Randaberg sentrum øst, plan 2011004: Jordbrukspor i gammel utmark : Harastad, gnr 49., bnr. 846, 847, Randaberg kommune, Rogaland

Oppdragsgiver: Randaberg kommuneArkeologisk museum gjennomførte undersøkelsen av lokalitet id 161040 i løpet av 10 uker om sommeren 2015. Hele lokalitetsflaten ble avdekket ved hjelp av gravemaskin, strukturene som viste seg i plan ble renset frem og undersøkt ved håndgraving. Undersøkelsen kunne påvise spor etter jordbruksaktiviteter og sporadiske opphold av menneskene siden bronsealderen. I området kunne rester av en rydningsrøys og en godt bevart stakketuft bli dokumentert. Det ble ikke funnet spor etter bosetning eller graver. På grunn av den sparsommelige funntilfanget ble undersøkelsen avsluttet tidligere enn planlagt. Det ble foretatt radiologisk datering av trekull fra 5 forskjellige strukturer. Noe overaskende viste 4 dateringer bronsealder og en datering yngre steinalder. Dette var eldre enn forventet. Jordbruk og sporadisk opphold i undersøkelsesområdet begynte etter disse dateringer allerede 3000 – 4000 år før nå. Sannsynligvis var undersøkelsesområdet en perifert del av en sentral gård i jernalderen, muligvis allerede i bronsealderen. Undersøkelsesresultatene viser til en utnytting av utmarksressurser

Engineering properties and microstructure of a sustainable roof tile manufactured with waste rice husk ash and ceramic sludge addition

Clay replacement with waste rice husk ash (RHA) and ceramic sludge (CS), helps to reduce the consumption of natural clay and solves the ecological issues created by waste disposal. In this study, properties of waste RHA and CS added fired clay tile were investigated, focusing on structural, durability, thermal performance as well as the water quality of the harvested run-off from fired clay roof tiles manufactured in an industrial scale plant. Tiles were cast by clay replacement with waste RHA and CS in four mixtures: 10 %RHA and 0 % CS, 10 % RHA and 10 % CS, 10 % RHA and 15 % CS, and 10 % RHA and 20 % CS (by weight). For 10 %RHA and 10 %CS tiles, dry mass was reduced by 4.9 %, compared with conventional roof tiles, promising a light weight roof tile. Roof tiles with 10 % RHA and 10 %CS showed a transverse breaking load of 1519 N, whereas that of 20 %CS tiles showed 1427 N, indicating that a further 6.5 % strength improvement can be achieved with clay replacement with a combination of two waste materials. Clay replacement with 10 % RHA and 10 % CS resulted in water absorption of 15.25 %. When increasing the clay replacement with combined waste from 10% (10 %RHA and 0%CS) to 30 % (10%RHA and 20 %CS), weight gain due to acid and alkaline attacks reduced from 3.5% to 3.0%, and from 2.2 % to 1.6 %, respectively, indicating enhanced durability performance by incorporating combined waste. High porosity, also confirmed by SEM, contributed to enhanced thermal performance: tile with 10 % RHA and 10 % CS achieved 4.4 °C temperature reduction, compared to the conventional tile. pH value and total solid concentration of run-off water were in the range of recommended values of water for agricultural purposes, ensuring that the collected run-off can be utilized as an alternative water source for potable activities.publishedVersio

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa:A scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health systems in both developed and developing nations alike. Africa has one of the weakest health systems globally, but there is limited evidence on how the region is prepared for, impacted by and responded to the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review of PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL to search peer-reviewed articles and Google, Google Scholar and preprint sites for grey literature. The scoping review captured studies on either preparedness or impacts or responses associated with COVID-19 or covering one or more of the three topics and guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. The extracted information was documented following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension checklist for scoping reviews. Finally, the resulting data were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Twenty-two eligible studies, of which 6 reported on health system preparedness, 19 described the impacts of COVID-19 on access to general and essential health services and 7 focused on responses taken by the healthcare systems were included. The main setbacks in health system preparation included lack of available health services needed for the pandemic, inadequate resources and equipment, and limited testing ability and surge capacity for COVID-19. Reduced flow of patients and missing scheduled appointments were among the most common impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health system responses identified in this review included the availability of telephone consultations, re-purposing of available services and establishment of isolation centres, and provisions of COVID-19 guidelines in some settings. CONCLUSIONS: The health systems in Africa were inadequately prepared for the pandemic, and its impact was substantial. Responses were slow and did not match the magnitude of the problem. Interventions that will improve and strengthen health system resilience and financing through local, national and global engagement should be prioritised

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa : a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

Funding Information: Funding GAT was supported with funding from the Australia National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant #1195716.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950–2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Accurate assessments of current and future fertility—including overall trends and changing population age structures across countries and regions—are essential to help plan for the profound social, economic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges that these changes will bring. Estimates and projections of fertility are necessary to inform policies involving resource and health-care needs, labour supply, education, gender equality, and family planning and support. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 produced up-to-date and comprehensive demographic assessments of key fertility indicators at global, regional, and national levels from 1950 to 2021 and forecast fertility metrics to 2100 based on a reference scenario and key policy-dependent alternative scenarios. Methods To estimate fertility indicators from 1950 to 2021, mixed-effects regression models and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression were used to synthesise data from 8709 country-years of vital and sample registrations, 1455 surveys and censuses, and 150 other sources, and to generate age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) for 5-year age groups from age 10 years to 54 years. ASFRs were summed across age groups to produce estimates of total fertility rate (TFR). Livebirths were calculated by multiplying ASFR and age-specific female population, then summing across ages 10–54 years. To forecast future fertility up to 2100, our Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) forecasting model was based on projections of completed cohort fertility at age 50 years (CCF50; the average number of children born over time to females from a specified birth cohort), which yields more stable and accurate measures of fertility than directly modelling TFR. CCF50 was modelled using an ensemble approach in which three sub-models (with two, three, and four covariates variously consisting of female educational attainment, contraceptive met need, population density in habitable areas, and under-5 mortality) were given equal weights, and analyses were conducted utilising the MR-BRT (meta-regression—Bayesian, regularised, trimmed) tool. To capture time-series trends in CCF50 not explained by these covariates, we used a first-order autoregressive model on the residual term. CCF50 as a proportion of each 5-year ASFR was predicted using a linear mixed-effects model with fixed-effects covariates (female educational attainment and contraceptive met need) and random intercepts for geographical regions. Projected TFRs were then computed for each calendar year as the sum of single-year ASFRs across age groups. The reference forecast is our estimate of the most likely fertility future given the model, past fertility, forecasts of covariates, and historical relationships between covariates and fertility. We additionally produced forecasts for multiple alternative scenarios in each location: the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for education is achieved by 2030; the contraceptive met need SDG is achieved by 2030; pro-natal policies are enacted to create supportive environments for those who give birth; and the previous three scenarios combined. Uncertainty from past data inputs and model estimation was propagated throughout analyses by taking 1000 draws for past and present fertility estimates and 500 draws for future forecasts from the estimated distribution for each metric, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) given as the 2·5 and 97·5 percentiles of the draws. To evaluate the forecasting performance of our model and others, we computed skill values—a metric assessing gain in forecasting accuracy—by comparing predicted versus observed ASFRs from the past 15 years (2007–21). A positive skill metric indicates that the model being evaluated performs better than the baseline model (here, a simplified model holding 2007 values constant in the future), and a negative metric indicates that the evaluated model performs worse than baseline. Findings During the period from 1950 to 2021, global TFR more than halved, from 4·84 (95% UI 4·63–5·06) to 2·23 (2·09–2·38). Global annual livebirths peaked in 2016 at 142 million (95% UI 137–147), declining to 129 million (121–138) in 2021. Fertility rates declined in all countries and territories since 1950, with TFR remaining above 2·1—canonically considered replacement-level fertility—in 94 (46·1%) countries and territories in 2021. This included 44 of 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which was the super-region with the largest share of livebirths in 2021 (29·2% [28·7–29·6]). 47 countries and territories in which lowest estimated fertility between 1950 and 2021 was below replacement experienced one or more subsequent years with higher fertility; only three of these locations rebounded above replacement levels. Future fertility rates were projected to continue to decline worldwide, reaching a global TFR of 1·83 (1·59–2·08) in 2050 and 1·59 (1·25–1·96) in 2100 under the reference scenario. The number of countries and territories with fertility rates remaining above replacement was forecast to be 49 (24·0%) in 2050 and only six (2·9%) in 2100, with three of these six countries included in the 2021 World Bank-defined low-income group, all located in the GBD super-region of sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of livebirths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa was forecast to increase to more than half of the world's livebirths in 2100, to 41·3% (39·6–43·1) in 2050 and 54·3% (47·1–59·5) in 2100. The share of livebirths was projected to decline between 2021 and 2100 in most of the six other super-regions—decreasing, for example, in south Asia from 24·8% (23·7–25·8) in 2021 to 16·7% (14·3–19·1) in 2050 and 7·1% (4·4–10·1) in 2100—but was forecast to increase modestly in the north Africa and Middle East and high-income super-regions. Forecast estimates for the alternative combined scenario suggest that meeting SDG targets for education and contraceptive met need, as well as implementing pro-natal policies, would result in global TFRs of 1·65 (1·40–1·92) in 2050 and 1·62 (1·35–1·95) in 2100. The forecasting skill metric values for the IHME model were positive across all age groups, indicating that the model is better than the constant prediction. Interpretation Fertility is declining globally, with rates in more than half of all countries and territories in 2021 below replacement level. Trends since 2000 show considerable heterogeneity in the steepness of declines, and only a small number of countries experienced even a slight fertility rebound after their lowest observed rate, with none reaching replacement level. Additionally, the distribution of livebirths across the globe is shifting, with a greater proportion occurring in the lowest-income countries. Future fertility rates will continue to decline worldwide and will remain low even under successful implementation of pro-natal policies. These changes will have far-reaching economic and societal consequences due to ageing populations and declining workforces in higher-income countries, combined with an increasing share of livebirths among the already poorest regions of the world

Effectiveness of SMS text messaging to improve exclusive breastfeeding in Mekelle, Ethiopia

This thesis involved the development, delivery and evaluation of an SMS based mHealth intervention targeting fathers and mothers to improve exclusive breastfeeding at three months in Tigray, Ethiopia. Parents and health professionals co-designed the content of the intervention. The four-month trial identified that an SMS based breastfeeding intervention targeting fathers and mothers was more effective in improving exclusive breastfeeding than no intervention or an intervention to mothers only

Effect of land use land cover dynamics on hydrological response of watershed: Case study of Tekeze Dam watershed, northern Ethiopia

Land use change is a very important issue considering global dynamics and their response to hydrologic characteristics of soil and water management in a catchment. A significant land use change has been observed in the Tekeze dam catchment. The main objective of this study was to estimate the potential impacts of the land use land cover (LULC) dynamics on hydrological response (stream flow and sediment yield). This was done by integrating SWAT model with GIS. The simulation and sensitivity analysis for each land use was done by dividing the catchment in to 47 sub-catchments and assigning HRUs based on multiple HRU definition. After a sensitivity analysis, calibration and validation of SWAT model, the impact of LULC dynamics on hydrological response were evaluated with three scenarios (climate of 2000s & 2008 LULC, climate of 2000s & 1986 LULC and climate of 1980s & 1986 LULC). In the Tekeze dam watershed, land cover change had a beneficial impact on modeled watershed response due to the transition from grass and shrub land to agricultural land. Simulation results for the Tekeze dam watershed indicates that increasing bare land and agricultural areas resulted in increased annual and seasonal stream flow and sediment yield in volumes. The mean annual stream flow was increased by 6.02% (129.20–137.74 m3/s) and the impact on sediment yield amounts to an increase of 17.39% (12.54–15.18 t/ha/yr) due to LULC dynamics. The hydrological response was more sensitive to LULC dynamics for the months of August to October than others in the year. These results demonstrate the usefulness of integrating remote sensing and distributed hydrologic models through the use of GIS for assessing watershed conditions and the relative impacts of land cover transitions on hydrologic response in a continuous manner

Jarosite-Rich Mineral Crust on Coastal Cliffs in Central Norway: Microstructural and Geochemical Investigations

The study of jarosite produced under diverse conditions is essential to gain insight into its diverse formation mechanisms on earth. Such investigations can even pave ways to better understanding of the genesis of jarosite discovered in extra-terrestrial bodies such as Mars. Jarosite samples from two costal locations in central Norway are investigated through the application of multiple analytical techniques. The jarosite-rich encrustations on seaward cliff walls were studied with a focus on the characterization of their micromorphology and geochemistry. Light and electron microscopic analyses revealed distinct laminations and microlaminations in the samples. These layered laminations likely imply the existence of favorable periods in a cyclic manner for mineralization/biomineralization of jarosite in tandem with gypsum formation and dissolution. The pH level measured is not low similar to that usually described as conducive for jarosite formations. Different viable jarosite formation mechanisms are explored. Though some indicators are implied from microstructural and compositional analyses, further investigations are required for establishing the biogenic nature of the mechanism involved. Signs of the possible formation of jarosite in the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, 1.1–1.3 million years B.P., are acquired from Ar39/Ar40 geochronological determinations. Useful paleoenvironmental and paleobiological information could be found preserved in the microstructures of such jarosite formations

Co-design and implementation of a mHealth intervention targeting fathers and mothers to improve breastfeeding

BACKGROUND: Evidence has shown that SMS text message-based health education is effective in improving exclusive breastfeeding. However, there is limited evidence on the development and design of SMS messaging intervention targeting fathers and mothers.METHOD: This is the formative assessment and intervention design for a larger trial targeting both fathers and mothers for breastfeeding support in Tigray, Ethiopia. A total of 42 parents of children less than 2 years of age were involved in the design process that also included nutrition experts. We recruited 128 expectant couples to the intervention (1-month antenatally) who continued for 3 months postnatally.RESULTS: Sixteen messages were developed specific to feeding in the antenatal and postnatal periods. These messages were revised with parents and experts and pretested with parents. Over 4 months 87% of fathers and mothers received 3 or more SMS text messages. All fathers and 97% of mothers read the weekly SMS text messages. Almost 90% of mothers and fathers indicated their willingness to continue to receive SMS text messages related to infant feeding.CONCLUSION: Development of SMS based breastfeeding interventions should involve the target population in content design. The role of experts and target population in the co-design process is also crucial.</p