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| 2. |
- Cuvilas, Carlos Alberto, et al.
(author)
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The Characterization of Wood Species from Mozambique as a Fuel
- 2014
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In: Energy Sources, Part A. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1556-7036 .- 1556-7230. ; 36:8, s. 851-857
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The efficient utilization of fuelwood as a source of energy is strongly dependent on the properties of the biomass. This study characterizes common hardwood species from Mozambique and evaluates their quality as a fuel. Disc samples, taken at breast height, from Afzelia quanzensis Welwn, Millettia stuhlmannii Taub, Pterocarpus angolensis DC, Sterculia appendiculata K. Schum, Pericopsis angolensis Meeuwen, Acacia nigrescens Oliv., Pseudolachostylis maprounaefolia Pax, and Icuria dunensis Wieringa, were collected from three provinces in Mozambique. Chemical and physical properties were analyzed. The raking of the species as fuel was performed using fuelwood value index. The higher heating value varied between 19.38 and 21.50 MJ/kg dry weight. The concentration of lignin ranged from 21.96 up to 36.69% weight dry basis (wt% d.b.), and ash free. All studied species showed very low concentrations of Si, S, and Cl. Ash content varied between 0.76-3.71 wt% (d.b.), while the basic density ranged from 536 to 1,111 k gm(-3). Heavy metals were also determined and their concentrations were below the values reported in the literature. The species Acacia nigrescens had the highest fuelwood value index and it was closely followed by Icuria dunensis and Millettia stuhlmannii. The worst ranked was Sterculia appendiculata.
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| 3. |
- Daca, Chanvo Salvador Lucas, 1976-
(author)
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Making the connections : understanding inequalities in reproductive and child health in Mozambique
- 2024
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: In Mozambique, despite significant socio-economic and health system challenges, there has been progress in reproductive and child health in recent years. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive studies that thoroughly unravel the socio-economic determinants of health and health inequalities in the country.The overall aim of this thesis was to understand the socio-economic and geographic inequalities in reproductive and child health with the intention of informing and optimizing the implementation of targeted health programmes in Mozambique.Methods: This thesis is based on three sub-studies that used data obtained from population-based health surveys. In sub-study I, prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated by log binomial regression to assess the relationship of socio-economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics with three outcomes of interest: insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), child immunization coverage and modern contraceptive use. Sub-study II used the concentration index (Cindex) and decomposition analysis to assess the socio-economic and regional contributions to the wealth inequality in health preventive care. Sub-study III estimated absolute risk differences and the slope index of inequality (SII) as the measures of association between the socio-economic variables and the outcomes (ITN use, fever treatment and Fansidar prophylaxis) for the 2015 and 2018 surveys, as well as for the differences between the two time points.Results: The proportion of mothers with at least one child aged under five years that did not use an ITN was 51.01%, while 46.25% of women had children aged one to four years who were not fully immunized and 74.28% of women did not use modern contraceptives. Non-educated mothers and residents of the southern region were more likely to report not using an ITN (PR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.17–1.59), while those in the lowest wealth quintile had a higher chance of having children who were not fully immunized (PR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.04–1.71). Similarly, non-educated mothers (PR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10–1.25), non-working women (PR = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.04–1.16) and those in the poorest wealth quintile (PR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04–1.24) were more likely to not use modern contraception (sub-study I). Sub-study II found a Cindex of -0.081 for non-ITN, -0.189 for a lack of vaccination coverage and -0.284 for non-contraceptive use, showing a worse health outcome among the poorest population. The study revealed that 88.41% of the wealth gap for ITNs was explained by socio-economic factors, with education and wealth playing the largest roles. With regard to the lack of full vaccination, socio-economic factors (47.74%), particularly the wealth quintile (35.79%), emerged as the predominant contributor to the inequality. Similarly, socio-economic factors (39.39%) were also the main explanatory factors for the lack of contraceptive use, but to a lesser degree than for the other two outcomes (sub-study II). Access to health preventive activities increased in all of the three studied outcomes between 2015 and 2018. Significant reductions in ITN inequality were observed for all socio-economic variables, but no decrease of inequalities in fever treatment and Fansidar prophylaxis was found over time (sub-study III).Conclusion: This thesis revealed that bed net use and immunization coverage among children, and modern contraceptive use among women, were notably low. There was inequality, concentrated among the poor, in reproductive and child preventive measures. The greater part of this inequality could be attributed to low wealth and education, as well as to residence in rural areas. Reductions in socio-economic inequalities between 2015 and 2018 were observed for ITN use but not for fever treatment or malaria prophylaxis. Based on these findings, achieving universal health coverage in Mozambique will require an equitable resource distribution among rural regions, increased community education on health preventative measures and health service expansion to socio-economically disadvantaged households.
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| 4. |
- Daca, Chanvo S. L., et al.
(author)
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Socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in health care coverage in Mozambique : a repeated cross-sectional study of the 2015 and 2018 national surveys
- 2023
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In: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2458. ; 23:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BackgroundOver the past years, Mozambique has implemented several initiatives to ensure equitable coverage to health care services. While there have been some achievements in health care coverage at the population level, the effects of these initiatives on social inequalities have not been analysed.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to assess changes in socioeconomic and geographical inequalities (education, wealth, region, place of residence) in health care coverage between 2015 and 2018 in Mozambique.MethodsThe study was based on repeated cross-sectional surveys from nationally representative samples: the Survey of Indicators on Immunisation, Malaria and HIV/AIDS in Mozambique (IMASIDA) 2015 and the 2018 Malaria Indicator survey. Data from women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) were analysed to evaluate health care coverage of three indicators: insecticide-treated net use, fever treatment of children, and use of Fansidar malaria prophylaxis for pregnant women. Absolute risk differences and the slope index of inequality (SII) were calculated for the 2015 survey period and the 2018 survey period, respectively. An interaction term between the socioeconomic and geographical variables and the period was included to assess inequality changes between 2015 and 2018.ResultsThe non-use of insecticide-treated nets dropped, whereas the proportion of women with children who were not treated for fever and the prevalence of women who did not take the full Fansidar dose during pregnancy decreased between 2015 and 2018. Significant reductions in the inequality related to insecticide-treated net use were observed for all socioeconomic variables. Concerning fever treatment, some reductions in socioeconomic inequalities were observed, though not statistically significant. For malaria prophylaxis, the SII was significant for education, wealth, and residence in both periods, but no significant inequality reductions were observed in any of these variables over time.ConclusionsWe observed significant reductions of socioeconomic inequalities in insecticide-treated net use, but not in fever treatment of children and Fansidar prophylaxis for pregnant women. Decision-makers should target underserved populations, specifically the non-educated, poor, and rural women, to address inequalities in health care coverage.
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| 5. |
- Daca, Chanvo, et al.
(author)
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Socio-economic and demographic factors associated with reproductive and child health preventive care in Mozambique : a cross-sectional study
- 2020
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In: International Journal for Equity in Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1475-9276. ; 19:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Reproductive and child health interventions are essential to improving population health in Africa. In Mozambique, although some progress on reproductive and child health has been made, knowledge of social inequalities in health and health care is lacking.OBJECTIVE: To investigate socio-economic and demographic inequalities in reproductive and child preventive health care as a way to monitor progress towards universal health coverage.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted, using data collected from the 2015 Immunization, AIDS and Malaria Indicators Survey (IMASIDA) in Mozambique. The sample included 6946 women aged 15 to 49 years. Outcomes variables were the use of insecticide treated nets (ITN) for children under 5 years, full child immunization and modern contraception use, while independent variables included age, marital status, place of residence, region, education, occupation, and household wealth index. Prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated by log binomial regression to assess the relationship between the socio-economic and demographic characteristics and the three outcomes of interest.RESULTS: The percentage of mothers with at least one child under 5 years that did not use ITN was 51.01, 46.25% of women had children aged 1 to 4 years who were not fully immunized, and 74.28% of women were not using modern contraceptives. Non-educated mothers (PR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.16-1.51) and those living in the Southern region (PR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.17-1.59) had higher risk of not using ITN, while the poorest quintile (PR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.04-1.71) was more likely to have children who were not fully immunized. Similarly, non-educated women (PR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10-1.25), non-working women (PR = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.04-1.16), and those in the poorest quintile (PR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04-1.24) had a higher risk of not using modern contraceptives.CONCLUSION: Our study showed a low rate of ITN utilization, immunization coverage of children, and modern contraceptive use among women of reproductive age. Several socio-economic and demographics factors (region, education, occupation, and wealth) were associated with these preventive measures. We recommend an equity-oriented resource allocation across regions, knowledge dissemination on the importance of ITN and contraceptives use, and an expansion of immunization services to reach socio-economically disadvantaged families in order to achieve universal health coverage in Mozambique.
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| 6. |
- Daca, Chanvo, et al.
(author)
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Wealth inequalities in reproductive and child health preventive care in Mozambique : a decomposition analysis
- 2022
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In: Global Health Action. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1654-9716 .- 1654-9880. ; 15:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Assessing the gap between rich and poor is important to monitor inequalities in health. Identifying the contribution to that gap can help policymakers to develop interventions towards decreasing that difference.Objective: To quantify the wealth inequalities in health preventive measures (bed net use, vaccination, and contraceptive use) to determine the demographic and socioeconomic contribution factors to that inequality using a decomposition analysis.Methods: Data from the 2015 Immunisation, Malaria and AIDs Indicators Survey were used. The total sample included 6946 women aged 15–49 years. Outcomes were use of insecticide-treated nets (ITN), child vaccination, and modern contraception use. Wealth Index was the exposure variable and age, marital status, place of residence, region, education, occupation, and household wealth index were the explanatory variables. Wealth inequalities were assessed using concentration indexes (Cindex). Wagstaff-decomposition analysis was conducted to assess the determinants of the wealth inequality.Results: The Cindex was −0.081 for non-ITN, −0.189 for lack of vaccination coverage and −0.284 for non-contraceptive use, indicating a pro-poor inequality. The results revealed that 88.41% of wealth gap for ITN was explained by socioeconomic factors, with education and wealth playing the largest roles. Lack of full vaccination, socioeconomic factors made the largest contribution, through the wealth variable, whereas geographic factors came next. Finally, the lack of contraceptive use, socioeconomic factors were the main explanatory factors, but to a lesser degree than the other two outcomes, with wealth and education contributing most to explaining the gap.Conclusion: There was a pro-poor inequality in reproductive and child preventive measures in Mozambique. The greater part of this inequality could be attributed to wealth, education, and residence in rural areas. Resources should be channeled into poor and non-educated rural communities to tackle these persistent inequities in preventive care.
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| 7. |
- Lhate, Inácio Arnaldo, et al.
(author)
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Chemical composition of traditionally and lesser used wood species from Mozambique
- 2010
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In: Wood Material Science and Engineering. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1748-0272 .- 1748-0280. ; 5, s. 143-150
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The main objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition of some lesser used Mozambican native wood species, such as Acacia nigrescens Oliv., Icuria dunensis Wieringa, Pseudolachnostylis maprounaefolia Pax and Sterculia appendiculata K. Schum. Another aim was to compare these species with traditionally used species, namely, Afzelia quanzensis Welwn, Milletia stuhlmannii Taub, Pericopsis angolensis Meeuwen and Pterocarpus angolensis DC. Wood samples for analysis were taken from sapwood, outer and inner heartwood. All chemical analyses were performed according to standard methods. The contents of carbohydrates, extractives and ash were in ranges considered normal for tropical species. The contents of lignin and minerals were unexpectedly high in Pseudolachnostylis (ntholo), reaching 37.51% and 2.2% (wt% extractive-free) on a dry basis, respectively. Based on the determined chemical features, it was concluded that Acacia and Pseudolachnostylis were similar to well-known species, whereas Icuria and Sterculia differed from the known species. Keywords: Acacia nigrescens; cellulose; extractives; hemicellulose; Icuria dunensis; Klason lignin; minerals content; Pseudolachnostylis maprounaefolia; Sterculia appendiculata
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| 8. |
- Pierotti, Felipe Faria, et al.
(author)
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Phadiatop, Phadiatop Infant and total IgE evaluated in allergic Brazilian children and adolescents
- 2020
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In: Allergologia et Immunopathologia. - : ELSEVIER ESPANA SLU. - 0301-0546 .- 1578-1267. ; 48:3, s. 259-264
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The clinical history is of importance in the investigation of allergic diseases but does have limitations. Many allergic conditions will be over-diagnosed if anamnesis alone is used for diagnostic criteria. Serum total immunoglobulin E (TIgE) quantification, as well as panels containing allergens prevalent in the studied population, may serve as screening tests and facilitate the diagnosis of allergic disease or its exclusion. We assessed the positivity of two versions of these tests, Phadiatop Europe (R) (PhEU) and Phadiatop Infant (R) (PhInf), as well as total IgE (TigE) values in patients with a medical diagnosis of allergic disease and non-allergic individuals. Methods: A cross-sectional study performed in eleven Brazilian pediatric allergy centers with patients divided into groups according to the primary condition and a group of assessed control subjects. They were submitted to TIgE measurement and screening tests (PhEu and PhInf). Results: TIgE mean serum levels were significantly higher among allergic patients, especially those with asthma/rhinitis or atopic dermatitis. The positivity of the screening tests, considering the total population, was 63.8% for PhEU and 72.6% for PhInf. These increased when we evaluated only the allergic subjects. The concordance index of the two tests was Kappa=0.7 and higher among those of greater age. Conclusions: In the assessed population, there were significantly higher levels among those with positive screening tests and PhInf showed better performance in the identification of sensitized individuals, regardless of age. This is the first study to evaluate Phadiatop and Phadiatop Infant in the same population. (C) 2019 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Rozalem Reali, Ana Carolina, et al.
(author)
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Laboratory screening test with inhalant and food allergens in atopic Brazilian children and adolescents : a performance
- 2021
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In: Allergologia et Immunopathologia. - : CODON PUBLICATIONS. - 0301-0546 .- 1578-1267. ; 49:5, s. 42-48
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Phadiatop Infant (R)) is a panel developed to assess allergic sensitization (immunoglobulin E [IgE]) in children aged <5 years and combines inhalant and food allergens. The test has not been evaluated outside Europe. This is a cross-sectional study conducted at 11 pediatric allergy centers to evaluate PhInf as an allergic disease screening method in Brazilian children. Children as controls and patients (aged 6 months-18 years) were grouped according to their primary disease and age group. PhInf and specific serum IgE (sIgE) screening was performed for Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (DP), cat and dog epithelia, a mix of grasses and pollens, eggs, cow's milk, peanuts, and shrimp. Values >= 0.35 kU (A)/L (or PAU/L) were considered positive. A total of 470 children and adolescents, which included 385 patients and 85 controls, participated in the study (47.7% boys, average age: 6.3 years). In all, 72.6% of the participants had positive PhInf test (n = 341), with a higher proportion of those having food allergy (92.6%), atopic dermatitis (91.9%), and those aged >13 years having allergy (95%). The PhInf and sIgE agreement between patients (Kappa = 0.94, P < 0.001) and controls (Kappa = 0.84, P < 0.001) was high. PhInf and DP agreement in patients aged >13 years was excellent (Kappa = 0.936, P < 0.001). Compared with sIgE dosage, PhInf had high sensitivity (97%) and specificity (93%). Positivity of PhInf test in this population was high and had an excellent correlation with the allergens comprising the panel. It is a useful method for screening children suspected of having allergic diseases in a non-European country.
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| 10. |
- Silva, Jose Luis, et al.
(author)
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X‑ray Photoelectron Fingerprints of High-Valence Ruthenium−Oxo Complexes along the Oxidation Reaction Pathway in an Aqueous Environment
- 2019
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In: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7185. ; 10:24, s. 7636-7643
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent advances in operando-synchrotron-based X-ray techniques are making it possible to address fundamental questions related to complex proton-coupled electron transfer reactions, for instance, the electrocatalytic water splitting process. However, it is still a grand challenge to assess the ability of the different techniques to characterize the relevant intermediates, with minimal interference on the reaction mechanism. To this end, we have developed a novel methodology employing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in connection with the liquid-jet approach to probe the electrochemical properties of a model electrocatalyst, [RuII(bpy)2(py)-(OH2)]2+, in an aqueous environment. There is a unique fingerprint of the extremely important higher-valence ruthenium−oxo species in the XPS spectra along the oxidation reaction pathway. Furthermore, a sequential method combining quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics is used to illuminate the underlying physical chemistry of such systems. This study provides the basis for the future development of in-operando XPS techniques for water oxidation reactions.
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