ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND THE STRUCTURE OF ANIMAL AGRICULTURE

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Efficacy of long-lasting insecticidal nets in use in Macha, Zambia, against the local Anopheles arabiensis population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mosquito <it>Anopheles arabiensis </it>is the primary vector of <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>in Macha, Zambia. A major portion of Zambia's current malaria control programme relies on long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides. Currently, the efficacy of these measures against <it>An. arabiensis </it>in Macha is unknown, and previous data has shown that <it>An. arabiensis </it>has continued to feed on human hosts, despite high ITN coverage. It is possible that this could be due to either decreased efficacy of ITNs in used in Macha, or pyrethroid resistance in the vector.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>F1 offspring of field-collected adult <it>An. arabiensis </it>were tested for insecticide resistance, using CDC bottle bioassays and deltamethrin ITN susceptibility assays. The mosquitoes were characterized for the knock-down resistance (<it>kdr</it>) allele by PCR. LLINs that had been in use for two years in nearby villages were collected and tested for residual deltamethrin concentration and net quality, and were used in bioassays against susceptible colonized <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>s.s. Keele. Additionally, a survey on ITN use and care was conducted among LLIN owners.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the F1 <it>An</it>. arabiensis field population, low levels of resistance to DDT and deltamethrin-treated net material were detected by bioassay, although the knock-down resistance (<it>kdr</it>) allele not present in the population. ITN evaluations revealed high variability in residual deltamethrin concentration, quality of the nets, and mosquito mortality in bioassays. Mortality against <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s. in bioassays was correlated with residual deltamethrin concentration, which was dependent upon the number of washes each net had received.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Proper LLIN care was a strong determinant of LLIN efficacy, indicating that education on the importance of LLIN use and care is key when distributing nets. As there is little insecticide resistance in the local vector population, degradation of LLINs most likely allowed for continued human feeding by <it>An. arabiensis</it>. Continued monitoring and assessment of both the vector population and the efficacy of LLINs in use is necessary in order to appropriately modify vector control operations and prevent the development of pyrethroid resistance.</p

An invented alien language analysis

The purpose of this analysis was to look at the linguistic features in Klingon, Sindarin, and Na'vi and compare them to a set of linguistic universal tendencies. It sought to determine how different each was compared to Earth languages and how difficult it might be for a human being to learn one of the languages. The analysis was designed to present background information on each of the topics, then each of the languages, and then make comparisons between them. The results of the study were the languages of the three alien species fell within the set of universal tendencies for the most part. Relative clauses were the syntactic feature that departed from the universal tendencies for two of the three languages. Despite being very different from Earth languages and each other, a person should be able to learn these languages, and while some of the alien languages have sounds not commonly used in the learner's native language, it still remains very possible with extra practice.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?

Interviewing autistic adults: Adaptations to support recall in police, employment, and healthcare interviews

Recalling specific past experiences is critical for most formal social interactions, including when being interviewed for employment, as a witness or defendant in the Criminal Justice System (CJS), or as a patient during a clinical consultation. Such interviews can be difficult for autistic adults under standard open questioning, yet applied research into effective methods to facilitate autistic adults’ recall is beginning to emerge. The current study tested the efficacy of different prompting techniques to support autistic adults’ recall of specific personal memories. Thirty autistic and 30 typically developing (TD) adults (IQs > 85) were asked to recall specific instances from their past, relevant to CJS, healthcare, and employment interviews. Questions comprised ‘open questions’, ‘semantic prompting’ (where semantic knowledge was used to prompt specific episodic retrieval), and ‘visual-verbal prompting’ (V-VP; a pie-diagram with prompts to recall specific details, e.g., who, what, where, etc). Half the participants received the questions in advance. Consistent with previous research, autistic participants reported memories with reduced specificity. For both groups, V-VP support improved specificity and episodic-relevance, while semantic prompting also aided recall for employment questions (but not health or CJS). Findings offer new practical insight for interviewers to facilitate communication with TD and autistic adults

Interviewing autistic adults: Adaptations to support recall in police, employment, and healthcare interviews

Recalling specific past experiences is critical for most formal social interactions, including when being interviewed for employment, as a witness or defendant in the criminal justice system, or as a patient during a clinical consultation. Such interviews can be difficult for autistic adults under standard open questioning, yet applied research into effective methods to facilitate autistic adults’ recall is only recently beginning to emerge. The current study tested the efficacy of different prompting techniques to support autistic adults’ recall of specific personal memories; 30 autistic and 30 typically developing adults (intelligence quotients &gt; 85) were asked to recall specific instances from their past, relevant to criminal justice system, healthcare, and employment interviews. Questions comprised ‘open questions’, ‘semantic prompting’ (where semantic knowledge was used to prompt specific episodic retrieval) and ‘visual–verbal prompting’ (a pie-diagram with prompts to recall specific details, for example, who, what, and where). Half the participants received the questions in advance. Consistent with previous research, autistic participants reported memories with reduced specificity. For both groups, visual–verbal prompting support improved specificity and episodic relevance, while semantic prompting also aided recall for employment questions (but not health or criminal justice system). Findings offer new practical insight for interviewers to facilitate communication with typically developing and autistic adults. Lay abstract: During many types of interviews (e.g. in employment, with the police, and in healthcare), we need to recall detailed memories of specific events, which can be difficult for autistic people in response to commonly used questions. This is especially because these tend to be open questions (i.e. very broad). Autistic people have disproportionately high rates of physical and mental health conditions, are more likely to interact with police, and are the most underemployed disability group. However, interviewers are often unsure about how to adapt their communication for autistic people. Our research tested whether different types of prompts enabled autistic people to recall specific memories (memories of a single event within one day). Participants were asked about situations relating to witnessing a crime (e.g. at the bank), physical or mental health scenarios and employment interviews (e.g. a time you’ve met a deadline). We tested the following: Open questions: basic questions only (e.g. ‘tell me about a time you went to the cinema’), Semantic prompting: a general prompt (e.g. ‘do you enjoy going to the cinema?’) before asking for a specific instance (‘tell me about a time you went to the cinema?’), Visual–verbal prompting: asking participants to recall when it happened, who was there, the actions that occurred, the setting, and any objects. With visual–verbal prompting, autistic and typically developing participants’ memories were more specific and detailed. Semantic prompting was also effective for employment questions. Our study shows that autistic people can recall specific memories when they are appropriately prompted. Visual–verbal prompting may be effective across different situations. © The Author(s) 2020

Beyond Offsets: Innovative Approaches to Achieving and Exceeding Our Climate Commitments

Climate change is a defining issue of our time, and colleges and university are leading the way by setting ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets. Many of us are even striving for carbon neutrality under the President’s Climate Commitment. To meet these targets we take measures to reduce our footprints, or do “less bad”. In this situation, we often reach a point where no more reductions are possible, and to meet our targets we need to consider purchasing offsets or renewable energy credits. But instead of spending money in these abstract ways that leave very little room for student interaction, could we focus on doing “more good” – identifying ways we can improve the environment and the community around us? Could we use the money spent on traditional offset programs to support these projects? And, can we somehow quantify these impacts and include them as part of a holistic “less bad and more good” sustainability strategy? These are the questions this workshop will explore. Two thought leaders in this space will give a short presentation on the ways they are thinking beyond offsets, from calculating and flourishing your handprint in addition to reducing your footprint to onsetting instead of offsetting travel emissions to have real impacts in local communities. Then we will spend the remainder of the workshop brainstorming and discussing how we might apply these concepts to rethink our own approaches to offsetting campus emissions. The goal will be to use this as a seed conversation to begin a larger dialogue