The trap efficiency for sediment and carbon in exclosures on steep slopes. A case study from the Tembien Highlands, Tigray, Ethiopia

status: publishe

Soils and land use in the Tigray Highlands (Northern Ethiopia)

Land use in a 208 ha representative catchment in the Tigray Highlands, Dogu’a Tembien district in Northern Ethiopia was studied in relation to soil geography. Typical soils are Vertisols, Vertic Cambisols, Cumulic Regosols, Calcaric Regosols and Phaeozems. Patterns of land use vary greatly within the catchment and results from x2-tests showed strong associations (p<0.001) between soil type and land use and crop production system. There is a strong association between cropland and colluvium high in basaltic content because the most fertile soils, such as Vertisols and Vertic Cambisols, have developed on this material. Preference is for autochthonous soils on in situ parent material, irrespective of the rock type, to be put under rangeland. Land use by smallholders in Dogu’a Tembien appears to be the result primarily of the interaction between environmental and social factors.status: publishe

Soil–landscape relationships in the basalt-dominated highlands of Tigray, Ethiopia

Though knowledge about the distribution and properties of soils is a key issue to support sustainable land management, existing knowledge of the soils in Tigray (Northern Ethiopian Highlands) is limited to either maps with a small scale or with a small scope. The goal of this study is to establish a model that explains the spatial soil variability found in the May-Leiba catchment, and to open the scope for extrapolating this information to the surrounding basalt-dominated uplands. A semi-detailed (scale: 1/40 000) soil survey was conducted in the catchment. Profile pits were described and subjected to physico-chemical analysis, and augerings were conducted. This information was combined with information from aerial photographs and geological and geomorphologic observations. The main driving factors that define the variability in soil types found were: 1) geology, through soil parent material and the occurrence of harder layers, often acting as aquitards or aquicludes; 2) different types of mass movements that occupy large areas of the catchment; and 3) severe human-induced soil erosion and deposition. These factors lead to “red-black” Skeletic Cambisol– Pellic Vertisol catenas on basalt and Calcaric Regosol–Colluvic Calcaric Cambisols–Calcaric Vertisol catenas on limestone. The driving factors can be derived from aerial photographs. This creates the possibility to extrapolate information and predict the soil distribution in nearby regions with a comparable geology. A model was elaborated, which enables the user to predict soil types, using topography, geomorphology, geology and soil colours, all of which can be derived from aerial photographs. This derived model was later applied to other catchments and validated in the field.status: publishe

Acessibilidade de indivíduos infectados pelo HIV aos serviços de saúde: uma revisão de literatura Accessibility to health services by HIV-infected patients: a literature review

Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar uma revisão de estudos que enfocam o tema da acessibilidade a ações e serviços de saúde. Tem-se demonstrado que indivíduos infectados pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana (HIV) podem apresentar uma melhor sobrevida dependendo do tipo de acesso que tenham às ações e serviços de saúde, como, por exemplo, acesso a medicamentos profiláticos (por exemplo, zidovudina, pentamidina). Desta forma, o presente trabalho enfatiza e utiliza dados da epidemia do HIV como forma de abordar o tema proposto. O artigo inicia-se com uma exposição do marco teórico sobre acessibilidade, seguida de uma revisão bibliográfica estruturada em quatro tópicos, a saber: 1) aspectos epidemiológicos da AIDS; 2) avaliação de qualidade dos serviços de saúde; 3) acessibilidade às ações e serviços de saúde e 4) estudos de acessibilidade em pacientes infectados pelo HIV. Considerações finais sobre o tema enfocado apontam para a necessidade de se compreender as implicações das diversas barreiras de acesso aos serviços, levando-se em conta os custos sociais e humanos da infecção pelo HIV, as necessidades e demandas dos indivíduos infectados e as conseqüências que o não-atendimento em tempo hábil pode ter para estes indivíduos.<br>The aim of this paper is to provide a review of studies on accessibility to health care. It has been shown that patients infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may present better survival estimates depending upon their access to adequate health care, such as the availability of prophylactic therapy (e.g. zidovudine, pentamidine). The present review has emphasized access to health care in light of data from the current HIV epidemic. Theorical aspects pertaining to accessibility are presented, followed by a brief literature review on four main topics: 1. epidemiological aspects of HIV; 2. evaluation of health service quality; 3. accessibility to health care; and 4. accessibility studies on HIV-infected patients. Final considerations indicate the need to understand the various consequences of barriers to health care, taking into account the social and human costs of HIV infection, the needs and demands of HIV-infected patients, and the consequences of delays in care for these individuals

Providing both autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) may have a stronger impact on the outcome of autologous HSCT in adult patients than activity levels or implementation of JACIE at Belgian transplant centres.

While performance since the introduction of the JACIE quality management system has been shown to be improved for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT), impact on autologous-HSCT remains unclear in Europe. Our study on 2697 autologous-HSCT performed in adults in 17 Belgian centres (2007-2013) aims at comparing the adjusted 1 and 3-yr survival between the different centres & investigating the impact of 3 centre-related factors on performance (time between JACIE accreditation achievement by the centre and the considered transplant, centre activity volume and type of HSCT performed by centres: exclusively autologous vs both autologous & allogeneic). We showed a relatively homogeneous performance between Belgian centres before national completeness of JACIE implementation. The 3 centre-related factors had a significant impact on the 1-yr survival, while activity volume and type of HSCT impacted the 3-yr survival of autologous-HSCT patients in univariable analyses. Only activity volume (impact on 1-yr survival only) and type of HSCT (impact on 1 and 3-yr survivals) remained significant in multivariable analysis. This is explained by the strong relationship between these 3 variables. An extended transplantation experience, i.e., performing both auto & allo-HSCT, appears to be a newly informative quality indicator potentially conveying a multitude of underlying complex factors