This review explores and positions the value of serology testing to support current immunization policies and the broader policy response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis in Europe. We applied an exploratory approach to analysing existing evidence, international recommendations, and national policies using desk research from secondary sources, document analysis, and expert information. Regional and country-level resources from five focus countries were included: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Seven experts in the fields of COVID-19 immunization, serology testing, seroepidemiology, and vaccine safety and effectiveness studies contributed to the review and convened in two online panel sessions. The paper includes an overview of (1) the impact of the pandemic to date, (2) testing strategies, (3) COVID-19 vaccination policies, (4) lessons on using serology testing to support immunization, (5) current policies and recommendations on the use of a serology testing strategy, and (6) implementation barriers and challenges. Finally, this paper also provides a set of knowledge-based recommendations to advance the effective and timely inclusion of serology testing and resolve impeding knowledge gaps. The recommendations herein are intended to support timely decision-making, raise awareness, guide advocacy initiatives, and inspire future studies.

Diversas pesquisas apontam para uma força da tradição imperando nas aulas de Língua Portuguesa. As teorias linguísticas chegam às escolas, mas abalam timidamente as aulas de gramática normativa tradicional. Nossa pesquisa segue um percurso que parte de nossa experiência profissional, de nossas indagações, para tentar investigar as nuances, dentro de um determinado contexto escolar, que dificultam o processo de aliar a teoria à prática na sala de aula. Partimos da hipótese de que este apego à tradição e o foco em atividades metalinguísticas pouco contribuem para uma aprendizagem significativa da língua. Tendo em vista testes nacionais e internacionais que apontam inadequações no uso da modalidade escrita da língua (leitura e produção escrita) pelos alunos que concluem o Ensino Fundamental e a ênfase histórica das aulas de Língua Portuguesa em atividades gramaticais de metalinguagem (nomenclaturas e classificações), questionamo-nos como as aulas de Língua Portuguesa podem ser reconfiguradas para potencializar o desenvolvimento das habilidades linguísticas dos alunos. Assim, realizamos um estudo qualitativo com duas professoras e suas cinco turmas de 9º ano, em uma escola pública municipal de São Paulo. As professoras nos forneceram dados por meio de relatos escritos de suas vivências, questionário e conversações informais cotidianas. Realizamos Avaliação Diagnóstica e Formativa (ADeF) do desempenho linguístico dos alunos, analisamos cadernos de alunos indicados pelas professoras como os melhores de suas turmas, planejamos e conduzimos uma oficina de linguagem (atividades linguísticas e epilinguísticas) com esses alunos. Alguns dos resultados indicam que as dificuldades das professoras em aliar teoria e prática estão relacionadas com a formação inicial e preliminar de cada uma e não necessariamente com a formação universitária e contínua em que se constitui o conhecimento teórico; levantamos fortes evidências de que a maneira como ensinamos reproduz ou é fortemente influenciada pela maneira como aprendemos; constatamos que a ausência da ADeF como prática efetiva se apresenta como um importante elemento que dificulta o conhecimento (por parte do professor) do que considerar no processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Ainda foi possível verificar que ADeF não compõe um critério de formação das turmas. Um professor pesquisador que busque aliar teoria e prática deve estar preparado para enfrentar inúmeros desafios e criar oportunidades para crianças e jovens se desenvolverem, preparando-se para se envolverem com as incertezas do cotidiano. Isso pode significar quão importantes serão, para professores e alunos, as novas vivências, por meio de oficinas contendo práticas mais eficazes para podermos nos desvencilhar de algumas amarras do passado, ou seja, da formação preliminar ou formatação preliminar a que fomos submetidos. / Previous knolwedge and school context underlying theory application to practice: diagnostic testing and formative assessment as a starting point to language and epilanguage activities Several studies point to the power of tradition that rules Portuguese classes. Language theories get to schools but little they influence or change the traditional, prescriptive grammar-based classes. This study starts off from our own professional experience and the questions arisen within a specific context in order to investigate the nuances that make it difficult to relate theory to practice in the classroom. We begin with the hypothesis that this attachment to theory and the focus on metalinguistic activities contribute very little to meaningful language learning. With national and international exams in mind, which point at the inappropriate use of the written language (reading and writing skills) students who are finishing middle school have, and also with the historical emphasis on metalinguistic grammar activities the Portuguese language classes have (exploring synthatic categories and classifying), we enquire how Portuguese language classes can be reconfigured to optimize students development of linguisctic skills. Thus,we undertook a qualitative study with two teachers and their five groups of 9th graders in a public municipal school in São Paulo. We gathered data from the teachers by means of written reports of teaching experience, questionnaire and daily informal talks. Students also took a diagnostic formative test (in Portuguese, ADeF) in order to have their linguistic performance assessed and we analized the notebooks of the best students in the classes, according to the teachers. We also planned and carried a language workshop with the students, which included linguistic and epilinguistic activities. Some results indicate that some of the difficulties teacher have in applying theory to practice are related to their schooling, not necessarily from their university undergraduation courses or continuing teacher education courses in which the theoretical knowledge is built. Strong evidence showed that the way we teach reproduce or is strongly influencced by the wahy we learn. We also xxx that the lack of ADef as an efficient practice is an important element that makes it difficult for teachers to decide to what to consider in the teachinglearning process.Moreover, it was possible to identify that ADeF is not an criteria used to form the groups. A teacher-researcher that aims to relate theory and practice should be prepared to face several challenges and create opportunities to children and youngsters, preparing them to deal with the daily uncertanties. This may mean how important new experiences will be to teacher and students in workshops that contain more efficient practices so that we can undo some of the knots from our past schooling or preliminary formatting

Medical devices are used widely at every stage of disease diagnosis and treatment. To eradicate certain infectious diseases, the development of highly sensitive diagnostic tools and techniques is essential. The work reported in this thesis presents a novel approach, which can be used for the diagnosis of various diseases in the field of clinical cytology. The central theme of this approach was to develop a simple, holistic and completely automated system for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. This is realized through the Development of an Absorption Flow-Cytometer with Synergistic Integration of Microfluidic, Optics and simple Electronics. Quantitative diagnosis of malaria has been taken as test case for the characterization and validation of the developed technology. Malaria is a life-threatening disease widely prevalent in developing countries. Approximately half the world population undergoes a test of malaria and it kills close to half a million people every year. Early detection and treatment will reduce the number of fatalities and also decrease its transmission rate. In the recent past, several diagnostic tools have been developed to detect malaria but there are varied demands on diagnostic instruments in healthcare settings and endemic contexts. The objective of this thesis is to develop an instrument capable of identifying malaria-infected red blood cells (i-RBCs) from a given few micro-liters of whole blood. The optical absorption properties of blood cells were measured at a single-cell level to diagnose malaria. The proof-of-concept for the instrument was established in four stages, after which a prototype was also developed and validated. In the first stage, a system capable of simultaneously imaging cells and also measuring their optical absorbance properties was developed. The developed system was employed to characterize absorption properties of red blood cells (malaria-infected and healthy ones) on blood-smear. A custom-made bright-field transmission microscope in combination with a pair of laser diode and photo-detector was used to simultaneously image and measure transmittance of infected and uninfected RBCs. In the second stage, the technique was extended to enable high-throughput measurements with the use of microfluidic sample handling and synchronous data acquisition. Using this technique, the optical absorbance and morphology of infected and healthy RBCs have been characterized in statistically significant numbers. The correlation between cell morphology (from images) and single-cell optical absorbance level helped to establish the thresholds for differentiating healthy and infected cells. In the third stage, a portable prototype capable of assessing optical absorbance levels of single cells was fabricated. The developed prototype is capable of assessing cells at throughputs of about 1800 cells/ second. It was initially validated with sample suspensions containing infected and healthy RBCs obtained from malaria cultures. For the device to be usable at the field-level, it has to function in the presence of all other cellular components of whole blood. The optical absorbance of other cellular components of blood like white blood cells and platelets, were characterized. The device was finally tested with blood samples spiked with malaria-infected RBCs validating the overall proof-of-concept and the developed prototype. The deployment of such cost-effective, automated POC system would enable malaria diagnosis at remote locations and play a crucial role in the ongoing efforts to eradicate malaria. In future, the presented technology can be extended to develop POC diagnostic tool for other diseases as well. As it enables quantitative estimation of malaria, the present optical absorption flow analyzer would also find application in disease prognosis monitoring, anti-malarial drug development and other studies requiring measurements on a single-cell basis. The hyper-imaging system can be used to characterize and validate the threshold information, and can be incorporated in the prototype. Thus, it is a continuous process to characterization and implementation in the prototype. The optofluidic absorption flow analyzer will help enable affordable clinical diagnostic testing in resource limited settings. This approach will be extended to diagnose other diseases, using differences in optical absorption as criteria for differentiating healthy and infected cells.

Diversas pesquisas apontam para uma força da tradição imperando nas aulas de Língua Portuguesa. As teorias linguísticas chegam às escolas, mas abalam timidamente as aulas de gramática normativa tradicional. Nossa pesquisa segue um percurso que parte de nossa experiência profissional, de nossas indagações, para tentar investigar as nuances, dentro de um determinado contexto escolar, que dificultam o processo de aliar a teoria à prática na sala de aula. Partimos da hipótese de que este apego à tradição e o foco em atividades metalinguísticas pouco contribuem para uma aprendizagem significativa da língua. Tendo em vista testes nacionais e internacionais que apontam inadequações no uso da modalidade escrita da língua (leitura e produção escrita) pelos alunos que concluem o Ensino Fundamental e a ênfase histórica das aulas de Língua Portuguesa em atividades gramaticais de metalinguagem (nomenclaturas e classificações), questionamo-nos como as aulas de Língua Portuguesa podem ser reconfiguradas para potencializar o desenvolvimento das habilidades linguísticas dos alunos. Assim, realizamos um estudo qualitativo com duas professoras e suas cinco turmas de 9º ano, em uma escola pública municipal de São Paulo. As professoras nos forneceram dados por meio de relatos escritos de suas vivências, questionário e conversações informais cotidianas. Realizamos Avaliação Diagnóstica e Formativa (ADeF) do desempenho linguístico dos alunos, analisamos cadernos de alunos indicados pelas professoras como os melhores de suas turmas, planejamos e conduzimos uma oficina de linguagem (atividades linguísticas e epilinguísticas) com esses alunos. Alguns dos resultados indicam que as dificuldades das professoras em aliar teoria e prática estão relacionadas com a formação inicial e preliminar de cada uma e não necessariamente com a formação universitária e contínua em que se constitui o conhecimento teórico; levantamos fortes evidências de que a maneira como ensinamos reproduz ou é fortemente influenciada pela maneira como aprendemos; constatamos que a ausência da ADeF como prática efetiva se apresenta como um importante elemento que dificulta o conhecimento (por parte do professor) do que considerar no processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Ainda foi possível verificar que ADeF não compõe um critério de formação das turmas. Um professor pesquisador que busque aliar teoria e prática deve estar preparado para enfrentar inúmeros desafios e criar oportunidades para crianças e jovens se desenvolverem, preparando-se para se envolverem com as incertezas do cotidiano. Isso pode significar quão importantes serão, para professores e alunos, as novas vivências, por meio de oficinas contendo práticas mais eficazes para podermos nos desvencilhar de algumas amarras do passado, ou seja, da formação preliminar ou formatação preliminar a que fomos submetidos. / Previous knolwedge and school context underlying theory application to practice: diagnostic testing and formative assessment as a starting point to language and epilanguage activities Several studies point to the power of tradition that rules Portuguese classes. Language theories get to schools but little they influence or change the traditional, prescriptive grammar-based classes. This study starts off from our own professional experience and the questions arisen within a specific context in order to investigate the nuances that make it difficult to relate theory to practice in the classroom. We begin with the hypothesis that this attachment to theory and the focus on metalinguistic activities contribute very little to meaningful language learning. With national and international exams in mind, which point at the inappropriate use of the written language (reading and writing skills) students who are finishing middle school have, and also with the historical emphasis on metalinguistic grammar activities the Portuguese language classes have (exploring synthatic categories and classifying), we enquire how Portuguese language classes can be reconfigured to optimize students development of linguisctic skills. Thus,we undertook a qualitative study with two teachers and their five groups of 9th graders in a public municipal school in São Paulo. We gathered data from the teachers by means of written reports of teaching experience, questionnaire and daily informal talks. Students also took a diagnostic formative test (in Portuguese, ADeF) in order to have their linguistic performance assessed and we analized the notebooks of the best students in the classes, according to the teachers. We also planned and carried a language workshop with the students, which included linguistic and epilinguistic activities. Some results indicate that some of the difficulties teacher have in applying theory to practice are related to their schooling, not necessarily from their university undergraduation courses or continuing teacher education courses in which the theoretical knowledge is built. Strong evidence showed that the way we teach reproduce or is strongly influencced by the wahy we learn. We also xxx that the lack of ADef as an efficient practice is an important element that makes it difficult for teachers to decide to what to consider in the teachinglearning process.Moreover, it was possible to identify that ADeF is not an criteria used to form the groups. A teacher-researcher that aims to relate theory and practice should be prepared to face several challenges and create opportunities to children and youngsters, preparing them to deal with the daily uncertanties. This may mean how important new experiences will be to teacher and students in workshops that contain more efficient practices so that we can undo some of the knots from our past schooling or preliminary formatting

Introduction Nigeria has the highest malaria burden worldwide. The 2010 and 2015 Nigeria Malaria Indicator Surveys (NMIS) suggest an improvement in malaria indicators, with the North West zone lagging behind. This study aimed to identify the individual and household-level malaria determinants in north-west and southern Nigeria, using Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT) and microscopy for malaria diagnosis. Methods Data on 3,358 children aged 6-59 months from north-west and southern Nigeria from the 2015 NMIS was used. The two populations were compared using chi-square tests, and logistic regression analysis was done for determinants of malaria infection, based on RDT and microscopic malaria test results. Results Malaria prevalence by RDT in the north-west and south was 55.8% and 29.2%, respectively (37.0% and 14.9%, respectively by microscopy). In both populations, a higher age, positive RDT in an additional household member and rural residence increased the odds of malaria infection; while higher education of the head of household and greater household wealth lowered the odds of malaria infection. Household clustering of RDT-positive cases appeared to be stronger in the south compared to the north-west. There were no statistically significant differences between the results using RDT or microscopy. Conclusion Irrespective of the diagnostic tool used, malaria determinants were similar in north-west and southern Nigeria. However, poorer social circumstances were observed in the north-west, and may account for the delayed progress in malaria control in the region. There may be a need to intensify malaria control efforts, particularly in the north-west, while awaiting socio-economic development.