University of Zimbabwe

About: University of Zimbabwe is a education organization based out in Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The organization has 4378 authors who have published 6800 publications receiving 160720 citations. The organization is also known as: UZ & University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

Clozapine Eligibility Among State Hospital Patients

Abstract: Connecticut State Hospital's entire resident population (n = 1,300) was screened on an arbitrary target day to determine eligibility for clozapine. Sixty percent of 803 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder diagnoses met Food and Drug Administration (FDA)approved criteria for clozapine use as judged by review of past medication trial records and by the responsible physician. Eightyeight percent of these patients were medically cleared, and of those cleared, 63 percent agreed to clozapine treatment. Of the patients who began a clozapine trial, 76 percent were still taking the drug 12 months later. Preliminary findings from a randomized trial of clozapine versus usual care (n = 227) indicate that discharge rates associated with clozapine and usual care do not differ. Once discharged, however, patients assigned to clozapine are less likely to be readmitted. Hence, clozapine may be more cost-effective than usual care. However, before savings can be realized, State governments will have to make up-front investments of approximately $140 million simply to give patients hospitalized on a single day a year's access to clozapine.

Analysis of Genetic Linkage of HIV From Couples Enrolled in the HIV Prevention Trials Network 052 Trial

Abstract: Background. The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 trial demonstrated that early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission from HIV-infected adults (index participants) to their HIV-uninfected sexual partners. We analyzed HIV from 38 index-partner pairs and 80 unrelated index participants (controls) to assess the linkage of seroconversion events. Methods. Linkage was assessed using phylogenetic analysis of HIV pol sequences and Bayesian analysis of genetic distances between pol sequences from index-partner pairs and controls. Selected samples were also analyzed using next-generation sequencing (env region). Results. In 29 of the 38 (76.3%) cases analyzed, the index was the likely source of the partner’s HIV infection (linked). In 7 cases (18.4%), the partner was most likely infected from a source other than the index participant (unlinked). In 2 cases (5.3%), linkage status could not be definitively established. Conclusions. Nearly one-fifth of the seroconversion events in HPTN 052 were unlinked. The association of early ART and reduced HIV transmission was stronger when the analysis included only linked events. This underscores the importance of assessing the genetic linkage of HIV seroconversion events in HIV prevention studies involving serodiscordant couples.

Farmers' insect pest management practices and pesticidal plant use in the protection of stored maize and beans in Southern Africa

Abstract: Storage losses due to pests threaten livelihoods of farmers across Africa. Synthetic pesticides provide effective control when used correctly but resource-poor farmers cannot afford them. A survey of farmer ethno-ecological knowledge of pests of stored maize and bean, and their pest management practices including pesticidal plant use, was conducted in eastern Zambia and northern Malawi. Almost all respondents reported serious pest damage, with bruchids (Callosobruchus maculatus) and grain weevils (Sitophilus spp.) being major pests in beans and maize, respectively. The larger grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus) was reported more widely in Malawi. In Zambia, 50% of farmers used synthetic pesticides during storage, while nearly all did so in Malawi. Despite differences in storage methods between Malawi and Zambia, farmers in both countries were familiar with pesticidal plants, where Tephrosia vogelii was the most frequently reported. Surprisingly few farmers actually used pesticidal plants, highlighting a promotion opportunity. Our results provide a foundation for optimizing the use of pesticidal plants and enhancing their value to resource-poor farmers, across Africa.

The use of “indigenous” and urban vernaculars in Zimbabwe

Abstract: This article analyzes the reasons for and the effects of the language shift in Zimbabwe represented by the increasing use of pan-ethnic lingua francas, or urban vernaculars, of local origin. It is suggested that essentialist/ primordialist assumptions about "indigenous" languages that feature prominently in current accounts of language endangerment should be made more complex by understanding their historical and social origins. In Zimbabwe, this means understanding the origins of Shona and Ndebele during the colonial period as the product of a two-stage process: codification of dialects by missionaries, and creation of a unified standard by the colonial regime. In the postcolonial context, these languages and the ethnic identities they created/reified are giving way to language use that indexes not ethnic affiliation but urbanization. The article adduces data showing that as Zimbabweans move with relative ease across language boundaries, urban vernaculars express their shared social experience of living in postcolonial urban environments. (Urbanization, African languages, indigenous lan