636 research outputs found
HPV vaccine use among African American girls: Qualitative formative research using a participatory social marketing approach
Objective To generate recommendations for framing messages to promote HPV vaccination, specifically for African American adolescents and their parents who have not yet made a decision about the vaccine (the “Undecided” market segment). Methods Focus groups and interviews were conducted with African American girls ages 11–18 (N = 34) and their mothers (N = 31), broken into market segments based on daughter\u27s vaccination status and mother\u27s intent to vaccinate. Results Findings suggested that the HPV vaccine should be presented to “Undecided” mothers and adolescents as a routine vaccine (just like other vaccines) that helps prevent cancer. Within the “Undecided” segment, we identified two sub-segments based on barriers to HPV vaccination and degree of reluctance. The “Undecided/Ready If Offered” segment would easily accept HPV vaccine if given the opportunity, with basic information and a healthcare provider recommendation. The “Undecided/Skeptical” segment would need more in-depth information to allay concerns about vaccine safety, mistrust of drug companies, and recommended age. Some mothers and girls had the erroneous perception that girls do not need the vaccine until they become sexually active. African American adolescents and their mothers overwhelmingly thought campaigns should target both girls and boys for HPV vaccination. In addition, campaigns and messages may need to be tailored for pre-teens (ages 9–12) versus teens (ages 13–18) and their parents. Conclusions Findings pointed to the need to “normalize” the perception of HPV vaccine as just another routine vaccine (e.g., part of pre-teen vaccine package). Findings can inform social marketing campaigns targeting Undecided or ethnically diverse families
Representing the function and sensitivity of coastal interfaces in Earth system models
Between the land and ocean, diverse coastal ecosystems transform, store, and transport material. Across these interfaces, the dynamic exchange of energy and matter is driven by hydrological and hydrodynamic processes such as river and groundwater discharge, tides, waves, and storms. These dynamics regulate ecosystem functions and Earth\u27s climate, yet global models lack representation of coastal processes and related feedbacks, impeding their predictions of coastal and global responses to change. Here, we assess existing coastal monitoring networks and regional models, existing challenges in these efforts, and recommend a path towards development of global models that more robustly reflect the coastal interface. Coastal systems are hotspots of ecological, geochemical and economic activity, yet their dynamics are not accurately represented in global models. In this Review, Ward and colleagues assess the current state of coastal science and recommend approaches for including the coastal interface in predictive models
Measles virus causes immunogenic cell death in human melanoma
Oncolytic viruses (OV) are promising treatments for cancer, with several currently undergoing testing in randomised clinical trials. Measles virus (MV) has not yet been tested in models of human melanoma. This study demonstrates the efficacy of MV against human melanoma. It is increasingly recognised that an essential component of therapy with OV is the recruitment of host anti-tumour immune responses, both innate and adaptive. MV-mediated melanoma cell death is an inflammatory process, causing the release of inflammatory cytokines including type-1 interferons and the potent danger signal HMGB1. Here, using human in vitro models, we demonstrate that MV enhances innate antitumour activity, and that MV-mediated melanoma cell death is capable of stimulating a melanoma-specific adaptive immune response
The WFC3 Galactic Bulge Treasury Program: Metallicity Estimates for the Stellar Population and Exoplanet Hosts
We present new UV-to-IR stellar photometry of four low-extinction windows in
the Galactic bulge, obtained with the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST). Using our five bandpasses, we have defined reddening-free
photometric indices sensitive to stellar effective temperature and metallicity.
We find that the bulge populations resemble those formed via classical
dissipative collapse: each field is dominated by an old (~10 Gyr) population
exhibiting a wide metallicity range (-1.5 < [Fe/H] < 0.5). We detect a
metallicity gradient in the bulge population, with the fraction of stars at
super-solar metallicities dropping from 41% to 35% over distances from the
Galactic center ranging from 0.3 to 1.2 kpc. One field includes candidate
exoplanet hosts discovered in the SWEEPS HST transit survey. Our measurements
for 11 of these hosts demonstrate that exoplanets in the distinct bulge
environment are preferentially found around high-metallicity stars, as in the
solar neighborhood, supporting the view that planets form more readily in
metal-rich environments.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Latex,
5 pages, ApJ forma
Constraints on the Universal CIV Mass Density at z~6 from Early IR Spectra Obtained with the Magellan FIRE Spectrograph
We present a new determination of the intergalactic CIV mass density at 4.3 <
z < 6.3. Our constraints are derived from high signal-to-noise spectra of seven
quasars at z > 5.8 obtained with the newly commissioned FIRE spectrograph on
the Magellan Baade telescope, coupled with six observations of northern objects
taken from the literature. We confirm the presence of a downturn in the CIV
abundance at =5.66 by a factor of 4.1 relative to its value at =4.96, as
measured in the same sightlines. In the FIRE sample, a strong system previously
reported in the literature as CIV at z=5.82 is re-identified as MgII at z=2.78,
leading to a substantial downward revision in for these prior
studies. Additionally we confirm the presence of at least two systems with
low-ionization CII, SiII, and OI absorption but relatively weak signal from
CIV. The latter systems systems may be of interest if the downward trend in
at high redshift is driven in part by ionization effects.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Ap
Tracking the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic-related debris on wildlife using digital platforms
Since the start of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19) pandemic in December 2019, there have been global surges of single-use plastic use. Due to the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitation items in protecting against virus transmission and from testing, facemasks, respirators, disposable gloves and disposable wet wipes have become global staples in households and institutions. Widespread use and insufficient infrastructure, combined with improper waste management have resulted in an emerging category of litter. With widespread presence in the environment, such items pose a direct threat to wildlife as animals can interact with them in a series of ways. We examined the scope of COVID-19 pandemic-related debris, including PPE and sanitation items, on wildlife from April 2020 to December 2021. We document the geographic occurrence of incidents, debris types, and consequences of incidents that were obtained from social media searches, unpublished reports from colleagues, and reports available from the citizen science database "Birds and Debris". There were 114 unique sightings of wildlife interactions with pandemic-related debris (38 from 2020 and 76 from 2021). Within the context of this dataset, most incidents involved birds (83.3 %), while fewer affected mammals (10.5 %), invertebrates (3.5 %), fish (1.8 %), and sea turtles (0.9 %). Sightings originated in 23 countries, and consisted mostly of entanglements (42.1 %) and nest incorporations (40.4 %). We verified sightings by contacting the original observers and were able to identify replicated sightings and increase the resolution of the data collected compared with previously published results. Due to the complexities associated with global use and accessibility of digital platforms, we likely underestimate the number of animals harmed by debris. Overall, the global scope of this study demonstrates that online and social media platforms are a valuable way to collect biologically relevant citizen science data and track rapidly emerging environmental challenges.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
CMB observations from the CBI and VSA: A comparison of coincident maps and parameter estimation methods
We present coincident observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
from the Very Small Array (VSA) and Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) telescopes.
The consistency of the full datasets is tested in the map plane and the Fourier
plane, prior to the usual compression of CMB data into flat bandpowers. Of the
three mosaics observed by each group, two are found to be in excellent
agreement. In the third mosaic, there is a 2 sigma discrepancy between the
correlation of the data and the level expected from Monte Carlo simulations.
This is shown to be consistent with increased phase calibration errors on VSA
data during summer observations. We also consider the parameter estimation
method of each group. The key difference is the use of the variance window
function in place of the bandpower window function, an approximation used by
the VSA group. A re-evaluation of the VSA parameter estimates, using bandpower
windows, shows that the two methods yield consistent results.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Final version. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Searching for non-Gaussianity in the VSA data
We have tested Very Small Array (VSA) observations of three regions of sky
for the presence of non-Gaussianity, using high-order cumulants, Minkowski
functionals, a wavelet-based test and a Bayesian joint power
spectrum/non-Gaussianity analysis. We find the data from two regions to be
consistent with Gaussianity. In the third region, we obtain a 96.7% detection
of non-Gaussianity using the wavelet test. We perform simulations to
characterise the tests, and conclude that this is consistent with expected
residual point source contamination. There is therefore no evidence that this
detection is of cosmological origin. Our simulations show that the tests would
be sensitive to any residual point sources above the data's source subtraction
level of 20 mJy. The tests are also sensitive to cosmic string networks at an
rms fluctuation level of (i.e. equivalent to the best-fit observed
value). They are not sensitive to string-induced fluctuations if an equal rms
of Gaussian CDM fluctuations is added, thereby reducing the fluctuations due to
the strings network to rms . We especially highlight the usefulness
of non-Gaussianity testing in eliminating systematic effects from our data.Comment: Minor corrections; accepted for publication to MNRA
Observations of Mg II Absorption Near z ~ 1 Galaxies Selected From The DEEP2 Redshift Survey
We study the frequency of Mg II absorption in the outer haloes of galaxies at
z = 0.6 - 1.4 (with median z = 0.87), using new spectra obtained of ten
background quasars with galaxy impact parameters of b < 100 kpc. The quasar
sightlines were selected from the SDSS DR6 QSO catalog based on proximity to
galaxies in the DEEP2 redshift survey. In addition to the 10 small impact
systems, we examine 40 additional galaxies at 100 < b < 500 kpc serendipitously
located in the same fields. We detect Mg II absorbers with equivalent width W_r
= 0.15 A - 1.0 A, though not all absorbers correlate with DEEP galaxies. We
find five unique absorbers within \Delta v = 500 km/s and b < 100 kpc of a DEEP
galaxy; this small sample contains both early and late type galaxies and has no
obvious trends with star formation rate. No Mg II is detected more than 100 kpc
from galaxies; inside this radius the covering fraction scales with impact
parameter and galaxy luminosity in very similar fashion to samples studied at
lower redshift. In all but one case, when Mg II is detected without a
spectroscopically confirmed galaxy, there exists a plausible photometric
candidate which was excluded because of slit collision or apparent magnitude.
We do not detect any strong absorbers with W_r > 1.0 A, consistent with other
samples of galaxy-selected Mg II systems. We speculate that Mg II systems with
0.3 < W_r < 1.0 trace old relic material from galactic outflows and/or the halo
assembly process, and that in contrast, systems with large W_r are more likely
to reflect the more recent star forming history of their associated galaxies.Comment: 19 pages, 19 figures, accepted to ApJ; v2 fixed minor error
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