Regional and institutional trends in assessment for academic promotion.

The assessment of research performance is widely seen as a vital tool in upholding the highest standards of quality, with selection and competition believed to drive progress. Academic institutions need to take critical decisions on hiring and promotion, while facing external pressure by also being subject to research assessment. Here we present an outlook on research assessment for career progression with specific focus on promotion to full professorship, based on 314 policies from 190 academic institutions and 218 policies from 58 government agencies, covering 32 countries in the Global North and 89 countries in the Global South.

Radio-sensitivity of selected namibian landrace groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes to gamma radiation.

Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is a popular nutritious food crop in the world. In Namibia, groundnut varieties are limited and characterized by low yields of 0.

Wild recognition: conducting the mark test for mirror self-recognition on wild baboons.

The distribution of self-awareness across species is important to understand, not only as a matter of scientific interest but also because of its implications for the ethical standing of non-human animals. The prevailing methodology for determining self-awareness is to test for visual self-recognition using mirror-image stimulation and a 'mark test'. However, most studies have involved very small sample sizes, omitted a control condition and been conducted on captive animals.

Congenital colour vision deficiency in healthcare professionals: a scoping review protocol of the impact on clinical practice and patient safety.

Introduction: Congenital colour vision deficiency (CVD), known as colour blindness, is a common visual problem affecting around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women. It is known that people who have red-green CVD, the most common phenotype, can have difficulty differentiating colours and this can impact the ability to perform clinical tasks related to patient care. The objective of this scoping review is to understand the extent and type of evidence and the impact on clinical practice and patient safety arising from congenital CVD in healthcare professionals.

Bedford, 1931, a sole extant species of the genus - a scoping review.

Bedford, 1931 is the sole extant tick species that belongs to the genus and family and Nuttalliellidae respectively. With the characteristics that are respectively distinctive to hard and soft ticks, it is regarded as the species closest to the ancestral lineage of ticks as well as the missing link between the Argasidae and Ixodidae families. In this review, literature search of the articles reporting on was done in Google Scholar and PubMed databases.

Socioeconomic and behavioural factors that contribute to the co-occurrence of risk factors for noncommunicable diseases.

It is observed that the global burden of diseases had shifted from infectious diseases to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), with an accumulative trend in developing countries. NCDs share key modifiable behavioral risk factors like unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity that are typically established during adolescence or young adulthood and will set the stage for NCDs development later in life. Therefore, this paper aimed to explore factors contributing to the co-occurrence of risk factors for NCDs among persons aged 30 years and above in selected urban areas of Namibia.

The effectiveness of community-wide screening for pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review.

This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness of community-wide screening for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in high-burden areas by analysing randomised controlled trials (RCTs). The review focused on interventions offering TB screening to entire communities, comparing them to standard care or alternative approaches. The main outcome assessed was microbiologically confirmed TB diagnoses, including rates and prevalence.

Mycotoxin exposure through the consumption of processed cereal food for children (< 5 years old) from rural households of Oshana, a region of Namibia.

Mycotoxin exposure from contaminated food is a significant global health issue, particularly among vulnerable children. Given limited data on mycotoxin exposure among Namibian children, this study investigated mycotoxin types and levels in foods, evaluated dietary mycotoxin exposure from processed cereal foods in children under age five from rural households in Oshana region, Namibia. Mycotoxins in cereal-based food samples (n = 162) (mahangu flour (n = 35), sorghum flour (n = 13), mahangu thin/thick porridge (n = 54), oshikundu (n = 56), and omungome (n = 4)) were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Fire safety knowledge and emergency preparedness assessment among health care workers at three hospitals in Kunene region, Namibia.

Background: Hospital preparedness for accidents like fires is essential because fire outbreaks in healthcare settings can occur anytime and require quick responses. Therefore, this study assessed the knowledge of fire safety and emergency preparedness among healthcare workers, as well as the predictors of knowledge of fire safety and emergency preparedness among healthcare workers.

Methods: An institutional-based descriptive cross-sectional online survey was employed to assess knowledge of fire safety and emergency preparedness among 257 healthcare workers from three hospitals in the Kunene region.

A left-to-right bias in number-space mapping across ages and cultures.

Number and space are inherently related. Previous research has provided evidence that numbers are aligned to a so-called "mental number line", which is malleable and affected by cultural factors mostly linked to literacy-related habits. However, preverbal humans and non-human animals also map numerosities into space, in a consistent left-to-right direction.

Serological evidence of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in domestic animals from eight regions of Namibia.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral zoonotic disease endemic to regions of Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Asia, with increasing reports of cases in southern Europe. Human transmission occurs primarily through the bite of infected ticks and by body fluids from infected human. Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) affects a broad host range, including both domestic and wild vertebrates.

Frictional adhesion of geckos predicts maximum running performance in nature.

Despite the myriad studies examining the diversity and mechanisms of gecko adhesion in the lab, we have a poor understanding of how this translates to locomotion in nature. It has long been assumed that greater adhesive strength should translate to superior performance in nature. Using 13 individuals of Bradfield's Namib day gecko (Rhoptropus bradfieldi) in Namibia, I tested the hypothesis that maximum running performance in nature (speed and acceleration) is driven by maximum frictional adhesive strength.

Estimating an Elephant Population Size Through Local Ecological Knowledge.

In planning and monitoring measures to protect wildlife in an area, it is important to have a reliable baseline estimate of population size and trends. There has been minimal published information on a small population of elephants, a keystone and endangered species, in a large area west of Etosha National Park in Namibia, known locally as the Northern Highlands. It is a highly remote, mountainous area in which it is difficult to count elephants.

Evidence of multiple bacterial, viral, and parasitic infectious disease agents in rodents in riverine areas in selected parts of Zambia.

Background: Infectious disease agents pose significant threats to humans, wildlife, and livestock, with rodents carrying a third of these agents, many linked to human diseases. However, the range of pathogens in rodents and the hotspots for disease remain poorly understood.

Aim: This study evaluated the prevalence of viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens in rodents in riverine and non-riverine areas in selected districts in Zambia.

Modelling the health labour market outlook in Kenya: Supply, needs and investment requirements for health workers, 2021-2035.

Kenya is committed to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) within its devolved health system in which significant investments have been made in health infrastructure, workforce development, and service delivery. Despite these efforts, the country faces considerable health workforce challenges. To address these, the Ministry of Health undertook a comprehensive Health Labour Market Analysis (HLMA) in 2022 to generate evidence supporting the development of responsive health workforce policies.

Prospect of using ethnobotanicals to manage snakebites in a cost-effective manner: validating Senegalia mellifera extract's inhibitory potential on Naja nigricincta nigricincta (zebra cobra) venom.

Background: Despite Naja nigricincta nigricincta being responsible for most snake envenomation in remote Namibian regions, an effective intervention against its venom remains undiscovered. This study aimed to scientifically validate Namibian folklore claims about Senegalia mellifera extract's efficacy against snake envenomation.

Methods: In vitro assays were conducted to assess the inhibitory potential of S.

Exploring the catalytic hydrothermal liquefaction of Namibian encroacher bush.

An urgent ecological issue is the threat posed by invasive species, which are becoming more widespread especially in Africa. These encroachments damage ecosystems, pose a threat to biodiversity, and outcompete local plants and animals. This article focuses on converting Acacia Mellifera from Namibia, commonly known as encroacher bush (EB) into high-quality drop-in intermediates for the chemical and transport industry via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL).

CROI 2024: The Challenges of Sustained Viral Suppression, Advanced HIV Disease, and Ending the HIV Epidemic Targets.

Data on the HIV care cascade demonstrated challenges in achieving Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) targets across all 18 EHE focus metropolitan areas, but innovative adherence interventions using point-of-care tenofovir testing and motivational interviewing support care cascade outcomes in Namibia and South Africa, respectively. Data on treatment with long-acting injectable (LAI) antiretroviral therapy (ART) demonstrated high acceptability, retention, and virologic suppression including in groups that were not well represented in clinical trials including persons born female and persons with detectable viral loads. The adjuvanted hepatitis B vaccine appeared to be safe and appeared to be superior to conventional hepatitis B vaccines in persons with HIV (PWH) who were prior nonresponders to the hepatitis B vaccine.

Gerbils without Borders: Invasiveness, Plague, and Micro-Global Histories of Science, 1932-1939.

In the 1930s, a series of bubonic plague outbreaks among humans cropped up in several villages at the border of Angola and Namibia. These outbreaks provoked deep concern, laying bare social and political tensions amongst neighboring imperial powers and Indigenous people within the region. Despite the appearance of this disease in what was then considered a recondite place, its spread sparked debate in transnational forums, such as the League of Nations and the Office International d'Hygiène Publique.

Bridging theory and practice: Experiences of diagnostic radiography students during clinical training in resource-constrained settings.

Introduction: Clinical training is crucial for diagnostic radiography students, bridging theoretical knowledge with practical skills. In resource-constrained settings, this training may face unique challenges that might significantly impact learning outcomes and future practice. Despite its importance, the experiences of diagnostic radiography students during clinical placements remain understudied, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision's (VMMC) strategy for HIV prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa, prevalence, risks, costs, benefits and best practice: A scoping review study protocol of progress and unfolding insights.

Campaigns to scale up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) for the prevention of HIV transmission has been going on for years in selected Southern African countries, following recommendations from the World Health Organisations. Despite significant strides made in the initiative and its proven benefits, controversies surrounding the strategy have never ceased, and its future remains uncertain especially as some countries near their initial targets. Over the years, as the campaigns unfolded, a lot of insights have been generated in favour of continuing the VMMC campaigns, although some insights portray the impression that the strategy is not worthy of the risks and effort required, or that enough has been done, as the targets have now been achieved.

A descriptive summary of the WHO availability assessments of medical abortion medicines in eight African countries.

Background: The use of medical abortion using either a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, or misoprostol alone has contributed to increased safety and decreased mortality and morbidity. The availability of quality medical abortion medicines is an essential component in the provision of quality abortion care. Understanding the factors that influence the availability of medical abortion medicines is important to help in-country policymakers, program planners, and providers improve availability and use of medical abortion.

Seroprevalence of spp. and Rift Valley fever virus infections in communal pastoral cattle at the wildlife-livestock interface, Zambezi region, Namibia.

Introduction: Brucellosis and Rift Valley fever (RVF) are neglected zoonotic diseases (NZD) that threaten public health, animal health, and production in resource-limited countries including Namibia.

Methods: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine spp. and RVFV seroprevalence in cattle at the wildlife-livestock interface in the Kabbe South constituency (Zambezi region) of Namibia.

Civilian gunshot injuries at the emergency department of a Nigerian teaching hospital: patient characteristics, pattern and outcome 2014-2018.

Gunshot injuries (GSI) are a major global public health problem. Our objective was to determine the patient characteristics, pattern and outcome of civilian gunshot wounds at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, from 2014-2018. The data of 232 patients with a diagnosis of GSI during the study period were collected and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.