Conservation history, hunting policies and practices in the South Western Mozambique borderland in the 20th century

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History, August 2017This study uses both primary and secondary sources to investigate the history of the communities living in the southern Mozambique hinterland in the 20th century. It specifically examines the evolution of the colonial hunting laws and the establishment of hunting reserves in southern Mozambique. In this thesis, I argue that the Portuguese colonial administration put little effort into the protection of fauna and ecosystems in the south western Mozambique hinterland. Portuguese hunting laws were issued to provide the colonial system with revenue – through a system of fees imposed on licensed hunters when entering Mozambican forests and hunting reserves – rather than to improve fauna management. Colonial laws (particularly fees for the hunting permits) made it difficult for the majority of local African peasants to access game resources, on which during periods of drought and lack of foodstuffs they depended for subsistence. The study explores the extent to which postcolonial development projects affected conservation and the livelihoods of communities living in conservation areas. It shows how the period following independence was also characterised by mass killing of wildlife. In 1978, as part of the construction of the Massingir dam, Frelimo government officials relocated families living along the Elephants valley to areas having poor soils in Coutada 16, thus reducing the ability of the cultivators to produce enough food to sustain their families. Lack of food supplies increased the dependence of local families on bush meat for food. The armed conflict, which broke out immediately after independence in 1975 and lasted until 1992, contributed to the mass killing of wildlife, as both government soldiers and RENAMO fighters exploited bush for food. The end of the armed conflict allowed the Government of Mozambique (GoM) to implement projects aimed at rehabilitating the ecosystems destroyed by war and the transformation of Coutada 16 into the Limpopo National Park (LNP) in 2001. In 2002, the integration of the LNP into the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP) turned into reality Hertzog´s 1927 desire to create a transnational conservation area across the South Africa – Mozambique border.XL201

Strategies for sustainable rural development in Mozambique: a case study of the Chimani Transfrontier Conservation Area Project

This study examines the process and implementation of a conservation project in Chimanimani locality, a remote rural area located in Sussundenga district in the central province of Manica. The Chimanimani Transfrontier Conservation Area Project, as the Project became known, was one of the conservation area projects established in three provinces of Mozambique (Maputo, Gaza and Manica1) in the years following the civil conflict. In essence the Chimanimani Project was framed to enhance environmental sustainability of the targeted areas and contribute to poverty reduction through sustainable use of local natural resources. Accordingly, it was seen as a way of improving the overall quality of life of the targeted communities. The study analyses the Project efforts of utilizing the synergies between conservation and community development in rural areas where income-earning opportunities are limited. The research has focused on two of the five Chimanimani communities (Nhaedzi and Moribane) and brings to the fore evidences of the factors that have affected either positively or negatively the success of the Project

Cálculo das altitudes equivalentes para o modelo de Hopfield

Resumo: O cálculo da influência da refração troposfêrica sobre a distância estação-satélite é o objetivo deste trabalho. Temperaturas seca e úmida, obtidas por radiossondagem, são utilizadas para obtenção das alturas equivalentes cujo emprego permitirá o cálculo da influência desta parte não ionizada da atmosfera. Ao final uma relação das componentes da influência é apresentada assim como algumas observações sobre o uso deste método

Effect of Acids and Alkalis on the Resistance of a Polypropylene Geotextile Against Thermo-oxidation

The long-term behaviour of geosynthetics is one of the most important topics in the researchabout these materials. this work studies the effect of some liquids (water, sulphuric acid 0.1mol.L-1 and sodium hydroxide 0.1 mol.L-1) on the resistance of a polypropylenegeotextile against thermo-oxidation. For that purpose, the geotextile was (1) exposed inisolation to the liquids (immersion tests) and to thermo-oxidation (oven-ageing tests) and (2)exposed consec-utively to both degradation tests (combined effect). the damage suffered bythe geotextile in the degradation tests was evaluated by monitoring changes in its tensilebehaviour. based on the changes occurred in tensile strength, reduction factors weredetermined. the reduction fac-tors obtained in the successive exposures to liquids andthermo-oxidation were compared with the reduction factors determined by the traditionalmethodology for the combined effect of those agents. The results, among other findings,showed the existence of an effect of sulphuric acid 0.1 mol.L-1 on the resistance of thegeotextile against thermo-oxidation. Indeed, the suc-cessive exposure to sulphuric acid 0.1mol.L-1 and thermo-oxidation (two agents that individ-ually did not cause relevant damage)led to some degradation. Due to the interaction occurred between the degradation agents, thetraditional methodology was unable to predict correctly (by underestimating) the reductionfactor for the combined effect of sulphuric acid 0.1 mol.L-1 and thermo-oxidation

Effect of chronic ethanol exposure on rat ventilatory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia

OBJECTIVE: The effect of chronic ethanol exposure on chemoreflexes has not been extensively studied in experimental animals. Therefore, this study tested the hypothesis that known ethanol-induced autonomic, neuroendocrine and cardiovascular changes coincide with increased chemoreflex sensitivity, as indicated by increased ventilatory responses to hypoxia and hypercapnia. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were subjected to increasing ethanol concentrations in their drinking water (first week: 5% v/v, second week: 10% v/v, third and fourth weeks: 20% v/v). At the end of each week of ethanol exposure, ventilatory parameters were measured under basal conditions and in response to hypoxia (evaluation of peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity) and hypercapnia (evaluation of central chemoreflex sensitivity). RESULTS: Decreased respiratory frequency was observed in rats exposed to ethanol from the first until the fourth week, whereas minute ventilation remained unchanged. Moreover, we observed an increased tidal volume in the second through the fourth week of exposure. The minute ventilation responses to hypoxia were attenuated in the first through the third week but remained unchanged during the last week. The respiratory frequency responses to hypoxia in ethanol-exposed rats were attenuated in the second through the third week but remained unchanged in the first and fourth weeks. There was no significant change in tidal volume responses to hypoxia. With regard to hypercapnic responses, no significant changes in ventilatory parameters were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our data are consistent with the notion that chronic ethanol exposure does not increase peripheral or central chemoreflex sensitivity

Atahualpacoris henryi, a new species of plant bug from Colombia (Heteroptera, Miridae, Mirini)

A new species of plant bug in the genus Atahualpacoris Carvalho, tribe Mirini, is described. Morphological characters differentiating Atahualpacoris from the related genus Calocorisca are provided, and a diagnosis of each known species of Atahualpacoris is presented. Specimens of the new species were collected by light trap in a natural ecosystem of the Andes Mountains, Department of Tolima, Colombia. The adult and male genitalia are illustrated

Avaliação da destreza dos dedos e da força de preensão máxima em crianças com dislexia desenvolvimental

A dislexia caracteriza-se pela dificuldade de aprendizagem da leitura, escrita e soletração, sem uma causa aparente específica. Crianças e adultos com dislexia apresentam também déficits em diferentes tarefas sensório-motoras. Porém, não existe consenso quanto o efeito da dislexia na destreza dos dedos e se há alterações puramente motoras em indivíduos acometidos por essa desordem. O objetivo do estudo foi comparar crianças com e sem dislexia quanto à destreza dos dedos e à capacidade de geração de força máxima. Trinta crianças com dislexia e 30 sem dislexia, entre 8 e 14 anos, realizaram o teste dos nove pinos nos buracos (9-PnB) para avaliação da destreza manual e o teste força de preensão palmar máxima, ambos com a mão dominante. Elas foram instruídas a realizar o teste dos 9-PnB o mais rápido possível e em seguida produzir força de preensão máxima (FPMax) no dinamômetro hidráulico Jamar®. O menor tempo e a maior FPMax registradas em três tentativas foram utilizadas para as análises estatísticas. Os resultados revelaram que as crianças com dislexia são mais lentas na execução do teste dos 9-PnB, porém apresentam similar capacidade de geração de FPMax que crianças não disléxicas. Esses resultados indicam que as diferenças no desempenho em testes motores observadas entre crianças com dislexia e sem dislexia não têm origem no sistema motor e sim no modo com que a criança com dislexia processa as informações sensoriais e as transforma em respostas motoras para produzir ações

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): screening, treatment and survival analysis in a Brazilian series

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical features, Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) screening, treatment modalities, and Overall Survival (OS) in a series of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma (NAFLD-HCC) Brazilian patients. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study at the Instituto do Cancer do Estado de São Paulo, at the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo with the approval of the local research ethics committee. NAFLD patients with HCC diagnosed, from May 2010 to May 2019, were included. Results: A total of 131 patients were included. Risk factors for NAFLD were present in 94.7% of the patients. Only 29% of patients were in the HCC screening program before diagnosis. HCC treatment was performed in 84.7% of patients. Cumulative survival at the end of the first year was 72%, second-year 52%, and fifth-year 32%. HCC screening before diagnosis was not significantly associated with higher cumulative survival. The independent factors associated with shorter general survival were BCLC C-D, p < 0.001, and the size of the largest nodule > 42 mm, p = 0.039. Conclusions: Although the efficacy of screening in our population regarding overall survival was hampered due to the sample size (29% had screening), BCLC stages C‒D and the size of the largest nodule larger than 42 mm were identified as independent factors of worse prognosis