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Inter-pregnancy interval and associated factors among parous women in neighboring low-land ecologies of arsi & east shoa zone, southeast Ethiopia:a community-based cross-sectional study
Get PDFBACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an interval of at least 24 months from the date of a live birth to the conception of the next pregnancy in order to reduce the risk of adverse maternal, perinatal, and infant outcomes. There is limited data about the implementation of this recommendation and its contributing factors in low-land ecologies in Oromia, which is the biggest regional state in Ethiopia.OBJECTIVE: To assess the inter-pregnancy interval and determine associated factors among parous women in selected low-land districts of Arsi and East Shoa Zone.METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected from a random sample of 563 women using a structured, pre-tested questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was conducted, and the magnitude of the association between the inter-pregnancy interval and explanatory variables was measured using adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals.RESULTS: The rate of short inter-pregnancy interval (SIPI) was 28.20% (95% CI: 24.48-31.92%). After multiple logistic regression analysis, women with primary education, women who believed that low contraceptive use contributed to SIPI, women who thought SIPI could impact small for gestational age, and women who thought SIPI could affect birth defects had a lower chance of having SIPI; aOR of 0.54 (95% CI: 0.30-0.79), 0.33 (95% CI: 0.16-0.68), 0.57 (95% CI: 0.32-0.94 and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.40-0.96), respectively.CONCLUSION: Women with primary educational status, those who had better contraception literacy, and who knew about the adverse maternal and perinatal health impacts of SIPI were more likely to follow the recommended inter-pregnancy interval. Improving women's family planning literacy is crucial to lowering the rate of SIPI currently observed in the study area.</p
Understanding the Trio:Structure, Toxicity, and Aggregation mechanism of huntingtin exon 1 aggregates
Get PDFProteins are vital macromolecules involved in various biological functions, with their roles linked to their specific structures. Protein misfolding can lead to toxic aggregates, such as amyloid fibrils, implicated in neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s disease (HD). HD, an autosomal dominant disorder, is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the Htt gene, producing mutant huntingtin (mHtt) with an elongated polyglutamine (polyQ) tract. This mutant protein misfolds, forming aggregates that disrupt cellular functions and propagate via prion-like mechanisms. This thesis explores the structure, toxicity, and mechanisms of Htt aggregation. Chapter 2 highlights curcumin’s role in modulating HttEx1 aggregation. Curcumin delays aggregation, forming less toxic fibrils through structural modifications like β-turn formation, as revealed by ssNMR, TEM, and SAXS. While curcumin-treated fibrils were less toxic, direct treatment did not affect cell viability, necessitating further study of its molecular interactions.Chapter 3 examines ex-vivo mouse brain seeds' influence on in-vitro HttEx1 aggregation. Seeds accelerated aggregation, forming distinct polymorphs with structural differences in flanking domains, as studied by FRET, ThT assays, TEM, and ssNMR. These findings bridge in-vivo and in-vitro studies but call for further exploration into the role of secondary nucleation and in-vivo resemblance.Chapter 4 investigates technical aspects of using MBP fusion proteins, revealing ThT’s weak binding to MBP. Small molecules modulate this interaction, with maltose reducing ThT binding. These findings provide insights for refining aggregation assays, supporting therapeutic development for HD and related disorders
2021 European Society of Cardiology guidelines on cardiac pacing and cardiac resynchronisation therapy:Statement of endorsement by the NVVC
Get PDFThe European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has updated its guidelines on cardiac pacing and cardiac resynchronisation. As the majority are class II recommendations (61%) and based on expert opinion (59%), a critical appraisal for the Dutch situation was warranted. A working group has been established, consisting of specialists in cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, geriatrics, allied professionals in cardiac pacing, and patient organisations with support from the Knowledge Institute of the Dutch Association of Medical Specialists. They assessed the evidence leading to the recommendations and the suitability for daily Dutch practice. Several recommendations have been amended or omitted altogether if a conflicting Dutch guideline has recently been published, such as a guideline on performing magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices. The recent Dutch guideline on implantable cardioverter defibrillator implantation in patients with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy has recommended implanting cardiac resynchronisation therapy devices without a defibrillator function. Shared decision making has received a more prominent role in the ESC guidelines and is discussed in more detail in this document. The recommendations given in this document are intended for health care professionals involved in the care of patients with an indication for cardiac pacing and are approved by the participating professional societies and the patient organisation Harteraad.</p
Examining Changes in Gender-Based Violence Prevention Policies:Critical discourse analysis in the Turkish political context
No full textThis chapter derives from a larger qualitative research project that focuses on gender-based violence (GBV) prevention policies passed by the various governing parties in Turkey in the past 30 years approximately. The Turkish National Action Plan on Gender Equality 2008-2013 asserts that “[t]he Law broadens the concept of gender based violence and defines the concepts of ‘violence’, ‘domestic violence’ and ‘violence against women’ in such a way as to comprise physical, verbal, sexual, economic and psychological violence” (p. 2). Much research has been conducted on GBV in Turkeyto explain the reasons behind high GBV rates. While understanding the motives behind physical, sexual, emotional, and economic violence is indeed crucial, this contribution approaches the problem from a different perspective and examines cultural violence, a term coined by Galtung in 1990 and defined as “those aspects of culture, the symbolic sphere of our existence exemplified by religion and ideology, language and art… that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence” (p. 291). Galtung’s concept is used in order to understand how language and discourse may be utilized to perpetrate cultural violence: “una dimensión de la violencia que no se puede contabilizar, que se conforma por diversos procesos subjetivos de interacción discursiva y que constituyen el tejido de cualquier espacio socio-cultural” [”a dimension of violence that cannot be quantified, and that is composed of various subjective processes of discursive interaction]”. 1 Public discourse of GBV prevention policies between the 1990s and 2018 are examined with a socio-cultural perspective and a gender focus, as such analysis can illuminate new understandings of GBV prevention policies. Quite likely, public discourse in general and governmental policies, in particular, will mostly focus on domestic violence and assume a heteropatriarchal perspective and understanding of gender and sexuality, but for the purposes of this research study, “woman” includes cisgender (heterosexual, lesbian, queer, or other) and transgender women. This chapter aims to understand whether, and, if so, to what extent, political discourse in governmental GBV prevention policies may enact symbolic and cultural violence by portraying women in negative or stereotypical ways, thus perpetuating certain preferred social identities for women (mother, wife, victim) while obscuring others (partner). The analysis and conclusions here are derived from analyzing governmental policies and related documents via (Feminist) Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA) and Corpus Linguistics (CL). Such analysis and conclusions purport to contribute to understandings of global feminisms by identifying potential dangers of uncritically embracing policies and laws in the name of gender justice that may ultimately reproduce gender binaries and normativities that are involved in the gender-based violences we seek to contest.</p
Reciprocity of Nonlinear Systems
No full textReciprocity of linear input-output systems is defined as symmetry of its impulse response or transfer matrix. In the famous 1972 paper by Willems [Dissipative dynamical systems, part II: Linear systems with quadratic supply rates, Arch. Ration. Mech. Anal., 45, pp. 352-393] it was shown how reciprocity can be reflected in the state space realization. Furthermore, it was shown how to combine reciprocity with passivity in order to obtain state space realizations with physically motivated properties, including relaxation systems. The current paper is concerned with the extension of this theory to the nonlinear case. Emphasis is on nonlinear reciprocal systems with a Hessian pseudo-Riemannian metric. The combination of reciprocity with passivity is elucidated from a port-Hamiltonian perspective.</p
A comparison of critical power and the respiratory compensation point at slower and faster pedaling cadences
No full textWe investigated whether pedal cadence (60 vs. 100 rpm) affects oxygen uptake (V̇O2) and power output (PO) at two indexes of the heavy-to-severe-intensity domain boundary (i.e., critical power (CP) and respiratory compensation point (RCP)) and their correspondence. Fourteen adults (7 females, 23 ± 2 years) cycled at 60 and 100 rpm during: (i) a "step-ramp-step" protocol to identify V̇O2 and PO at RCP; (ii) 4-5 exhaustive constant-PO bouts for CP identification; and (iii) a constant-power bout at CP to identify V̇O2 at CP. Separate two-way repeated measures Analysis of variance assessed whether V̇O2 and PO were affected by index (CP vs. RCP) and cadence (60 vs. 100 rpm). The V̇O2 was not affected by index (mean difference (MD) = 73 ± 197 mL·min-1; p = 0.136) but there was an index × cadence interaction (p = 0.014), such that V̇O2 was higher at 100 versus 60 rpm for CP (MD = 142 ± 169 mL·min-1; p = 0.008), but not RCP (p = 0526). The PO was affected by cadence (MD = 13 ± 9 W; p < 0.001) and index (MD = 8 ± 11 W; p = 0.016), with no cadence × index interaction (p = 0.168). The systematic bias in PO confirms cadence-specificity of CP and RCP. The relationship between these indexes and their change in unison in PO suggests a mechanistic link between these two heavy-to-severe domain boundary candidates.</p
Mapping mammalian meadow bird nest predators in a Dutch dairy farming landscape
No full textWidespread changes in the European agricultural system have brought about drastic changes in food web interactions, including those between meadow birds and their (nest) predators. Mammals are considered the main nest predators, yet our current knowledge of predator communities in agricultural landscapes is limited. Using camera traps across 11 500 ha of dairy-farming land in Southwest Friesland, The Netherlands, during three spring seasons we monitored: (1) predator presence and (2) actual predation on black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa limosa) nests. During 2021-2023 we detected 11 species of potential mammalian meadow bird predators. The top six, with a daily presence of ≥ 5%, were: domestic cat (Felis catus), brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), European badger (Meles meles), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), beech marten (Martes foina) and European polecat (Mustela putorius). There were marked, and for most species consistent, differences in spatial distribution, with positive co-occurrence of badgers and foxes. Across the three study years, red foxes were the most consistent predators of godwit nests, whereas domestic cats and brown rats predated very few nests despite their high presence. Patterns over the years indicated that as beech marten nest predation diminished, red fox nest predation increased. We suggest that (1) the presence of predator species alone is not an accurate reflection of their actual nest predation, and (2) the presence of single predator species, and their effects on, meadow birds should be assessed in context of the whole predator community
