Principles for transformative ocean governance

With a focus on oceans, we collaborated across ecological, social and legal disciplines to respond to the United Nations call for transformation in the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. We developed a set of 13 principles that strategically and critically connect transformative ocean research to transformative ocean governance (complementing the UN Decade for Ocean Science). We used a rigorous, iterative and transparent consensus-building approach to define the principles, which can interact in supporting, neutral or sometimes conflicting ways. We recommend that the principles could be applied as a comprehensive set and discuss how to learn from their interactions, particularly those that reveal hidden tensions. The principles can bring and keep together partnerships for innovative ocean action. This action must respond to the many calls to reform current ocean-use practices which are based on economic growth models that have perpetuated inequities and fuelled conflict and environmental decline

Smallholder Zebu and Forage Production Development in Central Madagascar

Poverty in the Central Highlands of Madagascar is partly driven by inefficient exploitation of native forages and poor livestock nutrition. Zebus are of importance as cultural symbols, but this tradition has grown disconnected from agricultural policy. This project is working with three central highland communities near the protected areas of Itremo, Ibity and Ankafobe, to boost rangeland productivity and trial management methods which will support key forage grasses and improve livestock nutrition. A severe nitrogen deficiency compounded by extremely acidic soil conditions and low phosphorus is observed across the three sites. The lowest grazing capacity of an estimated 0.7 livestock unit per hectare and biomass production of 1600 kg/ha is observed at Ankafobe, the highest elevation windy site with fires that are almost annual. Low production is due to acidic soils with a lack of phosphorus as well as likely iron toxicity. The project works with 90 households owning a total 150 female zebu, 1-5 per household. The project initiated 3 demonstration farms to show the planting of sorghum for silage, harvesting of the native grasses for hay, and building a secure barn meeting at least minimum animal care standards, using local materials to protect the livestock from the weather and theft which is sadly perceived to be common. In the first year the project produced the highest yields in the most remote and fertile site of Itremo, with 365 kg of sorghum silage from 0.5 ha and 165 kg of Brachiaria hay from 0.5 ha. Five households based in the milk producing region of eastern Ibity have completed new barns. Fifty percent of households at Ibity successfully fed silage and hay to their zebu for the first time. Madagascar remains famous for subsistence farming and rural poverty with a long-term decline in livestock, but substantial opportunity nevertheless exists for integrated crop and livestock production, alongside the protection of biodiversity in nearby forests

Prescribing indicators at primary health care centers within the WHO African region: a systematic analysis (1995-2015)

Abstract Background Rational medicine use is essential to optimize quality of healthcare delivery and resource utilization. We aim to conduct a systematic review of changes in prescribing patterns in the WHO African region and comparison with WHO indicators in two time periods 1995–2005 and 2006–2015. Methods Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of science, Africa-Wide Nipad, Africa Journals Online (AJOL), Google scholar and International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) Bibliography databases to identify primary studies reporting prescribing indicators at primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in Africa. This was supplemented by a manual search of retrieved references. We assessed the quality of studies using a 14-point scoring system modified from the Downs and Black checklist with inclusions of recommendations in the WHO guidelines. Results Forty-three studies conducted in 11 African countries were included in the overall analysis. These studies presented prescribing indicators based on a total 141,323 patient encounters across 572 primary care facilities. The results of prescribing indicators were determined as follows; average number of medicines prescribed per patient encounter = 3.1 (IQR 2.3–4.8), percentage of medicines prescribed by generic name =68.0 % (IQR 55.4–80.3), Percentage of encounters with antibiotic prescribed =46.8 % (IQR 33.7–62.8), percentage of encounters with injection prescribed =25.0 % (IQR 18.7–39.5) and the percentage of medicines prescribed from essential medicines list =88.0 % (IQR 76.3–94.1). Prescribing indicators were generally worse in private compared with public facilities. Analysis of prescribing across two time points 1995–2005 and 2006–2015 showed no consistent trends. Conclusions Prescribing indicators for the African region deviate significantly from the WHO reference targets. Increased collaborative efforts are urgently needed to improve medicine prescribing practices in Africa with the aim of enhancing the optimal utilization of scarce resources and averting negative health consequences

Influence of management practice on the microbiota of a critically endangered species: A longitudinal study of kākāpō chick faeces and associated nest litter

Background: The critically endangered kākāpō is a flightless, nocturnal parrot endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. Recent efforts to describe the gastrointestinal microbial community of this threatened herbivore revealed a low-diversity microbiota that is often dominated by Escherichia-Shigella bacteria. Given the importance of associated microbial communities to animal health, and increasing appreciation of their potential relevance to threatened species conservation, we sought to better understand the development of this unusual gut microbiota profile. To this end, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of faecal material collected from kākāpō chicks during the 2019 breeding season, in addition to associated nest litter material. Results: Using an experimental approach rarely seen in studies of threatened species microbiota, we evaluated the impact of a regular conservation practice on the developing kākāpō microbiota, namely the removal of faecal material from nests. Artificially removing chick faeces from nests had negligible impact on bacterial community diversity for either chicks or nests (p > 0.05). However, the gut microbiota did change significantly over time as chick age increased (p < 0.01), with an increasing relative abundance of Escherichia-Shigella coli over the study period and similar observations for the associated nest litter microbiota (p < 0.01). Supplementary feeding substantially altered gut bacterial diversity of kākāpō chicks (p < 0.01), characterised by a significant increase in Lactobacillus bacteria. Conclusions: Overall, chick age and hand rearing conditions had the most marked impact on faecal bacterial communities. Similarly, the surrounding nest litter microbiota changed significantly over time since a kākāpō chick was first placed in the nest, though we found no evidence that removal of faecal material influenced the bacterial communities of either litter or faecal samples. Taken together, these observations will inform ongoing conservation and management of this most enigmatic of bird species

International consensus statement for the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of adolescents with concurrent Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and substance use disorder

Education and Child Studie

Extension of the storage life of plums (Prunus salicina) using controlled atmosphere shipping

The original publication is available at http://www.actahort.org/books/682/682_225.htmSouth Africa is an important supplier of stone fruit to the northern hemisphere in the months of November to March. The voyage by sea to the main markets in the UK and Continental Europe necessitates production of cultivars that are able to maintain an acceptable eating quality for a period of at least four weeks from the time of harvest. Four Japanese plum (Prunus salicina) cultivars were examined with the view to extend their storage life under regular atmosphere (RA) conditions at -0.5°C following either RA or controlled atmosphere (CA) shipping, using either the commercial dual temperature (-0.5°C, 7.5°C, -0.5°C) or a single high temperature (7.5°C) regime. The cultivars included the locally bred ‘Sapphire’, ‘Songold’ and ‘Laetitia’ as well as ‘Angeleno’ which is well known in plum producing countries internationally. Storage life of all four cultivars could be extended for an additional two to three weeks under RA conditions at -0.5°C without adverse effects on quality, provided that CA was applied during the shipping phase, either under the dual or single high temperature regimes. Fruit firmness was best retained under CA (dual temperature) conditions. These fruit also showed the lowest respiration rates, ethylene production rates and internal ethylene content. Skin colour development was better under single high than under dual temperature conditions, and also better under RA than CA shipping