Adverse events following influenza immunization reported by healthcare personnel using active surveillance based on text messages

Studies have demonstrated that healthcare personnel (HCP) have concerns about the potential side effects of trivalent inactivate influenza vaccine (IIV3).1-3 A recent metaanalysis of reasons HCP refuse IIV3 indicates the strongest predictors of vaccine acceptance are belief that the vaccine is safe and belief the vaccine does not cause the disease it is meant to prevent.

Performance Characterization of the Dual-Recycled Michelson Subsystem in Advanced LIGO

General relativity predicts the existence of gravitational waves as ripples in spacetime propagating at the speed of light. They couple to matter weakly, which implies only cataclysmic cosmic events generating such waves can be detected. Binary neutron star coalescences are, for example, one of the most promising detectable source. Their weak coupling also implies that very sensitive instruments are needed to detect them, and the most sensitive so far have been laser interferometers with km-scale arms. The Laser Interferometric Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) is exactly such an instrument, and the most sensitive in the world to the date of this dissertation. It operates two identical interferometers, one in Hanford, WA and one in Livingston, LA. I will present noise studies on two different topics.First, studies of environmental effects in the enhanced LIGO detector era (2008-2010) for both sites, showing that stationary ambient environmental noise did not limit the sensitivity at the time. After enhanced LIGO, advanced LIGO began installation, where all hardware was replaced except the enclosing vacuum system. The expected improvement in sensitivity is designed to be tenfold, which results in a factor of a thousand in the volume of space from where a source could be detected. This dissertation then focuses on a sub-configuration of advanced LIGO, the dual-recycled Michelson interferometer (DRMI), which is the LIGO instrument without the 4km arms. I will expose in detail the length sensing and control scheme which is the cornerstone of LIGO\u27s ability to provide a linear gravitational wave readout. We model the behavior of the instrument in order to identify key commissioning targets. I will present models and measurements I performed at the Livingston Observatory for assessing two main topics: the sensing performance and the noise couplings in the DRMI. This work has only been possible with the support from the NSF grants NSF-PHY 0905184 and 1205882

Correlated noise in networks of gravitational-wave detectors: subtraction and mitigation

One of the key science goals of advanced gravitational-wave detectors is to observe a stochastic gravitational-wave background. However, recent work demonstrates that correlated magnetic fields from Schumann resonances can produce correlated strain noise over global distances, potentially limiting the sensitivity of stochastic background searches with advanced detectors. In this paper, we estimate the correlated noise budget for the worldwide Advanced LIGO network and conclude that correlated noise may affect upcoming measurements. We investigate the possibility of a Wiener filtering scheme to subtract correlated noise from Advanced LIGO searches, and estimate the required specifications. We also consider the possibility that residual correlated noise remains following subtraction, and we devise an optimal strategy for measuring astronomical parameters in the presence of correlated noise. Using this new formalism, we estimate the loss of sensitivity for a broadband, isotropic stochastic background search using 1 yr of LIGO data at design sensitivity. Given our current noise budget, the uncertainty with which LIGO can estimate energy density will likely increase by a factor of ~4--if it is impossible to achieve significant subtraction. Additionally, narrowband cross-correlation searches may be severely affected at low frequencies f < 45 Hz without effective subtraction.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Interactions of insect herbivory and multiple abiotic stress agents on two wetland tree species in southeast Louisiana swamps

Forested wetlands in Louisiana are hydrologically isolated from the Mississippi River, impounded by manmade structures, impacted by saltwater intrusion, and are sinking, resulting in more frequent flooding for longer periods. Additionally, defoliation of the two dominant trees, baldcypress (Taxodium distichum L. Rich) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.), occur frequently during spring. In Louisiana, the baldcypress leafroller, BCLR, (Archips goyerana Kruse) and the forest tent caterpillar, FTC, (Malacosoma disstria Hubner) defoliate up to 120,000ha of baldcypress-tupelo swamps. Restoration plans call for reintroducing Mississippi River water (diversions) to increase sediment elevation, promote natural regeneration, and enhance primary and secondary productivity. In this study, insect-tree-health relationships were evaluated in field and in multifactor, greenhouse and larval rearing experiments incorporating these environmental stressors and nutrient enhancements under simulated diversion conditions. It was ascertained from three field sites of varying tree density/health in Lake Maurepas swamps that nutrient augmentation (similar to N and P loading rates expected from 8000cfs diversion) increased stem growth of both tree species (more for cypress than tupelo) at moderately degraded sites. Nutrient augmentation also increased nitrogen in foliage, insect frass (insect feces), spring-clipped leaves, and abscised litterfall at all sites for both tree species. Nitrogen content of canopy foliage and litterfall was positively correlated with site health. These findings support the hypotheses that the swamps in Lake Maurepas are nutrient limited, and the existing trees can utilize, benefit, and act as nutrient sinks for nutrient-laden river water accompanying diversions. Positive insect responses to nitrogen found in lab rearing assays and field studies that defoliators are receiving nitrogen augmentation, and insect field populations might increase, particularly the FTC. The greenhouse study demonstrated that the combination of nutrient deprivation and flooding lead to the “poor” sapling growth, which was similar to the growth in the salt-stressed (3ppt) saplings. Encouragingly, when fresh water and nutrients were supplied to saplings after prolonged stresses of defoliation, flooding, and salt stress, growth was restored. Taken collectively, these studies demonstrated that river diversions are viable management tools for improving health and productivity of declining forested wetlands

Formation of Alewife Concretions in Polluted Onondaga Lake

The previously reported finding of alewife concretions along the shores of Onondaga Lake in Upstate New York prompted investigation of the field conditions necessary for their formation and laboratory simulation of these conditions to induce concretion formation. Onondaga Lake is shown to be calcium-polluted and continuously supersaturated with respect to CaC03• Anaerobic conditions exist in the hypolimnion in approximately eight months of every year. In controlled laboratory experiments, formation of structure-retaining alewife concretions was successful under anaerobic conditions, and was enhanced by elevated calcium concentrations. Additional chemical analyses of fresh alewives, natural concretions and laboratory-formed concretions were performed. A previously proposed mechanism for concretion formation is evaluated with respect to the presented results. The common occurrence of alewife concretions in Onondaga Lake is a manifestation of the unique polluted state of the ecosystem, combined with the invasion of the lipid-rich alewife

Conspicuous Anti-Consumption? The Motives of Anti-Consumption and their Connection to Conspicuous Consumption

The conscious renunciation of different types of consumption is justified by various motives, such as the sustainability aspect. This fact suggests that motives are very different from the ones of conspicuous consumption. But is that true? The aim of the study is to examine whether the motives for anti-consumption can be found in the motives for conspicuous consumption. The research question therefore is: What motives lie behind anti-consumption, and can these motives be found in classical conspicuous consumption? As part of a qualitative study, eight in-depth interviews were conducted in order to generate a broad range of motives for different anti-consumption behaviors. In addition to previously deductively determined motives for the renunciation, the motives obtained from these interviews were then inductively summarized in a motive scheme and subsequently compared to the motives of classical conspicuous consumption. As a result, there is a connection between the motives of anti-consumption and the motives of conspicuous consumption. While the primary motives for anti-consumption are not related to conspicuous consumption motives, there are secondary motives (supporting the primary motives) for anti-consumption that can also be assigned to conspicuous consumption. This implies that some kind of “conspicuous anti-consumption” is part of today's consumer culture

EbolaTracks: an automated SMS system for monitoring persons potentially exposed to Ebola virus disease

We report development and implementation of a short message service (SMS)-based system to facilitate active monitoring of persons potentially exposed to Ebola virus disease (EVD), whether returning from EVD-affected countries, or contacts of local cases, should they occur. The system solicits information on symptoms and temperature twice daily. We demonstrated proof-of-concept; however this system would likely be even more useful where there are many local contacts to confirmed EVD cases or travellers from EVD-affected countries

Noise in the LIGO Livingston Gravitational Wave Observatory due to Trains

Environmental seismic disturbances limit the sensitivity of LIGO gravitational wave detectors. Trains near the LIGO Livingston detector produce low frequency (0.5-10 Hz) ground noise that couples into the gravitational wave sensitive frequency band (10-100 Hz) through light reflected in mirrors and other surfaces. We investigate the effect of trains during the Advanced LIGO third observing run, and propose a method to search for narrow band seismic frequencies responsible for contributing to increases in scattered light. Through the use of the linear regression tool Lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) and glitch correlations, we identify the most common seismic frequencies that correlate with increases in detector noise as 0.6-0.8 Hz, 1.7-1.9 Hz, 1.8-2.0 Hz, and 2.3-2.5 Hz in the LIGO Livingston corner station.Comment: 18 pages (including bibliography), 17 figures, 2 tables, and 1 appendix. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit

Enhancing Public Health Surveillance for Influenza Virus by Incorporating Newly Available Rapid Diagnostic Tests

Beginning with the 1999-2000 influenza season, physicians throughout Hawaii ordering a viral culture for patients with suspected influenza were also offered influenza rapid testing. We compared the number of viral respiratory cultures sent to the Hawaii Department of Health and the number of providers who participated in influenza surveillance over consecutive influenza seasons. The number of viral respiratory cultures rose from 396 to 2,169 between the 1998-1999 and 2000-2001 influenza seasons, and the number of providers submitting >1 influenza culture increased from 34 to 327, respectively. The number of influenza isolates obtained each season also increased (from 64 to 491). The available data suggest that the changes observed in Hawaii’s influenza surveillance were not secondary to differences in influenza activity between seasons. This is the first evaluation of integrating influenza rapid testing into public health surveillance. Coupling rapid tests with cultures appears to be an effective means of improving influenza surveillance