Treatment de-escalation for metastatic good-risk seminoma with carboplatin AUC10: predictive factors and patterns of relapse.

Background: We have previously demonstrated that carboplatin AUC10 is a viable alternative to cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy for patients with metastatic good-risk seminoma. The International Germ Cell Cancer Collaborative Group (IGCCCG) update identified lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) as an adverse prognostic marker in those receiving cisplatin-based therapies but its relevance in patients treated with carboplatin AUC10 is unknown.

Objectives: To update survival outcomes of patients treated with carboplatin AUC10, explore patterns of treatment relapse and determine the impact of clinical and biochemical factors on oncological outcomes.

Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria in Manure, Soil, and Vegetables in Urban Blantyre, Malawi, from a Farm-to-Fork Perspective.

The use of untreated livestock manure in urban agriculture sustains soil fertility but risks disseminating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in resource-limited settings. This study characterized antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) prevalence across manure-soil-vegetable pathways in Blantyre, Malawi. Using a cross-sectional design, we collected 35 samples (poultry/pig manure, farm/home soils, subsp.

Smart bacteriophage release from bovine β-lactoglobulin fibrils based hydrogel with anti-MRSA, biofilm degradation and hair follicle regeneration functions for infected burn wound.

The emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria negatively impact the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating burn wound infections, which significantly hinders the healing process. To address this, a β-lactoglobulin fibrils/oxidized dextran/phage (BLGFs/ODEX/Phage) hydrogel dressing has been developed to treat burn wounds that are infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). First, a highly efficacious MRSA phage is isolated and purified, and it exhibits excellent bactericidal efficiency, storage stability, biofilm degradation ability, and biocompatibility.

The effect of conservation agriculture technologies adoption on food production and security in Northern Malawi: evidence from Mzimba district.

Background: Adoption of conservation agriculture technologies (CATs) has emerged as a strategy to improve farm productivity and achieve food security in many parts of the world.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the effect of CAT adoption on food production and security.

Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in the Vibangalala Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Mzimba district, Northern Malawi.

Protected Areas Are Important for the Conservation of , an Edible Orchid in Malawi.

Edible orchids are increasingly threatened by unsustainable use in their natural habitats. Several studies highlight the need for propagation to counter this threat. However, a critical gap persists in understanding the environmental conditions that support these species in Malawi.

A whole blood assay for antibody dependent phagocytosis of Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes.

Background: Antibodies are used to protect against Plasmodium falciparum malaria. One antibody target, the variant surface antigens, is expressed on infected erythrocytes (IEs). Antibodies to these antigens can either block IE sequestration in the tissues, facilitate natural killer cell-mediated killing, or opsonise IEs for phagocytic clearance by neutrophils and monocytes.

Multi-pathogen wastewater surveillance in Malawi: An assessment of culture-based, RT-PCR, and long-read metagenomics methods with multiple ongoing outbreaks.

There is little infrastructure for human disease testing apart from rapid malaria diagnostic tests in many low- and middle-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa outside major referral hospitals, and animal testing is also limited. Eight pathogens were studied in wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) sites in Malawi with identified locally relevant disease prevalence: influenza A virus, influenza B virus, measles virus, respiratory syncytial virus, Salmonella Typhi, SARS-CoV-2, Vibrio cholerae, and yellow fever virus. Culture-based inoculation onto plates, single-plex RT-PCR, and/or Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION genomics methods were used for a real-world assessment.

Behavioral Drivers Influencing Women's Decision to Use Self-Injectable Contraception Provided by Community Health Surveillance Assistants in Rural Malawi.

Introduction: Self-injection (SI) for contraceptive use is recommended for its proven ability to empower women and overcome barriers to contraceptive access. The World Health Organization endorsed SI as a self-care approach in 2019. Despite the increase in Malawi's modern contraceptive prevalence rate from 38.

Knowledge, mobility and the built environment: assessing risk factors for road traffic incidents during children's school journeys in urban Blantyre, Malawi - an observational study.

Introduction: Road injuries are a leading cause of death in the 5-19 age group and pedestrian school children are a key vulnerable group. However, the road crash risks faced by school children in Malawi remain understudied. This study aims to describe and quantify the prevalence.

Calcium Aspirin Preeclampsia Early Prevention and Response (CASPER) Trial in Blantyre, Malawi: A Double-Blinded Cluster Randomized Trial.

Background: Preeclampsia remains one of the major causes of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, and yet it is uncertain whether aspirin combined with calcium would reduce the burden of preeclampsia in Malawian women, as elsewhere. This study assessed the efficacy of early low-dose aspirin in preventing in women given calcium to prevent preeclampsia/eclampsia in Blantyre, Malawi.

Methods: This was a pragmatic, double-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in 4 urban health centers and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.

Ficolin-1 in pediatric malaria and its possible role in parasite clearance and anemia.

malaria causes significant disease, especially in young children. A successful immune response to is a major determinant of clinical outcome. The ficolins are a family of lectins that act as pattern recognition molecules and can activate the lectin complement pathway and may promote inflammation and facilitate opsonization and lysis of pathogens.

Public Opinions from Malawian and Malawi Refugee Camp Residents of Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance.

Across low- and middle-income countries, there have been calls to expand wastewater and environmental surveillance to include non-sewered sanitation systems. Considering public opinion, understanding, and acceptance, as well as any related privacy and personal health information concerns, is important in this context. This study used an in-person survey to learn more about the perceptions of Malawian and Malawi refugee camp residents regarding wastewater and environmental surveillance as public health tools, as well as their views on privacy and personal health information.

Factors motivating maternal healthcare clients to use mHealth interventions in rural Malawi.

Client-facing mHealth interventions have the potential to address the inequalities in accessing health information. In maternal healthcare, mHealth interventions provide information to pregnant women on how they can stay healthy during pregnancy, as well as on the danger signs in pregnancy that can contribute to maternal mortality. This study investigated why maternal healthcare clients are motivated to use mHealth interventions.

Prevalence and risk factors of curable sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections and malaria co-infection among pregnant women at antenatal care booking in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania: a cross-sectional study of randomised controlled trial data.

Objectives: Malaria and curable sexually transmitted and reproductive tract infections (STIs/RTIs) are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study reports the prevalence and risk factors of curable STIs/RTIs, STI/RTI co-infection and STI/RTI and malaria co-infection among HIV-negative pregnant women at their first antenatal care visit in Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania.

Methods: HIV-negative pregnant women of all gravidae (n=4680) were screened for syphilis with point-of-care tests and treated if positive.

Technical Priorities for Orthopaedic Trauma Care Development in Malawi.

Introduction: Malawi has a high and rising incidence of musculoskeletal injuries and inadequate orthopaedic trauma care capacity, which must be urgently addressed.

Methods: We performed a scoping literature review to define essential goals and challenges to musculoskeletal trauma care delivery in Malawi pertaining to the following domains: injury prevention, prehospital care, rural health centres, district hospitals, and central hospitals. For each domain, essential goals were ratified and challenges were prioritized by a panel of experts on Malawian orthopaedic trauma care.

Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Risks Associated with Children's Walks to School in Blantyre, Malawi.

(1) Background: This study explored the challenges faced by schoolchildren while commuting to school, particularly the hazards associated with poor road conditions, exposure to high-speed traffic, and traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). (2) Methods: The research focused on community perspectives gathered through four focus group discussions (FGDs) involving parents and teachers from two primary schools in Blantyre City. Employing qualitative analysis with NVivo, themes, sub-themes, and codes were developed collaboratively within the research team.

Topological transition in filamentous cyanobacteria: from motion to structure.

Many active systems are capable of forming intriguing patterns at scales significantly larger than the size of their individual constituents. Cyanobacteria are one of the most ancient and important phyla of organisms that has allowed the evolution of more complex life forms. Despite its importance, the role of motility on the pattern formation of their colonies is not understood.

Advancing the management of maternal, fetal, and neonatal infection through harnessing digital health innovations.

Infections occurring in the mother and neonate exert a substantial health burden worldwide. Optimising infection management is crucial for improving individual outcomes and reducing the incidence of antimicrobial resistance. Digital health technologies, through their accessibility and scalability, hold promise in improving the quality of care across diverse health-care settings.

Concentrations of potentially toxic metals and trace elements in pregnant women and association with birth outcomes: A cross-sectional study in Malawi.

Potentially toxic metals and trace elements have been used in Malawi for a long time. However, data on exposure to these elements by susceptible groups like pregnant women and its associations with reproductive health outcomes in Malawi and southern hemisphere is limited. We investigated the concentrations of potentially toxic metals as well as trace elements in pregnant women and assessed the relationship between the levels these elements in maternal blood and sociodemographic factors, dietary habits and birth outcomes.

Women's Perspectives on the Unique Benefits and Challenges of Self-Injectable Contraception: A Four-Country In-Depth Interview Study in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Implementing self-injection (SI) of subcutaneous depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) is a key self-care strategy for sexual and reproductive health, but SI uptake remains low, and assertions about the potential of SI to increase women's control over contraceptive use lack evidence. We sought to qualitatively explore how women with diverse contraceptive experiences-including those with and without experience using SI-view the benefits and challenges of SI as compared to other methods. We conducted 241 in-depth interviews with women across four sub-Saharan African countries and found alignment between the perceived and experienced benefits of SI across our diverse sample.

The role of the community of purpose in maternal mHealth interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa context.

Background: mHealth has increasingly been touted as having the potential to help Sub-Saharan Africa achieve their health-related sustainable development goals by reducing maternal mortality rates. Such interventions are implemented as one-way or two-way systems where maternal clients receive pregnancy related information via SMS. While such technologies often view the users (the maternal health client) as having agency to adopt, we know from pregnancy literature that the pregnancy experience in Africa and other developing countries is often more collective.

A systems serology approach to identifying key antibody correlates of protection from cerebral malaria in Malawian children.

Background: Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) proteins are expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes, mediating parasite sequestration in the vasculature. PfEMP1 is a major target of protective antibodies, but the features of the antibody response are poorly defined.

Methods: In Malawian children with cerebral or uncomplicated malaria, we characterized the antibody response to 39 recombinant PfEMP1 Duffy binding like (DBL) domains or cysteine-rich interdomain regions (CIDRs) in detail, including measures of antibody classes, subclasses, and engagement with Fcγ receptors and complement.

The State of Stroke Research in Malawi: Results from a Mapping Review Study.

Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability globally, and low-income countries such as Malawi bear a heavy burden. Tailored, high-quality research is essential for bridging existing gaps and improving the healthcare provided in low-resource settings while maximizing available resources.

Aim: This mapping study aimed to synthesize the current state of stroke research in Malawi.