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Student learning outcomes assessment examines whether programs cover the material stated in their learning goals, whether students are learning the material, and the impact on student retention, graduation, post-graduation outcomes, and institutional accreditation, with the aim of providing faculty with data that can be used to help programs evolve or improve. While there is a plethora of research regarding effective methods of assessment used in the United States, little has been written regarding cross-national comparisons of assessment methodologies. This paper examines the current state of assessment in several nations and regions, and draws parallels in practices across countries. A literature search using the term "outcomes assessment" yielded 228 articles, of which, only 35 described practices outside the United States. Generally, searches on the terms "outcomes assessment" and "global" tend to return studies of outcomes assessment of teaching about global issues as it is practiced in the United States, rather than results about outcomes assessment practices used in other countries.

In Tanzania, agriculture sector is known for employing more than 70% of the total population. Agriculture sector faces many challenges including climate change. Climate change causes low productivity in agriculture; low productivity is caused due to poor implementation of agricultural policies and strategies. This poor implementation of policies has also caused many farmers to be not competent in climate change adaptation. Over the years, provisions of agricultural advice and extension were provided by various approaches, including training and visit extension, participatory approaches, and farmers' field schools. However, provision of agricultural advisory and extension service is inefficient. Also, in most cases the usage of most agricultural innovations and technologies developed is limited. A literature review indicates that the main reasons given by Tanzanian farmers for not using improved technology are not lack of knowledge or skill, but rather that the technologies do not contribute towards improvements (e.g., the technologies are not profitable or they imply to high risk). Thus, agricultural extension service needs to be geared towards teaching farmers how to develop innovative and cost effective technologies that are contextualized. Limited numbers of agricultural extension staff and less interactivity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as radio and television, have been mentioned to be among the factors limiting the provision of agricultural advisory and extension services to the majority of farmers in Tanzania. The advancements in ICTs have brought new opportunities for enhancing access to agricultural advisory and extension service for climate change adaptation. In Tanzania, farmers and other actors access agricultural information from various sources such as agricultural extension workers and use of various databases from Internet Services Providers. Also there are different web- and mobile-based farmers' advisory information systems to support conventional agricultural extension service. These systems are producing bulk amounts of data which makes it difficult for different stakeholders to make an informed decision after data analysis. This calls for the need to develop a tool for data visualization in order to understand hidden patterns from massive data. In this study, a semi-automated text classification was developed to determine the frequently asked keywords from a web and mobile based farmers' advisory system called "UshauriKilimo" after being in use for more than 2 years by more than 700 farmers.

This paper raises pertinent issues regarding an obvious gap that prevails between theory and practice in various professions. The paper makes it clear that there is theory-practice gap among professions; however, it focuses more on informing theory-practice gap in the teaching profession. The paper identifies and informs of causes, effects and practical solutions of theory-practice gap in education, in particular, in the teaching profession. Finally, the paper provides a tentative explanation for theory-practice gap persistence, and it raises important questions that may need researchers' attention.

The purpose of this study was to describe instances of pedagogical practices of teachers using ICTs and the enhancements of practices using traditional methods, to more fundamental changes in their approach to teaching. Using a mixed method, the research examined the impact of increased education level on the ICT use competence perception and the influence of ICT knowledge level and skills on the adoption of blended learning contents. Four schools were used for this study; two picked out of 50 that are enhanced with ICT infrastructures while the other two were picked from schools without enough ICT infrastructures. Three research questions guided the study. Data collection included teachers, schools inspection officers, curriculum development experts, teacher trainees, and policymakers' interviews, questionnaires, classroom observations, and document reviews. Data analysis concentrated on the central questions of the study. The results suggested that teachers' education level could not determine their ICT knowledge level. Either, the ICT knowledge level has influences on the decision to use blended learning. Barriers to ICT use in education were revealed as: internal--more of personal attitudes and perceptions about a technology, and external--lack of availability and accessibility to the relevant resources (hardware and software), lack of framework that address integration of ICTs in teaching and learning, and unreliable Internet connection. Resulting from the results, this study suggests a goal-oriented teacher training framework which should address a complex integration of technology, content, pedagogy, school infrastructures, and the overall objectives of the education systems as trivial of ICT use determining factors.

The Tanzanian education system is in transition from face-to-face classroom learning to e-learning. E-learning is a new learning approach in Tanzanian Higher Learning Institutions [HLIs] and with teachers being the key stakeholders of all formal education, investigating their attitude towards e-learning is essential. So far, however, there has been little consideration given to research that examines teachers' attitudes towards e-learning in Tanzanian HLIs and consequently, there is no standard attitude scale that has been developed to measure this. This paper presents the development and validation of a scale of teachers' attitude to e-learning. Whilst being initially developed to assess the attitude of teachers in HLIs the authors belief, having piloted with pre-service trainee teachers in England that the scale transfers across national boundaries. The final instrument contains 36 items with a Cronbach alpha score of 0.857. Although the developed attitude scale was intended for use in HLIs, it can also be of interest to researchers investigating attitudes on other sectors.

This study aimed at finding out from parents what they knew to be the causes of their children's disabilities. One hundred and twenty six parents from four regions, namely Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Kilimanjaro and Morogoro were involved in this study. Data was collected through interview, narratives and observation. It was obvious from the findings that diseases were the major causes of disabilities. Malaria was mentioned by parents as the leading cause of disability. Many of the parents had only primary education and the majority of them (84.92%) had no reliable income. From the background of the parents, it was evident that disability is a cause as well as consequence of poverty. It was not easy to say for sure "who sinned", but it was starkly evident that most of the problems stemmed from poverty, though ignorance and beliefs might have played a role in some cases. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study explored cyberbullying and cybervictimization (CBCV), for adolescents aged 11-15 from Tanzania (N = 426) and Canada (N = 592). Measurement invariance and model invariance was found for CBCV. In addition, multigroup structural equation modeling was used to explore several variables: age, gender, average hours online each day, accessing the Internet in a private location, having online privacy concerns, going online for social purposes, and motivation for cyberbullying. Results found interesting patterns within each country. It was found that cellphone ownership moderated the relation between these predictor variables and reported incidences of CBCV uniquely for each country. These findings provide evidence for the global nature of cyberbullying.

Since the 1940s, the concept of community participation has framed, mobilized, and legitimated national development agendas in the Singida Region of rural central Tanzania. Based on 19 months of ethnographic and archival research, this study examines the forms of community participation elicited through state and international development initiatives aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Building on theorizations of "trusteeship" as an organizing principle of development, this article highlights the way in which educational credentials configure the distribution of roles, responsibilities, and rewards of participatory development initiatives. I argue that, despite the equalizing claims of participation, the trusteeship phenomenon legitimates a radically asymmetrical distribution of labor and authority. Through schooling's symbolic and cultural work, the educated become the mind and voice of development, while the lesser educated become its hands.

There is compelling evidence that teachers' effective use of formative assessment practices improves student learning, yet many teachers have little knowledge of these practices. In this research note, we highlight our exploratory studies about discourse-based formative assessment practices, an aspect of formative assessment whereby the teacher makes instructional decisions according to the students' thinking during teaching. Research knowledge of such practice is wanting. We find ourselves in the unique position of studying discourse patterns in the mathematics classrooms of Tanzania, Taiwan and the US. These are three separate studies, where each researcher is asking questions appropriate to his or her own cultural circumstances regarding classroom discourse patterns. We also consider the value of teachers' examination of their own discourse patterns as an essential feature in continuing professional development.

Three universal demands characterize higher education globally: the demand for higher quality, for increased access, and for greater equity. In East Africa, where resources are highly constrained, no nation has been able to meet these demands on the basis of public expenditures alone. Instead countries have had to increase resources from nonpublic sources, including tuition fees. In countries with strong resistance to tuition fees and where the difficulty of taxation is combined with a daunting queue of competing public sector needs, a dual-track tuition policy is especially popular whereby the most capable applicants are financed from public resources and other qualified students are allowed admission on a fee-paying basis. This article studies dual-track policies in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. We find that although rewarding ability, the dual-track policies did little to offer opportunities for the poor. (Contains 6 tables and 10 footnotes.)

Grammatical priming of picture naming was investigated in Kiswahili, which has a complex grammatical noun class system (a system like grammatical gender), with up to 15 noun classes that have obligatory agreements on adjectives, verbs, pronouns and other parts of speech. Participants heard a grammatically agreeing (concordant), nonagreeing (discordant) or neutral prime before seeing a picture of a common object and being asked to name the object. Priming was found, with naming following concordant primes being faster than naming following the neutral prime ("say"). However, more interestingly, effects were found such that where two noun classes share a prefix, the grammatical prime from each of these two noun classes also primed words that have the same prefix but are not in the same noun class, and hence for which the prime was not grammatical. It is concluded that the prime appears to be facilitating the phonological form of the prefix rather than the syntacto-semantic group of words that are known as a noun class, and that the phonological form associated with a grammatical entity may be more significant in its processing than has previously been supposed. (Contains 4 tables, 8 figures and 1 footnote.)

Investigated urban and rural Tanzanian elementary students' experiences and action-control beliefs about school performance using the revised Control, Agency, and Means-End Interview. Student surveys indicated that the Tanzanian educational system and teaching format were reflected in low performance-belief relationships. High achievers were more prone to developing adaptive belief profiles and more positive perceptions of their teachers. (SM)

Data are presented on the development of tests of reading skill for primary school pupils in rural Tanzania. Instruction in these schools is in Kiswahili, a regularly spelled language. Three graded tests were developed to test children who had only some letter knowledge, could read single words, or were proficient readers. The tests correlated well with scores on other educational achievement tests and showed age and school grade differences. (Author/VWL)

Agricultural extension in Tanzania is largely top-down technology transfer but would be more effective if participatory and demand driven. Implementation of decentralized decision making and participatory training requires time preparation and systematic change strategies. (SK)

Lianas are common in tropical forests, where they influence forest dynamics, thus impacting the global carbon sink, with implications for climate change mitigation. Despite their increasing competitiveness with trees at the global scale, robust measurements of liana aboveground biomass (AGB) have been limited. Here we use data from destructive sampling to develop two separate allometric equations for estimating liana AGB from stem diameter in old-growth (n = 15 lianas) and secondary forests (n = 22 lianas). We compared estimates of AGB using our equations for 3141 lianas (≥ 1 cm diameter) in Tanzania's Kilombero Valley against estimates from previously published equations in other tropical regions. Our equations demonstrated stronger correlations between diameter and destructively measured AGB, than those from previously published equations (R2 = 0.86–0.89, versus R2 = 0.82–0.88). Across all stems, the average stem-level liana AGB estimated using the equation for old-growth forests was 52 % higher than that estimated by the equation for secondary forests, showing that lianas have lower biomass per unit diameter in forests impacted by disturbance. In such forests, liana stems are damaged, deformed, or cannot reach maximum height due to reduced structural support. At the scale of the forest stand, our equations estimated a mean liana AGB of 3.25 Mg ha−1 (95 % Confidence Interval: 1.52–6.96) in old-growth forests and 10.19 Mg ha−1 (5.91–17.64) in secondary forests. These estimates roughly aligned with estimates from other equations, although there was considerable variation. Depending on the equation used, mean stand-level estimates of liana AGB ranged from 2.49–9.76 Mg ha−1 in old-growth forests and 10.19–20.74 Mg ha−1 in secondary forests. Our findings show the variability in liana allometry and AGB with disturbance and successional stage, further underscoring a need for caution when comparing estimates of liana biomass across studies and regions. • New allometric models were built to predict liana aboveground biomass from diameter. • Stem-level AGB estimates were 52% higher for old-growth than for secondary forests. • Our models were more accurate in predicting biomass in our region than previous ones. • Model efficacy for estimating liana biomass differed significantly between forests. • Forest disturbance had the greatest influence on variations in liana AGB estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the historical development of special education in Tanzania and its future prospects. It identifies factors that have helped shape the present state of special education in Tanzania and identifies major problems, including economic problems, lack of a national special education policy, and lack of trained personnel. (Author/DB)

It is argued that the relationship between Kiswahili and ethnic community languages in Tanzania is not diglossic. The paper applies definitions/redefinitions to the Tanzanian sociolinguistic profile, considers Tanzanian language policy, suggests the basic tenets of diglossia do not apply, and proposes another term for the Kiswahili relationship with other Tanzanian languages. (Contains 44 references.) (Author/LB)

The results of a study conducted with elementary school students in Tanzania are presented. A number of alternative conceptions were revealed. The role of sociocultural beliefs in forming these conceptions is described, and the implications of these findings for science teaching and teacher education are discussed. (Author/CW)

The Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bag is often associated with preventing grain damage from insect infestation, reducing aflatoxin accumulation in stored grain, and avoiding exposure to hazardous storage chemicals. However, limited knowledge is available on the information channels driving the adoption of the technology. Using data from 429 households, this study examines the impacts of social learning and extension services on the speed of adoption of PICS bags in Tanzania. We utilized the doubly robust multivalued inverse probability weighted regression (MIPWRA) model to estimate the impact and the Laplace regression model to evaluate the heterogeneous effects of the two information channels. The impact results indicate that social learning and extension services reduce the time to adopt PICS bags by 51 % and 49 %, respectively. Moreover, the speed at which farmers adopted the technology was faster when using the two information channels jointly (61 %) than individually. The Laplace regression model results show that the marginal impacts of the two channels are higher for the households in the upper quantiles of the distribution, compared to the lower quantiles representing the early adopters. Designing policies that account for different adopter groups (innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards) is therefore essential. • We examine the impact of social learning and extension services on the speed of improved postharvest technology adoption • We use multivalued survival treatment effects and Laplace regression models to estimate the impacts • Social learning and extension services reduce the time to adopt PICS bags by 51% and 49%, respectively • The speed at which farmers adopt PICS bags is faster when using the two information sources jointly than individually • Need for policies targeting the late adopters to increase the adoption of PICS bags in Tanzania [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sub-Saharan Africa, people face significant crime problems. This also applies to rural areas, where mainly livestock and crops are stolen. Using the routine activity approach, this article analyzes the experiences of rural people with property crime, the consequences of victimization and how they react to it. It is based on focus group discussions that were held in Tanzania in spring 2022 with male and female farmers from six villages. The findings reveal that thefts can be explained by certain opportunity structures, in particular the availability of suitable targets and the lack of guardianship. For example, small animals are suitable targets because they are accessible, valuable and easy to transport and hide. Guardianship over livestock and crops is reduced at night, when people are sleeping, and during the day, when villagers are in their often remote fields. In seasonal terms, crime incidents are especially high during rainy and harvesting seasons. It is clear from the villagers' reports that food security and sustainable development are at risk as farmers reduce or abandon animal husbandry or switch to growing less vulnerable crops for fear of theft. The findings also show that target suitability and guardianship can vary over time and that some responses to crime have an influence on both components, thus determining the likelihood of repeated victimization. • Rare findings from six focus group discussions on crime in rural Tanzania. • All villages are affected by livestock theft and most by theft of plants and crops. • Rural crime results in stress, lack of trust and food insecurity. • Farmers even switch production patterns to protect themselves from theft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile phones have been heralded by many as promising new tools to empower women throughout the Global South. However, some have asserted that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) may serve to amplify disparities between more powerful and less powerful people. Few studies have examined which women stand to benefit and under what conditions. This study seeks to better understand the relationships between mobile phones and women's empowerment by examining diverse women's experiences within Maasai agro-pastoralist communities in northern Tanzania. Specifically, we ask three guiding questions: (1) How do Maasai women access and use phones? (2) What processes of empowerment do phones support or undermine? and (3) How are these processes embedded in diverse social relations? To address these questions, we use a framework that integrates a Social Relations Approach with a modified version of the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. Our team conducted semi-structured and individual-stakeholder interviews with Maasai women in June-July, 2018 to learn their perspectives on phones, social-relations and multiple aspects of empowerment. We analyzed the content of these interviews using deductive and inductive qualitative strategies. These efforts yield multiple findings: (1) women's access to phones is fluid; (2) multiple pathways to empowerment and disempowerment exist; (3) phones reinforce inequalities; (4) women's identities are intersectional; and (5) women's networks remain homogenous. Taken together, this approach and these insights provide a more conservative account of the benefits of mobile phones than many studies and also an important technology-empowerment narrative for development scholars and practitioners. • Mobile phones are presented as important new resources, embedded in social relations, linked to women's empowerment. • We examine how agro-pastoralist Maasai women access and use mobile phones. • Content analysis of group and stakeholder interviews shows characteristics of women's assets, decision-making and autonomy. • Access is fluid, men are gatekeepers, and women have heterogeneous identities and homogenous networks; and. • Findings undermine simple, positive, technology-empowerment hypotheses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to construct tests that could be used to support various decisions in the educational system in Tanzania. Emphasis was placed on decisions made at the end of primary education, and at the end of four years of secondary education. (Author/BW)

Some instructive experience about the potential and limits of a meaningful role for African universities in the 1980s is discussed. The challenge of the 1980s is to convince African governments and national populations that university contributions to national development lie in the ability to train minds and a thinking society. (Author/MLW)

Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) is a widespread and damaging pathogen, endemic to Africa and affecting rice in lowland, irrigated and upland ecologies. Yield losses of 10–100% have been recorded, depending on rice genotypes, time of infection, cropping system, vector abundance and isolate pathogenicity. Control measures for this disease are based mainly on cultural practices and the use of varietal resistance. Specifically, Oryza glaberrima, the cultivated African rice species, has provided several of the known resistance alleles/genes. In this study, 160 O. glaberrima landraces, 55 of their intra-specific progenies and two controls - Tog5681 (resistant) and IR64 (susceptible) - were screened against five RYMV isolates collected from Northern Benin. Disease severity was measured on plants at 21 and 42 days after inoculation. Two cultivars - IRGC104019 and IRGC96787 (Tog5644) - from Tanzania and Nigeria respectively - and 16 intra-specific lines were identified as highly resistant to all five isolates. The genotyping of IRGC104019 and IRGC96787 revealed that they share allele rymv1-3, identified in Tog5681 (the resistant control) and that confers resistance, bringing the number of O. glaberrima accessions known to date to harbor this allele to 11. The importance of this finding and the level of resistance displayed by these two accessions strengthen the hypothesis that the African rice collection is a potential RYMV resistance donor. It is, therefore, necessary to further screen it for valorizing its usefulness in breeding programs. • Rice yellow mottle virus isolates RBe24 and RBe25 were the most pathogenic ones. • Rice yellow mottle virus isolates RBe73 and RBe76 the least pathogenic ones. • Disease severities at 21 and 42 days after inoculation were positively correlated. • Rice lines IRGC104019 and IRGC96787 resisted all Rice yellow mottle virus isolates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tanzanian education system is in transition from face-to-face classroom learning to elearning. E-learning is a new learning approach in Tanzanian Higher Learning Institutions [HLIs] and with teachers being the key stakeholders of all formal education, investigating their attitude towards e-learning is essential. So far, however, there has been little consideration given to research that examines teachers' attitudes towards e-learning in Tanzanian HLIs and consequently, there is no standard attitude scale that has been developed to measure this. This paper presents the development and validation of a scale of teachers' attitude to e-learning. Whilst being initially developed to assess the attitude of teachers in HLIs the authors belief, having piloted with pre-service trainee teachers in England that the scale transfers across national boundaries. The final instrument contains 36 items with a Cronbach alpha score of 0.857. Although the developed attitude scale was intended for use in HLIs, it can also be of interest to researchers investigating attitudes on other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize is a strategic commodity for improving food security and alleviating poverty in Tanzania, but its productivity remains low. The importance of improved maize varieties (IMVs) in increasing productivity is documented in existing literature. Previous adoption studies in Tanzania did not examine the factors that influence the speed/timing of adoption. This study examines the determinants of the speed of adoption of IMVs using a duration model and recently collected plot- and household-level data in rural Tanzania. The results highlight the importance of social capital and networks in speeding up the adoption of IMVs. Similarly, government extension workers as a main source of information have a positive effect on the speed of adoption. The regression results also suggest that rainfall and farmers' confidence in government support during crop failure speed up the adoption of IMVs. The findings imply that interventions that strengthen the role of extension services, rural institutions and networks can accelerate the adoption of IMVs by smallholder farmers in Tanzania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Basic & Applied Ecology is the property of Urban & Fischer Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Highlights: [•] We present an accurate description of the Norwegian funded REDD project managed by WWF in Tanzania. [•] We refute the inaccuries in the paper published by Beymer-Farris and Bassett. [•] We discuss REDD implementation in Tanzania in relation to community forestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although wetlands in Tanzania and Kenya have great potentials for agricultural production and a multitude of uses, many of them are not even documented on official maps. Lack of official recognition has done little in preventing there over utilization. As the wetlands continue to play remarkable roles in the movement of people and terrestrial species in the region, it is important that they are monitored and properly managed. This study was undertaken in Usambara highlands and the Pangani floodplain in Tanzania, the Mount Kenya highlands and Laikipia floodplain in Kenya to map the different types of wetlands in terms of their size, density, spatial distribution and use patterns. Remote sensing techniques and field surveys were adopted, and 51 wetlands were identified in flood plains within the semi-arid and sub-humid lowlands, and inland valleys in the region. The detailed maps generated showed the intensity of wetland use, inland valleys being the most intensively used, and are useful in monitoring changes in wetlands for their effective management. The use of multispatial resolution imagery, combined with field survey and GIS produced satisfactory results for the delineation and mapping of small wetlands and their uses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aquaculture is proposed as a means to income generation and food security in developing nations. Understanding drivers of attitudes and perceptions towards choosing aquaculture as a livelihood is essential to aid policy makers in promoting its development. This paper takes a new approach to establishing a baseline of these social and economic drivers. We used simple metrics familiar to policy makers collected in face-to-face semi-structured interviews – e.g. education level, time availability to work and income level – to predict willingness of individuals to adopt aquaculture as a livelihood. We compared modelling approaches ability to provide insights into effects of social and economic factors on willingness of 422 household decision-makers in coastal villages in Tanzania to participate in sea cucumber aquaculture as an alternative livelihood. Linear regression identified the factors; time available for a supplementary livelihood, gender, social network strength and material style of life as significantly predicting individuals'' willingness to adopt aquaculture. A Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model of community data created using logistic regression results, open response analysis and critical literature appraisal allowed intuitive manipulation of factors to predict the influence of aquaculture uptake drivers and constraints. The BBN model provided quantified predictions of the effect of specific policy interventions to promote aquaculture uptake within the modelled community. The analysis from the BBN model supports its broader use as an assessment tool for informing policy formulation by highlighting key areas of intervention to increase willingness to uptake aquaculture among target groups, such as low income households and women. BBNs provide a modelling approach that allows policy makers to visualise the influence of socio-economic factors on the success of introducing aquaculture in different local contexts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study provides a snapshot of the population, health, and environment situation and practices in the villages surrounding the Saadani National Park (SANAPA) and demonstrates the utility of a transdisciplinary systems perspective to evaluate population–health–environment linkages (PHE). Analyzing survey data from eight villages, this paper shows that in the SANAPA area, livelihoods are highly dependent on natural resources, but both agriculture and fisheries are experiencing a decline in productivity and profitability. Population stressors include a high population momentum, early marriages, teenage pregnancies, and migration. Women bear a heavy workload, while having little or no say in decision-making. The public health situation is severe with health facilities few and far in-between; lack of access to clean water and safe sanitation; and many households suffering from diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia, skin diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Environmental protection arrangements are in place in all sites, however, the awareness of protected areas and their benefits is low and many feel helpless in protecting the environment. Climate change—increasing periods of drought and irregular rainfall—contribute to food insecurity and health problems. The interconnectedness between these stressors reinforces the need for an integrated approach to addressing coastal conservation and community development in the SANAPA area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Scuba diving continues to be one of the most popular recreational activities in marine tourism, but its sustainability is currently threatened due to environmental, social, political, and economic risks. The East African Marine Ecoregion is renowned for its richness in marine fauna and flora, including some of the Indian Ocean's most diverse and abundant coral reef ecosystems, making it a popular destination for scuba divers. However, empirical evidence suggests that external risks (international and domestic) are impacting on dive operators in the region, creating the need to better understand these impacts. This research was therefore aimed at identifying the most significant of these external risks from the perspective of dive operators, via an explorative and descriptive study. The qualitative and quantitative primary data collected revealed that domestic and international economic and political risks have the greatest impact on dive operators in the East African Marine Ecoregion, and this trend is expected to continue. Environmental degradation of coral reefs, while not seen as a threat to dive operators at present, constitutes a key threat within the near future. In terms of the variation in perceived risk across the region, Kenya suffers most from social and political risks, Tanzania from environmental risks, Mozambique from political risks, and South Africa from economic risks. The research contributes to Africa's Blue Economy, which aims to guide African countries in sustainable use of the marine environment while harnessing its social and economic benefits. The findings create awareness of the impact of external risks on regional dive operators and their significance. Furthermore, they create an opportunity for decision makers and stakeholders in the region to craft solutions to improve the sustainability of the scuba diving industry. • The future sustainability of the scuba diving industry in the East African Marine Ecoregion is threatened due to external risks. • Domestic and international economic and political risks have the greatest impact on dive operators. • Dive operators do not view environmental degradation of coral reefs as a current threat, but as a key future threat. • Kenya suffers most from social and political risks; Tanzania, environmental; Mozambique, political; and South Africa, economic. • Findings advance understanding of significant risks plaguing dive operators and can guide regional decision makers in improving sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A polyphasic taxonomic study was performed on seven Bacillus-like bacteria isolated from three hypersaline and alkaline lakes located in China, Kenya and Tanzania. All strains were moderately halophilic and alkaliphilic, Gram positive, motile rods. The DNA G+C content from the seven isolates ranged from 42.2 to 43.4mol% and their major fatty acid was anteiso-C15:0. Strain CG1T, selected as representative strain of the isolates, possesses meso-diaminopimelic acid in the cell wall peptidoglycan, MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone and diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine as the major polar lipids. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the isolates belonged to the genus Bacillus. The seven isolates shared 97.7–99.9% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, and formed a branch that was distinct from the type strains of the recognized species of the genus Bacillus. They were most closely related to Bacillus agaradhaerens DSM 8721T (92.6–93.8% 16S rRNA sequence similarity). DNA–DNA hybridization values between the seven isolates were 85–100%. According to the polyphasic characterization, the strains represent a novel species, for which the name Bacillus locisalis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CG1T (CCM 7370T =CECT 7152T =CGMCC 1.6286T =DSM 18085T). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Plant Protection Research is the property of Institute of Plant Protection and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Plant Protection Research is the property of Institute of Plant Protection and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Kabanga North and Kapalagulu intrusions form part of a >500-km belt of intrusions within the Kibaran orogenic belt of central Africa. Some of the intrusions within the belt host important ore deposits, notably Ni sulfides at Kabanga and Ni laterites at Musongati and Kapalagulu. Despite the economic significance of the intrusions their ages have remained unclear. Here, we present SHRIMP II U-Pb zircon ages, interpreted as magmatic ages of crystallization, for the Kabanga North intrusion (1403 ± 14 Ma) and for the Kapalagulu intrusion (1392 ± 26 Ma). These data, along with other geochronological and petrological data, support a model of a broadly coeval and cogenetic suite of mafic-ultramafic intrusions throughout the Kibaran orogenic belt, from northwest Tanzania through Burundi, and possibly as far south as the Democratic Republic of Congo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The prevalence of mastitis, milk quality and health risks associated with milk consumption were investigated on 96 randomly selected traditional herds in Dodoma rural and Mvomero districts of Tanzania. Mastitis was investigated based on clinical signs, microbiology and California mastitis test (CMT), while milk quality was evaluated using total viable count (TVC) and total coliform count (TCC). Animals were tested for tuberculosis using a single comparative intradermal tuberculin test. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis based on CMT was low (8.3%). The major isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (35.3%), other staphylococci (20.8%), coliforms (27.7%), microcci (5.8%) and streptococci (9.8%). The average TVC of milk in Dodoma rural district (1.0 × 107 ± 3.4 × 107) was significantly higher than that in Mvomero district (8.9 × 105 ± 3.5 × 106) (p < 0.001) and the proportion of TCC-positive samples in Dodoma (70.7%) were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than that of Mvomero samples (20.8%). Whereas no tuberculin reactor animal was detected in the study animals, atypical mycobacteria were isolated from milk and one sample from Dodoma had Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Knowledge on health risks associated with milk consumption was low (20.8%). It is concluded that lack of awareness on health risks associated with milk consumption amongst rural communities needs to be addressed in order to safeguard their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Red Sandstone Group comprises a succession of red sandstones and mudstones exposed in the Rukwa and Malawi rift basins of southwestern Tanzania and northern Malawi. Stratigraphic, sedimentologic, and paleontologic investigations of the Red Sandstone Group in the Songwe Basin (a sub-basin of the Rukwa Rift Basin) help clarify the age and depositional history of these strata, which have previously been assigned ages ranging from Middle Jurassic to late Miocene. These seemingly incompatible Mesozoic and Tertiary age assignments for the Red Sandstone Group are, in part, explained by our discovery of two distinct units (Units I and II) that are of different ages but composed of lithologically similar red sandstones and mudstones in the Songwe Basin. Based on distinct, temporally limited vertebrate fossil remains, a Cretaceous age is proposed for Unit I and a Paleogene age for Unit II. The identification of different-aged units in the Songwe Basin suggests a complex structural and stratigraphic history for the Red Sandstone Group in the context of East African Rift evolution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The benefits of marine protected areas (MPAs) to fish productivity remain debated, and comprehensive research projects have been suggested to assess MPA function. This study evaluated MPA performance in a developing country in the context of local needs. We compared density and size of the blackspot snapper, Lutjanus fulviflamma (Forsskål 1775), in Mafia Island Marine Park (MIMP), Tanzania, with adjacent intensively fished areas (IFA) using underwater visual censuses (a total of 105, 50-m transects) as well as investigating the catches in the local fishery. The target species was over four times more numerous, its biomass six to ten times higher and individual sizes on an average 37% larger on reefs in MIMP compared to the IFA. Fish numbers and biomass were negatively correlated with fishing intensity and positively correlated with hard coral cover and structural complexity. This study supports predictions that MPAs can play a key role in the conservation of habitats and management of a fishery. It is suggested that for the purpose of management, it is possible to evaluate MPA performance with limited resources by focusing on key information. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Remotely sensed imagery has been used to update and improve the spatial resolution of malaria transmission intensity maps in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. Discriminant analysis achieved statistically robust agreements between historical maps of the intensity of malaria transmission and predictions based on multitemporal meteorological satellite sensor data processed using temporal Fourier analysis. The study identified land surface temperature as the best predictor of transmission intensity. Rainfall and moisture availability as inferred by cold cloud duration (CCD) and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), respectively, were identified as secondary predictors of transmission intensity. Information on altitude derived from a digital elevation model significantly improved the predictions. "Malaria-free" areas were predicted with an accuracy of 96 percent while areas where transmission occurs only near water, moderate malaria areas, and intense malaria transmission areas were predicted with accuracies of 90 percent, 72 percent, and 87 percent, respectively. The importance of such maps for rationalizing malaria control is discussed, as is the potential contribution of the next generation of satellite sensors to these mapping efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the effect of weekly doses of 400 mg of ferrous sulphate for 4 months on the iron status of adolescent girls in a controlled trial in Tanga, Tanzania. Supplementation led to a significantly greater increase in serum ferritin compared with the control group (+ 15.6 microg/l vs. 8.6 microg/l) (P = 0.002) but there was no significant difference in change in haemoglobin. Children given iron showed a significantly greater weight gain than controls (+ 2.4 kg vs. + 1.4 kg) (P = 0.03). Weekly iron supplementation may be an effective means of increasing iron stores and growth in children vulnerable to iron deficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper examines children's potential access to school health services by analysing data on the demographic structure, enrolment patterns and reported causes of early school-leaving in 347 schools in Tanga Region, Tanzania served by a school-based health programme. The analysis indicates that net enrolment ratios have risen over the previous 6 years, particularly among children under 10 years. However, in 1994 children were still much older than expected for a basic school population: 81% were adolescents ($10 years) and the mean age was 12 years. These data suggest that schools can provide equitable access to health education and school-based health services for a majority of children, even in a low-income country, and that the primary school population is predominantly adolescent and would benefit from health programmes targeted at that age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of albendazole (400 mg) and praziquantel (40 mg/kg body weight) treatment of schoolchildren was compared with placebo according to the presence of anaemia (haemoglobin concentration < 11. 0 g/dl) and heavy (> 5000 epg) or light (< 5000 epg) hookworm egg load. The study was conducted in rural Tanga. Medication was administered in September 1994 and children were followed-up in January 1995. Overall, anthelminthic treatment reduced the fall in haemoglobin concentration compared with that observed in the placebo group (- 0.11 g/dl vs. - 0.35 g/dl; P = 0.02). Anthelminthic treatment was of greatest benefit to the 9% of children with both anaemia and heavy hookworm egg load (+ 0.67 g/dl vs. - 0.67 g/dl) and was also of significant benefit to the 38% of children with anaemia and light hookworm egg load (+ 0.07 g/dl vs. - 0.21 g/dl). It was of no significant benefit to children who were not anaemic. This study suggests that single-dose anthelminthic treatment distributed in schools in this area achieves haematological benefits in nearly half of children infected with S. haematobium and geohelminths (37% of total population). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]