Prevalence of anaemia among children has been a major health problem in developing countries. An estimated 73 million children below age five in India (58%) are anaemic (NFHS-4, 2017) despite of a number of vertical interventions across different states. This study has analysed the extent of socioeconomic inequalities and spatial heterogeneity in anaemia among children using data from the recent round of Indian DHS, known as National Family Health Survey. Methods: Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to assess the effects of socioeconomic and demographic predictors on prevalence of anaemia among children under age five. Socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of anaemia among children were analysed using Concentration Index and Poor-rich Ratios. Further, the spatial heterogeneity in the prevalence of anaemia were analysed using autocorrelation and auto regression models. Results: The highest negative values of Concentration Index and Poor-rich ratios were observed in Mizoram (−0.204) and Nagaland (−0.120). The univariate Moran's I statistics was 0.63 for child anaemia suggesting a profound and significant spatial heterogeneity in the prevalence of anaemia among children in India. The spatial autocorrelation of anaemia among children with anaemia among mother was 0.46. Other predictors included in the model having significant autocorrelation with anaemia among children were underweight (0.74) and experience of diarrhoea in seven days preceding the survey (0.35). The results of SEM explained that coefficients of mother's anaemia (0.74), uneducated mothers (0.10) and underweight children (0.10) were some of the key predictors of child anaemia in India. Conclusion: The study findings suggest greater investment in addressing micronutrient deficiencies among children and child feeding practices, by adopting differential approaches especially in the regions with higher prevalence of anaemia.
Microwell platforms show great promise in single-cell studies and protein measurements because of their low volume sampling, rapid analysis and high throughput screening ability. However, the existing actuation mechanisms to manipulate the target samples and fabrication procedures involved in the microwell-based microfluidic devices are complex, resource-intensive and require an external power source. In this work, we present proof of concept of a simple, power-free and low-cost closed magnet digital microfluidics device for isolating biological entities in femtoliter-sized microwells. The target biological entities were encapsulated in magnetic liquid marbles and shuttled back and forth between micropatterned top and bottom plates in the microdevice to obtain high loading efficiency and short processing time. The microdevice performance was studied through fluorescent detection of three different entities: microbeads, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Escherichia coli, captured in the microwell array. Almost 80% of the microwells were loaded with single microbeads in five shuttling cycles, in less than a minute. Further, a low volume of BSA was compartmentalized in the microwell array over a two order range of concentration. The microdevice exhibits two unique features: lotus leaf stamps were used to fabricate micropatterns (microwells and micropillars) on top and bottom plates to impart functionality and cost-effectiveness, and the target samples were actuated by a permanent magnet to make the microdevice power-free and simple in operation. The developed biomimetic microdevice is therefore capable of capturing a multitude of biological entities in low-resource settings.
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