Drought impacts, coping responses and adaptation in the UK outdoor livestock sector: insights to increase drought resilience

Drought has detrimental impacts on crop and livestock farming systems worldwide, but less attention has been given to outdoor livestock systems, particularly in humid temperate regions. This research evaluated how an intense drought in 2018 impacted the UK livestock sector and the responses adopted by key actors, though a combination of analysis of weekly agricultural trade publications and semi-structured interviews with livestock farmers. Drought impacts centred on feed and fodder availability, animal productivity and welfare, farm economics, and farmer well-being, with strong inter-dependencies observed. Most drought responses by farmers were reactive short-term coping strategies to address feed shortages, with three main strategies applied: management of available grazing and feed; selling livestock to reduce feed demand and to obtain income; and buying-in additional feed. Few longer-term adaptive measures were identified due to a range of constraints. Moving forwards, the UK livestock sector needs to convert the learning from the reactive measures implemented in 2018 into pro-active drought planning approaches. The current political changes in the UK also provides a unique opportunity for agricultural policy to better reward the desirable nationally- and locally-important non-market services or public goods that livestock farming provides. Together, these should support increased drought resilience in livestock farming and increased farming viability

Studentsâ Clinical Learning in an Emerging Dental School: An Investigation in International Collaboration Between Michigan and Ghana

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153593/1/jddj0022033720137712tb05644x.pd

Is the meiofauna a good indicator for climate change and anthropogenic impacts?

Our planet is changing, and one of the most pressing challenges facing the scientific community revolves around understanding how ecological communities respond to global changes. From coastal to deep-sea ecosystems, ecologists are exploring new areas of research to find model organisms that help predict the future of life on our planet. Among the different categories of organisms, meiofauna offer several advantages for the study of marine benthic ecosystems. This paper reviews the advances in the study of meiofauna with regard to climate change and anthropogenic impacts. Four taxonomic groups are valuable for predicting global changes: foraminifers (especially calcareous forms), nematodes, copepods and ostracods. Environmental variables are fundamental in the interpretation of meiofaunal patterns and multistressor experiments are more informative than single stressor ones, revealing complex ecological and biological interactions. Global change has a general negative effect on meiofauna, with important consequences on benthic food webs. However, some meiofaunal species can be favoured by the extreme conditions induced by global change, as they can exhibit remarkable physiological adaptations. This review highlights the need to incorporate studies on taxonomy, genetics and function of meiofaunal taxa into global change impact research

Sexual Relationships in Hispanic Countries: a Literature Review

This is a pre-print of an article published in Current Sexual Health Reports. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11930-020-00272-6Purpose of Review: Sexuality is a complex dimension for which culture seems to play an important role, particularly in countries that are more traditional. This review summarizes the knowledge about sexual relationships in Hispanic countries, considering sexual debut, attitudes, behaviors, and satisfaction. Recent Findings: In line with the literature reviewed, the sexual double standard seems to be continuing to influence sexual relationships. Some countries show more open expressions of sexuality based on the level of gender inequality or sexualized context, and within countries, variables such as religious commitment, family characteristics, and access to resources may play important roles in sexuality. Summary: Future research, policies, and interventions should consider these specific characteristics, including these forms of expression of sexuality, in the adjustment of cross-cultural and cross-national strategies

Genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Ghana from 2020-2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the fastest evolving pandemics in recent history. As such, the SARS-CoV-2 viral evolution needs to be continuously tracked. This study sequenced 1123 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from patient isolates (121 from arriving travellers and 1002 from communities) to track the molecular evolution and spatio-temporal dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Ghana. The data show that initial local transmission was dominated by B.1.1 lineage, but the second wave was overwhelmingly driven by the Alpha variant. Subsequently, an unheralded variant under monitoring, B.1.1.318, dominated transmission from April to June 2021 before being displaced by Delta variants, which were introduced into community transmission in May 2021. Mutational analysis indicated that variants that took hold in Ghana harboured transmission enhancing and immune escape spike substitutions. The observed rapid viral evolution demonstrates the potential for emergence of novel variants with greater mutational fitness as observed in other parts of the world

Reincarnation of winds of change in Africa: an African Union impotence?

The emergence of African states as independent by 1970 had brought hope and expectations to nationals that the winds of change were to be equated with good life and freedom. Yet, no sooner had political freedom been gained than expectations turned elusive. The causes were bad political governance that soon burdened many states, military interventions of one-party states, abuse of rule of law, mass corruption and nations disintegrating. Also, the quest for freedom and dignity was not helped by a continental union that focused solely on political liberation of Africa and ignored any concerted effort towards integration and promotion of socio-economic lives of people. This article examines the political tremors that had engulfed some states in Africa and the resultant intervention by foreign powers. It is argued, that a major cause of the political ruffle in Tunisia, the Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt and Libya had been the inability of the African Union to be pro-active in enforcing norms of good governance among member-states through its inspecting agency, the African Peer Review. The apparent political paralysis is therefore a function of an African Union impotence that needs to be resolved Underlying the tremors are issues of democracy, good governance, and public service reform for which a theoretical discourse is engaged. Keywords: African Union, democracy, governance, revolution, impotence. APRM, civil war Disciplines: Public Management, African Studies, Political Studie

Pan–African parliament and civil society: towards representing the voices of the people

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) plays a major role in the democratisation process and the harmonisation of relations with civil society organisations (CSOs) for socio-economic and political development to be realised in Africa. It has a responsibility, in line with its objectives, to work towards incorporating and representing the voices of the people, which includes the promotion of human rights and democratic institutions. The PAP forum offers a congenial and functional platform to close the gap between governments and the people. People-participation at parliamentary and state levels is an essential ingredient for cooperation and potent governance. T he article analyses critically the operational performance of the PAP and the execution of its mandate as far as civil society engagement is concerned. This critical analysis is important, because the findings of the study could contribute to democracy and the rule of law in Africa. From its inception, PAP envisaged to safeguard human rights and governance structures based on lasting synergies with civic institutions. However, a lack of synchronisation of activities has deleteriously impacted on the practise of good governance in Africa. The apparent failure by PAP to promote an articulate civil society presents the African continent with many democracy-related challenges. Utilising secondary literature, including CSO publications, the article examines PAP’s achievements and evaluates insights into the PAP–CSOs relationship

A review on food safety and food hygiene studies in Ghana

Food safety and hygiene in Ghana was studied using desk top literature review. Food research was highly concentrated in the capital city of the country and most research focus were on commercial food operations specifically street foods and microbiological safety with limited information from institutional catering and other forms of food hazards. The media currently serves as the main source for reporting of food borne diseases. Food establishments and other sources contributing to food borne diseases included restaurants, food joints, food vendors, schools and individual homes. Limited use of prerequisites measures and food safety management systems was identified. Recommendations on regulating the General Hygiene Principles, implementation of HACCP to strengthen the food sector, regular food safety and hygiene workshops and training for food handlers that commensurate with their roles were made. Government support for SMEs and food handler's health screening were made. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.</p