682 research outputs found
Adiabatic reduction near a bifurcation in stochastically modulated systems
We re-examine the procedure of adiabatic elimination of fast relaxing
variables near a bifurcation point when some of the parameters of the system
are stochastically modulated. Approximate stationary solutions of the
Fokker-Planck equation are obtained near threshold for the pitchfork and
transcritical bifurcations. Stochastic resonance between fast variables and
random modulation may shift the effective bifurcation point by an amount
proportional to the intensity of the fluctuations. We also find that
fluctuations of the fast variables above threshold are not always Gaussian and
centered around the (deterministic) center manifold as was previously believed.
Numerical solutions obtained for a few illustrative examples support these
conclusions.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages and 16 figure
Potential population-level effectiveness of one-dose HPV vaccination in low-income and middle-income countries: a mathematical modelling analysis
BACKGROUND: Given the accumulating evidence that one-dose vaccination could provide high and sustained protection against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and related diseases, we examined the population-level effectiveness and efficiency of one-dose HPV vaccination of girls compared with two-dose vaccination, using mathematical modelling. METHODS: In this mathematical modelling study, we used HPV-ADVISE LMIC, an individual-based transmission-dynamic model independently calibrated to four epidemiologically diverse low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs; India, Nigeria, Uganda, and Viet Nam). We parameterised and calibrated the model using sexual behaviour and epidemiological data identified from international population-based datasets and the literature. All base-case vaccination scenarios start in 2023 with the nonavalent vaccine and assumed 80% vaccination coverage with one or two doses. We assumed that two doses of vaccine provide 100% efficacy against vaccine-type infections and a lifelong duration of protection. We examined a non-inferior vaccination scenario for one dose compared with two doses, pessimistic scenarios of lower one-dose vaccine efficacy (85%) or a shorter duration of protection (ie, 20 or 30 years), and the effectiveness of a mitigation scenario in which schedules would switch from one dose to two doses. We also did sensitivity analyses by varying vaccination coverage. We used three outcomes: the relative reduction in cervical cancer incidence, the number of cervical cancers averted, and the number of vaccine doses needed to prevent one cervical cancer. FINDINGS: Assuming non-inferior vaccine characteristics for one dose compared with two doses, the model projections show that two-dose or one-dose routine vaccination of girls aged 9 years (with a multi-age cohort vaccination of girls aged 10-14 years) would avert 12·0 million (80% UI 9·5-14·5) cervical cancers in India, 4·7 million (3·4-5·8) in Nigeria, 2·3 million (1·9-2·6) in Uganda, and 0·4 million (0·2-0·5) in Viet Nam over 100 years. Under pessimistic assumptions of lower one-dose efficacy (85%) or a shorter duration of protection (ie, 30 years), one-dose routine vaccination would avert 69% (61-80) to 94% (92-96) of the cervical cancers averted with two-dose routine vaccination. However, when assuming a duration of protection of 20 years, one-dose routine vaccination would avert substantially fewer cervical cancers (ie, 35% [26-44] to 69% [65-71] of the cervical cancers averted with two-dose routine vaccination). A switch from one-dose to two-dose routine vaccination of girls aged 9 years, with a one-dose catch-up of girls aged 10-14 years, 5 years after the start of the vaccination programme, could mitigate potential losses in cervical cancer prevention from a short one-dose duration of protection (averting 92% [83-98] to 99% [97-100]) of the cervical cancers averted with two-dose routine vaccination). One-dose routine vaccination would result in fewer doses needed to prevent one cervical cancer than two-dose routine vaccination, even if the duration of protection is as low as 20 years. Finally, for countries with two-dose routine vaccination, adding one-dose multi-age cohort vaccination in the first year would provide similar benefits as a two-dose multi-age cohort vaccination, and would be more efficient even under the pessimistic assumptions of lower one-dose vaccine efficacy or duration of protection. INTERPRETATION: One-dose routine vaccination could avert most of the cervical cancers averted with two-dose vaccination while being more efficient, provided the duration of one-dose protection is greater than 20-30 years (depending on the LMIC). The doses saved by introducing one-dose routine vaccination could offer the opportunity to vaccinate girls before they age out of the vaccination window of 9-14 years and, potentially, to vaccinate boys or older age groups. FUNDING: Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé, Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Grain boundary pinning and glassy dynamics in stripe phases
We study numerically and analytically the coarsening of stripe phases in two
spatial dimensions, and show that transient configurations do not achieve long
ranged orientational order but rather evolve into glassy configurations with
very slow dynamics. In the absence of thermal fluctuations, defects such as
grain boundaries become pinned in an effective periodic potential that is
induced by the underlying periodicity of the stripe pattern itself. Pinning
arises without quenched disorder from the non-adiabatic coupling between the
slowly varying envelope of the order parameter around a defect, and its fast
variation over the stripe wavelength. The characteristic size of ordered
domains asymptotes to a finite value $R_g \sim \lambda_0\
\epsilon^{-1/2}\exp(|a|/\sqrt{\epsilon})\epsilon\ll 1\lambda_0a$ a constant of order unity. Random fluctuations allow defect motion to
resume until a new characteristic scale is reached, function of the intensity
of the fluctuations. We finally discuss the relationship between defect pinning
and the coarsening laws obtained in the intermediate time regime.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. Corrected version with one new figur
New Method for Phase transitions in diblock copolymers: The Lamellar case
A new mean-field type theory is proposed to study order-disorder transitions
(ODT) in block copolymers. The theory applies to both the weak segregation (WS)
and the strong segregation (SS) regimes. A new energy functional is proposed
without appealing to the random phase approximation (RPA). We find new terms
unaccounted for within RPA. We work out in detail transitions to the lamellar
state and compare the method to other existing theories of ODT and numerical
simulations. We find good agreements with recent experimental results and
predict that the intermediate segregation regime may have more than one scaling
behavior.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
Orientations of the lamellar phase of block copolymer melts under oscillatory shear flow
We develop a theory to describe the reorientation phenomena in the lamellar
phase of block copolymer melt under reciprocating shear flow. We show that
similar to the steady-shear, the oscillating flow anisotropically suppresses
fluctuations and gives rise to the parallel-perpendicular orientation
transition. The experimentally observed high-frequency reverse transition is
explained in terms of interaction between the melt and the shear-cell walls.Comment: RevTex, 3 pages, 1 figure, submitted to PR
Phase diagram for diblock copolymer melts under cylindrical confinement
We extensively study the phase diagram of a diblock copolymer melt confined
in a cylindrical nanopore using real-space self-consistent mean-field theory.
We discover a rich variety of new two-dimensional equilibrium structures that
have no analog in the unconfined system. These include non-hexagonally
coordinated cylinder phases and structures intermediate between lamellae and
cylinders. We map the stability regions and phase boundaries for all the
structures we find. As the pore radius is decreased, the pore accommodates
fewer cylindrical domains and structural transitions occur as cylinders are
eliminated. Our results are consistent with experiments, but we also predict
phases yet to be observed.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. submitted to Physical Review Letter
Ordering of the lamellar phase under a shear flow
The dynamics of a system quenched into a state with lamellar order and
subject to an uniform shear flow is solved in the large-N limit. The
description is based on the Brazovskii free-energy and the evolution follows a
convection-diffusion equation. Lamellae order preferentially with the normal
along the vorticity direction. Typical lengths grow as (with
logarithmic corrections) in the flow direction and logarithmically in the shear
direction. Dynamical scaling holds in the two-dimensional case while it is
violated in D=3
Assessing changes in anxiety, empowerment, stigma and wellbeing in participants attending an online-based recovery college in Quebec during the Covid-19 pandemic: A pre-experimental study
Objectives:
The present study aims to evaluate the effect of an online Recovery College (RC) program implemented in Quebec (Canada) during the COVID-19 pandemic. From October 2020 to June 2021, 27 training groups were conducted with a total of 362 attendees.
Methods:
Outcome was evaluated using a single group repeated measure design, assessing participants prior the training (T0), after the training (T1) and at follow up (T2). 107 learners of the Quebec RC program attended three two-hour sessions agreed to participate to the research.
Results:
Overall findings show at T1 a small but statistically significant reduction of anxiety and increase in empowerment, and below threshold reduction of stigmatizing attitudes and increase of wellbeing. Conversely, the medium-term changes at follow up were non-significant for all the outcome dimension except for anxiety.
Conclusion:
Findings suggest that the RC online program can be considered as a potential effective strategy to support self-regulation and empowerment of individuals and to reduce anxiety in the context of crisis for the general population
Sharp interface limits of phase-field models
The use of continuum phase-field models to describe the motion of
well-defined interfaces is discussed for a class of phenomena, that includes
order/disorder transitions, spinodal decomposition and Ostwald ripening,
dendritic growth, and the solidification of eutectic alloys. The projection
operator method is used to extract the ``sharp interface limit'' from phase
field models which have interfaces that are diffuse on a length scale . In
particular,phase-field equations are mapped onto sharp interface equations in
the limits and , where and are
respectively the interface curvature and velocity and is the diffusion
constant in the bulk. The calculations provide one general set of sharp
interface equations that incorporate the Gibbs-Thomson condition, the
Allen-Cahn equation and the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang equation.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure
Young in Class: Implications for Inattentive/Hyperactive Behaviour of Canadian Boys and Girls
Using data from the Statistics Canada National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), this paper investigates the impact of school entry age on inattentive/hyperactive behaviours. We employ both a cross-provinces-time differences-in-differences approach, and a within-province regression discontinuity design. We find that being young in class causes greater inattentive/hyperactive behaviour, exacerbating any inattentive/hyperactive behavior exhibited prior to school entry. These results also also hold in sibling fixed effect models. Though we do not find gender differences in the effects, because boys are more likely to be inattentive/hyperactive at school entry, they are more affected. These effects persist into early adolescence
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