The goal proximity of employee green behaviour: Validating and refining the Green Five taxonomy

Employee green behaviours (EGB) is a burgeoning subject, and recent reviews point to the need for conceptual and scale development. We present a new scale based on the goal proximity of EGB. This distinction is embedded within the Green Five and is more conceptually appropriate than the direct-indirect distinction. Using data from 455 participants across the UK and USA, we applied confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression to evaluate construct validity and the strength of associations in the nomological network. This scale has good psychometric properties capturing the multidimensionality of EGB. The findings introduce a new way to distinguish EGB that focuses on the outcome of the behaviour. This new perspective furthers the theoretical depth of EGB, through the combination of multiple conceptualizations

Complex multistate photophysics of a rhodanine photoswitch

Development of new and improved photoswitches for molecular photonics and photo-pharmaceutics is an increasingly important research objective. Recently a promising family of photoswitches based on the rhodanine motif was described. Here, the photophysics of a typical example are investigated by ultrafast UV and IR spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations. Remarkably, the photophysics are very different to and more complex than those of closely related monomethine photoswitches, which relax by ultrafast internal conversion to the electronic ground state. In the rhodanine photoswitch, the allowed Franck–Condon excited state also relaxes on a sub-picosecond timescale, but the ground state is repopulated only after several hundred picoseconds. Instead, the Franck–Condon state relaxes through (at least) two intermediate states. These states are characterized by transient spectroscopy, and the reaction pathway is modeled by quantum chemical calculations. Comparison of calculated and measured IR data suggests that a triplet mediated isomerization pathway is responsible for the slow excited state dynamics. The triplet state is rapidly populated via coupling of a nearly degenerate nπ* state populated by ultrafast internal conversion from the bright ππ* state. This unexpected isomerization pathway has important implications for the synthesis, analysis, and application of rhodanine photoswitches

Extracellular catalysis of environmental substrates by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 occurs via active sites on the C-terminal domains of MtrC

The Gram-negative Shewanellaceae family is well known for its ability to transfer catabolically derived electrons to extracellular terminal electron acceptors through electron conduits that permeate the outer membrane. The primary conduit is MtrCAB, a trimeric porin-cytochrome complex that contains the cell surface exposed decaheme cytochrome MtrC. This donates electrons to extracellular substrates, including OmcA, soluble metals, organic electron shuttles, and insoluble metal oxides. However, it is not clear whether this broad substrate specificity requires specific sites for binding and reduction, or whether reduction occurs through non-specific interactions near exposed hemes on the cytochrome surface. Shewanella oneidensis MtrC is composed of four domains, with the hemes closely packed and distributed evenly between domains II and IV. The domains are arranged to allow electron transport across the cytochrome via interdomain electron transfer, but the significance of this conserved feature is not understood. Here we use site-directed mutagenesis to generate an MtrC variant that is comprised only of domains I and II (MtrC DI,II). The properties of this MtrC DI,II are effectively identical to domains I and II of full-length MtrC. Whole-cell assays revealed that S. oneidensis cells replacing full-length MtrC with MtrC DI,II had significantly lower rates of OmcA, flavin mononucleotide, and Fe(III) citrate reduction. Our results demonstrate that MtrC domains III and IV contain sites for association of specific substrates, enabling the reduction of extracellular electron acceptors in S. oneidensis

Automating the Clock Drawing Test with Deep Learning and Saliency Maps

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is an important tool in the diagnosis of Cognitive Decline (CD). Using Deep Learning (DL), this test can be automated with a high degree of accuracy, more so where the medium of recording allows the use of temporal information on how the clock was drawn which may not be accessible to clinicians in traditional screening. The high-risk nature of this field makes understanding the reasoning for automated results imperative. A model’s reasoning can often be described using saliency maps, however, there are a number of different methods for generating such maps. Therefore, we propose a methodology to train a DL classifier for use in the CDT which incorporates temporal information and use saliency maps to explain classification predictions. We find that our classifier achieves scores above 98% with F1 for clocks and over 96% F1 on average across a test set of 18 different classes. Our methodology also shows that Integrated Gradients using SmoothGrad produce the best saliency map results visually and statistically

Richard Sharpe (1954-2020)

Richard Sharpe (1954–2020) was a medieval historian in the broadest sense but also a historian of the book in the broadest sense, and a diplomatist. There were, in addition, many side interests and ‘distractions’, as he called them, some of which culminated in books or (‘What is not a book?’, as he would ask) book-length articles. Here we reflect on his contribution to the fields with which his reputation is most closely associated: the study of early medieval Ireland and the history of the Anglo-Norman realm

Development of a behaviour change intervention to increase care home staff influenza vaccination uptake

Background: To protect care home residents the World Health Organisation recommends that 75 % of care home staff are vaccinated for influenza. In the UK this value is less than 30 %. Previously reported interventions have not been informed by theory and usually only addressed one or two known barriers to uptake. Using behavioural science, we worked with care home staff to develop an intervention which addressed all barriers at both individual and care home level. Methods: We developed an online questionnaire, derived from the literature, asking staff about barriers and facilitators of flu vaccination. These were prioritised (based on frequency and distinctiveness), then mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework. Relevant behaviour change techniques were identified. Care home staff selected and designed behaviour change techniques according to affordability, practicability, effectiveness, acceptability, safety and equity (APEASE) via an online questionnaire and workshop. Results: The prioritised barriers were: lack of time to get vaccinated; insufficient vaccine supplies; vaccination costs; a lack of peers getting vaccinated and beliefs that staff do not need vaccination and that it is ineffective. Six behaviour change techniques were selected and developed into a multi-component intervention: (behaviour change technique 1, Restructure of the physical environment) Free, in care home vaccination clinics for staff; (behaviour change techniques 2–4, Information about health consequences, Salience of consequences and information about others’ approval) information campaign featuring care home staff highlighting non-vaccination risks, (behaviour change techniques 5–6, Information about health consequences and Credible source) information campaign featuring primary care doctor challenging misconceptions. Conclusions: We developed the first theory and evidence-based intervention specifically to facilitate care home staff flu vaccination uptake. Feasibility and acceptability testing of the intervention followed by definitive trial to assess efficacy in care homes is necessary to inform policy decision-making

An analysis of the first relapse in giant cell arteritis using ultrasonography

Objectives: To compare the nature of the first relapse of giant cell arteritis to baseline disease using ultrasonography Methods: Patients with suspected new and relapsing giant cell arteritis between January 2017 and December 2023 underwent protocolised ultrasonography to examine the superficial temporal and axillary arteries plus other areas as clinically indicated. The nature of disease was categorised as affecting superficial temporal, axillary or mixed disease. Patients where other arteries were needed for diagnosis or relapse were categorised separately. Patients with clinically and sonological evidence of polymyalgia rheumatica were distinctly categorised. Results: 66 patients were included. At diagnosis and first relapse, 48/66 and 20/66 patients respectively had superficial temporal artery involvement. At diagnosis and first relapse, 23/66 and 40/66 respectively patients had axillary artery involvement. Patients without superficial temporal artery disease at diagnosis did not relapse in the superficial temporal artery. 7/66 patients suffered a polymyalgia rheumatica relapse. 5 of those 7 had superficial temporal arterial involvement at diagnosis. Conclusion: This is the first study that reports on the nature of relapsing giant cell arteritis using sonological appearances. Relapsing disease is more common in the extracranial arteries and may be mistaken for polymyalgia rheumatica. True polymyalgia rheumatica relapses are uncommon. Relapses in patients with giant cell arteritis should be assessed using ultrasonography and should include the imaging of the axillary artery

The taxonomy of tail risk

We use tail events at different levels of severity to define an asset's tail risk and to decompose the latter into a systematic and an idiosyncratic component. The systematic component captures an asset's tendency to experience joint tail losses with the market and generalizes a classic tail dependence coefficient. However, the idiosyncratic component consists of two parts: idiosyncratic tail risk that leads to asset-specific tail losses and tail risk cushioning that dampens the tail losses emanating from the market. Tail risk cushioning is a novel concept that arises naturally in our framework, is consistent with the previous two and completes the taxonomy of tail risk. We examine the performance of our tail risk decomposition on a large dataset, confirming some previous results on tail risk and uncovering new theoretical and empirical findings

Reviewing the quality of technical reports in support of water use licence applications

The South African water use licence application process requires the submission of technical reports to the responsible authority, which, anecdotally, have been argued to be of poor quality. The aim of this research was, therefore, to evaluate the quality of a purposively selected sample of 8 of these technical reports. An analytical framework was developed comprising 13 key performance areas (KPAs) and 20 related key performance indicators (KPIs) for 2 review areas, namely, completeness and substantive quality. This analytical framework has potential application to the evaluation of technical reports for water licensing applications in any jurisdiction, subject to appropriate modification. Considering the completeness of the technical reports, good performance was observed for the inclusion of all relevant documentation, technical information and public participation. Poor performance was observed in the determined water uses, description of the environment and key impacts. When considering the substantive quality of technical reports, good performance was observed for describing the proposed activity, socio-economic considerations and dealing with scoping. Weaknesses associated with substantive quality included dealing with significance, mitigation and public participation. To address the weaknesses in completeness and substantive quality of technical reports, we recommend that the responsible authority develop guideline documents for dealing with significance and mitigation, and that existing guidelines be implemented to ensure meaningful discussion during the public participation process