title: Things inside things

authors: Thornley, Jessica

abstract: Things Inside Things is a collection of autofiction that revolves around a single mother and her two young daughters. It is at once an intimate account of single motherhood and an ode to, a call to arms for, the maternal bond as irreducible, sacred–the thing at the centre of all things. 

Made up of fragmentary scenes, poetic prose, and short stories, the narrative moves back and forth in time, across hemispheres, through shifting points of view and recurrent characters   painting readers into the living and breathing layers of one single mother’s experience and world. 

Taking inspiration from writers Katherine Mansfield and Lucia Berlin, Things Inside Things bucks linear plot convention for a form that is voiced, sensory and shaped by the physicality of emotion. 

If this is a collection that advocates for the joy, reward and importance of the mother-child bond it is also one in which that bond does not come easy. Inside the walls and skin of these stories a mother seeks help for chronic maternal anxiety, navigates the loss of relationship break down with her children’s father, holds space for paternal and cultural ties that must span distance, be sustained over Zoom calls, and navigates the emotional and material weight of mothering alone. 

Above all this is body of work that seeks to hold ordinary, domestic days to the light. That pays homage to the everyday maternal and relational moments of connection, rupture and repair that shape who we are and can–if we let them–transform us. These are not stories of martyrdom. Rather, they give us motherhood as a creative, radical and transcendent force. Where a daughter’s ‘sturdy seven-year-old legs with downy hairs intact and lit up are holier than all the Gods of all religions’, where female friendship is a haven of ‘light, smile lines, vast and loyal as the seasons’ and within which we witness a mother, a woman, a writer finding herself on the page.

text: Things inside things Things Inside Things is a collection of autofiction that revolves around a single mother and her two young daughters. It is at once an intimate account of single motherhood and an ode to, a call to arms for, the maternal bond as irreducible, sacred–the thing at the centre of all things. 

Made up of fragmentary scenes, poetic prose, and short stories, the narrative moves back and forth in time, across hemispheres, through shifting points of view and recurrent characters   painting readers into the living and breathing layers of one single mother’s experience and world. 

Taking inspiration from writers Katherine Mansfield and Lucia Berlin, Things Inside Things bucks linear plot convention for a form that is voiced, sensory and shaped by the physicality of emotion. 

If this is a collection that advocates for the joy, reward and importance of the mother-child bond it is also one in which that bond does not come easy. Inside the walls and skin of these stories a mother seeks help for chronic maternal anxiety, navigates the loss of relationship break down with her children’s father, holds space for paternal and cultural ties that must span distance, be sustained over Zoom calls, and navigates the emotional and material weight of mothering alone. 

Above all this is body of work that seeks to hold ordinary, domestic days to the light. That pays homage to the everyday maternal and relational moments of connection, rupture and repair that shape who we are and can–if we let them–transform us. These are not stories of martyrdom. Rather, they give us motherhood as a creative, radical and transcendent force. Where a daughter’s ‘sturdy seven-year-old legs with downy hairs intact and lit up are holier than all the Gods of all religions’, where female friendship is a haven of ‘light, smile lines, vast and loyal as the seasons’ and within which we witness a mother, a woman, a writer finding herself on the page.

year: 2024-11-15

title: Self-reported fever may be a poor proxy for the prevalence of malaria

authors: Alimi, Omoniyi Babatunde

abstract: About 90% of the 0.5 million global annual death toll from malaria occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially amongst young children. While the most popular interventions for reducing the burden of malaria include insecticide-treated nets, improved dwellings, spraying and modification of mosquito habitat (e.g. drainage), use of some of these interventions has reached a plateau in some countries. Recently, a new anti-malaria intervention of reducing deforestation is claimed to be effective. The pathways through which deforestation can increase malaria include ecological effects that increase efficiency of the mosquito vectors and socio-economic changes such as migration that expose people with little tolerance to endemic forms of malaria. It is therefore argued in some studies that reducing deforestation can reduce the prevalence of malaria, presenting a win-win for health and the environment. The evidence on the effect of deforestation on malaria comes especially from linking remote sensing data on forest change to survey reports made by mothers of whether their child had a fever. For example, one influential study from Nigeria estimated the prevalence of malaria by asking mothers whether their child had been ill with a fever during the two weeks preceding the survey. Fever in children can have many causes other than malaria and so this proxy variable may lead to misleading relationships that divert attention from more effective anti-malaria interventions. In this study we use Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Nigeria and Tanzania which has results from Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) for parasite antigens in a blood drop, and tests using microscopic examination for Plasmodium in blood slides. We contrast the effects of local deforestation on these measured forms of malaria with the effects of deforestation on mother's report of children's fever (coming from the same DHS samples). In contrast to some recent studies, a positive impact of deforestation on malaria prevalence is not apparent when measured malaria (using microscopy or RDT) is the outcome variable. However, effects of deforestation on fever in children are apparent. The contrast between the impact on a measured health outcome and the impact on a proxy measure (the mother's report of fever in children) suggests that caution is needed when using proxy measures of health outcomes. In terms of policy implications, despite the potential attractiveness of adding child health reasons to the list of reasons for reducing the rate of deforestation, the available evidence for these two sub-Saharan African countries does not support this interpretation, in contrast to some recent studies.

text: Self-reported fever may be a poor proxy for the prevalence of malaria About 90% of the 0.5 million global annual death toll from malaria occurs in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially amongst young children. While the most popular interventions for reducing the burden of malaria include insecticide-treated nets, improved dwellings, spraying and modification of mosquito habitat (e.g. drainage), use of some of these interventions has reached a plateau in some countries. Recently, a new anti-malaria intervention of reducing deforestation is claimed to be effective. The pathways through which deforestation can increase malaria include ecological effects that increase efficiency of the mosquito vectors and socio-economic changes such as migration that expose people with little tolerance to endemic forms of malaria. It is therefore argued in some studies that reducing deforestation can reduce the prevalence of malaria, presenting a win-win for health and the environment. The evidence on the effect of deforestation on malaria comes especially from linking remote sensing data on forest change to survey reports made by mothers of whether their child had a fever. For example, one influential study from Nigeria estimated the prevalence of malaria by asking mothers whether their child had been ill with a fever during the two weeks preceding the survey. Fever in children can have many causes other than malaria and so this proxy variable may lead to misleading relationships that divert attention from more effective anti-malaria interventions. In this study we use Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Nigeria and Tanzania which has results from Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT) for parasite antigens in a blood drop, and tests using microscopic examination for Plasmodium in blood slides. We contrast the effects of local deforestation on these measured forms of malaria with the effects of deforestation on mother's report of children's fever (coming from the same DHS samples). In contrast to some recent studies, a positive impact of deforestation on malaria prevalence is not apparent when measured malaria (using microscopy or RDT) is the outcome variable. However, effects of deforestation on fever in children are apparent. The contrast between the impact on a measured health outcome and the impact on a proxy measure (the mother's report of fever in children) suggests that caution is needed when using proxy measures of health outcomes. In terms of policy implications, despite the potential attractiveness of adding child health reasons to the list of reasons for reducing the rate of deforestation, the available evidence for these two sub-Saharan African countries does not support this interpretation, in contrast to some recent studies.

year: 2021

title: Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2009

authors: Rua, Mohi

subjects: Maori and Psychology Research Unit

abstract: Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2009. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community.

text: Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2009 Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2009. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community.

year: 2010