Investigating the use of routine malaria surveillance data to evaluate the effectiveness of pyrethroid vector control interventions

Malaria control is increasingly being tailored to local needs, this is especially necessary in humanitarian settings where resources are poor. Pyrethroids are the most widely used class of insecticides for mosquito control. Using them effectively requires measuring their epidemiological impact and understanding how this is reduced by the emergence of pyrethroid resistance in mosquitoes. In the first two chapters of this thesis, I consider how we could measure the impact of pyrethroids using the prevalence of infection in pregnant women, a potentially cheaper and more reliable alternative to clinical incidence or prevalence in children. In Chapter 2, I fit a Bayesian regression model to show that the malaria burden measured at hospitals near internally displaced populations is higher than the regional average. In Chapter 3, I demonstrate that the prevalence of infection in pregnant women and the clinical incidence in children change together over time. Collecting routine data from pregnant women seems promising as a measure for assessing malaria burden trends. In the second half of the thesis I explore the impact of different pyrethroid-based interventions in a variety of contexts. In Chapter 4, I expand an existing mathematical model of malaria transmission to predict the impact of distributing emanators (a type of spatial repellent) where insecticidal nets are not commonplace. In Chapter 5, I establish how outdoor evening biting could sustain transmission in places where insecticidal nets are used but residual transmission remains. In Chapter 6, I investigate a sub-lethal effect of pyrethroid bed nets that I call temporary feeding inhibition, mosquitoes that are exposed to pyrethroids do not die but are unable to bite humans for a short while afterwards. Together the work shows how statistical and transmission dynamics models can be used to understand the efficacy of vector control interventions and measure their effectiveness in the field.Open Acces

Interpreting Beyond the Binary: An Exploration into the Experience of American Sign Language Interpreters Beyond and Between Female/Male Binaries

This study explores the experience of sign language interpreters who exist between and beyond female/male gender binaries. Limited research in the field of sign language interpreting to date centers the experiences of transgender and non-binary interpreters, prompting the need for inquiry into this population. Through a mixed-methods approach using surveys (N=31), interviews (n=4) and a focus group (n=4) participants were asked to describe experiences with colleagues, interpreter users, hiring bodies and the general interpreting field. Three themes emerged from the findings including (a) collegial relationships indicating both lack of support and instances of collegial solidarity; (b) personhood of interpreters pertaining to extralinguistic knowledge and interpreter identity; and (c) binary constructions within the field of interpreting. This work seeks to build interpreter scholarship beyond gender binaries and incorporate a gender expansive foundation for research to come

Burial practices at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain: change or continuity?

There is no doubt that the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition was a time of great change. It has been suggested that at this time people began to disarticulate their dead and use caves and monuments as ways of interacting with the ancestors. This paper looks at the transition from a Mesolithic perspective in order to identify evidence for change and continuity. It is suggested that certain practices such as disarticulation and the use of caves are much earlier in date and thus provide some continuity. Practices such as the use of shell middens for the deposition of human remains and the construction of monuments stand out as innovations, but are not necessarily the result of a new ideology.Prehod iz mezolitika v neolitik nedvomno predstavlja čas, v katerem je prišlo do velikih sprememb. Predlagano je bilo, da so v tem obdobju ljudje pričeli raztelešati svoje umrle in začeli uporabljati jame in spomenike za interakcije s predniki. V članku se ukvarjamo s prehodom iz mezolitske perspektive, da bi lahko prepoznali dokaze o spremembi in kontinuiteti. Predlagamo, da so se določeni običaji, kot je raztelešenje in uporaba jam, pojavili bolj zgodaj in tako nudijo kontinuiteto. Običaji, kot je uporaba školjčnih kupov za odlaganje človeških ostankov in izdelava spomenikov, pa predstavljajo inovacije, ki niso nujno posledica nove ideologije

A Rapid, Scalable Method for the Isolation, Functional Study, and Analysis of Cell-Derived Extracellular Matrix

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is recognized as a diverse, dynamic, and complex environment that is involved in multiple cell-physiological and pathological processes. However, the isolation of ECM, from tissues or cell culture, is complicated by the insoluble and cross-linked nature of the assembled ECM and by the potential contamination of ECM extracts with cell surface and intracellular proteins. Here, we describe a method for use with cultured cells that is rapid and reliably removes cells to isolate a cell-derived ECM for downstream experimentation. Through use of this method, the isolated ECM and its components can be visualized by in situ immunofluorescence microscopy. The dynamics of specific ECM proteins can be tracked by tracing the deposition of a tagged protein using fluorescence microscopy, both before and after the removal of cells. Alternatively, the isolated ECM can be extracted for biochemical analysis, such as sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotting. At larger scales, a full proteomics analysis of the isolated ECM by mass spectrometry can be conducted. By conducting ECM isolation under sterile conditions, sterile ECM layers can be obtained for functional or phenotypic studies with any cell of interest. The method can be applied to any adherent cell type, is relatively easy to perform, and can be linked to a wide repertoire of experimental designs

Multilingualism and strategic planning for HIV/AIDS-related health care and communication [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Background: Many lower and middle income countries (LMICs) have high levels of linguistic diversity, meaning that health information and care is not available in the languages spoken by the majority of the population. This research investigates the extent to which language needs are taken into account in planning for HIV/AIDS-related health communication in development contexts. / Methods: We analysed all HIV/AIDS-related policy documents and reports available via the websites of the Department for International Development UK, The Global Fund, and the Ministries of Health and National AIDS commissions of Burkina Faso, Ghana and Senegal. We used quantitative and qualitative analysis to assess the level of prominence given to language issues, ascertain the level at which mentions occur (donor/funder/national government or commission), and identify the concrete plans for interlingual communication cited in the documents. / Results: Of the 314 documents analysed, 35 mention language or translation, but the majority of the mentions are made in passing or in the context of providing background socio-cultural information, the implications of which are not explored. At donor level (DFID), no mentions of language issues were found. Only eight of the documents (2.5%) outline concrete actions for addressing multilingualism in HIV/AIDS-related health communication. These are limited to staff training for sign language, and the production of multilingual resources for large-scale sensitization campaigns. / Conclusions: The visibility of language needs in formal planning and reporting in the context of HIV/AIDS-related health care is extremely low. Whilst this low visibility should not be equated to a complete absence of translation or interpreting activity on the ground, it is likely to result in insufficient resources being dedicated to addressing language barriers. Further research is needed to fully understand the ramifications of the low prominence given to questions of language, not least in relation to its impact on gender equality