Factors Influencing Foreign Direct Investment Inflow in Somalia

Purposes: The last four decades, the value of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow in Somalia has fluctuated between $339,000,000 in 2016 and$43,390,000 in 1970. Thus, this research investigated the factors influencing foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in Somalia. Over the period from 1980-2017 and data are obtained from the World Bank.    Design/ Methodology/ approach: this study used The Vector Auto regression (VAR) model. The econometric methodology to be utilized includes the unit root test for used Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), co-integration test, Johansen integration test and diagnostic test includes serial correlation, normality, heteroskedasticity and AR root test. Furthermore, they are also utilized for VAR Granger causality tests.   Findings: The findings of this paper indicated unit root test showed that all variables except external debt are not stationary at the level but become stationary after first differencing at the 10% level of significant. The co-integration test indicates the relationships between variables are integrated. The Granger-causality test shows only one-way Granger-causality relationships from FDI to GDP, import and export variables or so-called unidirectional Granger causality. Moreover, impulse response function indicates results all variables are positive related in the short run and long run except for imports which is negative related with FDI. Although, GDP, imports and inflation are significant to FDI, but export and external debt are insignificant to FDI. Therefore, this research concludes that FDI influences economic growth in Somalia.    Research limitations/ implications: Although this research has expended and evolved prior studied various respects, a comprehensive and systematic time-series study on FDI and its determinants in Somalia would involve more capitals than had been made available for this study. There are still a number of specific constrains to be noted on the investigating FDI and its determinants in this paper, some factors such as political and macroeconomic instability, human capital, infrastructure and corruptions are not considered owing to data availability. Moreover, it’s recommended that future studies could improvement widely and update research in FDI

A Review of Strategies to Prevent On-Site Construction Waste

One of the most important concerns that improves building profitability is the implementation of a positive approach to minimize construction waste. This paper will discuss the roots of construction waste, current waste reduction strategies, and lastly the possible use of waste management. Furthermore, the key environmental priority for this issue should be to control and mitigate construction waste generation. The purpose of this study is to provide prevention measures, and the rising tide of public awareness is all conspiring to modify the face of waste management. Clients, contractors, suppliers, and designers Architects & Engineers all have opportunities and duties to reduce construction waste. The outcomes of this study will assist academics in furthering their research into important management strategies for reducing on-site building waste

An overview of neural networks use in anomaly intrusion detection systems

With the increasing number of computers being connected to the Internet, security of an information system has never been more urgent. Because no system can be absolutely secure, the timely and accurate detection of intrusions is necessary. This is the reason of an entire area of research, called Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS). Anomaly systems detect intrusions by searching for an abnormal system activity. But the main problem of anomaly detection IDS is that; it is very difficult to build, because of the difficulty in defining what is normal and what is abnormal. Neural network with its ability of learning has become one of the most promising techniques to solve this problem. This paper presents an overview of neural networks and their use in building anomaly intrusion systems

Differential responses of Bactrocera dorsalis and its parasitoids to headspaces of different varieties of tree-attached mango fruits and the associated chemical profiles

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) is a major pest of fruits and vegetables worldwide with documented losses of up to 100%. Various management techniques including the use of parasitoids, such as Fopius arisanus (Sonan) and Diachasmimorpha longicaudata (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) within the context of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach have been deployed for its control. The effectiveness of parasitoids is well understood, but knowledge of the semiochemicals that mediate their behavior, as well as that of the host fruit fly to tree-attached mangoes, is lacking. Here, we first compared the attractiveness of the above-mentioned fruit fly and its parasitoids to volatiles of different treatments (non-infested physiologically mature unripe and ripe mangoes, mangoes newly exposed to ovipositing B. dorsalis, and mangoes on day 7 and day 9 post-oviposition) of tree-attached Kent, Apple, and Haden mango varieties relative to control (clean air). The fruit fly was significantly more attracted to the mango volatiles (up to 93% of responsive insects) compared to the control (clean air). Fopius arisanus was significantly more attracted to mangoes with ovipositing fruit flies (68-76%) while D. longicaudata was significantly more attracted to day 9 post-oviposited mangoes (64-72%) compared to the control. Secondly, we elucidated the headspace volatile profiles of the non-infested and infested tree-attached mangoes using gas chromatography linked to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The volatiles revealed various types of organic compounds with qualitative and quantitative differences. The majority of the compounds were esters making 33.8% of the total number, followed by sesquiterpenes-16.4%, and monoterpenes-15.4% among others. Most compounds had higher release rates in headspace volatiles of fruit fly-infested mangoes. Lastly, we harvested the infested mangoes and incubated them for puparia recovery. The number of puparia recovered varied according to the mango variety with Apple mango registering 81.7% of the total, while none was recovered from Kent. These results represent the first report of the changes in the headspace components of non-infested and infested tree-attached mangoes and the associated differential responses of the mentioned insects. A follow-up study can reveal whether there is a convergence in olfactomes which is significant when developing baits that selectively attract the fruit fly and not its natural enemies and fill the knowledge gap from an evolutionary ecological perspective

Progress and experiences of implementing an integrated disease surveillance and response system in Somalia; 2016–2023

IntroductionIn 2021, a regional strategy for integrated disease surveillance was adopted by member states of the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region. But before then, member states including Somalia had made progress in integration of their disease surveillance systems. We report on the progress and experiences of implementing an integrated disease surveillance and response system in Somalia between 2016 and 2023.MethodsWe reviewed 20 operational documents and identified key integrated disease surveillance and response system (IDSRS) actions/processes implemented between 2016 and 2023. We verified these through an anonymized online survey. The survey respondents also assessed Somalia’s IDSRS implementation progress using a standard IDS monitoring framework Finally, we interviewed 8 key informants to explore factors to which the current IDSRS implementation progress is attributed.ResultsBetween 2016 and 2023, 7 key IDSRS actions/processes were implemented including: establishment of high-level commitment; development of a 3-year operational plan; development of a coordination mechanism; configuring the District Health Information Software to support implementation among others. IDSRS implementation progress ranged from 15% for financing to 78% for tools. Reasons for the progress were summarized under 6 thematic areas; understanding frustrations with the current surveillance system; the opportunity occasioned by COVID-19; mainstreaming IDSRS in strategic documents; establishment of an oversight mechanism; staggering implementation of key activities over a reasonable length of time and being flexible about pre-determined timelines.DiscussionFrom 2016 to 2023, Somalia registered significant progress towards implementation of IDSRS. The 15 years of EWARN implementation in Somalia (since 2008) provided a strong foundation for IDSRS implementation. If implemented comprehensively, IDSRS will accelerate country progress toward establishment of IHR core capacities. Sustainable funding is the major challenge towards IDSRS implementation in Somalia. Government and its partners need to exploit feasible options for sustainable investment in integrated disease surveillance and response

Chemical cues from honeydew and cuticular extracts of Trialeurodes vaporariorum serve as kairomones for the parasitoid Encarsia formosa

Kairomones are semiochemicals that are emitted by an organism and which mediate interspecific interaction that is of benefit to an organism of another species that receives these chemical substances. Parasitoids find and recognize their hosts through eavesdropping on the kairomones emitted from the by-products or the body of the host. Hemipteran insect pests feed on plant sap and excrete the digested plant materials as honeydew. Honeydew serves as a nutritional food source for parasitoids and a medium for micro-organisms whose activity induces the release of volatiles exploited by parasitoids for host location. The parasitoid Encarsia formosa preferentially parasitizes its host, the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, on tomato Solanum lycopersicum, but little is known about the chemicals that mediate these interactions. We investigated the olfactory responses of the parasitoid E. formosa to odours from honeydew and nymphs of T. vaporariorum in a Y-tube olfactometer. Arrestment behaviour of the parasitoid to honeydew and nymph extracts, as well as to synthetic hydrocarbons, was also observed in Petri-dish bioassays. We found that T. vaporariorum honeydew volatiles attracted the parasitoid E. formosa but odours from the whitefly nymphs did not. We also found that the parasitoid spent more time searching on areas treated with extracts of honeydew and nymphs than on untreated areas. Gas-chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis revealed that the honeydew volatiles contained compounds such as (Z)-3-hexenol, δ-3-carene, 3-octanone, α-phellandrene, methyl salicylate, β-ocimene, β-myrcene, and (E)-β-caryophyllene which are known to be attractive to E. formosa. The cuticular extracts of the nymphs predominantly contained alkanes, alkenes, and esters. Among the alkanes, synthetic nonacosane arrested the parasitoid. Our findings are discussed in relation to how the parasitoid E. formosa uses these chemicals to locate its host, T. vaporariorum.The French National Research Agency (ANR) through CIRAD; the National Research Foundation through the NRF grants and the bursary by the University of Pretoria as well as icipe core funding donors: the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO); the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and the Kenyan Government. P.M.A. was supported by the University of Pretoria and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) In-Region Postgraduate Scholarship.https://link.springer.com/journal/10886hj2023Zoology and Entomolog

Interactions between integrated pest management, pollinator introduction, and landscape context on avocado Persea americana productivity

Pest management and insect pollination are important services that support crop production but are most often studied in isolation in cropping systems. Avocado Persea americana Mill. is an economically important crop in East Africa, which suffers from pest threats and potential drawbacks of the global pollinator crisis. The integration of pest and pollinator management is a growing research trend as a potential solution for sustainable crop production with minimum adverse effects on the environment and biodiversity. This study assessed potential interactions between landscape context, honeybee Apis mellifera L. introduction and integrated pest management (IPM) on avocado pests Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick), pollinators, and productivity in Kenya. Results showed an interaction between honeybee introduction and IPM on A. mellifera, with the highest mean abundance on the farms with both honeybee colonies and IPM. The abundance and diversity of non-Apis flower visitors were not affected by IPM and honeybee introduction across the landscapes. Pollinator introduction and IPM implementation resulted in a 941% fruit set increase and up to 97% fruit abscission within the high vegetation productivity class. Pest abundance significantly decreased on the farms with IPM, resulting in a 6% increase of final fruit weight compared with the farms without IPM. Overall, integration of pest and pollinator management did not synergistically increase the final avocado yield but represented a potential strategy to reduce pest densities while preserving wild visitors and benefiting from secondary products of honeybee colonies.The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned and administered through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Fund for International Agricultural Research (FIA) and Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the Section for research, innovation, and higher education, UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and the Kenyan Government.https://www.schweizerbart.de/journals/entomologiadm2022Zoology and Entomolog

Landscape vegetation productivity influences population dynamics of key pests in small avocado farms in Kenya

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) production contributes to the economic growth of East Africa. However, poor fruit quality caused by infestations of tephritid fruit flies (Tephritidae) and the false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick), hampers access to lucrative export markets. Remote sensing and spatial analysis are increasingly applied to crop pest studies to develop sustainable and cost-e ective control strategies. In this study, we assessed pest abundance in Muranga, Kenya, across three vegetation productivity classes, viz., low, medium and high, which were estimated using the normalised di erence vegetation index at a landscape scale. Population densities of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) and T. leucotreta in avocado farms were estimated through specific baited traps and fruit rearing. The population density of T. leucotreta varied across the vegetation productivity classes throughout the study period, although not significantly. Meanwhile, B. dorsalis showed a clear trend of decrease over time and was significantly lower in high vegetation productivity class compared to low and medium classes. Ceratitis cosyra (Walker) was the most abundant pest reared from fruit with few associated parasitoids, Pachycrepoideus vindemmiae (Rondani) and Toxeumorpha nigricola (Ferriere).The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); UK’s Department for International Development (DFID); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and the Kenyan Government. The first author N.K.T. was supported by a German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) In-Region PhD scholarship.http://www.mdpi.com/journal/insectsam2020Zoology and Entomolog

Cardiovascular risk factors and clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia in Somalia

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a potentially life-threatening illness with no established treatment. Cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) exacerbate COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Objective: To determine the prevalence of CRF and clinical outcomes of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a tertiary hospital in Somalia. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of patients aged 18 years or older with a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)–confirmed COVID-19 hospitalized at the De Martino Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, between March and July 2020. Results: We enrolled 230 participants; 159 (69.1%) males, median age was 56 (41–66) years. In-hospital mortality was 19.6% (n = 45); 77.8% in the intensive care unit (ICU) compared with 22.2%, in the general wards (p < 0.001). Age ⩾ 40 years [odds ratio (OR): 3.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2–10.6, p = 0.020], chronic heart disease (OR: 9.3, 95% CI: 2.2–38.9, p = 0.002), and diabetes mellitus (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.6–6.2, p < 0.001) were associated with increased odds of mortality. Forty-three (18.7%) participants required ICU admission. Age ⩾ 40 years (OR: 7.5, 95% CI: 1.7–32.1, p = 0.007), diabetes mellitus (OR: 3.2, 95% CI: 1.6–6.3, p < 0.001), and hypertension (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.2–5.2, p = 0.014) were associated with ICU admission. For every additional CRF, the odds of admission into the ICU increased threefold (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.2–5.2, p < 0.001), while the odds of dying increased twofold (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.3–3.2, p < 0.001). Conclusions: We report a very high prevalence of CRF among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Somalia. Mortality rates were unacceptably high, particularly among those with advanced age, underlying chronic heart disease, and diabetes

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London