arXiv subjects

David J Pascall

Publications and source records attributed to David J Pascall.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Consensus-level substitution rates are distinct from the virion-level rate

Estimating viral substitution rates is central to evolutionary epidemiology, and recent interest in within-host evolution has sharpened the question of what such rates measure. I distinguish two classes of evolutionary rate estimand that are rarely separated in phylogenetic analysis: the virion-level substitution rate (VLSR), a molecular quantity counting mutational events along lineages, and consensus-level substitution rates (CLSRs), population-summary quantities counting changes in the consensus sequences. CLSRs are indexed by the consensus-generation rule. The VLSR and CLSRs are both biologically meaningful, but not interchangeable. Because the consensus-generation rule defines a given CLSR, it should be a routine reporting requirement. This reflection should help analysts make more informed methodological choices when working with sets of virus sequences.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2026

Sequential learning theory for Markov genealogy processes

We introduce a filtration-based framework for studying when and why adding taxa improves phylodynamic inference, by constructing a natural ordering of observed tips and applying sequential Bayesian analysis to the resulting filtration. We decompose the expected variance reduction on taxa addition into learning, mismatch, and covariance components, classify estimands into learning classes based on the pathwise behaviour of the mismatch, and show that for absorbing estimands an oracle who knows the latent absorption status obtains event-wise learning guarantees unavailable to the analyst. The gap between oracle and analyst is irreducible assumptions that are likely to hold for many real phylodynamic estimands, establishing a fundamental limit on what sequence data alone can reveal about the latent genealogy.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2024

The NOSTRA model: coherent estimation of infection sources in the case of possible nosocomial transmission

Nosocomial infections have important consequences for patients and hospital staff: they worsen patient outcomes and their management stresses already overburdened health systems. Accurate judgements of whether an infection is nosocomial helps staff make appropriate choices to protect other patients within the hospital. Nosocomiality cannot be properly assessed without considering whether the infected patient came into contact with high risk potential infectors within the hospital. We developed a Bayesian model that integrates epidemiological, contact and pathogen genetic data to determine how likely an infection is to be nosocomial and the probability of given infection candidates being the source of the infection.

stat.AP↗