PHD, Kent State University, 2014, College of Public Health

Abstract With just a year remaining to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline, there is limited evidence for and adequate level of awareness/use of malaria intervention strategies and by extension, decreases in malaria-related mortality and morbidity. This is a cross-sectional study on awareness and use of malaria control interventions based on data collected from a household survey from two of the 20 local government areas (LGAs) of Lagos State, Nigeria – Alimosho and Kosofe where a malaria control program of Roll Back Malaria (RBM) is being implemented. The sample included pregnant women (n = 250) and mothers of children under five years old (n = 233) that were interviewed using interviewer-administered, semi-structured questionnaires in a household survey. Questionnaires developed by the research staff of the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research probed respondents' demographic characteristics; knowledge and compliance of policy guidelines on the awareness and use of malaria intervention strategies. The study was implemented over a 6-month period from February to August 2014. This study used both linear and logistic regression analysis. Linear regression was used to predict the Compliance Index as a function of the independent variables of Age, Marital Status, Maternal Status, Religion, Education and Local Government Area of residence, while logistic regression was used to predict alignment into high/moderate or low knowledge of malaria categories also as a function of Age, Marital Status, Maternal Status, Religion, Education and Local Government Area of residence. Results of the linear regression showed that the overall model of the six independent variables was able to significantly predict the compliance index, R2 = .163, F(6,409) = 13.28, p <.001. Age, Education and LGA were significant predictors. Results of the logistic regression showed the Exp(B) of two predictors, LGA and Maternal Status, as statistically reliable in distinguishing b (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sonia Alemagno Ph.D (Advisor); Jonathan VanGeest Ph.D (Committee Chair); James Mark Ph.D (Committee Member); Bhatta Madhav Ph.D (Committee Member); John Graham Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Public Health

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Entomology

A new approach to vector surveillance is proposed. Mosquitoes of both sexes are attracted to particular nectar-bearing plants that generate mixtures of volatile chemicals. Preliminary experiments demonstrate that mosquitoes orient to these mixtures and that they can be used as lures to trap large numbers. Yet virtually nothing is known of their composition, and their use in surveillance traps has never been explored. As widespread early-warning and sampling devices, these attractants have advantages over those currently available or being developed, most of which are based on kairomones from vertebrate hosts. The latter attract only females and only those that have entered the blood feeding mode. Plant-derived attractants on the other hand attract mosquitoes as early as one day after emergence, attract early-emerging localized males, as well as pre- and post-dispersal females, attract females in all gonotrophic stages, in reproductive diapause, and can be slow-released in tiny amounts over extended periods. Therefore phytochemicals provide earlier and more precise information on mosquito mass emergence and population composition, and they can be deployed in simple light-weight traps. The objectives of this project are twofold: to create the most attractive synthetic blends of component volatiles of the plants most frequently used as sources of sugar by two medically important mosquitoes in two different continents – Culex pipiens, a presumptive primary vector of West Nile virus in the northeastern United States, and Anopheles gambiae, the main vector of malaria in Africa. The second is to explore the potential use of plant semiochemicals to attract mosquitoes to both natural and artificial kill stations using attractive, toxic sugar baits. We used a four-pronged approach to achieve these objectives. First was to analyze the components of floral headspace of attractive plants, second was to assay the relative bioactivity of fractions and synthetic blends by mosquito (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Woodbridge Foster (Advisor); Paul Larry Phelan (Committee Member); David Denlinger (Committee Member) Subjects: Entomology