Status of insecticide susceptibility in Anopheles arabiensis from Mwea rice irrigation scheme, Central Kenya

BACKGROUND: Control of the Anopheline mosquito vectors of malaria by use of insecticides has been shown to impact on both morbidity and mortality due to this disease. Evidence of insecticide resistance in different settings necessitates surveillance studies to allow prompt detection of resistance should it arise and thus enable its management. Possible resistance by Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes from Mwea rice irrigation scheme in Central Kenya to insecticides in the four classes of insecticides approved by WHO for indoor residual spraying was investigated. METHODS: Susceptibility to DDT (an organochlorine), fenitrothion (an organophosphate), bendiocarb (a carbamate), lambdacyhalothrin and permethrin (both pyrethroids) was tested using standard WHO diagnostic bioassay kits. Bioassays were performed on non-blood fed mosquitoes one- to three-day old. Knockdown was recorded every 10 min and mortality 24 h post-exposure was noted. RESULTS: Mortality 24 h post-exposure was 100% for all insecticides except for lambdacyhalothrin, which averaged 99.46%. Knockdown rates at 10 min intervals were not significantly different between the Mwea population and the susceptible KISUMU strain of Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto control. The KDT(50 )and KDT(95 )values for the Mwea population were either lower than those for the control or higher by factors of no more than 2 for most comparisons and compared well with those of An. gambiae sensu lato categorized as susceptible in other studies. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the Mwea population of An. arabiensis is susceptible to all the insecticides tested. This implies that vector control measures employing any of these insecticides would not be hampered by resistance

Eliminating Malaria Vectors.

Malaria vectors which predominantly feed indoors upon humans have been locally eliminated from several settings with insecticide treated nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying or larval source management. Recent dramatic declines of An. gambiae in east Africa with imperfect ITN coverage suggest mosquito populations can rapidly collapse when forced below realistically achievable, non-zero thresholds of density and supporting resource availability. Here we explain why insecticide-based mosquito elimination strategies are feasible, desirable and can be extended to a wider variety of species by expanding the vector control arsenal to cover a broader spectrum of the resources they need to survive. The greatest advantage of eliminating mosquitoes, rather than merely controlling them, is that this precludes local selection for behavioural or physiological resistance traits. The greatest challenges are therefore to achieve high biological coverage of targeted resources rapidly enough to prevent local emergence of resistance and to then continually exclude, monitor for and respond to re-invasion from external populations

Treatment and outcomes of crisis resolution teams: a prospective multicentre study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Crisis resolution teams (CRTs) aim to help patients in acute mental health crises without admitting them to hospital. The aims of this study were to investigate content of treatment, service practice, and outcomes of crises of CRTs in Norway.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study had a multicentre prospective design, examining routine data for 680 patients and 62 staff members of eight CRTs. The clinical staff collected data on the demographic, clinical, and content of treatment variables. The service practices of the staff were assessed on the Community Program Practice Scale. Information on each CRT was recorded by the team leaders. The outcomes of crises were measured by the changes in Global Assessment of Functioning scale scores and the total scores on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales between admission and discharge. Regression analysis was used to predict favourable outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean length of treatment was 19 days for the total sample (N = 680) and 29 days for the 455 patients with more than one consultation; 7.4% of the patients had had more than twice-weekly consultations with any member of the clinical staff of the CRTs. A doctor or psychologist participated in 55.5% of the treatment episodes. The CRTs collaborated with other mental health services in 71.5% of cases and with families/networks in 51.5% of cases. The overall outcomes of the crises were positive, with a small to medium effect size. Patients with depression received the longest treatments and showed most improvement of crisis. Patients with psychotic symptoms and substance abuse problems received the shortest treatments, showed least improvement, and were most often referred to other parts of the mental health services. Length of treatment, being male and single, and a team focus on out-of-office contact were predictors of favourable outcomes of crises in the adjusted model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study indicates that, compared with the UK, the Norwegian CRTs provided less intensive and less out-of-office care. The Norwegian CRTs worked more with depression and suicidal crises than with psychoses. To be an alternative to hospital admission, the Norwegian CRTs need to intensify their treatment and meet more patients outside the office.</p

Bilateral downregulation of Nav1.8 in dorsal root ganglia of rats with bone cancer pain induced by inoculation with Walker 256 breast tumor cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rapid and effective treatment of cancer-induced bone pain remains a clinical challenge and patients with bone metastasis are more likely to experience severe pain. The voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.8 plays a critical role in many aspects of nociceptor function. Therefore, we characterized a rat model of cancer pain and investigated the potential role of Nav1.8.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Adult female Wistar rats were used for the study. Cancer pain was induced by inoculation of Walker 256 breast carcinosarcoma cells into the tibia. After surgery, mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia and ambulation scores were evaluated to identify pain-related behavior. We used real-time RT-PCR to determine Nav1.8 mRNA expression in bilateral L4/L5 dorsal root ganglia (DRG) at 16-19 days after surgery. Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to compare the expression and distribution of Nav1.8 in L4/L5 DRG between tumor-bearing and sham rats. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) against Nav1.8 were administered intrathecally at 14-16 days after surgery to knock down Nav1.8 protein expression and changes in pain-related behavior were observed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tumor-bearing rats exhibited mechanical hyperalgesia and ambulatory-evoked pain from day 7 after inoculation of Walker 256 cells. In the advanced stage of cancer pain (days 16-19 after surgery), normalized Nav1.8 mRNA levels assessed by real-time RT-PCR were significantly lower in ipsilateral L4/L5 DRG of tumor-bearing rats compared with the sham group. Western-blot showed that the total expression of Nav1.8 protein significantly decreased bilaterally in DRG of tumor-bearing rats. Furthermore, as revealed by immunofluorescence, only the expression of Nav1.8 protein in small neurons down regulated significantly in bilateral DRG of cancer pain rats. After administration of antisense ODNs against Nav1.8, Nav1.8 protein expression decreased significantly and tumor-bearing rats showed alleviated mechanical hyperalgesia and ambulatory-evoked pain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that Nav1.8 plays a role in the development and maintenance of bone cancer pain.</p

Allogeneic Ex Vivo Expanded Corneal Epithelial Stem Cell Transplantation: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

APPEAL FROM THE DECREE OF DIVORCE EXECUTED AND ENTERED BY THE THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT. IN AND FOR SALT LAKE COUNTY. STATE OF UTAH. THE HONORABLE FRANK G. NOEL. PRESIDIN

Spontaneous singing and musical agency in the everyday home lives of three- and four-year-old children

Spontaneous singing permeates the lives of young children and can provide insights into the social and personal worlds of young children at home. Research into young children’s singing has traditionally been dominated by studies framed by developmental perspectives. However, developmental approaches run the risk of overlooking the ways in which spontaneous singing is useful and meaningful to young children. Despite increased interest in the musical lives of young children, there exists very little research into young children’s musical lives at home, largely because the home can be a difficult space to access for research purposes. This chapter is based on research undertaken from audio recordings of 15 3- and 4-year-old children who were recorded for continuous periods at home using all-day recording technology. I draw on ideas from music sociology and childhood studies to illustrate how children use singing as a tool of agency in their interactions with others and to manage their own experience

Psychosocial interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder in refugees and asylum seekers resettled in high-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Internal funding from the University of Veron

Educational change, inertia and potential futures

The point of departure of the paper is that there are profound social, cultural, technological, scientific and environmental changes which occur at most local but also at global levels of the modern world. From these will stem huge challenges in all spheres of life. These demand changes in education, not necessarily in the system or how it operates, but perhaps in its aims, and most certainly in its content. Knowledge that was once powerful to understand the world, to develop as a person and address the challenges of life, should be replaced with new knowledge which may often be outside the traditional disciplines. Moreover, a host of new skills may be relevant for the world of tomorrow. There are, however, many obstacles to change, both reasonable and unreasonable ones. The thrust of the paper is to provide a discussion of nine categories of inertia or constraints that are seen to stifle change, in particular, as it relates to the content of education. The categories are discussed under the headings of general conservativism, system stability, standards, fuzziness of new ideas, the strength of old ideas, vested interests, teacher education, lack of space and motivation for initiative, and lack of consequence of no change. Added to this there are serious logistic problems for those who want to foster change. It is argued that very little change in content will be seen if these inertial constraints are not recognised. Assuming there is a will to change, the institutional infrastructures that should facilitate sustained change must be scutinised and it must be ensured that the teachers, i.e. the professionals that operate the system, are involved.Peer Reviewe