Tackling barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake in London: a mixed-methods evaluation

BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first vaccine was administered in December 2020 in England. However, vaccination uptake has historically been lower in London than in other English regions. METHODS: Mixed-methods: This comprised an analysis of cumulative percentage uptake across London between 8 December 2020 and 6 June 2021 by vaccine priority cohorts and ethnicity. We also undertook thematic analyses of uptake barriers, interventions to tackle these and key learning from a qualitative survey of 27 London local authority representatives, vaccine plans from London's five Integrated Care Systems and interviews with 38 London system representatives. RESULTS: Vaccine uptake was lower in Black ethnic (57-65% uptake) compared with the White British group (90% uptake). Trust was a critical issue, including mistrust in the vaccine itself and in authorities administering or promoting it. The balance between putative costs and benefits of vaccination created uptake barriers for zero-hour and shift workers. Intensive, targeted and 'hyper-local' initiatives, which sustained community relationships and were not constrained by administrative boundaries, helped tackle these barriers. CONCLUSIONS: The success of the national vaccination programme depended on conceding local autonomy, investing in responsive and long-term partnerships to engender trust through in-depth understanding of communities' beliefs

Application of a Key Events Dose-Response Analysis to Nutrients: A Case Study with Vitamin A (Retinol)

The methodology used to establish tolerable upper intake levels (UL) for nutrients borrows heavily from risk assessment methods used by toxicologists. Empirical data are used to identify intake levels associated with adverse effects, and Uncertainty Factors (UF) are applied to establish ULs, which in turn inform public health decisions and standards. Use of UFs reflects lack of knowledge regarding the biological events that underlie response to the intake of a given nutrient, and also regarding the sources of variability in that response. In this paper, the Key Events Dose-Response Framework (KEDRF) is used to systematically consider the major biological steps that lead from the intake of the preformed vitamin A to excess systemic levels, and subsequently to increased risk of adverse effects. Each step is examined with regard to factors that influence whether there is progression toward the adverse effect of concern. The role of homeostatic mechanisms is discussed, along with the types of research needed to improve understanding of dose-response for vitamin A. This initial analysis illustrates the potential of the KEDRF as a useful analytical tool for integrating current knowledge regarding dose-response, generating questions that will focus future research efforts, and clarifying how improved knowledge and data could be used to reduce reliance on UFs

Marine Volcaniclastic Record of Early Arc Evolution in the Eastern Ritter Range Pendant, Central Sierra Nevada, California

Marine volcaniclastic rocks in the Sierra Nevada preserve a critical record of silicic magmatism in the early Sierra Nevada volcanic arc, and this magmatic record provides precise minimum age constraints on subduction inception and tectonic evolution of the early Mesozoic Cordilleran convergent margin at this latitude. New zircon Pb/U ages from the Ritter Range pendant and regional correlations indicate arc inception no later than mid‐Triassic time between 37 and 38°N. The regional first‐order felsic magma eruption rate as recorded by marine volcanic arc rocks was episodic, with distinct pulses of ignimbrite emplacement at ca. 221 to 216 Ma and 174 to 167 Ma. Ignimbrites range from dacite to rhyolite in bulk composition, and are petrographically similar to modern arc‐type, monotonous intermediate dacite or phenocryst‐poor, low‐silica rhyolite. Zircon trace element geochemistry indicates that Jurassic silicic melts were consistently Ti‐ and light rare earth‐enriched and U‐depleted in comparison to Triassic melts of the juvenile arc, suggesting Jurassic silicic melts were hotter, drier, and derived from distinct lithospheric sources not tapped in the juvenile stage of arc construction. Pulses of ignimbrite deposition were coeval with granodioritic to granitic components of the underlying early Mesozoic Sierra Nevada batholith, suggesting explosive silicic volcanism and batholith construction were closely coupled at one‐ to two‐million‐year time scales

Tackling barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake in London: a mixed-methods evaluation.

BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first vaccine was administered in December 2020 in England. However, vaccination uptake has historically been lower in London than in other English regions. METHODS: Mixed-methods: This comprised an analysis of cumulative percentage uptake across London between 8 December 2020 and 6 June 2021 by vaccine priority cohorts and ethnicity. We also undertook thematic analyses of uptake barriers, interventions to tackle these and key learning from a qualitative survey of 27 London local authority representatives, vaccine plans from London's five Integrated Care Systems and interviews with 38 London system representatives. RESULTS: Vaccine uptake was lower in Black ethnic (57-65% uptake) compared with the White British group (90% uptake). Trust was a critical issue, including mistrust in the vaccine itself and in authorities administering or promoting it. The balance between putative costs and benefits of vaccination created uptake barriers for zero-hour and shift workers. Intensive, targeted and 'hyper-local' initiatives, which sustained community relationships and were not constrained by administrative boundaries, helped tackle these barriers. CONCLUSIONS: The success of the national vaccination programme depended on conceding local autonomy, investing in responsive and long-term partnerships to engender trust through in-depth understanding of communities' beliefs

The History, Relevance, and Applications of the Periodic System in Geochemistry

Geochemistry is a discipline in the earth sciences concerned with understanding the chemistry of the Earth and what that chemistry tells us about the processes that control the formation and evolution of Earth materials and the planet itself. The periodic table and the periodic system, as developed by Mendeleev and others in the nineteenth century, are as important in geochemistry as in other areas of chemistry. In fact, systemisation of the myriad of observations that geochemists make is perhaps even more important in this branch of chemistry, given the huge variability in the nature of Earth materials – from the Fe-rich core, through the silicate-dominated mantle and crust, to the volatile-rich ocean and atmosphere. This systemisation started in the eighteenth century, when geochemistry did not yet exist as a separate pursuit in itself. Mineralogy, one of the disciplines that eventually became geochemistry, was central to the discovery of the elements, and nineteenth-century mineralogists played a key role in this endeavour. Early “geochemists” continued this systemisation effort into the twentieth century, particularly highlighted in the career of V.M. Goldschmidt. The focus of the modern discipline of geochemistry has moved well beyond classification, in order to invert the information held in the properties of elements across the periodic table and their distribution across Earth and planetary materials, to learn about the physicochemical processes that shaped the Earth and other planets, on all scales. We illustrate this approach with key examples, those rooted in the patterns inherent in the periodic law as well as those that exploit concepts that only became familiar after Mendeleev, such as stable and radiogenic isotopes

Veins and alteration envelopes in the Grasberg Igneous Complex, Gunung Bijih (Ertsberg) District, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

The Grasberg Igneous Complex (GIC) consists of three main phases of igneous activity: the Dalam Igneous Complex, the Main Grasberg Intrusion, and the Kali Intrusion. Each contains veins revealing a history of fluid flow that has concentrated minerals of economic value. A generalized sequence of early magnetite ± quartz veins followed by quartz ± sulfide/oxide veins followed by late chalcopyrite/pyrite veins is observed in the Dalam Igneous Complex and Main Grasberg Intrusion. The youngest igneous body, the Late Kali Intrusion, cross-cuts the older igneous bodies as well as their veins, and has biotite ± quartz, quartz ± pyrite and pyrite ± quartz veins. Pyrite ± quartz veins with alteration envelopes up to 14 cm total width are found in regions of the complex that are higher in elevation and distant from the center of copper mineralization. Geochemical analyses of wall rock and alteration envelopes from eleven samples are compared to determine which components were added to the altered samples and which were removed by the fluids. Most major components were removed by fluids (Na₂O, MgO, SiO₂, CaO, FeO, and TiO₂) along with many trace elements (Cu, Cl, Ga, Rb, Sr, Nb, Ba, Y, Zr, Eu, Yb, Tl, Au, La, Th, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Tb, Dy, Ho, Tm, and Lu). Gain or loss of K₂O and P₂O₅ vary depending on the sample. H₂O and S were added to the altered wall rock. Typical host-rock mineral assemblages include plagioclase, biotite, quartz, alkali feldspar, pyrite, chalcopyrite, and magnetite. Typical alteration envelope mineral assemblages include muscovite, alkali feldspar, pyrite, and quartz. Balanced reactions between wall rock minerals and fluid to produce alteration minerals typically involve the consumption of HCI, indicating that the altering fluids had a low pH. The alteration envelopes are believed to be the result of changes as fluids flowed through the complex, including decreasing temperature, generation of HCI by the precipitation of pyrite and chalcopyrite from copper and iron chlorides in the lower and central parts of the complex, and/or the decrease in the fluid prewall rock fluid pressure surrounding veins. Scanned cathodoluminescence of quartz in quartz-sulfide veins reveals detailed textures on the scale of tens to hundreds of microns including concentric growth zoning and fractures. Growth textures indicate that the quartz grew into open space, so these veins remained open during infilling. Vein growth is believed to have occurred from fluids that flowed through the veins. Microfracturing occurred after the veins began to close. Experimental studies of Cline and Bodnar (1991) applied to fluid exsolution from magma chambers are used as a basis to explain the sequence of veining. Fluid separating from a magma at low pressure (<1 kilobar) has initially low concentrations of copper, whereas fluid separating from a magma at high pressure (≥2 kilobars) has initially high concentrations of copper. Crystallization from a deep batholithic magma chamber at depths greater than 6 km with a molten stock reaching up to shallower depths (less than 3 km) can account for the changes in copper precipitation observed in the GIC system over time. Early crystallization in a stock at shallow depths led to exsolution of an early fluid that was relatively copper-poor. This resulted in early magnetite ± quartz veins. Deeper-seated crystallization eventually generated copper-rich fluids forming chalcopyrite/pyrite veins. Finally, the latest stages of veining following the Late Kali Intrusion were relatively copper-poor due to the last fluids exsolving from the deeper copper-depleted part of the magma chamberGeological Science

Constraints on tectonic processes in subduction mélange: A review of insights from the Catalina Schist (CA, USA)

Subduction mélange, with its distinctive block-in-matrix structure, is documented in exhumed fossil subduction zones worldwide. Rocks from these terranes preserve features that record tectonic processes from the time that the rocks were at the subduction interface. Careful study of these features allows for connections to be made with tectonic processes occurring in active subduction zones. The Catalina Schist mélange has served as an exhumed analog in such studies as it records abundant evidence for tectonic processes occurring at the subduction interface. Focusing of fluids in mélange matrix at the subduction interface is documented, and this fluid-rich environment may have contributed to seismic activity. Deformation and tectonic mixing juxtaposed disparate materials (mafic, ultramafic, and sedimentary rocks) over length-scales of 10s of km along the interface, occurring in concert with metasomatism and mass transport by fluids to create mineralogically, chemically, and rheologically distinct compositions. These processes may have impacted seismic behavior and plate geodynamics along with influencing the chemistry of arc magmas that form above the subduction interface. Evidence suggests that the duration of tectonic formation of mélange may be variable from one locality to another, with relatively small differences in peak ages of blocks of <10 Myrs recorded in the amphibolite facies rocks of the Catalina Schist