Holistic agricultural diversity index as a measure of agricultural diversity: A cross-sectional study of smallholder farmers in Lilongwe district of Malawi

2021 ◽  
Vol 187 ◽  
pp. 102991
Author(s):  
Paul Fatch ◽  
Charles Masangano ◽  
Thomas Hilger ◽  
Irmgard Jordan ◽  
Isaac Mambo ◽  
...  
2022 ◽  
Vol 158 ◽  
pp. 106878
Author(s):  
Samuel Fuhrimann ◽  
Iris van den Brenk ◽  
Aggrey Atuhaire ◽  
Ruth Mubeezi ◽  
Philipp Staudacher ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Lara S. Yoon ◽  
Jonathan P. Jacobs ◽  
Jessica Hoehner ◽  
Ana Pereira ◽  
Juan Cristóbal Gana ◽  
...  

The gut microbiome has been linked to breast cancer via immune, inflammatory, and hormonal mechanisms. We examined the relation between adolescent breast density and gut microbial composition and function in a cohort of Chilean girls. This cross-sectional study included 218 female participants in the Growth and Obesity Cohort Study who were 2 years post-menarche. We measured absolute breast fibroglandular volume (aFGV) and derived percent FGV (%FGV) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. All participants provided a fecal sample. The gut microbiome was characterized using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing of the V3-V4 hypervariable region. We examined alpha diversity and beta diversity across terciles of %FGV and aFGV. We used MaAsLin2 for multivariable general linear modeling to assess differential taxa and predicted metabolic pathway abundance (MetaCyc) between %FGV and aFGV terciles. All models were adjusted for potential confounding variables and corrected for multiple comparisons. The mean %FGV and aFGV was 49.5% and 217.0 cm3, respectively, among study participants. Similar median alpha diversity levels were found across %FGV and aFGV terciles when measured by the Shannon diversity index (%FGV T1: 4.0, T2: 3.9, T3: 4.1; aFGV T1: 4.0, T2: 4.0, T3: 4.1). %FGV was associated with differences in beta diversity (R2 =0.012, p=0.02). No genera were differentially abundant when comparing %FGV nor aFGV terciles after adjusting for potential confounders (q > 0.56 for all genera). We found no associations between predicted MetaCyc pathway abundance and %FGV and aFGV. Overall, breast density measured at 2 years post-menarche was not associated with composition and predicted function of the gut microbiome among adolescent Chilean girls.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dehao Chen ◽  
Sarah L. McKune ◽  
Nitya Singh ◽  
Jemal Yousuf Hassen ◽  
Wondwossen Gebreyes ◽  
...  

Livestock farming provides a possible mechanism by which smallholder farmers can meet their household need for animal source foods (ASF), which may reduce the risk of stunting. However, direct/indirect contacts with domestic animals may increase colonization by Campylobacter spp., which has been associated with Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) and stunting. A cross-sectional study involving 102 randomly selected children between 12 and 16 months of age was conducted in rural eastern Ethiopia to establish prevalence rates of Campylobacter colonization, EED, and stunting, and evaluate potential risk factors. Data were collected between September and December 2018. The prevalence of EED and stunting was 50% (95% CI: 40–60%) and 41% (95% CI: 32–51%), respectively. Among enrolled children, 56% had consumed some ASF in the previous 24 h; 47% had diarrhea and 50% had fever in the past 15 days. 54, 63, 71 or 43% of households owned at least one chicken, cow/bull, goat, or sheep; 54 (53%) households kept chickens indoors overnight and only half of these confined the animals. Sanitation was poor, with high levels of unimproved latrines and open defecation. Most households had access to an improved source of drinking water. The prevalence of Campylobacter colonization was 50% (95% CI: 41–60%) by PCR. In addition to the thermotolerant species Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter upsaliensis, non-thermotolerant species related to Campylobacter hyointestinalis and Campylobacter fetus were frequently detected by Meta-total RNA sequencing (MeTRS). Current breastfeeding and ASF consumption increased the odds of Campylobacter detection by PCR, while improved drinking water supply decreased the odds of EED. No risk factors were significantly associated with stunting. Further studies are necessary to better understand reservoirs and transmission pathways of Campylobacter spp. and their potential impact on child health.


2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn R. Klein ◽  
Barbara J. Amster

Abstract A study by Yaruss and Quesal (2002), based on responses from 134 of 239 ASHA accredited graduate programs, indicated that approximately 25% of graduate programs in the United States allow students to earn their degree without having coursework in fluency disorders and 66% of programs allow students to graduate without clinical experience treating people who stutter (PWS). It is not surprising that many clinicians report discomfort in treating PWS. This cross-sectional study compares differences in beliefs about the cause of stuttering between freshman undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course in communicative disorders and graduate students enrolled and in the final weeks of a graduate course in fluency disorders.


Vacunas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.M. AlGoraini ◽  
N.N. AlDujayn ◽  
M.A. AlRasheed ◽  
Y.E. Bashawri ◽  
S.S. Alsubaie ◽  
...  

GeroPsych ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lia Oberhauser ◽  
Andreas B. Neubauer ◽  
Eva-Marie Kessler

Abstract. Conflict avoidance increases across the adult lifespan. This cross-sectional study looks at conflict avoidance as part of a mechanism to regulate belongingness needs ( Sheldon, 2011 ). We assumed that older adults perceive more threats to their belongingness when they contemplate their future, and that they preventively react with avoidance coping. We set up a model predicting conflict avoidance that included perceptions of future nonbelonging, termed anticipated loneliness, and other predictors including sociodemographics, indicators of subjective well-being and perceived social support (N = 331, aged 40–87). Anticipated loneliness predicted conflict avoidance above all other predictors and partially mediated the age-association of conflict avoidance. Results suggest that belongingness regulation accounts may deepen our understanding of conflict avoidance in the second half of life.


2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Vierhaus ◽  
Arnold Lohaus ◽  
Indra Shah

This investigation focuses on the question whether assessments of the development of internalizing behavior from childhood to adolescence are affected by the kind of research design (longitudinal versus cross-sectional). Two longitudinal samples of 432 second-graders and 366 fourth graders participated in a longitudinal study with subsequent measurements taken 1, 2, and 3 years later. A third sample consisting of 849 children covering the same range of grades participated in a cross-sectional study. The results show that the development of internalizing symptoms in girls – but not in boys – varies systematically with the research design. In girls, there is a decrease of internalizing symptoms (especially between the first two timepoints) in the longitudinal assessment, which may reflect, for example, the influence of strain during the first testing situation. Both longitudinal trajectories converge to a common trajectory from grade 2 to grade 7 when controlling for this “novelty-distress effect.” Moreover, when we control this effect, the slight but significant decrease characterizing the common trajectory becomes similar to the one obtained in the cross-sectional study. Therefore, trajectories based on longitudinal assessments may suggest more changes with regard to internalizing symptoms over time than actually take place, while trajectories based on cross-sectional data may be characterized by an increased level of internalizing symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.


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