Cholangiocarcinoma is a heterogeneous group of biliary tract cancers that has a poor prognosis and globally increasing incidence and mortality. While surgical resection remains the only curative option for the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma, the majority of cancers are unresectable at the time of diagnosis. Additionally, the prognosis of cholangiocarcinoma remains poor even with the current first-line systemic therapy regimens, highlighting the difficulty of treating locally advanced, metastatic, or unresectable cholangiocarcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dementia is a condition in which there is deterioration in cognitive function beyond what might be expected from the usual consequence of biological aging. Few studies have been conducted on the prevalence of dementia and its association with central nervous system (CNS) infections among older persons in African settings, particularly in Uganda. Therefore, this study assessed the prevalence of dementia and its association with CNS infections among older persons in Lira District, northern Uganda.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe effects of graphene addition on the phase formation and superconducting properties of (BiPb)SrCaCuO (Bi-2223) ceramics synthesized using the co-precipitation method were systematically investigated. Series samples of Bi-2223 were added with different weight percentages ( = 0.0, 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe limitations of oxide semiconductor-based solar cells in achieving high energy conversion efficiencies have prompted incessant research efforts towards the creation of efficient heterostructures. Despite its toxicity, no other semiconducting material can fully replace CdS as a versatile visible light-absorbing sensitizer. Herein, we explore the of preheating treatment in the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) deposition technique and improve the understanding of the principle and the effects of a controlled growth environment on thus-formed CdS thin films.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods have attracted considerable attention in recent years owing to their piezoelectric properties and potential applications in energy harvesting, sensing, and nanogenerators. Piezoelectric energy harvesting-based nanogenerators have emerged as promising new devices capable of converting mechanical energy into electric energy via nanoscale characterizations such as piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). This technique was used to study the piezoresponse generated when an electric field was applied to the nanorods using a PFM probe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study aimed to explore the behavioral and social impairments among people living with dementia (PLWD) in rural southwestern Uganda. It also explored the burden of caregivers for people living with dementia.
Methods: This was a qualitative study among people living with dementia and their caregivers.
Stem cell therapeutics and regenerative medicine have taken a strong foothold in biomedicine. However, most physicians are currently not adequately prepared to identify, refer, and deliver safe regenerative therapies. To understand this gap, we sought to characterize published literature on current physician training in regenerative medicine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Few studies have explored the Central Nervous System (CNS) infection illness trajectory among older persons with dementia in sub-Saharan African (SSA) settings. This study explored the Caregiver's perspectives on the Central Nervous System infection illness trajectory among the older persons with dementia in Northern Uganda.
Methods: This was a qualitative study conducted in Lira District northern Uganda in March 2022 amongst purposively selected 20 caregivers of the older persons aged 50 + years with a positive history of CNS infection and later life dementia.
Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) encompasses several clinical presentations that include truncal obesity and insulin resistance at its core. MetS afflicts 23% of the adult US population, increasing their risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Many studies have indicated the importance of a vegetarian diet in improving overall health and more specifically MetS components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Vaccine hesitancy, as defined by the WHO, is the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines and is one of the ten threats to global health in 2019. Vaccine hesitancy remains a complex matter influenced by multiple factors, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between November 2021 and January 2022 among the general adult public seeking care at six different healthcare facilities in Kenya.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate the perceptions of undergraduates and mentors on the appropriateness, acceptability, and feasibility of a mentored seed-grant (micro-research) by Health Professions Education Partnership Initiative - Transforming Ugandan Institutions Training Against HIV/AIDS (HEPI-TUITAH) program on HIV training in Uganda.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive qualitative study with focus groups, on HIV micro-research training, with undergraduate health professions students and faculty mentors across three partner institutions in rural Uganda.
Results: A total of 24 students and 13 mentors (5-8 per group) took part in the focus group discussions.
Background: Healthcare workers, including residents, are prone to various mental health disorders especially given the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents, particularly, are already under undue stress due to their respective training program demands.
Methods: This cross-sectional, online survey-based study from August to November 2020 collected demographic and mental health measurements from all residents at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi.
Background: The global need for efficient and cost-effective use of healthcare resources in low-income countries has led to the introduction of lay health workers (LHWs) as a link of the community to healthcare services. As such, the LHWs perform a variety of tasks such as education, support for care delivery, and social support across all disease types. However, little is known about their ability to support dementia care and management in the community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe temperature dependence of photoluminescence (PL) emission is a valuable tool for investigating carrier localization, recombination, and carrier-phonon interactions. Herein, electron-phonon couplings in lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs) and lead sulfide/manganese tellurite (PbS/MnTe) QDs is reported. The effect of temperature on the PL emission of PbS and PbS/MnTe was explored within a temperature range of 10 to 300 K.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There are insufficient Spanish-speaking physicians to effectively serve a large and rapidly growing Spanish-speaking patient population.
Methods: A team-based hybrid medical Spanish program was designed and implemented at a single medical school in Southern California. This pilot program consisted of a weekly in-person portion where students reviewed Spanish vocabulary and grammar and practiced clinical encounters in teams through active role play.
Human embryo culture under 2-8% O2 is recommended by ESHRE revised guidelines for good practices in IVF labs. Nevertheless, notably due to the higher costs of embryo culture under hypoxia, some laboratories perform embryo culture under atmospheric O2 tension (around 20%). Furthermore, recent meta-analyses concluded with low evidence to a superiority of hypoxia on IVF/ICSI outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Communication in emergency departments (ED) in India is complicated by the country's immense language diversity. Prior research has revealed challenges in language and communication as barriers to care. Our objective was to quantify language diversity among clinicians in Indian EDs and better understand issues related to clinician-clinician and clinician-patient communication.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Ugandan Ministry of Health decentralized mental healthcare to the district level; developed the Uganda Clinical Guidelines (UCG); and trained primary health care (PHC) providers in identification, management, and referral of individuals with common mental disorders. This was intended to promote integration of mental health services into PHC in the country. 'Common mental disorders' here refers to mental, neurological and substance use conditions as indicated in the UCG.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic is a global health emergency which has been shown to pose a great challenge to mental health, well-being and resilience of healthcare workers, especially nurses. Little is known on the impact of COVID-19 among nurses in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out between August and November 2020 among nurses recruited from the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi.
Background: COVID-19 is an international global health emergency and has posed a great challenge to mental well-being and resilience. Little is known about the mental health impact of COVID-19 among healthcare workers (HCWs) in sub-Saharan Africa or other low-resource settings.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between August and November 2020 among HCWs recruited from three major hospitals in Kenya.
A rapid, sustainable, and ecologically sound approach is urgently needed for the production of semiconductor nanomaterials. CuSe nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized via a microwave-assisted technique using CuCl·2HO and NaSeO as the starting materials. The role of the irradiation time was considered as the primary concern to regulate the size and possibly the shape of the synthesized nanoparticles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Background Delivery of difficult news (DDN) remains a challenging task for even the most experienced of providers.
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