Impact of coverage-dependent marginal costs on optimal HPV vaccination strategies

AbstractThe effectiveness of vaccinating males against the human papillomavirus (HPV) remains a controversial subject. Many existing studies conclude that increasing female coverage is more effective than diverting resources into male vaccination. Recently, several empirical studies on HPV immunization have been published, providing evidence of the fact that marginal vaccination costs increase with coverage. In this study, we use a stochastic agent-based modeling framework to revisit the male vaccination debate in light of these new findings. Within this framework, we assess the impact of coverage-dependent marginal costs of vaccine distribution on optimal immunization strategies against HPV. Focusing on the two scenarios of ongoing and new vaccination programs, we analyze different resource allocation policies and their effects on overall disease burden. Our results suggest that if the costs associated with vaccinating males are relatively close to those associated with vaccinating females, then coverage-dependent, increasing marginal costs may favor vaccination strategies that entail immunization of both genders. In particular, this study emphasizes the necessity for further empirical research on the nature of coverage-dependent vaccination costs

Glasgow: RFN 16 [Film]

The Radical Film Network Festival and Unconference took place in Glasgow from the 29th April to the 2nd May, 2016. The city-wide festival included screenings and events exploring radical film cultures and social movements

Zygophyllum morgsana

Gene regulatory networks are powerful abstractions of biological systems. Since the advent of high-throughput measurement technologies in biology in the late 90s, reconstructing the structure of such networks has been a central computational problem in systems biology. While the problem is certainly not solved in its entirety, considerable progress has been made in the last two decades, with mature tools now available. This chapter aims to provide an introduction to the basic concepts underpinning network inference tools, attempting a categorisation which highlights commonalities and relative strengths. While the chapter is meant to be self-contained, the material presented should provide a useful background to the later, more specialised chapters of this book

Contrasting GDSSs and GSSs in the context of strategic change : implications for facilitation

This paper reports on research undertaken within the context of two sets of computer supported strategy workshops. Each of the series of five one—day workshops were designed within the context of a project aimed at planning and implementing major strategic change within the organisation. In these workshops the SODA methodology was used in conjunction with the multiple workstation system allowing all participants to interact with the modelling process, and, in addition, with a number of manual techniques which were designed to interface with the methodology. Thus “manual group support” (MAGS) was used alongside, and interacting with, both 'Single user group support” (SUGS) and “multi-user group support “(MUGS). The purpose of this paper is to report on a comparison between two series of events. The comparison is set as a set of implications which differentiate, in important ways, the role of a facilitator using group support systems (GSS) to their role in the use of group decision support systems (GDSS). The project reported in this paper involved over fifty senior managers during a two—year period. The project enabled a number of exceptional opportunities to be tapped including i) a researcher as observer throughout the process, ii) video taping every one—day meeting, and iii) in—depth interviews of one—third of the participants. The subjects of the research had to deal with the reality of an organisational history, and, even more importantly, the knowledge that their contributions to the meetings would influence their future as a manager. The conclusions may be taken as a contribution to the design and facilitation of each type of meeting, and to the effective design of the each of the systems (GSS and GDSS). The research raises issues about whether systems should be designed to operate in both Group Support and Group Decision Support modes, or whether it is more appropriate to design specifically for one or the other purpose