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Heterodinuclear Ru–Pt Complexes Bridged with 2,3-Bis(pyridyl)pyrazinyl Ligands: Studies on Kinetics, Deoxyribonucleic Acid/Bovine Serum Albumin Binding and Cleavage, In Vitro Cytotoxicity, and In Vivo Toxicity on Zebrafish Embryo Activities
No full textDi- and poly-homo/heteronuclear complexes have great potential as anticancer drugs. Here, we report their reactivity, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)/bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding and cleavage interactions, in vitro cytotoxicity, and in vivo zebrafish embryo toxicity of [(phen)2Ru(μ-L)PtCl2]2+ (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline and L = 2,3-bis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine, bpp, C1; 2,3-bis(2-pyridyl)quinoxaline, bpq, C2ial; 2,3-bis(2-pyridyl)benzo[g]quinoxaline, bbq, C3) anticancer prodrugs. The substitution reactivity increases from C1 to C3 owing to an increase in the π-conjugation on the bridging chelate which facilitates π-back bonding. As a result, the electrophilicity index on the C3 complex increases than that on the complex C2 followed by C1 which leads to higher rates of substitution and thus the reactivity order follows C1 9 μM); furthermore, the selectivity index and SI values were higher (>3). Complex C3 showed the highest cytotoxicity with IC50 = 3.1 μM and SI value (5.55) against MCF7 cell lines and these values were comparable to those of the cisplatin (IC50 and SI values are 5.0 μM and 4.02, respectively). In vivo toxicological assessments on zebrafish embryos revealed that all the Ru–Pt complexes (CI/2/3) have poor embryo acute toxic effects over 96 h postfertilization, hpf with LC50 > 65.2 μM. The complex C3 has shown the lowest embryo toxicity (LC50 = 148.8 μM), which is comparable to that of commercial cisplatin (LC50 = 181.1 μM). Based on the cytotoxicity results, complexes C2 and C3 could be considered for further development as chemotherapeutic agents against MCF breast cancer cells
Managing Electoral Violence Through Constructive Use of Social Media: Transforming Vulnerable Urban Youth in Kenya
Get PDFThis study sought to assess the extent to which social media has been misused in the context of electoral processes to escalate violence and how social injustices among vulnerable youth in urban communities have further aggravated the violence. The study attempts to conceptualize and contextualize the phenomenon of electoral violence within emerging democracies in the digital era. This research is based on transformative social protection theoretical framework. Descriptive correlational design was adopted to assess the phenomena of electoral violence and its consequences in Kenya, among poor urban youth living in informal settlements in Nairobi County. The findings reveal a strong positive relationship between perpetual electoral violence, poverty and social injustices among the vulnerable communities. The strategies for mitigating misuse of social media among youth to escalate social unrest and electoral violence are elucidated including redesigning civic education and participatory civic engagement through inclusion of the marginalized and underprivileged youth
Malaria vaccine approachesleveraging technologiesoptimized in the COVID-19 era
No full textAfrica bears the greatest burden of malaria with more than 200 million clinicalcases and more than 600,000 deaths in 2020 alone. While malaria-associateddeaths dropped steadily until 2015, the decline started to falter after 2016,highlighting the need for novel potent tools in thefight against malaria.Currently available tools, such as antimalarial drugs and insecticides arethreatened by development of resistance by the parasite and the mosquito.The WHO has recently approved RTS,S as thefirst malaria vaccine for publichealth use. However, because the RTS,S vaccine has an efficacy of only 36% inyoung children, there is need for more efficacious vaccines. Indeed, based onthe global goal of licensing a malaria vaccine with at least 75% efficacy by 2030,RTS,S is unlikely to be sufficient alone. However, recent years have seentremendous progress in vaccine development. Although the COVID-19pandemic impacted malaria control, the rapid progress in research towardsthe development of COVID-19 vaccines indicate that harnessing funds andtechnological advances can remarkably expedite vaccine development. In thisreview, we highlight and discuss current and prospective trends in global effortsto discover and develop malaria vaccines through leveraging mRNA vaccineplatforms and other systems optimized during COVID-19 vaccine studies.BNK is an EDCTP Fellow under EDCTP2 programmesupported by the European Union grant numberTMA2020CDF-3203-EndPAMAL. FK is also an EDCT
Burnout and Associated Factors among Hospital-Based Nurses in Northern Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Survey
No full textBackground. Burnout is a public health problem that disproportionately affects nurses in sub-Saharan Africa because of the weak health systems that create an unconducive workplace environment. In Uganda, there is limited evidence on the burden of burnout among nurses in a manner that undermine advocacy and policy formulation. We aimed to assess the level of burnout and associated factors among nurses in northern Uganda. Methods. This was a cross-sectional survey conducted among 375 randomly selected nurses from health facilities in northern Uganda. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and logistic regression at a 95% level of significance in SPSS version 25. Results. Majority of the respondents were female 56.5% (n = 223). Nearly half, 49.1% (n = 194) of respondents had high levels of burnout, 36.2% (n = 143) reported average levels of burnout, and 14.7% (n = 58) reported low levels of burnout. Factors associated with burnout were age (AOR: 2.90; 95% CI: 1.28-6.58; p = 0.011), social support (AOR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.22-0.94; p = 0.033), healthy eating (AOR: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02-0.22; p < 0.001), workload (AOR: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.14-0.68; p = 0.004), and management responsibilities (AOR: 3.07; 95% CI: 1.54-6.12; p = 0.001). Conclusion. Half of the nurses in northern Uganda experienced high levels of burnout. The Ministry of Health should consider recruiting more nurses to reduce workload and adjust working hours to prevent workplace-related burnout among nurses in the country
A Survey of Biometric Authentication Technologies Towards Secure And Robust Systems: A Case Study of Mount Kenya University
No full textIn response to the increased demand for more effective authentication methods, the usage of biometric authentication to secure systems against unwanted access has grown. Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, any direct physical contact with the system should be avoided. Furthermore, current authentication systems lack the necessary security features, making them vulnerable to cyber risks such as forgery by unethical employees and unauthorized users. The goal of this paper is to investigate the existing biometric authentication systems and propose the best security models to overcome the weaknesses of existing technologies. The study employed mixed methodology, which was qualitative and quantitative in nature and relied on primary and secondary sources of data. The researcher collected the data from a population of 300 staff of Mount Kenya University with a sample size of 169 respondents. The R2 value on the relationship between the studied dependent and independent variables was R2 = 0.792 showing a good fit of the model since is greater than 50% of the test item used in the case study. Therefore the study recommends that institutions to implement a contactless biometric system to eliminate physical contact and use multimodal system that will help overcome the existing challenges associated with unimodal systems. There are still gaps for future researchers where they need to focus on the various decision algorithms that are best efficient in verifying users before they are authenticated in the system
Point prevalence survey to assess antibiotic prescribing pattern among hospitalized patients in a county referral hospital in Kenya
No full textAntibiotic resistance causes higher morbidity and mortality and higher healthcare costs. One of the factors influencing the emergence of antibiotic resistance is the inappropriate use of antibiotics. Clinical practitioners’ incorrect prescription patterns and a disregard for antibiotic usage recommendations are the leading causes of this resistance. This study examined the antibiotic prescription patterns among hospitalized patients at the Kiambu Level 5 hospital (KL5) to find potential for hospital quality improvement. This study was conducted in July 2021, and all patients hospitalized on the study day were included. The information was extracted from patient medical records using a World Health Organization Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) instrument. Anonymized data was gathered, entered, and then SPSS version 26 was used for analysis. Among the 308 surveyed patients, 191 (62%) received antibiotic medication, and 60.1% of the total were female. The pediatric ward, which had an antibiotic prescription rate of 94.1%, had the highest rate of antibiotic usage, followed by the medical ward (69.2%) and gynecological ward (65.6%). Over 40% of antibiotic prescriptions had a prophylactic medical indication. Penicillin G was the most prescribed antibiotic for community-acquired infections (32.2%), followed by 3rd generation cephalosporins (27.6%) and aminoglycosides (17.2%). Based on the AWaRe classification, 57% of the prescribed antibiotics were in the Access class while 42% were in the Watch class. Incomplete site of indication, lack of a method of administration, and length of administration are some of the conformities that were missing in the medical records. This study shows that antibiotic prescription rates are high, particularly for young patients, and there is a higher risk of antibiotic misuse. The data makes a compelling justification for using antibiotic stewardship practices in Kenyan hospitals.This work was supported by The Kenya National Research Fund (grant number NRF/MKU/2017/007 to JG)
Text mining model for retrieval of explicit knowledge at Kenya coastal development project, Mombasa
No full textThe study investigated the prospects of applying a Text Mining model in the retrieval of
explicit knowledge at the Kenya Coastal Development Project (KCDP). The study’s main
objective was to establish how a Text Mining model could be used in explicit knowledge
retrieval at KCDP. The study identified text-mining techniques that could be used to develop
a text-mining model, evaluate the model to be able to retrieve explicit knowledge at KCDP.
The study targeted staff of the agencies that constituted the KCDP project which included,
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS),
State Department of Fisheries (SDF), Coastal Development Project (CDA), Department of
Physical Planning, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and National Environment Management
Authority (NEMA). The study used the exploratory and experimental research design to be
able to understand the research problem, answer the research objectives and questions. The
total population of staff in the project was one hundred and fifty (150), out of which fifty two (52) were sampled. Purposive sampling was used to select samples from the
representative groups that comprised the target population. Two methods of data collection
were used namely; questionnaires and focus group discussion. The questionnaire was
applied to members of staff in four major departments namely the top management, research
and administration, knowledge management and finally the ICT department. The focus
group discussion was applied to a special group in the knowledge management section.
Content analysis was used to analyze the focus group discussions. Questionnaires were
analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 software.
The use of questionnaires and focus groups were used to establish the current situation at the
KCDP in terms of knowledge management systems in place and whether text mining could
be used to retrieve explicit knowledge at KCDP. Text were collected from websites of
organizations that took part in the KCDP project by using python libraries namely Python
Request 2.22 and Beautiful Soup 3. The collected text was then summarized using text
summarization algorithms used in the model like Luhnsummarizer, Lsansummarizer,
Lexranksummarizer and Edmondsummarizer. After summarization topic, modelling was
performed on the text collected using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic-modelling
algorithm to create topics based on patterns in text. The model was then evaluated to
establish its performance by measuring the four variables identified using precision and
recall to measure accuracy, topic modelling to measure rate of similarity, and perplexity to
measure evaluation of the model which gave a perplexity of -6.0455 from the text analyzed
and modelled. It was concluded that text analysis could be used to analyze text and create
explicit knowledge from both structured and unstructured data formats using the model.
Future models should incorporate artificial intelligence into machine learning, so that
semantics (i.e., English grammar) are deciphered and not only syntax of the language. The
system should be willing to differentiate between “willing flesh” and “good meat”. The
system should detect the intrinsic difference between the phrases “weak spirit” and “bad
liquor”. This will help the system to avoid getting lost in translation via the use of synonyms
and will incrementally rely on semantic, as facilitated by artificial intelligenc
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Coping Strategies Among People with HIV in Lira District, Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Study
No full textBackground: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most commonly reported mental health consequence following traumatic events. However, little is known about how people with HIV cope with the PTSD burden in Lira city, northern Uganda.
Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in Lira District Health Centre IVs from February 10, 2022, to March 10, 2022. A facility-based cross-sectional study was employed among 390 people with HIV attending Lira Health Centre IVs. A consecutive sampling technique was used to select the sample size. Questionnaires were used to collect data. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with independent variables, and AOR was employed to estimate the strength of association between independent and dependent variables.
Results: Results show that the estimated prevalence of PTSD was 254 (65.1%) and was higher among the females 191 (75.2%), those with no formal education 143 (56.3%), aged 40 years and above 121 (47.6%), and married 127 (50.0%). Results indicate that male respondents had a 51% reduced odds of developing PTSD burden compared to female respondents (AOR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.30– 0.81; P = 0.005). Individuals who did not use planning activities as a coping strategy had more than 2-fold increased odds of experiencing PTSD compared to those who planned activities (AOR: 2.43; 1.26– 4.70; P = 0.008). Participants who did not have emotional support had close to 3-fold increased chances of developing PTSD compared to those who had emotional support (AOR: 2.94; 1.74– 4.98; P ≤ 0.001). Participants who indicated they were not taking recourse to spirituality had more than 4-fold increased odds of experiencing PTSD compared to those who had spirituality (AOR: 4.40; 1.83– 10.46; P = 0.001).
Conclusion: A considerable burden of PTSD among HIV clients attending health centre IVs in Lira District was notably higher and was associated with gender, planning activities, emotional support and spirituality. Early screening of PTSD among HIV clients is needed to alleviate the burden. There is also a need to include PTSD treatment services in the treatment programme of HIV care services in health centre IVs in Lira District
ISARIC-COVID-19 dataset: A Prospective, Standardized, Global Dataset of Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19
No full textThe International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 dataset is one of the largest international databases of prospectively collected clinical data on people hospitalized with COVID-19. This dataset was compiled during the COVID-19 pandemic by a network of hospitals that collect data using the ISARIC-World Health Organization Clinical Characterization Protocol and data tools. The database includes data from more than 705,000 patients, collected in more than 60 countries and 1,500 centres worldwide. Patient data are available from acute hospital admissions with COVID-19 and outpatient follow-ups. The data include signs and symptoms, pre-existing comorbidities, vital signs, chronic and acute treatments, complications, dates of hospitalization and discharge, mortality, viral strains, vaccination status, and other data. Here, we present the dataset characteristics, explain its architecture and how to gain access, and provide tools to facilitate its use
Potential application of the hematology analyzer XN-31 prototype for field malaria surveillance in Kenya
No full textEarly and accurate diagnosis is a key component in malaria control programs. Microscopy is the current gold standard, however it requires extensive training and the results largely rely on the skill of the microscopists. Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) can be performed with minimal training and offer timely diagnosis, but results are not quantitative. Moreover, some Plasmodium falciparum parasites have evolved to evade detection by RDT. Developed by the Sysmex Corporation, the XN-31 prototype (XN-31p) is an automated hematology analyzer capable of detecting Plasmodium-infected erythrocytes and providing species differentiation and stage specific parasite counts in venous blood samples in a minute without any sample preparation. Here we tested the performance of the XN-31p with capillary blood samples and evaluated the effect of sample storage time and temperature on the stability of results. Paired capillary and venous blood samples were collected from 169 outpatients with clinical malaria symptoms in Homa Bay County Referral Hospital, Kenya. Malaria infections were diagnosed with the XN-31p, microscopy, RDT, and PCR. Capillary blood samples were remeasured on the XN-31p after 24 hours of storage at either room (15 to 25°C) or chilled temperatures (2 to 8°C). Identical results in malaria diagnosis were observed between venous and capillary blood samples processed with the XN-31p. The sensitivity and specificity of XN-31p with capillary blood sample relative to PCR were 0.857 and 1.000 and those relative to microscopy and RDT were 1.000 and 0.986 to 1.000, respectively. Parasitemia and complete blood count (CBC) results were stable in capillary blood samples after 24 hours at room or chilled temperatures. These results showed that the XN-31p can be a useful tool to complement existing methods for routine malaria diagnosis in remote settings