Household's Choice of Fuelwood Source in Malawi: A Multinomial Probit Analysis

This paper addresses the following question: What determines household's choice of fuelwood collection source? We address this question by estimating the multinomial probit model using survey data for households surrounding Chimaliro and Liwonde forest reserves in Malawi. After controlling for heterogeneity among households, we find strong substitution across fuelwood sources. Attributes of the fuelwood sources (size and species composition) and distance to them are the most important determinants of fuelwood choice. Further results show that customary forests generate environmental benefits by reducing pressure on both plantation forests and forest reserves. These findings support the need to focus more on community forests in national forest policies, and to strengthen community-based institutions to manage these forests.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, C25, Q42,

An investigation into the function and regulation Of ERG Exon 7b

The ETS family transcription factor ERG is a key oncoprotein in bone, blood, vascular and most notably prostate cancer where it is activated in at least 50% of cases. Of the several splice isoforms of ERG with variable biological activity those that include the cassette exon 7b are associated with aggressiveness and progression of disease in prostate cancer. Inclusion of exon 7b adds 24 amino-acids in frame to the central ‘alternative domain’ which also contains binding sites for other transcriptional regulators. Alignment of the amino acids of exon 7b showed it is evolutionary conserved in echinoderms emphasizing its functional importance. Splice switching oligonucleotides (SSO) targeting the splice sites for exon 7b were designed to induce exon 7b skipping. Successful SSO-induced skipping of exon 7b in the osteosarcoma MG63 cell line resulted in decreased cell migration, invasion and proliferation and increased apoptosis in vitro and reduced tumour growth in vivo. ERG was shown to bind to the promoter of tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase, a marker of cell differentiation, and SSO-induced skipping of exon 7b attenuated its expression. Moreover several splicing regulatory elements and proteins were identified using bioinformatics prediction methods and an RNA pull down of the 3´ splice site of exon 7b identified several potential splicing regulatory proteins for this exon. This study provides evidence that exon 7b enhances the oncogenic activity of ERG. It also confirms that SSOs can be used to modify the splicing of key oncogenes, significantly affecting their function. SSOs that target oncogenes could potentially be developed as therapeutic agents. It also highlights the requirement to understand splicing regulation of disease associated splicing events in ETS transcription factors and has provided pilot data for further study of ERG exon 7b splicing regulation

Economic Analysis of Benefits and Costs: Multiple Uses Water Services Project supported by the Challenge Programme on Water and Food

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) contracted the Center for Agriculture Research and Development (CARD) to undertake the economic analysis of the benefits and costs of the MUS Project with the principal aim of drawing lessons from the project’s experience with regard to achieving developmental impacts through research as well as providing basis for addressing “efficiency and effectiveness” questions of multiple-use approaches over single-use approaches. The analysis was conducted at the request of the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) “CPWF Adoption and Cost-Benefit Analysis Project” against the background that the MUS Project, implemented in eight countries since 2004, had identified considerable change/impact at local, national and even global levels in terms of adoption of the concept of supplying water to meet multiple needs. The analysis of benefits and costs in this report was meant to build on the Winrock study whose analysis centered on the incremental benefits, poverty impacts and costs of multiple use approaches relative to single use approaches. While the Winrock study provided useful and important information and guided the identification of benefits and costs of the MUS Project, the analysis in this report also uses the technical approach for evaluating research and advocay projects. The use of the latter approach is due to data limitations as a result of the research nature of the MUS Project. The analysis focuses on the extent of influence the MUS Project appeared to have had on the changes/impacts observed in the basins/countries rather than whether the MUS Project directly produced the observed results. The analysis merely relates the MUS Project activities with the results reported in the five basins by examining the benefits that have accrued or are likely to accrue in the future that would not have happened without the CPWF project investment support

Post-surgical cliff after weight loss surgery: Accounts of patients and their health care professionals

Background: Little is known about the psychological effects on life after weight loss surgery. Results from the systematic review above showed some persisting disordered psychosocial quality of life and wellbeing in longer term follow up periods in participants after the procedure when compared to control groups. This highlighted potential need for psychological intervention post-surgery and further research to provide more data on long term psychosocial impact of weight loss surgery. Even clearer was the lack of patient perspective on their experience and needs after having the surgery. Generating qualitative post-surgery data is vital as it gives health professionals detailed information on whether patients feel psychological care is needed after surgical obesity treatment and, if so, specifically what kind of care. Therefore, the study aims were; 1) to explore patients’ experiences of life after weight loss surgery, discussing perceived benefits and limitations of the procedure, and realisation of patients’ expectations AND 2) compare patients’ experiences with the views of health professionals involved in surgery and ongoing care to examine concordance between the cohorts. Methods: Ten individuals who had had weight loss surgery between 2 to 6 years ago and eight health professionals were recruited within an NHS bariatric surgery service through purposeful sampling and individually interviewed by the researcher. The semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Patients reported drastic weight loss and improvements in a range of co-morbidities in the first year that coincided with better psychological and social function. However, long term experiential narratives revealed postsurgical cliffs in patient care, highlighting a need for psychological aftercare to support patients through physical and psychological changes. Specifically, issues of excess skin, acceptance of non-obese self and perceived prejudice following drastic weight loss were highlighted. Discussion: Overall, it would seem that weight loss surgery is a great catalyst for weight loss in those suffering from severe obesity. However, this tool needs to go hand in hand with psychological support post-surgery to aid long term optimal results. In relation to health psychology, suggestions for theoretical application and health interventions to facilitate patients through postoperative adjustments after surgery are outlined as well as recommendations for better service provision

Stoves or sugar? Willingness to adopt improved cookstoves in Malawi

Malawi has set a target of adoption of two million improved cookstoves (ICS) by 2020. Meeting this objective requires knowledge about determinants of adoption, particularly in rural areas where the cost of traditional cooking technologies and fuels are non-monetary, and where people have limited capacity to purchase an ICS. We conducted a discrete choice experiment with 383 households in rural Malawi asking them if they would chose a locally made ICS or a package of sugar and salt of roughly equal value. Six months later, we assessed adoption and stove use patterns. Sixty-six percent of households chose the ICS. We find that having a larger share of crop residues in household fuel supply, awareness of the environmental impacts of woodfuel reliance, time the primary cook devotes to collecting fuelwood, and peer effects at the village-level increase the odds of choosing the ICS. Having a large labor supply for fuelwood collection and experience with a non-traditional cooking technology decreased the odds of choosing the ICS. In a rapid assessment six months after stoves were distributed, we found 80% of households were still using the ICS, but not exclusively. Our findings suggest considerable potential for wide-scale adoption of ICS in Malawi

Impact assessment of heavy metals pollution of Vartur lake, Bangalore

The unscientific disposal of wastes and pollution in urban water bodies has caused immense problems not only to human beings but also to the aquatic biodiversity. Assessment of heavy met als in Vartur Lake, Bangalore,revealed that Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), and Lead (Pb) all exceeded drinking waterstandards. Nevertheless, Chromium (Cr) exceeded the CPCB’s tolerance limits for water bodies subjected to effluent discharge. In Eichornia crassip es, Cd, Co, Cr, and Ni were critical. In the sediment s, Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni)exceeded the Probable Effect Level (PEL). Sediment Geo-accumulation Index of the lake showed moderate contamination with Mn, Cu, and Pb. Cr had the highest plant/sediments metal concentration factor even though its bioavailability in plants (71.5 ppm) was lower compared to Manganese (192.3 ppm). This calls for immediate action to be implemented to carry out necessary nvironmental mitigation measures for the lake

Impact assessment of heavy metals pollution of Vartur lake, Bangalore

The unscientific disposal of wastes and pollution in urban water bodies has caused immense problems not only to human beings but also to the aquatic biodiversity. Assessment of heavy metals in Vartur Lake, Bangalore, revealed that Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), and Lead (Pb) all exceeded drinking water standards. Nevertheless, Chromium (Cr) exceeded the CPCB’s tolerance limits for water bodies subjected to effluent discharge. In Eichornia crassipes, Cd, Co, Cr, and Ni were critical. In the sediments, Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni) exceeded the Probable Effect Level (PEL). Sediment Geo-accumulation Index of the lake showed moderate contamination with Mn, Cu, and Pb. Cr had the highest plant/sediments metal concentration factor even though its bioavailability in plants (71.5 ppm) was lower compared to Manganese (192.3 ppm). This calls for immediate action to be implemented to carry out necessary environmental mitigation measures for the lake

Heavy metals accumulation in macrophytes in the lakes of Bangalore urban

This study was mainly focused upon the impact of heavy metals pollution (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in aquatic macrophytes of the littoral zones of the lakes of Bangalore Urban region. The heavy metals concns. were as follows: Manganese (257.6 ± 39.6) ppm; Lead (66 ± 12.5)​ppm; Chromium (64.9 ± 6.2)​; Nickel (42.3 ± 3.2)​, Cobalt (18.8 ± 4.0) and Cadmium (4.7 ± 0.7)​. Copper, Manganese and Zinc were largely within normal range while Chromium, Lead, Cobalt and Nickel were in crit. range. There were more statistically significant correlations between metals in the dry than in the west sea..

Protocol for a mixed methods process evaluation of the Smoking Treatment Optimisation in Pharmacies (STOP) trial

This article is a preprint from medRxiv and has not been peer-reviewe

Trends in urban planning, climate adaptation and resilience in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Over recent decades, there has been substantial change in Zanzibar, due to, among others, global climate change impacts. The semi-autonomous polity faces challenges to foster resilient urban communities and planning for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, not least because of its island nature and rapid urbanization. This article addresses urban and environmental planning measures from 2010 to 2020 aimed at confronting the impacts of climate change and working toward resilience and adaptation in urban Zanzibar. The study was conducted between June and August 2020, and primarily involved a combination of desktop studies, online discussions, and virtual meetings with key actors in the land, climate, and disaster risk policy and governance aspects in Zanzibar. The review provides information on the current responses to policy, legal and institutional setup in terms of the key issues related to land use, climate and disaster risk reduction in Zanzibar. Thematic analysis was used to connect land-use planning, climate adaptation, and disaster risk reduction documentation of the situational assessment, determination and respective recommendations concerning land use and climate adaptation. It is argued that planning for climate change requires greater social will, financial investment, and the conversion of science to policy than currently exists in Zanzibar. Dynamic individual and governmental efforts and select community engagement are likely insufficient to produce resilience, as large-scale donor-funded climate adaptation interventions are largely top-down in orientation and often miss out on local community-oriented climate solutions. Smaller NGOs are more practical for understanding and addressing community-oriented priorities to support climate-resilient initiatives and enhance local livelihood priorities and participation against climate impacts, including natural disasters and everyday degradation. The article concludes with policy recommendations both specific to Zanzibar and relevant across the region