• Simmons Husted posted an update 1 month, 2 weeks ago

    Half (50.1%) of mothers cleaned the umbilical cord of their newborns. Only 17% of the newborns received optimal thermal care immediately after birth. Mothers aged 20-24 years (OR 0.38, CI 0.17-0.96) and those involved in subsistence farming (OR 0.67, CI 0.38-1.45) were less likely to practice good newborn care compared to those in other occupations. Newborn care practices were sub-optimal in this refugee setting. To improve newborn care practices, there is need to educate mothers through community-based health interventions in order to promote delayed bathing, ideal infant feeding, thermal and umbilical cord care.The new technologies, the digitalisation of processes and automation of work will change the manner of doing business, working and living. The effects of digitalisation on the economy, society and quality of life imply significant challenges of the labour market. All the participants will be concerned authorities, companies and ordinary people. The objective of this research is to analyse the perceptions of the EU citizens about digitalisation and to highlight the differences among specific socio-demographic groups. The analysis is grounded on a composite methodology, comprising several statistical and econometric methods that provide scientific support to achieved conclusions statistical analysis (with the primary goal to shed light on the EU citizens’ perceptions about their digital technology skills), TwoStep Cluster Analysis (TSCA) (with the purpose to identify the ‘digital vulnerable groups’ and then the ‘digital vulnerable countries’ in terms of the exposure to digital divide) and logistic regression (wis highly needed to increase the people’s confidence in their skills level and to make the most of digitalisation of the societies. The results show consistent patterns in term of socio-demographic characteristics and perception towards digitalisation. The latter will have a meaningful impact on the economy and the society in the European Union in the next period. That is why a positive attitude towards digitalisation is essential for transforming this relatively new challenge into an excellent opportunity for the future.Potato Alternaria leaf blight is one of the economically most important disease in potato production worldwide. A recent study reported a quick method to distinguish main Alternaria pathogens A. tenuissima, A. alternata, and A. solani using partial histone H3 gene sequences. Using this method, our collection of 79 isolates from 8 provinces in China were presumably separated into A. tenussima and A. alternata. But in depth morphological and genetic analysis casted doubt on this identification. Culture morphologies of six presumed A. alternata isolates (PresA_alt) and six presumed A. tenuissima isolates (PresA_ten) were not significantly different. PresA_ten isolates also produced conidia in branched chains which supposed to be A. aternata. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and five genes commonly used for species identification including glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), β-tubulin, plasma membrane ATPase (ATPase), and calmodulin genes. The results showed that GPDH and TEF1 sequences of PresA_alt and PresA_ten isolates were identical. The 12 isolates did not cluster by presumed species neither by individual or concatenated sequence comparisons. The phylogeny-trait association analysis confirmed that the two group isolates were undistinguishable by those molecular markers. Analysis of histone H3 gene sequences revealed variable intron sequences between PresA_ten and PresA_alt isolates, but the amino acid sequences were identical. Our results indicate that the previously published method to distinguish Alternaria species based on histone H3 gene sequence variation is inaccurate and that the prevalence of A. tenuissima isolates in China was likely overestimated.The heptapeptide angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)) is protective in the cardiovascular system through its induction of vasodilator production and angiogenesis. Despite acting antagonistically to the effects of elevated, pathophysiological levels of angiotensin II (AngII), recent evidence has identified convergent and beneficial effects of low levels of both Ang-(1-7) and AngII. Previous work identified the AngII receptor type I (AT1R) as a component of the protein complex formed when Ang-(1-7) binds its receptor, Mas1. Importantly, pharmacological blockade of AT1R did not alter the effects of Ang-(1-7). Here, we use a novel mutation of AT1RA in the Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rat to test the hypothesis that interaction between Mas1 and AT1R contributes to proangiogenic Ang-(1-7) signaling. In a model of hind limb angiogenesis induced by electrical stimulation, we find that the restoration of skeletal muscle angiogenesis in SS rats by Ang-(1-7) infusion is impaired in AT1RA knockout rats. Enhancement of endothelial cell (EC) tube formation capacity by Ang-(1-7) is similarly blunted in AT1RA mutant ECs. Transcriptional changes elicited by Ang-(1-7) in SS rat ECs are altered in AT1RA mutant ECs, and tandem mass spectrometry-based proteomics demonstrate that the protein complex formed upon binding of Ang-(1-7) to Mas1 is altered in AT1RA mutant ECs. Together, these data support the hypothesis that interaction between AT1R and Mas1 contributes to proangiogenic Ang-(1-7) signaling.INTRODUCTION An increased metabolic demand during pregnancy is fulfilled by gaining sufficient gestational weight. Women who gain inadequate-weight are at a high-risk of premature birth or having a baby with low-birth weight. However, women who gain excessive-weight are at a high-risk of having a baby with macrosomia. The aim of this review was to determine the distribution of gestational weight gain and its association with birth-outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we performed a literature search using PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases. We searched grey-literature from Google and Google Scholar, and region-specific journals from the African Journals Online (AJOL) database. We critically appraised the included studies using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies. see more Two independent reviewers evaluated the quality of the studies and extracted the data.