Gender bias in the food insecurity experience of Ethiopian adolescents

Food insecurity is a pressing public health concern in many developing countries. Despite widespread interest in the sociocultural determinants of food insecurity, little is known about whether youths living in food insecure households experience food insecurity. The buffering hypothesis reviewed here assumes that, to the extent possible, adult members of households will buffer younger household members from the ill effects of food insecurity. A variant of the buffering hypothesis argues that only certain members of the households will enjoy the benefits of buffering. We hypothesize that within the context of Ethiopia, where girls have historically experienced discrimination, buffering is preferentially aimed at boys, especially as the household experiences greater levels of food stress. These hypotheses are tested using data from a population-based study of 2084 adolescents living in southwestern Ethiopia. Results indicate that boys and girls were equally likely to be living in severely food insecure households. Despite no differences in their households' food insecurity status, girls were more likely than boys to report being food insecure themselves. This gender difference was the largest in severely food insecure households. This same pattern was observed when comparing male-female sibling pairs living in the same household. These results are among the first to show that household level measures of food insecurity predict adolescent experiences of food insecurity, and that in the Ethiopian socio-cultural context, the relationship between household level food insecurity and adolescent food insecurity varies by gender. We also show that adolescent food insecurity is strongly associated with measures of general health and well-being.     

P450 interaction with farnesyl-protein transferase inhibitors metabolic stability, inhibitory potency, and P450 binding spectra in human liver microsomes

Methyl substitution at the 2-position of the imidazole ring greatly improved drug metabolism profiles, in human liver microsomes, of ras farnesyl-protein transferase inhibitor (FTI) candidates for drug development. Methyl substitution markedly reduced the P450 inhibitory potency of non-substituted FTIs for CYP3A4 (by a factor of 12-403) and 2C9 (by a factor of 4.2-28), while it had little effect on the CYP2D6 enzyme. An immunochemical inhibition study demonstrated that CYP3A4 plays a predominant role in the metabolism of both non-substituted and 2-methyl-substituted imidazole-containing FTI candidates. Very strong type II binding spectra with human liver microsomes were observed for all non-substituted FTIs, while methyl substitution markedly weakened type II spectra or shifted the type of spectra from II to I. This indicated that methyl substitution on the imidazole moiety interfered with the substrate-P450 heme interaction, likely due to a steric effect caused by the methyl group. A kinetics study revealed that the methyl substitution increased V(max) and K(m) values to the same extent. These studies suggested that the 2-methyl substitution on the imidazole ring improved its drug metabolism profile by reducing the potential to inhibit CYP3A4-mediated metabolism without affecting intrinsic metabolic clearance (V(max)/K(m)).     

Nonmarital sex and condom knowledge among Ethiopian young people: improved estimates using a nonverbal response card

The accurate assessment of risky sexual behaviors and barriers to condom use is essential to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. This study tests a new nonverbal response-card method for obtaining more accurate responses to sensitive questions in the context of face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaires in a survey of 1,269 Ethiopian young people aged 13-24. Comparisons of responses between a control group that provided verbal responses and an experimental group that used the card indicate that the prevalence of nonmarital sexual intercourse may be two times higher and knowledge of condom access may be 22 percent lower in the study than typical population-survey methods suggest. These results suggest that our nonverbal response-card method yields less biased estimates of risky adolescent sexual behavior and perceived access to condoms than those derived from conventional face-to-face interviewer-administered surveys, and that this method provides an effective, easy-to-use, low-cost alternative.     

Unraveling oligodendrocyte origin and function by cell-specific transgenesis.

Besides the role of mature oligodendrocytes in myelin synthesis during the development of the central nervous system (CNS), the oligodendrocyte lineage also encompasses the largest pool of postnatal proliferating progenitors whose behavior in vivo remains broadly elusive in health and disease. We describe here transgenic models that allow us to track the functions and origins of such cells by using proteolipid protein and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP) gene promoters to direct oligodendroglial expression of different reporters, in particular the green fluorescent protein (GFP). We emphasize that the CNP-GFP mouse, which targets the entire oligodendroglial lineage from embryonic life to adulthood, provides an outstanding tool to study the in vivo properties of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells in normal and damaged CNS.     

Patterns of racial/ethnic disparities in baseline health-related quality of life and relationship with overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer

Quality of Life Research - Racial disparities are evident in colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis with black patients experiencing worse outcomes than Hispanics and whites, yet mediators of these...     

Households willingness to pay for long-lasting insecticide treated nets in three urban communities of Assosa Zone, western Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Achieving the target coverage of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) has to be preceded by understanding their demands, willingness to pay (WTP) and determinants of WTP for those who could not get free of charge. OBJECTIVE: To assess WTP for long lasting ITN using contingent valuation method and determinants of maximum WTP for long lasting ITN among households in Assosa Zone, Western Ethiopia. METHODS: The contingent valuation method was used to assess WTP for long-lasting ITN among households selected from the three urban communities. univariate and multivariate regression analyses were carried out. The adjusted effect (beta), F-ratios, adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and 95% CI were used to interpret results. The criterion for statistical significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: Ninety six percent of the respondents reported that long-lasting ITN are important for their family fbr prevention of malaria and demanded for long lasting ITN. Sixty seven percent of the respondents were willing to pay for long-lasting ITN at the starting bid amount of 25 Birr. The mean, maximum WTP amount was 27.84 Birr. The mean WTP amount varied with the respondents' wealth status, which was 19.09 and 35.26 Birr foir poorest and well-off wealth quintiles respectively. Wealth status and knowledge of the respondents about its preventive effects against boring insects were significantly associated with their WTP (adjusted beta = +3.76, 95% CI: 2.3, 4.6 and adjusted beta = 10.15, 95% CI: 2.7, 17.6 respectively). CONCLUSION: The poor have shown their WTP for reduced cost of ITN, thus the regional health bureau should develop a price discrimination mechanism for those economically vulnerable groups.     

Knowledge, attitude and practice of home-based care for HIV/AIDS patients by their family/ caregivers at Jimma Town

BACKGROUND: About 1.5 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia-one of the largest HIV infected populations in the world. The current prevalence rate of infection is estimated at 4.4% nationally. Hospital bed occupancy rate due to AIDS has reached over 50% in urban hospitals creating a severe burden to the health service system in the country, or else US $3.4 million is needed in order to increase their bed capacity. Here arises the need to look for a better way of caring for people living with HIV/AIDS. Home care would thus offer the only feasible option for this need as it can mobilize the considerable reservoir of caring and sympathy that exists within a community beyond that of cost cutting. The study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of family/caregivers regarding home-based care for people living with HIV/AIDS. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional community-based study conducted among 274 family/caregivers who were giving care for people living with HIV/AIDS in urban setting of Jimma town from June - August 2005. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and attitude towards home based care practice. Data collection was done by interviewing family/caregivers at their respective houses and analyzed using SPSS for windows version 11.0. RESULTS: Over three fourth of the studied subjects (91.6%) were knowledgeable about home based care and 88.7% showed favorable attitude. Ninety two point eight percent agreed that home is a better place for the care of PLWHA than hospital. Single caregivers were about four times more likely to be knowledgeable about home care as compared to their counterparts (OR = 3.98 (95% CI: 0.50, 88.08), but the finding was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Neighbors and friends were two times more likely to have favorable attitude towards HBC as compared to family members, OR = 1.96 (95% CI: 0.74, 5.21) but, the finding is not statistically significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The study highlighted that the majority of family members/caregivers have good knowledge and favorable attitude towards HBC and over half favored this care. Therefore, appropriate use of the above promising findings and experience of innovative approaches of HBC from other countries is recommended for further, more organized and effective home-based care practice.