A multi-spectral rainfall estimation algorithm has been developed for the Sahel region of West Africa with the purpose of producing accumulated rainfall estimates for drought monitoring and food security. Radar data were used to calibrate multi-channel SEVIRI data from MSG, and a probability of rainfall at several different rain-rates was established for each combination of SEVIRI radiances. Ra...

The region as treated here includes all countries in the bulge of West Africa (on the southern coast from Nigeria westward) and to the east Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and countries north. Insects of at least 25 species are eaten, belonging to at least 21 genera, 13 families and 7 orders (see the Regional Taxonomic Inventory below). Of this group, the specific identity is known for only 21 s...

OBJECTIVE To ascertain whether the membership examination for the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) discriminates against doctors of Indian subcontinent ethnic origin ("Asian doctors"). DESIGN Retrospective analysis of data from five administrations of the MRCGP examination (December 1988-December 1990). SETTING United Kingdom national examination body. SUBJECTS 3686 doctors ...

West Nile (WN) virus was identified in the Western Hemisphere in 1999. Along with human encephalitis cases, 20 equine cases of WN virus were detected in 1999 and 23 equine cases in 2000 in New York. During both years, the equine cases occurred after human cases in New York had been identified.

The wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) is a migratory species in the western Mediterranean wintering in the Gulf of Guinea region, West Africa. In autumn and spring, this species, along with the populations breeding in Ireland and Britain, uses the Italian peninsula as its main axis of migration. From the data of captured birds at several ringing stations in the western Mediterranean (Balea...

a School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China b School of Life Science and Agriculture, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou 466001, China Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Center for Innovation in Gas Research and Utilization, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA d School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yul...

Since the emergence of West Nile virus (WNV) in North America in 1999, understanding of the clinical features, spectrum of illness and eventual functional outcomes of human illness has increased tremendously. Most human infections with WNV remain clinically silent. Among those persons developing symptomatic illness, most develop a self-limited febrile illness. More severe illness with WNV (West...

Using time series of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and rainfall data, we investigated historical vegetation productivity trends from 1982 to 2011 over the Bani River Basin in Mali. Statistical agreements between long-term trends in vegetation productivty, corresponding rainfall and rate of land cover change from Landsat time-series imagery was used to discern climate versus huma...

Despite decades of research about episodic acidification in many regions of the world, the understanding of what controls the transient changes in stream water chemistry occurring during rain and snow melt events is still limited. Here, we use 20 years of hydrological and stream chemical data from the paired watershed study at Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM), USA to improve the understandi...

Visceral pentastomiasis caused by Armillifer armillatus larvae was diagnosed in 2 dogs in The Gambia. Parasites were subjected to PCR; phylogenetic analysis confirmed relatedness with branchiurans/crustaceans. Our investigation highlights transmission of infective A. armillatus ova to dogs and, by serologic evidence, also to 1 human, demonstrating a public health concern.