The World Health Organization recommends using vaccination contacts to deliver high-dose vitamin A supplementation (VAS) to children aged 6 to 59 months. The effect of this policy on overall child mortality has not been assessed.

In this first randomized controlled trial of VAS at routine vaccination contacts after 6 months, VAS had no overall effect on mortality but was associated with reduced mortality in girls and increased mortality in boys. (Read the full article)

Studies have shown that reciprocal vocalizations between mother and infant have positive effects on language development. It has been shown that girls acquire vocabulary and language skills earlier than boys.

Mothers more readily respond to their infant’s vocal cues than fathers, and infants show a preferential vocal response to their mothers in the first months of life. Mothers respond preferentially to infant girls versus boys at birth and 44 weeks. (Read the full article)

Micronutrient deficiencies, including deficiencies of vitamin B-12 and folate, are common worldwide and may be a contributing factor to the estimated 165 million stunted children.

Routine supplementation of vitamin B-12 improved linear and ponderal growth in subgroups of young Indian children. We provide evidence that vitamin B-12 deficiency is a contributor to poor growth in low- and middle-income countries. (Read the full article)

Subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics have been used as growth promoters in animal farming since the 1950s. Antibiotic exposure during infancy is associated with increased body mass in humans.

The weight-promoting effect of antibiotics is most pronounced when the exposure occurs at <6 months of age or repeatedly during infancy. Increased body mass is distinctly associated with exposure to cephalosporins and macrolides, especially in boys. (Read the full article)

The sensitivity of the urinalysis (UA) traditionally has been considered suboptimal in young infants. Whether the finding of a negative UA and a positive urine culture represents a false-negative UA versus a false-positive urine culture remains unclear.

In infants <3 months with bacteremic urinary tract infection, a condition that represents true infection, the UA sensitivity is higher than previously reported for urinary tract infection in general, suggesting that the UA is reliable even in young infants. (Read the full article)

A South African working abroad, able to save R36 000 per month, hopeful that he will continue these earnings, seeks the best investment strategy. Investment expert Elian Wiener responds.

Unprecedented demand for online services and entertainment during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, along with a scramble for haven investments, have helped set South African stocks on course for a record month.

Credit card fraud increased to 19.47% as at the end of March 2019, compared to 12.2% reported at the beginning of January 2019.

People travelling to the UK will be quarantined for two weeks upon arrival as part of measures to prevent a second peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

QuickBooks Payroll offers unlimited payroll runs, automatic tax calculations, and snappy 24-hour direct deposits all handled in one app.

The Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center at Penn State has a slate of programming for Financial Literacy Month this April and is offering help to anyone in the University community who is anxious about their financial future.

The Student Activities Office at Penn State Wilkes-Barre typically offers a full slate of activities for students and will continue to do so throughout April — even though the way those activities are delivered may look a little different.

• Football association, leading football players and a club president donate funds

Plummeting student enrollment and skyrocketing education costs have led Vermont lawmakers to begin a controversial consolidation of its vast mostly rural education system. But are Vermont residents willing to give up their small community schools?

Governor Jack Markell today joined Delaware State Housing Authority Director Anas Ben Addi and other federal, state, and local officials to celebrate Delaware Homeownership Month and to announce the extension of a program that allows first-time homebuyers to claim a credit on their federal income taxes.

Governor Jack Markell today joined Delaware State Housing Authority, Habitat for Humanity, Delaware Americorps, Delaware Association of Realtors, Home Builders Association of Delaware, and Delaware Health and Social Services to proclaim June as Homeownership Month.

The participants of OM Chile’s nine-month Intensive Training were different people when they left than when they had arrived.

Statistics from the Division of Professional Regulation, which licenses controlled substance prescribers, show a 12-percent drop in opioid prescriptions statewide compared to the first quarter of 2017. The number of Delaware patients being treated with opioid medications has also declined by 8 percent over the same time period, the division reports.

Highlights include programs on African-American life at the John Dickinson Plantation in the 18th century, the evolution of black recorded music and African-American archaeology in Delaware.

Highlights include programs on women's suffrage, Harriet Tubman and the female vocalists of the Victor Talking Machine Company.

Accreditation is the highest recognition afforded to museums in the United States.

Highlights include programs on the Underground Railroad, black recording artists and record labels from the early 20th century, and First African Baptist Church cemeteries in Philadelphia.

Activities honor and celebrate women's lives and historic achievements.

Following the start of production in April, capacity has been increased with a target to produce 3 million masks per month across two lines, with over 1 million masks manufactured in the first 10 days...

GroupM’s John Montgomery tells Sonam Saini that while marketers are more cognizant of ad frauds, much more needs to be done to ensure brand safety.

Certain practices in the apparel market continue to loom like dark clouds, says Rishabh Oswal, Executive Director, Monte Carlo.

Industry reports suggest that Italian cuisine is the second most popular international cuisine in India, after Chinese, due to the presence of several QSR chains. It isn’t, therefore, a surprise that companies like Del Monte want to ride this wave.

The move comes a day after California allowed manufacturers in the state to reopen operations, shut due to coronavirus-led lockdowns, which drew an enthusiastic "Yeah!!" on Twitter from Tesla Chief...

The May 5-7 poll median of more than 40 economists predicted India's annual consumer price inflation fell to 5.68% in April from March's 5.91%.

All the state universities in West Bengal will implement the academic calendar in their respective institutions within a month after the lockdown is lifted, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said...

To honor October as “Fire Prevention Month,” Smokey Bear will visit Delaware schools to teach children that “only you can prevent wildfires.” Nationwide fire data continue to show that human activity causes the largest number of forest fires, which is why Smokey teaches children at a very early age that they should never play with fire or use matches. Last year, the Delaware Forest Service provided 104 fire education programs to 9,410 students - a record number of school programs for the agency.

The Delaware Forest Service is sending a crew of 20 wildland firefighters to the Northern Rockies to help battle wildfires in the West as the National Fire Preparedness Level is now at the maximum of 5 on a 5-point scale. The team is flying from Harrisburg to Missoula, Montana (MSO) on Sunday, August 5. Delaware also sent a crew to the Rocky Mountains on July 3.

 Monthly reporting by Portfolio Managers

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