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UrduA new study involving hospitalized women in 6 African countries from the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology showed that pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 had 2X the risk of being admitted to the ICU and 4X the risk of dying than pregnant women who didn’t have COVID-19.
Tag: Africa
Phillip A. Hough, Ph.D., Selected for Fulbright Global Scholar Award
Phillip A. Hough, Ph.D., was selected for a Fulbright Global Scholar Award, based on his important sociological research in rural Colombia. The award will provide him with the opportunity to study the plight of coffee-producing farmers living across the “global coffee belt” regions of Latin America, Africa and East Asia.
Cornell program promotes African links, diversity in plant sciences
The Cornell University Assistantship for Horticulture in Africa, a program that brings master’s students from sub-Saharan Africa to Cornell to complete doctorate degrees in horticulture, has now added a second assistantship for African Americans.
Does environmental stress drive migration?
While climate-driven migration has been deemed a major threat in public discourse and academic research, comprehensive studies that take into account both environmental and social factors globally have been scarce. Now, with the help of machine learning, a research team led by Aalto University has drawn a clearer picture of the factors involved in migration for 178 countries.
IHV Researchers Receive $6.5M to Create African Big Data Hub Designed to Address Public Health and Pandemic Preparedness
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM)’s Institute of Human Virology (IHV), a Global Virus Network (GVN) Center of Excellence, have received $6.5 million from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to streamline big data collection in Nigeria and South Africa in addressing public health needs of the COVID-19 and HIV pandemics.
With short course of TB prevention for people living with HIV, completion soars
People who are HIV positive and living in high tuberculosis-transmission regions of the world are much more likely to finish a TB-prevention regimen lasting just three months – half as long as the standard treatment, a large clinical trial in Africa has found.
Improving soil carbon measurements empowers African farmers
Researchers test new, inexpensive device to provide critical information
Warfare, not climate, is driving resurgent hunger in Africa, says study
After years of progress on food security, some nations see sharp reversals
An action agenda for Africa’s electricity sector
A new scientific article outlines how to undertake the much needed expansion and modernization of Africa’s electricity sector.
New insights on flowering could boost cassava crops
Two new publications examining cassava flowering reveal insights into the genetic and environmental factors underpinning one of the world’s most critical food security crops.
Why Lockdown in Africa Does Not Work as a First COVID-19 Pandemic Response
In an African pandemic it is more productive to consider lockdowns, after using other non-medical measures first, Especially in countries with high levels of poverty and corruption, says Prof Nicholas Ngepah, a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.
Global Virus Network (GVN) Adds Senegal’s IRESSEF As Newest Member to Mitigate Viral Threats
The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 63 Centers of Excellence and 11 Affiliates in 34 countries comprising foremost experts in every class of virus causing disease in humans, and the Institut de Recherche en Santé, de Surveillance Epidémiologique et de Formation [Institute for Health Research, Epidemiological Surveillance and Training], or the IRESSEF, announced the addition of the IRESSEF as GVN’s newest Center of Excellence.
Danforth Center and international partners unveil landmark insect resistant cowpea for Nigerian farmers
Nigeria has achieved a major milestone in the history of agricultural research and development with the commercial launch of Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) Cowpea.
Finding pathways for sustainable development in Africa
A new project funded by the Belmont Forum will develop novel tools and capacities to understand and manage interlinkages between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and support sustainable development pathways for African countries.
FISHING IN AFRICAN WATERS
Industrial fleets from countries around the world have been increasingly fishing in African waters, but with climate change and increasing pollution threatening Africa’s fish stocks, there is a growing concern of the sustainability of these marine fisheries if they continue to be exploited by foreign countries.
How Did 500 Species of a Fish Form in a Lake? Dramatically Different Body Clocks
Despite the dramatic difference between day and nightlife, how fish exploit different times of day has not been studied systematically. Scientists explored alterations in the circadian timing of activity and the duration of rest-wake cycles in Lake Malawi’s cichlids and identified the first single nocturnal species. Timing and duration of rest and activity varies dramatically, and continuously, between populations of Lake Malawi cichlids, providing a system for exploring the molecular and neural basis underlying variation in nocturnal activity.
HOW MANY COUNTRIES ARE READY FOR NUCLEAR-POWERED ELECTRICITY?
A new study in the journal Risk Analysis suggests that countries representing more than 80 percent of potential growth in low-carbon electricity demand—in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa—may lack the economic or institutional quality to deploy nuclear power to meet their energy needs. The authors suggest that if nuclear power is to safely expand its role in mitigating climate change, countries need to radically improve their ability to manage the technology.
WHAT MOTIVATES NATURAL RESOURCE POLICYMAKERS IN AFRICA TO TAKE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE?
Climate services are vital tools for decision makers addressing climate change in developing countries. Science-based seasonal forecasts and accompanying materials can support climate risk management in agriculture, health, water management, energy, and disaster risk reduction.
But in East Africa, natural resource managers have been slow to use climate information services, partly because they are difficult to understand and may not feel relevant for their local planning purposes. A new study published by the journal Risk Analysis suggests that one way to encourage policymakers in East Africa to use climate services more often is to appeal to the motivational factors that influence their professional actions on climate change.
Cataloguing genetic information about yams
New collection of resources will help yam breeders and farmers
In Ethiopia, Mother’s Wealth More Protective Against Child Marriage Than Father’s
For a girl in Ethiopia, her mother’s wealth can protect her from becoming a child bride – but if a father prefers child marriage, his own wealth may increase the likelihood that she will be married before 18, according to a Rutgers University-New Brunswick study.
Eminent expert available on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the largest free trade area in the world, approaches its one-month implementation milestone on February 1, your audiences may benefit from insights from Professor Landry Signé, Ph.D. on the AfCFTA and its emergence for continental and global trade in…
The secret social lives of giant poisonous rats
A new study confirmed that the rabbit-sized rodent sequesters poison from the bark of Acokanthera schimperi, known as the poison arrow tree, into specialized fur for defense. The researchers also discovered an unexpected social life—the rats appear to be monogamous and may even form small family units with their offspring.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine Researchers Receive $5 Million NIH Grant to Study HIV and HPV Cancers in Africa
A team of scientists from Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a five-year, $4.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a research center to investigate HIV- and human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers in Africa.
New Study Shows How Climate Impacts Food Webs, Poses Socioeconomic Threat in Eastern Africa
For the first time, a research team has obtained high resolution sedimentary core samples from Lake Tanganyika. The samples show that high frequency variability in climate can lead to major disruptions in how the lake’s food web functions. The changes could put millions of people at risk who rely on the lake for food security. The team says the findings are a critical building block toward research-informed policymaking in the Lake Tanganyika region.
Researchers help inform cassava breeding worldwide
Scientists in Cornell University’s NextGen Cassava project have uncovered new details regarding cassava’s genetic architecture that may help breeders more easily pinpoint traits for one of Africa’s most vital crops.
Online archive explores non-European contributions to Victorian exploration
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has launched a new digital humanities site to provide access to long-neglected materials relating to people like Jacob Wainwright, a member of the Yao ethnic group in east Africa, who worked with famed explorer David Livingstone.
Story Tips: Predicting fire risk, solid state stability check and images in a flash
ORNL Story Tips: Predicting fire risk, solid state stability check and images in a flash
TROPICAL FOREST LOSS
A new study from the University of Delaware finds that tropical forest loss is increased by large-scale land acquisitions and that certain kind investment projects—including tree plantations and plantations for producing palm oil and wood fiber—are “consistently associated with increased forest loss.”
Latest Ebola outbreak should serve as lesson to US of importance of funding for WHO, Notre Dame expert says
Notre Dame Associate Professor of Anthropology and Peace Studies Catherine Bolten is an expert on Ebola. She was a member of the international Ebola Anthropology Emergency Task Force, and edited a special issue on Ebola for Anthropological Quarterly. She has consulted for the…
Global study to test malaria drug to protect health workers from COVID-19
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are helming a global study of an estimated 30,000 health-care workers to establish whether the antimalaria drug chloroquine might prevent or reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections in such workers.
Dearth of Medical Resources in Africa for COVID-19 Reminiscent of Early HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Global health scholars have issued a clarion call about the needless loss of life expected because of a foreseeable prospect of “slow and inadequate access to supplies” to control COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa. They say what is unfolding now is similar to when lifesaving diagnostics and treatments came to the region long after they were available elsewhere.
Rutgers Expert Explores Impact of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa
Rutgers Expert discusses the impact of COVID-19 in the African region and what can be done to help these countries fight the worldwide pandemic.
A hunger fighter empowers farmers with NextGen Cassava
Alfred Ozimati is breeding the latest in disease-resistant cassava that meets the needs of subsistence farmers, thanks to the NextGen Cassava project run by Cornell University.
Earliest interbreeding event between ancient human populations discovered
The study documented the earliest known interbreeding event between ancient human populations— a group known as the “super-archaics” in Eurasia interbred with a Neanderthal-Denisovan ancestor about 700,000 years ago. The event was between two populations more distantly related than any other recorded.
Three-year, $1.35 million grant to aid mental health programming in western Kenya
The Astellas Global Health Foundation has awarded the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), under the direction of the Indiana University Center for Global Health, a three-year, $1.35 million grant to provide 400,000 people with access to mental health programming in western Kenya.
Sorghum study illuminates relationship between humans, crops and the environment in domestication
A new study illustrates the concept of a domestication triangle, in which human genetics interact with sorghum genetics and the environment to influence the traits farmers select in their crops. The concept gives a more complete systemic picture of domestication.
Children Much More Likely to Die After Surgery in Poor Countries
Children in low resourced countries are 100-200 times more likely to die after surgery than children in wealthy countries, according to a first-of-its-kind study published in Anesthesiology.
Animated videos advance adoption of agriculture techniques
In remote areas with low literacy rates, showing animated videos in the local language demonstrating agricultural techniques results in high retention and adoption rates of those techniques, found researchers from Michigan State University.
Study finds U.S. policies could have negative implications for Africa
A new study finds that while the current United States administration’s policies in Africa may appear undeveloped, there are distinct trends and tendencies that have the potential to negatively impact Africa’s economic growth.
Water scarcity could impact 85% of Africa by 2050, new research shows
Twenty-eight countries in Africa could face water stress or scarcity by 2050, according to research led by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
How to improve epilepsy care in Africa? Include traditional healers, schoolchildren and the guy next door
In Mozambique, most people with epilepsy don’t seek treatment. So the country took on an intimidating challenge: Diagnose and treat more people by increasing awareness, reducing stigma, improving medication access, and partnering with traditional healers.