Predicting sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men in Zimbabwe using deep learning and ensemble machine learning models.

There is a substantial increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among men who have sex with men (MSM) globally. Unprotected sexual practices, multiple sex partners, criminalization, stigmatisation, fear of discrimination, substance use, poor access to care, and lack of early STI screening tools are among the contributing factors. Therefore, this study applied multilayer perceptron (MLP), extremely randomized trees (ExtraTrees) and XGBoost machine learning models to predict STIs among MSM using bio-behavioural survey (BBS) data in Zimbabwe.

A Sesotho news headlines dataset for sentiment analysis.

Sentiment Analysis (SA) is a subset of Natural Language Processing (NLP) which has become a promising research area enabling the provision of language specific services. Although research in high resource languages such as English and Chinese has achieved promising results, research in low resource African languages such as Sesotho is still in its infancy due to limited text and speech datasets. This study contributes in this regard by availing the Sesotho News (SN) dataset, as an annotated dataset for the SA and Aspect Based Sentiment Analysis (ABSA) tasks.

Emerging technologies' role in reducing under-five mortality in a low-resource setting: Challenges and perceived opportunities by public health workers in Makonde District, Zimbabwe.

Under-five mortality (U5M) remains a global challenge, with Sub-Saharan Africa being the hardest hit. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has strained healthcare systems, threatening to reverse current gains in U5M health outcomes. It threatened progress made towards achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 due to its strain on healthcare systems, resource reassignment and its prioritisation by health authorities globally.

Knowledge, perceptions, practices, promotive factors, and health risks awareness of African Basotho women towards skin lightening products: a cross-sectional survey.

Introduction: the use of skin lightening products (SLPs) by women is poorly documented in Africa, with statistics from some countries entirely missing. This study assessed knowledge, perceptions, practices and factors associated with health risk awareness of African Basotho women towards SLPs.

Methods: this was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study based on convenience sampling of females in secondary/high schools, universities, factories and business offices in Maseru City, Lesotho.

Assessment of Stakeholder Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Health Data Governance Principles in Botswana: Web-Based Survey.

Background: The use of information and communication technologies for health-eHealth-is described as having potential to improve the quality of health care service delivery. Consequently, there is an increased global trend toward adoption of eHealth interventions by health care systems worldwide. Despite the proliferation of eHealth solutions, many health care institutions especially in transitioning countries are struggling to attain effective data governance approaches.

Literature profiling on tourism, impairment and disability issues: A future directional guide.

Background: South African tourism is evolving towards accommodating disabled people. Within the same standpoint, the country receives ageing tourists as a major international tourism market from the Global North, whose access needs are similar to disabled people. The present article explored 'blind and blank spots' in the extant literature on tourism-impairment disability as a synchronised field within academic research to provide theoretical insights and gaps for the disability-tourism research community to consider the composite concept instead of individualistic concepts.

Cluster-ID-Based Throughput Improvement in Cognitive Radio Networks for 5G and Beyond-5G IoT Applications.

Cognitive radio (CR), which is a common form of wireless communication, consists of a transceiver that is intelligently capable of detecting which communication channels are available to use and which are not. After this detection process, the transceiver avoids the occupied channels while simultaneously moving into the empty ones. Hence, spectrum shortage and underutilization are key problems that the CR can be proposed to address.

Acceptance of the District Health Information System Version 2 Platform for Malaria Case-Based Surveillance By Health Care Workers in Botswana: Web-Based Survey.

Background: Similar to many low- and middle-income countries, Botswana has identified eHealth as a means of improving health care service provision and delivery. The National Malaria Programme (NMP) in Botswana has implemented the District Health Information System version 2 (DHIS2) to support timely malaria case reporting across its 27 health districts; however, the implementation of an eHealth system is never without challenges. Barriers to the implementation of eHealth innovations within health care settings may arise at the individual or organizational levels.

Virtual healthcare services and digital health technologies deployed during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in South Africa: a systematic review.

Aims: To identify virtual healthcare services and digital health technologies deployed in South Africa during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the challenges associated with their use.

Methods: To determine the status of digital health utilization during COVID-19 in South Africa, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses model was used to perform a systematic and in-depth critical analysis of previously published studies in well-known and trusted online electronic databases using specific search keywords words that are relevant to this study. We selected published peer-reviewed articles available from the onset of COVID-19 to July 2021.

Are we there yet? Unbundling the potential adoption and integration of telemedicine to improve virtual healthcare services in African health systems.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the attention has now shifted towards universal vaccination to gracefully lift strict COVID-19 restrictions previously imposed to contain the spread of the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing an exponential increase of infections and deaths coupled with vaccines shortages, personal protective equipment, weak health systems and COVID-19 emerging variants. Some developed countries integrated telemedicine to reduce the impacts of the shortage of healthcare professionals and potentially reduce the risk of exposure, ensuring easy delivery of quality health services while limiting regular physical contact and direct hospitalization.

Anticancer Mechanisms of Bioactive Compounds from Solanaceae: An Update.

Plants continue to provide unlimited pharmacologically active compounds that can treat various illnesses, including cancer. The Solanaceae family, besides providing economically important food plants, such as potatoes and tomatoes, has been exploited extensively in folk medicine, as it provides an array of bioactive compounds. Many studies have demonstrated the anticancer potency of some of the compounds, but the corresponding molecular targets are not well defined.

Symptom-Based Identification of G-4 Chili Leaf Diseases Based on Rotation Invariant.

Instinctive detection of infections by carefully inspecting the signs on the plant leaves is an easier and economic way to diagnose different plant leaf diseases. This defines a way in which symptoms of diseased plants are detected utilizing the concept of feature learning (Sulistyo et al., 2020).

Antibacterial Activity of 2-Picolyl-polypyridyl-Based Ruthenium (II/III) Complexes on Non-Drug-Resistant and Drug-Resistant Bacteria.

A new hexadentate 2-picolyl-polypyridyl-based ligand (4, 4'-(butane-1, 4-diylbis(oxy))bis(N, N-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)aniline)) (2BUT) and its corresponding Ru(II/III) complexes were synthesized and characterized, followed by assessment of their possible bioactive properties towards drug-resistant and non-drug-resistant bacteria. Spectroscopic characterization of the ligand was done using proton NMR, FTIR, and ESI-MS, which showed that the ligand was successfully synthesized. The Ru(II/III) complexes were characterized by FTIR, UV/Vis, elemental analysis, proton NMR, ESI-MS, and magnetic susceptibility studies.

Potential health benefits of zinc supplementation for the management of COVID-19 pandemic.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiological agent for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The COVID-19 pandemic has created unimaginable and unprecedented global health crisis. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, millions of dollars have been spent, hospitalization overstretched with increasing morbidity and mortality.

Cybersecurity challenges in energy sector (virtual power plants) - can edge computing principles be applied to enhance security?

Distributed generators (D.G.'s) enable us to generate, supply and be self-reliant on power while also allows us to supply power to meet the demand through virtual power plants.

Validation of an e-health readiness assessment framework for developing countries.

Background: Studies document e-health as having potential to improve quality of healthcare services, resulting in both developed and developing countries demonstrating continued interest in e-health uptake and use. e-Health implementations are not always successful as high failure rates have been reported in both developed and developing countries. These failures are often a result of lack of e-health readiness.

Prevalence and distribution of Entamoeba species in a rural community in northern South Africa.

Amoebiasis occurs worldwide and affects about 20-50 million people annually. Stool samples were collected from patients attending different rural clinics in Northern South Africa in the present study. Microscopic examination was performed for the initial detection of parasites.

Prevalence and genetic characterization of in relation to diarrhea in Limpopo and Gauteng provinces, South Africa.

Background: Very few studies have determined the prevalence and assemblage distribution of in South Africa. The present study aimed to ascertain the prevalence of infection and the spread of the various assemblages in two communities in South Africa - Giyani, Limpopo province (rural community) and Pretoria Guateng province (urban community).

Methods: Prevalence was determined by immunological and molecular methods analyzing a total of 516 stool samples collected from patients visiting different health centres in Giyani and Pretoria.

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017.

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2-to end preventable child deaths by 2030-we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends.

Development of an eHealth Readiness Assessment Framework for Botswana and Other Developing Countries: Interview Study.

Background: Electronic health (eHealth) readiness has been defined as the preparedness of health care institutions or communities for the anticipated change brought about by programs related to information and communication technology use. To ascertain the degree of such preparedness, an eHealth readiness assessment (eHRA) is needed. Literature on the existing eHRA frameworks and tools shows high inconsistency in content, definitions, and recommendations, and none have been found to be entirely suitable for assessing eHealth readiness in the context of developing countries.

Determinants of glycemic control among diabetes mellitus patients in a tertiary clinic in Gaborone, Botswana: findings and implications.

Background And Aims: Glycemic control among patients with diabetes mellitus is associated with a marked reduction of both macrovascular and microvascular complications; however, glycemic control remains an elusive goal worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with glycemic control among patients attending a tertiary clinic in Botswana as limited information to date.

Methods: Cross-sectional study in a tertiary clinic in Gaborone, Botswana.