Prevalence of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) and Antimicrobial Resistance in Community-Acquired Clinical Staphylococcus aureus in an Urban Gambian Hospital : A 11-Year Period Retrospective Pilot Study

This work is supported by MRCG. The source of funding has no role in the design and writing of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Impact of early kangaroo mother care versus standard care on survival of mild-moderately unstable neonates <2000 grams: A randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the effect of early kangaroo mother care on survival of mild-moderately unstable neonates 24 h after admission (control) versus KMC initiated <24 h after admission (intervention). Randomisation was stratified by weight with twins in the same arm. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at 28 postnatal days, assessed by intention to treat analysis. Secondary outcomes included: time to death; hypothermia and stability at 24 h; breastfeeding at discharge; infections; weight gain at 28d and admission duration. The trial was prospectively registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03555981). FINDINGS: Recruitment occurred from 23rd May 2018 to 19th March 2020. Among 1,107 neonates screened for participation 279 were randomly assigned, 139 (42% male [n = 59]) to standard care and 138 (43% male [n = 59]) to the intervention with two participants lost to follow up and no withdrawals. The proportion dying within 28d was 24% (34/139, control) vs. 21% (29/138, intervention) (risk ratio 0·84, 95% CI 0·55 - 1·29, p = 0·423). There were no between-arm differences for secondary outcomes or serious adverse events (28/139 (20%) for control and 30/139 (22%) for intervention, none related). One-third of intervention neonates reverted to standard care for clinical reasons. INTERPRETATION: The trial had low power due to halving of baseline neonatal mortality, highlighting the importance of implementing existing small and sick newborn care interventions. Further mortality effect and safety data are needed from varying low and middle-income neonatal unit contexts before changing global guidelines

Measles and Rubella Incidence and Molecular Epidemiology in Senegal: Temporal and Regional Trends during Twelve Years of National Surveillance, 2010-2021.

We investigated the epidemiology of measles and rubella infections in Senegal based on data from twelve consecutive years of laboratory-based surveillance (2010-2021) and conducted phylogenetic analyses of circulating measles viruses. Sera from measles-suspected cases were collected and tested for measles and rubella-specific IgM antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Throat swabs were collected from patients with clinically diagnosed measles for confirmation by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and viral genotyping. Among 8082 laboratory-tested specimens from measles-suspected cases, serological evidence of measles and rubella infection was confirmed in 1303/8082 (16.1%) and 465/6714 (6.9%), respectively. The incidence of rubella is now low-0.8 (95% CI 0.4-1.3) cases per million people in 2021-whereas progress towards measles pre-elimination targets (&lt;1.0 case per million people per year) appears to have stalled; there were 10.8 (95% CI 9.3-12.5) cases per million people in 2021. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that all Senegalese measles strains belonged to genotype B3. The rubella virus sequence obtained in this study was consistent with genotype 1C. Our national surveillance data suggest that despite their low incidence both measles and rubella remain endemic in Senegal with a concerning stagnation in the decline of measles infections that represents a significant challenge to the goal of regional elimination

Stock identification: advancing in the knowledge of stock structure as a requirement for stock assessment

DEMERSTEM- Objectives of WP 1: -Improve the knowledge on the selected demersal stocks with a particular effort to solve the problems of stock identification and improvement of the quality of the data used for the assessment. -This follows the recommendations regularly made by CECAF.Peer reviewe

THE EFFECTS OF MONETARY POLICY ON INFLATION :EVIDENCE FROM SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

The study is meant to understand the relationship between money supply and inflation in SubSaharan Africa (SSA). The data employed in this study covers 34 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries using annual data from the World Bank Development Indicators (WDI), World Bank Governance Index (WGI) and Trading Economics data bank from 1995 to 2019, a span of 24 years. Given the different monetary policy regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa, the data was separated into fixed exchange rate regime countries and non-fixed exchange rate regime countries, and I conducted a separate estimation between the two regimes to compare the different results. The model was estimated using a panel model with random effect specification based on the outcome of the Hausman test conducted. The model relates inflation as a function of money supply, real interest rate, foreign exchange rate, real GDP, government expenditure, Brent oil prices and some exogenous variables such as population growth and government effectiveness which serve as a proxy for private consumption and institutional credibility respectively. Pre-estimation analysis was also conducted to ensure we have a clear understanding of the nature and distribution of the data to identify the most appropriate estimation to have accurate and reliable findings for statistical inference. The results of our estimation indicate that money supply has the only significant effect on inflation while government expenditure, real GDP, foreign exchange rate, Brent oil prices, government effectiveness, population growth and real interest rate have an insignificant or no effect on inflation in non-fixed exchange rate regimes. On the other hand, for fixed exchange rate regimes, Real interest rates, foreign exchange rates, Brent oil prices, government expenditure, population growth and government effectiveness have a significant effect on inflation while money supply and real GDP insignificantly affect inflation. The study recommends that non-fixed exchange rate regimes should control inflation through manipulating the money supply; On the other hand, in fixed exchange rate regimes a credibility effect may explain the lack of correlation between money supply and inflation. In order to maintain credibility, it might be appropriate to pursue an effective exchange rate policy through an efficient governance system possibly coupled with a sustainable fiscal policy addressing the problems arising from government expenditure and private consumption

Measles and Rubella Incidence and Molecular Epidemiology in Senegal: Temporal and Regional Trends during Twelve Years of National Surveillance, 2010&ndash;2021

We investigated the epidemiology of measles and rubella infections in Senegal based on data from twelve consecutive years of laboratory-based surveillance (2010&ndash;2021) and conducted phylogenetic analyses of circulating measles viruses. Sera from measles-suspected cases were collected and tested for measles and rubella-specific IgM antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Throat swabs were collected from patients with clinically diagnosed measles for confirmation by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and viral genotyping. Among 8082 laboratory-tested specimens from measles-suspected cases, serological evidence of measles and rubella infection was confirmed in 1303/8082 (16.1%) and 465/6714 (6.9%), respectively. The incidence of rubella is now low&mdash;0.8 (95% CI 0.4&ndash;1.3) cases per million people in 2021&mdash;whereas progress towards measles pre-elimination targets (&lt;1.0 case per million people per year) appears to have stalled; there were 10.8 (95% CI 9.3&ndash;12.5) cases per million people in 2021. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that all Senegalese measles strains belonged to genotype B3. The rubella virus sequence obtained in this study was consistent with genotype 1C. Our national surveillance data suggest that despite their low incidence both measles and rubella remain endemic in Senegal with a concerning stagnation in the decline of measles infections that represents a significant challenge to the goal of regional elimination

Unleashing the power of artificial intelligence in Islamic banking: A case study of Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI)

This research examines the challenges and opportunities of AI integration in Islamic banks through a case study of Bank Syariah Indonesia. A qualitative method was applied using an interview approach. Four experts from the IT division of Bank Syariah Indonesia were interviewed. The results suggest that AI applications offer potential benefits such as automation, improved decision-making and efficiency, customer recommendations, and enhanced customer experience. However, the challenges of AI integration include implementation costs, cyber security risks, Shariah compliance, and ethical issues. The research recommends that stakeholders in Islamic banks invest more in cybersecurity and educate their customers about the importance and usage of AI technology. Additionally, the research suggests that the government implements policies related to the ethical regulation of AI technology. Future research should provide comparative analysis and use a mixed-method approach to better understand the challenges and opportunities of AI integration in Islamic banks

Epidemiology of Non-SARS-CoV2 Human Coronaviruses (HCoVs) in People Presenting with Influenza-like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI) in Senegal from 2012 to 2020

In addition to emerging coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS, SARS-CoV-2), there are seasonal human coronaviruses (HCoVs): HCoV-OC43, HCoV-229E, HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-HKU1. With a wide distribution around the world, HCoVs are usually associated with mild respiratory disease. In the elderly, young children and immunocompromised patients, more severe or even fatal respiratory infections may be observed. In Africa, data on seasonal HCoV are scarce. This retrospective study investigated the epidemiology and genetic diversity of seasonal HCoVs during nine consecutive years of influenza-like illness surveillance in Senegal. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from ILI outpatients or from SARI hospitalized patients. HCoVs were diagnosed by qRT-PCR and the positive samples were selected for molecular characterization. Among 9337 samples tested for HCoV, 406 (4.3%) were positive: 235 (57.9%) OC43, 102 (25.1%) NL63, 58 (14.3%) 229E and 17 (4.2%) HKU1. The four types circulated during the study period and a peak was noted between November and January. Children under five were the most affected. Co-infections were observed between HCoV types (1.2%) or with other viruses (76.1%). Genetically, HCoVs types showed diversity. The results highlighted that the impact of HCoVs must be taken into account in public health; monitoring them is therefore particularly necessary both in the most sensitive populations and in animals