Global sensitivity analysis and optimal control of Typhoid fever transmission dynamics

This paper presents a mathematical model aimed at studying the global behaviour and optimal control strategies for Typhoid fever. The primary objective of this study is to identify the most effective control strategy that minimizes the spread of the disease. To achieve this, we calculate the effective and basic reproduction numbers and utilize them to investigate the existence and stability of the equilibria. Furthermore, we investigate the global impact of each model parameter on the variables using Latin Hypercube Sampling and Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient. The necessary conditions of the optimal control problem are analyzed using Pontryagin’s maximum principle, and the numerical values of the model parameters are estimated using the maximum likelihood estimator. The results indicate that the optimal use of vaccination for susceptible individuals, as well as the screening and treatment of asymptomatic infected individuals, have a significant impact on reducing the spread of the disease in endemic regions

Transforming African Education Systems in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Using ICTs: Challenges and Opportunities

This paper presents the role of ICTs in transforming Africa’s Education Systems (AES) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects/courses. The paper highlights on a positive shift across Africa in using ICT to improve the quality of teaching and learning through activities such as intensive ICT skills training to teachers, increase in ICT equipments and applications in schools, and emergence of living labs (LLs) and innovation spaces/centres (InnoSpace). We first provide some of the challenges of integrating ICTs in education followed by a description of key past and current ICT initiatives supporting the adoption of ICTs in schools using a number of case studies in sub-Saharan Africa. We further present various ICT-based models for education, as a transformational approach towards integrating ICTs in AES. Moreover, we provide various ICT platforms deployed for education service delivery in disadvantaged African society (e.g., rural areas) including LLs and InnoSpace across the continent. Finally, we highlight our main findings and observations in terms of opportunities and future ICT for education research directions in Africa. Our aim is to provide some guidelines and ensure that Africa uniformly meet the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 4, which is to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning, particularly using ICTs