To what extent are digital health interventions targeting HIV care cascade among mobile populations feasible, acceptable, and effective? A mixed methods systematic review protocol.

Introduction: Human mobility is associated with an increased risk of HIV acquisition and disengagement from HIV care, leading to poorer health outcomes among highly mobile individuals compared to less mobile individuals. Mobile individuals, broadly defined as those who temporally, seasonally, or permanently move from one place to another for voluntary or involuntary reasons, face many challenges in accessing HIV care services. These challenges include logistical difficulties, interruptions in HIV care continuity, and limited access to services across different locations, which together hinder timely testing, treatment initiation, and viral suppression.

Strengthening community actions to improve diabetes mellitus care optimising public health facilitators.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is the second leading cause of death in South Africa, and almost 90,000 people died from diabetes-related causes in the year 2019. This study aimed to investigate facilitators that can be harnessed to strengthen community actions and barriers that should be redressed in structured public health and health promotion programs for people with diabetes mellitus at a primary healthcare level.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using face-to-face interviews among 20 conveniently sampled participants.

Community benefits of mass distribution of three types of dual-active-ingredient long-lasting insecticidal nets against malaria prevalence in Tanzania: evidence from a 3-year cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Background: Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) were once fully effective for the prevention of malaria; however, mosquitoes have developed resistance to pyrethroids, the main class of insecticides used on nets. Dual active ingredient LLINs (dual-AI LLINs) have been rolled out as an alternative to pyrethroid (PY)-only LLINs to counteract this. Understanding the minimum community usage at which these LLINs elicit an effect that also benefits non-users against malaria infection is important.

Cardiovascular disease, bone fracture, and all-cause mortality risks among postmenopausal women by arthritis and veteran status: A multistate Markov transition analysis.

Arthritis, a chronic inflammatory condition linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and bone fracture, is more frequent among military veterans and postmenopausal women. This study examined correlates of arthritis and relationships of arthritis with risks of developing CVD, bone fractures, and mortality among postmenopausal veteran and non-veteran women. We analyzed longitudinal data on 135,790 (3,436 veteran and 132,354 non-veteran) postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative who were followed-up for an average of 16 years between enrollment (1993-1998) and February 17, 2024.

The global, regional, and national burden of oral cancer, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Purpose: This epidemiological study leverages data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database spanning from 1990 to 2021 to analyze the global burden of oral cancer. The research aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized mortality rate (ASDR), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for oral cancer, examining trends over three decades.

Methods: The study used age standardized rate (ASRs) as an indicator of oral cancer epidemiological data.

Digital framework for georeferenced multiplatform surveillance of banana wilt using human in the loop AI and YOLO foundation models.

Bananas (Musa spp.) are a critical global food crop, providing a primary source of nutrition for millions of people. Traditional methods for disease monitoring and detection are often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to inaccuracies.

An optimal workflow scheduling in IoT-fog-cloud system for minimizing time and energy.

Today, with the increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the world, various workflows that need to be stored and processed on the computing platforms. But this issue, causes an increase in costs for computing resources providers, and as a result, system Energy Consumption (EC) is also reduced. Therefore, this paper examines the workflow scheduling problem of IoT devices in the fog-cloud environment, where reducing the EC of the computing system and reducing the MakeSpan Time (MST) of workflows as main objectives, under the constraints of priority, deadline and reliability.

Soliton solutions of the (2 + 1)-dimensional Jaulent-Miodek evolution equation via effective analytical techniques.

In this study, we investigate the [Formula: see text]-D Jaulent-Miodek (JM) equation, which is significant due to its energy-based Schrödinger potential and applications in fields such as optics, soliton theory, signal processing, geophysics, fluid dynamics, and plasma physics. Given its broad utility, a rigorous mathematical analysis of the JM equation is essential. The primary objective of this work is to derive exact soliton solutions using the Modified Sub-Equation (MSE) and Modified Auxiliary Equation (MAE) techniques.

The spectrum and outcome of metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in a South African patient cohort.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death globally, particularly in developing countries in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) dominates as a major aetiological factor.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study to quantify the metastatic profile of HCC in a South African patient population managed at a tertiary centre. Demographic, clinical and treatment data were extracted from an institutional registry.

A meta-core outcome set for stillbirth prevention and bereavement care following stillbirth in LMIC.

Study Objective: Stillbirth is burdensome in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Currently, there are two core outcome sets (COS) for stillbirth (prevention and bereavement care), but these were developed with limited reflection of the needs of parents in an LMIC setting. To address this gap, the objective of this study was to establish consensus on the most important outcomes for stillbirth prevention and bereavement care following stillbirth in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The Global Prevalence of Reported Penicillin Allergy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objectives: Patients labelled with penicillin allergy (PenA) often receive broader spectrum antibiotics, associated with antimicrobial resistance and poorer outcomes. However, ~95% of patients are likely mis-labelled. Whilst de-labelling programmes are gaining momentum, they have been restricted to a few countries.

Exploring the neuroprotective potential of immunosuppressants in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Neuroprotective therapy to slow Parkinson's disease (PD) progression is a critical unmet need. Neuroinflammation likely represents an important pathophysiologic mechanism for disease progression. Medications that target this inflammation, such as immunosuppressants, represent potential disease-modifying therapies for PD.

Pre-pandemic leukocyte count is associated with severity of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection among older women in the Women's Health Initiative.

Objective: Although dysregulated inflammation has been postulated as a biological mechanism associated with post-acute sequelae of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) and shown to be a correlate and an outcome of PASC, it is unclear whether inflammatory markers can prospectively predict PASC risk. We examined the association of leukocyte count and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations, measured ~25 years prior to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, with PASC, PASC severity, and PASC-associated cognitive outcomes at follow-up among postmenopausal women.

Methods: Using biomarker data from blood specimens collected during pre-pandemic enrollment (1993-1998) and data on 1,237 Women's Health Initiative participants who completed a COVID-19 survey between June 2021 and February 2022, we constructed multivariable regression models that controlled for pertinent characteristics.

Antiretroviral Use for HIV Prevention During Pregnancy: The Need to Strengthen Regulatory and Surveillance Systems in Africa.

HIV-prevention efforts focusing on women of child-bearing potential are needed to end the HIV epidemic in the African region. The use of antiretroviral drugs as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a critical HIV prevention tool. However, safety data on new antiretrovirals during pregnancy are often limited because pregnant people are excluded from drug development studies.

Genetics of sorghum: grain quality, molecular aspects, and drought responses.

Sorghum kernel composition is a crucial characteristic that determines its functional qualities. The total protein content of sorghum grain increases under drought stress, but starch, protein digestibility, and micronutrient contents decrease. Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Assessing the Impact of Improved Cookstove Technology Trials (ICTs) on Household Air Pollution and Human Health in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Purpose Of Review: A major contributor to household air pollution (HAP) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is unclean cooking fuel. Improved cookstove technology (ICT) interventions have been promoted as a solution, but their impacts on health are unclear. Our aim is to conduct a systematic review to explore the impacts of ICT interventions on health outcomes in SSA.

International Urogynecology Consultation Chapter 3 Committee 1 - Pessary Management.

Introduction And Hypothesis: This manuscript is part of the International Urogynecological Consultation (IUC) on Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP), Chapter 3, Committee 1 focusing on pessary management of POP.

Methods: A narrative review was conducted by an international, multi-disciplinary group of clinicians working in the field of pelvic health following a search of the literature using the MeSH terms "pelvic organ prolapse" OR "urogenital prolapse" OR "vaginal prolapse" OR "uterovaginal prolapse" AND "pessary" OR "support device" OR "intravaginal device." Relevant studies, as determined after review using the Covidence manuscript review platform, were included.

Carboxy-Amidated AamAP1-Lys has Superior Conformational Flexibility and Accelerated Killing of Gram-Negative Bacteria.

C-terminal amidation of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a frequent minor modification used to improve antibacterial potency, commonly ascribed to increased positive charge, protection from proteases, and a stabilized secondary structure. Although the activity of AMPs is primarily associated with the ability to penetrate bacterial membranes, hitherto the effect of amidation on this interaction has not been understood in detail. Here, we show that amidation of the scorpion-derived membranolytic peptide AamAP1-Lys produces a potent analog with faster bactericidal activity, increased membrane permeabilization, and greater Gram-negative membrane penetration associated with greater conformational flexibility.

Analyzing free fatty acids in seminal plasma from asthenozoospermia patients undergoing antioxidant therapy.

Objective: Different aspects of the functions of free fatty acid (FFA) in seminal plasma and their implications on male fertility are known. However, the profile of FFA in seminal plasma in asthenozoospermic patients following antioxidant therapy has not been studied.

Methods: In this case-control study, the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and FFA profile of the seminal plasma were determined in 80 patients (29 normozoospermic volunteers and 51 asthenozoospermic men) who were treated with antioxidants for three months.

Context as politicised psycho-geographies: The psychological relationship between individual, politics, and country.

This paper sheds light on how spaces become contested sites for identity construction and negotiation to take place. Applying the Social Representations Approach, a qualitative study of 10 focus group discussions (n = 39), was conducted in Singapore, Malaysia and the UK to explore how, and why racialised identity construction changed in each socio-political context. The study challenged two underlying assumptions in social psychology: (1) that the meaning of the racialised category holds constant across time and space, and (2) there exists a pan-racial identification among Asian identities, for example, which at times allows for racialised categories to be manipulated as variables.

Evaluating the ability of fullPIERS calculator to predict adverse maternal outcomes in pre-eclampsia at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of the fullPIERS model to predict adverse maternal outcomes in patients diagnosed as early-onset pre-eclampsia at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, South Africa.

Methods: Retrospective record review and analysis of 134 patients admitted with early-onset pre-eclampsia. Demographic data, symptoms, and investigation results relevant to the fullPIERS calculator present on admission were collected.

Mpox (monkeypox): a comprehensive updated of current epidemic evidence.

Mpox, formerly referred to as monkeypox, is a viral disease endemic to central Africa, resulting from the monkeypox virus (MPXV). This study provides a current overview of the Mpox epidemic as of 2024, emphasizing significant developments and epidemiological trends. The World Health Organization (WHO) initially designated a clade Ⅱb outbreak as a global health emergency in May 2022, which was subsequently managed through vaccination and public health interventions by May 2023.

Genetic Evidence of Killer Whale Predation on White Sharks in Australia.

Killer whales () have been documented to prey on white sharks (), in some cases causing localised shark displacement and triggering ecological cascades. Notably, a series of such predation events have been reported from South Africa over the last decade, with killer whales specifically targeting sharks' liver. However, observations of these interactions are rare, and knowledge of their frequency across the world's oceans remains limited.

Does Differential Habitat Selection Facilitate Coexistence Between Badgers and Hedgehogs?

Predicting the spatial and temporal responses of species exhibiting intraguild predation (IGP) relationships is difficult due to variation in potential interactions and environmental context. Eurasian badgers () are intraguild predators of European hedgehogs () and are implicated in their population decline via both direct predation and competition for shared food resources. Previous studies have shown spatial separation between these species and attributed this to hedgehogs experiencing a 'landscape of fear', but little is known about the potential role of differential habitat use.

Defining and responding to the contextual drivers for implementation of antimicrobial stewardship in 14 neonatal units in South Africa.

Background: Research on the contextual drivers of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programme interventions in neonatal units is limited.

Methods: As part of a prospective mixed-methods multidisciplinary neonatal AMS (NeoAMS) interventional study in 14 South African hospitals, we applied a three-phased process to assess implementation barriers and contextual drivers experienced by participating health professionals. The study included: (Phase one; P1) a survey of pre-intervention barriers and enablers; (P2) written feedback during the study intervention phase; and (P3) semi-structured exit interviews.