scholarly journals Short and Long Term Outcomes Associated with Fetal Cholelithiasis: A Report of Two Cases with Antenatal Diagnosis and Postnatal Follow-Up

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Troyano-Luque ◽  
Ana Padilla-Pérez ◽  
Ingrid Martínez-Wallin ◽  
Margarita Álvarez de la Rosa ◽  
Salvatore Andrea Mastrolia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fetal Distress ◽  
Normal Pregnancy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Caucasian Woman ◽  
Biliary Disease ◽  
Ceftriaxone Sodium ◽  
Biliary Sludge ◽  
Ultrasound Findings ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year

The aims of this study were to present and discuss ultrasound findings of prenatal fetal cholelithiasis in two cases with different etiology and evolution. Case 1: a pregnant woman from sub-Saharan Africa, suffering from Lyme disease, was treated with ceftriaxone sodium. Six weeks later, biliary sludge associated with polyhydramnios was detected in the fetus and the fetal growth percentile was 14. Emergency caesarean was performed at 36 weeks of gestation due to fetal distress. Biliary sludge persists in the two-and-a-half-year-old child. Case 2: the fetus of a Caucasian woman with normal pregnancy showed multiple cholelithiasis associated with polyhydramnios at 31 weeks of gestation. At 39 weeks and 4 days, cesarean section was performed due to lack of dilation. The biliary disease resolved spontaneously at seven months of age, with no associated abnormalities. In conclusion, prenatal diagnosis of cholelithiasis is straightforward, but prognosis cannot be defined yet. Serious complications do not arise in 70% of cases, but severe diseases may ensue in 20%. Persistence of cholelithiasis after one year of age results in cholelithiasis in childhood and beyond. Biliary sludge is associated with worse prognosis than cholelithiasis when it appears before 28 weeks of gestation.

THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN'S FOREIGN POLICY AND CONSTRUCTION JIHAD'S DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Lob
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Islamic Republic ◽  
Development Organization ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year ◽  
Organization Construction ◽  
First Time

AbstractThis article adopts the theoretical framework of complex realism to trace the evolution of the Islamic Republic of Iran's foreign policy and developmental activities in Africa between the 1980s and the 2000s. Contrary to common assumptions, the deradicalization of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy in Africa began not under the moderates in the early 1990s, but under the conservatives in the mid-1980s. This period marked the first time that the Islamic Republic instrumentalized development to advance its strategic interests in Africa—a policy that has continued despite the factionalization of Iran's political elite. Based on one year of archival research and interviews in Iran, this article is the first to investigate the history and activities of the Islamic Republic's rural development organization, Construction Jihad, in Africa. It posits that development, instead of arms or ideology, has enabled Iran to make the farthest inroads into the continent due to Africa's sizeable agrarian economies, widespread rural poverty, and formidable developmental challenges.

scholarly journals Powering Jobs: The Employment Footprint of Clean Cooking Solutions in Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHIH-JUNG LEE ◽  
Rebekah Shirley ◽  
Maureen Otieno ◽  
Hope Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Group Discussion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Employment Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Data Gap ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Delivering clean cooking access to 1.2 billion people who cook with charcoal, kerosene and firewood may have a strong localized employment impact. With the challenge of a rapidly expanding youth population and growing job scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding the impact of clean cooking on employment as well as the skills gap is timely. However, there is little definitive data on clean cooking jobs. Recognizing this data gap, we sought to conduct a study focused specifically on employment from the clean cooking sectors in Kenya, covering liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bioethanol, biogas and electric cooking solutions. This study provides an initial baseline and early estimate of clean cooking sectors’ direct formal and informal employment based on one year of company survey data, expert interviews, available literature, and local focus group discussion.Results: In Kenya, the clean cooking sector provided about 19,000 direct, formal jobs and potentially 15,000 to 35,000 direct, informal jobs in 2019. While the clean cooking sector provided many jobs, the level of compensation and retention is low. In the LPG and electric cooking sector, sales and distribution are the biggest part of the workforce, while for bioethanol and biogas, manufacturing and assembling is important. The majority of the direct, formal workforce is reported to be skilled. Management, finance and legal, and product development and research are the most difficult skills to recruit for. Women’s participation is lower than 30% in the clean cooking sectors. Managerial positions have higher women’s participation than non-managerial ones.Conclusion: This research exercise establishes a baseline for understanding the employment impact of the clean cooking sectors. However, a massive data gap persists. Our study shows that while the clean cooking sectors, especially LPG, are already providing tens of thousands of jobs, further studies are critically needed to map the employment impact of delivering universal clean cooking access.

scholarly journals Powering Jobs: the Employment Footprint of Clean Cooking Solutions in Kenya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHIH-JUNG LEE ◽  
Rebekah Shirley ◽  
Maureen Otieno ◽  
Hope Nyambura
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Liquefied Petroleum Gas ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Employment Impact ◽  
Company Survey ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Data Gap ◽  
Managerial Positions ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Delivering clean cooking access to 1.2 billion people who cook with charcoal, kerosene and firewood may have a strong localized employment impact. With the challenge of a rapidly expanding youth population and growing job scarcity in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding the impact of clean cooking on employment as well as the skills gap is timely. However, there is little definitive data on clean cooking jobs. Recognizing this data gap, we sought to conduct a study focused specifically on employment from the clean cooking sectors in Kenya, covering liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bioethanol, biogas and electric cooking solutions. This study provides an initial baseline and early estimate of clean cooking sectors’ direct formal and informal employment based on one year of company survey data, expert interviews, available literature, and local focus group discussion.Results In Kenya, the clean cooking sector provided about 19,000 direct, formal jobs and potentially 15,000 to 35,000 direct, informal jobs in 2019. While the clean cooking sector provided many jobs, the level of compensation and retention is low. In the LPG and electric cooking sector, sales and distribution are the biggest part of the workforce, while for bioethanol and biogas, manufacturing and assembling is important. The majority of the direct, formal workforce is reported to be skilled. Management, finance and legal, and product development and research are the most difficult skills to recruit for. Women’s participation is lower than 30% in the clean cooking sectors. Managerial positions have higher women’s participation than non-managerial ones. Conclusion This research exercise establishes a baseline for understanding the employment impact of the clean cooking sectors. However, a massive data gap persists. Our study shows that while the clean cooking sectors, especially LPG, are already providing tens of thousands of jobs, further studies are critically needed to map the employment impact of delivering universal clean cooking access.

High-resolution weather simulation for sub-Saharan Africa on the World Community Grid

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camille Le Coz ◽  
Qidi Yu ◽  
Lloyd A. Treinish ◽  
Manuel Garcia Alvarez ◽  
Ashley Cryan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Large Area ◽  
World Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Socio Economic Impact ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

<p>Rainfall in Africa is difficult to estimate accurately due to the large spatial variability. Most of the monsoon rainfall is generated by convective rainstorms that can be very localized, sometimes covering less than 100 km2. The goal of the African Rainfall Project is to run the Weather and Research Forecast (WRF) model for sub-Saharan Africa at a convection-permitting resolution in order to better represent such rainfall events. The resolution will be 1km, which is finer than most studies over Africa, which typically use resolutions of 3km or more. Running WRF for such a large area at such a high resolution is computationally expensive, which is where IBM’s World Community Grid comes in. The World Community Grid (WCG) is part of the Social Corporate Responsibility of IBM that crowdsources unused computing power from volunteers devices and donates it to scientific projects.</p><p>The simulation was adapted to the WCG by dividing the simulation of one year over sub-Saharan Africa in many smaller simulations of 48h over 52 by 52 km domains. These simulations are small enough to be calculated on a single computer of a volunteer at the required resolution. In total, 35609 overlapping domains are covering the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. During the post-processing phase, the smaller simulations are merged back together to obtain one consistent simulation over the whole continent.</p><p>Our main focus is rainfall, as this is the variable with the highest socio-economic impact in Africa. However, the outputs of the simulations include other variables such as the 2m-temperature, the 10m-wind speed and direction. These variables are outputted every 15min. At the end of this project, we will have over 3 billion files for a total of 0.5 PB. The data will be reorganized so that the different variables can be stored, searched and retrieved efficiently. After the reorganization, the data will be made publicly available.</p><p>The first validation step will be to examine the impact of dividing sub-Saharan Africa into many smaller domains. This will be done by comparing the simulation from this project to one large simulation. This simulation is obtained by running WRF at a 1km resolution on a large domain (500km by 1000km) for a shorter period, using Cartesius, the Dutch national computer. The second validation step will be to compare the simulations with satellite data and with in-situ measurements from the TAHMO network (www.tahmo.org).</p>

scholarly journals Why prepaid technologies are not a panacea for inclusive and sustainable rural water services in Tanzania?

Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 925-942
Author(s):  
Hans C. Komakech ◽  
Lukas Kwezi ◽  
Mansoor Ali
Keyword(s):  
Cost Recovery ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water Services ◽  
Revenue Collection ◽  
Water Users ◽  
Operation And Maintenance ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Rural Water ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year

Abstract Poor sustainability of rural water schemes is a major problem in service delivery in sub-Saharan Africa. About half of the schemes fail one year after commissioning, mostly due to poor operation and maintenance. Many communities fail to collect and manage water revenue. Prepaid technologies are argued to remedy the poor water revenue management. However, it is not clear to what extent prepaid systems can contribute to the sustainability of rural water schemes. This paper assessed the performance of three different cases where prepaid technologies were used in Tanzania. Although the technologies used can simplify water revenue collection, they are not a panacea to deliver sustainable and equitable water services. The capital cost of the prepaid system is often paid for by donors, which is not being recovered, hence the notion of cost recovery is biased here. Also, a strong institutional capacity and knowledge is required alongside the technology. Therefore, the technology which is being promoted as better for improving cost recovery is, instead, causing a burden on water users.

scholarly journals The African Guide: One Year Impact and Outcomes from the Implementation of a School Mental Health Literacy Curriculum Resource in Tanzania

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Kutcher ◽  
Yifeng Wei ◽  
Heather Gilberds ◽  
Adena Brown ◽  
Omary Ubuguyu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year

little research is available. Schools are an ideal location in which to address mental health literacy. A Canadian school-based mental health literacy resource was adapted for application in sub-Saharan Africa called the African Guide (AG). The AG is a classroom ready curriculum resource addressing all aspects of mental health literacy. Herein we provide teacher reported activity impacts and MHL outcomes from the implementation of the AG in Tanzania. Following training, survey data addressing teacher reported AG impact and MHL outcomes was collected at three time points over a one year period. Over a period of one year, 32 teachers from 29 different schools reported that over: 4,600 students were taught MHL; 150 peer teachers were trained on the AG; 390 students approached teachers with a mental health concern; 450 students were referred to previously trained community care providers for diagnosis and treatment of Depression; and most students were considered to have demonstrated improved or very much improved knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking efficacy, with similar outcomes reported for teachers. Results of this study demonstrate a substantial positive impact on MHL related activities and outcomes for both students and teachers using the AG resource in Tanzania. Taken together with previously published research on enhancing MHL in both Malawi and Tanzania, if replicated in another setting, these results will provide additional support for the scale up of this intervention across sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals Low Serum-Derived Syncytin-2 Levels in Exosome at Early Pregnancy is a Predictor of Preeclampsia: A Prospective Pilot Study in Benin, West Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Lokossou AG Gatien
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Envelope Protein ◽  
Placental Tissue ◽  
Normal Pregnancy ◽  
Endogenous Retrovirus ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Perinatal Morbidity ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Prospective Pilot Study ◽  
Sub Saharan

Preeclampsia (PE) affects 2 to 8% of pregnant women and represents one of the major causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. A limited number of biomarkers have been proposed for the identification of pregnant women predisposed to preeclampsia. Syncytin-2 is an endogenous retrovirus envelope protein playing a key role in placental formation through the fusion of villous cytotrophoblasts, resulting in syncytiotrophoblast formation. The reduction of Syncytin-2 levels detected in placental tissue and on the surface of exosomes has been shown to strongly correlate with the severity of symptoms in preeclamptic patients. We were thus interested in conducting an analysis of a Benin cohort of pregnant women over the predictive value of this marker. From July 2015 to January 2017, 260 pregnant women were recruited in two health facilities. Blood samples were monthly collected from the beginning of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of gestation and exosomes were then isolated. We then compared Syncytin-2 levels in exosome preparations from women who presented PE to those with normal pregnancy. Our results showed that Syncytin-2 significantly decreased between 7 to 10 weeks of gestation in pregnant women with PE compared to normal pregnant women (p=0.02). Our study thereby suggests that Syncytin-2 could be a promising biomarker for early diagnosis of PE.

scholarly journals Follow-up of Elevated Blood Lead Levels and Sources in a Cohort of Children in Benin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shukrullah Ahmadi ◽  
Barbara Le Bot ◽  
Roméo Zoumenou ◽  
Séverine Durand ◽  
Nadine Fiévet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Potential Sources ◽  
Lead Levels ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year

Lead exposure is associated with poor cognitive development in children. Very few studies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have studied blood lead levels (BLLs) and non-gasoline sources of exposure in children. Data from a birth cohort in Benin (2011-2013) suggested that 58% of one-year-old children had BLLs > 50 ug/L. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of elevated BLLs (>50 µg/L and >100 µg /L) among 425 of these children at six-years-of-age in 2016-18 and to compare BLLs between age one-year and six-years and study sources of lead at six years. BLLs were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Multiple linear regression and quantile regressions were used to study potential sources of lead. The prevalence of BLLs >50 µg/L in children was 59.5% [Geometric Mean (GM) 56.4 µg/L, 95% CI: 54.1 - 58.7] at six years of age compared to 54.8% [GM 56.5 µg/L, 95% CI: 53.4-59.6] at one year of age. The prevalence of children with BLLs >100 µg/L decreased from 14.4% at one year of age to 8.2% at six years of age. After adjustment for all other covariates, consumption of peanut more than once per month was significantly associated with a 22.0% (95% CI: 4.6, 42.5) increment in BLLs at six years compared with no consumption. Consumption of bushmeat killed by lead bullets at six years was associated with an increase in the higher percentiles of BLLs (P75) compared with the absence of this source. Other potential sources of lead associated with BLLs with marginal significance were consumption of rice, paternal occupational exposure, and the presence of activity with the potential use of lead. This prospective cohort confirms the persistently high prevalence of elevated BLLs in children residing in a rural region in the south of Benin as well as the presence of multiple and continuous sources of lead. These results highlight the need for prevention programs to reduce and eliminate lead exposure in children.

The Impact of Hydroxyurea Use on Cognitive Functioning of Children with Sickle Cell Disease in Ghana

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 22-22
Author(s):  
Olubusola Oluwole ◽  
Amma owusu-Ansah ◽  
Seyed Mehdi Nouraie ◽  
Enrico M Novelli
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Sickle Cell ◽  
Organ Damage ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Psychomotor Function ◽  
Cell Disease ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder characterized by a mutated hemoglobin that polymerizes when deoxygenated leading to sickle-shaped red blood cells. Tissue hypoxia and organ damage are downstream effects of red blood cell sickling. A manifestation of end organ damage that is of increasing concern, given its devastating functional effects, is cognitive impairment. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the highest annual SCD burden in the world, yet little is known about cognitive impairment in children from Africa with SCD. This knowledge gap inhibits the development of targeted interventions to prevent or mitigate cognitive deficits in children with SCD. In particular, it is unknown if hydroxyurea, the oldest FDA-approved drug for SCD, preserves cognitive functioning. The primary objective of this study was to assess the potential cognitive benefits of hydroxyurea administered over at least one year in children with SCD from Ghana. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study funded by an ASH Minority Resident Hematology Award at both the general pediatric sickle cell clinic and the hydroxyurea clinic at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. Children with a diagnosis of SCD (HbSS, HbSC and HbS/β-thalassemia) between the ages of 5 and 13 were approached and enrolled in two arms of the study - non-hydroxyurea and hydroxyurea groups - under an IRB-approved protocol. Children without any exposure to hydroxyurea were included in the non-hydroxyurea group while children who had been taking hydroxyurea for at least one year were included in the hydroxyurea group. Children's demographic data were obtained via an ad-hoc questionnaire. Anthropomorphic and laboratory data were obtained from the patients' charts. Cognitive function was assessed using Cogstate, a computer-based neurocognitive testing tool. A brief battery of tests was administered consisting of Detection, Identification, One Back and Groton Maze Learning tests, which assess psychomotor function, attention, working memory and executive functioning, respectively. We used multiple linear regression analysis and inverse proportional to weight propensity score analysis to test the association between hydroxyurea treatment and cognitive test scores. Results: We enrolled 58 children with SCD in the study, including 28 in the non-hydroxyurea group (mean age 9.2 ± 2.40, 54% girls), and 30 in the hydroxyurea group (mean age 9.2 ± 2.17, 57% girls). Children taking hydroxyurea had higher hemoglobin (9.34 vs 8.32 g/dL, P=0.02) and mean corpuscular volume values (94 ± 9.2 vs 77 ± 9.1 fL, P=<0.01) when compared to the non-hydroxyurea group. Children in the hydroxyurea group performed significantly better in the area of working memory (adjusted difference 0.19, p=0.02, Table 1), while there was no significant difference in the other domains. Other confounders including age, nutritional status, gender and subject education level did not impact the findings.Within the hydroxyurea group, increased transcranial doppler velocity in the left internal carotid and left anterior cerebral arteries (a stroke risk factor) was associated with worse psychomotor function (correlation coefficient 0.41, p=0.047). Conclusion:To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted in Africa to explore the impact of hydroxyurea on cognitive functioning. While causality cannot be inferred in this observational study, our results support the findings of a study conducted in the United States showing that children withSCD on hydroxyurea had improved cognitive functioning as compared to those not on the drug (Puffer et al.Child Neuropsychology. 2007). It is possible that hydroxyurea may result in improved cerebral oxygenation, potentially by ameliorating anemia. In a prior study we found that higher cognitive functioning in children with SCD is associated with higher maternal education (Oluwole et al.Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2016), however, the difference in working memory remained significant after adjusting for this variable. Future longitudinal and interventional studies are needed to further assess the potential benefits of hydroxyurea on cognitive functioning, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where other interventions aimed at reducing neurological complications of SCD, such as blood transfusions, remain limited. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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