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Understanding individuals’ decisions about vaccination: a comparison between Expected Utility and Regret Theory models
Modelling alternative strategies for delivering hepatitis B vaccine in prisons : the impact on the vaccination coverage of the injecting drug user population
Since 2001 hepatitis B vaccination has been offered to prisoners on reception into prisons in
England and Wales. However, short campaigns of vaccinating the entire population of individual
prisons have achieved high vaccination coverage for limited periods, suggesting that short
campaigns may be a preferable way of vaccinating prisoners. A model is used that describes the
flow of prisoners through prisons stratified by injecting status to compare a range of vaccination
scenarios that describe vaccination on prison reception or via regular short campaigns. Model
results suggest that vaccinating on prison reception can capture a greater proportion of the
injecting drug user (IDU) population than the comparable campaign scenarios (63% vs. 55 . 6%
respectively). Vaccination on prison reception is also more efficient at capturing IDUs for
vaccination than vaccination via a campaign, although vaccination via campaigns may have a
role with some infections for overall control
Modelling the hepatitis B vaccination programme in prisons
A vaccination programme offering hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine at reception into prison has been introduced into selected prisons in England and Wales. Over the coming years it is anticipated this vaccination programme will be extended. A model has been developed to assess the potential impact of the programme on the vaccination coverage of prisoners, ex-prisoners, and injecting drug users (IDUs). Under a range of coverage scenarios, the model predicts the change over time in the vaccination status of new entrants to prison, current prisoners and IDUs in the community. The model predicts that at baseline in 2012 57% of the IDU population will be vaccinated with up to 72% being vaccinated depending on the vaccination scenario implemented. These results are sensitive to the size of the IDU population in England and Wales and the average time served by an IDU during each prison visit. IDUs that do not receive HBV vaccine in the community are at increased risk from HBV infection. The HBV vaccination programme in prisons is an effective way of vaccinating this hard-to-reach population although vaccination coverage on prison reception must be increased to achieve this
The Diverse Infrared Properties of a Complete Sample of Star-Forming Dwarf Galaxies
We present mid-infrared Spitzer Space Telescope observations of a complete
sample of star-forming dwarf galaxies selected from the KPNO International
Spectroscopic Survey. The galaxies span a wide range in mid-infrared
properties. Contrary to expectations, some of the galaxies emit strongly at 8
micron indicating the presence of hot dust and/or PAHs. The ratio of this
mid-infrared dust emission to the stellar emission is compared with the
galaxies' luminosity, star-formation rate, metallicity, and optical reddening.
We find that the strength of the 8.0 micron dust emission to the stellar
emission ratio is more strongly correlated with the star-formation rate than it
is with the metallicity or the optical reddening in these systems. Nonetheless,
there is a correlation between the 8.0 micron luminosity and metallicity. The
slope of this luminosity-metallicity correlation is shallower than
corresponding ones in the B-band and 3.6 micron. The precise nature of the 8.0
micron emission seen in these galaxies (i.e., PAH versus hot dust or some
combination of the two) will require future study, including deep mid-IR
spectroscopy.Comment: 14 pages, accepted Ap
Antibody responses to nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae in adults: A longitudinal household study
Background. Natural immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae is thought to be induced by exposure to S. pneumoniae or cross-reactive antigens. No longitudinal studies of carriage of and immune responses to S. pneumoniae have been conducted using sophisticated immunological laboratory techniques.Methods. We enrolled 121 families with young children into this study. Nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs were collected monthly for 10 months from all family members and were cultured in a standard fashion. Cultured S. pneumoniae isolates were serotyped. At the beginning (month 0) and end (month 10) of the study, venous blood was collected from family members 118 years old. Serotype-specific antipolysaccharide immunoglobulin G (IgG) and functional antibody and antibodies to pneumolysin, pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA), and pneumococcal surface antigen A (PsaA) were measured in paired serum samples.Results. Levels of anticapsular IgG increased significantly after carriage of serotypes 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, and 23F by an individual or family member. For serotype 14, a higher level of anticapsular IgG at the beginning of the study was associated with reduced odds of carriage (P = .0006). There was a small (similar to 20%) but significant increase in titers of antibodies to PsaA and pneumolysin but no change in titers of antibody to PspA.Conclusions. Adults respond to NP carriage by mounting anticapsular and weak antiprotein antibody responses, and naturally induced anticapsular IgG can prevent carriage
An Old Cluster in NGC 6822
We present spectroscopy of two clusters in the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC
6822. From these we deduce an age for Cluster VII of 11 Gyr and [Fe/H] = -1.95
+/- 0.15 dex. Cluster VII appears to be an analog of the metal-poor galactic
globular clusters. Cluster VI is found to be much younger and more metal rich,
with an age of approximately 2 Gyr. Its derived metallicity, [Fe/H], of
approximately -1.0 dex is comparable to that of the gas seen today in NGC 6822.
The existence of a metal-poor old cluster in NGC 6822 rules out models for the
chemical evolution of this galaxy with significant prompt initial enhancement.
We find that a star formation rate which is constant with time and is within a
factor of two of the present star formation rate can reproduce the two points
on the age-metallicity relationship for NGC 6822 over the past 10 Gyr defined
by these two clusters.Comment: 8 pages; accepted for publication in A
Homogeneous AlGaN/GaN superlattices grown on free-standing (1(1)over-bar00) GaN substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy
Two-dimensional and homogeneous growth of m-plane AlGaN by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy has been realized on free-standing (1 (1) over bar 00) GaN substrates by implementing high metal-to-nitrogen (III/N) flux ratio. AlN island nucleation, often reported for m-plane AlGaN under nitrogen-rich growth conditions, is suppressed at high III/N flux ratio, highlighting the important role of growth kinetics for adatom incorporation. The homogeneity and microstructure of m-plane AlGaN/GaN superlattices are assessed via a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The predominant defects identified in dark field TEM characterization are short basal plane stacking faults (SFs) bounded by either Frank-Shockley or Frank partial dislocations. In particular, the linear density of SFs is approximately 5 x 10(-5) cm(-1), and the length of SFs is less than 15 nm. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC
The dicey dinner dilemma : asymmetry in predator-prey risk-taking, a broadly-applicable alternative to the life-dinner principle
RKH is grateful to both the University of St Andrews and the Perry Foundation for funding.Forty years ago, the ‘life‐dinner principle’ was proposed as an example of an asymmetry that may lead prey species to experience stronger selection than their predators, thus accounting for the high frequency with which prey escape alive from interaction with a predator. This principle remains an influential concept in the scientific literature, despite several works suggesting that the concept relies on many under‐appreciated assumptions and does not apply as generally as was initially proposed. Here, we present a novel model describing a very different asymmetry to that proposed in the life‐dinner principle, but one that could apply broadly. We argue that asymmetries between the relative costs and benefits to predators and prey of selecting a risky behaviour during an extended predator–prey encounter could lead to an enhanced likelihood of escape for the prey. Any resulting advantage to prey depends upon there being a behaviour or choice that introduces some inherent danger to both predator and prey if they adopt it, but which if the prey adopts the predator must match in order to have a chance of successful predation. We suggest that the circumstances indicated by our model could apply broadly across diverse taxa, including both risky spatial or behavioural choices.PostprintPeer reviewe
Pseudospectra in non-Hermitian quantum mechanics
We propose giving the mathematical concept of the pseudospectrum a central
role in quantum mechanics with non-Hermitian operators. We relate
pseudospectral properties to quasi-Hermiticity, similarity to self-adjoint
operators, and basis properties of eigenfunctions. The abstract results are
illustrated by unexpected wild properties of operators familiar from
PT-symmetric quantum mechanics.Comment: version accepted for publication in J. Math. Phys.: criterion
excluding basis property (Proposition 6) added, unbounded time-evolution
discussed, new reference
Scaling Relations of Dwarf Galaxies without Supernova-Driven Winds
Nearby dwarf galaxies exhibit tight correlations between their global stellar
and dynamical properties, such as circular velocity, mass-to-light ratio,
stellar mass, surface brightness, and metallicity. Such correlations have often
been attributed to gas or metal-rich outflows driven by supernova energy
feedback to the interstellar medium. We use high-resolution cosmological
simulations of high-redshift galaxies with and without energy feedback, as well
as analytic modeling, to investigate whether the observed correlations can
arise without supernova-driven outflows. We find that the simulated dwarf
galaxies exhibit correlations similar to those observed as early as z~10,
regardless of whether supernova feedback is included. We also show that the
correlations can be well reproduced by our analytic model that accounts for
realistic gas inflow but assumes no outflows, and star formation rate obeying
the Kennicutt-Schmidt law with a critical density threshold. We argue that
correlations in simulated galaxies arise due to the increasingly inefficient
conversion of gas into stars in low-mass dwarf galaxies rather than
supernova-driven outflows. We also show that the decrease of the observed
effective yield in low-mass objects, often used as an indicator of gas and
metal outflows, can be reasonably reproduced in our simulations without
outflows. We show that this trend can arise if a significant fraction of metals
in small galaxies is spread to the outer regions of the halo outside the
stellar extent via mixing. In this case the effective yield can be
significantly underestimated if only metals within the stellar radius are taken
into account. Measurements of gas metallicity in the outskirts of gaseous disks
of dwarfs would thus provide a key test of such explanation.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ, 19 pages, 12 figures, uses
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