[naturenews] from [nature.com]
[naturenews]
Published online 9 November 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.1074
News
African academies show how science can save lives
First joint report highlights importance of African scientists' advice to policy-makers.
By Linda Nordling
{{Four million lives in Africa could be saved by adopting science-based health policies}
African governments could save millions of lives relatively cheaply by adopting science-based health policies, according to a report published today by seven African science academies.
The report, which focuses on child and maternal health in sub-Saharan
Africa, was unveiled at the fifth annual conference of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) that is taking place from 9–11 November in Ghana's capital Accra.
It is the first joint policy briefing produced by the initiative. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ASADI brings together the science academies of Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Cameroon.
"This is a product of Africa, produced by its best and brightest minds," says Roseanne Diab, executive officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa, based in Lynnwood, Pretoria.
How to save four million lives
The report divides African countries into three categories based on the percentage of births that are overseen by a skilled person, such as a midwife or health worker: less than 30%, 30–60% and more than 60%. It uses the Lives Saved Tool, or LiST — a computer model developed by an international team of researchers — to make policy recommendations for the three scenarios.
Across all three categories, improving infectious-disease care for children under five years of age would save the most lives. Nearly 150,000 children could be saved in northern Nigeria alone by raising by 20% the number of children with access to care for diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and measles.
However, when it comes to mothers, the scenarios differ. In places with less than 30% 'skilled attendance', helping mothers to plan their pregnancies has big potential to save lives. But in countries with higher levels of skilled attendance at birth, the report suggests that policy-makers should focus on improving access to emergency obstetric care, such as Caesarean sections and blood transfusions.
If the interventions recommended in the report were to reach 90% of Africans, its authors estimate that the lives of 4 million African mothers and children could be saved each year — avoiding 85% of deaths on the continent.
The cost of implementing the policies is "extremely affordable" the report says, ranging from US$0.50–$3 per head. In Uganda, the total cost of the interventions would be around $90m per year.
Active advice
There are signs that African academies are beginning to transform from mainly honorific societies to become active advisers on policy. Giving advice to government is the raison d'être of the Academy of Science and Technologies of Senegal, says Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, vice-president of the Dakar-based institution. "The fact that this report is issued by a group of African academies adds value to what academies are doing at the national level," he says.
Grouping together also adds credibility to the advice, says Oladoyin Odubanjo, executive secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences in Lagos. "If it comes from many academies, there is less chance that it is wrong," he says.
African governments, meanwhile, seem to be warming to the idea of taking advice from scientists. "There is some evidence that African governments are ready to start basing their policies on this type of evidence," says Joanna Schellenberg, an epidemiologist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Tanzania is leading the way, she says, but other countries, such as Ghana, are also showing an interest.
The academies are now working on their second joint policy briefing. It will look at improving access to energy and is due to be launched at the next ASADI annual conference in South Africa in November 2010.
[naturenews]
Published online 9 November 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.1069
News
Whale-song recording goes deep
Underwater glider eavesdrops on cetacean communication.
By Rex Dalton
Silently slipping to 1,000 metres below the ocean surface, an undersea glider equipped with a recording device is cruising off Hawaii to capture unprecedented detail on the sounds made by whales.
The experiment represents the first time that an acoustic-equipped glider has been deployed to this depth in the open ocean to record data from a specific marine mammal. Whales make distinctive clicking sounds or vocalizations both for communication and for echolocation, allowing them to navigate and forage for food, but traditional acoustic devices on the ocean surface typically can't record whale sounds emitted at lower depths.
The glider is designed to collect acoustic data from beaked whales (Ziphiidae), which can dive down to 2,000 metres. These whales seem to be particularly sensitive to man-made noise, and there have been a number of beaked whale strandings associated with the use of military sonar equipment1.
The data will help to improve our understanding of whale biology, researchers say, but the glider is also being considered as a more effective way of monitoring marine mammals when airguns are deployed for seismic studies of the seafloor (see 'Airgun ban halts seismic tests'). Such tests have been linked to whale strandings or deaths, but when observers try to monitor whales by sight during the studies, "they miss about 85% of the whales present," says whale-acoustics expert Dave Mellinger of Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, who works on the glider project.
Since the glider's deployment on 27 October, it has made more than 50 dives — some lasting up to 6 hours — during its first week of operations off the coast of Hawaii. It is due to be retrieved on 17 November.
"We believe we have identified beaked whales," says Mellinger. "It was pretty exciting. You work a couple of years on a project, hope it will succeed, but you don't know until the equipment is wet."
The US$1.5-million project began in 2007 and is funded by the US Office of Naval Research, based in Arlington, Virginia. Mellinger and a postdoctoral researcher, Holger Klinck, also at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, developed the software for the glider so that it could distinguish beaked whale noises from the cacophony of other ocean sounds. At the University of Washington in Seattle, engineers Neil Bogue and Jim Luby conducted the glider engineering research. Mellinger and Klinck's studies are in conjunction with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Washington, part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Sonic search
Developed more than a decade ago, autonomous underwater gliders were initially used by oceanographers to study ocean conditions, such as temperature, salinity and currents. They were dropped off in waters around the world to capture data that were then either recovered with the glider or beamed to a satellite.
A glider can cost around $150,000–200,000 and typically includes a bladder to control its buoyancy. Powered by an internal battery, a device shifts oil, deflating the bladder or filling it with air, and prompting the glider to descend or ascend accordingly.
The two-metre-long, torpedo-like glider used in the beaked whale study is steered by an internal computer to follow a pre-programmed course while travelling at around 0.25 metres per second. After diving, the glider comes to the surface to take its bearings, beams a summary of its data to an Iridium satellite and then cruises to the next programmed location. Cruise distance is dictated by battery life, but as technology has improved, gliders can now travel from the mainland United States to Hawaii.
"The technology — like the acoustic system — wasn't available to do this five years ago," notes Mellinger.
Characteristic click
Two species of beaked whale have been targeted in this particular study — the Cuvier's and the Blainville's. Beaked whales emit around three clicks per second, whereas other marine mammals, such as dolphins, click as often as 100 times per second. Still, recording the beaked whale sounds will result in enormous amounts of information — the current glider cruise is expected to produce a half a terabyte of data.
To identify the characteristic sound of a beaked whale, Mellinger and Klinck's software must take into account the click's frequency in kilohertz, the rate of clicks and the frequency spectrum of the clicks. The click spectrum emitted by a beaked whale is 25–100 KHz — inaudible to the human ear, which can detect up to a maximum of 20 KHz.
"We have not done detailed analysis, but we are pretty sure we have encountered beaked whales four or five times," says Klinck. Once the glider has finished its cruise, further analysis of the entire data set will confirm and expand that finding.
References
1. Jepson, P. D. et al. Nature 425, 575-576 (2003).
[naturenews]
Published online 9 November 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.1074
News
African academies show how science can save lives
First joint report highlights importance of African scientists' advice to policy-makers.
By Linda Nordling
{{Four million lives in Africa could be saved by adopting science-based health policies}
African governments could save millions of lives relatively cheaply by adopting science-based health policies, according to a report published today by seven African science academies.
The report, which focuses on child and maternal health in sub-Saharan
Africa, was unveiled at the fifth annual conference of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) that is taking place from 9–11 November in Ghana's capital Accra.
It is the first joint policy briefing produced by the initiative. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ASADI brings together the science academies of Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Cameroon.
"This is a product of Africa, produced by its best and brightest minds," says Roseanne Diab, executive officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa, based in Lynnwood, Pretoria.
How to save four million lives
The report divides African countries into three categories based on the percentage of births that are overseen by a skilled person, such as a midwife or health worker: less than 30%, 30–60% and more than 60%. It uses the Lives Saved Tool, or LiST — a computer model developed by an international team of researchers — to make policy recommendations for the three scenarios.
Across all three categories, improving infectious-disease care for children under five years of age would save the most lives. Nearly 150,000 children could be saved in northern Nigeria alone by raising by 20% the number of children with access to care for diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and measles.
However, when it comes to mothers, the scenarios differ. In places with less than 30% 'skilled attendance', helping mothers to plan their pregnancies has big potential to save lives. But in countries with higher levels of skilled attendance at birth, the report suggests that policy-makers should focus on improving access to emergency obstetric care, such as Caesarean sections and blood transfusions.
If the interventions recommended in the report were to reach 90% of Africans, its authors estimate that the lives of 4 million African mothers and children could be saved each year — avoiding 85% of deaths on the continent.
The cost of implementing the policies is "extremely affordable" the report says, ranging from US$0.50–$3 per head. In Uganda, the total cost of the interventions would be around $90m per year.
Active advice
There are signs that African academies are beginning to transform from mainly honorific societies to become active advisers on policy. Giving advice to government is the raison d'être of the Academy of Science and Technologies of Senegal, says Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, vice-president of the Dakar-based institution. "The fact that this report is issued by a group of African academies adds value to what academies are doing at the national level," he says.
Grouping together also adds credibility to the advice, says Oladoyin Odubanjo, executive secretary of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences in Lagos. "If it comes from many academies, there is less chance that it is wrong," he says.
African governments, meanwhile, seem to be warming to the idea of taking advice from scientists. "There is some evidence that African governments are ready to start basing their policies on this type of evidence," says Joanna Schellenberg, an epidemiologist from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Tanzania is leading the way, she says, but other countries, such as Ghana, are also showing an interest.
The academies are now working on their second joint policy briefing. It will look at improving access to energy and is due to be launched at the next ASADI annual conference in South Africa in November 2010.
[naturenews]
Published online 9 November 2009 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2009.1069
News
Whale-song recording goes deep
Underwater glider eavesdrops on cetacean communication.
By Rex Dalton
Silently slipping to 1,000 metres below the ocean surface, an undersea glider equipped with a recording device is cruising off Hawaii to capture unprecedented detail on the sounds made by whales.
The experiment represents the first time that an acoustic-equipped glider has been deployed to this depth in the open ocean to record data from a specific marine mammal. Whales make distinctive clicking sounds or vocalizations both for communication and for echolocation, allowing them to navigate and forage for food, but traditional acoustic devices on the ocean surface typically can't record whale sounds emitted at lower depths.
The glider is designed to collect acoustic data from beaked whales (Ziphiidae), which can dive down to 2,000 metres. These whales seem to be particularly sensitive to man-made noise, and there have been a number of beaked whale strandings associated with the use of military sonar equipment1.
The data will help to improve our understanding of whale biology, researchers say, but the glider is also being considered as a more effective way of monitoring marine mammals when airguns are deployed for seismic studies of the seafloor (see 'Airgun ban halts seismic tests'). Such tests have been linked to whale strandings or deaths, but when observers try to monitor whales by sight during the studies, "they miss about 85% of the whales present," says whale-acoustics expert Dave Mellinger of Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, who works on the glider project.
Since the glider's deployment on 27 October, it has made more than 50 dives — some lasting up to 6 hours — during its first week of operations off the coast of Hawaii. It is due to be retrieved on 17 November.
"We believe we have identified beaked whales," says Mellinger. "It was pretty exciting. You work a couple of years on a project, hope it will succeed, but you don't know until the equipment is wet."
The US$1.5-million project began in 2007 and is funded by the US Office of Naval Research, based in Arlington, Virginia. Mellinger and a postdoctoral researcher, Holger Klinck, also at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, developed the software for the glider so that it could distinguish beaked whale noises from the cacophony of other ocean sounds. At the University of Washington in Seattle, engineers Neil Bogue and Jim Luby conducted the glider engineering research. Mellinger and Klinck's studies are in conjunction with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Washington, part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Sonic search
Developed more than a decade ago, autonomous underwater gliders were initially used by oceanographers to study ocean conditions, such as temperature, salinity and currents. They were dropped off in waters around the world to capture data that were then either recovered with the glider or beamed to a satellite.
A glider can cost around $150,000–200,000 and typically includes a bladder to control its buoyancy. Powered by an internal battery, a device shifts oil, deflating the bladder or filling it with air, and prompting the glider to descend or ascend accordingly.
The two-metre-long, torpedo-like glider used in the beaked whale study is steered by an internal computer to follow a pre-programmed course while travelling at around 0.25 metres per second. After diving, the glider comes to the surface to take its bearings, beams a summary of its data to an Iridium satellite and then cruises to the next programmed location. Cruise distance is dictated by battery life, but as technology has improved, gliders can now travel from the mainland United States to Hawaii.
"The technology — like the acoustic system — wasn't available to do this five years ago," notes Mellinger.
Characteristic click
Two species of beaked whale have been targeted in this particular study — the Cuvier's and the Blainville's. Beaked whales emit around three clicks per second, whereas other marine mammals, such as dolphins, click as often as 100 times per second. Still, recording the beaked whale sounds will result in enormous amounts of information — the current glider cruise is expected to produce a half a terabyte of data.
To identify the characteristic sound of a beaked whale, Mellinger and Klinck's software must take into account the click's frequency in kilohertz, the rate of clicks and the frequency spectrum of the clicks. The click spectrum emitted by a beaked whale is 25–100 KHz — inaudible to the human ear, which can detect up to a maximum of 20 KHz.
"We have not done detailed analysis, but we are pretty sure we have encountered beaked whales four or five times," says Klinck. Once the glider has finished its cruise, further analysis of the entire data set will confirm and expand that finding.
References
1. Jepson, P. D. et al. Nature 425, 575-576 (2003).
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