Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration and the Framework for Effective Land Administration in Chad

The Republic of Chad's land administration system faces many challenges related to the implementation and management of its conventional surveying, mapping, and recording approaches. This situation results in land conflicts, non-productivity of agricultural land, uncontrolled urban development and hinders Chad's development more generally. As in other Francophone countries in Africa, Chad's land legislation dates back to 1967 and the body of law is poorly applied. This is reflected in the resurgence of land conflicts in both urban and rural areas and is also reflected in the low number of existing land titles. The paper outlines the findings and conclusions of the 'Improving Land Administration in Chad' project, that a team of the international arm of Netherlands' Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, SmartLandMaps, Esri North Africa and Trimble together with the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Housing Development and Urban Planning (MATHU) conducted in N'Djamena, Chad. There the Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration approach was applied to demonstrate practical ways to increase tenure security in the country. To take this case study further the Framework for Effective Land Administration is used to identify key issues to be addressed in future implementations. The paper is divided into six parts. First a short introduction on the context of Chad is provided. Second a brief overview of the methodologies used is presented.Third, an outline of the activities that were conducted in the case study are described, which is followed by an overview of the different methodologies demonstrated in Chad. This overview then leads into an analysis that is using the Framework for Effective Land Administration to identify key issues that can guide further piloting in Chad. This is followed by a short conclusion summarising the main takeaways

Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in 13 Belgian hospitals: a survey from the french association of belgian hospital pharmacists

Background: Since 2002, the Belgian Antibiotic Policy Coordibnation Committee (BAPCOC) has supported the development of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) teams in Belgian hospitals with policy guidance and federal funding. A Royal Decree of 12 February 2008 has consolidated the minimum composition, mandate and tasks of AMS teams. However, between 2017 and 2019, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre (KCE) emphasized flaws in our national strategies and policies on antimicrobial resistance. This survey evaluated if the essential and the minimum standards for AMS programs in Belgian hospitals were fulfilled after more than 10 years of activities. Materials/methods: A questionnaire survey was performed based on the international consensus approach developed by Pulcini et al. in 2019. Seven core elements and their related 29 checklist items for global hospital AMS programs were assessed. All the items are weighted identically: 1 point per hospital regardless of the type of hospital or the number of beds. The results are expressed in percentages. Results: Completed questionnaires were provided by 13 hospitals (8 primary, 3 secondary and 2 tertiary hospitals). Figure 1 showed the results of the seven core elements. The core elements number 3 (Available expertise on infection management) and 6 (Monitoring and surveillance) gained good scores. The core elements number 1 (Senior hospital management leadership towards antimicrobial stewardship) and number 7 (Reporting and feedback) have to be improved in the future. The sub-analysis of the 29 items emphasized within the core elements which questions can still be improved. Conclusions: This survey confirmed on the ground what is reflected in the ECDC and KCE reports: the effectiveness of the belgian AMS teams could be improved. This survey could help BAPCOC to easily underline which core elements need improvement

Phylogenetic classification of the world's tropical forests

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world’s tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world’s tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.</p

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

PAN Parks implementation process: cross cultural comparison – Bieszczady & Slovenski Raij National Parks

Section: Sustainability and carrying capacity studies in recreational setting

Towards effective land administration: What is striking about the digital transformation for land administration in developing context

The report “Land Information and Transaction Systems – State of Practise and Decision Tools for Future Investments” (prepared by Land Equity International for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC/LEI) gives a very clear overview of the ongoing debate in developing Land Information Systems in developing countries with the financing and maintenance aspects. The present paper shares experiences in the fields of ICT and land administration by Kadaster International - as a case to draw attention to and learn from for future applications, specifically the need for recognize and bridge the gap between the domains of land administration (including surveying, mapping, and land law) and ICT, in terms capacity and system continuity. This paper serves to initiate a discussion to contribute to solutions from within the profession. The MCC/LEI report was the trigger and strong inspiration for this. We are trying to start a discussion. In many countries, ICT and land administration have a continuity problem. When the donor leaves, in many cases the development of ICT stagnates. With the commitment of all those involved, the question is if this can be done differently? This question is central to this paper. And: how can we secure long-term investments in ICT in land administration in environments where there is strong political will and political support to modernise the land administration

Inclusive and gender-aware participatory land registration in Indonesia

Utilising a participatory land registration approach, this paper argues how nclusive and gender aware land titling, involving local community teams, can lead to faster, affordable and more socially anchored land registration. Coupled with building support across authorities such as village chiefs, district heads and government agencies, allows for a both bottom up and top down approach, capturing interest and concerns of all key stakeholders in the process. The paper also demonstrates, that if not taken seriously, these stakeholders can pose serious risks to the success of the project. By using a local village community land rights committee that with strong representation of women, the land registration process had a high acceptance rate and support in the communities worked in. We also show that developing a software application that guides such a process, being easy to use for village members, while compliant with government regulations and requirements, is essential