Process, Ideology, and Willingness to Pay for Reducing Childhood Poverty

We investigated the perceived value of government programs on early-childhood development as a means of reducing childhood poverty. We incorporated preferences for the process as well as the outcome by developing two stated-preference survey instruments. One survey directly elicited respondents’ willingness to pay specifically for high-quality, intensive, early-childhood development programs at federal and state levels. A second survey elicited respondents’ preferences for increasing or decreasing taxes and reallocating expenditures between other government programs and early-childhood programs. We found that respondents cared greatly about how childhood poverty was reduced, not just reducing poverty per se. The perceived effectiveness of a program and ideological perspective were found to be important determinants of preferences for a poverty-reduction program. Respondents across all groups, including conservatives and respondents who perceived the effectiveness of early-childhood programs to be low, were not in favor of reducing the early-childhood program.</jats:p

Effect of Ebola virus proteins GP, NP and VP35 on VP40 VLP morphology

Recently we described a role for Ebola virus proteins, NP, GP, and VP35 in enhancement of VP40 VLP budding. To explore the possibility that VLP structure was altered by co-expression of EBOV proteins leading to the observed enhancement of VP40 VLP budding, we performed density gradient analysis as well as electron microscopy studies. Our data suggest that VP40 is the major determinant of VLP morphology, as co-expression of NP, GP and VP35 did not significantly change VLP density, length, and diameter. Ultra-structural changes were noted in the core of the VLPs when NP was co-expressed with VP40. Overall, these findings indicate that major changes in morphology of VP40 VLPs were likely not responsible for enhanced budding of VP40 VLPs in the presence of GP, NP and/or VP35

Correction to:What Can Discrete-Choice Experiments Tell Us about Patient Preferences? An Introduction to Quantitative Analysis of Choice Data (The Patient - Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, (2024), 10.1007/s40271-024-00705-7)

In this article the wrong figure appeared as Fig. 2; the figure should have appeared as shown below. (Figure presented.) a Example dummycoded preference-weight estimates; fully categorical model. b Example effect-coded preference-weight estimates; fully categorical model The original article has been corrected.</p

Quantifying Women's Stated Benefit–Risk Trade-Off Preferences for IBS Treatment Outcomes

Background: The Food and Drug Administration, currently, is exploring quantitative benefit–risk methods to support regulatory decision-making. A scientifically valid method for assessing patients' benefit–risk trade-off preferences is needed to compare risks and benefits in a common metric. Objectives: The study aims to quantify the maximum acceptable risk (MAR) of treatment-related adverse events (AEs) that women with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are willing to accept in exchange for symptom relief. Methods: Research design: A stated-choice survey was used to elicit trade-off preferences among constructed treatment profiles, each defined by symptom severity and treatment-related AEs. Symptom attributes included frequency of abdominal pain and discomfort, frequency of diarrhea, and frequency of urgency. AE attributes included frequency of mild-to-moderate constipation and the risk of four possible serious AEs. Subjects: A Web-enabled survey was administered to 589 female US residents at least 18 years of age with a self-reported diagnosis of diarrhea-predominant IBS. Measures: Preference weights and MAR were estimated using mixed-logit methods. Results: Subjects were willing to accept higher risks of serious AEs in return for treatments offering better symptom control. For an improvement from the lowest to the highest of four benefit levels, subjects were willing to tolerate a 2.65% increase in impacted-bowel risk, but only a 1.34% increase in perforated-bowel risk. Conclusions: Variation in MARs across AE types is consistent with the relative seriousness of the AEs. Stated-preference methods offer a scientifically valid approach to quantifying benefit–risk trade-off preferences that can be used to inform regulatory decision-making

High-Fidelity Readout in Circuit Quantum Electrodynamics Using the Jaynes-Cummings Nonlinearity

We demonstrate a qubit readout scheme that exploits the Jaynes-Cummings nonlinearity of a superconducting cavity coupled to transmon qubits. We find that in the strongly-driven dispersive regime of this system, there is the unexpected onset of a high-transmission "bright" state at a critical power which depends sensitively on the initial qubit state. A simple and robust measurement protocol exploiting this effect achieves a single-shot fidelity of 87% using a conventional sample design and experimental setup, and at least 61% fidelity to joint correlations of three qubits.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Ebola Virus Localization in the Macaque Reproductive Tract during Acute Ebola Virus Disease.

Sexual transmission of Ebola virus (EBOV) has been demonstrated more than a year after recovery from the acute phase of Ebola virus disease (EVD). The mechanisms underlying EBOV persistence and sexual transmission are not currently understood. Using the acute macaque model of EVD, we hypothesized EBOV would infect the reproductive tissues and sought to localize the infection in these tissues using immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. In four female and eight male macaques that succumbed to EVD between 6 and 9 days after EBOV challenge, we demonstrate widespread EBOV infection of the interstitial tissues and endothelium in the ovary, uterus, testis, seminal vesicle, epididymis, and prostate gland, with minimal associated tissue immune response or organ pathology. Given the widespread involvement of EBOV in the reproductive tracts of both male and female macaques, it is reasonable to surmise that our understanding of the mechanisms underlying sexual transmission of EVD and persistence of EBOV in immune-privileged sites would be facilitated by the development of a nonhuman primate model in which the macaques survived past the acute stage into convalescence

Linear vs. nonlinear effects for nonlinear Schrodinger equations with potential

We review some recent results on nonlinear Schrodinger equations with potential, with emphasis on the case where the potential is a second order polynomial, for which the interaction between the linear dynamics caused by the potential, and the nonlinear effects, can be described quite precisely. This includes semi-classical regimes, as well as finite time blow-up and scattering issues. We present the tools used for these problems, as well as their limitations, and outline the arguments of the proofs.Comment: 20 pages; survey of previous result

COVID-19 Health Preference Research: 4 Lessons Learned

Like the rest of the world, the pandemic has reshaped the lives and livelihoods of scientists in the health economics and outcomes research community. Many investigators in health preference research reacted by conducting empirical studies to better understand the value of health and health-related alternatives affected by COVID-19. The group identified 18 health preference studies currently under review or ongoing. On 17 June 2020, the first COVID-19 health preference research roundtable was held as an open meeting of the minds, allowing a healthy exchange of ideas between these study teams and other attendees interested in the area. From that discussion, this summary characterizes the state of science for the broader scientific community and for regulators and other decision makers looking for preference evidence regarding COVID-19

Effects of simplifying choice tasks on estimates of taste heterogeneity in stated-choice surveys

Researchers usually employ orthogonal arrays or D-optimal designs with little or no attribute overlap in stated-choice surveys. The challenge is to balance statistical efficiency and respondent burden to minimize the overall error in the survey responses. This study examined whether simplifying the choice task, by using a design with more overlap, provides advantages over standard minimum-overlap methods. We administered two designs for eliciting HIV test preferences to split samples. Surveys were undertaken at four HIV testing locations in San Francisco, California. Personal characteristics had different effects on willingness to pay for the two treatments, and gains in statistical efficiency in the minimal-overlap version more than compensated for possible imprecision from increased measurement error