Talking responsibility : discourses of accountability at the Waitakere Family Violence Court : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

To meet the six aims of the court's protocol, the operations of the court need to be effective from a variety of different vantage points: from perspectives of victims and defendants, the judiciary and court administration, and also from the perspectives of community organisations, lawyers, police and community probation. This research was undertaken as part of a wider project to assess the extent to which the court protocols are effective in achieving the court's aims from the point of view of all those who take part in translating the court's principles into everyday practice. These perspectives are all vital to the dynamic process through which the state, the judiciary and the community collaborate at Waitakere (holistic accountability). Interviews and focus groups were conducted with court professionals practicing from diverse vantage points in the WFVC process. Through a discursive analysis of interview data it was evident that offender accountability was interpreted differently among participants, and variations in interpretations co-articulated with different perspectives in understanding the philosophy of therapeutic jurisprudence, its relationship to procedural justice, and the responsibility of the court to provide legal protection for victims. This thesis is an analysis of court participants' interpretations of offender accountability and how these interpretations are produced through different theories of justice. Constructions of domestic violence and accountability are analysed to show how dominant constructions reproduce victims' responsibility for their own safety

G6PD testing in support of treatment and elimination of malaria: recommendations for evaluation of G6PD tests

Malaria elimination will be possible only with serious attempts to address asymptomatic infection and chronic infection by both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Currently available drugs that can completely clear a human of P. vivax (known as “radical cure”), and that can reduce transmission of malaria parasites, are those in the 8-aminoquinoline drug family, such as primaquine. Unfortunately, people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency risk having severe adverse reactions if exposed to these drugs at certain doses. G6PD deficiency is the most common human enzyme defect, affecting approximately 400 million people worldwide. Scaling up radical cure regimens will require testing for G6PD deficiency, at two levels: 1) the individual level to ensure safe case management, and 2) the population level to understand the risk in the local population to guide Plasmodium vivax treatment policy. Several technical and operational knowledge gaps must be addressed to expand access to G6PD deficiency testing and to ensure that a patient’s G6PD status is known before deciding to administer an 8-aminoquinoline-based drug. In this report from a stakeholder meeting held in Thailand on October 4 and 5, 2012, G6PD testing in support of radical cure is discussed in detail. The focus is on challenges to the development and evaluation of G6PD diagnostic tests, and on challenges related to the operational aspects of implementing G6PD testing in support of radical cure. The report also describes recommendations for evaluation of diagnostic tests for G6PD deficiency in support of radical cure

A novel device for collecting and dispensing fingerstick blood for point of care testing

<div><p>The increased world-wide availability of point-of-care (POC) tests utilizing fingerstick blood has led to testing scenarios in which multiple separate fingersticks are performed during a single patient encounter, generating cumulative discomfort and reducing testing efficiency. We have developed a device capable of a) collection of up to 100 μL of fingerstick blood from a single fingerstick by capillary action, and b) dispensing this blood in variable increments set by the user. We tested the prototype device both in a controlled laboratory setting and in a fingerstick study involving naive device users, and found it to have accuracy and precision similar to a conventional pipettor. The users also found the device to be easy to use, and recommended minor ergonomic improvements. Our device would allow performance of multiple POC tests from a single fingerstick blood sample, thus providing a novel functionality that may be of use in many testing settings worldwide.</p></div

The shuttle valve in each of its three positions.

<p>Left: shuttle valve position one; airflow between capillary and atmosphere, allowing capillary to be filled. Middle: shuttle valve position two; airflow between piston chamber and capillary, allowing blood to be dispensed. Right: shuttle valve position three; airflow between atmosphere and piston chamber, allowing the chamber to be primed for another dispense.</p

The volume adjustment mechanism.

<p>Left: dispensing 10 μL. Right: dispensing 25 μL.</p

In-house gravimetric testing results for the POC Blood Dispenser by an experienced user compared to in-house gravimetric testing results for a P20 pipettor.

<p>In-house gravimetric testing results for the POC Blood Dispenser by an experienced user compared to in-house gravimetric testing results for a P20 pipettor.</p

In-house gravimetric testing results for the POC Blood Dispenser by two new users compared to the experienced user results from Table 1.

<p>In-house gravimetric testing results for the POC Blood Dispenser by two new users compared to the experienced user results from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0183625#pone.0183625.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>.</p

The Blood Collection Card (BCC), 7 x 10 cm.

<p>Left: BCC illustration. Right: completed BCC.</p