Assessing generalizability of an AI-based visual test for cervical cancer screening.

A number of challenges hinder artificial intelligence (AI) models from effective clinical translation. Foremost among these challenges is the lack of generalizability, which is defined as the ability of a model to perform well on datasets that have different characteristics from the training data. We recently investigated the development of an AI pipeline on digital images of the cervix, utilizing a multi-heterogeneous dataset of 9,462 women (17,013 images) and a multi-stage model selection and optimization approach, to generate a diagnostic classifier able to classify images of the cervix into "normal", "indeterminate" and "precancer/cancer" (denoted as "precancer+") categories.

[Refusal and hesitation regarding vaccination against COVID-19 in Douala, Cameroon].

Introduction: vaccination is one of the strategies the World Health Organization recommends to reduce the burden of COVID-19. However, many African countries like Cameroon have low COVID-19 vaccination coverage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reasons for the refusal of the population of the city of Douala to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Treatment failure among Sub-Sahara African children living with HIV: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Antiretroviral treatment failure is a global issue, particularly in developing countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior research findings were highly variable and inconsistent across areas. As a result, the goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the pooled prevalence of treatment failure among children receiving antiretroviral medication in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Aetiologies of bacterial tick-borne febrile illnesses in humans in Africa: diagnostic limitations and the need for improvement.

Tick-borne febrile illnesses caused by pathogens like spp., spp., spp.

Influence of socio-contextual factors on the link between traditional and new media use, and young people's sexual risk behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary data analysis.

Background: Traditional and new media use links to young people's sexual risk behaviour. The social contexts of young people's daily lives that influence media use and sexual risk behaviour are often investigated as independent causal mechanisms. We examined the link between media use and young people's sexual risk behaviour, considering the intersecting socio-contextual factors in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Histidine-rich protein (hrp) 2-based RDT false-negatives and Plasmodium falciparum hrp 2 and 3 gene deletions in low, seasonal and intense perennial transmission zones in Cameroon: a cross - sectional study.

Background: False negative rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) accruing to the non-detection of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2/3 (Pfhrp2/3) is threatening the diagnosis and management of malaria. Although regular monitoring is necessary to gauge the level of efficacy of the tool, studies in Cameroon remain limited. This study assessed Plasmodium spp.

An improved semi-supervised segmentation of the retinal vasculature using curvelet-based contrast adjustment and generalized linear model.

Diagnosis of most ophthalmic conditions, such as diabetic retinopathy, generally relies on an effective analysis of retinal blood vessels. Techniques that depend solely on the visual observation of clinicians can be tedious and prone to numerous errors. In this article, we propose a semi-supervised automated approach for segmenting blood vessels in retinal color images.

Formulation of nutritious and functional meal-based biscuits from mixture of soybean, papaya fruit pulp, and baobab fruit pulp flours.

Background And Objective: The current trend in the formulation of convenience foods like biscuits is directed towards using local ingredients endowed with health benefits effects. The present study aimed at valorizing local crops and fruits as substitutes for wheat flour (WF) and sugar in the formulation of healthy, nutritious and functional meal-based biscuits.

Methods: Soybean ( L.

(Taub.) Mendonça & E.P.Sousa (Fabaceae): Evidence of the antihypertensive and antioxidant activities of its leaf aqueous extract in cadmium chloride hypertensive rats.

(Fabaceae) a medicinal reported in Cameroonian herbal medicine to treat hypertension. The aim of the study was to assess the antihypertensive and antioxidant activities of aqueous leaf extract (AEXS) on cadmium chloride-induced hypertensive rats. The antioxidant activities of AEXS were investigated for their radical scavenging potency using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic) acid (ABTS), Nitric oxide (NO) and OH- assays completed with oxidative stress markers analyses.

Low prevalence of HIV in the northern Cameroon: contribution of some AIDS restriction genes and potential implications for gene therapy.

Background: HIV infection and its progression to AIDS depend on several factors including host genetic factors. The immunological mechanisms of host resistance to HIV infection greatly influence the prevalence of HIV in a given region. Worldwide, Cameroon not exempted, the frequency of AIDS-associated genes varies and may influence this prevalence.

Genome sequence of multi-drug-resistant isolated from a clinical sample collected in Maroua, Cameroon.

is a major pathogen of public health concern due to its implications in pathologies and its increasing antimicrobial resistance. Here, we present the draft genome of a 2.7-Mbp isolate obtained from a pus swab sampled in Cameroon.

Symbiotic bacteria Sodalis glossinidius, Spiroplasma sp and Wolbachia do not favour Trypanosoma grayi coexistence in wild population of tsetse flies collected in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.

Background: Tsetse flies, the biological vectors of African trypanosomes, have established symbiotic associations with different bacteria. Their vector competence is suggested to be affected by bacterial endosymbionts. The current study provided the prevalence of three tsetse symbiotic bacteria and trypanosomes in Glossina species from Burkina Faso.

Examining the effect of economic complexity on energy justice.

A clean and healthy environment is necessary to achieve other Sustainable Development Goals. Policymakers must find ways to minimize carbon dioxide emissions and global warming before the Sustainable Development era expires. These ills are compounded by chronic inequalities in access to clean energy and the distribution of energy infrastructure, costs, and benefits.

Effects of four potent entomopathogenic fungal isolates on the survival and performance of , an egg parasitoid of fall armyworm.

Fall armyworm (FAW), is a generalist pest known to feed on more than 300 plant species, including major staple crops such as rice, maize and sorghum. Biological control of FAW using a combination of a major indigenous egg parasitoid and entomopathogenic fungi was explored in this study. strains (ICIPE 7, ICIPE 41, and ICIPE 78) and ICIPE 621 which demonstrated effectiveness to combat the pest, were evaluated through direct and indirect fungal infection to assess their pathogenicity and virulence against adults, eggs and their effects on parasitism rates.

Parasite clearance and protection from Plasmodium falciparum infection (PCPI): a three-arm, parallel, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomised trial of presumptive sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine versus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine versus artesunate monotherapy among asymptomatic children 3-5 years of age in Cameroon.

Background: The World Health Organization 2022 malaria chemoprevention guidelines recommend providing a full course of antimalarial treatment at pre-defined intervals, regardless of malaria status to prevent illness among children resident in moderate to high perennial malaria transmission settings as perennial malaria chemoprevention (PMC) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP). The dhps I431V mutation circulating in West Africa has unknown effect on SP protective efficacy.

Methods: This protocol is for a three-arm, parallel, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomised trial in Cameroon among children randomly assigned to one of three directly-observed treatment groups: (i) Group 1 (n = 450) receives daily artesunate (AS) placebo on days - 7 to -1, then active SP plus placebo amodiaquine (AQ) on day 0, and placebo AQ on days 1 and 2; (ii) Group 2 (n = 250) receives placebo AS on days - 7 to -1, then active SP and AQ on day 0, and active AQ on days 1 and 2; and (iii) Group 3 (n = 200) receives active AS on days - 7 to -1, then placebo SP on day 0 and placebo AQ on days 0 to 2.

Reasons for dropouts in a community-based Management Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) program using local foods in the Far North of Cameroon.

Introduction: The security crisis caused by the Islamic sect Boko Haram, coupled with arid climatic conditions and a context of poverty, has preyed on populations in the far north of Cameroon, exacerbating malnutrition rates among children under five years old. New evidence has shown that many children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) can be treated in their communities (CMAM) without having to be admitted to a health center or therapeutic feeding center. The purpose of our study was to identify factors that may lead to beneficiary dropout in a CMAM program in four health districts in the far north of Cameroon.

Do Crops Grown at Urban Dumpsites Contain Metals at Levels that Pose Unacceptable Health Risks to Consumers?

Excessive dietary metal intake from crops grown on contaminated urban dumpsites poses a global health risk to consumers. We evaluated the health risk to adult and child consumers from dietary exposure to metals and metalloids in crops cultivated at the Mbale (Uganda) dumpsite centre. Thirteen crop types grown on the dumpsite soil were sampled and analyzed for concentrations of 11 metals: Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, Cu, Pb, Cr, Hg, Co, Ni, Cd, and two metalloids: Se and As.

Clusters of solvated ferrous ion in water-ammonia mixture: Structures and noncovalent interactions.

The behavior of metal ions is commonly studied in pure solvent although, in our daily life, these metals are involved in mixtures of solvents. In the present study, we investigated structures, relative stabilities and temperature dependance of solvated ferrous ion in water-ammonia mixture solvent at 0K and at various temperatures ranging from 25K to 400K. All the calculations are performed at the MN15 level of theory associated with the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set.