Do antibody responses to the influenza vaccine persist year-round in the elderly? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The influenza vaccine is less immunogenic in older than younger adults, and the duration of protection is unclear. Determining if protection persists beyond a typical seasonal epidemic is important for climates where influenza virus activity is year-round. METHODS: A systematic review protocol was developed and registered with PROSPERO [CRD42015023847]. Electronic databases were searched systematically for studies reporting haemagglutination-inhibition (HI) titres 180-360days following vaccination with inactivated trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine, in adults aged ?65years. Geometric mean titre (GMT) and seroprotection (HI titre ?1:40) at each time point was extracted. A Bayesian model was developed of titre trajectories from pre-vaccination to Day 360. In the meta-analysis, studies were aggregated using a random-effects model to compare pre-vaccination with post-vaccination HI titres at Day 21-42 ('seroconversion'), Day 180 and Day 360. Potential sources of bias were systematically assessed, and heterogeneity explored. RESULTS: 2864 articles were identified in the literature search, of which nineteen met study inclusion/exclusion criteria. Sixteen studies contained analysable data from 2565 subjects. In the Bayesian model, the proportion of subjects seroprotected increased from 41-51% pre-vaccination to 75-78% at seroconversion. Seroprotection subsequently fell below 60% for all serotypes by Day 360: A/H1 42% (95% CI 38-46), A/H3 59% (54-63), B 47% (42-52). The Bayesian model of GMT trajectories revealed a similar pattern. By Day 360, titres were similar to pre-vaccination levels. In the meta-analysis, no significant difference in proportion of subjects seroprotected, 0 (-0.11, 0.11) or in log2GMT 0.30 (-0.02, 0.63) was identified by Day 360 compared with pre-vaccination. The quality of this evidence was limited to moderate on account of significant participant dropout. CONCLUSIONS: The review found consistent evidence that HI antibody responses following influenza vaccination do not reliably persist year-round in older adults. Alternative vaccination strategies could provide clinical benefits in regions where year-round protection is important

Imaging Josephson Vortices on Curved Junctions

Understanding the nature of vortices in type-II superconductors has been vital for deepening the physics of exotic superconductors and applying superconducting materials to future electronic devices. A recent study has shown that the LiTi2O4(111) thin film offers a unique experimental platform to unveil the nature of the vortex along the curved Josephson junction. This study successfully visualized individual Josephson vortices along the curved Josephson junctions using in-situ spectroscopic scanning tunneling microscopy on LiTi2O4 (111) epitaxial thin films. Notably, the local curvature of the Josephson junction was discovered to control the position of Josephson vortices. Furthermore, the numerical simulation reproduces the critical role of the curvature of the Josephson junction. This study provides guidelines to control Josephson vortices through geometrical ways, such as mechanical controlling of superconducting materials and their devices

The CMB Bispectrum

We use a separable mode expansion estimator with WMAP data to estimate the bispectrum for all the primary families of non-Gaussian models. We review the late-time mode expansion estimator methodology which can be applied to any non-separable primordial and CMB bispectrum model, and we demonstrate how the method can be used to reconstruct the CMB bispectrum from an observational map. We extend the previous validation of the general estimator using local map simulations. We apply the estimator to the coadded WMAP 5-year data, reconstructing the WMAP bispectrum using $l<500$ multipoles and $n=31$ orthonormal 3D eigenmodes. We constrain all popular nearly scale-invariant models, ensuring that the theoretical bispectrum is well-described by a convergent mode expansion. Constraints from the local model \fnl=54.4\pm 29.4 and the equilateral model \fnl=143.5\pm 151.2 (\Fnl = 25.1\pm 26.4) are consistent with previously published results. (Here, we use a nonlinearity parameter \Fnl normalised to the local case, to allow more direct comparison between different models.) Notable new constraints from our method include those for the constant model \Fnl = 35.1 \pm 27.4 , the flattened model \Fnl = 35.4\pm 29.2, and warm inflation \Fnl = 10.3\pm 27.2. We investigate feature models surveying a wide parameter range in both the scale and phase, and we find no significant evidence of non-Gaussianity in the models surveyed. We propose a measure \barFnl for the total integrated bispectrum and find that the measured value is consistent with the null hypothesis that CMB anisotropies obey Gaussian statistics. We argue that this general bispectrum survey with the WMAP data represents the best evidence for Gaussianity to date and we discuss future prospects, notably from the Planck satellite

Feeding your Inflaton: Non-Gaussian Signatures of Interaction Structure

Primordial non-Gaussianity is generated by interactions of the inflaton field, either self-interactions or couplings to other sectors. These two physically different mechanisms can lead to nearly indistinguishable bispectra of the equilateral type, but generate distinct patterns in the relative scaling of higher order moments. We illustrate these classes in a simple effective field theory framework where the flatness of the inflaton potential is protected by a softly broken shift symmetry. Since the distinctive difference between the two classes of interactions is the scaling of the moments, we investigate the implications for observables that depend on the series of moments. We obtain analytic expressions for the Minkowski functionals and the halo mass function for an arbitrary structure of moments, and use these to demonstrate how different classes of interactions might be distinguished observationally. Our analysis casts light on a number of theoretical issues, in particular we clarify the difference between the physics that keeps the distribution of fluctuations nearly Gaussian, and the physics that keeps the calculation under control.Comment: 33 pages (plus appendices), 3 figures. V2: references added, some minor clarifications. Accepted for publication in JCA

The Effective Field Theory of Multifield Inflation

We generalize the Effective Field Theory of Inflation to include additional light scalar degrees of freedom that are in their vacuum at the time the modes of interest are crossing the horizon. In order to make the scalars light in a natural way we consider the case where they are the Goldstone bosons of a global symmetry group or are partially protected by an approximate supersymmetry. We write the most general Lagrangian that couples the scalar mode associated to the breaking of time translation during inflation to the additional light scalar fields. This Lagrangian is constrained by diffeomorphism invariance and the additional symmetries that keep the new scalars light. This Lagrangian describes the fluctuations around the time of horizon crossing and it is supplemented with a general parameterization describing how the additional fluctuating fields can affect cosmological perturbations. We find that multifield inflation can reproduce the non-Gaussianities that can be generated in single field inflation but can also give rise to new kinds of non-Gaussianities. We find several new three-point function shapes. We show that in multifield inflation it is possible to naturally suppress the three-point function making the four-point function the leading source of detectable non-Gaussianities. We find that under certain circumstances, i.e. if specific shapes of non-Gaussianities are detected in the data, one could distinguish between single and multifield inflation and sometimes even among the various mechanisms that kept the additional fields light.Comment: 62 pages, 1 figure; v2: JHEP published version, minor corrections, comments and references adde

Development of Clinical Criteria for Functional Assessment to Predict Primary Nonfunction of High-Risk Livers Using Normothermic Machine Perfusion

Increased use of high-risk allografts is critical to meet the demand for liver transplantation. We aimed to identify criteria predicting viability of organs, currently declined for clinical transplantation, using functional assessment during normothermic machine perfusion (NMP). Twelve discarded human livers were subjected to NMP following static cold storage. Livers were perfused with a packed red cell-based fluid at 37°C for 6 hours. Multilevel statistical models for repeated measures were employed to investigate the trend of perfusate blood gas profiles and vascular flow characteristics over time and the effect of lactate-clearing (LC) and non-lactate-clearing (non-LC) ability of the livers. The relationship of lactate clearance capability with bile production and histological and molecular findings were also examined. After 2 hours of perfusion, median lactate concentrations were 3.0 and 14.6 mmol/L in the LC and non-LC groups, respectively. LC livers produced more bile and maintained a stable perfusate pH and vascular flow &gt;150 and 500 mL/minute through the hepatic artery and portal vein, respectively. Histology revealed discrepancies between subjectively discarded livers compared with objective findings. There were minimal morphological changes in the LC group, whereas non-LC livers often showed hepatocellular injury and reduced glycogen deposition. Adenosine triphosphate levels in the LC group increased compared with the non-LC livers. We propose composite viability criteria consisting of lactate clearance, pH maintenance, bile production, vascular flow patterns, and liver macroscopic appearance. These have been tested successfully in clinical transplantation. In conclusion, NMP allows an objective assessment of liver function that may reduce the risk and permit use of currently unused high-risk livers.</p

Generation and Characterization of Large Non-Gaussianities in Single Field Inflation

Inflation driven by a single, minimally coupled, slowly rolling field generically yields a negligible primordial non-Gaussianity. We discuss two distinct mechanisms by which a non-trivial potential can generate large non-Gaussianities. Firstly, if the inflaton traverses a feature in the potential, or if the inflationary phase is short enough so that initial transient contributions to the background dynamics have not been erased, modes near horizon-crossing can acquire significant non-Gaussianities. Secondly, potentials with small-scale structure may induce significant non-Gaussianities while the relevant modes are deep inside the horizon. The first case includes the "step" potential we previously analyzed while the second "resonance" case is novel. We derive analytic approximations for the 3-point terms generated by both mechanisms written as products of functions of the three individual momenta, permitting the use of efficient analysis algorithms. Finally, we present a significantly improved approach to regularizing and numerically evaluating the integrals that contribute to the 3-point function.Comment: 29 pp, 8 fig

Multifrequency variability of the blazar AO 0235+164. The WEBT campaign in 2004-2005 and long-term SED analysis

A huge multiwavelength campaign targeting the blazar AO 0235+164 was organized by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) in 2003-2005 to study the variability properties of the source. Monitoring observations were carried out at cm and mm wavelengths, and in the near-IR and optical bands, while three pointings by the XMM-Newton satellite provided information on the X-ray and UV emission. We present the data acquired during the second observing season, 2004-2005, by 27 radio-to-optical telescopes. They reveal an increased near-IR and optical activity with respect to the previous season. Increased variability is also found at the higher radio frequencies, down to 15 GHz, but not at the lower ones. The radio (and optical) outburst predicted to peak around February-March 2004 on the basis of the previously observed 5-6 yr quasi-periodicity did not occur. The analysis of the optical light curves reveals now a longer characteristic time scale of 8 yr, which is also present in the radio data. The spectral energy distributions corresponding to the XMM-Newton observations performed during the WEBT campaign are compared with those pertaining to previous pointings of X-ray satellites. Bright, soft X-ray spectra can be described in terms of an extra component, which appears also when the source is faint through a hard UV spectrum and a curvature of the X-ray spectrum. Finally, there might be a correlation between the X-ray and optical bright states with a long time delay of about 5 yr, which would require a geometrical interpretation.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures (8 included in the text and 2 PNG files), in press for A&

Testing the inverse-Compton catastrophe scenario in the intra-day variable blazar S5 0716+71. I. Simultaneous broadband observations during November 2003

Some intra-day variable, compact extra-galactic radio sources show brightness temperatures severely exceeding 10^{12} K, the limit set by catastrophic inverse-Compton (IC) cooling in sources of incoherent synchrotron radiation. The violation of the IC limit, possible under non-stationary conditions, would lead to IC avalanches in the soft-gamma-ray energy band during transient periods. For the first time, broadband signatures of possible IC catastrophes were searched for in S5 0716+71. A multifrequency observing campaign targetting S5 0716+71 was carried out in November 2003 under the framework of the European Network for the Investigation of Galactic nuclei through Multifrequency Analysis (ENIGMA) together with a campaign by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT), involving a pointing by the soft-gamma-ray satellite INTEGRAL, optical, near-infrared, sub-millimeter, millimeter, radio, and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) monitoring. S5 0716+71 was very bright at radio frequencies and in a rather faint optical state during the INTEGRAL pointing; significant inter-day and low intra-day variability was recorded in the radio regime, while typical fast variability features were observed in the optical band. No correlation was found between the radio and optical emission. The source was not detected by INTEGRAL, neither by the X-ray monitor JEM-X nor by the gamma-ray imager ISGRI, but upper limits to the source emission in the 3-200 keV energy band were estimated. A brightness temperature Tb>2.1x10^{14} K was inferred from the radio variability, but no corresponding signatures of IC avalanches were recorded at higher energies. The absence of IC-catastrophe signatures provides either a lower limit delta>8 to the Doppler factor affecting the radio emission or strong constraints for modelling of the Compton catastrophes in S5 0716+71.Comment: 15 pages, 3 EPS figures, 3 tables, to appear in A&

Madagascar’s extraordinary biodiversity: Threats and opportunities

Madagascar's unique biota is heavily affected by human activity and is under intense threat. Here, we review the current state of knowledge on the conservation status of Madagascar's terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by presenting data and analyses on documented and predicted species-level conservation statuses, the most prevalent and relevant threats, ex situ collections and programs, and the coverage and comprehensiveness of protected areas. The existing terrestrial protected area network in Madagascar covers 10.4% of its land area and includes at least part of the range of the majority of described native species of vertebrates with known distributions (97.1% of freshwater fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals combined) and plants (67.7%). The overall figures are higher for threatened species (97.7% of threatened vertebrates and 79.6% of threatened plants occurring within at least one protected area). International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments and Bayesian neural network analyses for plants identify overexploitation of biological resources and unsustainable agriculture as themost prominent threats to biodiversity. We highlight five opportunities for action at multiple levels to ensure that conservation and ecological restoration objectives, programs, and activities take account of complex underlying and interacting factors and produce tangible benefits for the biodiversity and people of Madagascar