Gates Open Research最新文献

Introduction: Information on journal visibility helps researchers decide where to publish. Some quality indicators used are directly associated with the journal's editorial practices. By understanding the barriers, challenges, and opportunities, this study aims to explore existing editorial practices among African journals, explore the underlying factors affecting the editorial practices of African journals, and understand the views and preferences of authors regarding the choice of journals for publication.

Methodology: This study triangulated the sources of information and qualitative design data-gathering techniques to allow for nuances and deeper insights into the performance and visibility of African Journals. We conducted In-depth Interviews (IDIs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Mozambique. The study population comprised journal editors-in-chief, representatives from African-wide journal databases/indexers, institutional repository representatives, and authors. A purposive sampling technique was used to identify participants. Ethical approval was obtained from the relevant bodies. Qualitative data from the audio-recorded interviews were transcribed using MS Word and exported to NVivo software for analysis.

Results: The key structural issues on editorial practices among African journals established by the study included adherence to internationally accepted editorial practices on peer review decision-making and challenges in implementing measures of transparency and rigor. Some of the underlying factors affecting African journal editorial practices that were highlighted included financial constraints, challenges in peer review, challenges in maintaining editorial integrity, and challenges in technological and digital infrastructure. African journals also face challenges of credibility and trustworthiness among authors. Participants outlined how the longstanding neglect of African journals and lack of funding have created cultures of editorial mismanagement, publishing inconsistency, and other logistical issues, all of which contribute to perceptions of African journals as inferior to Northern ones.

The seed conservation and germination techniques for wild banana seeds are less understood, making this research crucial for developing high-quality seeds that can support sustainable banana breeding efforts. This study examined the reproductive biology and physiological maturity of Musa acuminata subsp. malaccensis to understand seed germination and seedling vigor in order to enhance banana breeding. This research focused on identifying the ideal harvest period to obtain seeds with optimal viability and how ethylene application affects seed quality. Wild banana accessions from the Cibinong Germplasm Collection were used in this study. Ethylene was used to accelerate fruit ripening. Observations were made on the vegetative and generative growth phases and fruit morphology. The physical and physiological qualities of wild banana seeds, M. acuminata subsp. malaccensis can be improved by harvesting between 71-90 days after receptive (DAR). Harvesting during this period increases seed viability and vigor compared to seeds harvested at 50-70 DAR, which showed the highest leachate conductivity value of 968.79 μS g ^-1.

Background: Childhood immunisation is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, preventing 4-5 million deaths annually. This study assessed the prevalence and determinants of zero-dose immunisation among children aged 12-35 months in conflict-affected districts implementing Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) to determine whether intervention and comparison areas are comparable before rollout of the enhanced service-integration model.

Methods: A comparative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 4,099 mothers and caregivers of children aged 12-35 months in intervention and comparison PSNP districts. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered by trained enumerators. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with zero-dose status.

Results: Zero-dose prevalence was 30% in intervention districts and 27% in comparison districts, with notable regional disparities: 22.5% in Amhara, 23% in Afar, and 39% in Tigray. Vaccination dropout showed a different pattern, with the highest rate in Afar (57.6%) and the lowest in Tigray (13.6%). DTP3 coverage was lowest in Afar (42.9%) and highest in Amhara (69.4%), while MCV1 coverage was highest in Tigray (83.8%), followed by Amhara (79.6%) and Afar (49.1%). In intervention districts, zero-dose status was significantly associated with region (AOR = 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1-2.2), lack of maternal education (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.7), unmarried status (AOR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.0-3.2), older child age (24-35 months) (AOR = 3.7; 95% CI: 2.6-5.3), and longer distance to health facilities (AOR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0-2.2). In comparison districts, region, maternal education, and older child age remained significant predictors.

Conclusions: The study highlights persistent inequities in immunisation coverage in conflict-affected settings. It also demonstrates comparability between intervention and comparison PSNP districts in zero-dose prevalence and its determinants. These baseline findings provide a foundation for attributing future post-intervention improvements to enhanced integration of health services within the PSNP framework.

Background: It is estimated that over 287,000 women die annually from childbirth complications, with a substantial proportion living in sub-Saharan Africa. Access to professional obstetric care is crucial for averting these deaths, making it a global health priority. Urgency is heightened by limited literature regarding access to obstetric care, especially in Sudan's rural areas, where maternal mortality peaks. Therefore, the study objective was to identify the perceived barriers and facilitators of accessing obstetric services during childbirth in rural Sudan, specifically in Nuba Mountains, a conflict-ridden isolated region, from the perspective of health experts.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted from March to May 2023, involving remote in-depth interviews and online questionnaires with 11 health professionals working in maternal and reproductive health in rural Sudan. Thematic analysis was used for the data analysis.

Results: Challenges in accessing professional obstetric care in rural Sudan are influenced by sociocultural factors, healthcare perceptions, surrounding individuals, and structural factors. The main barriers identified include social factors such as widespread acceptance of home birth, gender inequality, and family influence; structural barriers like long distances, lack of transport, a deficient referral system, and reliance on untrained healthcare workers; and individual-level factors including low health awareness and limited decision-making autonomy. These barriers are further compounded by political instability, conflict, and displacement in the Nuba Mountains, which severely constrains women's access to obstetric services.

Conclusion: While many barriers align with existing literature, unique challenges in Nuba include centralized care, high acceptance of death, lack of a functioning communication network, and an unstable political situation.Barriers preventing women from seeking professional obstetric care during childbirth are complex, with particular challenges in Nuba due to its remoteness and political instability. Future assessments and improvements in care in Sudan should incorporate women's perspectives to ensure a more comprehensive and multidimensional approach.

Background: There has been steady progress and advancement of research in Africa. However, African researchers face numerous challenges among them, limited international recognition. This is due to the low discoverability and inclusion of their research outputs by indexers and databases. A lot of initiatives have attempted to address the challenge, however, there is a need for support to enhance the discoverability and inclusion of research outputs from Africa.

Methods: We conducted a desk review of 1,116 journals hosted on the Sabinet journal repository and the African Journal Online (AJOL) platform. The factors that were considered to influence journals' discoverability and inclusion include (i) the journals' Open Access (OA) status, (ii) OA journals' listing in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), (iii) the journals' presence on the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) portal, (iv) the membership of the journals' publishers on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), (v) the journals' hosting on International Network for Advancing Science and Policy (INASP) and (vi) geographic location of the journals' online publisher.

Findings: A total of 1,116 journals were identified from the Sabinet and AJOL platforms. The highest proportion of journals was neither discovered by Google Scholar nor included in Scopus (63.2%). The study established one significant predictor of journal discoverability by Google Scholar and inclusion in Scopus. This was the journal listing on the ISSN portal which increased the odds of the journal being discoverable by Google Scholar and inclusion in Scopus by 2.033 and 5.451 respectively. Journals listed in the DOAJ but whose publishers were COPE members had significantly reduced odds of being discoverable by Google Scholar and being included in Scopus by 0.334 and 0.161 respectively. This suggests that the journal's discoverability and inclusion are more nuanced and not always straightforward hence quality markers need to be aligned.

Background: Sustainability, with countries taking ownership for funding and ensuring access to services and contraceptive commodities, has long been an aim for FP. Recent shocks to donor funding have added urgency to country sustainability. Findings from the 2023 National Composite Index of Family Planning (NCIFP) and its special questions on Sustainability provide a broad view from 33 counties across two sub-regions of sub-Saharan Africa of expert respondents' perceptions in that year on the potential for program sustainability.

Methods: The cross-national NCIFP survey has been conducted since 2014. Its 2023 special questions were designed to take the pulse of stakeholders steeped in their countries' FP program about the state of sustainability, actions being taken, and main challenges their countries faced. Items related to donor dependency, coordination, FP in country plans for Universal Health Coverage (UHC), planning for future demand, and key barriers to sustainability.

Results: Both regions scored highest on the extent to which FP is included in UHC plans and lowest on the items related to donor reliance, indicating high dependency for contraceptive commodities and programmatic support. Donor dependence and lack of domestic financing were most often cited barriers, with human resources; commodities and logistics; and sociocultural, gender and religious barriers all receiving over 10% of the responses on key challenges. The extent to which governments had developed plans to make their national FP programs more sustainable to meet demand varied.

Conclusion: These data provide an important snapshot of family planning programs across SSA prior to the abrupt cancellation of USAID funding in January 2025. Country context, including national wealth and government effectiveness, is important. From the 2023 NCIFP, understanding program experts' perspectives, and identifying similar and unique challenges countries face, is critical to help shape support to strengthen the capacity of countries to move towards FP program sustainability.

Background: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is highly prevalent in Nigeria, with severe pain crises being a primary cause of morbidity. Codeine and tramadol are frequently used opioids, but their effectiveness and safety are significantly influenced by CYP2D6 genetic variations. Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) guidelines exist for opioid therapy based on CYP2D6 phenotypes. There's a critical need for pre-emptive pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing in African SCD patients to guide opioid selection. This study aimed to determine CYP2D6 allele, phenotype frequencies and evaluate the feasibility of implementing pre-emptive pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing to guide opioid therapy for SCD patients in Nigeria.

Methods: This prospective, multicenter implementation study recruited 503 consenting SCD patients (HbSS or HbSC) aged ≥15 years from five Nigerian sites. Blood samples were collected for DNA extraction. CYP2D6 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number variations were determined using Taqman assays based open array, GenoPharm. Phenotypes were assigned based on Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium (CPIC) guidelines using the Genomics Information Management System (GIMS). and patient-specific medication safety cards were generated.

Results: We successfully genotyped 503 SCD patients with a mean age of 25.1 years, while 61.4% were female, and hydroxyurea use was less than 9.4%. Actionable CYP2D6 variants were found in 36.6% of participants. The predicted phenotype distribution was 8.8% Ultrarapid Metabolizers (UM), 54.1% Normal Metabolizers (NM), 26.0% Intermediate Metabolizers (IM), and 1.8% Poor Metabolizers (PM), with 9.3% undetermined. Patient medication safety cards were provided to guide prescriptions.

Conclusions: This study successfully established a genotyped cohort of 503 Nigerian SCD patients, demonstrating the feasibility of pre-emptive pharmacogenetic testing through a Pan-African collaborative model in a resource-limited setting. The identification of PM and UM provides direct clinical guidance, as CPIC guidelines recommend avoiding codeine and tramadol in these groups due to the high risk of diminished efficacy or serious toxicity, respectively. The high prevalence of actionable CYP2D6 variants indicates a substantial proportion of Nigerian SCD patients may experience altered opioid responses, underscoring the need for tailored prescribing to optimise pain control and minimise adverse drug reactions.

Introduction: Historically, African research institutions have faced significant barriers to gaining recognition on a global stage due to limited infrastructure, underdeveloped governance frameworks, and low representation in high-impact publications. This underrepresentation reflects systemic barriers such as the lack of visibility of both researchers and institutions, limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, and fragmented institutional arrangements, which impede the continent's ability to contribute robustly to the global knowledge economy. To address these barriers, the Research Readiness Assessment Survey (RRAS) was developed as a modular, context-specific tool to evaluate and enhance institutional research capacity across multiple dimensions, including research infrastructure, policy and policy engagement, governance, human resources, institutional arrangements, grant management, and research outputs.

Methods: The RRA was developed by integrating different global frameworks. This assessment adopted a cross-sectional design. Piloting was performed in nine institutions distributed across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. The questionnaire used for data collection was uploaded to RedCap in English, French, and Portuguese. The tool underwent validity and reliability testing. Validity testing included piloting of nine institutions. Data from the pilot test were categorized and analyzed using STATA version 17.0. Analyses were performed at both the univariate and bivariate levels.

Results: The proportion of institutions that performed, on average, in all modules, was 66.67% (n=6). None of the institutions had a strong overall institutional performance based on our scoring. The proportion of institutions that had developed overall institutional performance was 22.22% (n=2), whereas 11.11% (n=1) had limited overall institutional performance. There was a statistically significant and strong positive correlation between the following module scores and overall institutional performance: laboratory infrastructure, institutional arrangement, grant management, policy and policy engagement, project management, and human resources; [r=0.666; p-value<0.05],[r=0.916; p-value<0.001], [r=0.799; p-value<0.01], [r=0.660; p-value<0.05], [r=0.738; p-value<0.05], and [r=0.648; p <0.05], respectively.

The sweetpotato ( Ipomoea batatas) is an important food crop in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, but its yield and quality are heavily affected by viral diseases. Timely and precise detection of virus infections is essential for effective monitoring of seed health and disease management. We evaluated the feasibility of using a compact, ultra-portable LAMP-based diagnostic device-initially designed for human health applications-for detecting key sweetpotato viruses (SPCSV, SPFMV, and SPLCV). Field and greenhouse samples were tested, showing 100% agreement in virus detection with a larger commonly used LAMP device. Sensitivity tests confirmed consistent performance, and the use of portable power banks enabled reliable on-site use. The statistical analysis indicated high accuracy and strong correlation in time-to-positive values between methods (r > 0.89, p < 0.01). Furthermore, cost analysis demonstrated that the pocket LAMP device setup significantly reduced per-test costs-by approximately 40%-while maintaining diagnostics reliability. These findings support the potential of this tool on plant virus detection in locations with limited resources.

Background: Vasectomy use has historically been very low in Bolivia, constituting just 0.1% of the method mix in 2021. MSI Reproductive Choices Bolivia (MSI Bolivia), one of the major reproductive health organizations in the country, sought to increase the affordability, availability, and quality of vasectomy services in their nationwide clinics and mobile units by training in-house providers to replace contracting external providers with high fees. We describe the MSI Bolivia vasectomy program in 2021 and its results over the following two years.

Methods: The program included components of the Engender Health Supply-Enabling-Environment-Demand (SEED) Programing Model™ for evidence-based vasectomy programming. First, MSI Bolivia offered free vasectomies through a social media campaign during November 2021. Second, two international No-Scalpel Vasectomy (NSV) experts trained four MSI Bolivia physicians during a week-long teaching program in La Paz, Bolivia. Third, MSI Bolivia formed partnerships and held a dissemination event to publicize the campaign. MSI Bolivia continued conducting training and marketing campaigns in 2022 and 2023.

Results: During the 2021 six-week promotional campaign, 884 men signed up and over 600 were scheduled for the procedure. During the training week, the trainees performed 127 supervised vasectomies. Over the following weeks, the four trained physicians performed over 300 additional unsupervised vasectomies. Two of the newly trained physicians taught NSV to seven other colleagues in 2022 and 2023. MSI Bolivia reduced the fees for a vasectomy from Bs. 1500 (USD 215) to Bs. 850 (USD 122). The number of vasectomies performed by MSI Bolivia increased from 77 in 2019 to 643, 918, and 1,135 in 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively.

Conclusion: By training their own physicians to perform NSV, reducing costs, and advertising through social media, MSI Bolivia was able to increase the availability, quality, and acceptability of vasectomy in Bolivia.