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BackgroundExclusive breastfeeding (EBF) means that the infant receives only breast milk for the first six months of life after birth. In Bangladesh, the prevalence of EBF remained largely unchanged for nearly two decades and was 43% in 2007. However, in 2011, a prevalence of 64% was reported, an increase by 21 percentage points. The reasons for this large change remain speculative at this point. Thus to investigate the issue further, this study was conducted. The objective was to assess the prevalence of EBF and associated factors among mothers having children aged 0–6 months in rural Bangladesh.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Mirzapur Upazilla (sub district) among 121 mothers of infants aged 0–6 months. Eligible mothers were identified and randomly selected using the demographic surveillance system’s computerized database that is updated weekly. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for interviews that inquired information on socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric, health service, breastfeeding related factors (initiation of breastfeeding, prelacteal feeding and colostrum feeding) and economic factors. EBF prevalence was calculated using 24 hour recall method. In multivariate analysis, a logistic regression model was developed using stepwise modeling to analyze the factors associated with EBF.ResultsThe prevalence of EBF in the last 24 hours preceding the survey was 36%. Bivariate and multivariate analysis revealed no significant association between EBF and its possible predictors at 0.05 level of alpha. However, there was some evidence of an association between EBF and having a caesarean delivery (OR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.21, 1.06). In multivariate analysis, type of delivery: caesarean (AOR = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.19, 1.03) and wealth quintile: richer (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI: 0.94, 6.16) also showed some evidence of an association with EBF.ConclusionThe prevalence of EBF in Mirzapur (36%) is lower than the national figure (64%). Prelacteal feeding was not uncommon. These findings suggest that there is a need for breastfeeding support provided by health services. Hence, promotion of EBF during the first six months of life needs to be addressed and future breastfeeding promotion programmes should give special attention to those women who are not practicing EBF.

The montmorillonite clay-catalyzed reactions of nucleotides generate oligomers as long as 50-mers. The extent of catalysis depends on the magnitude of the negative charge on the montmorillonite lattice and the number of cations associated with it. When cations in raw montmorillonites are replaced by sodium ions, the resulting Na(+)-montmorillonite does not catalyze oligomer formation because they saturate the interlayers between the platelets of montmorillonites, which blocks the binding of the activated monomers. Treating the montmorillonite with dilute hydrochloric acid replaces the cations on the raw montmorillonite with protons. The protonated montmorillonite, titrated to pH 6-7, serves as a catalyst for the formation of RNA oligomers. The titration does not add sufficient sodium ions to the interlayers of the montmorillonite platelets to prevent the activated monomer from entering. It was noted that noncatalytic montmorillonites have a higher negative charge on their platelets that is due mainly to the natural substitution of the tetravalent and trivalent elements in the montmorillonite lattice with trivalent and divalent metal ions, respectively. The larger negative charge on these montmorillonites was demonstrated by the almost 2-fold greater amounts of sodium hydroxide needed to titrate noncatalytic montmorillonites as compared to the catalytic montmorillonites. Adsorption isotherms established that the equilibrium binding is strongest for ImpA and weakest for ImpU. Of the 22 montmorillonites investigated, 12 were catalysts. This research provides insight into the mechanism of the catalytic process.