Ishaka Adventist Hospital

Abstract Background: The need to map pathogenic bacteria from oral lesions of patients with human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) remains crucial to estimate the potential risk of localized and systemic diseases. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the baseline burden and antibiotic susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria recovered from oral lesions of patients with HIV/AIDS in South‐Western Uganda. Methods: World Health Organization’s aseptic criteria were adopted in oral examination, sample (605) collection, pathogenic bacteria isolation, and sensitivity testing. The included patients with HIV/AIDS had persistent oral lesions, and they received antibiotic treatment. The study was ethically approved by the institutional and national boards. Results: Pathogenic bacteria (31% Streptococcus mutans , 16.4% Proteus mirabilis , 11.8% nonhemolytic Streptococcus species, 11.3% Staphylococcus aureus , 9.5% Branhamella catarrhalis , 8.6% Pseudomonas aeruginosa , 8.1% Klebsiella pneumoniae , 6.8% Escherichia coli , and 5.5% Streptococcus pyogenes ) prevalence varied significantly ( p < 0.05) with participating districts, and this may indicate that patients are at an increased risk of systemic infection and antibiotic resistance. Females were more in number than males, and 31–50 years were the most predominant age groups. The variation of oral pathogenic bacteria represents the distribution of two ethnics made of five tribes. Gentamycin was the most effective antibiotic against all isolates. Relative resistance to oral antibiotics and sensitivity to ciprofloxacin/cefaclor were bacteria‐dependent. An effective treatment plan for persistent oral lesions should be against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Conclusions: An observed wide array of potentially pathogenic bacteria in the oral cavity of patients with HIV/AIDS poses a real problem in the world of antimicrobial resistance, and this clearly provides a higher risk of systemic infectious diseases in these population with HIV/AIDS.

Surgery has been largely neglected within global public health despite growing evidence that the overall burden of disease requiring surgical intervention is rapidly growing and affordable access to surgical care can avert many deaths and disabilities. This study assessed the factors influencing delayed access to essential surgical care in Uganda. A descriptive multi-center cross-sectional survey was carried out in 3 hospitals designated for major surgeries in Uganda from December 2019 to December 2021 across 3 regions of the country i.e. Eastern – Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, Northern – St Mary's Hospital Lacor and Central region – Mulago National Referral Hospital in a prospective manner. Patients admitted to the above-mentioned hospitals and required surgical intervention were included. Data was analyzed using STATA 16 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, Texas, USA). Bivariate analysis using, the chi-square test or Fischers’ exact test and multivariable logistic regression models to adjust for confounders were done. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 635 patients participated in the study of which the majority were males (n=399, 63%) from the Northern region (n=347, 54.7 %.). Most patients (n=406, 63.9%) and (n=402, 63.3%) sought surgical help immediately and were operated on time respectively however only 23.3% (n=148) were able to reach the hospital for care on time. Caretakers’ hesitancy on the surgical procedure contributed to all surgical delays in seeking care (aOR: 2.41 95% CI: 1.07 – 5.43; p=0.035), hospital inaccessibility (aOR: 5.35 95% CI: 1.82 – 5.75; p=0.002), and delayed surgical procedure performance (aOR: 6.37 95% CI: 2.64 – 5.34; p<0.001) among other factors in each category. All three factors contribute to surgical delay but most significantly access to hospital. Several socioeconomic factors like education, long distances, and poverty interplay in a complex web to hamper access to essential surgical care. None

Snakebite envenoming is classified as a Neglected Tropical Disease and causes mortality, morbidity, and economic impacts for hundreds of thousands of people per year, particularly in tropical, low- and middle-income countries. Most research on snakebite interventions focuses on improving clinical management rather than bite prevention. However, prevention may provide a better mechanism to minimise snakebite impacts, particularly in rural areas where access to effective medical treatment is limited. This study reports on the preliminary testing phase of a participatory workshop intervention run in rural Uganda in 2022-23, which used a community engagement approach designed to reduce snakebites through discussing snake behaviour and biology. A mixed methods survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted, both with workshop attendees and non-attendees, after the delivery of the workshops. We found that a fearful attitude toward snakes often led to human-snake conflict, with snake killings occurring commonly, and some bites occurring during attempted killings. Workshops appeared to challenge negative attitudes, as understanding snake behaviour seemed to build compassion toward snakes and therefore has the potential to reduce human-snake conflict. Those who attended workshops were more likely to suggest 'giving snakes space,' rather than attempting to kill them, and were more likely to suggest hospital treatment if bitten. We also found that many effective methods for snakebite prevention are already known to the community, but those who attended the workshop were aware of a wider range of prevention methods and were more likely to implement less ecologically damaging and more effective strategies. This emphasises that appropriate knowledge resides within the community to prevent snakebites, and so community engagement approaches can improve prevention practices while recognising that the ownership and knowledge for such changes is generated by the local people themselves.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) still remain a great public health problem of major significance in most parts of the world. The incidence of acute STD is believed to be high among sexually active adolescents worldwide due to changes and development in their lives. The study aims at establishing the attitude, knowledge and practices on STDS among students studying at Kampala International University Western Campus in Ishaka town. The study aims at establishing the attitude, knowledge and practices on STDS among students studying at Kampala International University Western Campus in Ishaka town. A great percentage of anticipated respondents participated in this study making the response rate 96%. Among these respondents (65%) were males and (35%) were females. The age distribution of the respondents showed that most of the respondents (50%) were between 20- 25 years old. Respondents (50%) were followers of the Catholic faith and followed other religions. The majority (76%) of the respondents were living near campus and (24%) of them are from rural areas. The majority of (60%) of respondents were single, and others were in a relationship. During the study period (70.9%) of the respondents were living in a hostel, (15.6%) were living in a rented house, and (13.5%) were living in another relative house. Most of the respondents have knowledge about STIs, but there are still misconceptions and their practice remained quite low. Keywords: STDs, Sexually active adolescents, Females, Sexual transmission infection, Health institutes.

The question whether secondary school students should be allowed to use mobile phones in school remains a controversial one. In this study carried out in a rural district of Bushenyi in Uganda the researcher sought to establish the usage of mobile phones among secondary school students in boarding schools. The researcher also sought the views and opinions of students, teachers and parents about the use of mobile phones by students in the schools. The study established that despite the official ban on use of mobile phones by students in school, 34% of the students said they were aware that some students own and use mobile phones in school. It was further established that 40% of teachers said they were aware that some students owned and used phones in school while 20% of them supported the use of phones by the students. Meanwhile, 40% of the parents supported the use of mobile phones by students in school. It was noted that the battle against the use of mobile phones by students in secondary schools might soon be lost due to the increased availability and benefits associated with their use.

Abstract Malignant gliomas are the most angiogenic aggressive tumours with high proliferative and invasion phenotypes. Total microvessel density, the combination of the microvascular density and the vasculogenic mimicry status, is a biomarker closely associated with the aggressiveness of a tumour including its invasive and metastatic potential. This review aims to investigate the relationship between vasculogenic mimicry and microvascular density, and its association with prognosis and therapeutic response in gliomas across the available randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and cross-sectional studies to optimize the strength of evidence for underpinning the strategy for treating tumours. We will conduct the Systematic and Meta-analysis by employing the provisions of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) 2020 guideline and the review protocol will be submitted to International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) for registration before commencement of the study. We will construct the search strategy using a combination of ‘glioma’, ‘microvascular density’, ‘vasculogenic mimicry’, ‘prognostic significance’ and ‘therapeutic response’ from the four databases (Scopus, EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Library). This review will be conducted without the involvement of human participants, making ethical clearance approval inapplicable. The protocol for this review will be duly registered with the PROSPERO registry. The final report of this review will be shared at scientific conferences, both locally and internationally, and the protocol and final results will be published in a reputable Neurosurgery journal.

In this study, a parallel network technique trained on the Ryerson Audio-Visual Dataset of Speech and Song (RAVDESS) was used to perform an autonomous speech emotion recognition (SER) challenge to categorize four distinct emotions. To capture both spatial and temporal data, the architecture comprised attention-based networks with CNN-based networks that ran in tandem. Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) was used as augmentation techniques for multiple folds to improve the model’s generalization. The model’s input was MFCC, which was created from the raw audio data. The MFCC were represented as images, with the height and breadth corresponding to the time and frequency dimensions of the MFCC, in order to take use of the proven effectiveness of CNNs in image classification. Transformer Encoder layer, an attention-based model, was used to capture temporal characteristics. The projects’ findings demonstrated that the Parallel CNN-Transformer network’s accuracy as 88.16% for 1-fold augmentation, 92.11% for 2-fold augmentation and 86.84% of accuracy for 3-fold augmentation.

Introduction Bisphenol A (BPA), a pervasive endocrine-disrupting chemical, impairs male reproductive health via oxidative stress, hormonal dysregulation, and hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis disruption. Flavonoids, widely present in plant-derived foods and medicinal herbs, possess antioxidant and steroidogenic modulatory properties that may counteract BPA toxicity, yet preclinical findings remain inconsistent. This study aims to systematically evaluate and quantitatively synthesize preclinical evidence on the protective effects of flavonoids against BPA-induced male reproductive toxicity. Methods Using PRISMA 2020 guidelines, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed were searched up to September 2024. Eligible studies involved BPA exposure in male rodents with flavonoid co-treatment and reported reproductive endpoints. Hormonal and oxidative stress biomarkers were pooled using a random-effects model, expressed as standardized mean differences (SMDs), with heterogeneity assessed by I 2 statistics. Twenty studies were included. Results BPA significantly reduced testosterone (SMD = −4.91), estradiol (SMD = −2.72), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) (SMD = −7.71), and luteinizing hormone (SMD = −5.54), while increasing malondialdehyde and reducing antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx, and GSH). Discussion Flavonoid co-treatment significantly improved hormonal profiles and oxidative balance, with the greatest recovery in FSH. High heterogeneity (I 2 &amp;gt; 84%) reflected variability in doses, treatment duration, compound purity, and species. Flavonoids exhibit marked ameliorative potential against BPA-induced reproductive toxicity in preclinical models, largely through hormonal regulation and oxidative stress mitigation. Standardized protocols and dose–response studies are essential to enhance reproducibility and translational relevance.

Background: ) is a significant cereal crop, which, due to its nutritious content, especially in terms of dietary energy and nutrients, is globally important. Its nutritive status does not just end with macronutrients, but it also encompasses nutrient status that promotes health-giving micronutrients and phytochemicals. Objective: This review aims to consolidate recent advancements in maize nutrient profiling and highlight current challenges in optimizing its nutritional potential across global food systems. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2024 in English. Search terms included "Zea mays nutrition," "maize macronutrients," "maize micronutrient biofortification," and "phytochemicals in maize". Studies included both empirical and review papers reporting on maize nutritional quality, bioavailability, and impacts on human health. Results: Maize is composed primarily of carbohydrates, with starch as the dominant fraction, alongside moderate protein and low lipid content concentrated in the germ. Biofortified varieties, including Quality Protein Maize (QPM), provide enhanced levels of lysine, tryptophan, and provitamin A. Maize also supplies essential B vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, and magnesium; however, their bioavailability is reduced by antinutrients like phytates. In addition, maize is shown to be rich in phytochemicals, including ferulic acid, flavonoids, and carotenoids, which exhibit antioxidant and therapeutic properties. Conclusion: Maize is more than a staple food crop; it is an indispensable crop for global food and nutrition security. However, challenges such as low bioavailability due to antinutritional factors limit its full nutritional potential. Therefore, strengthening genetic and agronomic interventions to improve its nutritional quality is essential to address hidden hunger and enhance population health worldwide.

This narrative review examines how strategic decisions shaped by the entrepreneurial mindset sustain agribusiness SMEs in emerging economies, highlighting pathways to resilience. Recognising a critical knowledge gap in understanding the cognitive mechanisms that drive SME sustainability, the review is anchored in Entrepreneurial Cognition Theory and the Triple Bottom Line framework. The study synthesises empirical evidence from 2020 to 2025 using a qualitative research design with systematic data collection from peer-reviewed journals and grey literature. Findings indicate that entrepreneurial cognition guides strategic resource allocation, innovation adoption, market positioning, risk management, and the integration of social and environmental sustainability, collectively enhancing economic, social, and ecological resilience. Persistent challenges include structural constraints, unequal access to finance and technology, gender disparities, and sustainability trade-offs in niche markets. Policy and practical implications emphasise cooperative models, targeted innovation financing, market intelligence support, and incentives for sustainability-aligned practices. The review contributes empirically by consolidating evidence across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, offering comparative insights into how SMEs navigate complex and resource-constrained environments. Theoretically, it extends the application of Entrepreneurial Cognition Theory and the Triple Bottom Line framework to context-specific decision-making in agribusiness SMEs, demonstrating how cognitive processes underpin sustainable strategic actions. By linking entrepreneurial decision-making to resilience outcomes, the review provides actionable insights for policymakers, development partners, and SME owner-managers seeking to enhance competitiveness, long-term viability, and inclusive growth in emerging economies.

Proper beef handling contributes to achieving sustainable development goals 3 (good health and well-being) and 12 (sustainable consumption and production patterns). This is because it ensures the safety of meat and consumers’ health. However, the meat sector is still underdeveloped in most African countries. In addition, there is limited research addressing meat safety challenges. In Uganda particularly, in the recent past, there was whistle-blowing over contaminated beef on the market, indicating a loophole in food safety. Despite this, studies focusing on beef handling practices have remained scanty. Thus, this study aimed to examine beef handling practices at the abattoirs and butcher shops in Uganda's Central, Western, and Eastern regions. A mixed-methods approach was employed to collect data through a survey, in-depth interviews, and on-site observations. Findings revealed that beef handling practices were poor at abattoirs and butcher shops and that most facilities for safety measures were lacking or inadequate. Only 3% of the respondents had cold room storage facilities, and meat spoilage was relatively high (85.3%). Appropriate knowledge of meat safety among abattoir and butcher operators was inadequate, contributing to low compliance with food safety guidelines. Inappropriate handling practices and poor handling facilities may put consumers at a health risk. The study recommends that responsible authorities should ensure compliance mechanisms and sensitization initiatives are prioritized.

Even though urolithiasis in general is not uncommon, urethral stones have an incidence of less than 0.3% and are 20 times less common in children. Though cases of urethral stones have been reported in children from endemic areas, they are even rarer in countries like Uganda that are not endemic for urolithiasis. Case Presentation: The authors present a 7-year-old male who presented with acute urine retention. Though the diagnosis of retention was made in a lower-level health facility, the cause of the retention was not determined till the patient arrived at a general hospital. Diagnosis of an obstructing stone in the penile urethra was made clinically. Meatotomy and stone extraction were done, and a urethral catheter was passed. Clinical Discussion and Conclusion: When attending to children with acute urine retention, urolithiasis should be kept among the differential diagnoses, even in areas that are not endemic for urinary tract stones. A thorough clinical evaluation may be all that is needed to make a diagnosis.

The study examined the role of SACCOs in poverty reduction. The aim of the study was categorically to; establish as to whether SACCO’S are doing enough in as far as reducing poverty among their members in selected Districts in Greater Bushenyi is concerned. A cross-sectional design was used. Qualitative research approach was employed. The Key informants were selected from Sacco’s Management and leadership resource persons who provided the qualitative data. Purposive sampling was used to select the 19 Key Informants from 250 Sacco’s Management and leadership. A key informant interview guide was used to obtain the data from the SACCO members and the Key Informants respectively. The findings revealed that both financial and non-financial services reduce poverty. The findings revealed that SACCOs are applauded as doing enough in as far as reducing poverty among their members is concerned drawing from financial literacy training and entrepreneurship skilling training services to their members. The findings revealed that for each additional increase in overall rigour of financial services (credit services and saving services), poverty reduction among the Sacco members in Greater Bushenyi was likely to get an average increase of 0.683 units in their poverty reduction (β =0.683, p = &lt;0.000); overall increase in rigour of non-financial services leads to a higher likelihood of poverty reduction among the SACCO members in Greater Bushenyi.

The systematic study examined the influence between electronic System of Record Keeping and OrganizationalPerformance in Mitooma District in Western Uganda. The research task encompassed a cross-sectional and descriptive research designwith quantitative paradigm. The researchers utilized simple random sampling and stratified random sampling stratagems to select thecontributors for the research project. A sample of 72 members were selected from 157 persons of the target population using a tabledeveloped by Morgan & Krejcie (1970). Facts were congregated by means of questionnaires and scrutinized by utilizing Descriptivestatistics such as Bar graphs and inferential statistics such as Pearson linear correlation coefficient (PLCC) for quantitative dataexamination. The research project findings discovered that there was a significant influence between Electronic System of RecordKeeping and Organizational Performance in Mitooma District in Western Uganda . The research project concluded that with the useof an electronic records management system, the company can regain complete control over its documentation, replacing antiquatedmanual record-keeping procedures with sleek, user-friendly digital systems that need little effort to search, backup, and secure. Fromthe research project results, the academics recommended that there is need to have a paradigm shift from the use of Paper based systemof record keeping to Electronic system in order to reduce expenditure on the purchase of papers and save time associated with paperwork. Local Governments all over the cosmos should enhance on the budget for capacity building so that workforces can go foradditional training in electronic records management system. This can help organizations to blossom for growth and development.

Analisis SWOT terhadap suatu perusahaan yang didukung dengan data, sehingga menciptakan peluang perusahaan dengan adanya analisis SWOT ini.

The study examined the role of SACCOs in poverty reduction. The aim of the study was categorically to; establish the strategies of reducing poverty among the Sacco members in selected districts of Greater Bushenyi, Uganda. A cross-sectional design was used. Qualitative research approach was employed. The Key informants were selected from SACCOs Management and leadership resource persons who provided the qualitative data. Purposive sampling was used to select the 19 Key Informants from 250 SACCOs Management and leadership. A key informant interview guide was used to obtain the data from the SACCO members and the Key Informants respectively. The findings revealed that both financial and non-financial services reduce poverty. The findings also indicated that the key strategy to reduce poverty among the Sacco members is through enhancing the provision of SACCO financial and non-financial services to their members and government revisiting the fiscal policy to provide an enabling environment in which SACCOs operate.

Kampala city was formally governed as a local government entity under Kampala city council (KCC), due to maladministration characterized by failure in city service delivery, mismanagement of funds among others ignited various institutional pressures to push for its transformation into a semi-autonomous entity that&amp;apos;s Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). The transformation of KCC to KCCA encountered a lot of resistance from different sources that necessitated divergent strategies for positive receptivity for reforms that enabled it to attain institutional legitimacy. The study explores the various sources of resistance during the transformation period and change management practices that were adopted to create positive receptivity for reforms—thus KCCA&amp;apos;s attainment of institutional legitimacy. Through an exploratory sequential design, a sample of participants was sequentially selected using purposive and snowball sampling techniques until the saturation point was reached. Data generated through interviews was analyzed using a blend of grounded theory analysis and the Gioia cording method. The findings reveal that the KCCA Act, the populist agenda of elected leaders, and mixing politics and work were major sources of resistance. Secondly, both institutional oriented strategies such as creating a cultural shift, asserting, character of the team leader, galvanizing a team that could deliver, etc and community-oriented strategies such as walking with the community, identifying key stakeholders, and harmonizing power centers were adopted to create positive receptivity for the reforms. The study draws the attention of administrators and policy makers to the need for thorough scrutiny of any law to be made on the transformation of public entities but also to the need for continuous amendment of the KCCA Act, to streamline political activities in the city and regulate the mixing of politics with technical work. In addition to that since the city manager model has proven to be effective in the management of the city, it can be adopted by new cities and develop succession planning for the leadership of KCCA as frequent changes in the leadership had a negative effect on the progress.

The systematic study examined the influence between electronic System of Record Keeping and OrganizationalPerformance in Mitooma District in Western Uganda. The research task encompassed a cross-sectional and descriptive research designwith quantitative paradigm. The researchers utilized simple random sampling and stratified random sampling stratagems to select thecontributors for the research project. A sample of 72 members were selected from 157 persons of the target population using a tabledeveloped by Morgan & Krejcie (1970). Facts were congregated by means of questionnaires and scrutinized by utilizing Descriptivestatistics such as Bar graphs and inferential statistics such as Pearson linear correlation coefficient (PLCC) for quantitative dataexamination. The research project findings discovered that there was a significant influence between Electronic System of RecordKeeping and Organizational Performance in Mitooma District in Western Uganda . The research project concluded that with the useof an electronic records management system, the company can regain complete control over its documentation, replacing antiquatedmanual record-keeping procedures with sleek, user-friendly digital systems that need little effort to search, backup, and secure. Fromthe research project results, the academics recommended that there is need to have a paradigm shift from the use of Paper based systemof record keeping to Electronic system in order to reduce expenditure on the purchase of papers and save time associated with paperwork. Local Governments all over the cosmos should enhance on the budget for capacity building so that workforces can go foradditional training in electronic records management system. This can help organizations to blossom for growth and development.