Capacity Gaps in Post Disaster Waste Management: Case Study in Sri Lanka

Disaster waste is one of the major consequences aftermath of any disaster, impacts on public and environment, rescue and emergency services, provision of lifeline support and socio-economic recovery of affected areas. Thus, management of wastes created by disasters has become an increasingly important issue to be addressed in responding to a disaster. This chapter intends to present the prevailing gaps in disaster waste management and approaches to minimize the impacts on disaster management at developing countries with special emphasis to Sri Lankan context. Findings revealed that, unavailability of single point responsibility and provisions for disaster waste in existing policies and capacity constraints of the prevailing peace time solid waste management practices as major capacity gaps. Establishment of a regulatory body and enforceable rules and regulations with necessary levels of capacities were identified with seven areas for capacity building for post disaster waste management. The research enabled to attain sustainable post disaster waste management for future resilience

Individual correlates of podoconiosis in areas of varying endemicity: a case-control study

BACKGROUND Podoconiosis is a non-filarial form of elephantiasis resulting in lymphedema of the lower legs. Previous studies have suggested that podoconiosis arises from the interplay of individual and environmental factors. Here, our aim was to understand the individual-level correlates of podoconiosis by comparing 460 podoconiosis-affected individuals and 707 unaffected controls. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This was a case-control study carried out in six kebeles (the lowest governmental administrative unit) in northern Ethiopia. Each kebele was classified into one of three endemicity levels: 'low' (prevalence 5%). A total of 142 (30.7%) households had two or more cases of podoconiosis. Compared to controls, the majority of the cases, especially women, were less educated (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.2), were unmarried (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 2.6-4.6) and had lower income (t = -4.4, p<0.0001). On average, cases started wearing shoes ten years later than controls. Among cases, age of first wearing shoes was positively correlated with age of onset of podoconiosis (r = 0.6, t = 12.5, p<0.0001). Among all study participants average duration of shoe wearing was less than 30 years. Between both cases and controls, people in 'high' and 'medium' endemicity kebeles were less likely than people in 'low' endemicity areas to 'ever' have owned shoes (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.7). CONCLUSIONS Late use of shoes, usually after the onset of podoconiosis, and inequalities in education, income and marriage were found among cases, particularly among females. There were clustering of cases within households, thus interventions against podoconiosis will benefit from household-targeted case tracing. Most importantly, we identified a secular increase in shoe-wearing over recent years, which may give opportunities to promote shoe-wearing without increasing stigma among those at high risk of podoconiosis

Body-wave tomographic imaging of the Turkana Depression: Implications for rift development and plume-lithosphere interactions

The Turkana Depression, a topographically-subdued, broadly-rifted zone between the elevated East African and Ethiopian plateaus, disrupts the N–S, fault-bounded rift basin morphology that characterizes most of the East African Rift. The unusual breadth of the Turkana Depression leaves unanswered questions about the initiation and evolution of rifting between the Main Ethiopian and Eastern rifts. Hypotheses explaining the unusually broad, low-lying area include superposed Mesozoic and Cenozoic rifting and a lack of mantle lithospheric thinning and dynamic support. To address these issues, we have carried out the first body-wave tomographic study of the Depression’s upper mantle. Seismically-derived temperatures at 100 km depth exceed petrological estimates, suggesting the presence of mantle melt, although not as voluminous as the Main Ethiopian Rift, contributes to velocity anomalies. A NW–SE-trending high wavespeed band in southern Ethiopia at urn:x-wiley:15252027:media:ggge22580:ggge22580-math-0001200 km depth is interpreted as refractory Proterozoic lithosphere which has likely influenced the localization of both Mesozoic and Cenozoic rifting. At urn:x-wiley:15252027:media:ggge22580:ggge22580-math-0002100 km depth below the central Depression, a single localized low wavespeed zone is lacking. Only in the northernmost Eastern Rift and southern Lake Turkana is there evidence for focused low wavespeeds resembling the Main Ethiopian Rift, that bifurcate below the Depression and broaden approaching southern Ethiopia further north. These low wavespeeds may be attributed to melt-intruded mantle lithosphere or ponded asthenospheric material below lithospheric thin-spots induced by the region's multiple rifting phases. Low wavespeeds persist to the mantle transition zone suggesting the Depression may not lack mantle dynamic support in comparison to the two plateaus

The development of multiple phases of superposed rifting in the Turkana Depression, East Africa: evidence from receiver functions

The Turkana Depression in Eastern Africa separates the elevated plateaus of East Africa to the south and Ethiopia-Yemen to the north. It remains unclear whether the Depression lacks dynamic mantle support, or if the entire East Africa region is dynamically supported and the Depression compensated isostatically by thinned crust. Also poorly understood is how Miocene-Recent extension has developed across the Depression, connecting spatially separated magmatic rift zones in Ethiopia and Kenya. Receiver function analysis is used to constrain Moho depth and bulk-crustal V P /V S ratio below new seismograph networks in the Depression, and on the northern Tanzania craton. Crustal thickness is ∼40 km below northern Uganda and 30–35 km below southern Ethiopia, but 20–30 km below most of the Depression, where mass-balance calculations reveal low elevations can be explained adequately by crustal thinning alone. Despite the fact that magmatism has occurred for 45 Ma across the Depression, more than 15 Ma before East African Rift (EAR) extension initiated, bulk crustal V P /V S across southern Ethiopia and the Turkana Depression (∼1.74) is similar to that observed in areas unaffected by Cenozoic rifting and magmatism. Evidence for voluminous lower crustal intrusions and/or melt, widespread below the Ethiopian rift and Ethiopian plateau to the north, is therefore lacking. These observations, when reviewed in light of high stretching factors (β ≤ 2.11), suggest Cenozoic extension has been dominated until recently by faulting and plate stretching, rather than magma intrusion, which is likely an incipient process, operating directly below seismically-active Lake Turkana. Early-stage EAR basins to the west of Lake Turkana, with associated stretching factors of β ≈ 2, formed in crust only moderately thinned during earlier rifting episodes. Conversely, ∼23 km-thick crust beneath the Kino Sogo Fault Belt (KSFB) has small offset faults and thin sedimentary strata, suggesting almost all of the observed stretching occurred in Mesozoic times. Despite the KSFB marking the shortest path between focused extensional zones to the north and south, seismicity and GPS data show that modern extension is localized below Lake Turkana to the west. Failed Mesozoic rift zones, now characterized by thinned crust and relatively refractory mantle lithosphere, are being circumnavigated, not exploited by EAR rifting

Genetically programmed retinoic acid deficiency during gastrulation phenocopies most known developmental defects due to acute prenatal alcohol exposure in FASD

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) arises from maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy affecting 2%–5% of the Western population. In Xenopus laevis studies, we showed that alcohol exposure during early gastrulation reduces retinoic acid (RA) levels at this critical embryonic stage inducing craniofacial malformations associated with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. A genetic mouse model that induces a transient RA deficiency in the node during gastrulation is described. These mice recapitulate the phenotypes characteristic of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) suggesting a molecular etiology for the craniofacial malformations seen in children with FASD. Gsc+/Cyp26A1 mouse embryos have a reduced RA domain and expression in the developing frontonasal prominence region and delayed HoxA1 and HoxB1 expression at E8.5. These embryos also show aberrant neurofilament expression during cranial nerve formation at E10.5 and have significant FASD sentinel-like craniofacial phenotypes at E18.5. Gsc+/Cyp26A1 mice develop severe maxillary malocclusions in adulthood. Phenocopying the PAE-induced developmental malformations with a genetic model inducing RA deficiency during early gastrulation strongly supports the alcohol/vitamin A competition model as a major molecular etiology for the neurodevelopmental defects and craniofacial malformations seen in children with FASD

Tuberculin screening of some selected Fulani lactating cows in north-central Nigeria

The prevalence of mycobacterial infection among lactating Fulani cows was investigated in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Kaduna State of Nigeria. Tuberculin testing using single comparative intradermal tuberculin test showed a 14.6 % positive, 4 % doubtful, and 81.4 % negative reactors. Mycobacterial infection was found to be present in the nomadic (constantly moving) and seminomadic (limited movement) management systems studied but management showed no significant effect on the prevalence of the disease. However, the prevalence was significantly higher in older age groups than the younger ones (P < 0.05).Peer reviewedSubmitted Versio

Determinants of health seeking behaviour following rabies exposure in Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to identify factors that determine medical treatment seeking behaviour following potential rabies exposure after being bitten by a suspected dog and the likelihood of compliance to receive sufficient doses of post-exposure prophylaxis after the visit to a health centre visit. A detailed survey based on case investigation was conducted on suspected rabid dog bite cases in three areas of Ethiopia. Two multivariable logistic regression models were created with a set of putative variables to explain treatment seeking and compliance outcomes. Based on the registered bite cases at each health centre and the set of unregistered bite cases derived by contact tracing, 655 bite victim cases were identified to have occurred between September 2013 and August 2014. Of these evaluated bite incidences, 465 cases were considered to have been caused by a potentially rabid dog. About 77% of these suspected rabid dog bite victims visited a health centre, while 57% received sufficient doses of PEP. The overall likelihood of seeking medical services following rabies exposure was higher for people bitten by dogs of unknown ownership, where the bite was severe, being bitten on the leg, spend of more than 100 USD per month and where the victim lived close to the nearest health centre, while the likelihood of receiving sufficient doses of PEP was sensitive to monthly spending and distance to health centre. However, the evaluated factors did only explain a part of the variation among the three districts. The district in which victims lived appeared to have a relevant influence on the likelihood of seeking medical treatment but did not improve the prediction on the likelihood of treatment compliance. Given the insights obtained from this study, improvements in the rural districts with regard to accessibility of post-exposure prophylaxis delivering health centres in shorter distance could improve health seeking behaviour. In addition, in rural districts, majority of exposed persons who seek medical treatment tend to comply with treatment regimen, indicating that the promotion of medical treatment through awareness creation campaigns could be beneficial

Burden of podoconiosis in poor rural communities in Guliso woreda, western Ethiopia

Background. Podoconiosis is an environmental lymphoedema affecting people living and working barefoot on irritant red clay soil. Podoconiosis is relatively well described in southern Ethiopia, but remains neglected in other parts of the Ethiopian highlands. This study aimed to assess the burden of podoconiosis in rural communities in western Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulliso woreda (district), west Ethiopia. A household survey in the 26 rural kebeles (villages) of this district was conducted to identify podoconiosis patients and to measure disease prevalence. A more detailed study was done in six randomly selected kebeles to describe clinical features of the disease, patients’ experiences of foot hygiene, and shoe wearing practice. 1,935 cases of podoconiosis were registered, giving a prevalence of 2.8%. The prevalence was higher in those aged 15 – 64 years (5.2%) and in females than males (prevalence ratio 2.6:1). 90.3% of patients were in the 15 – 64 year age group. In the detailed study, 335 cases were interviewed and their feet assessed. The majority of patients were farmers, uneducated, and poor. Two-third of patients developed the disease before the age of thirty. Almost all patients (97.0%) had experienced adenolymphangitis (ALA - red, hot legs, swollen and painful groin) at least once during the previous year. Patients experienced an average of 5.5 ALA episodes annually, each of average 4.4 days, thus 24 working days were lost annually. The incidence of ALA in podoconiosis patients was higher than that reported for filariasis in other countries. Shoe wearing was limited mainly due to financial problems. Conclusions. We have documented high podoconiosis prevalence, frequent adenolymphangitis and high disease-related morbidity in west Ethiopia. Interventions must be developed to prevent, treat and control podoconiosis, one of the core neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia

Differentiating flow, melt, or fossil seismic anisotropy beneath Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a region where continental rifting gives way to oceanic spreading. Yet the role that pre-existing lithospheric structure, melt, mantle flow, or active upwellings may play in this process is debated. Measurements of seismic anisotropy are often used to attempt to understand the contribution that these mechanisms may play. In this study, we use new data in Afar, Ethiopia along with legacy data across Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Yemen to obtain estimates of mantle anisotropy using SKS-wave splitting. We show that two layers of anisotropy exist, and we directly invert for these. We show that fossil anisotropy with fast directions oriented northeast-southwest may be preserved in the lithosphere away from the rift. Beneath the Main Ethiopian Rift and parts of Afar, anisotropy due to shear segregated melt along sharp changes in lithospheric thickness dominates the shear-wave splitting signal in the mantle. Beneath Afar, away from regions with significant lithospheric topography, melt pockets associated with the crustal and uppermost mantle magma storage dominate the signal in localized regions. In general, little anisotropy is seen in the uppermost mantle beneath Afar suggesting melt retains no preferential alignment. These results show the important role melt plays in weakening the lithosphere and imply that as rifting evolves passive upwelling sustains extension. A dominant northeast-southwest anisotropic fast direction is observed in a deeper layer across all of Ethiopia. This suggests that a conduit like plume is lacking beneath Afar today, rather a broad flow from the southwest dominates flow in the upper mantle

Localized boundary-domain singular integral equations based on harmonic parametrix for divergence-form elliptic PDEs with variable matrix coefficients

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official publised version can be accessed from the links below. Copyright @ 2013 Springer BaselEmploying the localized integral potentials associated with the Laplace operator, the Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary value problems for general variable-coefficient divergence-form second-order elliptic partial differential equations are reduced to some systems of localized boundary-domain singular integral equations. Equivalence of the integral equations systems to the original boundary value problems is proved. It is established that the corresponding localized boundary-domain integral operators belong to the Boutet de Monvel algebra of pseudo-differential operators. Applying the Vishik-Eskin theory based on the factorization method, the Fredholm properties and invertibility of the operators are proved in appropriate Sobolev spaces.This research was supported by the grant EP/H020497/1: "Mathematical Analysis of Localized Boundary-Domain Integral Equations for Variable-Coefficient Boundary Value Problems" from the EPSRC, UK