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BACKGROUND: Access to affordable inhaled medicines for chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) is severely limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), causing avoidable morbidity and mortality. The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease convened a stakeholder meeting on this topic in February 2022.METHODS: Focused group discussions were informed by literature and presentations summarising experiences of obtaining inhaled medicines in LMICs. The virtual meeting was moderated using a topic guide around barriers and solutions to improve access. The thematic framework approach was used for analysis.RESULTS: A total of 58 key stakeholders, including patients, healthcare practitioners, members of national and international organisations, industry and WHO representatives attended the meeting. There were 20 pre-meeting material submissions. The main barriers identified were 1) low awareness of CRDs; 2) limited data on CRD burden and treatments in LMICs; 3) ineffective procurement and distribution networks; and 4) poor communication of the needs of people with CRDs. Solutions discussed were 1) generation of data to inform policy and practice; 2) capacity building; 3) improved procurement mechanisms; 4) strengthened advocacy practices; and 5) a World Health Assembly Resolution.CONCLUSION: There are opportunities to achieve improved access to affordable, quality-assured inhaled medicines in LMICs through coordinated, multi-stakeholder, collaborative efforts. Funder: Medical Research Council

At present, there are few large telescopes (1-metre diameter mirror or larger) in subSaharan Africa, and the objective of the Search for an Astronomical Site in Kenya ("SASKYA") project has been find the best possible sites in Kenya for such an observatory. An initial study using ERA-interim reanalyses and high resolution meteorological model output identified three preferential sites, based on a selection of thirteen candidate mountain peaks across Kenya. These three sites are Mount Kulal (2.72°N, 36.93°E, 2293m); OlDonyoNyiro (2.09°N, 36.85°E, 2752m) and Warges (0.95°N, 37.40°E, 2688m). Recently (as of Spring 2014), an automatic meteorological station has been installed on the summit of Warges mountain, but security issues have prevented the installation of one on Mount Kulal. Furthermore, at the former site, the lack of suitable roadway through the heavily forested mountain-side will probably preclude further investigation. Hence, an additional but lower site, near to Warges (Ololokwe mountain, 0.83°N, 37.53°E, 1920m), which has a road to the summit, will be investigated for suitability in the near future. Following a period of successful meteorological observation at either or all of the above-mentioned sites, comparison and validation studies will be enacted using climate reanalyses. If further funding permits, all-sky cameras will be installed and high resolution EUMETSAT satellite imagery will also be consulted to determine local cloudiness coefficients.

As the First World War shattered the old empires, Orthodox Christians in former imperial territories faced a dilemma. Should they remain loyal to their Russian “Mother Church,” from which they were...

Slaughterhouse wastewater (SHWW) has a great potential to generate biomethane energy when subjected to anaerobic digestion (AD). Nonetheless, the process is susceptible and prone to failure because of slow hydrolysis and the production of inhibitory compounds. Accordingly, to address this deficiency, anaerobic co-digestion (ACoD) is used to improve the treatment efficiency of the monodigestion of this high-strength waste and thereby increase methane production. The current investigation utilized the biochemical methane potential (BMP) test to assess the treatment performance of co-digested SHWW with sugar press mud (SPM) for improving biomethane energy recovery. It was established that the ACoD of SHWW with SPM increased methane (CH4) yield, enhanced organic matter removal efficiency and improved process stability, while also presenting synergistic effects. The anaerobic monodigestion (AMoD) of SHWW (100SHWW: 0SPM) showed a higher CH4 yield (348.40 CH4/g VS) compared with SPM (198.2 mL CH4/g VS). The 80% SPM: 20% SHWW mix ratio showed the optimum results with regard to organic matter removal efficiency (67%) and CH4 yield (478.40 mL CH4/g VS), with increments of 27% and 59% compared with AMoD of SHWW and SPM, respectively. However, it is also possible to achieve 5% and 46% CH4 yield increases under a 40% SPM: 60% SHWW mix proportion in comparison to the AMoD of SHWW and SPM, respectively. Furthermore, kinetic analysis of the study using a modified Gompertz model revealed that the CH4 production rate increased while the lag time decreased. The synergistic effects observed in this study demonstrate that incorporating SPM into the substrate ratios investigated can improve the AD of the SHWW. In fact, this represents the environmental and economic benefits of successfully implementing this alternative solution. Bioenergy recovery could also be used to supplement the country’s energy supply. This would help to increase the use of cleaner energy sources in electricity generation and heating applications, reducing the greenhouse gas effect.

The main museums in Estonia and Latvia have lately staged new exhibitions that proceed from a contemporary museological approach and reflect the results of historical research. The article compares three cases which present alternative but complementary interpretations of the Soviet period. The authors pay special attention to the application of the biographical method prominent in contemporary cultural research, and the museological method of multivocality. They conclude that in the case of multivocality, effectively addressing different visitor groups is a great challenge to curators. There is a risk that the simplified mediation of contradictory memories and views will leave a gap for visitors with less prior knowledge about the subject of the exhibition. In large exhibition teams, the curator has a crucial role to play in negotiating with team members to prevent the concept from dispersing. In the cases studied, it is possible to observe the curators’ views and detect a similar attempt to interpret complex topics through biographies. The analysis concludes that in the context of contemporary museological approaches, the voice of the curator remains essential, especially when mediating exhibits, for they cannot speak for themselves.

A number of correlated varve sequences from the local varve chronology in southeastern Sweden have been selected to make a 1040 varve years long mean varve thickness curve. Pollen analyses were carried out over an interval of 373 varve years in the northern part of the study area. The pollen stratigraphical data have been divided into local pollen assemblage zones which have been correlated with the radiocarbon‐dated regional pollen assemblage zones. Based on variations in herb and tree pollen content of the analysed varve sequences, it has been possible to identify well‐documented lateglacial pollen zones for southern Sweden, i.e. the Bölling interstadial (GI‐1e), the Older Dryas cold event (GI‐1d) and the early part of the Alleröd interstadial (GI‐1c). The event stratigraphy in this study, based on varying varve thicknesses and the composition of the pollen flora in the varves, has been correlated with the oxygen isotope stratigraphy of the GRIP ice‐core on Greenland between 13600 and 14400 GRIP ice‐core years BP. It is concluded that five decadal warm events and one centennial warm event (15–60 and 100 varve years long, respectively) occur in the clay varve record along with one centennial cold event (150 varve years long), the Older Dryas (GI‐1d).

Science is held in high esteem nowadays, and justly so. Vigorous scientific investigations have provided us with a huge amount of authentic knowledge that has served as a solid basis for humankind’s remarkable technological achievements.