The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant changes in dermatologic care, likely exacerbating health disparities for specific minority populations. The use of teledermatology has also become more prevalent during this period. The aim of this study was to determine if the proportion of teledermatology versus office-based visits varied significantly during three study periods of the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Delays in accessing skilled delivery services are a major contributor to high maternal mortality in resource-limited settings. In 2015, the government of The Gambia initiated a results-based financing intervention that sought to increase uptake of skilled delivery. We performed a midline evaluation to determine the impact of the intervention and explore causes of delays.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuronal nitric oxide synthase is involved in diverse signaling cascades that regulate neuronal development and functions via S-Nitrosylation-mediated mechanism or the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC)/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway activated by nitric oxide. Although it has been studied extensively in vitro and in invertebrate animals, effects on mammalian brain development and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we report that genetic deletion of "Nos1" disrupts dendritic development, whereas pharmacological inhibition of the sGC/cGMP pathway does not alter dendritic growth during cerebral cortex development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommunity-based behavioural interventions aimed at reducing risky sexual behaviour have yet to be shown to be effective in the developing world. Stepping Stones is a participatory STI/HIV prevention workshop programme based on empowerment techniques, which has been adapted to an infertility prevention framework for The Gambia. This paper describes a preliminary evaluation in two villages where the intervention was carried out compared to two control villages.
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