Lightweight Real-time Detection of Components via a Micro Aerial Vehicle with Domain Randomization Towards Structural Health Monitoring

Civil structural component detection plays an integral role in Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) pre and post-construction. Challenges including but not limited to labor-intensiveness, cost, and time constraints associated with traditional methods make it a less opti-mal approach in SHM. Despite the success of deep convolutional neural networks in diverse detection problems, the required computational resources are a challenge. This has led to rendering a chunk of resource-constrained edge nodes less applicable with deep convolutional neural networks. In this paper, a computational-efficient deep convolutional neural network is presented based on Gabor filters and a color Canny edge detector. Generic Gabor filters are generated and used as initializers in the computational-efficient deep convolutional neural network presented, afterward trained on building components data. Next, extensive offline and online experimentation with a resource-constrained edge node is conducted and evaluated using diverse metrics. The computational-efficient detection model demonstrates to be effective in detection and via NVIDIA GPU profiler, we observe conservation of around 30% of computational resources during training. The computational-efficient detection model adduces almost a 3% mean average precision higher than two state-of-the-art detectors and records a promising frame processing rate during the online experimentation

Assessing The Occurrence Of Maternal Mortality And Some Related Factors At Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

Abstract: Maternal Mortality in Ghana continues to be a major public health problem despite many strategies devised by the international community to reduce it. The United Nations (UN, 2009) reports indicates that more than 1500 women die each day from pregnancy related causes resulting in an estimated figure of 550,000 maternal deaths annually. This paper applies logistic regression model to determine the key factors that have significant effect to predicting the occurrence or non-occurrence of maternal mortality incidence. An annual maternal mortality data from 2007 to 2012 from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) was analyzed. The results showed that AGE, PARITY and GRAVIDA contributes significantly to the occurrence of maternal mortality

School Board Efficiency in Financial Management and Human Resource in Public Senior High Schools: An Evidence from Ashanti Region, Ghana

Education reform has led to the replacement of public senior high schools by the governing council, which is responsible for handling and managing the flow of resources in Ghana. Notwithstanding these lawful necessities and government financial provision for schools, it is unfortunate that poor facilities, poor performance and low morale among both teaching and non-teaching staff continue to impede the academic achievement of most Ghanaian public Senior high schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Board of Management (BOM) in financial and human resource management in Ashanti region of Ghana. This research adopted descriptive survey design. Thirty-five headmasters and 215 BOM participants from 35 public senior high schools in Ashanti region, Ghana contributed in the study. Using representative survey questionnaire, data were gathered. The study established that, in supervising and managing financial activities in the sampled schools, the BOM was not up to task. Nevertheless, it was observed that, BOM were efficient in managing human resources and its related activities. The study proposes that, the Ministry of Education develop a strategy or framework that obligates the government to provide BOM members with functional training as required by the basic law of education

Correlates of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections among prison inmates and officers in Ghana: A national multicenter study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prisons are known to be high-risk environments for the spread of bloodborne and sexually transmitted infections. Prison officers are considered to have an intermittent exposure potential to bloodborne infectious diseases on the job, however there has been no studies on the prevalence of these infections in prison officers in Ghana.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A national multicenter cross-sectional study was undertaken on correlates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and syphilis infections in sample of prison inmates and officers from eight of ten regional central prisons in Ghana. A total of 1366 inmates and 445 officers were enrolled between May 2004 and December 2005. Subjects completed personal risk-factor questionnaire and provided blood specimens for unlinked anonymous testing for presence of antibodies to HIV, HCV and <it>Treponema pallidum</it>; and surface antigen of HBV (HBsAg). These data were analyzed using both univariate and multivariate techniques.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Almost 18% (1336) of 7652 eligible inmates and 21% (445) of 2139 eligible officers in eight study prisons took part. Median ages of inmates and officers were 36.5 years (range 16–84) and 38.1 years (range 25–59), respectively. Among inmates, HIV seroprevalence was 5.9%, syphilis seroprevalence was 16.5%, and 25.5% had HBsAg. Among officers tested, HIV seroprevalence was 4.9%, HCV seroprevalence was 18.7%, syphilis seroprevalence was 7.9%, and 11.7% had HBsAg. Independent determinants for HIV, HBV and syphilis infections among inmates were age between 17–46, being unmarried, being illiterate, female gender, being incarcerated for longer than median time served of 36 months, history of homosexuality, history of intravenous drug use, history of sharing syringes and drug paraphernalia, history of participation in paid sexual activity, and history of sexually transmitted diseases. Independent determinants for HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis infections among officers were age between 25–46, fale gender, being unmarried, being employed in prison service for longer than median duration of employment of 10 years, and history of sexually transmitted diseases.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The comparably higher prevalence of HIV, HBV, HCV and syphilis in prison inmates and officers in Ghana suggests probable occupational related transmission. The implementation of infection control practices and risk reduction programs targeted at prison inmates and officers in Ghana is urgently required to address this substantial exposure risk.</p

Clinical features of COVID-19 in Ghana: symptomatology, illness severity and comorbid non-communicable diseases

Objective: This analysis described the clinical features of COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic in Ghana.Methods: Data were extracted from two national COVID-19 treatment centers in Ghana for over 11 weeks(from March to May 2020). Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Modified Ordered Logistic and Negative Binomial Regression analysis were applied to establish factors associated with illness severity and Non-communicable Disease (NCDs) counts respectively. All analysis was conducted at the 95% confidence level (p-value ≤ 0.05) using Stata 16.Results: Among the 275 patients, the average age was 40.7±16.4, with a preponderance of males (54.5%). The three commonest symptoms presented were cough (21.3%), headache (15.7%), and sore throat (11.7%). Only 7.6% of the patients had a history of fever. Most patients were asymptomatic (51.65). Approximately 38.9% have an underlying co-morbid NCDs, with Hypertension (32.1%), Diabetes (9.9%), and Asthma (5.2%) being the three commonest. The odds of Moderate/severe (MoS) was significantly higher for those with unknown exposures to similar illness [aOR(95%CI) = 4.27(1.12-10.2)] compared with non-exposure to similar illness. An increased unit of NCD’s count significantly increased the odds of COVID-19 MoS illness by 26%[cOR(95%CI) =1.26(1.09-1.84)] and 67% (adjusting for age) [aOR(95%CI)=1.67(1.13-2.49)].Conclusion: The presence of cardiovascular co-morbidities dictated the frequency of reported symptoms and severity of COVID-19 infection in this sample of Ghanaians. Physicians should be aware of the presence of co-morbid NCDs and prepare to manage effectively among COVID-19 patients

Macrophage susceptibility to infection by Ghanaian Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex lineages 4 and 5 varies with self-reported ethnicity

BackgroundThe epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) lineage 5 (L5) infections in Ghana revealed a significantly increased prevalence in Ewes compared to other self-reported ethnic groups. In that context, we sought to investigate the early phase of tuberculosis (TB) infection using ex vivo infection of macrophages derived from the blood of Ewe and Akan ethnic group volunteers with MTBC L4 and L5 strains.MethodsThe study participants consisted of 16 controls, among which self-reported Akan and Ewe ethnicity was equally represented, as well as 20 cured TB cases consisting of 11 Akans and 9 Ewes. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from both healthy controls and cured TB cases. CD14+ monocytes were isolated and differentiated into monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) before infection with L4 or L5 endemic strains. The bacterial load was assessed after 2 hours (uptake) as well as 3 and 7 days post-infection.ResultsWe observed a higher capacity of MDMs from Ewes to phagocytose L4 strains (p &lt; 0.001), translating into a higher bacillary load on day 7 (p &lt; 0.001) compared to L5, despite the higher replication rate of L5 in Ewe MDMs (fold change: 1.4 vs. 1.2, p = 0.03) among the controls. On the contrary, within macrophages from Akans, we observed a significantly higher phagocytic uptake of L5 (p &lt; 0.001) compared to L4, also translating into a higher load on day 7 (p = 0.04). However, the replication rate of L4 in Akan MDMs was higher than that of L5 (fold change: L4 = 1.2, L4 = 1.1, p = 0.04). Although there was no significant difference in the uptake of L4 and L5 among cured TB cases, there was a higher bacterial load of both L4 (p = 0.02) and L5 (p = 0.02) on day 7 in Ewe MDMs.ConclusionOur results suggest that host ethnicity (driven by host genetic diversity), MTBC genetic diversity, and individual TB infection history are all acting together to modulate the outcome of macrophage infections by MTBC

Perspective: Food environment research priorities for Africa—Lessons from the Africa Food Environment Research Network

Over the last 2 decades, many African countries have undergone dietary and nutrition transitions fuelled by globalization, rapid urbanization, and development. These changes have altered African food environments and, subsequently, dietary behaviors, including food acquisition and consumption. Dietary patterns associated with the nutrition transition have contributed to Africa's complex burden of malnutrition—obesity and other diet-related noncommunicable diseases (DR-NCDs)—along with persistent food insecurity and undernutrition. Available evidence links unhealthy or obesogenic food environments (including those that market and offer energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and beverages) with suboptimal diets and associated adverse health outcomes. Elsewhere, governments have responded with policies to improve food environments. However, in Africa, the necessary research and policy action have received insufficient attention. Contextual evidence to motivate, enable, and create supportive food environments in Africa for better population health is urgently needed. In November 2020, the Measurement, Evaluation, Accountability, and Leadership Support for Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention Project (MEALS4NCDs) convened the first Africa Food Environment Research Network Meeting (FERN2020). This 3-d virtual meeting brought researchers from around the world to deliberate on future directions and research priorities related to improving food environments and nutrition across the African continent. The stakeholders shared experiences, best practices, challenges, and opportunities for improving the healthfulness of food environments and related policies in low- and middle-income countries. In this article, we summarize the proceedings and research priorities identified in the meeting to advance the food environment research agenda in Africa, and thus contribute to the promotion of healthier food environments to prevent DR-NCDs, and other forms of malnutrition

Human leukocyte antigen-DQA1*04:01 and rs2040406 variants are associated with elevated risk of childhood Burkitt lymphoma

Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is responsible for many childhood cancers in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is linked to recurrent or chronic infection by Epstein-Barr virus or Plasmodium falciparum. However, whether human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphisms, which regulate immune response, are associated with BL has not been well investigated, which limits our understanding of BL etiology. Here we investigate this association among 4,645 children aged 0-15 years, 800 with BL, enrolled in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi. HLA alleles are imputed with accuracy >90% for HLA class I and 85-89% for class II alleles. BL risk is elevated with HLA-DQA1*04:01 (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32-1.97, P = 3.71 × 10-6), with rs2040406(G) in HLA-DQA1 region (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.26-1.63, P = 4.62 × 10-8), and with amino acid Gln at position 53 versus other variants in HLA-DQA1 (OR = 1.36, P = 2.06 × 10-6). The associations with HLA-DQA1*04:01 (OR = 1.29, P = 0.03) and rs2040406(G) (OR = 1.68, P = 0.019) persist in mutually adjusted models. The higher risk rs2040406(G) variant for BL is associated with decreased HLA-DQB1 expression in eQTLs in EBV transformed lymphocytes. Our results support the role of HLA variation in the etiology of BL and suggest that a promising area of research might be understanding the link between HLA variation and EBV control