Vaccine Allocation in a Declining Epidemic

Sizeable quantities of 2009 pandemic influenza A/H1N1 (H1N1pdm) vaccine in the USA became available at the end of 2009 when the autumn wave of the epidemic was declining. At that point, risk factors for H1N1-related mortality for some of the high-risk groups, particularly adults with underlying health conditions, could be estimated. Although those high-risk groups are natural candidates for being in the top priority tier for vaccine allocation, another candidate group is school-aged children through their role as vectors for transmission affecting the whole community. In this paper, we investigate the question of prioritization for vaccine allocation in a declining epidemic between two groups—a group with a high risk of mortality versus a ‘core’ group with a relatively low risk of mortality but fuelling transmission in the community. We show that epidemic data can be used, under certain assumptions on future decline, seasonality and vaccine efficacy in different population groups, to give a criterion when initial prioritization of a population group with a sufficiently high risk of epidemic-associated mortality is advisable over the policy of prioritizing the core group

Rites of Passage as a Framework for Community Interventions with Youth

This article discusses the potential value of adopting a rites of passage framework for developing community interventions for youth and suggests principles for its application. We propose a contemporary working definition of the concept, how it could reshape the way we approach community and youth development, and 20 core components of a rites of passage process developed from our work experience spanning over 40 years

Rites of Passage as a Framework for Community Interventions with Youth

This article discusses the potential value of adopting a rites of passage framework for developing community interventions for youth and suggests principles for its application. We propose a contemporary working definition of the concept, how it could reshape the way we approach community and youth development, and 20 core components of a rites of passage process developed from our work experience spanning over 40 years

Spin-orbit induced interference in polygon-structures

We investigate the spin-orbit induced spin-interference pattern of ballistic electrons travelling along any regular polygon. It is found that the spin-interference depends strongly on the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit constants as well as on the sidelength and alignment of the polygon. We derive the analytical formulae for the limiting cases of either zero Dresselhaus or zero Rashba spin-orbit coupling, including the result obtained for a circle. We calculate the nonzero Dresselhaus and Rashba case numerically for the square, triangle, hexagon, and circle and discuss the observability of the spin-interference which can potentially be used to measure the Rashba and Dresselhaus coefficients.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure