Determinants of infant and young child feeding practices in Sri Lanka : secondary data analysis of demographic and health survey 2000

Background: Poor feeding practices in early childhood contribute to the burden of childhood malnutrition and morbidity. Objective: To estimate the key indicators of breastfeeding and complementary feeding and the determinants of selected feeding practices in Sri Lanka. Methods: The sample consisted of 1,127 children aged 0 to 23 months from the Sri Lanka Demographic and Health Survey 2000. The key infant feeding indicators were estimated and selected indicators were examined against a set of individual-, household-, and community- level variables using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Breastfeeding was initiated within the first hour after birth in 56.3% of infants, 99.7% had ever been breastfed, 85.0% were currently being breastfed, and 27.2% were being bottle-fed. Of infants under 6 months of age, 60.6% were fully breastfed, and of those aged 6 to 9 months, 93.4% received complementary foods. The likelihood of not initiating breastfeeding within the first hour after birth was higher for mothers who underwent cesarean delivery (OR = 3.23) and those who were not visited by a Public Health Midwife at home during pregnancy (OR = 1.81). The rate of full breastfeeding was significantly lower among mothers who did not receive postnatal home visits by a Public Health Midwife. Bottlefeeding rates were higher among infants whose mothers had ever been employed (OR = 1.86), lived in a metropolitan area (OR = 3.99), or lived in the South-Central Hill country (OR = 3.11) and were lower among infants of mothers with secondary education (OR = 0.27). Infants from the urban (OR = 8.06) and tea estate (OR = 12.63) sectors were less likely to receive timely complementary feeding than rural infants. Conclusions: Antenatal and postnatal contacts with Public Health Midwives were associated with improved breastfeeding practices. Breastfeeding promotion strategies should specifically focus on the estate and urban or metropolitan communities.

Determinants of infant and young child feeding practices in Nepal : secondary data analysis of demographic and health survey 2006

Background: Childhood undernutrition and mortality are high in Nepal, and therefore interventions on infant and young child feeding practices deserve high priority. Objective. To estimate infant and young child feeding indicators and the determinants of selected feeding practices. Methods: The sample consisted of 1,906 children aged 0 to 23 months from the Demographic and Health Survey 2006. Selected indicators were examined against a set of variables using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results. Breastfeeding was initiated within the first hour after birth in 35.4% of children, 99.5% were ever breastfed, 98.1% were currently breastfed, and 3.5% were bottle-fed. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding among infants under 6 months of age was 53.1%, and the rate of timely complementary feeding among those 6 to 9 months of age was 74.7%. Mothers who made antenatal clinic visits were at a higher risk for no exclusive breastfeeding than those who made no visits. Mothers who lived in the mountains were more likely to initiate breastfeeding within 1 hour after birth and to introduce complementary feeding at 6 to 9 months of age, but less likely to exclusively breastfeed. Cesarean deliveries were associated with delay in timely initiation of breastfeeding. Higher rates of complementary feeding at 6 to 9 months were also associated with mothers with better education and those above 35 years of age. Risk factors for bottle-feeding included living in urban areas and births attended by trained health personnel. Conclusions: Most breastfeeding indicators in Nepal are below the expected levels to achieve a substantial reduction in child mortality. Breastfeeding promotion strategies should specifically target mothers who have more contact with the health care delivery system, while programs targeting the entire community should be continued.

A study of the generalised max–min fair rate allocation for ABR control in ATM

In the rate-based flow control for ATM Available Bit Rate service, fairness is an important requirement, i.e. each flow should be allocated a fair share of the available bandwidth in the network. Max–min fairness, which is widely adopted in ATM, is appropriate only when the minimum cell rates (MCRs) of the flows are zero or neglected. Generalised max–min (GMM) fairness extends the principle of the max–min fairness to accommodate MCR. In this paper, we will discuss the formulation of the GMM fair rate allocation, propose a centralised algorithm, analyse its bottleneck structure and develop an efficient distributed explicit rate allocation algorithm to achieve the GMM fairness in an ATM network. The study in this paper addresses certain theoretical and practical issues of the GMM fair rate allocation.

Weighted fairness with MCR guarantee and a general-purpose explicit rate allocation algorithm for ATM ABR service

In this paper, weighted fair rate allocation for ATM available bit rate (ABR) service is discussed with the concern of the minimum cell rate (MCR). Weighted fairness with MCR guarantee has been discussed recently in the literature. In those studies, each ABR virtual connection (VC) is first allocated its MCR, then the remaining available bandwidth is further shared among ABR VCs according to their weights. For the weighted fairness defined in this paper, the bandwidth is first allocated according to each VC's weight; if a VC's weighted share is less than its MCR, it should be allocated its MCR instead of the weighted share. This weighted fairness with MCR guarantee is referred to as extended weighted (EXW) fairness. Certain theoretical issues related to EXW, such as its global solution and bottleneck structure, are first discussed in the paper. A distributed explicit rate allocation algorithm is then proposed to achieve EXW fairness in ATM networks. The algorithm is a general-purpose explicit rate algorithm in the sense that it can realise almost all the fairness principles proposed for ABR so far whilst only minor modifications may be needed.

An enhanced explicit rate algorithm for ABR traffic control in ATM networks

A high performance, low computational complexity rate-based flow control algorithm which can avoid congestion and achieve fairness is important to ATM available bit rate service. The explicit rate allocation algorithm proposed by Kalampoukas et al. is designed to achieve max–min fairness in ATM networks. It has several attractive features, such as a fixed computational complexity of O(1) and the guaranteed convergence to max–min fairness. In this paper, certain drawbacks of the algorithm, such as the severe overload of an outgoing link during transient period and the non-conforming use of the current cell rate field in a resource management cell, have been identified and analysed; a new algorithm which overcomes these drawbacks is proposed. The proposed algorithm simplifies the rate computation as well. Compared with Kalampoukas's algorithm, it has better performance in terms of congestion avoidance and smoothness of rate allocation.

Effect of cabin ventilation rate on ultrafine particle exposure inside automobiles

We alternately measured on-road and in-vehicle ultrafine (<100 nm) particle (UFP) concentration for 5 passenger vehicles that comprised an age range of 18 years. A range of cabin ventilation settings were assessed during 301 trips through a 4 km road tunnel in Sydney, Australia. Outdoor airflow(ventilation) rates under these settings were quantified on open roads using tracer gas techniques. Significant variability in tunnel trip average median in-cabin/on-road (I/O) UFP ratios was observed (0.08 to ∼1.0). Based on data spanning all test automobiles and ventilation settings, a positive linear relationship was found between outdoor air flow rate and I/O ratio, with the former accounting for a substantial proportion of variation in the latter (R2 ) 0.81). UFP concentrations recorded in cabin during tunnel travel were significantly higher than those reported by comparable studies performed on open roadways. A simple mathematical model afforded the ability to predict tunnel trip average in-cabin UFP concentrations with good accuracy. Our data indicate that under certain conditions, in-cabin UFP exposures incurred during tunnel travel may contribute significantly to daily exposure. The UFP exposure of automobile occupants appears strongly related to their choice of ventilation setting and vehicle.

An investigation of the relationship between subjective sleep quality, loneliness and mood in an Australian sample: Can daily routine explain the links?

Background: Loneliness and low mood are associated with significant negative health outcomes including poor sleep, but the strength of the evidence underlying these associations varies. There is strong evidence that poor sleep quality and low mood are linked, but only emerging evidence that loneliness and poor sleep are associated. Aims: To independently replicate the finding that loneliness and poor subjective sleep quality are associated and to extend past research by investigating lifestyle regularity as a possible mediator of relationships, since lifestyle regularity has been linked to loneliness and poor sleep. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 97 adults completed standardized measures of loneliness, lifestyle regularity, subjective sleep quality and mood. Results: Loneliness was a significant predictor of sleep quality. Lifestyle regularity was not a predictor of, nor associated with, mood, sleep quality or loneliness. Conclusions: This study provides an important independent replication of the association between poor sleep and loneliness. However, the mechanism underlying this link remains unclear. A theoretically plausible mechanism for this link, lifestyle regularity, does not explain the relationship between loneliness and poor sleep. The nexus between loneliness and poor sleep is unlikely to be broken by altering the social rhythm of patients who present with poor sleep and loneliness.

Interest from Tertiary Educated Persons in Fostering Children with Higher Care needs under a Professional (Paid) Model Compared with General Foster Care

The number of Australian children requiring foster care due to abuse and neglect is increasing at a faster rate than suitable carers can be recruited. Currently increased numbers of foster children are presenting with higher care needs. Evidence suggests carers with a higher education could contribute to placement stability and ultimately provide more positive outcomes for this group of children. This paper explores the level of interest by tertiary educated persons toward a model of fostering for children with higher needs. Using a descriptive survey methodology, a convenience sample of 644 university undergraduate and postgraduate students within faculties of health sciences, and education, arts and social sciences was employed. Psychology students in the 17-26 year old age group showed greatest interest in a professional foster care model and this was statistically significant (p=0.002 955 CI .000-.010) when compared to other health professionals and other age groups. Education students held the highest interest in general fostering although not statistically significant. When these survey results were extrapolated to the total number of health professionals in Australia there could be 8,385 potential recruits for a model professional foster care. Focused campaigns are required to source professional as recruits to fostering with the benefit of servicing the placement needs of higher care needs children and contributing to general foster care resources.

Sell, give away, or donate : an exploratory study of fashion clothing disposal behaviour in two countries

This study investigates the antecedents to clothing disposal methods in two countries: Scotland and Australia. Increasing volumes of textiles are disposed of in landfill sites to the detriment of the environment. Extant research has identified the influences affecting an increased rate of purchasing and the trend to keep clothing for an ever shorter time. As such, it is imperative to examine the factors that affect consumers’ choice of clothing disposal method as limited research has been undertaken in this area of socially responsible consumption. The results of a survey administered to a sample of female consumers in the two countries identify antecedents of three forms of clothing disposal methods: selling through eBay or second-hand shops, giving away to family or friends or donating to charities. Findings show differences between the countries regarding clothing disposal behaviour. Nevertheless, general recycling behaviour was found to be the strongest predictor for donating to charities in both countries.

Bitrate modeling of scalable videos using quantization parameter, frame rate and spatial resolution

The quality and bitrate modeling is essential to effectively adapt the bitrate and quality of videos when delivered to multiplatform devices over resource constraint heterogeneous networks. The recent model proposed by Wang et al. estimates the bitrate and quality of videos in terms of the frame rate and quantization parameter. However, to build an effective video adaptation framework, it is crucial to incorporate the spatial resolution in the analytical model for bitrate and perceptual quality adaptation. Hence, this paper proposes an analytical model to estimate the bitrate of videos in terms of quantization parameter, frame rate, and spatial resolution. The model can fit the measured data accurately which is evident from the high Pearson correlation. The proposed model is based on the observation that the relative reduction in bitrate due to decreasing spatial resolution is independent of the quantization parameter and frame rate. This modeling can be used for rate-constrained bit-stream adaptation scheme which selects the scalability parameters to optimize the perceptual quality for a given bandwidth constraint.

How do we reach them? Comparing random samples from mobile and landline phones

Quantitative studies of nascent entrepreneurs such as GEM and PSED are required to generate their samples by screening the adult population, usually by phone in developed economies. Phone survey research has recently been challenged by shifting patterns of ownership and response rates of landline versus mobile (cell) phones, particularly for younger respondents. This challenge is acutely intense for entrepreneurship which is a strongly age-dependent phenomenon. Although shifting ownership rates have received some attention, shifting response rates have remained largely unexplored. For the Australian GEM 2010 adult population study we conducted a dual-frame approach that allows comparison between samples of mobile and landline phones. We find a substantial response bias towards younger, male and metropolitan respondents for mobile phones – far greater than explained by ownership rates. We also found these response rate differences significantly biases the estimates of the prevalence of early stage entrepreneurship by both samples, even when each sample is weighted to match the Australian population.

Psychiatric and substance abuse comorbidity among a large sample of DUI Texas offenders

Research is indicating that individuals who present for DUI treatment may have competing substance abuse and mental health needs. This study aimed to examine the extent of such comorbidity issues among a sample of Texas DUI offenders. Method: Records of 36,372 DUI clients and 308,695 non-DUI clients admitted to Texas treatment programs between 2005 and 2008 were obtained from the State's administrative dataset. The data were analysed to identify the relationship between substance use, psychiatric problems, program completion and recidivism rates. Results: Analysis indicated that while non-DUI clients were more likely to present with more severe illicit substance use problems, DUI clients were more likely to have a primary problem with alcohol. Additionally, a cannabis use problem was also found to be significantly associated with DUI recidivism in the last year. In regards to mental health needs, a major finding was that depression was the most common psychiatric condition reported by DUI clients, including those with more than one DUI offence in the past year. This group were also more at risk of being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder compared to the general population, and such a diagnosis was also associated with an increased likelihood of not completing treatment. Interestingly, female DUI and non-DUI clients were also more likely to be diagnosed with mental health problems compared to males, as well as more likely to be placed on medications at admission and have problems with methamphetamine, cocaine, and opiates. Conclusion: The findings highlight the complex competing needs of some DUI offenders who enter treatment. The results also suggest that there is a need to utilise mental health and substance abuse screening methods to ensure DUI offenders are directed towards appropriate treatment pathways as well as ensure that such interventions adequately cater for complex substance abuse and psychiatric needs.

Effects of different practice task constraints on fluctuations of player heart rate in small-sided football games

This paper analyzes effects of different practice task constraints on heart rate (HR) variability during 4v4 smallsided football games. Participants were sixteen football players divided into two age groups (U13, Mean age: 12.4±0.5 yrs; U15: 14.6±0.5). The task consisted of a 4v4 sub-phase without goalkeepers, on a 25x15 m field, of 15 minutes duration with an active recovery period of 6 minutes between each condition. We recorded players’ heart rates using heart rate monitors (Polar Team System, Polar Electro, Kempele, Finland) as scoring mode was manipulated (line goal: scoring by dribbling past an extended line; double goal: scoring in either of two lateral goals; and central goal: scoring only in one goal). Subsequently, %HR reserve was calculated with the Karvonen formula. We performed a time-series analysis of HR for each individual in each condition. Mean data for intra-participant variability showed that autocorrelation function was associated with more short-range dependence processes in the “line goal” condition, compared to other conditions, demonstrating that the “line goal” constraint induced more randomness in HR response. Relative to inter-individual variability, line goal constraints demonstrated lower %CV and %RMSD (U13: 9% and 19%; U15: 10% and 19%) compared with double goal (U13: 12% and 21%; U15: 12% and 21%) and central goal (U13: 14% and 24%; U15: 13% and 24%) task constraints, respectively. Results suggested that line goal constraints imposed more randomness on cardiovascular stimulation of each individual and lower inter-individual variability than double goal and central goal constraints.

Effect of heating rate on the crystal composition of ferroelectric lithium niobate crystallites

A series of lithium niobate powders were synthesized by the combustion method at different heating rates. The effect of heating rate on the crystal composition of lithium niobate powders was investigated by powder X-ray diffraction measurements. It has been found that the lithium content in the as-synthesized lithium niobate powders increases with decreasing the heating rate. On the basis of the existed structure-property relationship of lithium niobate single crystals, it was concluded that high quality lithium niobate powders can be effectively synthesized at a lower heating rate (in the range of 5-10 C/min) by the combustion method.

Managing Trust in Online Social Networks

In recent years, there is a dramatic growth in number and popularity of online social networks. There are many networks available with more than 100 million registered users such as Facebook, MySpace, QZone, Windows Live Spaces etc. People may connect, discover and share by using these online social networks. The exponential growth of online communities in the area of social networks attracts the attention of the researchers about the importance of managing trust in online environment. Users of the online social networks may share their experiences and opinions within the networks about an item which may be a product or service. The user faces the problem of evaluating trust in a service or service provider before making a choice. Recommendations may be received through a chain of friends network, so the problem for the user is to be able to evaluate various types of trust opinions and recommendations. This opinion or recommendation has a great influence to choose to use or enjoy the item by the other user of the community. Collaborative filtering system is the most popular method in recommender system. The task in collaborative filtering is to predict the utility of items to a particular user based on a database of user rates from a sample or population of other users. Because of the different taste of different people, they rate differently according to their subjective taste. If two people rate a set of items similarly, they share similar tastes. In the recommender system, this information is used to recommend items that one participant likes, to other persons in the same cluster. But the collaborative filtering system performs poor when there is insufficient previous common rating available between users; commonly known as cost start problem. To overcome the cold start problem and with the dramatic growth of online social networks, trust based approach to recommendation has emerged. This approach assumes a trust network among users and makes recommendations based on the ratings of the users that are directly or indirectly trusted by the target user.