Poverty and HIV prevalence in Ghana: a geographical perspective

There is a widespread belief that poverty leads to the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, intra-country comparisons of the phenomenon have been limited. This study seeks to fill this gap by examining the relationship between poverty and HIV prevalence amongst the 10 administrative regions of Ghana. Based on the available data for poverty and HIV, certain distinct patterns emerge. For example, poverty levels are the highest in the three northern regions (Upper East, Upper West and Northern region) even though their HIV prevalence is one of the lowest. It clearly follows that there are more complex forces at work than just the effects of poverty alone. To unravel some of these puzzles, the paper proposes a key role for culture, globalization and geographical accessibility. In addition, it is suggested that local level studies in a multivariate framework have much to contribute to the identification and quantification of relevant relationships.     

Anglo American media representations, traditional medicine, and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: from muti killings to garlic cures

Before 2000 limited media coverage of medicine in South Africa existed, yet much of what did exist centered primarily on traditional healing practices. It was not until the introduction of HIV/AIDS that traditional medicine was seen as having some potential value to the population, but only so far as the ability of traditional healers to direct patients to biomedical treatment. This article examines how the contemporary western media portrays medicine in South Africa and how the introduction of HIV/AIDS as a major news story has shifted the depiction of western and traditional medical treatment. Insights from these questions are examined in light of the colonial context of South Africa’s political struggle over medicine.     

Imaginative geographies of gender and HIV/AIDS: moving beyond neoliberalism

This paper examines how neoliberal development discourse contributes to the production and maintenance of problematic gendered hierarchies and spaces. By interrogating the basic assumptions undergirding this discourse, this paper explores how neoliberalism produces spaces which normalise certain identities—especially those associated with individualism and economic rationality, and makes errant values such as communalism and altruism. Drawing on perspectives from feminist geographies, we argue that by normalising and privileging certain masculine identities, neoliberalism reinscribes and legitimizes gendered power relations that are counterproductive to addressing HIV/AIDS. The ‘ideal’ person fighting HIV/AIDS in the neoliberal framework is rational, competitive and self-interested, but these characteristics are complicit in worsening HIV prevalence and mobilize problematic gender roles and identities. Given the pervasiveness of this ideology in Malawi, we propose ways in which families, communities and institutions can challenge and reshape gender identities and potential solutions to HIV within this context.     

Mapping the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Nigeria using exploratory spatial data analysis

This paper examines the spatial variation of HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Nigeria. It uses Exploratory Spatial Data Analytical (ESDA) techniques to provide insight into the pattern. The overriding objective is to determine if there is a significant spatial clustering of HIV/AIDS. The calculated and mapped Global and Local Moran’s I, and Getis and Ord G _i * values reveal certain states such as Benue, Nassarawa, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Cross River have significant spatial clusters of HIV/AIDS rates in Nigeria. The spatial analysis enables policy makers to identify states most affected, and design effective and culturally acceptable preventive measures. Specific policies targeted at states are a more appropriate approach in tackling the epidemic rather than the usual universal cookie-cut HIV reduction strategies that may not be applicable to the different cultural milieu.     

Community capacity amongst people living with HIV/AIDS

Mobilisation of people living with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s was tied to social identity and the public rendering of AIDS as a gay disease. This activism has continued in large cities alongside new streams of mobilization addressing the needs of groups such as women and Aboriginal peoples living with HIV. We draw on interviews conducted with six people living with HIV/AIDS in a small Ontario city where the population does not allow for services tailored to specific groups. We investigate experiences of social engagement amongst people living with, and affected by, HIV/AIDS and examine why efforts to establish a community-based participatory research project was unsuccessful. Drawing from indicators of community capacity developed by Jackson et al. (Health Promot Int 18(4): 339–350, 2003) we identify the role of stigma both amongst different groups living with HIV/AIDS and the wider public as undermining a common sense of community and, potentially, our efforts to establish a community-based participatory research process.     

HIV and AIDS in Africa: a geographic analysis at multiple spatial scales

This study offers an alternative method rooted in GIS techniques and spatial analysis to estimate HIV/AIDS prevalence over space from an incomplete surveillance data set and explain the variation of those estimates. The results clearly show that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is complex and that it is interconnected with other geographic, historical, economic and cultural phenomena which help explain its spatial spread and variation. The regression models which were developed in this paper illustrated that variables which measure the historical context of colonialism such as resource exploitation and labor migration, gender, culture, contemporary global forces, poverty and disease burden have all contributed variously to the rapid spread of this disease both in space and time. The policy implication is that concentrating on behavior change or therapy alone may not turn the epidemic around. The attack needs to be multifaceted and interdisciplinary taking into consideration the context and the economic and social realities at multiple spatial scales.     

An interdisciplinary approach to HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in Belize: the roles of geography and ethnicity

Belize experiences the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Central America, ranging between 2.1 and 3.2% (World Health Organization 2008). To add to the limited literature on HIV/AIDS Stigma and Discrimination (HASD) in Belize, the authors conducted a study to assess whether stigma and discrimination is related to geography and ethnicity. One-hundred forty participants were interviewed using a structured survey instrument at three different parts of the country, and the results were analyzed quantitatively. These places were Cayo District on the western border with Guatemala, Belize City, and two cayes (Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye). Respondents in Belize City generally held the lowest rates of stigmatizing and discriminatory attitudes towards individuals living with HIV/AIDS, highlighting a possible relationship between geography and ethnicity. Concurrently, self-identifying Afro-Belizeans and Creoles reported lower rates of HASD attitudes in some contexts than other ethnic groups. The results show that there may a relation between geography, ethnicity, and HASD, and that a randomized, controlled study is an important next step in determining the strength of that relation.     

Urban planning and politics in Ghana

Through an analysis of Ghana’s political and administrative structure, which established the basis of urban planning practice, this paper shows how urban planning has failed to create liveable and functional cities in Ghana. This paper uses semi-structured interviews and agency consultations to supplement document reviews and news paper articles to address the dearth of research on the subject in Ghana. Findings show that dominant political elites, with little or no urban planning background, control and dictate urban planning activities resulting in chaotic scenes and urban blight across Ghanaian cities. Analyses here reinforce the growing recognition that urban planning outcomes in Ghana, and most African countries are not shaped by professional practice and do not reflect the aspirations of the community, but instead political elites. Urban planning agencies are left vulnerable as their activities are interfered, dictated and hindered by both traditional and mainstream political elites. This paper advocates for independence of urban planning agencies in the performance of their duties.     

Gender equality and poverty in Ghana: implications for poverty reduction strategies

Poverty trends in Ghana show a decline over the last two decades. However, the period also shows evidence of the intensification of vulnerability and exclusion among some groups, including women. Among several variables accounting for women’s vulnerability to poverty are gender inequalities, which it is argued, undermines development and the prospects for improving standards of living. Therefore it has been suggested that policies, which aim at reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development must integrate gender equality, equity and women’s empowerment in its goals. Despite these, the interconnections between a reduction in gender inequality and a reduction in poverty are complex. The paper explores the gender dimensions of poverty in Ghana, and how gender inequalities are manifested and implicated in the reproduction of poverty. It also assesses the extent to which these have been taken into account in poverty reduction strategies and policies to enhance the situation of women. It concludes that if strategies to engender poverty reduction programmes are to be sustainable it is important to recognize unequal gender relations and the structures of power that women confront at all levels in Ghana and how these increase women’s vulnerability to poverty.     

Progress in the Energy Closure of Eddy Covariance Systems

The sum of turbulent fluxes measured by the eddy-covariance method is often 10%~30% lower than available energy (i.e., the net radiation minus the ground heat flux). This systematic bias in the EC method is called the "EC energy closure problem" and has been one of the biggest challenges in micrometeorology. In the past decades, lots of studies have focused on this problem and have found extensive knowledge about it. In this paper, we introduced the reasons to the EC energy closure problem and systematically summarized the understandings on this problem with a discussion regarding the merits and limitations of possible correction methods. Compared with previous overview studies, our study focused on the methods and progresses on the EC energy closure problem using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES). The existing problem, e.g., the lack of high quality and high spatial density of "surface true fluxes" observations (e.g., matric observations), the failure of fully emulating the EC using the LES and how to mechanistically understand that large eddies affect turbulence structures and lead to non-closure problem, hinder the further understanding of the EC energy closure problem. Thus, in the future, focus should be put on the mechanistic understanding of how large eddies affect the non-closure problem and some dense field observations to obtain the high quality "surface true fluxes".     

Constrained gravity models and structural evolution of the Ashanti Belt, southwest Ghana

The Palaeoproterozoic terrane of southwest Ghana comprises a sequence of folded sedimentary/volcaniclastic rocks which separate a series of northeast trending volcanic belts. While the stratigraphy and structure of the belts are similar, the Ashanti Belt is characterised by a more tectonised northwest margin along which most of the major epigenetic Au deposits in Ghana are located. Early models of the tectonic evolution of this belt, which generally invoked two phases of deformation, are inconsistent with more recent structural and isotopic evidence (Eisenlohr and Hirdes, 1992). Modelling of regional gravity data by Hastings (1982) acknowledged the tectonic significance of the belt margins but lacked the benefit of constraints provided by more detailed mapping. This paper re-examines existing gravity data over the Ashanti Belt and presents constrained cross-sectional models which honour the mapped geology along the length of the belt and are consistent with the concept of a single, continuous deformational event. A synoptic scenario for the large-scale structural evolution of the belt is proposed which has implications for the location and timing of Au mineralisation.     

The weight of interaction of mining activities: groundwater in environmental impact assessment using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP)

Mining operations threaten the environment if the monitoring and controlling steps are not implemented completely. One of the important methods for control of the environmental situation in the mining district is the environmental impact assessment (EIA) method, which is performed by matrix calculations. In this method, the environmental problem is broken into several parts as the Impacting Factors that is evaluated their influences on Environmental Components by the mathematical calculations. For these calculations, the weight of each Impacting Factor must be evaluated by using comprehensive scenarios that are involved all the predicable environmental issues. Based on literature, it has not been organized a comprehensive scenario about “Interference with groundwater” as an Impacting Factor yet. By consideration of the importance degree of groundwater and its role in supply the drinking water resource, it is felt to demand for an organization a developed scenario in relation with groundwater pollution in mining district. Therefore, the main aim of this study is developing a new scenario to weight the “Interference with groundwater” in EIA matrix. For this purpose, the 8 criteria and 63 subcriteria are defined and their weights are determined using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process. The proposed scenario can be successfully evaluated the weight of “Interference with groundwater” Impacting Factor more exactly than the former one, because it considers 8 criteria and 63 subcriteria instead of 2 criteria in the former scenario. Finally, the application of proposed scenario is illustrated by an imaginary ideal case study. Such studies can be used by mining engineers and planners to design an appropriate environmental plan for the mining districts.     

混沌优化算法在土质边坡稳定性分析中的应用

确定边坡最危险滑动面并计算与之相对应的安全系数是边坡支护的重要任务。本文结合简化Bishop法,用一种新的智能优化算法混沌优化算法来搜索全局最优解。该方法利用混沌运动本身具有遍历性、随机性、规律性等内在特点,能在一定范围内按其自身规律不重复地遍历所有状态,易于跳出局部最优解,具有很强的全局搜索能力。通过坡高为12.3m的某电厂三层土质边坡的典型算例分析,并和遗传算法、枚举法计算结果对比可知,计算结果超于一致,其差值接近于0,因此混沌优化算法能在很高精度下搜索到全局最优解,能很好地解决边坡稳定性分析中的优化问题。     

Geochemistry of unsaturated soil systems: Aqueous speciation and solubility of minerals and gases in capillary solutions

It has been shown that the capillary state of aqueous solutions in the unsaturated zone (UZ) modifies chemical equilibria due to the decreasing capillary pressure of the whole system (isobaric scenario) or of the aqueous phase only (anisobaric scenario). Meanwhile, the role of salinity in capillary solutions has not been explicitly taken into account up to now, at least not in a manner independent to capillarity. A consistent way to do so is considered in this paper by calculating activity coefficients as a function of capillary pressure through the extrapolation of the Davies model. The integrated approach thus defined is applied to the interpretation of some laboratory experiments (taken from the literature) carried out under different capillary conditions. Calculations and measurements of the boehmite ↔ bayerite hydration equilibrium in an atmosphere of varying humidity agree very satisfactorily if the anisobaric scenario is selected. The solubility of reactive gases O₂ and CO₂ is found to increase in the pore water when the relative humidity decreases. Consequently, and in agreement with experimental measurements, the extent of the pyrite oxidation depends on the relative humidity. The proposed model refines the manner with which chemical equilibria and mineralogical assemblies may be interpreted. In particular, the different scenarios that may be envisioned (isobaric, anisobaric and dual) are considered in the light of the possible modes of precipitation of the minerals (precipitation within the capillary solution, epitaxial type precipitation). Finally, it should be noted that the geochemical approach proposed here for the UZ fully ties in with and conforms to the methods used in the water-saturated zone (SZ).     

Governmentality and security in the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

This article offers a critical theoretical exploration of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The article examines the background to PEPFAR and its reauthorization in Washington DC in 2008 through the conceptual lens of governmentality. Building on existing work, it interprets PEPFAR as a programme for securing the welfare of populations. It also qualifies and extends this work in the following ways. Rather than representing a break with the history of geopolitics, it argues that PEPFAR emerged out of accommodations between geopolitics and governmentality. This point is developed through two takes on geopolitics, first in terms of the projection of sovereign power, and second in terms of articulations between PEPFAR and geopolitical economies of global health. The article suggests, first, that the geopolitics of sovereign power shaped the timing, scale and form of PEPFAR, and second, that PEPFAR articulated with geopolitical economies of global health through its mobilization of US-based corporations, non-governmental and faith-based organizations. The article extends existing work by examining the role of critical mobilizations in shaping PEPFAR, both in relation to questions of political economy and the contentious politics of life. Reflecting on the politics of global health, it considers the prospects for using ideas of security and the international response to HIV/AIDS as stepping stones towards the development of broad-based health systems.     

Factors influencing willingness to comply with HIV/AIDS prevention measures by female college students in Kolkata,West Bengal,India

With a 2.4 million people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), India is among the countries in the world most vulnerable to the spread of HIV. This study focuses on understanding what makes female college students (ages 18–24) in Kolkata, India willing to comply with HIV/AIDS preventive measures; these students are widely believed to be at low risk of infection with HIV. Through a questionnaire survey, the data used in this study was collected from 232 female students attending five higher education institutes. Multiple regression analysis reveals that religion, household income, perception of whether preventive measures would hamper freedom, and respondents’ perception of the effectiveness of preventive measures all influence the students’ willingness to comply with preventive measures. Based on its findings, the study makes several recommendations to improve HIV/AIDS prevention in Kolkata and West Bengal, India.     

Urban agriculture and political ecology of health in municipal Ashaiman,Ghana

This paper examines the multiple processes that shape the use of agrochemicals and wastewater irrigation in Ghanaian urban agriculture. It further explores whether and how these processes present bodily health challenges for women and men farmers. Qualitative fieldwork was conducted in Ashaiman, a municipal area located about 30 km north-east of Accra, Ghana’s capital. Methods of data collection involved in-depth interviews, focus groups and participatory risk ranking and scoring. Conceptually, the paper brings political ecologies of health into closer conversation with scholarship on embodiment and gender. Overall, the findings demonstrate how specific urban agricultural practices are socially produced, how these practices come to affect the human body, and the long-term gendered consequences. One of the contributions of the paper is to draw attention to the nature and cost of urban agriculture in Ghana, a cost not in financial or environmental sense, but in the realm of embodied experiences of exposure to agrochemicals. The paper argues that the current problem confronting urban agriculture in Ashaiman, Ghana, cannot be adequately addressed unless understood as socially produced and historically determined. Further, the health impact of urban agriculture is not only a full bodily experience, but is also gendered. In the end, a case is made as to why gendered bodies demand more critical analysis in scholarship involving political ecologies of health.     

There and back again: Epiphany, disillusionment, and rediscovery in political ecology

This paper reviews the experience of discovering, abandoning, and rediscovering elements of the work of political ecologist Piers Blaikie from the period spanning 1992-2006. In the process, we analyze the cyclic fate of critical ideas in the field of political ecology, including especially the “chain of explanation,” during a tumultuous period where materialist and constructivist theorists encountered one another. The paper concludes with a specific discussion of the power of traditional tools in political ecology for addressing current socio-ecological crises, specifically HIV/AIDS in southern Africa.     

辽河水质监测与分析

对目前水质监测的站网、监测项目、监测的方法,阐述了传统及非传统水质监测技术的发展,分析了存在的一些问题,同时提出了相应的对策。对辽河流域铁岭段水质现状进行分析评价,并对辽河铁岭段的地表水水资源保护提出建议。