Barriers to student success in Madagascar

Various indicators suggest that many students in developing countries are not learning in school. Using Madagascar as a case study, we aimed to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of education among those enrolled in science and math programs of primary, secondary, and university institutions; and (2) understand barriers to student progression through the education system. To address these aims, we conducted 63 semi-structured interviews in June and August 2012 with science and math teachers in five population centers, across all three levels of the public and private school system. We found that crowded classes, limited resources (pedagogical and infrastructural), an average student age range of seven years per classroom (suggestive of grade repetition and/or late school starting age), and discontinuities in the language of instruction explain why teachers estimated that almost 25% of their students would not finish school. Although most secondary and university teachers taught the sciences only in French, they estimated that just one-third of students could fully understand the language. There were also urban-rural and public-private disparities. Teachers in urban areas were significantly more likely to teach using French than their rural counterparts, while public schools housed significantly larger classes than private institutions. While resource equalisation will help to resolve many of these disparities, improved early training in professional languages and increased local autonomy in designing appropriate curriculums will be necessary to tackle other shortfalls

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Capture, Movement, Trade, and Consumption of Mammals in Madagascar.

Wild meat trade constitutes a threat to many animal species. Understanding the commodity chain of wild animals (hunting, transportation, trade, consumption) can help target conservation initiatives. Wild meat commodity chain research has focused on the formal trade and less on informal enterprises, although informal enterprises contribute to a large portion of the wild meat trade in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the formal and informal components of these commodity chains by focusing on the mammalian wild meat trade in Madagascar. Our objectives were to: (1) identify hunting strategies used to capture different wild mammals; (2) analyze patterns of movement of wild meat from the capture location to the final consumer; (3) examine wild meat prices, volumes, and venues of sale; and (4) estimate the volume of wild meat consumption. Data were collected in May-August 2013 using semi-structured interviews with consumers (n = 1343 households, 21 towns), meat-sellers (n = 520 restaurants, open-air markets stalls, and supermarkets, 9 towns), and drivers of inter-city transit vehicles (n = 61, 5 towns). We found that: (1) a wide range of hunting methods were used, though prevalence of use differed by animal group; (2) wild meat was transported distances of up to 166 km to consumers, though some animal groups were hunted locally (<10 km) in rural areas; (3) most wild meat was procured from free sources (hunting, gifts), though urban respondents who consumed bats and wild pigs were more likely to purchase those meats; and (4) wild meat was consumed at lower rates than domestic meat, though urban respondents consumed wild meat twice as much per year compared to rural respondents. Apart from the hunting stage, the consumption and trade of wild meat in Madagascar is also likely more formalized than previously thought

Using Stable Isotopes to Infer the Impacts of Habitat Change on the Diets and Vertical Stratification of Frugivorous Bats in Madagascar

<div><p>Human-modified habitats are expanding rapidly; many tropical countries have highly fragmented and degraded forests. Preserving biodiversity in these areas involves protecting species–like frugivorous bats–that are important to forest regeneration. Fruit bats provide critical ecosystem services including seed dispersal, but studies of how their diets are affected by habitat change have often been rather localized. This study used stable isotope analyses (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C measurement) to examine how two fruit bat species in Madagascar, <i>Pteropus rufus</i> (n = 138) and <i>Eidolon dupreanum</i> (n = 52) are impacted by habitat change across a large spatial scale. Limited data for <i>Rousettus madagascariensis</i> are also presented. Our results indicated that the three species had broadly overlapping diets. Differences in diet were nonetheless detectable between <i>P</i>. <i>rufus</i> and <i>E</i>. <i>dupreanum</i>, and these diets shifted when they co-occurred, suggesting resource partitioning across habitats and vertical strata within the canopy to avoid competition. Changes in diet were correlated with a decrease in forest cover, though at a larger spatial scale in <i>P</i>. <i>rufus</i> than in <i>E</i>. <i>dupreanum</i>. These results suggest fruit bat species exhibit differing responses to habitat change, highlight the threats fruit bats face from habitat change, and clarify the spatial scales at which conservation efforts could be implemented.</p></div

Results of model selection (ΔAICc < 2), with corrected Akaike’s information criterion (AICc) and Akaike weights (<i>w</i>_<i>i</i>).

<p>Results of model selection (ΔAICc < 2), with corrected Akaike’s information criterion (AICc) and Akaike weights (<i>w</i>_<i>i</i>).</p

Towns where hair samples were collected, with hunting sites for each town.

<p>Towns where hair samples were collected, with hunting sites for each town.</p

Locations of cities, indicated by black circles, where wild meat samples were collected.

<p>Dark gray regions denote protected habitat, black lines indicate roads, and the inset indicates the location of the study region on the island of Madagascar. Reprinted under a CC BY license, with permission from Reuter, original copyright 2015 [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0153192#pone.0153192.ref041" target="_blank">41</a>].</p

Distances that meat was transported prior to consumption.

<p>Data taken from meat consumption interviews. Distances that meat was transported to, or that urban and rural consumers traveled, to (A) procure wild meat as a gift, from hunting, or purchase; and (B) domestic and wild meat purchased from restaurants, markets, hunters, and middlemen. The whiskers extend to data points within 1.5 times the interquartile range; black circles indicate outliers. Towns are replicates. ND: No Data; UW: Urban seller of wild meat; UD: Urban seller of domestic meat; RW: Rural seller of wild meat; RD: Rural seller of domestic meat.</p