Background: Domestic violence does not only violate women's fundamental human rights but it also undermines them from achieving their fullest potential around the world. This study was conducted to assess trends and factors associated with domestic violence among married women of reproductive age in Zimbabwe. Method: This was a cross-sectional study which used secondary data obtained from 2005/06, 2010/11 and 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Surveys (ZDHS). Respondents ranged from married or living with a partner (15-49 years). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine factors associated with domestic violence. Results: Out of 4472 women who were currently married, 1907 (42.7%) had ever experienced one form of domestic violence (physical, emotional and sexual violence). Women aged 40-49 was deemed a protective factor against domestic violence. Risk of domestic violence was higher among working women than unemployed women [AOR = 1.35; p ≤ 0.047]. Women who drink alcohol significantly risk experiencing domestic violence compared to their non-drinking counterpart; also women whose husbands drink alcohol were at higher risk of experiencing domestic violence [AOR = 1.35; p ≤ 0.001]. Domestic violence was higher among women whose husbands have ever experienced their fathers beating their mothers and significant for women whose husbands have more than one wife (polygamy) [AOR = 1.35; p ≤ 0.001]. High parity (5 or more children) was also a risk factor for domestic violence among the studied population [AOR = 1.35; p ≤ 0.038]. Conclusion: Domestic violence was found to be strongly associated with women whose husbands drink alcohol, products of abusive parents/father beating their mother and/or polygamous marriage (had more than one wife). Domestic violence still remains a challenge and a more biting policy efforts are needed to eradicate this public health canker in Zimbabwe.

No abstract

Background Previous studies suggested that visual evoked potential (VEP) was impaired in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), but the results were inconsistent. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore whether the VEP was significantly different between PD patients and healthy controls. Case-control studies of PD were selected through an electronic search of the databases PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We calculated the pooled weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) between individuals with PD and controls using the random-effects model. Results Twenty case-control studies which met our inclusion criteria were included in the final meta-analysis. We found that the P100 latency in PD was significantly higher compared with healthy controls (pooled WMD = 6.04, 95% CI: 2.73 to 9.35, P=0.0003, n=20). However, the difference in the mean amplitude of P100 was not significant between the two groups (pooled WMD = 0.64, 95% CI: −0.06 to 1.33, P=0.07) based on 10 studies with the P100 amplitude values available. Conclusions The higher P100 latency of VEP was observed in PD patients, relative to healthy controls. Our findings suggest that electrophysiological changes and functional defect in the visual pathway of PD patients are important to our understanding of the pathophysiology of visual involvement in PD.

Macrophages are functionally plastic and can thus play different roles in various microenvironments. Testis is an immune privileged organ, and testicular macrophages (TMs) show special immunosuppressive phenotype and low response to various inflammatory stimuli. However, the underlying mechanism to maintain the immunosuppressive function of TMs remains unclear. S100A9, a small molecular Ca2+ binding protein, is associated with the immunosuppressive function of macrophages. However, no related research is available about S100A9 in mouse testis. In the present study, we explored the role of S100A9 in TMs. We found that S100A9 was expressed in TMs from postnatal to adulthood and contributed to maintaining the immunosuppressive phenotype of TMs, which is associated with the activation of PI3K/Akt pathway. S100A9 treatment promotes the polarization of bone marrow-derived macrophages from M0 to M2 in vitro. S100A9 was significantly increased in TMs following UPEC-infection and elevated S100A9 contributed to maintain the M2 polarization of TMs. Treatment with S100A9 and PI3K inhibitor decreased the proportion of M2-type TMs in control and UPEC-infected mouse. Our findings reveal a crucial role of S100A9 in maintaining the immunosuppressive function of TMs through the activation of PI3K/Akt pathway, and provide a reference for further understanding the mechanism of immunosuppressive function of TMs.

No abstract