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…of health workers with the sole, explicit mission to monitor and support all aspects of child development under the age of 2.The newly-trained, community-based “child development agents” (CDA) will form a natural link between mothers and the larger health system, including community health workers.The CDA will have three principal responsibilities:  monitor children’s nutritional status on…support child nurturing. They will be monitored by CDA supervisors on a regular basis, and will be given verbal feedback on their performance. In each month, the best 10% of CDAs will receive a symbolic “CDA of the month” award.The project will directly benefit 225 children in the short term, and, the hope, all Zambian…

Issue In Sub-Saharan Africa, health systems designed to provide disease-specific care are poorly equipped to respond to the rapidly rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Simultaneously, the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV, to such an extent that HIV is now considered a chronic condition. These…this project to 18 sites in six districts in the South East Zone (SEZ) of Malawi over the course of three years. A scale-up of the integrated model will include a substantial research component, to compare and assess the integrated model and to demonstrate its efficacy against the status quo of vertical, disease-specific healthcare delivery. 

Issue Measuring CD4 T-cell counts in HIV patients is an essential part of monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy but this service is unavailable in most resource-limited countries, leading to spread of the contagious disease and many deaths. Conventional flow cytometry remains largely inaccessible for routine clinical use at the primary care level, due to its…demonstrate the multiplexing capability of this cell analysis platform, CD3 and CD4 cells labelled with different fluorophores were detected simultaneously, using a fluorescence filter with two sub-regions. Compared with other reported particle/cell detection systems, this approach further eliminates any additional moving components, such as mirrors for laser scanning or motion stages for CCD sensor positioning in…

…the trajectory of these young children by providing high-quality, affordable, early childhood care and education in urban slums. Their innovative “hub and spoke" model is based on a two-fold approach: first, establishing best-practice early childhood development (ECD) “hubs” with a holistic curriculum that nurtures healthy growth and development, with caregivers trained on the principles of ECD. Secondly, Kidogo works to improve the quality of local baby…

…acquired PPG measurements would be sent wirelessly to the Automatic Adjustment Oxygen Supplement Subsystem using Bluetooth technology ·         An Automatic Adjustment Oxygen Supplement Subsystem with a small LCD (liquid crystal display) mounted on the same board and capable of: 1.       Receiving wirelessly the PPG measurements from the Oxygen Reader Subsystem 2.       Manipulating and processing these…to produce a continuous supply of oxygen and to act as a pulse oximeter. The computed oxygen saturation level and heart rate displayed on the LCD were compared to the corresponding measurements from a commercial pulse oximeter (Edan H100B Hand-Held Oximeter). The comparisons showed that the measurements from the developed prototype are very close to…

…was to use a low-cost near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to estimate age and distinguish morphologically identical major African malaria  vectors (Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis). The project team compared the accuracy of a recently developed tool (the NIRS) for prediction of the age of An. gambiae and An arabiensis to the existing gold standards, which involves…identical An. gambiae from An. arabiensis was compared against the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Mosquitoes were collected in four villages from Ulanga district, SE Tanzania, using CDC light traps, three villages in Muleba region North Tanzania using tent traps and three villages on Pemba Island using pit traps. Female mosquitoes identified as Anopheles gambiae complex were…

…beyond. The economic consequences in this globally competitive world are of great concern. Adults employing corporal punishment often lack knowledge and skill regarding effective discipline methods.Conscious Discipline (CD) is a best practice program targeting new and expectant parents, community leaders and other caregivers. It combines addressing perceptions while teaching skills, thereby reducing child maltreatment and building self-regulation and…

…the child eventually grows older. Food shortages, mainly caused by a lack of technology needed for higher yields (such as nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation), high food prices, poor food distribution and poor knowledge are some of the causes of poor nutrition in developing countries. Solution The project team developed and evaluated a community support…the types and sources of food sold in the groceries. A cohort of grocers was provided with nutritional training and families were then assessed for child-feeding practices, compared to a control group. Variables measured included breastfeeding status, caloric and nutrient intake, feeding style and food safety. Outcome The results of the project show that a…