Effect of treatment of anaemia in pregnancy with oral haematinics on pregnancy outcomes at Kenyatta National Hospital

Objective: To assess the effect of treatment of anaemia in pregnancy with oral haematinics on pregnancy outcome.Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: Kenyatta National Hospital.Participants: The exposed were pregnant women with haemoglobin (Hb) concentration of 6-10g/dl at 28-34 weeks of gestation recruited sequentially and the unexposed were pregnant women with Hb ≥11g/dl individually matched by age, parity and gestational age to the exposed.Interventions: The exposed received Ranferon one capsule twice daily and the unexposed received one capsule once daily.Main outcome measures: Haematological response, weight gain and body mass index (BMI) over the pregnancy period, estimated blood loss at delivery, participants’ temperature 24 hours post-delivery and foetal outcome (birth weight and Apgar score).Results: There were 69 exposed and 69 unexposed women available for analysis. After four weeks of treatment, 78.3% of the exposed had Hb ≥11g/dl. In addition, statistically significant differences in the mean increase in Hb concentration, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin between the exposed and unexposed were observed (P <0.001, P = 0.005 and P = 0.005, respectively). Differences in weight gain, change in BMI, estimated blood loss at delivery, temperature 24 hours post-delivery and infants birth weight between the exposed and unexposed were not statistically significant. There was no difference in the Apgar score between the two arms.Conclusion: Treatment of mild to moderate anaemia in the third trimester of pregnancy with oral haematinics results in outcomes similar to those in women without anaemia but on routine supplementation

The long-run relationship between inflation and real stock prices: empirical evidence from South Africa

The existing literature on the theoretical relationship between the rate of inflation and real stock prices in an economy has shown varied predictions about the long run effects of inflation on real stock prices. In this paper, we present some time series evidence on this issue using South African data, by applying the structural bivariate vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology proposed by King and Watson (1997). Our empirical results provide considerable support of the view that, in the long run real stock prices are invariant to permanent changes in the rate of inflation. The impulse responses reveal a positive real stock price response to a permanent inflation shock in the long run, indicating that any deviations in short run real stock prices will be corrected towards the long run value. It is therefore concluded that inflation does not lower the real value of stocks in South Africa, at least in the long run

Digital Triplet Approach for Real-Time Monitoring and Control of an Elevator Security System

As Digital Twins gain more traction and their adoption in industry increases, there is a need to integrate such technology with machine learning features to enhance functionality and enable decision making tasks. This has lead to the emergence of a concept known as Digital Triplet; an enhancement of Digital Twin technology through the addition of an ’intelligent activity layer’. This is a relatively new technology in Industrie 4.0 and research efforts are geared towards exploring its applicability, development and testing of means for implementation and quick adoption. This paper presents the design and implementation of a Digital Triplet for a three-floor elevator system. It demonstrates the integration of a machine learning (ML) object detection model and the system Digital Twin. This was done to introduce an additional security feature that enabled the system to make a decision, based on objects detected and take preliminary security measures. The virtual model was designed in Siemens NX and programmed via Total Integrated Automation (TIA) portal software. The corresponding physical model was fabricated and controlled using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) S7 1200. A control program was developed to mimic the general operations of a typical elevator system used in a commercial building setting. Communication, between the physical and virtual models, was enabled using the OPC-Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) protocol. Object recognition using “You only look once” (YOLOV3) based machine learning algorithm was incorporated. The Digital Triplet’s functionality was tested, ensuring the virtual system duplicated actual operations of the physical counterpart through the use of sensor data. Performance testing was done to determine the impact of the ML module on the real-time functionality aspect of the system. Experiment results showed the object recognition contributed an average of 1.083s to an overall signal travel time of 1.338 s

The long-run relationship between inflation and real stock prices : empirical evidence from South Africa

The existing literature on the theoretical relationship between the rate of inflation and real stock prices in an economy has shown varied predictions about the long run effects of inflation on real stock prices. In this paper, we present some time series evidence on this issue using South African data, by applying the structural bivariate vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology proposed by King and Watson (1997). Our empirical results provide considerable support of the view that, in the long run real stock prices are invariant to permanent changes in the rate of inflation. The impulse responses reveal a positive real stock price response to a permanent inflation shock in the long run, indicating that any deviations in short run real stock prices will be corrected towards the long run value. It is therefore concluded that inflation does not lower the real value of stocks in South Africa, at least in the long run

National HIV testing campaigns to support UNAIDS 90-90-90 agenda: A lesson from Kenya

Background: HIV diagnosis is the gateway to antiretroviral therapy. However, 20-50% of HIV-infected individuals are unaware of their HIV status, derailing epidemic control. Objective: To increase awareness of HIV status and enrollment into HIV care & treatment (C&T) services through a national HIV testing services (HTS) rapid results initiative (RRI) campaign in Kenya. Design: This cross-sectional analysis presents yield of undiagnosed people living with HIV (PLHIV) and their enrollment into HIV C&T resulting from HTS RRI implemented in July-August 2013 as an example of utilizing RRIs to catalyze achievement of UNAIDS  targets. Results: During the campaign 1,462,378 persons received HTS, of whom 220,902 (15%) were children (aged <15 years), 55,088 (7%) couples and 116,126 (8%) key populations. A total of 37,630 (2.6%) HIV+ individuals were identified. Among children who received HTS, 3,244 (1.5%) tested HIV positive, compared to 34,386 (2.8%) among adults. Of the eight regions in Kenya: Nyanza, Rift-valley andNairobi contributed 73.3% of all HIV+ individuals identified. HTS at health facility settings yielded the highest proportion (69%) of HIV+ and key populations had the highest prevalence (4.8%). Of those infected, 29,851 (79.3%) were enrolled into HIV C&T. Sex, age and setting of HTS were significantly associated with enrollment into HIV C&T (p<0.0001). Conclusion: National HTS campaigns have the potential of increasing knowledge of HIV status. Targeted provision of HTS at health facility settings, to key populations and high burden geographical regions would narrow the gap of undiagnosed PLHIV towards achieving UNIADS 90-90-90 targets for HIV epidemic control

THE LONG-RUN RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INFLATION AND REAL STOCK PRICES: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH AFRICA

The existing literature on the theoretical relationship between the rate of inflation and real stock prices in an economy has shown varied predictions about the long run effects of inflation on real stock prices. In this paper, we present some time series evidence on this issue using South African data, by applying the structural bivariate vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology proposed by King and Watson (1997). Our empirical results provide considerable support of the view that, in the long run real stock prices are invariant to permanent changes in the rate of inflation. The impulse responses reveal a positive real stock price response to a permanent inflation shock in the long run, indicating that any deviations in short run real stock prices will be corrected towards the long run value. It is therefore concluded that inflation does not lower the real value of stocks in South Africa, at least in the long run.http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbem2