Climate Change Increasing Threats on Non-Conserved Mangroves Forests of Micheweni, Zanzibar–Tanzania

Overutilization of mangroves has been reported as the factor for mangrove declining across the globe. However, currently, the global climate change has been claimed to pose significant threats to the survival of mangroves. This study analysed the impacts of climatic variability (sea level rise, temperature and precipitation) to the mangroves of Micheweni (non reserve) and Ngezi-Vumawimbi (nature forest reserve). Multi-disciplinary approach was employed to collect information on community perceptions. Secondary time series data of up to 30 years for temperature, rainfall and sea level rise were collected and analysed. Inquiry results on how local communities perceived climate change showed that over 88% of the respondents agreed that there have been changes in climate in their areas, with 64% showing that there are severe impacts to the mangrove ecosystems. The respondents further claimed that there have been frequent saltwater intrusions affecting their agricultural crops and water table. Analysis of climate change parameters showed gradual sea level rise in the past 10 years and significant increase in temperatures in the past 30 years coupled with slight decrease in overall rainfall patterns. These observations could have serious effects on mangroves, particularly those of Micheweni, since the region is notable with high temperature coupled with minimum amount of rainfall per year, and being freely accessible unlike Ngezi. To reduce vulnerability to climate change, it is recommended to establish buffer zones in particular to the non-reserve mangrove forest of Micheweni. Also there is a need for community sensitization on climate change and resource management.Keywords: Climate change; Mangroves; Sea level rise; Temperature; Precipitation

Effects of Perceptions of Forest Change and Intergroup Competition on Community-Based Conservation Behaviors

Approximately one quarter of the earth\u27s population directly harvests natural resources to meet their daily needs. These individuals are disproportionately required to alter their behaviors in response to increasing climatic variability and global biodiversity loss. Much of the ever-ambitious global conservation agenda relies on the voluntary uptake of conservation behaviors in such populations. Thus, it is critical to understand how such individuals perceive environmental change and use conservation practices as a tool to protect their well-being. We developed a participatory mapping activity to elicit spatially explicit perceptions of forest change and its drivers across 43 mangrove-dependent communities in Pemba, Tanzania. We administered this activity along with a questionnaire regarding conservation preferences and behaviors to 423 individuals across those 43 communities. We analyzed these data with a set of Bayesian hierarchical statistical models. Perceived cover loss in 50% of a community\u27s mangrove area drove individuals to decrease proposed limits on fuelwood bundles from 2.74 (forest perceived as intact) to 2.37 if participants believed resultant gains in mangrove cover would not be stolen by outsiders. Conversely, individuals who believed their community mangrove forests were at high risk of theft loosened their proposed harvest limits from 1.26 to 2.75 bundles of fuelwood in response to the same perceived forest decline. High rates of intergroup competition and mangrove loss were thus driving a self-reinforcing increase in unsustainable harvesting preferences in community forests in this system. This finding demonstrates a mechanism by which increasing environmental decline may cause communities to forgo conservation practices, rather than adopt them, as is often assumed in much community-based conservation planning. However, we also found that when effective boundaries were present, individuals were willing to limit their own harvests to stem such perceived decline

دلالة الاستفهام في شعر أبي مسلم البهلاني = Iinterrogative meaning in the Poems of Abu Muslim al-Bahlānī = Gambaran kritik dan pengkritik dalam syair Arab moden: Syair al-Bayyati sebagai kajian kes

عد الاستفهام من الأساليب النحوية والبلاغية المستخدمة بكثرة لدى الشعراء، فمن خلاله يكشف المستفهم عما يدور في نفسه ويطلب به قضاء حاجاته. من هذا المنطلق، يأتي هذا البحث ليتناول بالدراسة دلالة الاستفهام في ديوان الآثار الشعرية لأبي مسلم البهلاني من خلال تتبع أدوات الاستفهام في الأبواب الخمسة الأولى من الديوان، وهي: الإلهيات والقصائد الدينيّة، والمدائح النبوية، والقصائد الوطنية، وقصائد الحكم والمواعظ، والمراثي، ويهدف البحث إلى توضيح المقاصد التي يرمي إليها الشاعر من وراء استخدام أدوات الاستفهام، وبيان دلالاتها الحقيقيّة والمجازية وما ترمي إليه من معانٍ بيانية من تقرير وتعجب وتقريع وغيرها من المعاني مستهدياً بما قرره علماء اللغة في ذلك. وقد توصل البحث إلى أن الاستفهام يكثر في أغراض شعرية معينة ويقل في أغراض أخرى، وقد ظهر الاستفهام في الديوان بكثرة في القصائد الوطنية، والمراثي، وقل في المدائح النبوية، والحكم والمواعظ، وجاء بصورة معتدلة في الإلهيات والقصائد الدينية. ****************************************************************************** Interrogative words are part of the grammatical and rhetorical expressions that are widely used by poets to bring out their feelings and to achieve their purposes. This paper attempts to study the interrogative meaning in the Arabic anthology entitled “Al-āthār al-shiʽriyyah li Abī Muslim al-Bahlānī” (The poetic effects of Abu Muslim al-Bahlānī) by tracing the interrogative tools in the initial five chapters of the anthology namely: religious and godly poems, prophetic praises, and patriotic poems, poems containing wisdom and advice and odes. This is to explain the purposes intended by the poet by using such tools and explaining their true pragmatic as well as figurative meaning that consist of, among others, admission, exclamation, rebuking etc. that were pointed out by the language scholars. Among the conclusions of the study are that some interrogative method are widely used while others are seldom; many of which came up in patriotic poems, odes but seldomly found in prophetic praises, wisdom and advise while in the poems concerning God and religious matters, they are moderately used. ***************************************************************************** Kata-kata tanya adalah sebahagian daripada ayat-ayat tatabahasa dan retorika yang diguna secara meluas untuk menyatakan perasaan-perasaan mereka untuk mencapai tujuan-tujuan hidup mereka. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji makna kata tanya dalam antologi syair berjudul “Al-āthār al-shiʽriyyah li Abī Muslim al-Bahlānī” (Kesan-kesan puitis syair Abu Muslim al-Bahlānī) dengan mengesan kata-kata tanya dalam lima fasal pertama antologi beliau iaitu: syair-syair keagamaan dan ketuhanan, pujian kepada Rasul, syair patriotik, syair hikmah dan nasihat dan syair ratapan. In iadalah untuk menjelaskan tujuan-tujuan yang dimaksudkan oleh penyair apabila menggunakan kata-kata tanya tersebut dan untuk menjelaskan maksud pragmatik juga perlambangan yang mengandungi, di antaranya, pengakuan, takjub, penghujahan dan lain-lain spertimana yang dijelaskan oleh cendiakawan bahasa. Di antara kesimpulan yang didapati kajian ialah: penggunaan sesetengah kata tanya adalah lebih kerap daripada yang lain. Kebanyakannya digunakan dalam syair patriotik, ratapan namun kurang digunakan dalam syair pujian kepada Rasul, syair hikmah dan nasihat dan di dalam syiar-syair ketuhanan ia digunakan secara sederhana

Early Exposure of Infants to GI Nematodes Induces Th2 Dominant Immune Responses Which Are Unaffected by Periodic Anthelminthic Treatment

We have previously shown a reduction in anaemia and wasting malnutrition in infants <3 years old in Pemba Island, Zanzibar, following repeated anthelminthic treatment for the endemic gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm and Trichuris trichiura. In view of the low intensity of worm infections in this age group, this was unexpected, and it was proposed that immune responses to the worms rather than their direct effects may play a significant role in morbidity in infants and that anthelminthic treatment may alleviate such effects. Therefore, the primary aims of this study were to characterise the immune response to initial/early GI nematode infections in infants and the effects of anthelminthic treatment on such immune responses. The frequency and levels of Th1/Th2 cytokines (IL-5, IL-13, IFN-γ and IL-10) induced by the worms were evaluated in 666 infants aged 6–24 months using the Whole Blood Assay. Ascaris and hookworm antigens induced predominantly Th2 cytokine responses, and levels of IL-5 and IL-13 were significantly correlated. The frequencies and levels of responses were higher for both Ascaris positive and hookworm positive infants compared with worm negative individuals, but very few infants made Trichuris-specific cytokine responses. Infants treated every 3 months with mebendazole showed a significantly lower prevalence of infection compared with placebo-treated controls at one year following baseline. At follow-up, cytokine responses to Ascaris and hookworm antigens, which remained Th2 biased, were increased compared with baseline but were not significantly affected by treatment. However, blood eosinophil levels, which were elevated in worm-infected children, were significantly lower in treated children. Thus the effect of deworming in this age group on anaemia and wasting malnutrition, which were replicated in this study, could not be explained by modification of cytokine responses but may be related to eosinophil function

Triple Co-Administration of Ivermectin, Albendazole and Praziquantel in Zanzibar: A Safety Study

This paper describes how the use of three drugs which are used separately in mass drug distribution programmes when given together appear safe for use in large populations which have been previously treated with the same drugs separately (Mectizan [ivermectin], albendazole and praziquantel). The target diseases—lymphatic filariasis, soil-transmitted worms and schistosomiasis—were prevalent in Zanzibar up to 2000 but have been largely controlled by mass drug administration. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, with the support of WHO, initiated a small scale trial in a population of triple therapy in over 5,000 people initially in two sites, and having found there were no severe adverse events associated with the combined treatment then upscaled to treat the whole of the eligible population of over 700,000. Similarly, there were no severe adverse events. This is the first time the three drugs have been used together at the same time at scale in Africa and provide a basis for expansion of integrated preventive chemotherapy of helminths (worms). The next steps need to be initiated in populations which have heavier worm loads and such interventions need to be subject to close monitoring and ethical review

Early helminth infections are inversely related to anemia, malnutrition, and malaria and are not associated with inflammation in 6- to 23-month-old Zanzibari children.

Helminths aggravate anemia and malnutrition among school children. We studied this association in a cross-sectional study of 6- to 23-month-old Zanzibari children (N = 2322) and a sub-sample of 690 children matched on age and helminth infection status. Ascaris, hookworm, and Trichuris infections were diagnosed along with recent fever, malaria infection, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and hemoglobin concentration (Hb). Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), C-reactive protein (CRP), height, and weight were measured in the sub-sample. Infected children had higher Hb (beta = 5.44 g/L, P < 0.001) and MUAC-for-age Z score (beta = 0.30 Z, P < 0.001) compared with uninfected children after adjusting for covariates. Although helminths were not associated with inflammation, their association with Hb or MUAC-for-age Z score was modified by inflammation. Malaria-infected children were less likely to be infected with helminths (adjusted odds ratios 0.63 [95% confidence interval: 0.49, 0.81]). Non-anemic, better nourished, or non-malaria-infected children may be more exploratory of their environments and therefore increase their exposure to soil-transmitted helminths

A comparison of methods for detecting the eggs of Ascaris, Trichuris, and hookworm in infant stool, and the epidemiology of infection in Zanzibari infants.

This study compared five methods for detecting the eggs of the human parasitic geohelminths Ascaris, Trichuris, and hookworm in infant stool, and describes the epidemiology of infection in infants from a parasite-endemic area. A total of 424 infants 5-11 months old were enrolled from three villages on Pemba Island, Zanzibar. Methods used included the Kato-Katz technique, formol ethyl acetate sedimentation, modified formol ethyl acetate sedimentation, modified Wisconsin floatation, and simple gravity sedimentation. Of methods used alone, Wisconsin floatation and simple gravity sedimentation each provided the highest sensitivity for detecting eggs of these three geohelminths (89.6%). Of methods used in combination, the Kato-Katz technique/simple gravity sedimentation and Wisconsin floatation/simple gravity sedimentation each provided the highest sensitivity (99.0%). Prevalence of geohelminth infection was 26.5%. Between five and nine months of age the mean prevalence was 9.4%, while at 10 and 11 months of age the mean prevalence was 43.4%. Village prevalence varied from 3.6% to 43.8%. Infant geohelminth infection can occur at a high prevalence, and what method is best depends on research specifics

Adjusting for the acute phase response is essential to interpret iron status indicators among young Zanzibari children prone to chronic malaria and helminth infections.

The extent to which the acute phase response (APR) influences iron status indicators in chronic infections is not well documented. We investigated this relationship using reported recent fever and 2 acute phase proteins (APP), C-reactive protein (CRP), and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). In a sample of 690 children matched on age and helminth infection status at baseline, we measured plasma for AGP, CRP, ferritin, transferrin receptor (TfR), and erythropoietin (EPO) and whole blood for hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP), and malaria parasite density, and we obtained maternal reports of recent fever. We then examined the influence of the APR on each iron status indicator using regression analysis with Hb as the outcome variable. Ferritin was inversely related to Hb in the APR-unadjusted model. Adjusting for the APR using reported recent fever alone was not sufficient to reverse the inverse Hb-ferritin relationship. However, using CRP and/or AGP resulted in the expected positive relationship. The best fit model included reported recent fever, AGP and CRP (R(2) = 0.241; P < 0.001). The best fit Hb-ZPP, Hb-TfR, and Hb-EPO models included reported recent fever and AGP but not CRP (R(2) = 0.253, 0.310, and 0.292, respectively; P < 0.001). ZPP, TfR, and EPO were minimally influenced by the APR, whereas ferritin was immensely affected. Reported recent fever alone cannot be used as a marker for the APR. Either AGP or CRP is useful for adjusting if only 1 APP can be measured. However, AGP best predicted the APR in this population