Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty

Geoengineering, or the deliberate large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment to counteract anthropogenic climate change, has been suggested as a new potential tool for addressing climate change. Efforts to address climate change have primarily focused on mitigation, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and more recently on addressing the impacts of climate change—adaptation. However, international political consensus on the need to reduce emissions has been very slow in coming, and there is as yet no agreement on the emissions reductions needed beyond 2012. As a result global emissions have continued to increase by about 3% per year (Raupach et al. 2007), a faster rate than that projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (IPCC 2001)7 even under its most fossil fuel intensive scenario (A1FI8) in which an increase in global mean temperature of about 4°C (2.4 to 6.4°C) by 2100 is projected (Rahmstorf et al. 2007). The scientifi c community is now becoming increasingly concerned that emissions will not be reduced at the rate and magnitude required to keep the increase in global average temperature below 2°C (above pre-industrial levels) by 2100. Concerns with the lack of progress of the political processes have led to increasing interest in geoengineering approaches. This Royal Society report presents an independent scientifi c review of the range of methods proposed with the aim of providing an objective view on whether geoengineering could, and should, play a role in addressing climate change, and under what conditions

Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (RAINS) Project. First Report: Researching Schools’ Enactments of New Zealand’s National Standards Policy

This is the first report of the Research, Analysis and Insight into National Standards (RAINS) project, one year into a three-year study of the introduction of National Standards into New Zealand primary and intermediate schools

What do healthcare professionals want from a resource to support person-centred conversations on physical activity? A mixed-methods, user-centric approach to developing educational resources.

Objectives: Healthcare is a fundamental action area in population efforts to address the global disease burden from physical inactivity. However, healthcare professionals lack the knowledge, skills and confidence to have regular conversations about physical activity. This study aimed to: (1) understand the requirements of healthcare professionals and patients from a resource to support routine physical activity conversations in clinical consultations and (2) develop such a resource. Methods: This study used codesign principles across two phases, actively involving relevant stakeholders in an iterative development process. The preparatory phase included a scoping literature review and workshops with multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and patients. The Delphi phase included the development of a draft resource, a three-stage modified online Delphi study and an external review. Results: The scoping review highlighted the importance of addressing time restrictions, a behaviour change skill deficit, the need for resources to fit into existing systems and meeting patient expectations. Consultation included 69 participants across two clinical workshops. They recommended using the internet, valued guidance on all aspects of physical activity conversations and were concerned about how to use a person-centred approach. The Delphi phase, including 15 expert participants, met agreement criteria in two stages to develop the resource. Conclusion: This mixed-methods study delivered an online resource that was codesigned with and based on the requirements of healthcare professionals and patients. The resource presents condition-specific ‘1-minute’, ‘5-minute’ and ‘more minute’ person-centred and evidence-based conversation templates on physical activity in an accessible and usable format to meet the needs of real-life clinical practice

Red Mining: Mining and the Right to Water in Porgera, Papua New Guinea

The Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) gold mine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been one of the world’s highest producing gold mines over the course of its quarter-century history, and has accounted for a considerable percentage of PNG’s economic income. Yet many Porgeran residents live in deplorable conditions and feel trapped by the mine. Where they once farmed vegetables and collected fresh water from natural streams, they now see ever-expanding waste dumps. For years, security guards at the mine physically abused many residents, including sexually assaulting and gang-raping Porgeran women. 3 Residents feel the earth shake with recurring explosions from the mine operations, and worry about landslides threatening their homes and gardens. They see the rivers change color with the addition of mine waste and chemicals, smell the strong odor of industrial chemicals permeating their environment, and worry about the impact of these chemicals on their environment and health. Porgerans watch the white vapor from the mill join the clouds and have concerns about its impact on the rain that they collect to drink and water their gardens. They also hear the noise and feel the dust from trucks moving massive quantities of rock and waste at all hours of the day. The expectations of socio-economic development originally associated with the establishment of the mine have not been met for much of the Porgeran population, fostering feelings of injustice and disillusionment. With limited jobs available for Porgerans from the mine itself, and few other employment opportunities present, many residents struggle to earn enough money to survive. Many try to make a living by searching in the mine’s waste for scraps of gold left over from mine processes, or entering the open pit and risking serious injury. This report seeks to support Porgeran communities in their efforts to secure their human rights, and the PNG government in its commitment to advancing the human right to water and its efforts to sustainably improve the quality of life in PNG through improved access to water. This report also seeks to support the mining companies to fulfil their responsibilities to respect the right to water and in meeting their goals as sustainable development partners in PNG. This report is the product of an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods investigation of the right to water and interrelated rights in the residential areas adjacent to the PJV gold mine. The study was carried out in response to serious concerns expressed by residents over many years about the adequacy and safety of water in their area, and about the mine’s impacts on their environment

The role of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) media in patient empowerment: a "uses and gratifications" perspective

Empowerment has been studied extensively in the field of psychology for more than three decades. Extant research in the area of empowerment is often at the employee level in an employee-employer relationship or at the team level in an organizational setting. However, research that examines the role of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) media in consumer empowerment in the healthcare context has been neglected in the Information Systems (IS) literature. This dissertation uses three studies to address this gap in IS literature. In Study 1, an interpretive approach using a qualitative methodology was used to understand patients' motivations and barriers for health information seeking and/or sharing online. Results from the interviews showed that there are seven major motivations and barriers dimensions namely media-enabled health information seeking, health output quality produced by media, media-enabled health-related content management and communication, media-enabled convenience, media-enabled health information sharing, and media-enabled health problem solving and decision-making. In Study 2, a positivist approach using a survey methodology was used to test a research model linking the motivations and barriers dimensions identified in Study 1 to CMC media use and patient empowerment. The Uses and Gratifications theory was used to categorize the seven motivations and barriers dimensions identified in Study 1 into the three gratifications, namely, content gratifications, process gratifications, and social gratifications. Results from a national survey of 230 patients showed that content gratifications and social gratifications are positively related to CMC media use for health information seeking and/or sharing online, and that CMC media use for health information seeking and/or sharing online is positively related to patient empowerment. In Study 3, a survey methodology was used to examine the consequences of CMC media-enabled patient empowerment. Survey results showed that patient empowerment positively impacts quality of care, patient coping with illness, and patient confidence in treatment, and that quality of care mediates the relationship between patient empowerment and patient satisfaction. Together, the three studies help understand the role CMC media play in empowering healthcare consumers thereby addressing calls from IS researchers to focus on the consumer-perspective on the use of health information technologies (HIT)

On the Complexity of Algorithms with Predictions for Dynamic Graph Problems

{\em Algorithms with predictions} incorporate machine learning predictions into algorithm design. A plethora of recent works incorporated predictions to improve on worst-case optimal bounds for online problems. In this paper, we initiate the study of complexity of dynamic data structures with predictions, including dynamic graph algorithms. Unlike in online algorithms, the main goal in dynamic data structures is to maintain the solution {\em efficiently} with every update. Motivated by work in online algorithms, we investigate three natural models of predictions: (1) $\varepsilon$-accurate predictions where each predicted request matches the true request with probability at least $\varepsilon$, (2) list-accurate predictions where a true request comes from a list of possible requests, and (3) bounded delay predictions where the true requests are some (unknown) permutations of the predicted requests. For $\varepsilon$-accurate predictions, we show that lower bounds from the non-prediction setting of a problem carry over, up to a $1-\varepsilon$ factor. Then we give general reductions among the prediction models for a problem, showing that lower bounds for bounded delay imply lower bounds for list-accurate predictions, which imply lower bounds for $\varepsilon$-accurate predictions. Further, we identify two broad problem classes based on lower bounds due to the Online Matrix Vector (OMv) conjecture. Specifically, we show that dynamic problems that are {\em locally correctable} have strong conditional lower bounds for list-accurate predictions that are equivalent to the non-prediction setting, unless list-accurate predictions are perfect. Moreover, dynamic problems that are {\em locally reducible} have a smooth transition in the running time. We categorize problems accordingly and give upper bounds that show that our lower bounds are almost tight, including problems in dynamic graphs.Comment: Abstract shortened to meet arXiv requirement

Cats, elephants, alligators and the fantasy of the Sopranos: A qualitative study of the experiences of commissioners and managers delivering IAPT services using the Any Qualified Provider policy

Background: Primary Care Psychological Therapy services (PCPT) face pressure to deliver effective services due to the increasing prevalence, complexity and societal costs of Common Mental Health Disorders (CMHDs). Furthermore, commissioners and managers deliver services within a complex system of evolving policy and healthcare practice where successive policy changes, such as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), have significantly shaped PCPT design. Any Qualified Provider (AQP) represents one policy aimed at addressing financial pressures, extending patient choice and stimulating quality-assured competition. AQP shares features with several NHS developments which will arguably impact Counselling Psychology going forward, such as partnership working in ‘Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships’, and the increased use of ‘Payment by Results’. However, to date, there has been little significant discourse within Counselling Psychology around AQP, service design and the practical implications of policy changes.Aims: This research investigated the impacts of AQP on existing IAPT services and considered implications for Counselling Psychology in the context of policy change and new models of care for effective PCPT. It aims to inform and support clinical leaders with an awareness of the wider impacts of policy to improve the real-world effectiveness of services to address the rising problems with mental health.Method and analysis: Semi-structured interviews with a cross section of commissioners and managers in different regions and organisations generated leadership perspectives on AQP. Thematic Analysis offered a broad overview of the impacts of AQP in IAPT.Results: Four superordinate themes were identified: Resources and AQP delivery; Partnership working in AQP; Bureaucracy in AQP; and Patient experience in AQP.Conclusions: AQP offers insights into the partnership working of clinical leaders in a local IAPT service, and their adaptations to financial and bureaucratic pressures. To address increasing CMHDs, PCPT needs adequate funding to provide quality patient-centred care. Clinical leaders are willing and able to work within new quasi-market structures, but they prioritise clinical and relational values. Policy makers should embed these values in policies impacting PCPT to ensure the quality of services. This is an area where Counselling Psychology could – and should – engage more effectively with service design and policy

Youth on the Move : Tendencies and Tensions in Youth Policies and Practices

The book addresses one of the most urgent social problems in many countries, the uncertain school-to-work transitions of young people. As a result, a ‘transition machinery’ has been created, consisting of various education and training measures realised by e.g. teachers and youth workers. The volume demonstrates that discourses related to youth transitions do not simply describe young adults but create them. For example, young people are expected to be active citizens who make themselves attractive to employers, and those who fail in doing so may be labelled having psychological deficiencies. When failing transitions, resulting in lack of higher education or unemployment, are treated as individual’s problems rather than rising from structural factors, the solutions are likewise individualized. The book thus underlines the importance of analysing power relations reflected by gender, health, social class, and ethnicity. The articles of the book combine perspectives from young people, policymakers, teachers, and youth workers in Iceland, Finland, Sweden, and England. The editors of the book are Kristiina Brunila, professor of social justice and equality in education at University of Helsinki, and Lisbeth Lundahl, professor of educational work at Umeå University.VertaisarvioitupeerReviewe