We recently showed that the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family member,WASH, localizes to endosomal subdomains and regulates endocytic vesicle scission in an Arp2/3-dependent manner. Mechanisms regulating WASH activity are unknown. Here we show that WASH functions in cells within a 500 kDa core complex containing Strumpellin, FAM21, KIAA1033 (SWIP), and CCDC53. Although recombinant WASH is constitutively active toward the Arp2/3 complex, the reconstituted core assembly is inhibited, suggesting that it functions in cells to regulate actin dynamics through WASH. FAM21 interacts directly with CAPZ and inhibits its actin-capping activity. Four of the five core components show distant (approximately 15% amino acid sequence identify) but significant structural homology to components of a complex that negatively regulates the WASP family member, WAVE. Moreover, biochemical and electron microscopic analyses show that the WASH and WAVE complexes are structurally similar. Thus, these two distantly related WASP family members are controlled by analogous structurally related mechanisms. Strumpellin is mutated in the human disease hereditary spastic paraplegia, and its link to WASH suggests that misregulation of actin dynamics on endosomes may play a role in this disorder.

Health communication campaigns in developing countries can take many different forms and make use of a wide range of communication tools. One of these tools are multimedia resources such as videos. Initiatives like the Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) or the Global Health Media Project (GHMP) have been created for the only purpose of developing videos adapted to different cultures and languages in order to tackle a variety of health issues relevant to developing countries. The present study pretends to focus on the use of such videos for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) behavior in the context of cholera epidemic which hit Haiti in late 2010. By using comparative research procedures, three videos have been selected for content analysis from three different institutions: SAWBO, GHMP, and UNESCO Haiti. The results from this analysis served as guidelines for further survey analysis carried out through field questionnaires to a sample of the video’s target audience, that is, Haitian children aged from about 10 to 13 years old. The purpose of the study was to understand and compare the impact and effectiveness of these resources in transmitting disease prevention practices to the target audience. The results indicate that the videos usually coincided in the issues to inform about cholera, but differed in most of the features portrayed within the issues. Moreover, responses to the questionnaires reflected that the messages portrayed were only retained by an average half of the participants, with more or less success depending on the topic.

Lack of access to drinking water remains widespread as 2.1 billion people live without safely managed service that includes improved water sources located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination. Monitoring global access to drinking water is complex, yet essential, particularly in settings where households need to fetch water to meet their basic needs, as multiple factors that relate to accessibility, quantity and quality ought to be considered. The overall objective of this observational study is to increase knowledge surrounding monitoring and assessment of access to drinking water supply in low-and middle-income countries. The dissertation was comprised of five manuscripts which address the objective using various approaches including systematic review (manuscript 1), secondary data analysis (manuscript 2), and primary data analysis (manuscripts 3-5) to gather evidence towards improving access to drinking water. Primary data were collected through a seasonal cohort study conducted in Southern Malawi that included 375 households randomly selected in three different urban and rural sites. Methods used included structured questionnaires, observations, GPS-based measurements, and water quality testing. Findings from this study highlight the importance of conducting appropriate assessment of household behaviours in accessing drinking water in view of improving reliability of the indicators and methods used to monitor access to water. Seasonal variations that may affect water sources' reliability and household’s needs should be put forward to improve benefits of improving access to water and sustainable health outcomes. Further to target reliable and continuous availability from an improved water source at proximity to the household, interventions should aim to ensure safe quality of water at the point of use for mitigating the effect of post-collection contamination, and ensure sufficient quantities of water to allocate for personal and domestic hygiene. Focusing on the benefits of improving access to water at the point of consumption is essential to generate more realistic estimations, suitable interventions and appropriate responses to need. / Graduate

This study examines middle to late Holocene episodes of arroyo incision and aggradation in the Kitchen Corral Wash (KCW), a tributary of the Paria River in southern Utah. Arroyos are entrenched channels in valley-fill alluvium, and are capable of capturing decadal- to centennial-scale fluctuations in watershed hydrology as evidenced by the Holocene cut-fill stratigraphy recorded within near-vertical arroyo-channel walls. KCW has experienced both historic (ca. 1880-1920 AD) and prehistoric (Holocene) episodes of arroyo cutting and filling. The near-synchronous timing of arroyo cut-fill events between the Paria River and regional drainages over the last - 1 have led some researchers to argue that arroyo development is climatically driven. However, the influence of allogenic (climate-related) or autogenic (geomorphic threshold) forcings on arroyo dynamics are less clear. Uncertainty in influence of the controlling mechanisms of arroyo cutting and filling is partly due to the limited or poorly dated alluvial chronologies. This study tests the applicability of AMS radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to reconstruct alluvial chronologies in dryland fluvial systems, such as the KCW arroyo. Results from 12 arroyo-wall study sites in KCW indicate that 24 of the 39 analyzed AMS radiocarbon sample s and preliminary results from 12 of the 14 OSL sample s returned strati graphically consistent ages. Applying a combination of these two dating techniques allowed for increased sampling opportunities and cross-checking of ages to determine aberrant age results. By using detailed stratigraphic panels, sedimentologic descriptions, and the age control from AMS radiocarbon and OSL dating, this study produces a new chronostratigraphy that suggests at least five arroyo cut-fill cycles during the middle to late Holocene with periods of aggradation at: - 4.3 5 - 3 .4 ka (Qfl ), - 3 .2 - 2.25 ka (Qf2), - 2. 15 - 1 .45 ka (Qf3), - 1.3 - 0.8 ka (Qf4), - 0. 7- 0.12 ka (Qf5), and an older period of aggradation from - 7 .3 - 4.85 ka identified in an earlier stud y. This newly developed KCW cut-fill chronostratigraphy is compared to regional alluvial and paleoclimate records to test hypotheses regarding allogenic or autogenic forcings. Regional alluvial chronologies do not show coherent patterns of arroyo cut -fill dynamics, but instead appear to be affected by both allogenic and autogenic influences.

Armistice Day 1919 was enthusiastically celebrated in Centralia, Washington. The Principle event of the day’s activities was a parade organized under the leadership of the newly formed American Legion. But the parade was to be more than the simple affirmation of the victory in France, it was to be a reaffirmation of the patriotism of the newly returned sailors and soldiers and their home-town supporters. Centralia was a troubled city in 1919. Organized labor of the most militant and extreme sort was challenging the oligopoly of the lumber trust. The Industrial Workers of the World had been successful in their strike of 1917 and had worked significant and widespread changes in the wage and work conditions then effective in the lumber camps of the pacific northwest. These “Wobblies” had established an office in Centralia which was a principle transit site for both the lumber camps working in the Cowlitz River foothills and the incredibly rich Grays’ Harbor district. Loggers bound in and out of this location had to stop over in Centralia where they were proselytized by the firey orators of the IWW. The Becker Committee affidavits give us a useful and unique resource for attempting to present the tragic events of November 11, 1919 in Centralia, Washington.

Mount St. Helens returned to an active eruptive state March 20, 1980. Since then explosive and dome building eruptions have caused major topographic changes to the mountain and surrounding drainages. Monitoring of the southern side of the mountain by six tiltmeters at distances between 6 km and 12 km was conducted during the period of July 1, 1980 to December 31, 1980. Records obtained from the tiltmeters were analyzed and compared to data from precision geodetic surveys.

This is a policy implementation case study. The case is the relocation of the Town of North Bonneville, Washington, by the U.S. Army Corps of engineers. Three questions are addressed in this study. One, did the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in relocating the Town, accomplish what was intended to be accomplished? Two, how and why were Federal policies applicable to the relocation of this town changed during the implementation process? Three, what can the North Bonneville experience contribute to existent knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of policy implementation? The principal precepts for policy implementation promoted by this study of the relocation of the Town of North Bonneville, Washington, are as follows: (1) Implementing agencies must recognize and consider what they have to do or may have to do to accomplish what they are intended to accomplish,not merely what they want to do or expect to do. Potential impediments to implementation that are unrecognized and unconsidered may fail to develop, but unless addressed problems cannot be solved. (2) Implementing agencies must expeditiously study and understand the policies that they are assigned to implement. Failure of understanding presents the appearance of ambiquity; indeed, even the clearest policy is effectively ambiquous if it is not understood. (3) Implementing agencies must promptly and plainly explain the policies they are charged with implementing to affected and interested persons or groups. Failure to explain leaves affected and interested persons or groups to form their own expectations of what the policy is, which expectations if erroneous may be difficult to dislodge. (4) Implementing agencies must attend that once a policy is stated and explained all subsequent actions are consistent with the policy as stated and that any action that may appear to constitute a deviation is adequately explained. Otherwise the credibility of the agency and of the policy being implemented by the agency is undermined.

No description available.

Diarrhoeal diseases are a global public health burden, killing 1.8 million people annually. Diarrhoea disproportionately affects children and those in poverty. Most diarrhoeal cases can be prevented through safe drinking water and basic hygiene and sanitation measures, with drinking water interventions having the most impact on reducing diarrhoeal disease. A metaevaluation of studies assessing a specific household water treatment method, the biosand water filter, was completed. Results from the meta-evaluation illustrated that biosand water filters improve drinking water quality and reduce diarrhoeal disease. However, short follow-up times and inconsistent measures are a concern. Furthermore, there is no generally accepted field method for determining biosand water filter effectiveness that is useable in low-resource communities. This study adds to understanding of biosand water filters.

No description available.