University of Goroka

Abstract The rising contamination of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in urban water bodies is causing severe environmental and public health concerns, especially due to the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The study highlights the prevalence of four PPCPs: paracetamol, gentamicin, naproxen and metronidazole across 11 water samples collected from sewage treatment plants and water bodies of Mysuru city. Maximum concentrations were observed for Naproxen (8.517 µg/L) at site 1. Ecotoxicological risk were observed for four drugs: high risk for gentamicin, low/medium for paracetamol, for naproxen RQ > 1, while metronidazole was RQ < 0.1. AMR was contributed with a high risk for metronidazole and gentamicin in all the samples. The geographical variation in the results indicates that the contamination levels are highly affected by untreated pharmaceutical waste and hospital effluents.

Musical-games present a highly pervasive new platform to create, perform, appreciate and transmit knowledge among children. This study therefore sought to identify the enthno-musical games among Akan children in the Ashanti region that could be relevant to their cognitive development. The study mainly used ethnographic research case study design. Observation, video recording and focus group discussion were used to glean data from study participants. The findings were presented in text and notations. The study found the ethno-musical games among the study participants to include: Kyerε Wo Ti/Kyekyekule (Body-Part Pointing Game), Antoakyire (Circle-Round Game), Awoda Agorכ (Birthday Game), כBoכ Asi Wo Nsa (Stone-Passing Game) and AsכBa (Teen-Jump Game). Others included Atintim Adeε (Strenth-Test Game), Pempenaa (Elimination Game), Dua O Dua (Mammal Tail Game) among several others in the study area. The study found these ethno-musical games to present a unique, yet relatively untapped activities to help cognitive development of children. This warrants investigation of the potentials of these ethno-musical games to promote engagement with music, and the wider benefits of cognitive and psychomotor development in the lives of children.

Background: Research is fundamental in improving health through informing health practices and policies. Despite significant capacity building in some areas to support health research efforts, research capacity in low-middle countries, such as Papua New Guinea, is weak. Bachelor of Midwifery students at the University of Goroka, between 2012 and 2016, were introduced to research and produced a proposal for a small study to be implemented when they returned to their place of work as qualified midwives. Despite students being very enthusiastic about carrying out the research during the development of their research proposal, there was limited evidence of them being able to successfully complete their research. This study aimed to understanding the barriers perceived by the graduate midwives to performing research in their own setting so as to inform development of strategies to support the students and graduates in their research efforts in the future. Methods: An exploratory, descriptive study was conducted using a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine Bachelor of Midwifery graduates from the University of Goroka practising in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Data was thematically analysed using Braun and Clark’s six stage approach and themes and sub-themes identified. Findings: Participants viewed research as a skill set and a tool that could be used for problem solving, improving practice and creating evidence. Although some participants were confident with some research skills and had started a research study, they felt they did not have enough skills to complete the study. Others stated that although they were interested to undertake research, they did not understand the research process, and were lacking in knowledge and skills. Barriers to performing research identified by participants included lack of time, lack of support in the workplace, lack of resources and no culture of research in the workplace. Enablers identified included having an experienced researcher as a mentor, having access to ongoing training in research and other skills, e.g. computer and internet use, having resources such as books and internet access, having time during work to undertake research, and having support in workplace. Conclusion: Despite some introductory integration of research knowledge and skills into undergraduate midwifery curriculum and a perception by graduate midwives that research is important it does not translate into graduate midwives professional practice. Bachelor of Midwifery curricula must increase the amount of time spent on research content which must be taught in practical ways and by experienced educators so students are inspired and skilled to undertake research.

Escalation (macroevolutionary increase) or divergence (disparity between relatives) in trait values are two frequent outcomes of the plant-herbivore arms race. We studied the defences and caterpillars associated with 21 sympatric New Guinean figs. Herbivore generalists were concentrated on hosts with low protease and oxidative activity. The distribution of specialists correlated with phylogeny, protease and trichomes. Additionally, highly specialised Asota moths used alkaloid rich plants. The evolution of proteases was conserved, alkaloid diversity has escalated across the studied species, oxidative activity has escalated within one clade, and trichomes have diverged across the phylogeny. Herbivore specificity correlated with their response to host defences: escalating traits largely affected generalists and divergent traits specialists; but the effect of escalating traits on extreme specialists was positive. In turn, the evolution of defences in Ficus can be driven towards both escalation and divergence in individual traits, in combination providing protection against a broad spectrum of herbivores.

Toxic metals are released into the river systems from both anthropogenic activities and natural sources. These metals are present in water as filterable and particulate metals. These metals were found to bioaccumulate in prawn samples along Veifa stretch of the Angabanga River. The analytical results showed that As as particulate metal was high in concentration at 86 gg -1 and Pb as filterable metal was high in concentration at 12 gg -1 . The metals Pb and As also accumulated in prawns along the Veifa stretch but were within recommended toxic metal standards.

Nursing is a challenging job where new life and death, illness and wellness all feature as part of our professional and personal experience.

Summary We undertook a 3-week expedition to Papua New Guinea in April-May 2007 to assess the breeding, threats and population densities of the Papuan Harrier Circus spilonotus spilothorax and to determine a first global population estimate for this almost entirely unknown species. Two of the first nests known were discovered in April 2007 with three chicks each, in the eastern lowlands, in rank grass and reeds. The melanistic form of this subspecies was more common in the lowlands (< 1,500 m a.s.l) than in the highlands, but interbreeding of this and the typical form occurred in the lowlands. Movements of identifiable individuals through two highland grasslands indicated up to eight birds per day on passage, corroborating local knowledge that other raptors move into the highlands at the start of the dry season (April). Linear road counts indicated no harriers in the wooded highlands but up to 2.9 harriers 10 km−1 in lowland grasslands. Area counts gave an average of 6.5 harriers 100 km−2 in the grasslands and a breeding density of 1.21 nests 100 km−2. Given that preferred grassland and swamp habitat comprises c. 7% of the forest-dominated island of New Guinea, the global Papuan Harrier population can be no more than c. 3,600 birds and c. 740 breeding pairs. Wildfires peaked at 38 per month in the study area, occur throughout the dry season, and led to the loss of both nests. This suggests that many nests and prey may be lost at critical times and burning may be ultimately detrimental for the species. Grassland fires throughout Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are increasing with climatic warming and ENSO events, so we suggest that the Papuan Harrier may warrant a ‘Vulnerable’ conservation ranking due to small total population size and an accelerated reduction in habitat quality due to ongoing climate change.