Expressed breast milk feeding: knowledge and attitude of employed mothers

Appropriate knowledge on expressing, storing and use of breast milk are essential for mothers to continue breastfeeding when they return to work. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of employed mothers towards breast milk expression, storage and usage. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 full-time employed mothers who delivered at a tertiary hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A content-validated questionnaire consisting of 28 questions testing knowledge and nine questions assessing attitude was used. The highest possible scores for knowledge and attitude were 28 and 45, respectively. The mean score for knowledge was 20.47 (SD 4.06). Mothers who scored ≥ 21 (≥75% of maximum score) were categorized as having “good knowledge” while those who scored <21 were considered to have “poor knowledge”. One hundred and seventy (57%) mothers had good knowledge. Good knowledge was significantly associated with Malay ethnicity, tertiary education, multiparity status and prior breastfeeding experience. Two hundred and nineteen (73%) mothers had a positive attitude (scored ≥34). Malay ethnicity, tertiary education, multiparity status, prior experience in giving expressed milk and feasibility of expressing breast milk at the workplace were significantly associated with a positive attitude. More than half of the mothers had good knowledge, and a higher proportion had a positive attitude towards breast milk expression, storage and usage. Additional support and education should be given to mothers who are: non-Malay, non-tertiary educated and having their first child as these factors were associated with poor knowledge and negative attitude

Antixenosis and antibiosis mechanisms of resistance to pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera in wild relatives of chickpea, Cicer arietinum

The noctuid pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera is one of the most damaging pests of chickpea, Cicer arietinum. The levels of resistance to H. armigera in the cultivated chickpea are low to moderate, but the wild relatives of chickpea have exhibited high levels of resistance to this pest. To develop insect-resistant cultivars with durable resistance, it is important to understand the contribution of different components of resistance, and therefore, we studied antixenosis and antibiosis mechanisms of resistance to H. armigera in a diverse array of wild relatives of chickpea. The genotypes IG 70012, PI 599046, IG 70022, PI 599066, IG 70006, IG 70018 (C. bijugum), ICC 506EB, ICCL 86111 (cultivated chickpea), IG 72933, IG 72953 (C. reticulatum), IG 69979 (C. cuneatum) and IG 599076 (C. chrossanicum) exhibited non preference for oviposition by the females of H. armigera under multi-choice, dual-choice and no-choice cage conditions. Based on detached leaf assay, the genotypes IG 70012, IG 70022, IG 70018, IG 70006, PI 599046, PI 599066 (C. bijugum), IG 69979 (C. cuneatum), PI 568217, PI 599077 (C. judaicum) and ICCW 17148 (C. microphyllum) suffered significantly lower leaf damage, and lower larval weights indicating high levels of antibiosis than on the cultivated chickpea. Glandular and non-glandular trichomes showed negative correlation with oviposition, while the glandular trichomes showed a significant and negative correlation with leaf damage rating. Density of non-glandular trichomes was negatively correlated with larval survival. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprints of leaf surface exudates showed a negative correlation of oxalic acid with oviposition, but positive correlation with malic acid. Both oxalic acid and malic acid showed a significant negative correlation with larval survival. The wild relatives exhibiting low preference for oviposition and high levels of antibiosis can be used as sources of resistance to increase the levels and diversify the basis of resistance to H. armigera in cultivated chickpea