Seasonality of Primary productivity of phytoplankton of Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana -West Africa

The primary productivity and seasonality of phytoplankton and its seasonality in Lake Bosomtwe (Ghana), West Africa were studied from September 2005 to August 2006 using the dissolved oxygen method. The wet weight biomass (0.41±0.37 gCm-2d-1, n=25), Chlorophyll a (52.11±19.51 mg m-2, n=17), mixed layer depth (9.28±3.47 m, n=25), euphotic depth (4.43±1.76 m, n=25), ratio of mixed layer to euphotic depth (2.17±0.74, n=25), secchi disc depth (1.52±0.34 m, n=25), irradiance (1180±341.28 µE m-2s-1, n=25), extinction coefficient (0.97±0.46, n=25), and total phosphorus concentrations (1.84±0.49 µmol L-1, n=20) were measured to assess their influence on the productivity of the phytoplankton. Our assessment revealed high areal gross productivity of the phytoplankton (4.72 ± 1.56 gC m-2 d-1, n = 25) which is within the range for tropical African lakes, but concurrent high areal community respiration rates (4.34 ± 2.78 gC m-2 d-1, n = 25) contributed to a low net productivity (0.37 ± 2.32 gC m-2 d-1, n = 25) and growth rates (0.14 ± 0.33 d-1, n = 21). Variabilities in the gross productivity of the phytoplankton were high (CV =33.10 %) and driven by similarly high variabilities in the physicochemical and biological parameters. Productivity also exhibited clear seasonality associated with the mixing and stratification of the lake. The physicochemical and biological parameters (mixed layer depth, euphotic depth, secchi disc depth, irradiance, chlorophyll a, and the community respiration) all had a positive relationship with the primary production) whiles ratio of mixed layer to euphotic depth, total phosphorus, wet weigh biomass had a negative relationship with the gross productivity. Of all the measured parameters, only areal community respiration (r2 = 30.6 %) had a significant predictive value (r2 < 0.05).

Culture in sustainable infrastructure

The high failure rate of infrastructures around the world is alarming, most especially when such failures constrain economic growth and development. In most cases, existing institutions or strategies designed to maintain and reproduce effective infrastructures in areas that lack them have been mostly unsuccessful, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. A carefully conducted survey covering the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria confirms the low-level stability, supply, quality and maintenance of infrastructure and its services. Using the severity index in matrix order model developed in this study, major factors responsible for unsustainable infrastructure delivery and failures are identified. The paper further argues that these major factors are interrelated rather than being peculiar to Nigeria or sub-Saharan Africa. Suffice it to say that the effects of these problems are widespread and of global impact. However, what cuts across all the major factors responsible for unsustainable infrastructure delivery and high failure rates are gross institutional lapses. In view of the fact that sustainable infrastructure is essential for sustainable development, this paper emphasises the uniqueness of the recipients' cultures and values alongside the integration of indigenous communities and infrastructure users: from conceptualisation to delivery within the framework for institutional building and sustainable infrastructure provision

Building research capacity for African institutions: confronting the research leadership gap and lessons from African research leaders

This study explores the meaning and competencies of ‘research leadership’ in the African context and investigates strategies for developing it. Data for the study were gathered through an online survey that targeted recipients of research grants/support from key research funders to selected African institutions. The recipients of these grants were either research leaders or team members. The study employs a mixed methodology approach with empirical data drawn from focus group discussions and online surveys of English-speaking research leaders and research teams whose research work was supported by the selected funding institutions. In line with literature of leadership styles in Africa, our results suggest that preferred research leadership style for African researchers is different in some ways, especially with its attention to the ‘human touch’. Respondents preferred ‘people/relationship orientated’, ‘task-orientated’ and ‘democratic/participative’ styles of leadership, all of which have strong elements of Ubuntu (humaneness). The study also showed that leadership development for many in Africa involves mostly ‘learning by doing’ and informal mentoring, and less formal training opportunities. We explore policy implications of our findings with reference to research leadership development in African institutions, paying particular attention to challenges faced by female research leaders, and stress that research leadership develop- ment in Africa must be seen as a long-term and continuous activity and calls for more formal leadership development opportunities to complement the existing informal approaches.This article is published as Building research capacity for African institutions: confronting the research leadership gap and lessons from African research leaders”, International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, (2015) 1046497. (with Ezekiel Kalipeni, Nicholas Awortwi & Joy Mueni Maina Kiiru).Doi: 10.1080/13603124.2015.1046497 Posted with permission.</p

The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator: development and validation of a tool for identifying African surgical patients at risk of severe postoperative complications

Background: The African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS) showed that surgical patients in Africa have a mortality twice the global average. Existing risk assessment tools are not valid for use in this population because the pattern of risk for poor outcomes differs from high-income countries. The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple, preoperative risk stratification tool to identify African surgical patients at risk for in-hospital postoperative mortality and severe complications. Methods: ASOS was a 7-day prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing surgery in Africa. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator was constructed with a multivariable logistic regression model for the outcome of in-hospital mortality and severe postoperative complications. The following preoperative risk factors were entered into the model; age, sex, smoking status, ASA physical status, preoperative chronic comorbid conditions, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. Results: The model was derived from 8799 patients from 168 African hospitals. The composite outcome of severe postoperative complications and death occurred in 423/8799 (4.8%) patients. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator includes the following risk factors: age, ASA physical status, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.805 and good calibration with c-statistic corrected for optimism of 0.784. Conclusions: This simple preoperative risk calculator could be used to identify high-risk surgical patients in African hospitals and facilitate increased postoperative surveillance. © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Medical Research Council of South Africa gran

Maternal and neonatal outcomes after caesarean delivery in the African Surgical Outcomes Study: a 7-day prospective observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Maternal and neonatal mortality is high in Africa, but few large, prospective studies have been done to investigate the risk factors associated with these poor maternal and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: A 7-day, international, prospective, observational cohort study was done in patients having caesarean delivery in 183 hospitals across 22 countries in Africa. The inclusion criteria were all consecutive patients (aged ≥18 years) admitted to participating centres having elective and non-elective caesarean delivery during the 7-day study cohort period. To ensure a representative sample, each hospital had to provide data for 90% of the eligible patients during the recruitment week. The primary outcome was in-hospital maternal mortality and complications, which were assessed by local investigators. The study was registered on the South African National Health Research Database, number KZ_2015RP7_22, and on ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03044899. FINDINGS: Between February, 2016, and May, 2016, 3792 patients were recruited from hospitals across Africa. 3685 were included in the postoperative complications analysis (107 missing data) and 3684 were included in the maternal mortality analysis (108 missing data). These hospitals had a combined number of specialist surgeons, obstetricians, and anaesthetists totalling 0·7 per 100 000 population (IQR 0·2-2·0). Maternal mortality was 20 (0·5%) of 3684 patients (95% CI 0·3-0·8). Complications occurred in 633 (17·4%) of 3636 mothers (16·2-18·6), which were predominantly severe intraoperative and postoperative bleeding (136 [3·8%] of 3612 mothers). Maternal mortality was independently associated with a preoperative presentation of placenta praevia, placental abruption, ruptured uterus, antepartum haemorrhage (odds ratio 4·47 [95% CI 1·46-13·65]), and perioperative severe obstetric haemorrhage (5·87 [1·99-17·34]) or anaesthesia complications (11·47 (1·20-109·20]). Neonatal mortality was 153 (4·4%) of 3506 infants (95% CI 3·7-5·0). INTERPRETATION: Maternal mortality after caesarean delivery in Africa is 50 times higher than that of high-income countries and is driven by peripartum haemorrhage and anaesthesia complications. Neonatal mortality is double the global average. Early identification and appropriate management of mothers at risk of peripartum haemorrhage might improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in Africa. FUNDING: Medical Research Council of South Africa.Medical Research Council of South Africa