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Economic drivers of GDP per capita growth in Tanzania: the role of start-up costs, industrial employment, and technological cooperation
(Springer Nature, 2026-02-28) Kachunga, Bikiombe; Nyangarika, Anthony; Mikhaylov, Alexey; Morkovkin, Dmitry; Shah, Farooq Ahmed
The aim of the paper is analysis of business start-up and procedures, technical cooperation, and employment in industry as economic drivers on GDP Per Capita in Tanzania using a quantitative approach, utilizing regression analysis, VAR basic analysis, Johansen test of cointegration, and granger causality test on time series data from 1990 to 2023. The regression analysis revealed that employment in the industry had a strong positive impact on GDP per capita (coefficient = 0.5552, t-value = 27.90, p-value = 0.000). However, the cost of business start-up and procedures (% of GNI per capita) negatively affected GDP per capita (coefficient = − 0.0817, t-value = − 5.61, p-value = 0.000). Furthermore, the Granger causality test showed a one-way causality where employment in the industry significantly influences GDP per capita (chi-square = 13.945, p-value = 0.001). This study highlights that reducing the cost of business start-up procedures is vital for fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, as high start-up costs negatively impact GDP per capita by limiting business formation, competition, and economic efficiency. Furthermore, the strong positive relationship between employment in industry and GDP per capita calls for policies that promote industrial job creation to drive sustainable economic growth and enhance national productivity. This paper demonstrates the significant impact of employment in the industry on GDP per capita, highlights the negative influence of high business start-up costs on economic growth, posing empirical evidence to guide policy interventions in developing economies like Tanzania.
Control strategies for the dynamics of catheter-associated urinary tract infection
(Elsevier, 2026-02-21) John, Innocent; Stephano, Mussa; Mayengo, Maranya
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) remain a major challenge in healthcare,
particularly among hospitalized and long term catheterized patients. This study develops a
deterministic compartmental model integrated with optimal control theory to evaluate the
effects of three time dependent interventions: public health education, alternative catheteriza
tion methods, and environmental hygiene control. Unlike existing CAUTI models, the proposed
framework explicitly incorporates both host to host transmission and environmental contami
nation, and quantifies intervention effectiveness using Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle and the
forward backward sweep algorithm. Simulation results show that the combined application of
all three controls yields the highest reduction in disease burden, decreasing infection preva
lence by approximately 82%, catheterized individuals by 75%, and environmental bacterial
concentration by 85% within 60 days compared to the uncontrolled scenario. Among dual
interventions, education with environmental hygiene achieves a 68% reduction in infections,
followed by catheterization reduction with hygiene at 63%. Education with catheterization
reduction produces a smaller decline of 49%. For individual interventions, environmental
hygiene is the most effective, achieving a 58% reduction, followed by education 46% and
catheterization minimization 32%. Closed-form threshold conditions derived from the effective
reproduction number (𝑒) provide practical bounds for control intensities needed to ensure
𝑒 < 1, particularly highlighting minimum hygiene requirements. Optimal-control profiles
indicate high initial intervention intensity that declines as infections decrease. Overall, the
findings demonstrate that integrated control especially when environmental hygiene is included
offers the most impactful strategy for r
Building scalable neuroimaging programs across diverse human environments
(Springer Nature, 2026-02-17) Thiagarajan, Tara; Vianney, Sr John-Mary; Swaminathan, Shailender; Newson, Jennifer; Parameshwaran, Dhanya; Subramaniyam, Narayan
Across the globe, human environments and experiences are diverse and undergoing rapid transformation. With the growing prevalence of neurological and mental health challenges, there is now an urgent imperative to understand the impacts of this diversity and change on the brain. This will require large-scale and long-term global studies of neural activity coupled with measures of lifestyle and life experience, environmental exposures, and mental and cognitive outcomes across diverse populations that lend themselves to untangling multivariate effects. We describe our experience developing large-scale EEG neuroimaging data acquisition programs in India and Tanzania and highlight key considerations for ensuring that such programs are ethically sound, cost-effective, scalable, adaptable and capable of producing high-quality data.
Comparison of Aflatoxin Contamination and Dietary Exposure From Complementary Foods Among Rural Tanzanian Infants Enrolled in the Mycotoxin Mitigation Trial
(Wiley, 2026-01-30) Kayanda, Rosemary; Kassim, Neema; Phillips, Erica; Turner, Paul; Stoltzfus, Rebecca; Ngure, Francis
Dietary aflatoxins (AF) exposure in early childhood may contribute to growth restriction. The Mycotoxin Mitigation Trial (MMT)
was a cluster- randomized trial designed to assess the effect of providing low- AF maize and groundnut flours (intervention) on
infant growth compared to those consuming typically available flours (standard of care [SoC]). The SoC serves as a control, rep
resenting the normal frequency and concentration ranges of AF in this region. MMT initiated at infant age 6 months and ended
at 18 months, with the intervention group receiving low- AF flours monthly throughout. This sub- study served as one check point
in the MMT to assess if there was a difference in AF frequency and concentration in high- risk foods between the two arms. At
the MMT midpoint (infant age 12 months), infant foods were collected during household visits within 20 pre- selected clusters (10/
arm). Maize/groundnut blend and groundnut flours used in the preparation of foods consumed by infants were analyzed for total
AFs by ELISA, with 10% confirmed by HPLC. In total 559 foods were sampled; sampling was on one occasion per household.
Chi- square test was used to compare categories of AF contamination in infant foods, and an unpaired t- test was used to compare
both contamination by arm, and to compare estimates of AF ingestion between arms. In the intervention arm, 23% of groundnut
flour and 6% of blended flour samples had AF levels greater than 10 μg/kg, the legal limit in Tanzania, compared to 45% and 43%,
respectively, in the SoC (control) arm (p < 0.05). Further, estimated ingestion of AF was lower for the low- AF supplied blended
flours (p = 0.03) and groundnut (p = 0.04). Importantly, the extremely high levels of AF ingestion (> 1000 ng/kg bw/day) observed
in the SoC arm were absent in the intervention arm. The provision of low- AF flours in the intervention households reduced the
frequency and concentrations of AF contamination compared to the SoC, and thus reduced the estimated dietary exposure to
infants, at the midpoint of the trial.
Community perceptions on climate change and its impacts on malaria transmission in South-eastern Tanzania
(Springer Nature, 2026-02-28) Nshatsi, Nancy; Mponzi, Winifrida; Mwalugelo, Yohana; Msaky, Dickson; Simbeye, Stephen; Rite, Erasto; Okumu, Fredros; Philbert, Anitha; Angelo, Teckla; Kaindoa, Emmanuel
Background Malaria transmission is highly sensitive to climatic variability, as changes in temperatures and rainfall,
directly influence mosquito breeding, survival, and parasite development. Extreme climatic events, such as flooding,
further exacerbate malaria risk by disrupting access to preventive, diagnostic and treatment services. However, there
is limited evidence on how communities in malaria-endemic settings perceive and respond to the health impacts
of climate variability and change. This study explored community knowledge, perceptions, and practices related
to the relationship between climate variability and malaria transmission in south-eastern Tanzania.
Methods An explanatory mixed-methods cross-sectional study was conducted in malaria-endemic villages in south
eastern Tanzania. Quantitative data were collected through structured questionnaires administered to 384 community
members, while qualitative data were obtained through 11 key informant interviews and 12 focus group discussions
involving 72 participants. Survey data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative data were analysed thematically.
Results Among survey respondents, 86% reported experiencing climate-related changes, including altered cropping
seasons, increased flooding, and a perceived rise in vector-borne diseases. Approximately two-thirds (67.5%) recog
nized a link between climate change and malaria transmission. Perceived vulnerability was high, with 59.5% reporting
increased risk of vector-borne diseases and 70% indicating higher malaria occurrence during the rainy season com
pared to the dry season. Access to timely climate and health information was limited, as only 26.6% regularly received
updates, despite 96.6% expressing a desire for such information. Findings from focus group discussions and key
informant interviews corroborated these perceptions and highlighted the need for targeted community awareness
and education on climate-related malaria risks.
Conclusions Community members demonstrated awareness of climate change and its perceived impacts
on malaria and livelihoods. These findings highlight the importance of integrating community perspectives and local
knowledge into climate-adaptation and malaria-control strategies to enhance locally relevant and community-cen
tered resilience.