African migrant traders’ experiences in Johannesburg inner city : towards the migrant calculated risk and adaptation framework

Abstract: Globally, migrants face numerous socio-economic and institutional impediments that hinder their participation in the labour market of host cities and/or countries. This motivates them to join the informal economic sector to make a living. Applying the concept of tactical cosmopolitanism to understand the social and economic agency of African migrants, this article reports on an explorative analysis of the experiences of informal African migrant street traders (African migrant traders) operating in Johannesburg inner city, Gauteng, South Africa. The study revealed that African migrant traders left their countries of origin to secure better opportunities and to escape hostile conditions in their home countries. Despite the host city turning out to be more hostile and xenophobic, making life and finding formal employment opportunities more challenging, the thought of the more difficult life conditions in their home countries has led them to trading on the streets..

SPATIO-TEMPORAL IMPACT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC PRACTICES ON LAND USE/ COVER IN THE KASSO CATCHMENT, BALE MOUNTAINS, ETHIOPIA

This study aims to identify the driving forces and implications of the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use and land cover in the Kasso catchment, Bale Mountains (Southeastern Ethiopia). Aerial photographs (1965 and 1973) and satellite image (SPOT5 2007) were interpreted and analyzed using GIS tools. Socio-economic surveys, focus group discussions, and field observations were also used to determine the causes and effects of these land use and land cover dynamics. It was found that agriculture and settlement land had increased by 24%, whereas natural forest, woodland, bush land, and grassland declined by 80.74%, 68.08%, 63.02% and 17.65%, respectively. Agricultural expansion and population growth were the two major driving forces behind the land use and land cover dynamics. Environmental and local livelihood implications included forest cover degradation, soil erosion and fertility decline, stream volume and livestock size decline, and scarcity of firewood and construction materials. These in turn contributed to food insecurity, particularly in some low-income households, as well as hindering the sustainable livelihoods of the study area in general. Therefore, we suggest that there is a need to protect the fragile environment, and to adapt and implement sustainable land management practice to promote sustainable livelihood in the area

Landuse and landcover change assessment in the Upper Runde sub-catchment, Zimbabwe and possible impacts on reservoir sedimentation

This work assesses land cover changes on the Upper Runde sub-catchment, Zimbabwe, and associated effects on sedimentation rates and risks. The model was implemented using the common Geographic Information Systems tools. To achieve this objective, mean annual and monthly rainfall, as well as sediment data, were used (December 2016 and April 2017). Land use and land cover changes were assessed using time-series Landsat data acquired between the years 2000 and 2016. The Revised Universal Soil Loss (RUSLE) model was used to model sedimentation rates in the catchmen

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.8–14.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.8–71.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.0–27.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.3–27.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.3–23.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.4–87.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.1–83.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.1–60.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally.publishedVersio

Apolipoprotein B, Residual Cardiovascular Risk After Acute Coronary Syndrome, and Effects of Alirocumab.

Background: Apolipoprotein B (apoB) provides an integrated measure of atherogenic risk. Whether apoB levels and apoB lowering hold incremental predictive information on residual risk after acute coronary syndrome beyond that provided by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is uncertain. Methods: The ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial (Evaluation of Cardiovascular Outcomes After an Acute Coronary Syndrome During Treatment With Alirocumab) compared the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor alirocumab with placebo in 18 924 patients with recent acute coronary syndrome and elevated atherogenic lipoproteins despite optimized statin therapy. Primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; coronary heart disease death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, fatal/nonfatal ischemic stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina). Associations between baseline apoB or apoB at 4 months and MACE were assessed in adjusted Cox proportional hazards and propensity score–matched models. Results: Median follow-up was 2.8 years. In proportional hazards analysis in the placebo group, MACE incidence increased across increasing baseline apoB strata (3.2 [95% CI, 2.9–3.6], 4.0 [95% CI, 3.6–4.5], and 5.5 [95% CI, 5.0–6.1] events per 100 patient-years in strata 35–<50, and ≤35 mg/dL, respectively). Compared with propensity score–matched patients from the placebo group, treatment hazard ratios for alirocumab also decreased monotonically across achieved apoB strata. Achieved apoB was predictive of MACE after adjustment for achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol but not vice versa. Conclusions: In patients with recent acute coronary syndrome and elevated atherogenic lipoproteins, MACE increased across baseline apoB strata. Alirocumab reduced MACE across all strata of baseline apoB, with larger absolute reductions in patients with higher baseline levels. Lower achieved apoB was associated with lower risk of MACE, even after accounting for achieved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, indicating that apoB provides incremental information. Achievement of apoB levels as low as ≤35 mg/dL may reduce lipoprotein-attributable residual risk after acute coronary syndrome. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT01663402.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01663402.URL: https://www

Effects of alirocumab on cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes after acute coronary syndrome in patients with or without diabetes: a prespecified analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES randomised controlled trial

Background After acute coronary syndrome, diabetes conveys an excess risk of ischaemic cardiovascular events. A reduction in mean LDL cholesterol to 1.4-1.8 mmol/L with ezetimibe or statins reduces cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome and diabetes. However, the efficacy and safety of further reduction in LDL cholesterol with an inhibitor of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) after acute coronary syndrome is unknown. We aimed to explore this issue in a prespecified analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial of the PCSK9 inhibitor alirocumab, assessing its effects on cardiovascular outcomes by baseline glycaemic status, while also assessing its effects on glycaemic measures including risk of new-onset diabetes

Risk Categorization Using New American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guidelines for Cholesterol Management and Its Relation to Alirocumab Treatment Following Acute Coronary Syndromes

10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.042551CIRCULATION140191578-158