PRELIMINARY BASELINE SURVEY OF AVIFAUNAL DIVERSITY IN JIMMA ZONE, SOUTH-WESTERN ETHIOPIA

Multidimensional poverty, which is deeply-rooted within least-developed African countries like Ethiopia, is forcing local people to heavily rely on natural resources for their subsistent livelihoods. As a result, remaining wilderness areas in tropical Africa which support huge but little known biological diversity, are subject to extensive habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation in turn causing loss of plant and animal species and ecosystem services provided by them. Coffee forest fragment within the Jimma Zone of Ethiopia cannot be expected to be an exception to such scenario. Taking this persistent problem into consideration, we carried out a preliminary survey of bird biodiversity in selected areas of Jimma Zone during a short term bird ringing training held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 20, 2008. The main objective of the survey was to identify and document bird species of Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia, for further in-debth ornithological studies. Survey data were collected through exhaustive observations in and around 10 coffee forest fragments in Garuke, one fragment in Eladale, one urban area site in Jimma town and in scrubland vegetation around Gilgel Ghibe hydropower reservoir, Jimma Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia. In addition, five mist-nets were employed to capture understory forest birds in two purposively selected coffee forest fragments. Mist nets were opened at 5:50 A.M. and checked every 30 minutes until they were closed at 12:00 A.M. Over 196 bird species were identified during this survey and of these, 41 individuals belonging to 20 species were captured in Garuke and 23 individuals of 9 bird species in Eladale. Montane white-eye (Zosterops poliogastrus) followed by Olive sunbird (Nectarinia olivacea), Abyssinian slaty-flycatcher (Melaenornis chocolatinus) and Rupell’s robinchat (Cossypha semirufa) were the most frequently captured bird species. Of the sites surveyed, Gilgel Ghibe hydropower reservoir had strikingly highest bird species diversity. We approached the reservoir almost in a constant site near Bulbul Kebele (the smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia) and recorded over 115 bird species within about 300 meters distance! We learnt that this area was an important and most appropriate site to see a number of migrant and resident species as well as to undertake future bird ringing activities. We believe that the result of this survey will contribute much for the preparation of a comprehensive bird species checklist for Jimma Zone that could serve as important baseline information for more focused future ornithological investigations in the area so as to promote bird conservation through ecotourism activities and improve the livelihood of local people

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Screening Programme 2021

Prosjektleder Bert van BavelThe Screening Programme 2021 was carried out by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research. The spotlight was placed on the occurrence and possible environmental problems of 218 chemicals. The selected substances may be included in numerous products and their usage patterns are not easily defined so an array of different locations and sample-types were investigated. The total number of results exceeds 26 000. Results are can be downloaded from the database Vannmiljø.Norwegian Environment AgencypublishedVersio

Screening Programme 2021

Source at https://www.niva.no/.The Screening Programme 2021 was carried out by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research. The spotlight was placed on the occurrence and possible environmental problems of 218 chemicals. The selected substances may be included in numerous products and their usage patterns are not easily defined so an array of different locations and sample-types were investigated. The total number of results exceeds 26 000. Results are can be downloaded from the database Vannmiljø