State of the Journal: 2023 by Sheba Nakacubo Gitta

“…Preparedness and response to COVID-19 in Africa (Volume 2) Volume two of the special supplement on “Preparedness and Response to COVID-19 in Africa” contains articles from ten countries covering a spectrum of topics [2]. Topics include an innovative solution to recruiting a new cohort to the Liberia Intermediate field epidemiology program during the disruptive phases of COVID-19 response, children´s understanding of COVID-19 and its preventive measures in Uganda, a COVID-19 super spreader event in South Africa, increase of measles cases in Mozambique, COVID-19 outbreaks in Zimbabwe schools, and homecare of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria. …”
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Unleashing the potential of a low CpG Passer transposon for superior CAR-T cell therapy by Jianyao Zeng, Yan Sun, Yan Sun, Yuan Fang, Xiaodie Wang, Qian Huang, Pingjing Zhang, Meiqi Shao, Pei Wang, Jingbo Cheng, Meng Di, Tao Liu, Qijun Qian, Qijun Qian, Qijun Qian

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How can brand equity for tourism destinations be used to preview tourists’ destination choice? An overview from the top of Tower of Babel by Francisco Dias, Lucília Cardoso

“…This paper describes a new research programme – Favourite Destinations Worldwide – that includes three interrelated innovative tools: (1) the destination brand choice model that allows a better conceptualization of CBBE-TD in the context of destination choice; (2) the Tower of Babel platform, a multilingual online survey for data gathering, to assess CBBE-TD of all destinations competing in the world market; and (3) the Destination Brand Gnosis, a propriety software for qualitative data analysis, transforming the meta-data into a system for constantly evaluating brand attractiveness. …”
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Estimating the time period between infection and diagnosis based on CD4+ counts at first diagnosis among HIV-1 antiretroviral naïve patients in Nigeria by Joseph C Forbi, Thanda D Forbi, Simon M Agwale

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Integrating Serious Games and Gamification for Diverse Learner Groups: Lessons from the “GeoGecko” Project by Monika Rajcsanyi-Molnar, Istvan Andras, Sandor Czifra

“…The “GeoGecko” project stands as an innovative effort in both technical and educational advancements, focusing on creating educational materials grounded in experiential learning principles with a strong gamification framework. …”
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Rapid emergence of dolutegravir resistance on second-line dolutegravir-based ART by Kirusha Naidoo, Richard J. Lessells, Jienchi Dorward, Mahomed Y.S. Moosa, Yukteshwar Sookrajh, Pravi Moodley, Paul K. Drain, Nigel Garrett

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Driving International Collaboration Beyond Boundaries Through Hackathons: A Comparative Analysis of Four Hackathon Setups by Alice Barana, Vasiliki Eirini Chatzea, Kelly Henao, Ania Maria Hildebrandt, Ilias Logothetis, Marina Marchisio Conte, Alexandros Papadakis, Alberto Rueda, Daniel Samoilovich, Georgios Triantafyllidis, Nikolas Vidakis

“…This platform can enhance hosting action-training programs providing a shared open resources space for educators to contact peers and design projects. …”
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Towards maximizing geospatial data usage in north eastern India using open-source scalable user-centric applications by P. S. Singh, D. Chutia, N. Nishant, A. Chouhan, V. Saikhom, S. P. Aggarwal, R. Kumar

“…The repository operates on an open-source platform with integrated map viewers and geo-analytics tools, allowing for interactive exploration and visualization of geospatial data. …”
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A review of water-energy-food nexus frameworks, models, challenges and future opportunities to create an integrated, national security-based development index by C. Yupanqui, N. Dias, M.R. Goodarzi, S. Sharma, H. Vagheei, Rabi Mohtar

“…The Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus has emerged as an innovative platform to assist with sustainable resource management. …”
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Novel education-based intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for treatment of gonorrhoea in China: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial by Xiang-Sheng Chen, Ting-Ting Jiang, Yun-Qing Yang, Ning-Xiao Cao, Yue-Ping Yin

“…Introduction Inappropriate use of antibiotics to treat gonorrhoea can lead to antibiotic resistance. Education programmes may be helpful for improving physician prescribing behaviours in accordance with treatment guidelines. …”
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Viroscope™: a universal solution for plant virus and viroid diagnostics using HTS and cloud-based analysis by Verónica Morgante, Juan Cristóbal Jiménez, Claudio Ponce, Cristóbal Urrutia, Fernanda Vera, Camila Farías, Rocío Camps de la Maza, Valentina Caro, Marco Muñoz, Bernardo Pollak

“…Universally applicable across plant tissue, Viroscope™ detects all known viruses and viroids in public databases while employing innovative metrics for functional assessment. The cloud-based platform facilitates global adoption of HTS technology by phytosanitary agencies through user-friendly reports that enable rapid and informed decision-making.…”
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Integration of phospho-signaling and transcriptomics in single cells reveals distinct Th17 cell fates by Seth D. Fortmann, Awalpreet S. Chadha, Blake F. Frey, Asif Elahi, Vidya Sagar Hanumanthu, Shanrun Liu, Andrew Goldsborough, P. Brent Ferrell, Jr., Maria B. Grant, Casey T. Weaver, Robert S. Welner

“…We present Vivo-seq, an innovative platform that integrates scRNA-seq and intracellular cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing following cellular fixation with a deep eutectic solvent, which preserves multiple domains of biological information beyond RNA transcripts alone. …”
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Care and Neurorehabilitation in the Disorder of Consciousness: A Model in Progress by Giuliano Dolce, Francesco Arcuri, Simone Carozzo, Maria Daniela Cortese, Pierpaolo Greco, Lucia Francesca Lucca, Loris Pignolo, Maria Elena Pugliese, Francesco Riganello

“…Responsiveness and the time windows characterized by better residual responsiveness are identified and the spontaneous/induced changes in the autonomic system functional state and biological parameters are monitored both in dedicated sessions and by means of an ambient intelligence platform acquiring large databases from traditional and innovative sensors and interfaced with knowledge management and knowledge discovery systems. …”
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The Role of Libraries, Archives and Information Centres in the Formation of Critical Thinking and Civic Values in the Digital Society: Global, European and Ukrainian Strategies by N. Khymytsia, О. Morusko

“…Systematic trainings on media literacy, digital ethics, and the organization of open information platforms and interactive programs for different age and social groups are of practical importance. …”
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Characterising the asynchronous resurgence of common respiratory viruses following the COVID-19 pandemic by Chenkai Zhao, Tiantian Zhang, Ling Guo, Shiqi Sun, Yumeng Miao, Chee Fu Yung, Jane Tomlinson, Kirill Stolyarov, Zakhar Shchomak, Yong Poovorawan, David James Nokes, Carmen Muñoz-Almagro, Michal Mandelboim, James W. Keck, Joanne Marie Langley, Terho Heikkinen, Jikui Deng, Philippe Colson, Giorgi Chakhunashvili, Mauricio T. Caballero, Louis Bont, Daniel R. Feikin, Harish Nair, Xin Wang, You Li, Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network

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Highlights of the Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2024 Conference: the first joint European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging, European Society of Cardiovascular Radiology, a... by Jadranka Stojanovska, Robin Nijveldt, Karen Ordovas, Rozemarijn Vliegenthart, Nicole Seiberlich, Claudia Prieto, Vineeta Ojha, Kate Hanneman, Benny Lawton, Marina Hughes, Vanessa Ferreira, John Grizzard, Luigi Natale, Daniel Kim, Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci, Steffen Petersen, Thomas A. Treibel

“…This conference underscored the collaboration between cardiologists, radiologists, scientists, and technologists by bringing together three major societies—SCMR, EACVI, and ESCR. Innovative session formats like ‘Shark Tank’ and ‘Workflow, Innovations & Patients’ facilitated expert opinion and practical experiences sharing in a ‘TED-talk style’. …”
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Cost of delivering childhood RSV prevention interventions to the health system in Kenya: a prospective analysis by Ranju Baral, Clint Pecenka, Rose E Jalang'o, Elkanah Otiang, Joseph Odiyo, Bryan O Nyawanda, Joyce U Nyiro, Patrick Munywoki

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Can virtual reality replace conventional vestibular rehabilitation tools in multisensory balance exercises for vestibular disorders? A non-inferiority study by Gaël Le Perf, Guillaume Thebault, Claire Duflos, Fanchon Herman, Sylvie Cauquil-Gleizes, Isabelle Laffont

“…However, the VR program did not meet the non-inferiority criterion compared to the conventional program. …”
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Development and Validation of a Suite of E-Probes for Electronic Diagnostic Nucleic Acid Analysis (EDNA) for 20 Graft-Transmissible Pathogens of Citrus Using MiFi and Blind Ring Te... by D. M. Nascimento, S. Bodaghi, H. Wang, M. R. Ribeiro-Junior, R. Campos, T. Dang, F. Osman, J. Habiger, A. S. Espindola, G. Vidalakis, K. F. Cardwell

“…The success of these programs relies on the availability of reliable pathogen detection assays. …”
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Impact of increasing CD4 count threshold eligibility for antiretroviral therapy initiation on advanced HIV disease and tuberculosis prevalence and incidence in South Africa: an int... by Richard John Lessells, Kogieleum Naidoo, Nigel Garrett, Jienchi Dorward, Lara Lewis, Christian Bottomley, Yukteshwar Sookrajh, Kwabena Asare, Johan van der Molen, Thokozani Khubone, Thulani Ngwenya, Ntokozo Siyabonga Mkhize, Phelelani Sosibo

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