Additions to the Marine Algal (Seaweed) Flora of the Azores.

Copyright © 2001 by Walter de Gruyter.Ten species of benthic marine algae, new distribution records for the Azores achipelago, are itemised; two other species records (Heterosiphonia crispella and Laminaria ochroleuca) are confirmed for the islands. Six species (Bryopsis pennata, Cottoniella filamentosa, Dasya baillouviana, Feldmannia paradoxa, Heterosiphonia crispella and Lomentaria clavellosa) show an amphi-Atlantic distribution pattern; four (Bonnemaisonia asparagoides, Laminaria ochroleuca, Pterosphonia ardreana and Stylonema cornu-cervi) show a European-African-Mediterranean distribution pattern. The occurrence of Dudresnaya crassa, a western Atlantic warm-water species, represents an extension of its known distributional range to the east. An Ahnfeltiopsis was found which resembled A. intermedia, a species that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean to the south of the Azores

Structure and zonation of algal communities in the bay of São Vicente (São Miguel, Azores)

An appraisal of the benthic marine algal communities of the bay of São Vicente (São Miguel island. Azores) was undertaken in July 1996 and July 1997 as part of the project "Biodiversity of the archipelago of the Azores". A permanent transect was laid down across the subtidal zone. Quadrates were sampled at pre-determined intervals along the transect from the low water level, down to 30m depth. Qualitative collections were made along the transect. The relative importance of each species was determined using a semi-quantitative scale. The transect revealed the occurrence of relatively large and frondose algae establishing the transition between the intertidal and the subtidal zones. Pterocladiella capillacea was the dominant species in this transition zone and extended its presence down to 12m depth. A depth-related change in the algal flora was present in both years. Pteroclardiella, Ulva spp., Stypocaulon scoparia, Hypnea musciformis and Asparagopsis armata dominated the shallow levels; Zonaria tournefortii, together with Sphaeroroccus coronopifolius and Dictyota dichotoma dominated the deep ones

Identification and characterization of conservative organic tracers for use as hydrologic tracers for the Yucca Mountain Site characterization study. Progress report, January 1, 1995--March 31, 1995

Fluorinated organic acids were utilized in a test study as hydrologic tracers for the Yucca Mountain Project. Fluorinated acids included cinnamic acid; benzoic acid, and toluic acid. Results are discussed pertaining to retention time, elution time, and stability

Industrial mining and HIV risk: evidence from 39 mine openings across 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of natural resource extraction projects on HIV transmission risks in local communities in sub-Saharan Africa. DESIGN: Difference-in-differences design using repeated cross-sectional data from around newly opened mines. METHODS: We combined data on mine openings with HIV data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Using logistic regression models, we compared HIV related indicators between mining (i.e. up to 10 km distance from the mine) and comparison (i.e. 10-50 km) areas before and after mine opening to identify their impact on HIV prevalence, sexual behavior and HIV knowledge. RESULTS: A total of 33,086 individuals across 39 mine openings were analyzed. Adjusting for baseline differences and temporal trends in the study regions, mine opening increased the odds of HIV infection almost two-fold (odds ratio (OR): 1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19-3.14). Strongest effects were seen in high-prevalence countries and in the 20-29 years age group. In mining communities around operational mines there was a tendency towards lower HIV knowledge (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.63-1.04). New mine openings increased the odds of risky sexual behaviors, such as having multiple sex partners (OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.02-2.55), high-risk sexual partners (OR: 1.45, 95% CI: 1.03-2.05) and unprotected sex with high-risk partners (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.18-2.67). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that in our sample of households surrounding industrial mines, HIV infection risks substantially increase upon mine opening. Existing strategies for addressing mining-related risks for HIV transmission seem to be insufficient. Further efforts for mitigating and monitoring impacts of mines are needed. Video Abstract: http://links.lww.com/QAD/C557

Short-term effects of national-level natural resource rents on life expectancy: a cross-country panel data analysis

While a substantial amount of literature addresses the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, relatively little is known regarding the relationship between natural resource endowment and health at the population level. We construct a 5-year cross-country panel to assess the impact of natural resource rents on changes in life expectancy at birth as a proxy indicator for population health during the period 1970-2015. To estimate the causal effects of interest, we use global commodity prices as instrumental variables for natural resource rent incomes in two-stage-least squares regressions. Controlling for country and year fixed effects, we show that each standard deviation increase in resource rents results in life expectancy increase of 6.72% (CI: 2.01%, 11.44%). This corresponds to approximately one additional year of life expectancy gained over five years. We find a larger positive effect of rents on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) compared to other world regions. We do not find short-term effects of rents on economic growth, but show that increases in resource rents result in sizeable increases in government revenues in the short run, which likely translate into increased spending across government sectors. This suggests that natural resources can help governments finance health and other development-oriented programs needed to improve population health

Delbruck scattering and the g-factor of a bound electron

The leading contribution of the light-by-light scattering effects to g-factor of a bound electron is derived. The corresponding amplitude is expressed in terms of low-energy Delbruck scattering of a virtual photon. The result reads Delta g = (7/216) alpha (Z alpha)^5

A roadmap for using DHIS2 data to track progress in key health indicators in the Global South: experience from sub-Saharan Africa

High quality health data as collected by health management information systems (HMIS) is an important building block of national health systems. District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2) software is an innovation in data management and monitoring for strengthening HMIS that has been widely implemented in low and middle-income countries in the last decade. However, analysts and decision-makers still face significant challenges in fully utilizing the capabilities of DHIS2 data to pursue national and international health agendas. We aimed to (i) identify the most relevant health indicators captured by DHIS2 for tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development goals in sub-Saharan African countries and (ii) present a clear roadmap for improving DHIS2 data quality and consistency, with a special focus on immediately actionable solutions. We identified that key indicators in child and maternal health (e.g. vaccine coverage, maternal deaths) are currently being tracked in the DHIS2 of most countries, while other indicators (e.g. HIV/AIDS) would benefit from streamlining the number of indicators collected and standardizing case definitions. Common data issues included unreliable denominators for calculation of incidence, differences in reporting among health facilities, and programmatic differences in data quality. We proposed solutions for many common data pitfalls at the analysis level, including standardized data cleaning pipelines, k-means clustering to identify high performing health facilities in terms of data quality, and imputation methods. While we focus on immediately actionable solutions for DHIS2 analysts, improvements at the point of data collection are the most rigorous. By investing in improving data quality and monitoring, countries can leverage the current global attention on health data to strengthen HMIS and progress towards national and international health priorities

Associations between natural resource extraction and incidence of acute and chronic health conditions: evidence from Tanzania

Natural resource extraction projects are often accompanied by complex environmental and social-ecological changes. In this paper, we evaluated the association between commodity extraction and the incidence of diseases. We retrieved council (district)-level outpatient data from all public and private health facilities from the District Health Information System (DHIS2). We combined this information with population data from the 2012 national population census and a geocoded list of resource extraction projects from the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST). We used Poisson regression with random effects and cluster-robust standard errors to estimate the district-level associations between the presence of three types of commodity extraction (metals, gemstone, and construction materials) and the total number of patients in each disease category in each year. Metal extraction was associated with reduced incidence of several diseases, including chronic diseases (IRR = 0.61, CI: 0.47-0.80), mental health disorders (IRR = 0.66, CI: 0.47-0.92), and undernutrition (IRR = 0.69, CI: 0.55-0.88). Extraction of construction materials was associated with an increased incidence of chronic diseases (IRR = 1.47, CI: 1.15-1.87). This study found that the presence of natural resources commodity extraction is significantly associated with changes in disease-specific patient volumes reported in Tanzania's DHIS2. These associations differed substantially between commodities, with the most protective effects shown from metal extraction

What agro-input dealers know, sell and say to smallholder farmers about pesticides: a mystery shopping and KAP analysis in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Pesticides can have negative effects on human and environmental health, especially when not handled as intended. In many countries, agro-input dealers sell pesticides to smallholder farmers and are supposed to provide recommendations on application and handling. This study investigates the role of agro-input dealers in transmitting safety information from chemical manufacturers to smallholder farmers, assesses the safety of their shops, what products they sell, and how agro-input dealers abide by laws and recommendations on best practices for preventing pesticide risk situations. METHODS: Applying a mixed-methods approach, we studied agro-input dealers in Central and Western Uganda. Structured questionnaires were applied to understand agro-input dealers' knowledge, attitude and practices on pesticides (n = 402). Shop layout (n = 392) and sales interaction (n = 236) were assessed through observations. Actual behavior of agro-input dealers when selling pesticides was revealed through mystery shopping with local farmers buying pesticides (n = 94). RESULTS: While 97.0% of agro-input dealers considered advising customers their responsibility, only 26.6% of mystery shoppers received any advice from agro-input dealers when buying pesticides. 53.2% of products purchased were officially recommended. Sales interactions focused mainly on product choice and price. Agro-input dealers showed limited understanding of labels and active ingredients. Moreover, 25.0% of shops were selling repackaged products, while 10.5% sold unmarked or unlabeled products. 90.1% of shops were lacking safety equipment. Pesticides of World Health Organization toxicity class I and II were sold most frequently. Awareness of health effects seemed to be high, although agro-input dealers showed incomplete hygiene practices and were lacking infrastructure. One reason for these findings might be that only 55.7% of agro-input dealers held a certificate of competency on safe handling of pesticides and even fewer (5.7%) were able to provide a government-approved up-to-date license. CONCLUSION: The combination of interviews, mystery shopping and observations proved to be useful, allowing the comparison of stated and actual behavior. While agro-input dealers want to sell pesticides and provide the corresponding risk advice, their customers might receive neither the appropriate product nor sufficient advice on proper handling. In light of the expected increase in pesticide use, affordable, accessible and repeated pesticide training and shop inspections are indispensable