Subclinical mastitis, defined as raised milk sodium/potassium (Na/K) in the absence of clinical symptoms, is associated with poor infant weight gain and increased risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission. Similarly to clinical mastitis, subclinical mastitis appears to have multiple causes, one being poor lactation practice. We investigated whether a single session of lactation counselling around the time of delivery could decrease subclinical mastitis among women in rural Bangladesh. The counselling messages included the importance of giving colostrum, exclusive breastfeeding, feeding on demand and how to achieve good positioning and attachment. Women who had delivered prior to our instituting the counselling intervention (mean 1 month) constituted the uncounselled group. At 1 month postpartum, sodium and potassium were measured in spot milk samples from each breast by flame photometry and interleukin-8 (IL8) by ELISA. Geometric mean Na/K ratios and the proportion of milk samples with raised Na/K ratio were significantly (p < 0.05) lower in the counselled group [mean 0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.45, n = 116 samples; 10% Na/K ratio > 0.6] than in the non-counselled group [mean 0.49, 95% CI 0.45-0.53, n = 127; 25% Na/K ratio > 0.6]. Milk IL8 concentration did not differ between groups. The results show that among Bangladeshi women a simple lactation counselling intervention could improve lactation practice in ways likely to improve infant health.

Our purpose in this study was to examine the relationship between interpersonal violence and background traumas and symptom distress in a community sample of Colombian women (N = 217). We utilized the Life Stressor Checklist-Revised (LSC-R) to measure lifetime interpersonal violence (IPV) and background trauma exposure and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) to measure current symptom distress. Although both exposures were common in this sample, IPV was strongly correlated with current symptom distress; background traumas made no unique contribution to the variance in current symptom distress. Based on our findings, it is suggested that interpersonal events may be particularly distressing.

El artículo reflexiona acerca de las situaciones atravesadas por los y las docentes bilingües guaraní, chané y tapiete de la provincia de Salta (Argentina) en el marco de la pandemia por COVID-19. En primer lugar, realizamos una contextualización de la situación general de la Educación Intercultural Bilingüe en la provincia de Salta, luego analizamos los efectos de la pandemia sobre las prácticas de los y las docentes bilingües a partir de una encuesta y de algunas experiencias educativas desarrolladas en contexto virtual.

We undertook the translation and adaptation of an instrument developed to measure women's lifetime trauma exposure, the Life Stressor Checklist-Revised (LSC-R), in order to determine its utility and cultural appropriateness with Colombian Spanish-speaking women. The LSC-R was forward and backward translated and administered to a sample (N = 217) of community-based women volunteers in Medellín, Colombia. Open-ended questions were included to assess the construct validity and cultural appropriateness of the LSC-R. The LSC-R was found to be valid and easily understood. Trauma exposure was common, but its assessment was not overly distressing to Colombian women.

El objetivo del presente artículo es indagar sobre el pasado y el presente de los líderes religiosos guaraní y chané en el territorio del actual Norte Argentino. Por un lado, se indagará sobre lo que fue el sistema chamánico del complejo chiriguano-chané, descrito en estudios etnohistóricos, y, por otro lado, se pretende analizar los procesos de yuxtaposición de estos sistemas chamánicos con los sistemas religiosos cristianos, trayendo a colación algunos casos etnográficos actuales de líderes políticos y religiosos indígenas y evangélicos, que manejan las artes de la curación. Por último, se presentará un análisis sobre las emergencias espirituales, las mediaciones culturales y las transfiguraciones religiosas entre los pueblos amerindios contemporáneos.