Potential donor family behaviours, experiences and decisions following implementation of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 in England:A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: In May 2020, England implemented "deemed consent" legislation, to make it easier for individuals to donate their organs and convey their decision when alive. Families are supposed to support the decision but can still override it if they disagree. We aimed to learn more about this changed role when families were approached about organ donation.METHODS: A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with families, feedback from nurses, comparisons with audit data, and public involvement. We used framework analysis with a health systems perspective and utilitarian theory to explore if the law worked.FINDINGS: 103 participants were interviewed representing 83 potential donation cases. In 31/83 (37%) cases donation was fully supported, in 41/83 (49%) cases families supported retrieval of some organs, tissues and procedures, and in 11/83 (13%) cases families declined completely. Themes explaining why the law was not (yet) working included: Understanding and agreeing the family's role, confusion about deemed consent, not supporting the deceased expressed decisions, organ donation as too much of a harm, the different experiences of donation pathways, transition from end-of-life to organ donation discussions, experiences of 'consent', paperwork and processes. Families frequently questioned if their relative wanted to have a surgery rather than supporting the person who died to save lives.CONCLUSION: Families use the unique experience of their relative dying in intensive care to create alternate narratives whereby the outcome satisfies their own utility and not necessarily those of the potential donor. New public ongoing media campaigns crafted to be more supportive of organ donation as a benefit to transplant recipients could help families overcome the many difficulties they encounter at the bedside.IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: The soft opt-out policy has not empowered nurses to help families at their most vulnerable to increase their support for and consent to deceased organ donation.</p

Computational rationality and developmental neurodivergence

The role of behaviour - choices, actions, and habits - in shaping neurodivergent development remains unclear. In this forum article we introduce computational rationality as a framework for understanding dynamic feedback between brain and behavioural development, and neurodevelopmental variation. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Effects of protection on large‐bodied reef fishes in the western Indian Ocean

Predatory and large-bodied coral reef fishes have fundamental roles in the functioning and biodiversity of coral reef ecosystems, but their populations are declining, largely due to overexploitation in fisheries. These fishes include sharks, groupers, Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), and Green Humphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum). In the western Indian Ocean, this situation is exacerbated by limited population data on these fishes, including from conventional visual census methods, which limit the surface area surveyed. We developed a rapid timed scuba swim survey approach for application over large areas for estimation of the abundance of large-bodied reef fishes and assessment of the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs) in maintaining these species’ populations. Using this method, we sampled 7 regions in the western central Indian Ocean andGulf of Aden, including 2 remote reference locations where fishing is prohibited. Eightfamilies were selected for the surveys from across 3 categories: pelagic, demersal, and large-bodied single species. Sharks (Carcharhinidae) were absent in 5 of the 7 regions, observed only in Mozambique and the Chagos Archipelago. Tunas (Scombridae) and barracudas( Sphyraenidae) were rarely observed (none in Madagascar, Djibouti, and Iles Glorieuses). The Giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) was absent in all regions, Humphead wrasse was absent in Comoros and Iles Glorieuses, and Green Humphead parrotfish was observed at only one site in Tanzania. The MPAs were not effective in protecting these single large-bodied species or the 4 pelagic families, except for sharks in the highly protected reference ocations. However, MPAs with medium levels of protection were effective in maintaining the abundance of some demersal families, notably large-bodied groupers. Our results support the hypothesis of local extirpation of these large-bodied fishes on many coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean

Co-Movement and Information Transmission Between Conventional and Islamic Equities in Sri Lanka

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the co-movement and information transmission between conventional and Islamic equity indices in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses daily data of All Share Price Index and Dow Jones Islamic Market Sri Lanka Index from 2013 to 2023 for conventional and Islamic proxies. Descriptive statistics, cross-correlation, dynamic conditional correlation (DCC)-GARCH and wavelet analysis were used for the investigation.FindingsAnalyses reveal synchronous correlation yet lead-lag dynamics between the indices. The Islamic index has lower volatility, clustering and persistence than the conventional index. Localized volatility patches and scale-dependent synchronicity suggest diversification opportunities to optimize risk-adjusted returns.Research limitations/implicationsThe insights from this study are important for investors to optimize diversified portfolios by exploiting time-varying correlations. The identified lead-lag dynamics, bidirectional information flows and scale-dependent synchronization between the indices enable both investors to predict market movements for effective asset allocation and regulators to monitor market efficiency and stability and implement shock mitigation measures.Originality/valueThis study uniquely integrates DCC-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) and wavelet analysis to examine the dynamic, time-varying relationships between Islamic and conventional equity markets in Sri Lanka’s dual financial system. This approach helps embrace both short-run changes and long-run movements to gain in-depth co-movement and spillovers, as well as potential diversification gains within an emerging financial market

Distinguishing microbially induced sedimentary structures from fluid-induced interfacial deformation structures (MISS versus FIDS)

Fluid-induced interfacial deformation structures (FIDS) are common in turbidite successions where they form in soft, cohesive substrates beneath sediment gravity flows, but their significance has only recently been recognised. Their range of forms and sizes encompasses most of the morphological types attributed to microbiallyinduced sedimentary structures (MISS) and the two have likely been conflated. Variants of FIDS include longitudinal ridges and furrows identical to the linear wrinkle marks assigned to MISS, and polygonal networks, a common form of MISS, together with polygonal and mamillated forms that have both MISS and FIDS representatives.Even the distinctive MISS form Kinneyia, is also found within the FIDS spectrum. Some FIDS may have also been assigned to Ediacaran taxa. Environmental context is important when distinguishing FIDS from MISS. Intertidal MISS occurrences are unlikely to be FIDS because the sediment gravity flows that produce the latter are unlikely to be found in such settings. However, MISS encountered in turbidite settings are likely to be FIDS. One of the few distinctions between MISS and FIDS occurs when textured surfaces are developed on the upper surfaces of sandstone beds and they are overlain by fine-grained sediments; in this case a microbial origin is likely