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Decisions and choices about fertility and family planning: Perspectives from husbands and wives in Sudan
Background The use of family planning contraceptives is an essential feature of reproductive health and rights, and safeguards women’s health. Sudan is among the countries with the lowest prevalence of family planning use in Africa. The social construction of gender norms related to preference for increased fertility and family planning decisions resides in the assumption that husbands play a limiting role in their wives’ access to family planning use. This study aims to examine to what extent husbands’ preference for increased fertility is reflected in their wives’ contraceptive use and whether and how their wives adopt their wishes in their actual family planning use. Methods This study used a qualitative approach. Khartoum and Omdurman urban cities were included in the study because they demonstrate high fertility, low contraceptive use among women, and increased unmet need. Individual interviews were conducted with forty-six participants (husbands and wives) in Khartoum and Omdurman cities. The Fertility and Reproductive Health Services Centre (FRHC) in Khartoum and Ahfad Family Health Centre (AFHC) in Omdurman were suitable for this study because of their many years of providing reproductive health services. The medical directors and key health providers assisted in identifying potential participants in the health center’s catchment areas. The participants, the husbands and their wives, were interviewed in separate spaces at FRHC, AFHC, in their homes, or at their workplace. Responses from participants were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated from Arabic to English, and thematically analyzed. Results The findings reveal that husbands’ preference for increased fertility does influence their wives’ contraceptive use. Wives who had different perceptions and were concerned about their reproductive health decided not to conform to spousal influence, seeking means to address their contraceptive needs. This is summarised as follows: *husband and wife agree about fertility and the use of family planning; *husband’s preference for increased fertility overrules wife’s considerations of contraceptive use; *some space for women to decide and use family planning methods; and *wife’s decisions to use family planning methods. Conclusion This study’s findings posit the call for partnerships forged between national health officials at the policy level, public health researchers, community workers, and community leaders to acknowledge the importance of men’s involvement in family planning. Conducting further studies and initiating awareness-raising programs focusing on men’s contraceptive literacy and, hence, attitudes towards family planning, can reduce their influence in reproductive health decisions and promote their role as supporters for women’s contraceptive use. Furthermore, national reproductive health policies must recognize the critical role health providers can play in engaging men. Implementing training initiatives for health providers to improve their roles in counseling men about the health benefits of family planning use can lead to increasing couples’ discussions about fertility-related behaviours to better safeguard their reproductive health status.
Coverage prediction models for 60 GHz links in urban areas
Room-temperature ferrimagnetism and polar phase in strained La2CoRuO6 films through 3d-4d cation engineering
Prevalence and risk factors of cholelithiasis in patients with spinal cord injury: A cross-sectional analysis
Objective The purpose of the present study was to investigate the incidence of cholelithiasis and evaluate the risk factors for cholelithiasis in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods We analyzed 1,530 SCI patients (1,186 males and 344 females) from the China Rehabilitation Research Center (2010–2019) and compared patients with cholelithiasis (n = 289) and without cholelithiasis. The variables included age, gender, marital status, blood glucose level, motor function, and American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) score. Results A total of 1530 patients with SCI, including 1186 males and 344 females, were included in this study. The prevalence of cholelithiasis was 18.89%. Univariate analysis revealed significant differences in age (P < 0.001), marital status (P < 0.001), blood glucose level (P < 0.001), and preserved motor function (P = 0.033). Multivariate analysis revealed the following independent risk factors: age ≥ 50 years (OR=1.637; 95% CI = 1.016–2.639; P = 0.043), being married (OR=1.902; 95% CI = 1.061–3.411; P = 0.031), lack of motor function (OR=1.587; 95% CI = 1.194–2.111; P < 0.001), and hyperglycemia (OR=1.764; 95% CI = 1.164–2.673; P = 0.007). Gender, lipid levels, SCI segment, and AIS grade were not significantly different. Conclusion Patients with SCI have a higher incidence of gallstones. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the occurrence of cholelithiasis in patients with SCI is closely related to age, marital status, blood glucose level and motor function preservation. Tailored preventive and therapeutic approaches should be developed for SCI patients, with intensified monitoring and intervention for high-risk patients to significantly improve quality of life.
The problem with Canada’s plan to buy scientific prestige
ALYREF-mediated RNA 5-methylcytosine modification promotes laryngeal cancer progression via stabilizing DDX11 mRNA
4-Hydroxyphenanthrene exacerbates obesity by altering gut microbiota and bile acid metabolism
IRN2Vec: A representation learning model for road network intersections by integrating geospatial attributes and travel behaviors
The structural characterization of road networks serves as a critical foundation for enabling high performance in intelligent transportation systems. This paper proposes IRN2Vec, an intersection-oriented representation learning model that generates discriminative road intersection embeddings by integrating geospatial attributes, semantic homogeneity, and mobility behavior features through the LEIRN framework. The model employs a shortest-path sampling strategy to construct training data and adopts a multi-task learning approach to jointly optimize three types of relationships: geographical proximity, label consistency, and categorical similarity. Experiments conducted on real-world road network data from San Francisco, Porto, and Tokyo demonstrate that IRN2Vec achieves average improvements in F1-Score of 31.6%/25.1%, 16.2%/8.6%, and 27.8%/20.2% over UID, GCN, and GAT models, respectively, in traffic signal classification and pedestrian crossing classification tasks. In travel time estimation, it reduces the mean absolute error (MAE) by 12.2%–24.6%. The findings provide effective feature support for traffic state perception and road network optimization.
Briefing Chat: ‘Can it run Doom?’ — why scientists got brain cells and a satellite to play the classic game
CRISPR-based mutagenesis of lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis genes in Leptospira interrogans reveals gene essentiality and confirms the role of an O-antigen polymerase
Abstract Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira . Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is an immunodominant and protective antigen for Leptospira , but its biosynthesis remains poorly understood. In this study, we employed CRISPR/Cas9-non-homologous end-joining and CRISPR-Prime Editing to mutate key genes within the rfb locus of L. interrogans , including those involved in core oligosaccharide assembly, and the biogenesis, polymerization, and ligation of O-antigen. Mutants were successfully generated in LIC11312 ( waaF , heptosyltransferase II) and LIC12137 ( wcaJ , undecaprenyl-phosphate glycosyltransferase) but yielded only in-frame deletions suggesting their essentiality. Mutants were also successfully generated in LIC12143, a putative O-antigen polymerase, which exhibited truncated LPS that failed to induce acute leptospirosis in hamsters but retained the ability to colonize kidneys. Mutation of LIC_RS09320, an O-antigen ligase, did not display a change in LPS phenotype. Bacterins prepared with either control wild-type or LIC12143 mutant cells conferred complete homologous protection with sterile immunity, though failed to protect against heterologous challenge. These findings confirm LIC12143 as a functional O-antigen polymerase and underscore the challenges in generating knockout mutants to understand LPS biosynthesis in leptospires.
A genus-wide interaction atlas across NS4B orthologues identifies a conserved role for UFMylation in orthoflavivirus replication
Abstract Orthoflavivirus infections represent an increasing public health burden, with several members of the genus emerging or re-emerging globally. Several pre-clinical studies identified the non-structural protein 4B (NS4B), as the most promising target for the development of potent direct-acting antivirals. However, its functional roles in viral replication are still elusive. Here, we employ an integrated proteomic approach to systematically identify cellular targets of NS4B across eight prototypic orthoflaviviruses and characterize their influence on the human proteome. Using this approach, we mapped high-confidence NS4B-interacting human proteins across the genus, underlying potentially divergent and convergent mechanisms of host adaptation across orthoflaviviruses spanning diverse pathologies and vector preferences. Among these, we unveil a novel function for UBA5, the E1-activating enzyme of the UFMylation pathway, in orthoflavivirus replication. Mechanistically, we map associations of distinct viral proteins with multiple members of the UFMylation pathway, which are selectively recruited to sites of viral replication to promote infectious particle production. Finally, we demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of UFMylation exerts potent antiviral activity in vitro and in vivo. This integrative study provides a rational framework for a system-level understanding of orthoflavivirus NS4B effector functions and sheds light on a conserved and unconventional role for UFMylation in orthoflavivirus replication.