Development And Validation of An Eco-Friendly and High-Throughput HPLC Method To Quantify Pyrethroid and Pyriproxyfen in Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets

Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) are essential to preventing malaria transmission. The LLINs should last for at least three years, even after repeated washings. Currently, tracking insecticides in LLINs is cumbersome, costly, and requires specialized equipment and hazardous solvents. We therefore developed a low-resource, high-throughput method for detecting insecticides in LLINs. In order to extract insecticides from polyethylene, LLIN samples were heated for 45 minutes at 85oC in 1-propanol-heptane containing dicyclohexylphthalate as an internal standard. Sample size was reduced to ~0.2 g for reduced extraction volume, which is 10% less than what was recommended. We optimized HPLC chromatographic conditions to assess pyrethroid and pyriproxyfen content in polyethylene-based LLINs. The method is capable of quantifying levels ≥ 0.0015% permethrin, 0.00045% alpha-cypermethrin and 0.00025% pyriproxyfen (w/w) in polyethylene, allowing tracking the insecticides before and after LLINs use. A variety of LLINs can be evaluated with this method, including those with 1% pyriproxyfen (pyriproxyfen-LLIN) or 2% permethrin (Olyset® Net), 1% pyriproxyfen and 2% permethrin (Olyset® Duo), or 0.55% pyriproxyfen combined with 0.55% alpha-cypermethrin (Royal Gaurd®). Analysis of 120 samples (40 nets) per run can be done with high precision and accuracy, reducing labour time and costs whilst reducing the environmental impact of organic solvents.

Anglocentrism in the Academy: On Linguistic Privilege, Mastery and Hoito

In this paper, we discuss the tacit agreement to use English as lingua franca in global academia. Our interest is in how Anglocentrism manifests within academic practices – seminars, conferences, and academic publishing – all of which are marked by neoliberal assumptions of mastery, quality, and efficacy. Drawing on autobiographical narratives, social media conversations, and literature, as well as recent discussions on conferencing and peer review practices, we analyse how historically shaped linguistic privilege and linguistic divides continue to be lived at the level of the body, affects and affective atmospheres. Language is not just language, rather, seemingly practical decisions about language always involve the aspects of material labour, time, money, and careers: they shape researcher subjectivities and entire domains of scientific knowledge. However, we also highlight the potentials nested in the emergence of minor language and the deterritorialising forces of humor. Articulating the speculative lines of what if, we propose more care-full academic linguistic practices.

Association of body mass index and maternal age with first stage duration of labour

To evaluate associations between early-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and active first stage labour duration, accounting for possible interaction with maternal age, we conducted a cohort study of women with spontaneous onset of labour allocated to Robson group 1. Quantile regression analysis was performed to estimate first stage labour duration between BMI categories in two maternal age subgroups (more and less than 30 years). Results show that obesity (BMI > 30) among younger women (< 30 years) increased the median labour duration of first stage by 30 min compared with normal weight women (BMI < 25), and time difference estimated at the 90th quantile was more than 1 h. Active first stage labour time differences between obese and normal weight women was modified by maternal age. In conclusion: (a) obesity is associated with longer duration of first stage of labour, and (b) maternal age is an effect modifier for this association. This novel finding of an effect modification between BMI and maternal age contributes to the body of evidence that supports a more individualized approach when describing labour duration.

The Neue Marx-Lektüre and the ‘Monetary Theory of Value’ in the East German Labour-Value Measurement Debate

Proponents of a monetary interpretation of Marx’s theory of value (monetäre Werttheorie) argue that one cannot estimate the amounts of socially necessary labour time that lie behind the prices, an interpretation usually ascribed to the West German Neue Marx‑Lektüre. As Hans-Georg Backhaus began fleshing out his monetary interpretation in the early 1970s, he referred explicitly to debate among economists in early‑1960s East Germany about the possibility of estimating quantities of labour value in terms of commodities’ labour content. In fact, scholars who articulated a powerful position in the latter discussion closely approximated the Neue Marx-Lektüre’s ‘monetary interpretation’. They held that expressing labour value in terms of labour time is impossible: the substance of value is not a measurable quantity of labour time but, rather, a social relation. Hence, it is problematic that Neue Marx-Lektüre adherents today should maintain an inaccurate contrast between their reading of Capital and that of ‘traditional Marxism’.

Using the complexity index method to manage problems related to manufacturing

The Complexity Index method is an approach developed to help manufacturing companies quantify complexity in production. This paper sheds light on the connection between complexity and manufacturing problems and how the Complexity Index method was used to capture the areas in a production line with high levels of complexity to determine the sources of manufacturing problems related to labour time, surplus production, and manufacturing error. The main areas perceived as complex were due to Work Instructions, Work Content, and Product Variants. The perceived complexities were assessed for proper actions to be taken to decrease their level of complexity. The correlations between complexity and manufacturing problems were used for tracking related issues and ways for improvement. This study presents data on the use of workers’ perception to uncover the areas of complexity, which could be used by the management team to pragmatically capture difficulties and issues related to manufacturing problems to improve the production system.

Association of Body Mass Index and maternal age with first stage duration of labour

To evaluate associations between early-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) and active first stage labour duration, accounting for possible interaction with maternal age, we conducted a cohort study of women with spontaneous onset of labour allocated to Robson group 1. Quantile regression analysis was performed to estimate first stage labour duration between BMI categories in two maternal age subgroups (more and less than 30 years). Results show that obesity (BMI > 30) among younger women (< 30 years) increased the median labour duration of first stage by 30 minutes compared with normal weight women (BMI < 25), and time difference estimated at the 90 th quantile was more than one hour. Active first stage labour time differences between obese and normal weight women was modified by maternal age. In conclusion: a) obesity is associated with longer duration of first stage of labour, and b) maternal age is an effect modifier for this association. This novel finding of an effect modification between BMI and maternal age contributes to the body of evidence that supports a more individualized approach when describing labour duration.

Use of Geoinformatics Techniques for the Assessment and Mapping of Soil Salinity: Concepts and Applications

Irrigated agriculture has a major impact on the environment, especially soil degradation. Soil salinity is a critical environmental problem, which has great impact on soil fertility and overall agricultural productivity. Since, soil salinity processes are highly dynamic, the methods of detecting soil salinity hazards should also be dynamic. Remote sensing data are modern tools that provide information on variation over time essential for environmental monitoring and change detection, as they also help in the reduction of conventional time-consuming and expensive field sampling methods, which is the traditional method of monitoring and assessment. This chapter thus reviewed the concepts and applications of remote sensing, GIS-assisted spatial analysis and modelling of the salinity issue in irrigation fields. Generally, compared to the labour, time and money invested in field work devoted to collecting soil salinity data and analysis, the availability and ease of acquiring satellite imagery data and analysis made this concept very attractive and efficient.

Value-added processing.

Value addition refers to the transformation of a raw commodity or commodities into a processed product through the use of raw materials, labour, time and technology, all blended in a way that ensures increased economic return. Even if the amount of processing in a product is much less, e.g. for canned fruit, it may be regarded as a processed product. However, the processing of food is not as simple as gathering materials, labour and technology together over a stipulated time. Purity, authenticity, health claims and sustainability are also required to add real value to a food. For this, consumers will need to remain willing to spend a bit more on the final product (Euromonitor, 2010).

Conservation of forest through provision of alternative sources of income; evidence from rural households in Northern Pakistan

The collection of forest products by indigenous communities is the main cause of deforestation and a major<br />obstacle to efficient forest management. This study develops a time allocation model for a representative household<br />living in the peripheries of the forest. It is assumed that the household allocates their labour time between three activities:<br />agriculture, forest product extraction, and off-farm activities. Households maximize their net income subject to the<br />available forest resources. Using the Optimal Control Theory and applying the unique and global maxima, the results<br />of the comparative static and dynamic analyses suggest that higher agricultural efficiency, agricultural output prices,<br />and higher off-farm wages maximize the forest stock. Besides that, knowledge of forest extraction and farming may also<br />yield the higher equilibrium of forest stock while higher forest and input prices encourage forest resource extraction.<br />The result from the tobit analyses of a socio-economic survey from the Malakand Division forest in Pakistan provides<br />supportive empirical evidence.