1,720,972 research outputs found
HIV status, breastfeeding modality at 5 months and postpartum maternal weight changes over 24 months in rural South Africa
Get PDFObjective:
To determine the effect of infant feeding practices on postpartum weight change among HIV-infected and -uninfected women in South Africa.<p></p>
Methods:
In a non-randomised intervention cohort study of antiretroviral therapy-naïve women in South Africa, infants were classified as exclusive (EBF), mixed (MF) or non-breastfed (NBF) at each visit. We analysed infant feeding cumulatively from birth to 5 months using 24-hour feeding history (collected weekly for each of the preceding 7 days). Using generalised estimating equation mixed models, allowing for repeated measures, we compared postpartum weight change (kg) from the first maternal postpartum weight within the first 6 weeks (baseline weight) to each subsequent visit through 24 months among 2340 HIV-infected and -uninfected women with live births and at least two postpartum weight measurements.<p></p>
Results:
HIV-infected (−0.2 kg CI: −1.7 to 1.3 kg; P = 0.81) and -uninfected women (−0.5 kg; 95% CI: −2.1 to 1.2 kg; P = 0.58) had marginal non-significant weight loss from baseline to 24 months postpartum. Adjusting for HIV status, socio-demographic, pregnancy-related and infant factors, 5-month feeding modality was not significantly associated with postpartum weight change: weight change by 24 months postpartum, compared to the change in the reference EBF group, was 0.03 kg in NBF (95% CI: −2.5 to +2.5 kg; P = 0.90) and 0.1 kg in MF (95% CI: −3.0 to +3.2 kg; P = 0.78).<p></p>
Conclusion:
HIV-infected and -uninfected women experienced similar weight loss over 24 months. Weight change postpartum was not associated with 5-month breastfeeding modality among HIV-infected and -uninfected women
Viraemia before, during and after pregnancy in HIV-infected women on antiretroviral therapy in rural KwaZulu-Natal-South Africa, 2010-2015
Get PDFObjectives: Pregnancy and postpartum viral load (VL) suppression is critical to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) and ensure maternal health. We measured viraemia risk before, during and after pregnancy in HIV-infected women.Methods: Between 2010 and 2015, 1425 HIV-infected pregnant women on lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for at least six months pre-pregnancy were enrolled in a cohort study in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Odds ratios (OR) were estimated in multilevel logistic regression, with pregnancy period time varying.Results: Over half of 1425 women received tenofovir-based regimens (n=791). Median pre-pregnancy ART duration was 2.1 years. Of 988 women (69.3%) with pre-pregnancy VLs; 82.0%, 6.8% and 11.2% had VL <50, 50-999 and ≥1000 copies/ml, respectively. During pregnancy and at six, 12 and 24 months, VL was ≥1000 copies/ml in 15.2%, 15.7%, 17.8%, and 16.6% respectively; VL<50 was 76.9%, 77%, 75.5% and 75.8%, respectively. Adjusting for age, clinical and pregnancy factors, viraemia risk (VL ≥50 copies/ml) was not significantly associated with pregnancy [adjusted OR (aOR) 1.31; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.90-1.92], six month (aOR 1.30; 95% CI 0.83-2.04), 12 month (aOR 0.96; 95% CI 0.58-1.58) and 24 month (aOR 1.40; 95% CI 0.89-2.22) postpartum period. Adjusting for ART duration-pregnancy period interaction, viraemia risk was 1.8 and two-fold higher during pregnancy and postpartum, respectively. Conclusions: While undetectable VL before pregnancy through postpartum was high, the UNAIDS goal to suppress 90% of women was not met. Women on preconception ART remain vulnerable to viraemia; additional support is required to prevent MTCT and maintain maternal health
Follow-up care of infants born in a prevention of mother-to-child transmission programme in an urban hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Get PDFThesis (M.Med.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.Introduction.
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the main contributor to rising child mortality in South Africa. Although prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes have been implemented in the country, little is known about the clinical and loss to follow-up outcomes of infants born to HIV-infected women attending these programmes.
Purpose.
The purpose of the study was to describe the clinical and loss to follow-up outcomes of HIV-exposed infants whose mothers had received antiretroviral therapy or prophylaxis during their pregnancy at the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programme at McCord Hospital. Furthermore, maternal socio-demographic characteristics associated with these outcomes were determined.
Methods.
An observational retrospective cohort study design was used. The study population consisted of infants whose mothers had received antiretroviral prophylaxis or therapy at McCord Hospital, and were delivered at McCord Hospital, and/or were brought back to McCord Hospital, following delivery from 1 May 2008 to 31 May 2009.
Results.
Data on 265 infants was analysed. Of the 220 infants who were tested, the HIV transmission risk was 2.7% (n=6; 95% Cl: 1.0% to 5.8%) at 6 weeks of age. Overall, 40.4% of infants in the cohort were lost to follow-up (n=105, 95% Cl: 34.4 to 46.6). In the multivariable model (n=253), late booking for first antenatal visit at or after 28 weeks of gestation (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 2.3; 95% Cl: 1.0 to 5.1, p=0.044) was a risk factor for loss to follow-up. Compared to having an emergency caesarean section, having an elective caesarean section (AHR 1.9; 95% Cl: 1.1 to 3.5) or normal vaginal delivery (AHR 2.5; 95% Cl: 1.4 to 4.5) was significantly associated with loss to follow-up of infants. Discussion. The substantial attrition of infants born to HIV-infected mothers in the Prevention of
Mother-to-Child Transmission programme at McCord Hospital undermined the goals of the programme, and underestimated the effect of infectious disease morbidity, mortality and HIV transmission risk associated with these infants.
Recommendations.
Counselling mothers on the health benefits to their HIV-exposed infants of attending the follow-up clinic and tracing of infants who have been lost to follow-up is vital to the operational effectiveness of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission programme at McCord Hospital
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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