Post-primary educational and training opportunities for adults in Harare

A study to ascertain the post-primary school training and educational opportunities for adults in Harare, Zimbabwe.The analysis was undertaken to find out the situation regarding opportunities for post primary education and training for adults in Harare. Specifically the analysis sought to establish what institutions offered these opportunities, ownership of the institutions, where the institutions are physically located, fields of study offered, institutional capacity and gender balance among teachers and students. Data were collected on 175 Harare-based institutions. The major findings of the analysis were that: (i) out of the 175 institutions studied 104 (59.43 %) are physically located in the city, 48 (27.43%) are in the low and23(13:14) in high density areas; (ii) computer studies was found to be the most popular field of study in Harare-based institutions; (Hi) only 38.8% of the teaching staff in these institutions were in possession of a diploma or university degree

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four village health workers employed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. Women were eligible for inclusion if they permanently lived in clusters and were confirmed pregnant. Clusters were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to standard of care (52 clusters), IYCF (20 g of a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement per day from age 6 to 18 months plus complementary feeding counselling; 53 clusters), WASH (construction of a ventilated improved pit latrine, provision of two handwashing stations, liquid soap, chlorine, and play space plus hygiene counselling; 53 clusters), or IYCF plus WASH (53 clusters). A constrained randomisation technique was used to achieve balance across the groups for 14 variables related to geography, demography, water access, and community-level sanitation coverage. Masking of participants and fieldworkers was not possible. The primary outcomes were infant length-for-age Z score and haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months of age among children born to mothers who were HIV negative during pregnancy. These outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the effects of the interventions by comparing the two IYCF groups with the two non-IYCF groups and the two WASH groups with the two non-WASH groups, except for outcomes that had an important statistical interaction between the interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01824940. FINDINGS: Between Nov 22, 2012, and March 27, 2015, 5280 pregnant women were enrolled from 211 clusters. 3686 children born to HIV-negative mothers were assessed at age 18 months (884 in the standard of care group from 52 clusters, 893 in the IYCF group from 53 clusters, 918 in the WASH group from 53 clusters, and 991 in the IYCF plus WASH group from 51 clusters). In the IYCF intervention groups, the mean length-for-age Z score was 0·16 (95% CI 0·08-0·23) higher and the mean haemoglobin concentration was 2·03 g/L (1·28-2·79) higher than those in the non-IYCF intervention groups. The IYCF intervention reduced the number of stunted children from 620 (35%) of 1792 to 514 (27%) of 1879, and the number of children with anaemia from 245 (13·9%) of 1759 to 193 (10·5%) of 1845. The WASH intervention had no effect on either primary outcome. Neither intervention reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea at 12 or 18 months. No trial-related serious adverse events, and only three trial-related adverse events, were reported. INTERPRETATION: Household-level elementary WASH interventions implemented in rural areas in low-income countries are unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia and might not reduce diarrhoea. Implementation of these WASH interventions in combination with IYCF interventions is unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia more than implementation of IYCF alone. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Swiss Development Cooperation, UNICEF, and US National Institutes of Health.The SHINE trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1021542 and OPP113707); UK Department for International Development; Wellcome Trust, UK (093768/Z/10/Z, 108065/Z/15/Z and 203905/Z/16/Z); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; US National Institutes of Health (2R01HD060338-06); and UNICEF (PCA-2017-0002)

The characterization of butyrate transport across pig and human colonic luminal membrane

Luminal membrane vesicles (LMV) were isolated from human and pig colonic tissues. They were characterized in terms of purity and ability to transport [14C]butyrate.The activity of cysteine-sensitive alkaline phosphatase, and the abundance of villin, NHE2 and NHE3 proteins, markers of the colonic luminal membrane, were significantly enriched in the LMV compared with the original cellular homogenate. The LMV were free from contamination by other cellular organelles and basolateral membranes, as revealed by the negligible presence of either specific marker enzyme activity or characteristic immunogenic protein.The transport of butyrate into the luminal membrane vesicles was enhanced 5-fold at pH 5.5 compared with pH 8.0. Butyrate transport was temperature dependent, and was stimulated in the presence of an outward-directed anion gradient in the order of butyrate > bicarbonate > propionate > chloride. Kinetic analysis of increasing substrate concentration showed saturation kinetics with an apparent Km value of 14.8 ± 3.6 mm and a Vmax of 54 ± 14 nmol min−1 (mg protein)−1.Butyrate transport was significantly reduced in the presence of short chain fatty acids (SCFA), acetate, propionate and other monocarboxylates (pyruvate and l-lactate). Butyrate uptake was inhibited by several cysteine group modifying reagents such as p-chloromercuribenzosulphonic acid (pCMBS), p-chloromercuribenzoate (pCMB), mersalyl acid and HgCl2, but not by the stilbene anion exchange inhibitors, 4,4′-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2′-disulphonate (DIDS) and 4,4′-dinitrostilbene-2,2′-disulphonate (SITS).The described properties of butyrate transport across the luminal pole of the colon suggest the involvement of a carrier protein, in the form of a pH-activated anion exchange process. The transporter is distinct from the erythrocyte band-3 type anion exchanger and may belong to the monocarboxylate-type transport proteins (MCT1)