Factors associated with vaccine intention in adults living in England who either did not want or had not yet decided to be vaccinated against COVID-19

Early studies showed that 28–36% of UK adults were unsure or unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We wanted to identify which socio-demographic, socio-economic, personal health and psychological factors were associated with COVID-19 vaccine intentions (CVI) in adults living in England who did not want, yet to consider, or not sure whether to vaccinate. In October/November 2020, prior to vaccine availability, we surveyed adults stratified by gender, region, and deprivation, with additional purposive sampling of those aged 50 and over and those from an ethnic minority. Two hundred and ten did not want; 407 had yet to consider; and 1,043 were not sure whether to be vaccinated. Factors positively associated with CVI were: favorable vaccine views, trust in institutions associated with vaccine approval, vaccine subjective norms, anticipated regret of not having a vaccine, perceived vaccine benefits, perceived safety knowledge sufficiency, and a history of having an influenza vaccine. Factors negatively associated were: anti-lockdown views, and being a health or social care worker. Whilst showing significant relationships with CVI when analyzed in isolation, neighborhood deprivation and ethnicity did show an independent relationship to intention when all study measures were controlled for. Our findings suggest vaccine promotion focusing on the anticipated regret of not having a vaccine, the benefits of a mass COVID-19 immunization program, and the safety of a vaccine whilst ensuring or engendering trust in those bodies that brand a campaign may be most supportive of COVID-19 vaccine uptake

Public understanding of COVID-19 antibody testing and test results: A qualitative study conducted in the U.K. early in the pandemic

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, antibody testing was proposed by several countries as a surveillance tool to monitor the spread of the virus and potentially to ease restrictions. In the UK, antibody testing originally formed the third pillar of the UK Government's COVID-19 testing programme and was thought to offer hope that those with a positive antibody test result could return to normal life. However, at that time scientists and the public had little understanding of the longevity of COVID-19 antibodies, and whether they provided immunity to reinfection or transmission of the virus. Objective: This paper explores the UK public's understanding of COVID-19 testing, perceived test accuracy, the meaning of a positive test result, willingness to adhere to restrictive measures in response to an antibody test result and how they expect other people to respond. Methods: On-line synchronous focus groups were conducted in April/May 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic and the most stringent period of the COVID-19 restrictive measures. Data were analysed thematically. Results: There was confusion in responses as to whether those with a positive or negative test should return to work and which restrictive measures would apply to them or their household members. Participants raised concerns about the wider public response to positive antibody test results and the adverse behavioural effects. There were worries that antibody tests could create a divided society particularly if those with a positive test result were given greater freedoms or chose to disregard the restrictive measures. Conclusion: Should these tests be offered more widely, information should be developed in consultation with the public to ensure clarity and address uncertainty about test results and subsequent behaviours

Tensile Properties of the Individual Phases in Unreacted Multifilament Nb3_{3}Sn Wires

The room temperature elastic and plastic properties under uniaxial tensile loading of the different phases of an un-reacted, internal-tin process, Nb$_{3}$Sn wire have been determined by tensile tests of whole wires and of extracted Ta, Nb and Nb alloy filaments, as well as by indentation hardness measurements in metallographic wire cross sections

The critical factors in producing high quality and policy-relevant research: insights from international behavioural science units

Background: There has been a rapid increase in the number of, and demand for, organisations offering behavioural science advice to government over the last ten years. Yet we know little of the state of science and the experiences of these evidence providers. / Aims and objectives: To identify current practice in this emerging field and the factors that impact on the production of high-quality and policy-relevant research. / Methods: A qualitative study using one-to-one interviews with representatives from a purposeful sample of 15 units in the vanguard of international behavioural science research in policy. The data were analysed thematically. / Findings: Relationships with policymakers were important in the inception of units, research conduct, implementation and dissemination of findings. Knowledge exchange facilitated a shared understanding of policy issues/context, and of behavioural science. Sufficient funding was crucial to maintain critical capacity in the units’ workforces, build a research portfolio beneficial to policymakers and the units, and to ensure full and transparent dissemination. / Discussion and conclusion: Findings highlight the positive impact of strong evidence-provider/user relationships and the importance of governments’ commitment to co-produced research programmes to address policy problems and transparency in the dissemination of methods and findings. From the findings we have created a framework, ‘STEPS’ (Sharing, Transparency, Engagement, Partnership, Strong relationships), of five recommendations for units working with policymakers. These findings will be of value to all researchers conducting research on behalf of government

Modélisation multi-échelle du comportement électrique de nano-composites Cu-Nb

Les fils composites nanostructurés et architecturés cuivre-niobium, qui sont de bons candidats pour la génération de champs magnétiques intenses, allient une limite d’élasticité élevée et une excellente conductivité électrique. Ils sont élaborés par co-déformation d’un assemblage composite Cu-Nb. La microstructure, multi-échelle, est formée de 853 motifs élémentaires de Cu-Nb de taille caractéristique nanométrique. Afin d’étudier le lien entre la conductivité électrique effective et la microstructure, deux méthodes d’homogénéisation sont appliquées : l’une, en champs moyens (modèle auto-cohérent généralisé), dans laquelle une microstructure formée de motifs co-cylindriques répartis aléatoirement est considérée, et l’autre, en champs complets (éléments finis), dans laquelle l’aspect périodique de la microstructure expérimentale est pris en compte. Les effets de la taille des constituants élémentaires (nm), de la température, ainsi que de la densité de dislocations, sur la conductivité locale sont considérés. Le caractère multi-échelle du matériau est pris en compte grâce à un processus itératif. Les conductivités effectives longitudinale et transversale obtenues avec les deux méthodes sont en excellent accord, montrant un moindre effet de la distribution des fibres sur ces propriétés. Ces résultats reproduisent également les données expérimentales disponibles

Falsification of home rapid antigen lateral flow tests during the COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, lateral flow tests (LFTs) were used to regulate access to work, education, social activities, and travel. However, falsification of home LFT results was a concern. Falsification of test results during an ongoing pandemic is a sensitive issue. Consequently, respondents may not answer truthfully to questions about LFT falsification behaviours (FBs) when asked directly. Indirect questioning techniques such as the Extended Crosswise model (ECWM) can provide more reliable prevalence estimates of sensitive behaviors than direct questioning. Here we report the prevalence of LFT FBs in a representative sample in England (n = 1577) using direct questioning (DQ) and the ECWM. We examine the role of demographic and psychological variables as predictors of LFT FBs. We show that the prevalence estimates of the FBs in the DQ condition were significantly lower than the ECWM estimates, e.g., reporting a negative result without conducting a test: 5.7% DQ vs 18.4% ECWM. Moral norms, subjective norms, anticipated regret, perception of risk to self, and trust in government predicted some of the FBs. Indirect questioning techniques can help provide more realistic and higher quality data about compliance with behavioural regulations to government and public health agencies