The health queuing game

This paper studies agent-to-agent games in competition for a free public resource. The resource is not evidently scarce, scarcity may, however, be the equilibrium outcome. The agents' attributes may di er as well as quality parameters between di erent public resources. The examples are taken from the health sector. Based on simple two-player simultaneous games of complete information, results regarding agent equilibrium quality choices are derived. Most notably, Nash equilibria of the type: very ill patients choose low quality hospitals (denoted adverse patient allocation in the paper) are demonstrated. Furthermore, it is argued that a situation characterized by patients with relatively mild diseases but large patient variability (big di erences between patients regarding the given disease) and a health system with medium competition are prime candidates for Nash equilibria characterized by such Adverse patient allocation e ects

Structure and stellar content of dwarf galaxies. III: B and R photometry of dwarf galaxies in the M101 group and the nearby field

We have carried out CCD photometry in the Cousins B and R bands of 21 dwarf galaxies in and around the M101 group. Eleven are members and suspected members of the group and ten are field galaxies in the projected vicinity of the group. We have derived total magnitudes, effective radii, effective surface brightnesses, as well as galaxy diameters at various isophotal levels in both colours. Best-fitting exponential parameters and colour gradients are also given for these galaxies. Some of the galaxies show a pronounced luminosity excess above the best-fitting exponential at large radii, or surface brightnesses fainter than approx 26 mag/sq_arcsec in R. This feature, while non-significant for a single case and technically difficult to interpret, might be an indication of the existence of an extended old stellar halo in dwarf irregulars. The photometric parameters of the galaxies presented here will be combined with previously published data for nearby dwarf galaxies and statistically analysed in a forthcoming paper.Comment: 15 pages, 4 tables and 13 figures. For a full resolution version see http://www.astro.unibas.ch/galaxies/papers.html To appear in A&A

Structure and stellar content of dwarf galaxies IV. B and R photometry of dwarf galaxies in the CVnI cloud

We have carried out CCD photometry in the Cousins B and R bands of 15 galaxies in the Canes Venatici I cloud. Total magnitudes, effective radii, effective surface brightnesses, as well as galaxy radii at various isophotal levels in both colors were determined. Best-fitting exponential parameters and color gradients are also given for these galaxies. The photometric parameters presented here will analyzed in a forthcoming paper, together with previously published data for nearby dwarf galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to A&AS. For a full resolution version see ftp://merkur.astro.unibas.ch/pub/bremnes/canesv.ps.g

Hormones, smoking and mammographic density in postmenopausal Norwegian women : the Tromsø Mammography and Breast Cancer Study

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring malignancy among women, and according to estimates by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, more than one million new cases were diagnoscd worldwide in 2002 (1). In Norway, altogether 2,780 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005, corresponding to an age-adjusted (world) incidence rate of 75.7 per 100,000 women per year (2). According to the predictions for the years 2010-2020 by the Cancer Registry of Norway, we can expect a continued increase in breast cancer incidence, resulting in more than 4,000 new cases annually by the year 2020 (estimated to >80 breast caneer cases per 100,000 women per year) (2). About 80% of new breast cancers cases are diagnosed in women 50 years or older. Although breast cancer mainly affects older women, the predicted increase in breast cancer incidence is only partly explained by the change in age distribution to older women (2). Thus, other risk factors than age must be of importance

B,V,I - photometry of 20 dwarf irregular galaxies within 10 Mpc

CCD - photometry is presented for 20 dIrr galaxies situated in the nearby complexes CenA/M83, and CVnI as well as in the general field of the Local Volume. We present integrated magnitudes of the galaxies in B,V,I - bands and also surface brightness profiles to a median isophote mu_B ~ 28 mag /sq.arcsec. The popular Sersic parameterization of surface brightness profiles generally does a poor job of simultaneously fitting the inner cores and outer exponential surface brightness fall-offs observed in many of our targets. The observed sample is a part of a general project to image about 500 nearby (D < 10 Mpc) dwarf galaxies in multiple bands.Comment: 3 figures, accepted to the MNRA

Surface photometry of new nearby dwarf galaxies

We present CCD surface photometry of 16 nearby dwarf galaxies, many of which were only recently discovered. Our sample comprises both isolated galaxies and galaxies that are members of nearby galaxy groups. The observations were obtained in the Johnson B and V bands (and in some cases in Kron-Cousins I). We derive surface brightness profiles, total magnitudes, and integrated colors. For the 11 galaxies in our sample with distance estimates the absolute B magnitudes lie in the range of -10>Mb>-13. The central surface brightness ranges from 22.5 to 27.0 mag/sq.arcsec. Most of the dwarf galaxies show exponential light profiles with or without a central light depression. Integrated radial color gradients, where present, appear to indicate a more centrally concentrated younger population and a more extended older population.Comment: accepted by A&

Iron status and anemia in a cohort of youths in Northern Norway. The Fit Futures Study

Background: Adolescents are at risk of developing iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) due to rapid growth and sexual maturation. Objectives: Our objectives were to; (1) examine gender-specific distribution of hemoglobin and ferritin, and whether certain lifestyle factors influence on these; (2) describe the prevalence of iron deficiency, iron deficiency anemia and anemia, and; (3) investigate the applicability of the WHO-criteria for anemia in adolescents in our population. Methods: Data is gathered from the Fit Futures survey. The survey was conducted in 2010-2011, inviting 1117 students in first year of upper secondary school, and repeated in 2012-2013 inviting all who participated in the former survey. Participants between ages 15-17 in Fit Futures 1 (FF1), with valid Hemoglobin (Hb) values, ferritin<500 and CRP<10 were included; 813 participants in FF1, 561 participants in Fit Futures 2 (FF2). 505 participants met inclusion criteria in both surveys. Participants were considered anemic if Hb<13 for males and Hb<12 for females (WHO guidelines), and iron deficient if ferritin<12. The prevalence of iron deficiency and anemia was compared across surveys. Results: The prevalence of ID and IDA decreased from 9.5% and 4.9% in FF1 to 6.8% and 3.6% in FF2, respectively. Using the 2.5 percentile for Hb as cut-off, the prevalence of anemia was reduced by two thirds in females (from 20.3% to 6.2% in FF1 and 16.8% to 5.6% in FF2). The male prevalence was practically unchanged. Lifestyle factors (junk food, snacks, sweets, vitamin/mineral supplements, physical activity, menstrual cycle length and BMI-classification) have non-consistent effects on Hb and ferritin. Conclusion: ID is common in female adolescents in Northern Norway. The 2.5 percentile cut-off for anemia corresponds well with the WHO-criteria in males, but not in females. Future research should apply the 2.5 percentile for Hb as cut-off value for anemia in adolescent females

Changes in the secretory profile of NSCLC-associated fibroblasts after ablative radiotherapy: potential impact on angiogenesis and tumor growth

In the context of radiotherapy, collateral effects of ablative ionizing radiation (AIR) on stromal components of tumors remains understudied. In this work, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) isolated from freshly resected human lung tumors were exposed to AIR (1x18Gy) and analyzed for their release of paracrine factors. Inflammatory mediators and regulators of angiogenesis and tumor growth were analyzed by multiplex protein assays in conditioned medium (CM) from irradiated and non-irradiated CAFs. Additionally, the profile of secreted proteins was examined by proteomics. In functional assays, effects of CAF-CM on proliferative and migratory capacity of lung tumor cells (H-520/H-522) and endothelial cells (HUVECs), and on the tube-forming capacity of endothelial cells was assessed. Our data show that exposure of CAFs to ablative doses of ionizing radiation results in a) down-regulated release of angiogenic factors SDF-1, angiopoietin and thrombospondin-2; b) up-regulated release of growth factor bFGF from most donors, and c) unaffected expression-levels of HGF and inflammatory mediators IL-6, IL-8, IL-1ƒÒ and TNF-£. Conditioned medium from irradiated and control CAFs did not affect differently the proliferative or migratory capacity of tumor cells (H-520/H-522), whereas migratory capacity of endothelial HUVEC cells was partially reduced in the presence of irradiated CAF conditioned medium. Overall we conclude that AIR mediates a transformation on the secretory profile of CAFs that could influence the behavior of other cells in the tumor tissue and hence guide to some extent therapeutic outcomes. The downstream consequences of the changes observed in this study merits further investigations

Improving pre-turbine SCR systems in marine two stroke diesel engines using hybrid turbocharging: a numerical study of SCR operation range and system fuel efficiency

In this article, a performance evaluation of a novel system solution combining a hybrid turbocharger and a pre-turbine selective catalytic NOx reduction system is carried out. Pre-turbine selective catalytic system are used with marine two-stroke diesel engines to comply with International Maritime Organization Tier III. The system solution focuses on expanding the selective catalytic reduction operation range which is limited by fuel sulphur content by increasing exhaust temperature at low engine loads. The extended operation range is to be achieved while minimizing any fuel consumption penalties. Increasing the operation range brings improvements to emission levels during manoeuvring operations which are often carried out close to populated areas. It also provides flexibility by enabling emission reduction during slow steaming operations in which mitigating fuel consumption penalties is paramount. In addition to system evaluation in still water conditions, furthermore evaluations have been carried out taking into consideration the effect of waves on the system performance. Investigating the effect of operating in waves bring additional insight that is relevant for predicting performance in operational conditions. Analysis of the system solution found that improvements in selective catalytic reduction operation range can be achieved while also improving fuel consumption. Fuel consumption is significantly improved in the high load range. Effect of realistic operation conditions where found to affect performance; however, significant effects are only found for harsh sea states in the load range below the design point.submittedVersio