to a phenomenon called as the pull-in Instability. Accurate determination of pull-in parameters (pull-in displacement and pull-in voltage) is vital in the design of electrostatic micro actuators. A systematic method of analysis of prismatic type of electrostatic beam is discussed in this paper. Using Galerkin method static analysis is carried out. Behaviour of interaction of nonlinear electrostatic force with linear restoring force of the micro cantilever beam is studied. Static analysis using COMSOL multiphysics finite element package is done to validate the results. The results are also compared with existing literature

Draft Genome Sequences of Three Clinical Isolates of Tannerella forsythia Isolated from Subgingival Plaque from Periodontitis Patients in the United States.

We report the genome sequences of three clinical isolates of Tannerella forsythia from the subgingival plaque of periodontitis patients attending clinics at the School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo. The availability of these genome sequences will aid the understanding of the pathogenesis of periodontitis

Multiwavelength Studies of Young OB Associations

We discuss how contemporary multiwavelength observations of young OB-dominated clusters address long-standing astrophysical questions: Do clusters form rapidly or slowly with an age spread? When do clusters expand and disperse to constitute the field star population? Do rich clusters form by amalgamation of smaller subclusters? What is the pattern and duration of cluster formation in massive star forming regions (MSFRs)? Past observational difficulties in obtaining good stellar censuses of MSFRs have been alleviated in recent studies that combine X-ray and infrared surveys to obtain rich, though still incomplete, censuses of young stars in MSFRs. We describe here one of these efforts, the MYStIX project, that produced a catalog of 31,784 probable members of 20 MSFRs. We find that age spread within clusters are real in the sense that the stars in the core formed after the cluster halo. Cluster expansion is seen in the ensemble of (sub)clusters, and older dispersing populations are found across MSFRs. Direct evidence for subcluster merging is still unconvincing. Long-lived, asynchronous star formation is pervasive across MSFRs.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures. To appear in "The Origin of Stellar Clusters", edited by Steven Stahler, Springer, 2017, in pres

Psychological morbidity in Nepali cross-border migrants in India: A community based cross-sectional study

Background: Since Nepali cross-border migrants can freely enter, work and stay in India, they remain largely undocumented. Majority is involved in semi-skilled or unskilled jobs with limited labour rights and social security, predisposing them to psychological distress. We aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of psychological morbidity among the Nepali migrants on return from India. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in six districts of Nepal between September 2017 and February 2018. A total of 751 participants who had worked at least six months in India and returned to Nepal were interviewed from 24 randomly selected clusters. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 was used to measure the psychological morbidity. Data were analysed using the Poisson regression analysis. Results: The majority was younger than 35 years (64.1%), male (96.7%), married (81.8%), had at least primary education (66.6%), and from Dalit, Janajati and religious minorities (53.7%). The prevalence of psychological morbidity was 13.5 % (CI: 11.2-16.1%). Participants aged 45 years and above (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR)=2.74), from Terai (aPR=3.29), a religious minority (aPR=3.64), no sick leave (aPR=2.4), with existing health problem (aPR=2.0) and having difficulty in accessing health care (aPR=1.88) were more likely to have a psychological morbidity than others. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that psychological morbidity was prevalent in the study participants, which significantly varied with the individual characteristics, work and health related conditions. Multifaceted approaches including psychological counselling for returnees and protection of labour and health rights at workplace are recommended to help reduce psychological morbidity

Accessing health services in India: Experiences of seasonal migrants returning to Nepal.

Background: Migration to India is a common livelihood strategy for poor people in remote Western Nepal. To date, little research has explored the degree and nature of healthcare access among Nepali migrant workers in India. This study explores the experiences of returnee Nepali migrants with regard to accessing healthcare and the perspectives of stakeholders in the government, support organizations, and health providers working with migrant workers in India. Methods: Six focus group discussions (FGDs) and 12 in-depth interviews with returnee migrants were conducted by trained moderators in six districts in Western Nepal in late 2017. A further 12 stakeholders working in the health and education sector were also interviewed. With the consent of the participants, FGDs and interviews were audio-recorded. They were then transcribed and translated into English and the data were analysed thematically. Results: The interviewed returnee migrants worked in 15 of India’s 29 states, most as daily-wage labourers. Most were from among the lowest castes so called-Dalits. Most migrants had had difficulty accessing healthcare services in India. The major barriers to access were the lack of insurance, low wages, not having an Indian identification card tied to individual biometrics so called: Aadhaar card. Other barriers were unsupportive employers, discrimination at healthcare facilities and limited information about the locations of healthcare services. Conclusions: Nepali migrants experience difficulties in accessing healthcare in India. Partnerships between the Nepali and Indian governments, migrant support organizations and relevant stakeholders such as healthcare providers, government agencies and employers should be strengthened so that this vulnerable population can access the healthcare they are entitled to

Single Spin Asymmetry ANA_N in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at s=200\sqrt{s}=200 GeV

We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin asymmetry $A_N$ at the center of mass energy $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV in elastic proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The $A_N$ was measured in the four-momentum transfer squared $t$ range $0.003 \leqslant |t| \leqslant 0.035$ \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of $A_N$ and its $t$-dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated by the Pomeron amplitude at this $\sqrt{s}$, we conclude that this measurement addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function with centrality in Au+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the evolution of the differential transverse momentum correlation function, {\it C}, with collision centrality in Au+Au interactions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$ GeV. {\it C} exhibits a strong dependence on collision centrality that is qualitatively similar to that of number correlations previously reported. We use the observed longitudinal broadening of the near-side peak of {\it C} with increasing centrality to estimate the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, $\eta/s$, of the matter formed in central Au+Au interactions. We obtain an upper limit estimate of $\eta/s$ that suggests that the produced medium has a small viscosity per unit entropy.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, STAR paper published in Phys. Lett.