5,410 research outputs found
A Method for Reducing the Severity of Epidemics by Allocating Vaccines According to Centrality
One long-standing question in epidemiological research is how best to
allocate limited amounts of vaccine or similar preventative measures in order
to minimize the severity of an epidemic. Much of the literature on the problem
of vaccine allocation has focused on influenza epidemics and used mathematical
models of epidemic spread to determine the effectiveness of proposed methods.
Our work applies computational models of epidemics to the problem of
geographically allocating a limited number of vaccines within several Texas
counties. We developed a graph-based, stochastic model for epidemics that is
based on the SEIR model, and tested vaccine allocation methods based on
multiple centrality measures. This approach provides an alternative method for
addressing the vaccine allocation problem, which can be combined with more
conventional approaches to yield more effective epidemic suppression
strategies. We found that allocation methods based on in-degree and inverse
betweenness centralities tended to be the most effective at containing
epidemics.Comment: 10 pages, accepted to ACM BCB 201
How linear features alter predator movement and the functional\ud response
In areas of oil and gas exploration, seismic lines have been reported to alter the movement patterns of wolves (Canis lupus). We developed a mechanistic first passage time model, based on an anisotropic elliptic partial differential equation, and used this to explore how wolf movement responses to seismic lines influence the encounter rate of the wolves with their prey. The model was parametrized using 5 min GPS location data. These data showed that wolves travelled faster on seismic lines and had a higher probability of staying on a seismic line once they were on it. We simulated wolf movement on a range of seismic line densities and drew implications for the rate of predatorâprey interactions as described by the functional response. The functional response exhibited a more than linear increase with respect to prey density (type III) as well as interactions with seismic line density. Encounter rates were significantly higher in landscapes with high seismic line density and were most pronounced at low prey densities. This suggests that prey at low population densities are at higher risk in environments with a high seismic line density unless they learn to avoid them
An improved cell-volume analyzer
Design and operation of cell-volume analyzer friction, glaze ice, and studded tire effects on highway
The First Detailed Abundances for M giants in Baade's Window from Infrared Spectroscopy
We report the first abundance analysis of 14 M giant stars in the Galactic
bulge, based on R=25,000 infrared spectroscopy (1.5-1.8um) using NIRSPEC at the
Keck II telescope. Because some of the bulge M giants reach high luminosities
and have very late spectral type, it has been suggested that they are the
progeny of only the most metal rich bulge stars, or possibly members of a
younger bulge population. We find the iron abundance and composition of the M
giants are similar to those of the K giants that have abundances determined
from optical high resolution spectroscopy: =-0.190 +/- 0.020 with a
1-sigma dispersion of 0.08 +/- 0.015. Comparing our bulge M giants to a control
sample of local disk M giants in the Solar vicinity, we find the bulge stars
are enhanced in alpha elements at the level of +0.3 dex relative to the Solar
composition stars, consistent with other studies of bulge globular clusters and
field stars. This small sample shows no dependence of spectral type on
metallicity, nor is there any indication that the M giants are the evolved
members of a subset of the bulge population endowed with special
characteristics such as relative youth or high metallicity. We also find low
12C/13C < 10, confirming the prsence of extra-mixing processes during the red
gaint phase of evolutionComment: 19 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Sphingolipid metabolism: roles in signal transduction and disruption by fumonisins.
Sphingolipids have important roles in membrane and lipoprotein structure and in cell regulation as second messengers for growth factors, differentiation factors, cytokines, and a growing list of agonists. Bioactive sphingolipids are formed both by the turnover of complex sphingolipids and as intermediates of sphingolipid biosynthesis. Usually, the amounts are highly regulated; however, by inhibiting ceramide synthase, fumonisins block the biosynthesis of complex sphingolipids and cause sphinganine (and sometimes sphingosine) to accumulate. Where the mechanism has been studied most thoroughly, the accumulation of sphingoid bases is a primary cause of the toxicity of fumonisin B (FB). Nonetheless, the full effects of fumonisins probably involve many biochemical events. The elevations in sphingoid bases also affect the amounts of other lipids, including the 1-phosphates and N-acetyl derivatives of sphinganine. Furthermore, the aminopentol backbone of FB1 (AP1) is both an inhibitor and a substrate for ceramide synthase, and the resultant N-palmitoyl-AP1 (PAP1) is an even more potent inhibitor of ceramide synthase (presumably as a product analog). PAP1 is 10 times more toxic than FB1 or AP1 for HT-29 cells in culture, and hence may play a role in the toxicity of nixtamalized fumonisins. All these processes--the effects of fumonisins on sphingolipid metabolism, the pathways altered by perturbation of sphingolipid metabolism, and the complex cellular behaviors regulated by sphingolipids--must be borne in mind when evaluating the pathologic effects of fumonisins
Mid-infrared spectra of late-type stars: Long-term evolution
Recent ground-based mid-infrared spectra of 29 late-type stars, most with
substantial dust shells, are compared to ground-based spectra of these stars
from the 1960s and 1970s and to IRAS-LRS spectra obtained in 1983. The spectra
of about half the stars show no detectable changes, implying that their
distributions of circumstellar material and associated dust grain properties
have changed little over this time interval. However, many of the stars with
strong silicate features showed marked changes. In nearly all cases the
silicate peak has strengthened with respect to the underlying continuum,
although there is one case (VY~CMa) in which the silicate feature has almost
completely disappeared. This suggests that, in general, an oxygen-rich star
experiences long periods of gradual silicate feature strengthening, punctuated
by relatively rare periods when the feature weakens. We discuss various
mechanisms for producing the changes, favoring the slow evolution of the
intrinsic dust properties (i.e., the chemical composition or grain structure).
Although most IRAS spectra agree well with ground-based spectra, there are a
number of cases where they fall well outside the expected range of uncertainty.
In almost all such cases the slopes of the red and blue LRS spectra do not
match in their region of overlap.Comment: Accepted in ApJ, 20 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
<i>âWhat retentionâ means to me</i>: the position of the adult learner in student retention
Studies of student retention and progression overwhelmingly appear adopt definitions that place the institution, rather than the student, at the centre. Retention is most often conceived in terms of linear and continuous progress between institutionally identified start and end points.
This paper reports on research that considered data from 38 in-depth interviews conducted with individuals who had characteristics often associated with non-traditional engagement in higher education who between 2006 and 2010 had studied an âIntroduction to HEâ module at one distance higher education institution, some of whom had progressed to further study at that institution, some of whom had not. The research deployed a life histories approach to seek a finer grained understanding of how individuals conceptualise their own learning journey and experience, in order to reflect on institutional conceptions of student retention.
The findings highlight potential anomalies hidden within institutional retention rates â large proportions of the interview participants who were not âretainedâ by the institution reported successful progression to and in other learning institutions and environments, both formal and informal. Nearly all described positive perspectives on lifelong learning which were either engendered or improved by the learning undertaken. This attests to the complexity of individualsâ lives and provides clear evidence that institution-centric definitions of retention and progression are insufficient to create truly meaningful understanding of successful individual learning journeys and experiences. It is argued that only through careful consideration of the lived experience of students and a re-conception of measures of retention, will we be able to offer real insight into improving student retention
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