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Fall 2014
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Inquiry Magazine Archive

  • Spring 2016

    Spring 2016: Premium Blend

    Found in everything from space shuttles to dental fillings, composite materials have thoroughly infiltrated modern society. But their potential is still greatly untapped, offering researchers ample opportunity for discovery.

  • Fall 2015

    Fall 2015: Collision Course

    Within the particle showers created at the Large Hadron Collider, answers to some of the universe’s mysteries are waiting.

  • Spring 2015

    Spring 2015: Almost Human

    Model systems like pigeons can help illuminate our own evolutionary and genomic history.

  • Fall 2014

    Fall 2014: Small Wonder

    UT Arlington's tiny windmills are bringing renewable energy to a whole new scale.

  • Winter 2014

    Winter 2014: Overdue for an Overhaul

    The stability of our highways, pipelines, and even manholes is reaching a breaking point.

  • 2012

    2012: Mystery solved?

    Scientists believe they have discovered a subatomic particle that is crucial to understanding the universe.

  • 2011

    2011: Boosting brain power

    UT Arlington researchers unlock clues to the human body’s most mysterious and complex organ.

  • 2010

    2010: Powered by genetics

    UT Arlington researchers probe the hidden world of microbes in search of renewable energy sources.

  • 2009

    2009: Winning the battle against pain

    Wounded soldiers are benefiting from Robert Gatchel’s program that combines physical rehabilitation with treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

  • 2009

    2007: Sensing a solution

    Tiny sensors implanted in the body show promise in combating acid reflux disease, pain and other health problems.

  • 2006

    2006:Semiconductors: The next generation

    Nanotechnology researchers pursue hybrid silicon chips with life-saving potential.

  • 2005

    2005: Imaging is everything

    Biomedical engineers combat diseases with procedures that are painless to patients.

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Drained

Wiping Out Malaria

Researcher challenges leading argument about mosquito-borne illness, boosts hope that malaria can be eliminated 

mosquito

Eradicating malaria is a top goal for health leaders across the globe. The mosquito-borne illness infected more than 200 million people in 2012, ultimately killing more than 600,000, according to recent studies.

But while many scientists have emphasized the importance of removing potential victims from mosquito breeding grounds, political scientist Daniel Sledge’s research suggests that more focus should be put on public health interventions.

In his article “Eliminating Malaria in the American South: An Analysis of the Decline of Malaria in 1930s Alabama,” Dr. Sledge and co-author George Mohler, assistant professor of mathematics and computer science at Santa Clara University, took a fresh look at the decline of malaria in the American South in the early 20th century. Their conclusions challenge the leading argument that it was caused by the migration of southern tenant farmers from the hardest hit areas to northern states where factory work was available.

“Instead, we found that large-scale drainage projects, backed up by the creation of state and local public health infrastructure, led to the demise of malaria despite deep-seated poverty,” Sledge explains.

Large-scale drainage projects are not a principle of most malaria control programs in the global South today, but Sledge thinks the American experience with the parasite could be instructive for efforts to eliminate the disease.

Beth Wright, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, believes Sledge’s research benefits the public, health professionals, and policymakers globally.

“Dr. Sledge’s work has far-reaching implications for those who work to eradicate malaria and similar diseases,” she says. “Huge challenges remain, but such research brings about better understanding of potential solutions and could ultimately help save lives.”

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