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Background The vast majority of malaria deaths in Uganda occur in children five and under and in rural areas. This study’s exploratory case study approach captured unique situations to illustrate special attributes and aspects of treatment-seeking during a malaria episode. Methods During August 2010, a qualitative exploratory study was conducted in seven of Butaleja District’s 12 sub-counties. Multiple case study methodology consisting of loosely-structured interviews were carried out with eight caregivers of children five and under in the local dialect. Caregivers were geographically distant and not known to each other. Interviews were translated into English and transcribed the same day. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results Of the eight cases, children recovered fully in three instances, survived but with deficits in three, and died in two. Common to all outcomes were (1) triggers to illness recognition, (2) similar treatment sequences and practices, (3) factors which influenced caregivers’ treatment-seeking decisions, (4) challenges encountered while seeking care at public health facilities, (5) cost burdens associated with managing malaria, (6) life burdens resulting from negative outcomes from malaria, (7) variations in caregiver knowledge about artemisinin combination therapy, and (8) varying perspectives how malaria management could be improved. Conclusions Despite the reality that caregivers in Butaleja District generally share similar practices, experiences and challenges, very few children ever receive treatment in accordance with the Uganda’s national guidelines. To bring national practice into conformance with policy, three advances must occur: (1) All key stakeholders (those affiliated with the formal health system - public facilities and licensed private outlets, unlicensed drug vendors, and caregivers of young children) must concur on the need and the means to improve malaria management, (2) all health providers (formal and unlicensed) need to be engaged in training and certification to improve timely access to affordable treatment irrespective of a region’s remoteness or low population density, and (3) future public health interventions need to improve caregivers’ capacity to take the necessary actions to best manage malaria in young children.

The detection of gravitational waves from the coalescence of two compact objects has been brought to within touching distance by the construction and operation of a global network of laser-interferometer detectors. However, the amplitude of the radiation from these events is so low that direct detection will require the combined innovations of advanced interferometry and detector characterisation, along with powerful methods of extracting weak, but modelled, signals from the background detector noise. This work focuses on enhancing the probability of such detection through improved identification of noise artefacts in the instrumental data, and improved signal processing and extraction. We begin with a recap of the theory of gravitational waves as derived from Einstein's theory of gravity, and the mechanisms that allow propagation of this radiation away from a source. We also catalogue a number of promising astrophysical progenitors, with a focus on compact binary coalescences. We detail the interactions between gravitational waves and an observer, and describe the layout of the large-scale laser interferometers that have been built to enable direct detection. A description of the operation of these detectors during the last science run is given, focusing on their stability and sensitivity, isolating a number of key instrumental noise mechanisms and how they affected astrophysical searches over the data. Additionally, we illustrate a new method to improve the identification of seismic noise bursts, allowing their removal from search data, improving search sensitivity. The LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors operated as a network during the last joint science run. A summary is given of the analysis pipeline used to search for gravitational waves signals from compact binary coalescences using a coincidence-based method, including details of the results of that analysis. Details are also given of the pipeline used to search for gravitational waves associated with short, hard gamma-ray bursts, in which a new coherent method was tuned to search over the reduced parameter space constrained by the electromagnetic counterpart. Finally, we present a new pipeline adapting the coherent method to the blind, all-sky, all-time search, allowing for a more sensitive analysis, as demonstrated by direct comparison.

This article introduces VARAHA, an open-source, fast, non-Markovian sampler for estimating gravitational-wave posteriors. VARAHA differs from existing Nested sampling algorithms by gradually discarding regions of low likelihood, rather than gradually sampling regions of high likelihood. This alternative mindset enables VARAHA to freely draw samples from anywhere within the high-likelihood region of the parameter space, allowing for analyses to complete in significantly fewer cycles. This means that VARAHA can significantly reduce both the wall and CPU time of all analyses. VARAHA offers many benefits, particularly for gravitational-wave astronomy where Bayesian inference can take many days, if not weeks, to complete. For instance, VARAHA can be used to estimate accurate sky locations, astrophysical probabilities and source classifications within minutes, which is particularly useful for multi-messenger follow-up of binary neutron star observations; VARAHA localises GW170817 \\(\\sim 30\\) times faster than LALInference. Although only aligned-spin, dominant multipole waveform models can be used for gravitational-wave analyses, it is trivial to extend this algorithm to include additional physics without hindering performance. We envision VARAHA being used for gravitational-wave studies, particularly estimating parameters using expensive waveform models, analysing subthreshold gravitational-wave candidates, generating simulated data for population studies, and rapid posterior estimation for binary neutron star mergers.

The Omicron software is a tool developed to perform a multi-resolution time-frequency analysis of data from gravitational-wave detectors: the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA detectors. Omicron generates spectrograms from whitened data streams, offering a visual representation of transient detector noises and gravitational-wave events. In addition, these events can be parameterized with an optimized resolution. They can be written to disk to conduct offline noise characterization and gravitational-wave event validation studies. Omicron is optimized to process, in parallel, thousands of data streams recorded by gravitational-wave detectors. The Omicron software plays an important role in vetting gravitational-wave detection candidates and characterization of transient noise.

Maori experience both a higher cancer incidence and a higher mortality rate. Prostate cancer incidence in non-Maori, non-Pacific Islander men was half that of Maori men between 1996 and 1999. Lung cancer is the most common malignancy in Maori men and the second most common ma - lignancy in Maori women (after breast cancer). The incidence in men from 1996 to 2001 was three times greater for Maori, and deaths were three times more common.

The range to which the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) can observe astrophysical systems varies over time, limited by noise in the instruments and their environments. Identifying and removing the sources of noise that limit LIGO's range enables higher signal-to-noise observations and increases the number of observations. The LIGO observatories are continuously monitored by hundreds of thousands of auxiliary channels that may contain information about these noise sources. This paper describes an algorithm that uses linear regression, namely lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression, to analyze all of these channels and identify a small subset of them that can be used to reconstruct variations in LIGO's astrophysical range. Exemplary results of the application of this method to three different periods of LIGO Livingston data are presented, along with computational performance and current limitations.

This study enquires into the impact of the Holy Land upon preaching and argues for the wider relevance of the Holy Land in all its aspects—geographical and cultural, historical and contemporary. In each section preaching strategies are suggested in relation to specific sites, taking account of issues and problems raised in this study. This preaching material demonstrates that experience and/or knowledge of the Holy Land has an important part to play in effective preaching elsewhere. A historical enquiry into the place of the Holy Land in preaching traces the development of the institution of pilgrimage to the Holy Land, identifying four elements: historical enquiry, devotional imagination, liturgy, and preaching. The potential offered by shrines and archaeological sites is seen as useful background for preaching. This does not exclude the need to engage in exegesis of the preacher, the pilgrim group, or the congregation. It is also imperative to provide hermeneutical perspectives that do justice to the religious, political, and social realities affecting the peoples of the Holy Land. These perspectives include the various Christian communities in the Holy Land and the special significance of the Holy Land for followers of the three religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Since political conflicts complicate relations between these faiths, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict makes “even-handedness” difficult. This challenges the preacher to confront controversial issues requiring historical judgments having relevance for the preaching of contextual theology, not only in the Holy Land but also throughout the world. In conclusion, the work identifies unanswered questions and interprets research elements, evaluating preaching plans and exploring personal experience of Holy Land pilgrimages. These are seen to support the case that the perspective offered by the Holy Land contributes to the devotional and preaching imagination of the wider Church.