Fifty years in Western Africa; being a record of the work of the West Indian Church on the banks of the Rio Pongo.

Mode of access: Internet.

Travels in Africa, performed by Silvester Meinrad Xavier Golberry, in the western parts of that vast continent: containing various important discoveries with a particular account of... the internal government, both civil and military, of the various kingdoms and nations; together with an account of the discovery of extensive gold mines.

Translation of Fragmens d'un voyage en Afrique.

Narrative of the shipwreck of the Sophia, on the 30th of May, 1819, on the western coast of Africa, and of the captivity of a part of the crew in the desert of Sahara. With engravings. By Charles Cochelet, ancient paymaster-general in Catalonia, and one of the sufferers.

Mode of access: Internet.

Statistics of petroleum exploration in the Caribbean, Latin America, Western Europe, the Middle East, Africa, non-communist Asia, and the southwestern Pacific /

Mode of access: Internet.

Lake Ngami; or, Exploration and discoveries during four years' wanderings in the wilds of south western Africa.

Mode of access: Internet.

Preliminary approach to the hatchlings sex-ratio of a population of Caretta caretta of Boavista island, Cape Verde Archipielago (Western Africa).

[EN] A nesting population of loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta has recently been described for Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde Archipelago (Western Africa). Since 1998, “Projecto Cabo Verde Natura 2000” has monitored three beaches during the turtle breeding season. The beaches being monitored - Calheta, Errata and Ponta Cosme - are located in the southeast part of Boa Vista Island. This work intends to give a first insight into the Boa Vista Island sea turtle population’s sex ratio using a histological approach, as sexual determination in sea turtles is known to be temperature-dependent (TSD or temperature-dependent sex determination).

Satellite tracking of adult loggerheads (Caretta caretta L.) around waters of Cape Verde Archipielago (Western Africa)

[EN] During the 1999 nesting season (from June to October), four satellite transmitters were attached to two males and two females of Caretta caretta from Boavista Island (Cape Verde Archipelago, western Africa), where density of nesting females is the highest in the whole archipelago. Transmitters did not work as well as expected, resulting in a low number of locations, possibly due to the neritic behavior of adult loggerheads at reproductive habitat, with the antennae exposed to continuous rubbing. Therefore, we establish a conservative hypothesis about movements of C.caretta in Cape Verde.

Stay-green Drought Adaptation Trait Enhances Sorghum Production in Sub-tropical Australia, Central-Western India and Sub-Saharan Africa

Drought during grain filling is a common challenge for sorghum production in north-eastern Australia, central-western India, and sub-Saharan Africa. We show that the stay-green drought adaptation trait enhances sorghum grain yield under post-anthesis drought in these three regions. A positive relationship between stay-green and yield was generally found in breeding trials in north-eastern Australia that sampled 1668 unique hybrid combinations and 23 environments. Physiological studies in Australia also found that introgressing four individual stay-green (Stg1–4) quantitative trait loci (QTLs) into a senescent background reduced water demand before flowering and hence increased water supply during grain filling, resulting in higher grain yield relative to the senescent control. Studies in India found that various Stg QTLs affected both transpiration and transpiration efficiency, although these effects depended on the interaction between genetic background (S35 and R16) and individual QTLs. The yield variation unexplained by harvest index was related to transpiration efficiency in S35 (R2 = 0.29) and R16 (R2 = 0.72), and was related to total water extracted in S35 (R2 = 0.41) but not in R16. Finally, sixty-eight stay-green enriched lines were evaluated in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa during the 2013/14 season. Analysis of the data from Kenya indicates that stay-green and grain size were positively correlated at two sites: Kiboko (high yielding, r2=0.25) and Masongaleni (low yielding, r2=0.37). Together, these studies suggest that stay-green is a beneficial trait for sorghum production in the semi-arid tropics and is a consequence of traits altering the plant water budget.

Integrated soil fertility management in eastern and western Africa: The role of knowledge and innovation systems, its adoption and impact

The rise in population growth, as well as nutrient mining, has contributed to low agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A plethora of technologies to boost agricultural production have been developed but the dissemination of these agricultural innovations and subsequent uptake by smallholder farmers has remained a challenge. Scientists and philanthropists have adopted the Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) paradigm as a means to promote sustainable intensification of African farming systems. This comparative study aimed: 1) To assess the efficacy of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) in East (Kenya) and West (Ghana) Africa in the communication and dissemination of ISFM (Study I); 2) To investigate how specifically soil quality, and more broadly socio-economic status and institutional factors, influence farmer adoption of ISFM (Study II); and 3) To assess the effect of ISFM on maize yield and total household income of smallholder farmers (Study III). To address these aims, a mixed methodology approach was employed for study I. AKIS actors were subjected to social network analysis methods and in-depth interviews. Structured questionnaires were administered to 285 farming households in Tamale and 300 households in Kakamega selected using a stratified random sampling approach. There was a positive relationship between complete ISFM awareness among farmers and weak knowledge ties to both formal and informal actors at both research locations. The Kakamega AKIS revealed a relationship between complete ISFM awareness among farmers and them having strong knowledge ties to formal actors implying that further integration of formal actors with farmers’ local knowledge is crucial for the agricultural development progress. The structured questionnaire was also utilized to answer the query pertaining to study II. Soil samples (0-20 cm depth) were drawn from 322 (Tamale, Ghana) and 459 (Kakamega, Kenya) maize plots and analysed non-destructively for various soil fertility indicators. Ordinal regression modeling was applied to assess the cumulative adoption of ISFM. According to model estimates, soil carbon seemed to preclude farmers from intensifying input use in Tamale, whereas in Kakamega it spurred complete adoption. This varied response by farmers to soil quality conditions is multifaceted. From the Tamale perspective, it is consistent with farmers’ tendency to judiciously allocate scarce resources. Viewed from the Kakamega perspective, it points to a need for farmers here to intensify agricultural production in order to foster food security. In Kakamega, farmers with more acidic soils were more likely to adopt ISFM. Other household and farm-level factors necessary for ISFM adoption included off-farm income, livestock ownership, farmer associations, and market inter-linkages. Finally, in study III a counterfactual model was used to calculate the difference in outcomes (yield and household income) of the treatment (ISFM adoption) in order to estimate causal effects of ISFM adoption. Adoption of ISFM contributed to a yield increase of 16% in both Tamale and Kakamega. The innovation affected total household income only in Tamale, where ISFM adopters had an income gain of 20%. This may be attributable to the different policy contexts under which the two sets of farmers operate. The main recommendations underscored the need to: (1) improve the functioning of AKIS, (2) enhance farmer access to hybrid maize seed and credit, (3) and conduct additional multi-locational studies as farmers operate under varying contexts.

Radiizonates arcuatus, a distinctive new miospore species from the Lower Carboniferous of Western Gondwana

A new species of trilete zonate miospores, Radiizonates arcuatus, is established for Lower Carboniferous Western Gondwanan forms hitherto ascribed misguidedly to Radiizonates genuinus (Jushko) Loboziak and Alpern (1978), a Russian Lower Carboniferous species. The latter binomen is, moreover, not a valid combination and is more correctly designated as Vallatisporites genuinus (Jushko) Byvsheva, 1980. R. arcuatus is, from records to date, confined to westerly parts of Gondwana (Brazil, North Africa and Middle East), in which it is characteristic of Early Carboniferous strata, albeit with some slightly older and slightly younger occurrences.

Relative motions of Africa, Iberia and Europe during Alpine orogeny

A revised kinematic model for the motions of Africa and Iberia relative to Europe since the Middle Jurassic is presented in order to provide boundary conditions for Alpine-Mediterranean reconstructions. These motions were calculated using up-to-date kinematic data predominantly based on magnetic isochrons in the Atlantic Ocean and published by various authors during the last 15 years. It is shown that convergence of Africa with respect to Europe commenced during the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (CNS), between chrons MO and 34 (120-83 Ma). This motion was subjected to fluctuations in convergence rates characterised by two periods of relatively rapid convergence (during Late Cretaceous and Eocene-Oligocene times) that alternated with periods of slower convergence (during the Paleocene and since the Early Miocene). Distinct changes in plate kinematics are recognised in the motion of Iberia with respect to Europe, indicated by: (1) a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous left-lateral strike-slip motion; (2) Late Cretaceous convergence; (3) Paleocene quiescence; (4) a short period of right-lateral strike-slip motion; and (5) final Eocene-Oligocene convergence. Based on these results, it is speculated that a collisional episode in the Alpine orogeny at ca. 65 Ma resulted in a dramatic decrease in the relative plate motions and that a slower motion since the Early Miocene promoted extension in the Mediterranean back-arc basins. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Carapace dentition patterns, morphometrics and allozyme differentiation amongst two toothed freshwater crab species (Potamonautes warreni and P-unispinus) (Decapoda : Brachyura : Potamonautidae) from river systems in South Africa

The taxonomic relationship between two toothed South African river crabs, Potamonautes warreni and P. unispinus, is unclear. The problem stems from the widespread variation in carapace dentition patterns amongst P. warreni individuals over its biogeographic range, where single toothed individuals may appear similar in carapace morphology to P. unispinus. Ten populations of P. warreni and 18 populations of P. unispinus were collected and the morphometric and genetic differentiation between the two taxa quantified. Patterns of morphometric and genetic variation were examined using multivariate statistics and protein gel electrophoresis, respectively. Principal component analyses of carapace characters showed that the two species are morphologically indistinguishable. However, discriminate functions analyses and additional statistical results corroborate the morphological distinction between the two taxa. Allozyme electrophoresis of 17 protein coding loci, indicated a close genetic similarity between the two species (I = 0.92). A fixed allelic difference at one locus (LT-2) and extensive genetic variability at another locus (PGM-1) indicate that two gene pools are present and that the two taxa are genetically isolated. Intraspecific genetic I values for both species were > 0.97 and indicated no apparent genetic structuring on a micro or macro-geographic scale. The variation in carapace dentition among P. warreni populations possesses no genetic basis and may possibly toe the product of ecogenesis. The value of dentition patterns in the systematics of river crabs is discussed. Dentition patterns among river crab species appear to be conserved and reliable as species specific diagnostic markers, but should ideally be used in combination with other morphological data sets and genetic evidence.

China's rising Soft Power: the role of rhetoric in constructing China-Africa relations

As China turns increasingly to the cultivation of soft power in the course of developing its foreign policy, the use of political rhetoric and its explicit and implicit audiences become more and more important, both on a bilateral level and within the international arena at large. Using the case of China's relations with African countries, this article examines key themes within China's diplomatic narrative regarding its role on the African continent and contrasts with Western and African responses.

Deep structure of crust and mantle beneath Iberia and Western Mediterranean from P and S Receiver functions and SKS Waveforms

We have conducted a P and S receiver functions [PRFs and SRFs] analysis for 19 seismic stations on the Iberia and western Mediterranean. In the transition zone [TZ] the PRFs analysis reveals a band [from Gibraltar to Balearic] increased by 10-20 km relative to the standard 250 km. The TZ thickness variations are strongly correlated with the P660s times in PRFs. We interpret the variable depth of the 660-km discontinuity as an effect of subduction. Over the anomalous TZ we found a reduced velocity zone in the upper mantle. Joint inversion of PRFs and SRFs reveals a subcrustal high S velocity lid and an underlying LVZ. A reduction of the S velocity in the LVZ is less than 10%. The Gutenberg discontinuity is located at 65±5 km, but in several models sampling the Mediterranean, the lid is missing or its thickness is reduced to ~30 km. In the Gibraltar and North Africa this boundary is located at ~100 km. The lid Vp/Vs beneath Betics is reduced relative to the standard 1.8. Another evidence of the Vp/Vs anomaly is provided by S410p phase late arrivals in the SRFs. The azimuthal anisotropy analysis with a new technology was conducted at 5 stations and at 2 groups of stations. The fast direction in the uppermost mantle layer is ~90º in Iberian Massif. In Balearic is in the azimuth of ~120º. At a depth of ~60 km the direction becomes 90º. Anisotropy in the upper layer can be interpreted as frozen, whereas anisotropy in the lower layer is active, corresponding to the present-day or recent flow. The effect of the asthenosphere in the SKS splitting is much larger than the effect of the subcrustal lithosphere.

Orientalism and Imperialism in French West Africa. Considerations on travel literature, colonial tourism, and the desert as a “commodity” in Mauritania

In this article we intend to make a summary overview of the influence that literary production, originated under colonial mapping missions or later in travel writing, had in the construction and establishment of a discourse to advertise and promote tourism in Mauritania. To this end we will draw on travel narratives that are illustrative of different periods and that correspond in some way to discourses of otherness. In this specific case, such discourses relate to the “Moors” of the West African coast and were produced in various historical contexts. We will also consider the discourse present in the tourism promotion materials of the colonial period and we will demonstrate to what extent it can be engaged in a dialogue with 19th and 20th centuries’ Western colonial literature.