Determinants of Early Initiation of Breastfeeding in West Belessa District, Northwest Ethiopia

Background: The world is now suffering from malnutrition and remains one of the leading causes of death for under 5 children. Children from developing countries, including Ethiopia also suffer from undernutrition due to suboptimal breastfeeding practice. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the EIBF practices and determinants among children aged less than 24 months in West Belessa district, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2 to February 28, 2019 in the West Belessa district. A total of 569 mother-children pairs were participated in the study. Study particnapants were selected by using simple random sampling technique. The data were collected by an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Data were entered and analyzed by using Epi-Info version 7 and SPPS version 20, respectively. Bi-variable and Multivariable logistic regression analysis were done. Odds ratio with 95% confidence was done to determine the level of significance value less than .05 considered as significant with the outcome variable. Result: The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) was found to be 77.7 % (95%CI, 74.3-81.0). Age of the mother (AOR = 2.76, 95%CI [1.21, 6.27]), antenatal care (ANC) (AOR = 3.79, 95%CI [2.58, 9.94]), and number of antenatal care visit (AOR = 1.85, 95%CI [1.03, 3.85]) were significantly associated with early initiation of breastfeeding. Conclusion and Recommendation: In this study, more than three fourth of children were received early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour after delivery. Age of the mother, antenatal, and number of antenatal care were associated with EIBF. Therefore, during this contact period, improve antenatal services by increasing accessibility and providing counseling is important to improve EIBF utilization.

Investigating the Effectiveness of Recycled Agricultural and Cement Manufacturing Waste Materials Used in Oil Sorption

This research investigates how sorbents made from recycled waste materials affect the properties of water used to remove residues flushed from oil tanks transported by rail. The mineral sorbent was added to water following the flushing process. Water temperatures were maintained at 21 °C and 70 °C for a contact period of 30 min. The experiments demonstrated that: when the sorbent is active, turbidity removal efficiency was about 64%; color removal efficiency of 56% was obtained; and total iron concentration removal was approximately 68%. The effect of the characteristics of the materials on the adsorption capacity was evaluated using the removed amount of oil per one gram of every sorbent. It was found that straw sorbent oil adsorption capacity was up to 33 mg/g, peat sorbent 37 mg/g, and mineral sorbent 1.83 mg/g. The following were also measured during the experiment: temperature, pH, chemical oxygen usage, total iron concentrations, suspended matter, and oil concentrations. The findings show that recycled sorbents obtained from waste materials are environmentally sustainable and can be reused to treat water that has been used to flush oil transported in rail tanks.

Impact of Partitioning in Short-Term Food Contact Applications Focused on Polymers in Support of Migration Modelling and Exposure Risk Assessment

Food contact materials (FCMs) can transfer chemicals arising from their manufacture to food before consumption. Regulatory frameworks ensure consumer safety by prescribing methods for the assessment of FCMs that rely on migration testing either into real-life foods or food simulants. Standard migration testing conditions for single-use FCMs are justifiably conservative, employing recognized worst-case contact times and temperatures. For repeated-use FCMs, the third of three consecutive tests using worst-case conditions is taken as a surrogate of the much shorter contact period that often occurs over the service life of these items. Food contact regulations allow for the use of migration modelling for the chemicals in the FCM and for the partitioning that occurs between the FCM and food/simulant during prolonged contact, under which steady-state conditions are favored. This study demonstrates that the steady-state is rarely reached under repeated-use conditions and that partitioning plays a minor role that results in migration essentially being diffusion controlled. Domains of use have been identified within which partitioning does not play a significant role, allowing modelling based upon diffusion parameters to be used. These findings have the potential to advance the modelling of migration from repeated-use articles for the benefit of regulatory guidance and compliance practices.

Mana Taonga Kākahu: Exploring Approaches to Reconnecting Taonga Kākahu to Tangatawhenua

<p><b>The current mission of museums in Aotearoa New Zealand is to reconnect taonga (treasured artefacts) to their tribal descendants, but in most cases, there is no provenance, and many Māori remain alienated from their cultural heritage. Taonga kākahu (treasured textiles) from the pre-European and contact period retain mātauranga Māori (ancestral knowledge), materialise links to Te Ao Māori (the Māori world), whakapapa (genealogy) and reflect a sustainable relationship with Te Taiao (nature). They are the product of intricate weaving skills in the procurement, preparation, and construction of natural materials, including the dying of harakeke fibre (NZ flax) with paru (iron rich mud). The main research question therefore is: How and why should taonga kākahu in museum collections be reconnected with tangata whenua?</b></p> <p>This thesis used a range of interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative methods, including field work, scientific applications such as colour measurements, technical analysis of cloaks and practical weaving samples. Iron rich mud samples were gathered from different geographical locations spread around the North Island and one in the South Island and processed with several tannins that were each scientifically measured for their hue of black. Experimental archaeology produced new insights and interpretations of three case study taonga kākahu. The research aims to revitalize customary techniques and knowledge of dying and weaving, support conservation and display of Māori textiles, and enhance the mana and understanding of these precious taonga.</p> <p>The data gathered through this research supports the preservation of the fragile dyed black fibre, contributes to the decolonisation of conservation, advocates for greater community access to collections, and argues for enhanced museum display of cloaks through new interpretation of designs. The research has identified material composition and some unique characteristics in the construction of taonga kākahu which explores ways of reconnecting unprovenanced taonga to tangata whenua.</p> <p> </p>

Mana Taonga Kākahu: Exploring Approaches to Reconnecting Taonga Kākahu to Tangatawhenua

<p><b>The current mission of museums in Aotearoa New Zealand is to reconnect taonga (treasured artefacts) to their tribal descendants, but in most cases, there is no provenance, and many Māori remain alienated from their cultural heritage. Taonga kākahu (treasured textiles) from the pre-European and contact period retain mātauranga Māori (ancestral knowledge), materialise links to Te Ao Māori (the Māori world), whakapapa (genealogy) and reflect a sustainable relationship with Te Taiao (nature). They are the product of intricate weaving skills in the procurement, preparation, and construction of natural materials, including the dying of harakeke fibre (NZ flax) with paru (iron rich mud). The main research question therefore is: How and why should taonga kākahu in museum collections be reconnected with tangata whenua?</b></p> <p>This thesis used a range of interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative methods, including field work, scientific applications such as colour measurements, technical analysis of cloaks and practical weaving samples. Iron rich mud samples were gathered from different geographical locations spread around the North Island and one in the South Island and processed with several tannins that were each scientifically measured for their hue of black. Experimental archaeology produced new insights and interpretations of three case study taonga kākahu. The research aims to revitalize customary techniques and knowledge of dying and weaving, support conservation and display of Māori textiles, and enhance the mana and understanding of these precious taonga.</p> <p>The data gathered through this research supports the preservation of the fragile dyed black fibre, contributes to the decolonisation of conservation, advocates for greater community access to collections, and argues for enhanced museum display of cloaks through new interpretation of designs. The research has identified material composition and some unique characteristics in the construction of taonga kākahu which explores ways of reconnecting unprovenanced taonga to tangata whenua.</p> <p> </p>

Mana Taonga Kakahu; Exploring Approaches to Reconnecting Taonga Kakahu to Tangatawhenua

<p><b>The current mission of museums in Aotearoa New Zealand is to reconnect taonga (treasured artefacts) to their tribal descendants, but in most cases, there is no provenance, and many Māori remain alienated from their cultural heritage. Taonga kākahu (treasured textiles) from the pre-European and contact period retain mātauranga Māori (ancestral knowledge), materialise links to Te Ao Māori (the Māori world), whakapapa (genealogy) and reflect a sustainable relationship with Te Taiao (nature). They are the product of intricate weaving skills in the procurement, preparation, and construction of natural materials, including the dying of harakeke fibre (NZ flax) with paru (iron rich mud). The main research question therefore is: How and why should taonga kākahu in museum collections be reconnected with tangata whenua?</b></p> <p>This thesis used a range of interdisciplinary qualitative and quantitative methods, including field work, scientific applications such as colour measurements, technical analysis of cloaks and practical weaving samples. Iron rich mud samples were gathered from different geographical locations spread around the North Island and one in the South Island and processed with several tannins that were each scientifically measured for their hue of black. Experimental archaeology produced new insights and interpretations of three case study taonga kākahu. The research aims to revitalize customary techniques and knowledge of dying and weaving, support conservation and display of Māori textiles, and enhance the mana and understanding of these precious taonga.</p> <p>The data gathered through this research supports the preservation of the fragile dyed black fibre, contributes to the decolonisation of conservation, advocates for greater community access to collections, and argues for enhanced museum display of cloaks through new interpretation of designs. The research has identified material composition and some unique characteristics in the construction of taonga kākahu which explores ways of reconnecting unprovenanced taonga to tangata whenua.</p> <p> </p>

Aspects of change in the syntax of Māori - A corpus-based study

<p>In the current climate of Māori language revitalisation, there is ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that not only the vocabulary, but also the syntax of modern Māori is markedly different from its traditional roots, and that it shows significant influence from English syntax. However, syntactic change in Māori has not hitherto been rigorously studied. This thesis aims to provide material evidence of change in Māori syntax, through a corpus-based study of grammatical change in te reo Māori over the period of contact with English. My methodology involved the compilation and comparison of two synchronic corpora representing the two ends of the contact period to provide a diachronic perspective on the language. Each corpus consists of approximately 102,000 running words of material written originally in Māori. The early corpus contains items published pre-1900. The modern material was written post-1990. The thesis is not only an exploration of the possibility of documenting syntactic change through the use of such corpora, but also tests whether it is possible to do this using corpora significantly smaller than the multi-million word corpora typical in corpus linguistics. The scope of this methodology is tested by examining three distinct types of grammatical features: a grammatical particle (the preposition mō), a pair of semantically related lexemes that appear to be undergoing a process of grammaticalisation (the verbs taea and āhei), and a widespread grammatical construction (certain types of relative clauses). In each instance, the two corpora are compared for features such as the frequency of occurrence, the associated constructions, and the contexts of use. In relation to the methodological questions, the thesis concludes that while these corpora are too small to provide adequate data on individual lexical items like taea and āhei, the methodology did make it possible to document change in the other, relatively high-frequency grammatical features. The thesis also raises the questions of whether the changes identified result from the direct adoption of English usages and constructions, whether they result from insufficient exposure to traditional Māori as a result of the dominance of English, or whether they are perhaps instead the result of internally-motivated Māori language evolution. This leads to a discussion of the likely implications of the changes documented here for the future of the language and the language community. I argue that acceptance of all such change as natural and unavoidable is likely to be detrimental to the future of te reo Māori.</p>

Aspects of change in the syntax of Māori - A corpus-based study

<p>In the current climate of Māori language revitalisation, there is ample anecdotal evidence to suggest that not only the vocabulary, but also the syntax of modern Māori is markedly different from its traditional roots, and that it shows significant influence from English syntax. However, syntactic change in Māori has not hitherto been rigorously studied. This thesis aims to provide material evidence of change in Māori syntax, through a corpus-based study of grammatical change in te reo Māori over the period of contact with English. My methodology involved the compilation and comparison of two synchronic corpora representing the two ends of the contact period to provide a diachronic perspective on the language. Each corpus consists of approximately 102,000 running words of material written originally in Māori. The early corpus contains items published pre-1900. The modern material was written post-1990. The thesis is not only an exploration of the possibility of documenting syntactic change through the use of such corpora, but also tests whether it is possible to do this using corpora significantly smaller than the multi-million word corpora typical in corpus linguistics. The scope of this methodology is tested by examining three distinct types of grammatical features: a grammatical particle (the preposition mō), a pair of semantically related lexemes that appear to be undergoing a process of grammaticalisation (the verbs taea and āhei), and a widespread grammatical construction (certain types of relative clauses). In each instance, the two corpora are compared for features such as the frequency of occurrence, the associated constructions, and the contexts of use. In relation to the methodological questions, the thesis concludes that while these corpora are too small to provide adequate data on individual lexical items like taea and āhei, the methodology did make it possible to document change in the other, relatively high-frequency grammatical features. The thesis also raises the questions of whether the changes identified result from the direct adoption of English usages and constructions, whether they result from insufficient exposure to traditional Māori as a result of the dominance of English, or whether they are perhaps instead the result of internally-motivated Māori language evolution. This leads to a discussion of the likely implications of the changes documented here for the future of the language and the language community. I argue that acceptance of all such change as natural and unavoidable is likely to be detrimental to the future of te reo Māori.</p>

Hei tiki: He whakamārama hōu

<p>This thesis addresses the problem that while hei tiki are the most culturally iconic of Māori adornments, there still remains much uncertainty concerning their origins, lineage of development and cultural use. A collections-based study investigates these areas of uncertainty in search of new mana-enhancing understandings. A position developed in the review is that hei tiki were probably highly developed stylistically from the outset to conform to adze-shaped pieces of pounamu, with the common hei tiki style likely appearing and rising to prominence quickly. A case is argued for local conventions of style exerting an early and ongoing influence upon the stylistic diversity and development of hei tiki, with a close relationship with wood carving appearing likely. The mana of hei tiki derived from the agency of prolonged ancestral use is investigated in relation to the view that, while hei tiki making and use probably reached their height in the early 19th century, a significant portion may have been made as European trade items. The manifestation of indigenous agency is a reoccurring theme investigated in this thesis and is argued to have implications for the mana of hei tiki. Features of hei tiki belonging to the early contact period 1769-1777 and to a general sample of 50 hei tiki from the Te Papa collection were recorded and enabled shape, style, pounamu and wear analysis. The results indicate that by 1769-1777 the adze shape was common amongst hei tiki, the most common style predominated, conventional proportions and most of the stylistic features apparently common to hei tiki in general had been established. Supporting evidence is found for a trend of increasing hei tiki size over time, and for hei tiki making and use having peaked in the early 19th century. Shape-to-size analysis also indicates early origins and continuity for the adze-shaped hei tiki. Furthermore pounamu and wear analysis results indicate that hei tiki continued to be used primarily by Māori. Overall the results are interpreted as supporting or being consistent with the arguments developed in the literature review and they are held to be mana-enhancing for hei tiki.</p>

Hei tiki: He whakamārama hōu

<p>This thesis addresses the problem that while hei tiki are the most culturally iconic of Māori adornments, there still remains much uncertainty concerning their origins, lineage of development and cultural use. A collections-based study investigates these areas of uncertainty in search of new mana-enhancing understandings. A position developed in the review is that hei tiki were probably highly developed stylistically from the outset to conform to adze-shaped pieces of pounamu, with the common hei tiki style likely appearing and rising to prominence quickly. A case is argued for local conventions of style exerting an early and ongoing influence upon the stylistic diversity and development of hei tiki, with a close relationship with wood carving appearing likely. The mana of hei tiki derived from the agency of prolonged ancestral use is investigated in relation to the view that, while hei tiki making and use probably reached their height in the early 19th century, a significant portion may have been made as European trade items. The manifestation of indigenous agency is a reoccurring theme investigated in this thesis and is argued to have implications for the mana of hei tiki. Features of hei tiki belonging to the early contact period 1769-1777 and to a general sample of 50 hei tiki from the Te Papa collection were recorded and enabled shape, style, pounamu and wear analysis. The results indicate that by 1769-1777 the adze shape was common amongst hei tiki, the most common style predominated, conventional proportions and most of the stylistic features apparently common to hei tiki in general had been established. Supporting evidence is found for a trend of increasing hei tiki size over time, and for hei tiki making and use having peaked in the early 19th century. Shape-to-size analysis also indicates early origins and continuity for the adze-shaped hei tiki. Furthermore pounamu and wear analysis results indicate that hei tiki continued to be used primarily by Māori. Overall the results are interpreted as supporting or being consistent with the arguments developed in the literature review and they are held to be mana-enhancing for hei tiki.</p>