Predictors of anemia in pregnancy among pregnant women accessing antenatal care in a poor resource setting in South Eastern Nigeria

Background: Anemia in pregnancy affects about half of pregnant women and constitutes a serious health problem. Objectives: The aim was to determine the prevalence of anemia in pregnancy, as well as its pattern and determinants. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study conducted at antenatal booking clinic of Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki from February to July 2012. Hemoglobin <11 g/dl was regarded as anemia. Estimation of hemoglobin concentration, HIV infection, blood group, genotype and blood film for malaria parasite and erythrocyte morphology were done. Stool analysis was also done. Results: Prevalence of anemia in pregnancy was 58%. Anemia in pregnancy was a common finding among primigravida 82 (66.1%), social Class II 14 (56.0%), social Class III 98 (53.6%), social Class IV 45 (61.6%), social Class V 117 (65.4%), antenatal booking at 14–27 weeks 211 (70.3%), and antenatal booking at ≥28 weeks 47 (74.6%). The significant predictors of anemia in pregnancy include HIV in pregnancy (odds ratio [OR] =4.88 [1.09–21.84]), P = 0.04, obstetric hemorrhage (OR = 2.97 [1.27–6.97]), P = 0.01, malaria parasitemia (OR = 4.28 [2.28–8.03]), P < 0.001, primigravidity (OR = 0.04 [1.03–2.41]), P = 0.04, and helminthiasis (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Anemia is still a common finding in pregnancy, and important contributing factors include malaria parasitemia, helminthic infestation and HIV in pregnancy

Test method for measuring non-visible set-off from inks and lacquers on the food-contact surface of printed packaging materials

The main objective was to develop a technique to expose spots of invisible set-off of inks and lacquers on the food-contact surface of food-packaging materials. Set-off is the unintentional transfer of components of printing inks from the outer printed surface onto the food-contact surfaces. The target sensitivity was 20 μg cm-2 and the technique should be capable of examining large areas of printed substrate for no more than 4% coverage by set-off. These requirements equate to an ability to detect a worst-case migration potential of less than 50 μg kg-1. Other objectives were the industrial requirements that the equipment should be inexpensive, should be easy to use by existing personnel and should preferably be non-destructive with a clear criterion for pass or fail. The approaches investigated included chemical analysis of solvent extracts, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and microbeam analytical techniques, but these were found to be cumbersome and had only limited success. The objectives were achieved using an optical approach to excite and observe luminescence from invisible set-off. In model experiments, resins were applied to different substrates (plastic, paper and cartonboard). For a given resin on a given material, the key to success was to maximize the discrimination between the luminescence from the resin and that from the substrate by selecting the optimal combination of exciting wavelength and viewing goggles with selective wavelength filters. The required level of detection (20 μg cm-2) was achieved or exceeded for all ten resins tested on three different plastics. It was also achieved for two different papers and in all but four cases of the resins on three different cartonboards. Quantitation was achieved by the use of a calibration palette prepared using different quantities of resin spotted onto the relevant blank packaging material

Petromin: the slow death of statist oil development in Saudi Arabia

The paper recounts the history of Saudi Arabia's first national oil company, Petromin, which was originally supposed to take the place of foreign-owned Aramco. As a result of Petromin's inefficiency and personal rivalries among the Saudi elite, however, Petromin was progressively relegated to the sidelines in favour of a gradually 'Saudiised' Aramco. As a result, the organisation of the Saudi oil sector today is very different from - and more efficient than - that of most other oil exporters in the developing world. The paper concludes with a tentative taxonomy of national oil companies, based on the circumstances of nationalisation

Hypertensive disorders in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy: insights from the ESC EORP PPCM Registry

Aims: Hypertensive disorders occur in women with peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM). How often hypertensive disorders co-exist, and to what extent they impact outcomes, is less clear. We describe differences in phenotype and outcomes in women with PPCM with and without hypertensive disorders during pregnancy. Methods: The European Society of Cardiology PPCM Registry enrolled women with PPCM from 2012-2018. Three groups were examined: 1) women without hypertension (‘PPCM-noHTN’); 2) women with hypertension but without pre-eclampsia (‘PPCM-HTN’); 3) women with pre-eclampsia (‘PPCM-PE’). Maternal (6-month) and neonatal outcomes were compared. Results: Of 735 women included, 452 (61.5%) had PPCM-noHTN, 99 (13.5%) had PPCM-HTN and 184 (25.0%) had PPCM-PE. Compared to women with PPCM-noHTN, women with PPCM-PE had more severe symptoms (NYHA IV in 44.4% and 29.9%, p&lt;0.001), more frequent signs of heart failure (pulmonary rales in 70.7% and 55.4%, p=0.002), higher baseline LVEF (32.7% and 30.7%, p=0.005) and smaller left ventricular end diastolic diameter (57.4mm [±6.7] and 59.8mm [±8.1], p&lt;0.001). There were no differences in the frequencies of death from any cause, re-hospitalization for any cause, stroke, or thromboembolic events. Compared to women with PPCM-noHTN, women with PPCM-PE had a greater likelihood of left ventricular recovery (LVEF≥50%) (adjusted OR 2.08 95% CI 1.21-3.57) and an adverse neonatal outcome (composite of termination, miscarriage, low birth weight or neonatal death) (adjusted OR 2.84 95% CI 1.66-4.87). Conclusion: Differences exist in phenotype, recovery of cardiac function and neonatal outcomes according to hypertensive status in women with PPCM