Children's education and home electrification: A case study in northwestern Madagascar

Assessments of the impact of electrification on the quality of life of households in developing countries have increased over the last decade. One aspect that has still received little attention is education and the ability of children to keep up at school. The underlying hypothesis is that electrification enables children to do their homework in the evening and so keep up with their school work. To this first hypothesis we add a second one, concerning the relation between access to electricity and attendance to school according to gender. Although most household tasks are carried out by the mothers, their daughters are also involved, and electrification could have a beneficial effect by making easier for girls to do their homework in the evening and easier for the mothers to help them. We will check the validity of these hypotheses using a case study of 162 children attending school in a small town in northwestern Madagascar.     

Residues of medroxyprogesterone acetate detected in sows at a slaughterhouse,Madagascar

In Madagascar, little information about drug residues in animal products is available. However, recently, official veterinary services were informed about the misuse of human injectable contraceptives in pig farms as an alternative for chirurgical castration of adult sows before culling. We investigated pigs (n = 80) slaughtered in 7 Malagasy abattoirs and raised in 8 of the 22 Malagasy regions (1) to confirm the contamination of carcasses by anabolic hormones by using LC-MS/MS, (2) to identify the substances of concern and (3) to explore the consumers’ exposure to hormone residues. Medroxyprogesterone acetate was the only synthetic hormone detected in kidney fat. Samples positive with medroxyprogesterone acetate were observed in 66.7% of the districts investigated and in 87.5% of the surveyed regions, confirming its large misuse in livestock. Public awareness campaigns and control improvement among the animal production sector and among the Malagasy public health sector are therefore urgent.     

Promoting a culture of food safety to improve hygiene in small restaurants in Madagascar

In this study, we combined microbiological analyses; spot-check observations and in-depth interviews to study food safety in small restaurants in Antananarivo (Madagascar). We showed that faecal contaminations (Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp.) occur at high rate in mixed salad sold in these restaurants. This is resulting from vendors’ unhygienic behaviours. We studied vendors’ motivations and priorities as well as their material and social context of activity. Based on our findings, we propose key elements to build intervention programmes to promote an appropriate culture of food safety: (i) using disgust associated with the contact with stools to explain contamination chains of food and water; (ii) emphasizing on vendors’ representation of the link between cleanliness and health together with changing norms about what is seen as “clean”; and (iii) emphasizing on vendors’ responsibility towards customers’ health using the Malagasy traditional ideology of “tody”.     

马达加斯加图莱亚尔变色石榴石的初步研究

变色石榴石产于马达加斯加西南部图莱亚尔省 ,原生矿产在含矽线石变粒岩与的石墨变粒岩交汇部位含石墨变粒岩一侧。经电子探针、宝石学性质研究表明 ,变色石榴石为富镁质锰铝榴石。折射率 1 786,密度 4 0 1 1g/cm3,摩氏硬度 6 8～ 7 1 ,其变色的主要原因是原子结构中微量Cr2 O3引起 ,宝石呈蓝绿 -紫色变色效应 ,宝石质量高 ,具有很高的开发利用价值     

A Swot analysis of HACCP implementation in Madagascar

Malagasy government is updating its legal and regulatory framework to develop a sound national food control system. In this context, promoting good hygienic practices and HACCP principles where appropriate, are important components to ensure that food safety goals are met throughout the food chain. Relevant institutions and laboratories were identified regarding four main responsibilities for which the commitment of government is vital (food policy, risk assessment, legislation, public authorities). The paper highlighted then the internal Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as the external Opportunities and Threats, the government is facing towards the implementation of GHPs and HACCP system.     

Simulating the impacts of reduced rainfall on carbon stocks and net ecosystem exchange in a tropical forest

Forest models can be useful tools to improve our understanding of forest dynamics and to evaluate potential impacts of climate change. There is an ongoing debate how drought events influence the dynamics of tropical forests. In this study, we explored the role of changes in precipitation on tropical forests in Madagascar. Therefore, we derived a new parameterization of the process-based forest model FORMIND using local forest inventory measurements. This model was extended by a drought sensitivity module based on a water use efficiency concept.The objective of this study is to evaluate how different levels of water availability modify forest productivity, and net ecosystem exchange as a function of mean annual precipitation. Our simulation results indicate that a moderate precipitation decline (0%–30% of current precipitation conditions) has only minor impact on forest carbon stocks and exchange. A rainfall decline below 30% of current precipitation conditions would change forest structure considerably.     

现代科技营造的热带雨林奇观——苏黎世动物园的马苏可立热带雨林馆

马苏阿拉热带雨林馆是一项大胆创意的原始森林和濒危动物保护的景观项目,是苏黎世动物园和它在拥有着丰富的热带雨林资源但正受到各种威胁的马达加斯加岛自然保护项目之间的直接联系.这个项目的理念是为了从心灵深处激发公众对自然保护的敏感性,让更多人有直观的保护濒危动植物的切身感受和理念,从而也会更直接地参与到切实的贡献上.各种先进...     

Muscle Lipids and Fatty Acid Profiles of the Sea Catfish (Arius madagascariensis) in Madagascar Inland Waters

Muscle lipids and fatty acids (FA) of catfish Arius madagascariensis were determined in catfish caught in the Betsiboka River, Madagascar, during a 5-month sampling period. Total lipids from muscle were extracted and quantified. Fatty acids were identified by means of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry of FA methyl esters and FA pyrrolidides, leading to the identification of 42 FA. Lipid content was relatively high in our fish sample and ranged from 4.3 to 6.6% of wet muscle. Three FA dominated the FA composition: palmitic acid (C16:0, 22.9–32.6%), oleic acid (C18:1n-9, 11.3–13.4%) and stearic acid (C18:0, 10.8–12.0%). A number of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) were present in appreciable amounts, including arachidonic acid (C20:4n-6, 4.7–7.6%), docosahexaenoic acid (C22:4n-6, 3.0–8.1%), eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5n-3, 0.6–1.0%), n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (C22:5n-3, 1.1–1.6%), n-6 docosatetraenoic acid (C22:4n-6, 0.7–1.2%) and n-6 docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-6, 0.9–1.8%). The sum of the n-6 PUFA and n-3 PUFA was 11.3–18.8 and 7.5–13.4%, respectively. These results indicate that A. madagascariensis, an abundant freshwater fish in Madagascar rivers, may be good source of dietary PUFA.     

马达加斯加地质矿产概况

马达加斯加是非洲东南部岛国,成矿地质条件有利,矿产资源丰富。该国属非洲克拉通组成部分,以前寒武纪构造—岩浆—变质杂岩为主,西部及东、西海岸带分布少量晚古生代—中生代泥砂质碎屑岩—碳酸盐岩和中新生代火山—沉积岩系。该国矿产主要分布于前寒武纪地质体中,少数沉积型矿产赋存于晚古生代—新生代地层内,主要矿产有铁、铬、钛、镍、钴、铝、金、石墨、煤及宝石等。     

马达加斯加海滨砂矿的开发利用

为了响应国家的非洲资源战略,更广泛的控制和开发不可再生资源,在考察了马达加斯加共和国东海岸费努阿里弗-阿齐纳纳纳至苏阿涅拉纳伊翁古一带（Fenoarivo Atsinanana-Soanierana Ivongo）沿海地区87.5 km2的海滨砂矿后,笔者分析了马达加斯加海滨砂矿矿产资源的特征及其价值,并对该矿区的开采方案和可能遇到的风险做了初步的论证。