University of Antananarivo

About: University of Antananarivo is a education organization based out in Antananarivo, Madagascar. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Lemur. The organization has 1561 authors who have published 1703 publications receiving 30922 citations. The organization is also known as: Tananarive University & Antananarivo University.

The role of incentive-based instruments and social equity in conservation conflict interventions

Abstract: Conflicts between biodiversity conservation and other human activities are multifaceted. Understanding farmer preferences for various conflict mitigation strategies is therefore critical. We developed a novel interactive game around farmer land management decisions across 18 villages in Gabon to examine responses to three elephant conflict mitigation options: use of elephant deterrent methods, flat-rate subsidy, and agglomeration payments rewarding coordinated action for setting land aside for elephants. We found that all three policies significantly reduced participants’ inclinations to engage in lethal control. Use of deterrents and agglomeration payments were also more likely to reduce decisions to kill elephants in situations where levels of social equity were higher. Only the two monetary incentives increased farmers’ predisposition to provide habitats for elephants, suggesting that incentive-based instruments were conducive to pro-conservation behavior; different subsidy levels did not affect responses. Likewise, neither participants’ socioeconomic characteristics nor their real-life experiences of crop damage by elephants affected game decisions. Killing behavior in the games was 64% lower in villages influenced by protected areas than in villages surrounded by logging concessions, highlighting the need to address conservation conflicts beyond protected areas. Our study shows the importance of addressing underlying social conflicts, specifically equity attitudes, prior to, or alongside addressing material losses.

Stroke in a resource-constrained hospital in Madagascar.

Abstract: Stroke is reported as the most frequent cause of in-hospital death in Madagascar. However, no descriptive data on hospitalized stroke patients in the country have been published. In the present study, we sought to investigate the feasibility of collecting data on stroke patients in a resource-constrained hospital in Madagascar. We also aimed to characterize patients hospitalized with stroke. We registered socio-demographics, clinical characteristics, and early outcomes of patients admitted for stroke between 23 September 2014 and 3 December 2014. We used several validated scales for the evaluation. Stroke severity was measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), disability by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), and function by the Barthel Index (BI). We studied 30 patients. Sixteen were males. The median age was 62.5 years (IQR 58–67). The NIHSS and mRS were completed for all of the patients, and BI was used for the survivors. Three patients received a computed tomography (CT) brain scan. The access to laboratory investigations was limited. Electrocardiographs (ECGs) were not performed. The median NIHSS score was 16.5 (IQR 10–35). The in-hospital stroke mortality was 30%. At discharge, the median mRS score was 5 (IQR 4–6), and the median BI score was 45 (IQR 0–72.5). Although the access to brain imaging and supporting investigations was deficient, this small-scale study suggests that it is feasible to collect essential data on stroke patients in a resource-constrained hospital in Madagascar. Such data should be useful for improving stroke services and planning further research. The hospitalized stroke patients had severe symptoms. The in-hospital stroke mortality was high. At discharge, the disability category was high, and functional status low.

Exploring relevant wavelength regions for estimating soil total carbon contents of rice fields in Madagascar from Vis-NIR spectra with sequential application of backward interval PLS

Abstract: Laboratory visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy with partial least squares (PLS) regression can be used to determine the soil carbon (C) content, and the waveband selection procedures c...