Evaluation of Implementation of Intermittent Screening and Treatment for Control of Malaria in Pregnancy in Jharkhand, India.

This study evaluated intermittent screening and treatment during pregnancy (ISTp) for malaria using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) at antenatal care (ANC) compared with passive case detection within the routine health system. The mixed-method evaluation included two cross-sectional household surveys (pre- and post-implementation of ISTp), in-depth interviews with health workers, and focus group discussions (FGDs) with pregnant women. Differences in proportions between surveys for a number of outcomes were tested; 553 and 534 current and recently pregnant women were surveyed (pre- and post-implementation, respectively).

Effectiveness of intermittent screening and treatment for the control of malaria in pregnancy: a cluster randomised trial in India.

Background: The control of malaria in pregnancy (MiP) in India relies on testing women who present with symptoms or signs suggestive of malaria. We hypothesised that intermittent screening and treatment for malaria at each antenatal care visit (ISTp) would improve on this approach and reduce the adverse effects of MiP.

Methods: A cluster randomised controlled trial comparing ISTp versus passive case detection (PCD) was conducted in Jharkhand state.

Wintertime spatio-temporal variation of ultrafine particles in a Belgian city.

Simultaneous measurements of ultrafine particles (UFPs) were carried out at four sampling locations situated within a 1 km(2) grid area in a Belgian city, Borgerhout (Antwerp). All sampling sites had different orientation and height of buildings and dissimilar levels of anthropogenic activities (mainly traffic volume). The aims were to investigate: (i) the spatio-temporal variation of UFP within the area, (ii) the effect of wind direction with respect to the volume of traffic on UFP levels, and (iii) the spatial representativeness of the official monitoring station situated in the study area.

Dispersion modelling of traffic induced ultrafine particles in a street canyon in Antwerp, Belgium and comparison with observations.

The aim of this study is to investigate the dispersion of ultrafine particles and its spatial distribution in a street canyon and its neighbourhood with the 3D CFD model ENVI-met®. The performance of the model at street scale is evaluated and the importance of the boundary conditions like wind field and traffic emissions on the UFP concentration is demonstrated. To support and validate the modelled results, a short-term measurement campaign was conducted in a street canyon in Antwerp, Belgium.

Size resolved ultrafine particles emission model--a continues size distribution approach.

A new parameterization for size resolved ultrafine particles (UFP) traffic emissions is proposed based on the results of PARTICULATES project (Samaras et al., 2005). It includes the emission factors from the Emission Inventory Guidebook (2006) (total number of particles, #/km/veh), the shape of the corresponding particle size distribution given in PARTICULATES and data for the traffic activity.

The ionic compositions of fine and coarse particle fractions in the two urban areas of Korea.

The ionic composition of PM2.5 and PM10 was investigated using PM samples collected from Seoul and Busan during the winter of 2002. Based on the measurement data, we attempted to investigate the relative roles of different source processes in the composition of airborne particles at the two distinct urban areas.