50 research outputs found

    Enhancing the education of paediatric nurses: A positive step towards achieving sustainable development goals

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    Aim: The aim of this discursive paper was to describe and expound on how paediatric nurses will be able to address the needs of children and adolescents through the lens of selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Rwanda. Design: A discursive analysis of SDGs relating to the roles of paediatric nurses in the context of Rwanda. Methods: A discursive method using SDGs as a guiding framework is used in this paper. We drew on our own experiences and supported them with the available literature. Results: A collection of contextually relevant examples of how paediatric nurses will be able to address the needs of children and adolescents through the lens of selected SDGs in Rwanda was discussed. The selected SDGs expounded on were: no poverty, good health and well-being, quality of education, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, and partnerships for the goals. Conclusions: There is no doubt that the paediatric nurses in Rwanda play undeniable key roles in attaining SDGs and their targets. Thus, there is a need to train more paediatric nurses with the support of the interdisciplinary partners. Collaboratively, this is possible in the bid to ensure equitable and accessible care to the current and future generations. Public contribution: This discursive paper is intended to inform the different stakeholders in nursing practice, research, education and policy to support and invest in the advanced education of paediatric nurses for attainment of the SDGs

    Perceptions of adolescent parenting among high school adolescent students from selected rural and urban schools in Rwanda

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    Background: Adolescent pregnancy is a global public health concern. In Rwanda, adolescent pregnancy has increased from 4.1% in 2005 to 7.3% in 2015 and continues to rise.Objective: To determine adolescents’ perceptions of how their lives would change if they experienced an adolescent birth.Method: A cross-sectional quantitative study. A proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select 245 adolescents 15-19 years of age who attended two secondary schools in Rwanda. Data analysis used descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The majority of participants had positive perceptions of adolescent parenting. The bivariate analysis showed significant relationships between adolescents’ perceptions and three sociodemographic variables (female, pregnancy status, and monthly attendance at the religious group) and one sexual behaviour variable (history of sexual intercourse). The multivariate analysis revealed one significant relationship, females’ negative perceptions of adolescent parenting (p<0.001).Conclusion: There is a need to strengthen sexual health education programs in secondary schools to raise adolescents’ awareness of sexual and reproductive health. Health facilities should provide easy access and affordable contraceptive methods to adolescents, which will help the individual, families, communities and Rwanda.Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, perceptions, adolescent parentin

    Prevalence and Factors Related to Depression among Adolescents Living with HIV/AIDS, in Gasabo District, Rwanda

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    Background Adolescents living with HIV are vulnerable to depression with a negative effect on treatment outcomes. However, there are little data on the factors associated with depression in adolescents with HIV infection in Rwanda.   Aim This article aims to assess the prevalence and sociodemographic factors related to depression among adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. Methodology  A cross sectional research was conducted with 102 adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. Depression was measured by Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-DC) in its latest version adapted to the context of Rwanda. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were performed to determine the factors associated with depression. Results  The prevalence of participants who had symptoms of depression was 31%. The risk to develop depression increased among HIV infected adolescent who did not attend school or who lived with another person who is not a parent or family member. Having both parents deceased increases the risk to develop depression by 25.07 times compared to when none of them is deceased. Conclusion  The results have demonstrated that lack of social support is likely to raise the risk of development of depression symptoms among adolescent with HIV. It is clearly an urgent priority to implement programs that focus on provision and maintenance of psychosocial support to this group in order to reverse the situation. Rwanda J Med Health Sci 2021;4(1):37-5

    Analyzing and Visualizing Cosmological Simulations with ParaView

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    The advent of large cosmological sky surveys - ushering in the era of precision cosmology - has been accompanied by ever larger cosmological simulations. The analysis of these simulations, which currently encompass tens of billions of particles and up to trillion particles in the near future, is often as daunting as carrying out the simulations in the first place. Therefore, the development of very efficient analysis tools combining qualitative and quantitative capabilities is a matter of some urgency. In this paper we introduce new analysis features implemented within ParaView, a parallel, open-source visualization toolkit, to analyze large N-body simulations. The new features include particle readers and a very efficient halo finder which identifies friends-of-friends halos and determines common halo properties. In combination with many other functionalities already existing within ParaView, such as histogram routines or interfaces to Python, this enhanced version enables fast, interactive, and convenient analyses of large cosmological simulations. In addition, development paths are available for future extensions.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

    Phage Display Approaches for the Isolation of Monoclonal Antibodies Against Dengue Virus Envelope Domain III from Human and Mouse Derived Libraries

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    Domain III of the dengue virus envelope protein (EDIII, aa295-395) has an immunoglobulin fold and is the proposed receptor-binding domain of the virus. Previous studies have shown that monoclonal antibodies against EDIII can be neutralizing and have therapeutic potential. Here, cloned Fab-phage libraries of human and mouse origin were screened for DENV specific antibodies. Firstly, bacterially expressed EDIII or whole virus particles were used as bait in biopanning against a large naĂŻve human Fab-phage library (>10 billion independent clones). Multiple panning strategies were employed, and in excess of 1000 clones were screened, but all of the antibodies identified bound the envelope in regions outside EDIII suggesting EDIII antibodies are virtually absent from the naĂŻve human repertoire. Next, a chimeric Fab-phage library was constructed from a panel of EDIII specific mouse hybridomas by pooling the VH and VL chain sequences from the hybridomas and cloning these into the pComb3X phagemid vector with human CH and CL encoding sequences. Biopanning against EDIII identified a unique antibody (C9) that cross-reacts with EDIII from DENV1-3 and, in the IgG format, binds and neutralizes DENV2 in cell-based assays. Sequence analysis and saturation mutagenesis of complementary determining regions (CDR) in the C9 light chain suggest an antigen recognition model in which the LCDR3 is a key determinant of EDIII specificity, while modifications in LCDR1 and LCDR2 affect DENV serotype cross-reactivity. Overall, this study supports the current prevailing opinion that neutralizing anti-EDIII monoclonal antibodies can be readily generated in murine systems, but in humans the anti-DENV immune response is directed away from domain III

    Prevalence and risk factors of intestinal parasites among children under two years of age in a rural area of Rutsiro district, Rwanda – a cross-sectional study

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    Introduction: this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated risk factors of intestinal parasite infections among children less than two years of age in Rutsiro, Rwanda. Methods: a cross-sectional parasitological survey was conducted in Rutsiro in June 2016. Fresh stool samples were collected from 353 children and examined using microscopy to detect parasite. A questionnaire was administered to collect data on hygiene, sanitation, socio-demographic and economic characteristics. Results: approximately one in two children (44.8%) were found to be infected with at least one intestinal parasite. Ascaris (28.5%) was the most prevalent infection followed by Entamoeba histolytica (25.95%) and Giardia lamblia (19.6%). Infection with more than one pathogen was noted e.g. presence of Ascaris and yeasts (8.9%), and amoeba with Trichocephale (4.4%), respectively. Children from non-farming families were less likely to be at risk of intestinal parasite infections (AOR = 0.41, p = 0.028) compared to children from farming families. Children from households with access to treated drinking water were less likely to contract intestinal parasite infections (AOR = 0.44, p = 0.021) compared with those who used untreated water. Children from families with improved sources of water were twice as likely to be diagnosed with intestinal parasitoses compared to those who did not. We postulate that the majority of families (50.1%) who have access to improved water sources do not treat water before consumption. Conclusion: the high prevalence of intestinal parasitoses in children warrants strict control measures for improved sanitation, while treatment of drinking water should be considered

    Analysis of the common genetic component of large-vessel vasculitides through a meta- Immunochip strategy

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    Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) are major forms of large-vessel vasculitis (LVV) that share clinical features. To evaluate their genetic similarities, we analysed Immunochip genotyping data from 1,434 LVV patients and 3,814 unaffected controls. Genetic pleiotropy was also estimated. The HLA region harboured the main disease-specific associations. GCA was mostly associated with class II genes (HLA-DRB1/HLA-DQA1) whereas TAK was mostly associated with class I genes (HLA-B/MICA). Both the statistical significance and effect size of the HLA signals were considerably reduced in the cross-disease meta-analysis in comparison with the analysis of GCA and TAK separately. Consequently, no significant genetic correlation between these two diseases was observed when HLA variants were tested. Outside the HLA region, only one polymorphism located nearby the IL12B gene surpassed the study-wide significance threshold in the meta-analysis of the discovery datasets (rs755374, P?=?7.54E-07; ORGCA?=?1.19, ORTAK?=?1.50). This marker was confirmed as novel GCA risk factor using four additional cohorts (PGCA?=?5.52E-04, ORGCA?=?1.16). Taken together, our results provide evidence of strong genetic differences between GCA and TAK in the HLA. Outside this region, common susceptibility factors were suggested, especially within the IL12B locus
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