Phase 1/2a Study of the Malaria Vaccine Candidate Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (AMA-1) Administered in Adjuvant System AS01B or AS02A

Contains fulltext : 79496.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: This Phase 1/2a study evaluated the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of an experimental malaria vaccine comprised of the recombinant Plasmodium falciparum protein apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) representing the 3D7 allele formulated with either the AS01B or AS02A Adjuvant Systems. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: After a preliminary safety evaluation of low dose AMA-1/AS01B (10 microg/0.5 mL) in 5 adults, 30 malaria-naive adults were randomly allocated to receive full dose (50 microg/0.5 mL) of AMA-1/AS01B (n = 15) or AMA-1/AS02A (n = 15), followed by a malaria challenge. All vaccinations were administered intramuscularly on a 0-, 1-, 2-month schedule. All volunteers experienced transient injection site erythema, swelling and pain. Two weeks post-third vaccination, anti-AMA-1 Geometric Mean Antibody Concentrations (GMCs) with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) were high: low dose AMA-1/AS01B 196 microg/mL (103-371 microg/mL), full dose AMA-1/AS01B 279 microg/mL (210-369 microg/mL) and full dose AMA-1/AS02A 216 microg/mL (169-276 microg/mL) with no significant difference among the 3 groups. The three vaccine formulations elicited equivalent functional antibody responses, as measured by growth inhibition assay (GIA), against homologous but not against heterologous (FVO) parasites as well as demonstrable interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) responses. To assess efficacy, volunteers were challenged with P. falciparum-infected mosquitoes, and all became parasitemic, with no significant difference in the prepatent period by either light microscopy or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). However, a small but significant reduction of parasitemia in the AMA-1/AS02A group was seen with a statistical model employing qPCR measurements. SIGNIFICANCE: All three vaccine formulations were found to be safe and highly immunogenic. These immune responses did not translate into significant vaccine efficacy in malaria-naive adults employing a primary sporozoite challenge model, but encouragingly, estimation of parasite growth rates from qPCR data may suggest a partial biological effect of the vaccine. Further evaluation of the immunogenicity and efficacy of the AMA-1/AS02A formulation is ongoing in a malaria-experienced pediatric population in Mali. TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00385047

Gendered prisons: (Re)construction of identities in war

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the spatial construction of gender roles in a time of war. During a period of armed conflict both women and men are perceived as beings who exemplify gender-specific virtues. The relationship of gender and identity in this case is a paradoxical one: war--usually a catalyst of change--can often become an agent of conservatism in the manner of gender identities. This conservatism can be seen in the wartime spatial designation of women to the private/domestic realm. For when a society is in armed conflict there is a predisposition to perceive men as violent and action-oriented and women as compassionate and supportive to the male warrior. War has traditionally been considered the quintessential proving ground for masculinity. We need therefore to understand the gendering of men as a social factor involved in warfare. For this reason, this dissertation will explore the experiences of Irish Catholic men and women, with an eye to the mechanisms of power that inform both men\u27s and women\u27s relationships with each other, and, most importantly men\u27s interaction with other men. Thus one topic will be an exploration of how the formation of wartime friendships becomes exclusionary of women as a result of the spatial designation of men to public arenas such as the battlefield. As part of this analysis I will focus on a theme of hyper-masculinity as spectacle thereby arguing that the gendered spaces of war have triggered a gaze which essentializes gender identities whereby images of bravery, loyalty, duty and heroism have historically been male-dominated (Messner, 1992). These gender tropes do not portray the actions of women and men in a time of war, but function instead to re-create and secure women\u27s position as noncombatant and men\u27s as warriors. This is a second topic: women have historically been marginalized in the consciousness of those who have researched the events of war. The present research, largely based on interviews I conducted in the Fall of 1993, in an Irish Catholic community in Belfast, will offer both female and male interpretations of what women did and how they were affected by the upheavals of the Irish Nationalist struggle in Northern Ireland

A feminist geopolitics?

No abstract available

‘Wee women no more’: female partners of republican political prisoners in Belfast

Studies of the female partners of politically motivated prisoners have generally studied women via a caring paradigm. Less well observed are those women who privately transgressed and challenged masculine-centred renditions or political imprisonment. This lacuna in the research dedicated to such women has been constructed around stereotypical depictions of them as a barely visible support network. We argue that the relatively indiscernible appearance of women who challenged such typecasting is attached to a persistent process of gender blindness within which women remain peripheral to wider narratives of collectivity and ideological presentation. We chart how some women actively involved themselves in creating their own identity as active agents, especially when the effects of conflict entered the private sphere.

Don't let the bastards see you sweat: masculinity, public and private space, and the volunteer firehouse

In this paper we examine the ways that traditional definitions of masculinity are challenged within the domestic space of the volunteer firehouse. Our aim is to blur the dichotomies of public - private, masculine - feminine, heroic - weak, and moral - immoral. By examining practices associated with being a volunteer firefighter we present deeper and expanded notions of what it means to be a man in this context. Volunteer firefighters create a private space within the firehouse that offers escape from the public demands of masculinity. It is within this space that they can receive and give comfort and experience bonding, friendship, and a deep sense of belonging by embracing emotions normally off limits to men, including self-disclosure, familiarity, and affection. Although acknowledging the masculine hegemony that constructs men's involvement in firefighting and the firehouse, we also highlight the emotional work done by men as they engage in their public and private firefighting roles.

In motion, out of place: the public space(s) of Tourette Syndrome

According to Doris Humphrey, "Nothing so clearly or inevitably reveals the inner man [sic] than movement and gesture...the moment you move you stand revealed, for good or ill, for what you are" (The dance notebook, 1984). Tourette Syndrome, characterized by motor and vocal tics, elicits stigma for just this reason: the tics and movements it causes have revealed Touretters as something beyond the 'normal.' This paper examines the ways Touretters are perceived and received in public spaces, using published illness narratives and film documentaries to address the question of why the reactions TS invokes are so severe. We will demonstrate how the stigma surrounding the disorder stems from the perception of Touretters as disruptive to the order and health of public spaces. To describe the production of stigma and the violent reactions to TS individuals, we draw upon theories of bodies and performativity from feminist studies, Catherine Waldby's work with the imaginary anatomy, and geographical perspectives on the social construction of space. The geographic studies of space are used to illuminate discussions of people's life experiences by showing how body movements associated with illness produce stigma by transgressing the unwritten codes that govern particular public spaces. Our intention in this paper is not to introduce new empirical data, but rather to analyze the mechanisms of stigma formation produced by the complex relationships between the functioning of social spaces and individuals' experiences of illness.Movement Stigma Tourette Syndrome

Reading Gerry Kearns’ Geopolitics and Empire: The Legacy of Halford Mackinder

No abstract available