The effect of environmental variability on livestock and land-use management: The Borana plateau, southern Ethiopia

The Borana people are the predominant ethnic group on the Borana Plateau in southern Ethiopia. Though traditionally transhumant pastoralists, they have recently increased their reliance on crops. Rainfall in the region averages between 353 mm to 873 mm; variability in rainfall is quite high, with coefficients of variation ranging from.21 to.68. The past decade has witnessed a dramatic increase in land allocated to crops, and land in pastures that are either becoming privatised, or accessible to only a small sub-group of people. In this paper, we derive an empirical model of stocking rates and land allocation, which is then used to estimate the effects of exogenous parameters on stocking densities, land allocated to crops, and land allocated to private pastures. Results indicate the following: a) regions with high coefficients of variation in rainfall have lower livestock densities and less land allocated to crops, b) communities with greater numbers of households and higher population densities have larger indices of non-cooperation, higher stock densities, and more land allocated to crops, c) heterogeneity within a community, measured by the distribution of wealth levels, is positively related to an index of non-cooperation, and to higher stock densities, d) higher relative prices of livestock and shorter distances to market are associated with greater stock densities as well as greater land allocated to crops, e) the greater is mobility into an area, the higher are stock densities, and the lower is the cooperation level, whereas outward mobility by community members has no effect on either stock densities or the level of cooperation reached, f) the proportion of members engaged in wage work outside has a significant negative effect on the ability of the community to cooperate. Outside wage work also increases land allocated to crops, but has a significant negative effect on land allocated to private pastures, and g) the greater is the index of non-cooperation, the higher are stock densities and the greater is land allocated to crops.

Bringing the social into vaccination research: Community-led ethnography and trust-building in immunization programs in Sierra Leone

Background Vaccine hesitancy is a complex, contested social phenomenon and existing research highlights the multifaceted role of trust in strengthening vaccine confidence. However, understanding public engagement with vaccination through the lens of (mis)trust requires more contextual evidence on trust's qualitative determinants. This includes expanding the geographic focus beyond current studies' focus on High Income Countries. Furthermore, obstacles remain in effectively integrating social science findings in the design of vaccine deployment strategies, and in ensuring that those who implement interventions and are affected by them are directly involved in producing knowledge about vaccination challenges. Methods We piloted a community-led ethnographic approach, training Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Kambia District, Sierra Leone, in qualitative social science methods. Methods included participant observation, participatory power mapping and rumour tracking, focus group discussions and key stakeholder interviews. CHWs, with the support of public health officials and professional social scientists, conducted research on vaccination challenges, analysed data, tested new community engagement strategies based on their findings and elicited local perspectives on these approaches. Results Our findings on vaccine confidence in five border communities highlighted three key themes: the impact of prior experiences with the health system on (mis)trust; relevance of livelihood strategies and power dynamics for vaccine uptake and access; and the contextual nature of knowledge around vaccines. Across these themes, we show how expressions of trust centered on social proximity, reliability and respect and the role of structural issues affecting both vaccine access and confidence. The pilot also highlighted the value and practical challenges to meaningfully co-designed research. Conclusion There is scope for broader application of a community-led ethnographic approach will help redesign programming that is responsive to local knowledge and experience. Involving communities and low-cadre service providers in generating knowledge and solutions can strengthen relationships and sustain dialogue to bolster vaccine confidence

Elemental Composition Analysis of Soil Samples from Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

This study analysis the elemental composition and concentration of elements in the soils of the study area to ascertain degree of elemental enhancement in the soil resulting from anthropogenic activities with possible soil contamination, human health and environmental detriment. The study area was divided into eight grids and two soil samples per grid from over burden to a depth of 900mm was collected randomly in each grid. The samples were prepared using standard methods and analyzed with a linear accelerator. The number of detectable elements and their quantitative information was extracted from the elemental spectral signatures. . The result showed a high concentration value in some elements in the soil samples above values of elemental concentrations in soils from other reported studied region. In addition, Aluminium, Strontium, Barium, Gallium etc also showed an extremely high value in their concentration that exceeds the world wide mean range upper limit values in crustal soil study published. The study indicates some degree of potential contamination and therefore necessitate a regular periodic monitoring study to reduce potential health detriment to humans and the environment to as low as reasonably possible

An intra-COVID-19 assessment of hand hygiene facility, policy and staff compliance in two hospitals in Sierra Leone: is there a difference between regional and capital city hospitals?

Although hand hygiene (HH) is the most effective intervention to reduce the spread of infections, there are limited data on HH facilities, policy, and compliance in sub-Saharan Africa. This cross-sectional study is aimed at assessing HH using the WHO HH self-assessment framework, HH technical reference manual, and a modified infection control self-assessment tool in two hospitals in Sierra Leone. Only 10% and 9% of regional and capital city hospitals had running tap water, respectively. Veronica buckets were the resources for HH in 89% of units in the regional hospital and 92% of units in capital city hospital. Constant supply of soap and alcohol-based hand rub was available in 82% and 68%; and 74% and 79% of units in the capital city and regional hospitals, respectively. Only 10% of the units in both hospitals had hand-drying facilities and functional sinks. Overall HH compliance for the two hospitals was 18.6% and was higher in the regional (20.8%) than the capital city (17.0%) hospitals. The HH levels for the capital city and regional hospitals were 277.5 and 262.5 respectively. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still challenges with HH compliance in Sierra Leone. It is, therefore, necessary to strengthen the HH multi-modal strategy

Spatial Distribution of Radiometric and Dosimetric Parameters in Soil Samples from Selected Areas in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Radiation from radioactive materials/radionuclides in the environment enhanced by anthropogenic activities is presently of a great concern globally. The objective of this study is to determine the radiometric and dosimetric parameters from soil samples collected randomly from the study area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The samples were prepared using standard methods and analyzed with a high resolution Hyperpure Germanium Detector configuration (HPGe). The results showed the clay samples to have higher activity concentration to the sands samples with activity concentration of clay samples ranging between 68.99±9.05 –189, 42±21.11Bq/kg and the sand samples with activity concentration range of 17.95±5.87 – 38.59±7.43Bq/kg. The activity concentration spatial distribution map in clay lithologies showed 2 peak values trending north-west, while the sand lithology showed a single peak central distribution. The result also showed the values of the absorbed doses with the 8 clay samples values ranging between 59.09 - 155.25nGy/h and sand samples values between 17.90 – 33.92nGy/h. The spatial distribution of the dose showed 2 peak central distribution in clay samples and north-east trending distribution of high peak values for samples with sand lithologies.  In addition, the results showed an effective absorbed dose of range of 0.235-0.0616mSv/y for samples with clay lithology and 0.0071-0.0135mSv/y for samples with sand lithology The activity concentration of all the samples studied are below the 1000Bq/kg international reference limit  for Radium 226, Thorium 232, uranium 238 and 10,000Bq/kg for potassium 40. The absorbed dose rate and annual effective absorbed dose are also below the international reference limits published by ICRP, 2007 and UNSCEAR, 2000 publications. Also, effective activity maximum limit of 370Bq/kg for input raw materials for public building is not exceeded

Governments' policy response to drought in Eswatini and Lesotho : a systematic review of the characteristics, comprehensiveness, and quality of existing policies to improve community resilience to drought hazards

The southern African kingdoms of Eswatini and Lesotho experience recurrent drought-induced disasters. Policies have been enacted, but no attempt has been made to synthesise the effects on disaster resilience. This review analyses the characteristics, quality, and comprehensiveness of drought-resilience policies in Eswatini and Lesotho. We have systematically reviewed public policies that shape responses to disaster resilience published between 1 January 1980 and 30 June 2019. A combination of keywords was used to search electronic bibliographic databases, multidisciplinary databases, key organisational websites, and the first 20 pages of Google for policies that addressed disaster and/or drought resilience. Identified documents were downloaded into an EndNote database and screened for eligibility using predetermined criteria. The logic of events framework was used for quality assessment, and a metaethnographic approach was applied for data synthesis. Three broad categories of characteristics, thematic outcomes and quality, and comprehensiveness of policy documents emerged and are presented. Policy responses contributing to disaster resilience were found in n = 32 out of 13,700 documents. Three (n = 3/32) policies were statutory, and the rest were nonstatutory. Eleven (n = 11/32) were assessed to be of high quality. Policy responses relating to drought resilience focused on reducing vulnerability to recurrent disasters; promoting drought and climate change adaptation; improving agriculture and food security; safeguarding cultural heritage; and preventing gender inequality and gender-based violence as well as improving disaster governance. However, the construct of drought resilience was not strongly articulated as a major policy goal across policy documents. There is an urgent need to promote better understanding of drought resilience in order to motivate policymakers to steer away from reactive interventions and position resilience as a major national policy goal in both countries to expedite inclusive growth and safeguard development gains and the health and wellbeing of the majority of their populations who are rural-based populations

The impact of the livelihoods and income fortification and socio-civic transformation project on the quality of life, wellbeing, self-esteem, and quality of neighbourhood social environment among the youth in slum areas of in Kampala, Uganda

Background: Various interventions to improve the quality of life (QoL) among slum dwellers across sub Saharan Africa have been implemented. However, the interventions impacts remain less understood. We assessed the impact of the Urban Program on Livelihoods and Income Fortification and Socio-civic Transformation (UPLIFT) project on QoL, psychological wellbeing, self-esteem, and the quality of neighbourhood social environment of young people aged 13–25 years in slum areas of Makindye and Nakawa Divisions in Kampala, Uganda. Methods: The study was designed as a mixed method evaluation using repeated cross-sectional survey and grounded theory in both the intervention and comparison communities. The intervention effect was estimated using the difference-in-differences Kernel propensity-score matching technique, with bootstrapping. The “rcs” option was used given that data were from repeated cross-sectional surveys. A thematic analysis was adopted for the qualitative data to triangulate and complement the quantitative data. Results: The UPLIFT project led to an improvement in QoL, psychological wellbeing, and self-esteem of young people. In terms of QoL, the project led to a six-percentage point increase in quality of living conditions scores (where higher scores reflect better living conditions; lower ones, worse living conditions). However, a negative effect was observed for personal independence whilst the project did not have any impact on social relations. In terms of self-esteem and psychological wellbeing, the project led to a 4.6-point increase in self-esteem scores, a 5.4-point increase in self-acceptance scores, a 5.3- point increase in purpose in life scores, a 5.7 - point increase in personal growth, and a 10.7-point increase in autonomy scores. However, the project had a negative effect on personal independence; and had no impact on environmental mastery and the quality of neighbourhood social environment. Conclusion: Functional community-owned assets accumulation and capacity building initiatives for young people in slum areas improved their psychological wellbeing and quality of life. However, such initiatives do not appear to address social relationships and personal independence of young people in slum areas

Kinetics of coherent order-disorder transition in Al3ZrAl_3 Zr

Within a phase field approach which takes the strain-induced elasticity into account, the kinetics of the coherent order-disorder transition is investigated for the specific case of $Al_3 Zr$ alloy. It is shown that a microstructure with cubic $L1_2$ precipitates appears as a transient state during the decomposition of a homogeneous disordered solid solution into a microstructure with tetragonal $DO_{23}$ precipitates embedded into a disordered matrix. At low enough temperature, favored by a weak internal stress, only $L1_2$ precipitates grow in the transient microstructure preceding nucleation of the $DO_{23}$ precipitates that occurs exclusively at the interface of the solid solution with the $L1_2$ precipitates. Analysis of microstructures at nanoscopic scale shows a characteristic rod shape for the $DO_{23}$ precipitates due to the combination of their tetragonal symmetry and their large internal stress.Comment: 2 postscript figures and 1 JPG pag

Prevalence of sero-markers and non-invasive assessment of liver cirrhosis in patients with hepatitis B virus infection in Freetown, Sierra Leone: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major global health problem. Although sub-Saharan Africa has a high proportion of the global burden of HBV, the epidemiology and clinical features of HBV in this region are poorly characterized, and access to diagnostic and treatment services remain limited. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of HBV-infected children and adults of all age groups who were evaluated at public and private health facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone between January 2017 and January 2019. We assessed their clinical presentation, HBV sero-markers, stages of liver disease, prevalence of cirrhosis by non-invasive tools, and the proportion of treatment eligible patients using the criteria recommended by the World Health Organization's 2015 treatment guidelines for HBV. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of liver cirrhosis. RESULTS: 163 HBV patients included in the study, with mean age 32.6 years and 65.0% (106) being males. Most (84.0%) were asymptomatic at presentation. The majority (69.9%) were classified as having HBeAg-negative chronic infection (or inactive HBsAg carrier phase), 24.5% were in the HBeAg-negative immune active phase, 3.1% had HBeAg positive hepatitis, and 2.5% were HBsAg negative. The median Aspartate aminotransferase to Platelet Ratio (APRI) and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) scores were 0.37 and 0.80, respectively. The prevalence of cirrhosis was 7.6% and 6.2%, estimated by the APRI and FIB-4 scores, respectively. About 20.0% of patients were eligible for treatment with antiviral agents. Based on APRI scores, the presence of any symptom [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 20.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) (4.1-85.9); p < 0.001], elevated direct bilirubin [aOR 12.1, 95% CI (1.9-63.0); p = 0.003], and elevated total bilirubin [aOR 16.1, 95% CI (3.2-80.8); p = 0.001] were independent predictors of cirrhosis. CONCLUSION: Although most patients with HBV infection were asymptomatic, the prevalence of liver cirrhosis and proportion of patients requiring antiviral treatment were substantial. This small study from a hyperendemic setting in Sierra Leone suggests that routine population-based screening may increase early detection and linkage of HBV patients to care before development of complications. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings

Measuring Impact of Air and Agricultural Soil Pollution on Social Development in Saudi Arabia

This research aimed to measure the impact of air and agricultural soil pollution on social development in Saudi Arabia from the period 1995–2019 by using social development indicators, concentrating on the percentages of expenditure on education and health, and the Human Development Index. In addition, this study uses multiple regressions in estimating the model to study the impact of air pollution and agricultural soil on social development. Results of the study showed that a 10% change in the number of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in Saudi agriculture leads to a change in the total number of inpatients by 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively. It was also found that an increased percentage of health expenditure to total government spending by 10% leads to a decrease in the total number of patients in the hospital by 1.8%. An increase in air pollution, expressed as a 10% increase in CO2 emissions, increases the total number of hospitalized patients by 11.1%.  The increasing total number of patients by 10% leads to a decrease in the total productivity of the worker, as an indicator of 1.8%. Furthermore, a change of 10% in the ratio of education expenditure to total government expenditure leads to a change in the same direction of the Human Development Index by 9.6%. In light of these results, it can be recommended that the country need to reduce air pollution by expanding the use of natural gas in the industrial and transportation sectors, in addition to reducing the use of nitrogenous fertilizers and pesticides in Saudi agriculture through the expansion of clean farming and good agricultural practices