Trends and themes in African ornithology

Ornithology in Africa has a long history. I review trends in the ornithological literature since 1990 within the context of the 14th Pan-African Ornithological Congress. Using full text searches of papers on PubMed® and abstracts from main ornithological journals I found that most papers referencing African bird species are focused on medical-related research questions. Restricting the literature search to journals African ornithologists are most likely to publish in, I found 2 279 relevant papers. These describe work on 29% of African bird species from 82% of African bird families, in all but two African countries. Overall output has increased slightly over time, with more papers tackling more research topics. Most popular research topics were demography, conservation and climate, with disease ecology, physiology and ecological processes the least researched topics. I found that while many authors with African affiliations publish papers, outside of South Africa very few African-based authors reliably publish in the international research literature, perhaps indicating difficulties in establishing a productive research career in much of Africa. I conclude with a call to overseas ornithologists working in Africa and to organisations funding research in Africa to work together to build capacity outside of the few established research centres.     

Romanian Roma migration: the interplay between structures and agency

Prior studies on Roma migration put much emphasis on either structural factors or networks that become key elements for explaining the growing migration flows of a population lacking economic resources and characterized by poor education. Although very relevant for explaining the perpetuation of migration, these studies posit the limit of downplaying migrants' agency and the role of identity markers mediating the influence of structural conditions in both destination and origin countries. Drawing on quantitative data from the Roma Inclusion Barometer (2006) as well as on in-depth interviews with Roma migrants from Eastern Romania, the paper provides a more comprehensive account of contemporary Romanian Roma migration towards Western European countries. The paper challenges the portrayal of the Roma migrant population, as conveyed by many scholars, as a rather passive one and argues that gender, religion and subgroup identities constitute key elements in explaining Roma migrants' agency.     

Migrant European Swallows Hirundo rustica in southern Africa: a southern perspective

Oatley, T.B. 2000. Migrant European swallows Hirundo rustica in southern Africa: a southern perspective. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 205–209.

A total of 1 457 recoveries and controls of European Swallows Hirundo rustica in the South African Bird Ringing Unit data bank were analysed to provide an update of the apparent origins and dispersion of migrant European Swallows in southern Africa, to investigate local movements within southern Africa, and to yield an estimate of the age structure of the visiting migrants. Although birds from the former USSR and from Britain and Ireland predominate, over 200 recoveries from 20 other European countries have been recorded. More than half of the swallows migrating to southern Africa are from the central third of the species' breeding range. The dispersion of recoveries of swallows ringed in Britain and Ireland is widespread, with 55% recorded from the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. Controls of southern African-ringed swallows at roosts and recoveries elsewhere in the subcontinent suggest that the daily range of migrant swallows is encompassed within a circle of 100 km diameter, but wide-ranging intra-seasonal movements within South Africa have also been recorded. Conservative estimates of the age of European Swallows at recovery indicate that as many as 14% of migrant swallows ringed in southern Africa may Survive to more than three years of age. It is suggested that the experience of migrants that survive to return to Africa one or more times may permit some flexibility in choice of final destination and that mixing of populations in roosts may result in birds arriving at new destinations.     

How Can the Operating Environment for Nutrition Research Be Improved in Sub-Saharan Africa? The Views of African Researchers

Optimal nutrition is critical for human development and economic growth. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing high levels of food insecurity and only few sub-Saharan African countries are on track to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. Effective research capacity is crucial for addressing emerging challenges and designing appropriate mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. A clear understanding of the operating environment for nutrition research in sub-Saharan Africa is a much needed prerequisite. We collected data on the barriers and requirements for conducting nutrition research in sub-Saharan Africa through semi-structured interviews with 144 participants involved in nutrition research in 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 133 interviews were retained for coding. The main barriers identified for effective nutrition research were the lack of funding due to poor recognition by policymakers of the importance of nutrition research and under-utilisation of research findings for developing policy, as well as an absence of research priority setting from within Africa. Current research topics were perceived to be mainly determined by funding bodies from outside Africa. Nutrition researchers argued for more commitment from policymakers at national level. The low capacity for nutrition research was mainly seen as a consequence of insufficient numbers of nutrition researchers, limited skills and a poor research infrastructure. In conclusion, African nutrition researchers argued how research priorities need to be identified by African stakeholders, accompanied by consensus building to enable creating a problem-driven national research agenda. In addition, it was considered necessary to promote interactions among researchers, and between researchers and policymakers. Multidisciplinary research and international and cross-African collaboration were seen as crucial to build capacity in sub-Saharan nutrition research.     

Using a nursing protocol to assure equitable delivery of cancer-related prevention services.

A nurse-administered, protocol-driven model (NP) for preventive services delivery was compared with a traditional physician reminder (PR) model with nursing back-up among 473 patients attending Internal Medicine and Family Medicine clinics. A total of 240 patients were randomized to the NP group and 233 to the PR group. Demographic characteristics including gender [71% female (NP) and 71% female (PR)], race (78% and 75% African American, respectively) and age (numbers of persons aged 18-54, 55-64 and 65+ years) were similar in each group. In the NP group 244/244 screening tests for breast, cervical and colon cancers and alcohol abuse were initiated or completed by nurses, while in the PR group 110/215 (51%) were initiated or completed by physicians. The NP group received 552/552 counseling services from nurses for tobacco, alcohol, nutrition, exercise and prostate screening, while in the PR group, physicians delivered 10% of the needed services (56/560). Aside from counseling for prostate cancer screening, which was 100% in both the NP and PR groups, all other between-group differences for each service were significant at the level of p<0.001. Results show the feasibility of a nursing protocol for initiating equitable cancer prevention services in a primary care setting.     

The reality of despair: AIDS in Malawi.

While completing a recent medical elective in the Central African country of Malawi, medical student Dale Needham learned firsthand that HIV/AIDS represents a true pandemic in Africa. By the end of 1993, Malawi had the continent''s highest per capita number of cumulative reported AIDS cases. Although Canadian physicians have had their own struggles helping patients with HIV/AIDS, many more battles are being fought in countries like Malawi, where financial resources are limited. In Africa, HIV-positive people of all ages suffer incredibly from diseases such as protein energy malnutrition, tuberculosis and cryptococcal meningitis. Primary health care programs, education in the primary schools and community awareness and support are partial answers to the pandemic.     

Durable power of attorney for health care. Are we ready for it?

Health care professionals need to be well informed about advance directives for medical care in the event a patient becomes incapacitated. The Patient Self-Determination Act requires that all patients be advised of their options at the time of hospital admission. Hospitals and health care professionals will need to work together to plan for implementing this law. We surveyed 215 physicians, nurses, and social workers at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center about the California advance directive, the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. Attitudes were generally positive. All of the social workers had heard of the durable power of attorney directive, but 36% of physicians and nurses had never heard of it and an additional 20% had no experience with one. For respondents who had heard of the directive, the mean knowledge score was 6.35 of a possible 10 (5 predicted by chance). Respondents brought up the issue of durable power of attorney with patients before a crisis only 19% of the time and determined whether one had been signed for only 16% of older patients in hospital. The most commonly cited reasons for failure to discuss this with patients were lack of proper forms, pamphlets, or a place to refer a patient. Of those who had ever seen such a document in use, 42% were aware of a problem with it at some time. Whereas attitudes toward advance directives are positive, many physicians and nurses had little knowledge of the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and were poorly equipped to discuss it with patients. We encourage educating hospital staff to prepare for the enactment of the Patient Self-Determination Act. We also recommend that the concerns raised by professionals about the use of a durable power of attorney be addressed.     

Do Spanish Hospital Professionals Educate Their Patients About Advance Directives?

It is unknown whether hospital-based medical professionals in Spain educate patients about advance directives (ADs). The objective of this research was to determine the frequency of hospital-based physicians’ and nurses’ engagement in AD discussions in the hospital and which patient populations merit such efforts. A short question-and-answer-based survey of physicians and nurses taking care of inpatients was conducted at a university hospital in Madrid, Spain. In total, 283 surveys were collected from medical professionals, of whom 71 per cent were female, with an average age of thirty-four years. Eighty-four per cent had never educated patients about ADs because of lack of perceived responsibility, time, or general knowledge of ADs. Patient populations that warranted AD discussions included those with terminal illnesses (77 per cent), chronic diseases (61 per cent), and elderly patients (43 per cent). Regarding degree of AD understanding in medical professionals: 57 per cent of medical professionals claimed sufficient general knowledge of ADs, 19 per cent understood particulars regarding AD document creation, and 16 per cent were aware of AD regulatory policies. Engagement in AD discussions was considered important by 83 per cent of medical professionals, with 79 per cent interested in participating in such discussions themselves. The majority of hospital physicians and nurses do not educate their patients about ADs, despite acknowledging their importance. Patient populations of highest priority included those with terminal diseases or chronic illness or who are of advanced age.     

Coronary Care Units—The Status in California

In order to determine the status of Coronary Care Unit activity in California hospitals, especially as it pertains to nurse training, a survery was conducted by the California State Department of Public Health. More than 95 percent of hospitals that were questioned responded. Only one-third of the hospitals reported they neither had a unit nor plans to build one. All units in operation were either directed by an individual medical director or by a Coronary Care Unit Committee.The survey indicated that in some hospitals with operational units, nurses were not permitted to perform life-saving resuscitative procedures. All operational units reported in-service education programs of some type. Many hospitals indicated they would like to have Coronary Care Unit training programs to which they could send nurses. The reasons why nurses may not perform important resuscitative procedures are discussed as well as the need for Coronary Care Unit training programs for both physicians and nurses in California.     

Monitoring Sub-Saharan African Physician Migration and Recruitment Post-Adoption of the WHO Code of Practice: Temporal and Geographic Patterns in the United States

Data monitoring is a key recommendation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, a global framework adopted in May 2010 to address health workforce retention in resource-limited countries and the ethics of international migration. Using data on African-born and African-educated physicians in the 2013 American Medical Association Physician Masterfile (AMA Masterfile), we monitored Sub-Saharan African (SSA) physician recruitment into the physician workforce of the United States (US) post-adoption of the WHO Code of Practice. From the observed data, we projected to 2015 with linear regression, and we mapped migrant physicians’ locations using GPS Visualizer and ArcGIS. The 2013 AMA Masterfile identified 11,787 active SSA-origin physicians, representing barely 1.3% (11,787/940,456) of the 2013 US physician workforce, but exceeding the total number of physicians reported by WHO in 34 SSA countries (N = 11,519). We estimated that 15.7% (1,849/11,787) entered the US physician workforce after the Code of Practice was adopted. Compared to pre-Code estimates from 2002 (N = 7,830) and 2010 (N = 9,938), the annual admission rate of SSA émigrés into the US physician workforce is increasing. This increase is due in large part to the growing number of SSA-born physicians attending medical schools outside SSA, representing a trend towards younger migrants. Projection estimates suggest that there will be 12,846 SSA migrant physicians in the US physician workforce in 2015, and over 2,900 of them will be post-Code recruits. Most SSA migrant physicians are locating to large urban US areas where physician densities are already the highest. The Code of Practice has not slowed the SSA-to-US physician migration. To stem the physician “brain drain”, it is essential to incentivize professional practice in SSA and diminish the appeal of US migration with bolder interventions targeting primarily early-career (age ≤ 35) SSA physicians.     

Entrepreneurship and interracial dynamics: a case study of self-employed Africans and Chinese in Guangzhou,China

ABSTRACT

Guangzhou is the most popular gateway city for African migration to China. Unlike stereotypical international migrants, Africans in Guangzhou are predominantly self-made entrepreneurs, doing business face-to-face with Chinese entrepreneurs who are mostly internal migrants with truncated citizenship rights. African-Chinese encounters in local markets and residential neighbourhoods offer a rare opportunity for studying interracial dynamics beyond the classic black-white dichotomy and traditional paradigm of ethnic entrepreneurship. In this paper, we draw from in-depth interviews and field observations to examine how interacting social forces shape interracial relations and mobility pathways for migrant entrepreneurs in an emerging city of opportunities. Our analyses suggest that interactions between African and Chinese entrepreneurs are economically interdependent and socioculturally contentious processes, and that these processes shape a myriad of intersecting identities and create room for cooperation that transcends race, class, and migrant status. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings.     

Individual and organizational well-being of female physicians--an assessment of three different management programs

Abstract Management programs have become a popular method to develop future leaders. There is, however, a lack of controlled studies assessing the long-term effects of such programs on participants' career development, organizational influence, and mental and physical well-being. The aim of this prospective, controlled study was to assess the possible impact from 3 different structured management development programs on the individual and organizational well-being of female physicians. One year after the end of the 1-year intervention program, the intervention group reported statistically significant improvements in ratings of organizational influence, management feed back, perception of the organizational leadership, contact with one's immediate supervisor, and personal skills development as compared with the reference group. There were no statistically significant differences, however, between the groups with regard to individual health and well-being or career development. These results give rise to many questions, both concerning the effects of these 3 management programs and the career possibilities for female physicians.     

Components and Public Health Impact of Population Growth in the Arab World

The Arab world, which consists of the 22 member states of the Arab League, is undergoing a rapid transition in demographics, including fertility, mortality, and migration. Comprising a distinctive geographic region spread across West Asia and North East Africa and unified by the Arabic language, these states share common values and characteristics despite having diverse economic and political conditions. The demographic lag (high fertility and low mortality) that characterizes the Arab world is unique, but the present trend of declining fertility, combined with the relatively low mortality, brings about significant changes in its population size. This research aimed to: (i) assess the population growth in the Arab world over 3 time periods, (ii) explore its components, and (iii) understand its public health impact. Data from the International Data Base (IDB) of the U.S. Census Bureau for 3 time periods (1992, 2002, and 2012) in 21 countries of the Arab world were analyzed by dividing them into four geographic sectors, namely, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), West Asia, Maghreb, and the Nile Valley African Horn. The population of the Arab world has grown considerably due to both natural growth and migration. The immigration is pronounced, especially into resource-intensive GCC nations, not only from East Asian and Central African countries but also from resource-thrifty (limited-resource) Arab nations. The migrations within, as well as outside, the Arab world reveal an interesting demographic phenomenon that requires further research: migration flows and trends. However, the transformations in public health statistics related to mortality—the impact of demographic changes—depict a new era in the Arab world.     

NOTICES

Saurola, P. 1994. African non-breeding areas of Fennoscandian Ospreys Pandion haliaetus: a ring recovery analysis. Ostrich 65:127-136.

More than 36 000 Ospreys have been ringed in Fennoscandia up to 1992 and 638 of these have been reported from 30 different African countries. The recoveries suggest that adult and first-year Ospreys arrive in Northern Africa from earl September and cross the Sahara in late September to October. A record bird migrated 9817 km from Finland to South Africa in less than 40 days, at an average speed of more than 245 km/day. The majority of all age classes of Fennoscandian Ospreys spend December to February in equatorial Africa. The average compass heading from the different parts of the Fennoscandian breeding areas to the sub-Saharan non-breeding areas is roughly the same, ca. 206°. The longitude of the non-breeding area is dependent on the longitude of the breeding area. Western subpopulations spend their non-breeding period further to the west than more eastern subpopulations but there is much overlap. Ospreys are still heavily persecuted in many African countries.     

Mentors and role models for women in academic medicine.

Senior mentors and role models have a positive influence on the career advancement of junior professionals in law, business, and medicine. In medicine an increasing number of women are pursuing academic careers, but available senior mentors to provide career guidance are often lacking. We report on the results of a national survey of 558 full-time faculty women, aged 50 years and younger, in departments of medicine in the United States, regarding their experience with role models and mentors. Women with mentors report more publications and more time spent on research activity than those without mentors. Women with a role model reported higher overall career satisfaction. This report, with illustrative examples, may be helpful to other women pursuing academic careers and to physicians who serve as mentors or role models to others.     

Educational performance of native and immigrant children from various countries of origin

Mostly due to the lack of suitable data, cross-national research on the integration of migrant pupils is still scarce. We aim to fill this gap by addressing the question of the extent to which native and first- and second-generation migrants from various regions of origin, living in thirteen different countries of destination, differ in their scholastic ability. Using the PISA 2003 data, we focus primarily on the impact of origin and destination effects on the scholastic achievement of migrants.

The results indicate that family characteristics and origin and destination effects can offer a significant contribution to the explanation of difference in scholastic knowledge between natives and first- and second-generation migrants. However, certain primary origin and destination effects, as well as interactions between these and family characteristics, remain significant and substantive after controlling for family characteristics, suggesting serious integration problems in the case of migrants from a few regions of origin in some European countries of destination.     

The Possible Role of Resource Requirements and Academic Career-Choice Risk on Gender Differences in Publication Rate and Impact

Many studies demonstrate that there is still a significant gender bias, especially at higher career levels, in many areas including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We investigated field-dependent, gender-specific effects of the selective pressures individuals experience as they pursue a career in academia within seven STEM disciplines. We built a unique database that comprises 437,787 publications authored by 4,292 faculty members at top United States research universities. Our analyses reveal that gender differences in publication rate and impact are discipline-specific. Our results also support two hypotheses. First, the widely-reported lower publication rates of female faculty are correlated with the amount of research resources typically needed in the discipline considered, and thus may be explained by the lower level of institutional support historically received by females. Second, in disciplines where pursuing an academic position incurs greater career risk, female faculty tend to have a greater fraction of higher impact publications than males. Our findings have significant, field-specific, policy implications for achieving diversity at the faculty level within the STEM disciplines.     

Managing private,commercial rangelands for agricultural production and wildlife diversity in Namibia and Zambia

The private game industry has grown across Africa since the mid-20th century. While considerable research has documented wildlife production on commercial land in many eastern and southern African countries, few studies have focused specifically on the integration of livestock and game production in Namibia and Zambia. This paper reports a survey of 43 commercial conservancy members in Namibia and 23 game farmers in Zambia conducted between September 2004 and June 2005. The survey was based on inductive sampling theory and queried farmers on how they have integrated wildlife production into their management practices. Farmers in each country reported considerable integration of wildlife conservation and agricultural production. Namibian farmers reported substantial problems with bush encroachment, whereas none of their Zambian counterparts raised similar complaints. This paper describes the state of rangeland management on commercial farms in Namibia and Zambia and identifies important areas where further research can contribute to the enhancement of this conservation-production system.     

Managing Human Tissue Transfer Across National Boundaries – An Approach from an Institution in South Africa

With biobank research on the increase and the history of exploitation in Africa, it has become necessary to manage the transfer of human tissues across national boundaries. There are many accepted templates of Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) that currently exist internationally. However, these templates do not address the specific concerns of South Africa and even of Africa as a continent. This article will examine three significantly important ethico‐legal concepts that were deliberated and carefully adapted by a South African Institution to suit the transfer of Human Biological Materials (HBMs) and associated data for biobank research, namely: informed consent; benefit sharing arrangements; and ownership together with intellectual property rights in human tissues. The discussion includes an analysis of current practice; the ethico‐legal challenges in the South African/African context; the decisions made with regard to how the related ethico‐legal challenges were addressed in the MTA; and justifications for implementing these decisions. The processes considered could be of benefit to other developing world countries who consider it necessary to manage the transfer of HBMs across national boundaries.     

Promoting Research Integrity in Africa: An African Voice of Concern on Research Misconduct and the Way Forward

African researchers and their collaborators have been making significant contributions to useful research findings and discoveries in Africa. Despite evidence of scientific misconduct even in heavily regulated research environments, there is little documented information that supports prevalence of research misconduct in Africa. Available literature on research misconduct has focused on the developed world, where credible research integrity systems are already in place. Public attention to research misconduct has lately increased, calling for attention to weaknesses in current research policies and regulatory frameworks. Africa needs policies, structural and governance systems that promote responsible conduct of research. To begin to offset this relative lack of documented evidence of research misconduct, contributors working in various research institutions from nine African countries agreed to share their experiences to highlight problems and explore the need to identify strategies to promote research integrity in the African continent. The experiences shared include anecdotal but reliable accounts of previously undocumented research misconduct, including some ‘normal misbehavior’ of frontline staff in those countries. Two broad approaches to foster greater research integrity are proposed including promotion of institutional and individual capacity building to instil a culture of responsible research conduct in existing and upcoming research scientist and developing deterrent and corrective policies to minimize research misconduct and other questionable research practices. By sharing these experiences and through the strategies proposed, the authors hope to limit the level of research misconduct and promote research integrity in Africa.