Effectiveness of a community-based intervention package in maternal health service utilization: A cross-sectional quasi-experimental study in rural Ghana.

Background: We examined the effectiveness of a community-based intervention package that targeted pregnant women for increasing utilization of maternal health services. The intervention package was implemented in Suhum Municipality, Ghana, from March 2019 to April 2022. The package consisted of: (i) maternal health education by female and male peers; (ii) training existing health workers on maternal health; and (iii) strengthening the local community health management committees.

tcrBLOSUM: an amino acid substitution matrix for sensitive alignment of distant epitope-specific TCRs.

Deciphering the specificity of T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoires is crucial for monitoring adaptive immune responses and developing targeted immunotherapies and vaccines. To elucidate the specificity of previously unseen TCRs, many methods employ the BLOSUM62 matrix to find TCRs with similar amino acid (AA) sequences. However, while BLOSUM62 reflects the AA substitutions within conserved regions of proteins with similar functions, the remarkable diversity of TCRs means that both TCRs with similar and dissimilar sequences can bind the same epitope.

Rearing of Glossina morsitans morsitans tsetse flies for the sterile insect technique: evaluating the impact of irradiation and transportation during early and late-stage pupal development on the quality of emerging adults.

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) and African animal trypanosomosis (AAT) are devastating diseases spread by tsetse flies (Glossina spp.), affecting humans and livestock, respectively. Current efforts to manage these diseases by eliminating the vector through the sterile insect technique (SIT) require transportation of irradiated late-stage tsetse pupae under chilling, which has been reported to reduce the biological quality of emerged flies.

Experiences and perceptions of a perinatal eRegistry in two hospitals in Mtwara region, Tanzania.

Introduction: Digital data systems have the potential to improve data quality and provide individual-level information to understand gaps in the quality of care. This study explored experiences and perceptions of a perinatal eRegistry in two hospitals in Mtwara region, Tanzania. Drawing from realist evaluation and systems thinking, we go beyond a descriptive account of stakeholders' experiences and provide insight into key structural drivers and underlying social paradigms.

The cost of sleeping sickness vector control in Yasa Bonga, a health district in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (gHAT), a neglected tropical disease caused by a parasite transmitted by tsetse flies, once inflicted over 30,000 annual cases and resulted in an estimated half a million deaths in the late twentieth century. An international gHAT control program has reduced cases to under 1,000 annually, encouraging the World Health Organization to target the elimination of gHAT transmission by 2030. This requires adopting innovative disease control approaches in foci where transmission persists.

Screening and treatment practices for iron deficiency in anaemic pregnant women: A cross-sectional survey of healthcare workers in Nigeria.

Background: Iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy is a significant contributor to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality globally. Despite international and national guidelines for its screening and treatment, knowledge and prescription practices of healthcare providers vary.

Aim: To determine maternal healthcare workers' screening and treatment practices for iron deficiency in anaemic pregnancy women in two states in Nigeria.

Labeling of miracidium using fluorescent agents to visualize infection of schistosome in intermediate host snails.

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease affecting more than 250 million people worldwide. Schistosomes infect humans by cercariae penetrating the skin in a freshwater environment. Findings obtained more than 100 years prior showed that miracidium develops into cercaria in freshwater snails, though detailed development dynamics have not been elucidated.

Character displacement or priority effects: immigration timing can affect community assembly with rapid evolution.

Understanding how biological communities assemble in the presence of rapid evolution is becoming an important topic in ecology. Previous studies demonstrated that community assembly can be affected by two types of eco-evolutionary dynamics: evolution-mediated priority effect (EPE) and ecological character displacement (ECD). In EPE, early-arriving species prevent colonization of late-arriving species via local adaptation (i.

Accelerating Antimalarial Drug Discovery with a New High-Throughput Screen for Fast-Killing Compounds.

The urgent need for rapidly acting compounds in the development of antimalarial drugs underscores the significance of such compounds in overcoming resistance issues and improving patient adherence to antimalarial treatments. The present study introduces a high-throughput screening (HTS) approach using 1536-well plates, employing lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) combined with nitroreductase (NTR) and fluorescent probes to evaluate inhibition of the growth of the asexual blood stage of malaria parasites. This method was adapted to efficiently assess the speed of action profiling (SAP) in a 384-well plate format, streamlining the traditionally time-consuming screening process.

Inappropriate antibiotic prescription for acute tonsillitis in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): a systematic review and meta-analysis protocol.

Introduction: Tonsillitis is a self-limiting inflammatory process of the tonsils. In high-income countries, guidelines have been developed to decide if a patient needs an antibiotic or not. These guidelines help to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions and prevent the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Insights into perceptions, responses, and challenges experienced by women and girls' survivors of sexual violence and their communities in rural Guinea, 2020.

Introduction: Gender-based violence (GBV), particularly sexual violence, is a significant global public health issue with severe physical, psychological, and social consequences for survivors and their communities, especially among women and girls. In Guinea, limited data exist on the frequency and management of sexual violence in rural areas. This study aimed to analyze the perceptions, responses, and challenges faced by women and girls' survivors of sexual violence and their communities in two rural districts of Guinea in 2020.

The performance of a point-of-care test for the diagnosis of Neurocysticercosis in a resource-poor community setting in Zambia - a diagnostic accuracy study.

Background: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the main cause of epilepsy in endemic rural communities. NCC diagnosis is difficult due to unavailability and unaffordability of serologic assays and neuroimaging. This study aimed to assess the performance of a cheap, novel lateral-flow point-of-care (TS POC) test for the diagnosis of NCC in a community setting.

A framework for chronic care quality: results of a scoping review and Delphi survey.

Frameworks conceptualising the quality of care abound and vary; some concentrate on specific aspects such as safety, effectiveness, others all-encompassing. However, to our knowledge, tailoring to systematically arrive at a comprehensive care for chronic conditions quality (CCCQ) framework has never been done. We conducted a scoping review and Delphi survey to produce a CCCQ framework, comprehensively delineating aims, determinants and measurable attributes.

Multicomponent syntheses enable the discovery of novel quisinostat-derived chemotypes as histone deacetylase inhibitors.

In this study, we synthesized and evaluated novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors derived from the clinical candidate quisinostat. A library of 16 compounds categorized in three novel chemotypes was rapidly generated using multicomponent reactions (MCRs), enabling efficient structure-activity relationship studies. First, the compounds were evaluated for their activity against the Plasmodium falciparum strains 3D7 and Dd2, the main malaria-causing parasite, identifying compound 18b of the type C series as the most potent.

Prevalence of infertility and its association with intimate partner violence in Tanzania: Findings from the 2022 Demographic and Health Survey.

Objective: We first estimated the prevalence of primary and secondary infertility in Tanzania and then examined its association with recent experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV).

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey 2022 and included 6894 women aged 20-49 years to estimate the prevalence of primary and secondary infertility. In a subset of 2802 partnered women who were surveyed about physical, emotional, and sexual IPV, we also examined the association of any form of IPV in the 12 months prior to the survey with both primary and secondary infertility using multivariable logistic regression.

, an Unusual Human Pathogen That Causes Cavitating Pneumonia in Patients With AIDS.

is a rare human opportunistic pathogen that has been increasingly reported in recent decades. It mainly affects immunosuppressed patients, and in particular human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, where it typically presents as cavitary pneumonia. Early treatment with combined and effective antimicrobials and antiretroviral therapy after prompt diagnosis is essential to ensure an optimal outcome.

Polymorphisms in the Pfcrt, Pfmdr1, and Pfk13 genes of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from southern Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.

This study aimed to analyze polymorphisms in Pfcrt, Pfmdr1, and Pfk13 genes' markers of resistance to Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from southern Brazzaville, 15 years after the adoption of ACT in the Republic of Congo. A total of 369 microscopy-confirmed malaria-infected individuals were enrolled from March to October 2021 in the community and in health facilities during a cross-sectional study. The K76T mutation in the Pfcrt gene, N86Y and Y184F mutations in the Pfmdr1 gene were investigated using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) while the codons region (1005-1300) of the Pfmdr1gene, and Pfk13 gene were sequenced.