Research Methodology Adopted in Developing TanSSe-L System

Research methodology is among the very important part in a research work. It is the heart which describe the activities necessary for the completion of the research work. Research methodology provides a plan of investigation considered to obtain answers to research problems and it depends on the context of application. This paper presents the research methodology adopted when developing Tanzania Secondary Schools e-Learning (TanSSe-L) system, a learning management system (LMS) which was successfully developed through customization of Moodle open source LMS. TanSSe-L system is a context centered platform for secondary schools in Tanzania. TanSSe-L system was developed using a number of methods and techniques taking into consideration open source/low cost system and the issue of sustainability, where academia, industry and Government were involved in a triple helix model. Focus group discussion in action research methodology, made secondary school stakeholders be involved in the TanSSe-L system development

User-Centred Scalable Big Data Visualizer for Power Consumption Data in the Electrical Secondary Distribution Network

Establishment of Smart Grids for electrical power has been practised worldwide for the purpose of bringing reliability, security, and efficient management of electrical power networks for enhancing quality service to the society. Apart from the potential aim, smart grid has been a challenge to developing countries, including Tanzania from cost and technology point of view. Due to the use of many smart equipment involved in smart grids like Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) equipped with smart meters and sensors, handling and managing big data has been a challenge. Among the challenges is the issue of visualizing the Big Data due to big volume generated with high velocity. This paper is developing a user-centered scalable big data visualizer for the electrical secondary distribution network by making use of design process model by Akanmu et al. (2017) and design activity framework by McKenna et al. (2014). The approach involves three phases: pre- development, development and post-development phase. The paper reviews several approaches in visualization and demonstrates effective big data visualization. The paper managed to visualize households’ units purchased against power consumed as well as balancing visualization of transformer phases

Smart Electric Meter Deployment in Tanzania: A Survey

Using information and communication technologies (ICT) to make the electrical power network intelligent and smarter (smart grid) has been the focal point in transforming electrical power industry. The idea behind smart grid is to transform the Tanzanian power sector into a secure, adaptive, sustainable, and digitally enabled ecosystem that provides reliable and quality energy for all with active participation of stakeholders. Smart metering is a central segment in realizing smart grid. However, a big question is whether Tanzanian power stakeholders are ready for smart metering technology investments for household applications. Operation and maintenance of a smart metering solution is a relatively new business in Tanzania and requires investment in resources and capacity building. A case study was conducted at the utility company in Dar es Salaam offices, to investigate the deployment status and services offered. Fixed tariff rates, high cost, low rates on returns of investment and non-customization of the features, were some of the shortcomings identified by the study in terms of non-deployment in residential homes. Further, the authors, propose development of standardization document for smart metering technologies and the adoption of software based smart meter for residential applications using Internet of Things platform. Its low cost of development and ease installation would be ideal for residential applications. Keywords:  Smart grid, Utility Company, Smart meter, Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Deployment Status

Surveillance of artemether-lumefantrine associated Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance protein-1 gene polymorphisms in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Resistance to anti-malarials is a major public health problem worldwide. After deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) there have been reports of reduced sensitivity to ACT by malaria parasites in South-East Asia. In Tanzania, artemether-lumefantrine (ALu) is the recommended first-line drug in treatment of uncomplicated malaria. This study surveyed the distribution of the Plasmodium falciparum multidrug resistance protein-1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with increased parasite tolerance to ALu, in Tanzania. METHODS: A total of 687 Plasmodium falciparum positive dried blood spots on filter paper and rapid diagnostic test strips collected by finger pricks from patients attending health facilities in six regions of Tanzania mainland between June 2010 and August 2011 were used. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to detect Pfmdr1 SNPs N86Y, Y184F and D1246Y. RESULTS: There were variations in the distribution of Pfmdr1 polymorphisms among regions. Tanga region had exceptionally high prevalence of mutant alleles, while Mbeya had the highest prevalence of wild type alleles. The haplotype YFY was exclusively most prevalent in Tanga (29.6%) whereas the NYD haplotype was the most prevalent in all other regions. Excluding Tanga and Mbeya, four, most common Pfmdr1 haplotypes did not vary between the remaining four regions (χ² = 2.3, p = 0.512). The NFD haplotype was the second most prevalent haplotype in all regions, ranging from 17% - 26%. CONCLUSION: This is the first country-wide survey on Pfmdr1 mutations associated with ACT resistance. Distribution of individual Pfmdr1 mutations at codons 86, 184 and 1246 varies throughout Tanzanian regions. There is a general homogeneity in distribution of common Pfmdr1 haplotypes reflecting strict implementation of ALu policy in Tanzania with overall prevalence of NFD haplotype ranging from 17 to 26% among other haplotypes. With continuation of ALu as first-line drug this haplotype is expected to keep rising, thus there is need for continued pharmacovigilance studies to monitor any delayed parasite clearance by the drug

High Levels of Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine Resistance Pfdhfr-Pfdhps Quintuple Mutations: A Cross Sectional Survey of Six Regions in Tanzania.

In 2006, the first-line anti-malarial drug treatment in Tanzania was changed from sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) to artemether-lumefantrine (ALu), an artemisinin-based combination (ACT), since when the use of SP has been restricted for intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp). A number of Plasmodium falciparum mutations are known to be associated with resistance to SP, but it is not known if the prevalence of these mutations is increasing or decreasing under the conditions of reduced levels of SP use. This study reports on the current SP resistant quintuple Pfdhfr-Pfdhps mutations in six regions of Tanzania. Finger-prick blood on filter paper and rapid diagnostic test strips from P. falciparum-positive individuals of all age groups attending health facilities in six regions of Tanzania between June 2010 and August 2011 were obtained. Using chelex-100 extracted DNA, genotyping was done for mutations on codons 51, 59 and 108 of Pfdhfr and 437 and 540 of Pfdhps genes using PCR-RFLP technique. A total of 802 malaria-positive samples were screened and genotyped. The prevalence of Pfdhfr 51I, Pfdhps 437G and 540E varied between the regions (p < 0.001) whereas Pfdhfr 59R (FE 10.79, p = 0.225) and 108 N (FE 10.61, p = 0.239) did not vary between the regions. The Pfdhfr triple mutant was above 84% and close to fixation levels in all regions, whereas the Pfdhps double mutation ranged from 43.8 to 97% between the regions. The quintuple mutant (IRNGE) was the most prevalent in all regions and it varied significantly from 37.5 to 90.2% (χ2 = 1.11, p <0.001). There is evidence of persistent high levels of SP resistance markers in Tanzania with evidence of quintuple mutations that are likely to become fixed in the population. This threatens the future of SP not only in IPTp programmes, but as a combination drug for ACT. Continuous monitoring of SP-IPTp efficacy should be encouraged subsequent to searching for alternative drugs for IPTp in East Africa

Are the health care workers geared to prevent H1N1 in the future?

Objective: Our aim was to assess the knowledge on transmission and prevention of H1N1 influenza among health care workers who play a fundamental role in the community. Methods: We selected Colombo South Teaching Hospital as the study setting to conduct a descriptive cross sectional study. The expected proportion of adequate knowledge was taken as 50% and at 0.05 precision with a non-respondent rate of 10% a study sample of 406 nurses was obtained. A self-administered questionnaire aided in seeking information on socio-demographic details, knowledge and attitude regarding H1N1. Significance level was set at p < 0.05 and tested using Chi-square. Results: Majority knew nasal secretions 338(83.3%) and infective saliva 308(75.9%) as modes of transmission of H1N1 and their mean score was 8.37(S.D±1.53) out of 10. Higher percentages of the study sample knew about hand hygiene 375(92.4%), facial masks 391(96.3%), and patient isolation 344(84.5%) as effective means of prevention. A proportion of 80.5% (n=327) also knew that vaccine is a preventive method and their knowledge on its efficacy had a significant association with vaccination (p= 0.001). However 55.9% (n=227) have not been vaccinated due to side effects of the vaccine. The practices on both transmission of H1N1 (p=0.171) and prevention of H1N1 had no significant association with their actual knowledge (p=0.268). Conclusion: Despite the knowledge their practice of prevention as health care workers was inadequate. Therefore the necessity arises to identify areas in which improvement can be made with the purpose of getting them efficiently and confidently involved in disease prevention

Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections in selected military camps in Tanzania

Background: Despite a decrease in malaria burden reported between 2000 and 2015, an increasing trend of malaria transmission has been recently reported in some endemic countries including Tanzania. Periodic monitoring to identify pocket areas for asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infection&nbsp; &nbsp;is vital for malaria elimination efforts. The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections among military recruits in selected camps in Tanzania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 at four military camps (Bulombora, Mgambo, Ruvu, and Rwamkoma) of National Service located in regions with varying malaria endemicity in Tanzania.&nbsp; Finger prick blood samples collected from asymptomatic military recruits who had been at the camps for over two months were simultaneously tested using microscopy and malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) to detect malaria parasite infections. Results: Malaria parasite prevalence among asymptomatic recruits was 20.3% and 19.4% by microscopy and mRDT respectively. There was moderate agreement (Kappa=0.724) between microscopy and mRDT test results. A significant difference (p&lt;0.001) of malaria parasite prevalence among the four study camps was observed; ranging from 1.9% in Bulombora to 39.4% in Rwamkoma. The geometric mean parasite density was 11,053 asexual parasites/µl and most recruits (56.8%) had 200 to 1999 asexual parasites/µl. P. falciparum was the predominant (99.2%) malaria parasite species. Conclusion: Our study found high prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections among military recruits in the selected camps, and this varied from one camp to another. The study has highlighted that public residence institutions such as military camps can be potential hotspots for malaria infection and therefore should not be skipped in routine national malaria surveillance system for monitoring trends of infection

Consensus statement on measures to promote equitable authorship in the publication of research from international partnerships

Despite the acknowledged injustice and widespread existence of parachute research studies conducted in low- or middle-income countries by researchers from institutions in high-income countries, there is currently no pragmatic guidance for how academic journals should evaluate manuscript submissions and challenge this practice. We assembled a multidisciplinary group of editors and researchers with expertise in international health research to develop this consensus statement. We reviewed relevant existing literature and held three workshops to present research data and holistically discuss the concept of equitable authorship and the role of academic journals in the context of international health research partnerships. We subsequently developed statements to guide prospective authors and journal editors as to how they should address this issue. We recommend that for manuscripts that report research conducted in low- or middle-income countries by collaborations including partners from one or more high-income countries, authors should submit accompanying structured reflexivity statements. We provide specific questions that these statements should address and suggest that journals should transparently publish reflexivity statements with accepted manuscripts. We also provide guidance to journal editors about how they should assess the structured statements when making decisions on whether to accept or reject submitted manuscripts. We urge journals across disciplines to adopt these recommendations to accelerate the changes needed to halt the practice of parachute research

Consensus statement on measures to promote equitable authorship in the publication of research from international partnerships

Summary: Despite the acknowledged injustice and widespread existence of parachute research studies conducted in low‐ or middle‐income countries by researchers from institutions in high‐income countries, there is currently no pragmatic guidance for how academic journals should evaluate manuscript submissions and challenge this practice. We assembled a multidisciplinary group of editors and researchers with expertise in international health research to develop this consensus statement. We reviewed relevant existing literature and held three workshops to present research data and holistically discuss the concept of equitable authorship and the role of academic journals in the context of international health research partnerships. We subsequently developed statements to guide prospective authors and journal editors as to how they should address this issue. We recommend that for manuscripts that report research conducted in low‐ or middle‐income countries by collaborations including partners from one or more high‐income countries, authors should submit accompanying structured reflexivity statements. We provide specific questions that these statements should address and suggest that journals should transparently publish reflexivity statements with accepted manuscripts. We also provide guidance to journal editors about how they should assess the structured statements when making decisions on whether to accept or reject submitted manuscripts. We urge journals across disciplines to adopt these recommendations to accelerate the changes needed to halt the practice of parachute research