Maternal and newborn health prioritization in Yobe State, Nigeria: analysis of stakeholders' perspective.

Background: Maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity in conflict-affected northeastern areas of Nigeria, such as Yobe State, are disproportionately higher than those in the rest of the country. There is limited evidence on the factors that influence maternal and newborn health (MNH) policymaking and implementation in this region, particularly with respect to the impact of conflict and context-specific issues. This study explores the political, economic and health system factors that drive the prioritization of MNH policies in Yobe State.

Deep learning models for the early detection of maize streak virus and maize lethal necrosis diseases in Tanzania.

Agriculture is considered the backbone of Tanzania's economy, with more than 60% of the residents depending on it for survival. Maize is the country's dominant and primary food crop, accounting for 45% of all farmland production. However, its productivity is challenged by the limitation to detect maize diseases early enough.

Role of food choice motives in the socio-economic disparities in diet diversity and obesity outcomes in Kenya.

Background: The increased prevalence of overweight and obesity, along with high diet diversity, is observed among higher socio-economic groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. One contributing factor to these observed variations is food choice motives. However, the role of these motives in explaining the observed differences has not been thoroughly explored in this context.

Minimal Pain Tumescent Local Anesthesia Injection for Wide Awake Modified Radical Mastectomy.

The advent of minimal pain tumescent local anesthesia injection has improved patient safety by eliminating the need for sedation for many wide awake operations, especially in patients with significant medical comorbidities. Modified radical mastectomy (MRM) for breast cancer is commonly performed under general anesthesia as it requires the dissection of the entire breast and an ipsilateral axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). General anesthesia has been shown to have a high risk in patients with severe medical comorbidities.

Minimally Invasive Approach Provides Oncological Benefit in Patients with High Risk of Very Early Recurrence (VER) After Surgery for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA).

Background: Surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is jeopardized by significant risk of early recurrence (≤ 6 months). The aim of the present study is to analyze the oncological benefit provided by laparoscopic over open approach for iCCA in patients with high risk of very early recurrence (VER).

Materials And Methods: A total of 532 liver resections (LR) were performed for iCCA [265 by minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and 267 with open approach, matched through a 1:1 propensity score] and stratified using the postoperative prediction model of VER.

Speech recognition datasets for low-resource Congolese languages.

Large pre-trained Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models have shown improved performance in low-resource languages due to the increased availability of benchmark corpora and the advantages of transfer learning. However, only a limited number of languages possess ample resources to fully leverage transfer learning. In such contexts, benchmark corpora become crucial for advancing methods.

Detection of Wuchereria bancrofti in human blood samples and mosquitoes in Matayos, Busia County-Kenya.

Lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito borne disease which leads to abnormal painful enlarged body parts, severe disability and social stigma. We screened Wuchereria bancrofti in Matayos constituency in Busia County. Blood samples were collected from 23 villages selected purposively based on clinical case reports.

DSAIL-Porini: Annotated camera trap image data of wildlife species from a conservancy in Kenya.

For years, zoologists, ecologists, and researchers at large have been using instruments such as camera traps in acquiring images of wild animals non-intrusively for ecological research. The main reason behind ecological research is to increase the understanding of various interactions in ecosystems while providing supporting data and information. Due to climate change and the destruction of animal habitats in recent years, researchers have been conducting studies on diminishing populations of various species of interest and the effectiveness of habitat restoration practices.

Impact of anthropometric data on technical difficulty of laparoscopic liver of resections of segments 7 and 8: the CHALLENGE index.

Background: The high technical difficulty of using a laparoscopic approach to reach the posterosuperior liver segments is mainly associated with their poor accessibility. This study was performed to analyze correlations between anthropometric data and intraoperative outcomes.

Study Design: All patients who underwent segmentectomy or wedge laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) of segments seven and/or eight from June 2012 to November 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.

Comparison and validation of three difficulty scoring systems in laparoscopic liver surgery: a retrospective analysis on 300 cases.

Background: Difficulty scores (DSs) have been proposed to rate laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) technical difficulty increasing surgical safety. The aim of the study was to validate three DSs (Hasegawa, Halls and Kawaguchi) and compare their ability to predict technical difficulty and postoperative outcomes.

Materials And Methods: All patients who underwent LLR from January 2006 to January 2019 were analyzed.

Frequency re-use distance calculation in cellular systems based on Monte-Carlo simulation.

Radio spectrum's sharing guideline is an essential component of spectrum utilization process. Since there is no insightful interference avoidance method in a radio system, the careful selection of sharing conditions is the only means for achieving successful co-existence and optimal spectrum usage in the radio system. Spectrum sharing rule can be obtained by an analytical method or statistical method.

Plasma ACTH concentration and pituitary gland histo-pathology in rats infected with .

Background: Human African trypanosomiasis is one of the neglected and re-emerging infectious diseases in Africa with over 60 million people being at risk of contracting the disease.

Objective: To investigate the effects of infection on secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and histology of the pituitary gland and paraventricular nucleus in rats.

Methods: Rats were randomly divided into two groups, control and experimental.

Factors associated with adequate weekly reporting for disease surveillance data among health facilities in Nairobi County, Kenya, 2013.

Introduction: Kenya adopted the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy in 1998 to strengthen disease surveillance and epidemic response. However, the goal of weekly surveillance reporting among health facilities has not been achieved. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of adequate reporting and factors associated with IDSR reporting among health facilities in one Kenyan County.

Explaining the uptake of paediatric guidelines in a Kenyan tertiary hospital--mixed methods research.

Background: Evidence-based standards for management of the seriously sick child have existed for decades, yet their translation in clinical practice is a challenge. The context and organization of institutions are known determinants of successful translation, however, research using adequate methodologies to explain the dynamic nature of these determinants in the quality-of-care improvement process is rarely performed.

Methods: We conducted mixed methods research in a tertiary hospital in a low-income country to explore the uptake of locally adapted paediatric guidelines.

Factors influencing performance of health workers in the management of seriously sick children at a Kenyan tertiary hospital--participatory action research.

Background: Implementation of World Health Organization case management guidelines for serious childhood illnesses remains a challenge in hospitals in low-income countries. Facilitators of and barriers to implementation of locally adapted clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have not been explored.

Methods: This ethnographic study based on the theory of participatory action research (PAR) was conducted in Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya's largest teaching hospital.

Hospital outcomes for paediatric pneumonia and diarrhoea patients admitted in a tertiary hospital on weekdays versus weekends: a retrospective study.

Background: Quality of patient care in hospitals has been shown to be inconsistent during weekends and night-time hours, and is often associated with reduced patient monitoring, poor antibiotic prescription practices and poor patient outcomes. Poorer care and outcomes are commonly attributed to decreased levels of staffing, supervision and expertise and poorer access to diagnostics. However, there are few studies examining this issue in low resource settings where mortality from common childhood illnesses is high and health care systems are weak.

Performance of health workers in the management of seriously sick children at a Kenyan tertiary hospital: before and after a training intervention.

Background: Implementation of WHO case management guidelines for serious common childhood illnesses remains a challenge in hospitals in low-income countries. The impact of locally adapted clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on the quality-of-care of patients in tertiary hospitals has rarely been evaluated.

Methods And Findings: We conducted, in Kenyatta National Hospital, an uncontrolled before and after study with an attempt to explore intervention dose-effect relationships, as CPGs were disseminated and training was progressively implemented.

A functional NR4A nuclear receptor DNA-binding domain is required for organ development in Caenorhabditis elegans.

NR4A nuclear receptors are a diverse group of orphan nuclear receptors with critical roles in regulating cell proliferation and cell differentiation. The ortholog of the NR4A nuclear receptor in Caenorhabditis elegans, NHR-6, also has a role in cell proliferation and cell differentiation during organogenesis of the spermatheca. Here we show that NHR-6 is able to bind the canonical NR4A monomer response element and can transactivate from this site in mammalian HEK293 cells.