The role of the government of Botswana in increasing rural and urban access to food

A conference paper on the role played by the government of Botswana in enabling access to food for both its urban and rural populations.Botswana’s food and agricultural problems are fully recognized by the government and are considered in its national economic priority agenda. In the November 1985 National Food Strategy paper, the state identified the following three problem areas of the country’s agricultural economy: inadequate domestic food production, inadequate nutrition and access^, and large food import and aid dependence-due to the country’s geographic location, the potential political instability in Southern Africa, and its implication for national food security (Botswana, 1985a).The research supporting the preparation the proceedings papers was financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau of Science and Technology; Bureau for Africa; and the Southern Africa Regional Programme

Heritability and the Genetic Correlation of Heart Rate Variability and Blood Pressure in >29 000 Families The Lifelines Cohort Study:The Lifelines Cohort Study

Dysregulation of the cardiac autonomic nervous system, as indexed by reduced heart rate variability (HRV), has been associated with the development of high blood pressure (BP). However, the underlying pathological mechanisms are not yet fully understood. This study aimed to estimate heritability of HRV and BP and to determine their genetic overlap. We used baseline data of the 3-generation Lifelines population-based cohort study (n=149 067; mean age, 44.5). In-house software was used to calculate root mean square of successive differences and SD of normal-to-normal intervals as indices of HRV based on 10-second resting ECGs. BP was recorded with an automatic BP monitor. We estimated heritabilities and genetic correlations with variance components methods in ASReml software. We additionally estimated genetic correlations with bivariate linkage disequilibrium score regression using publicly available genome-wide association study data. The heritability (SE) estimates were 15.6% (0.90%) for SD of normal-to-normal intervals and 17.9% (0.90%) for root mean square of successive differences. For BP measures, they ranged from 24.4% (0.90%) for pulse pressure to 30.3% (0.90%) for diastolic BP. Significant negative genetic correlations (all P<0.0001) of root mean square of successive differences/SD of normal-to-normal intervals with systolic BP (-0.20/-0.16) and with diastolic BP (-0.15/-0.13) were observed. LD score regression showed largely consistent genetic correlation estimates of root mean square of successive differences/SD of normal-to-normal intervals with systolic BP (range, -0.08 to -0.23) and diastolic BP (range, -0.20 to -0.27). Our study shows a substantial contribution of genetic factors in explaining the variance of HRV and BP measures in the general population. The significant negative genetic correlations between HRV and BP indicate that genetic pathways for HRV and BP partially overlap

Population Based Survey of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases at Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Chronic Non-communicable Diseases are increasingly becoming more prevalent and burden to the health care system in developing countries including Ethiopia. However, evidences showing the magnitude of the problem in those countries are scarce particularly in a community setting.The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of chronic non communicable diseases in a community.METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center from late September 2008 to end of January 2009. A random sample of 4,469 individuals aged 15-64 years was studied. Data on characteristics and chronic symptom inventories were collected by interviewing study participants. Blood pressure was taken three times from each individual and blood sugar and lipid levels were determined after an overnight fasting. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 16.0 and STATA 11.RESULTS: The overall prevalence of CNCD was 8.9% (7.8% men and 9.8% women). The specific observed prevalence were 0.5% for diabetes mellitus (DM), 2.6% for hypertension, 3.0% for cardiovascular diseases, 1.5% for asthma and 2.7% for mental illness. In addition 3.1% and 9.3% of the study population had been informed to have DM and hypertension respectively.CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of CNCD among the study population indicating an immediate need for preventive action and also warrant further nationally representative study.Keywords: CNCD, Non-communicable, Prevalence, Southwest Ethiopi

Evaluation of impacts of future climate change and water use scenarios on regional hydrology

General circulation models (GCMs) have been widely used to simulate current and future climate at the global scale. However, the development of frameworks to apply GCMs to assess potential climate change impacts on regional hydrologic systems, ability to meet future water demand, and compliance with water resource regulations is more recent. In this study eight GCMs were bias-corrected and downscaled using the bias correction and stochastic analog (BCSA) downscaling method and then used, together with three ET0 methods and eight different water use scenarios, to drive an integrated hydrologic model previously developed for the Tampa Bay region in western central Florida. Variance-based sensitivity analysis showed that changes in projected streamflow were very sensitive to GCM selection, but relatively insensitive to ET0 method or water use scenario. Changes in projections of groundwater level were sensitive to both GCM and water use scenario, but relatively insensitive to ET0 method. Five of eight GCMs projected a decrease in streamflow and groundwater availability in the future regardless of water use scenario or ET method. For the business as usual water use scenario all eight GCMs indicated that, even with active water conservation programs, increases in public water demand projected for 2045 could not be met from ground and surface water supplies while achieving current groundwater level and surface water flow regulations. With adoption of 40&thinsp;% wastewater reuse for public supply and active conservation four of the eight GCMs indicate that 2045 public water demand could be met while achieving current environmental regulations; however, drier climates would require a switch from groundwater to surface water use. These results indicate a high probability of a reduction in future freshwater supply in the Tampa Bay region if environmental regulations intended to protect current aquatic ecosystems do not adapt to the changing climate. Broad interpretation of the results of this study may be limited by the fact that all future water use scenarios assumed that increases in water demand would be the result of intensification of water use on existing agricultural, industrial, and urban lands. Future work should evaluate the impacts of a range of potential land use change scenarios, with associated water use change projections, over a larger number of GCMs.</p

Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Nanorice

A periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) with nanorice morphology was successfully synthesized by a template assisted sol–gel method using a chain-type precursor. The PMO is composed of D and T sites in the ratio 1:2. The obtained mesoporous nanorice has a surface area of 753 m2 g−1, one-dimensional channels, and a narrow pore size distribution centered at 4.3 nm. The nanorice particles have a length of ca. 600 nm and width of ca. 200 nm

Simple Systematic Synthesis of Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles with Adjustable Aspect Ratios

One-dimensional periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) nanoparticles with tunable aspect ratios are obtained from a chain-type molecular precursor octaethoxy-1,3,5-trisilapentane. The aspect ratio can be tuned from 2:1 to >20:1 simply by variation in the precursor concentration in acidic aqueous solutions containing constant amounts of triblock copolymer Pluronic P123. The mesochannels are highly ordered and are oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the PMO particles. No significant Si–C bond cleavage occurs during the synthesis according to29Si MAS NMR. The materials exhibit surface areas between 181 and 936 m2 g−1

Capacity of health facilities for diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia

Background: There are dearth of literature on the capacity of the health system to diagnose and treat HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia. In this study we evaluated the capacity of health facilities for HIV/AIDS care, its spatial distribution and variations by regions and zones in Ethiopia. Methods: We analyzed the Service Provision Assessment plus (SPA+) survey data that were collected in 2014 in all regions of Ethiopia. We assessed structural, process and overall capacity of the health system based on the Donabedian quality of care model. We included 5 structural and 8 process indicators and overall capacity score was constructed by taking the average of all indicators. Multiple linear regression was done using STATA 14 to assess the association of the location and types of health facilities with overall capacity score. Maps displaying the average capacity score at Zonal level were produced using ArcGIS Desktop v10.3 (Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., Redlands CA, USA). Results: A total of 873 health facilities were included in the analysis. Less than 5% of the private facilities provided antiretroviral therapy (ART); had national ART guideline, baseline CD4 count or viral load and tuberculosis screening mechanisms. Nearly one-third of the health centers (34.9%) provided ART. Public hospitals have better capacity score (77.1%) than health centers (45.9%) and private health facilities (24.8%). The overall capacity score for urban facilities (57.1%) was higher than that of the rural (38.2%) health facilities (β = 15.4, 95% CI: 11.7, 19.2). Health centers (β = − 21.4, 95% CI: -25.4, − 17.4) and private health facilities (β = − 50.9, 95% CI: -54.8, − 47.1) had lower overall capacity score than hospitals. Facilities in Somali (β = − 13.8, 95% CI: -20.6, − 7.0) and SNNPR (β = − 5.0, 95% CI: -9.8, − 0.1) regions had lower overall capacity score than facilities in the Oromia region. Zones located in emerging regions such as Gambella and Benishangul Gumz and in remote areas of Oromia and SNNPR had lower capacity score in terms of process indicators. Conclusions: There is a significant geographical heterogeneity on the capacity of health facilities for HIV/AIDS care and treatment in Ethiopia. Targeted capacity improvement initiatives are recommended with focus on health centers and private health facilities, and emerging Regions and the rural and remote areas

Identifying the structure of Zn-N-2 active sites and structural activation

Identification of active sites is one of the main obstacles to rational design of catalysts for diverse applications. Fundamental insight into the identification of the structure of active sites and structural contributions for catalytic performance are still lacking. Recently, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and density functional theory (DFT) provide important tools to disclose the electronic, geometric and catalytic natures of active sites. Herein, we demonstrate the structural identification of Zn-N-2 active sites with both experimental/theoretical X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra. Further DFT calculations reveal that the oxygen species activation on Zn-N-2 active sites is significantly enhanced, which can accelerate the reduction of oxygen with high selectivity, according well with the experimental results. This work highlights the identification and investigation of Zn-N-2 active sites, providing a regular principle to obtain deep insight into the nature of catalysts for various catalytic applications