What the council of economic advisors need to know about sustainable development

The decision by Alex Salmond to appoint a Council of Economic Advisors to move economic decision making away from purely political rationale is particularly welcome given the new administration’s commitment to sustainable economic growth as the overarching priority. From the first Minister’s statement to parliament4 is clear that as an economist he recognises that sustainable economic growth is not (just) economic growth that continues but economic growth that is environmentally and socially sustainable. In the Scottish Environment Protection Agency we have wrestled with just what sustainable economic growth might mean and here we offer some of our own thoughts to help the new council of economic advisors in their work

Alcohol use and breast cancer risk:A qualitative study of women’s perspectives to inform the development of a preventative intervention in breast clinics

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore women's views about breast cancer risk and alcohol use, to inform the design of a prototype for an intervention in breast clinics about alcohol as a modifiable risk factor for breast cancer. METHODS: Women recruited in NHS breast screening and symptomatic clinics in Southampton, UK, were invited to take part in semi‐structured telephone interviews or a focus group to discuss their perspectives of breast cancer risk, alcohol consumption and their information needs about these topics. Data were analysed thematically. Twenty‐eight women took part in telephone interviews, and 16 attended one of three focus groups. RESULTS: While most women reported a personal responsibility for their health and were interested in advice about modifiable risk factors, few without (or prior to) experience of breast symptoms independently sought information. Many considered alcohol advice irrelevant as the association with breast cancer was largely unknown, and participants did not consider their drinking to be problematic. Women reported trusting information from health organisations like the NHS, but advice needs to be sensitive and non‐blaming. CONCLUSION: NHS breast screening and symptomatic clinics offer a “teachable moment” to engage women with context‐specific advice about alcohol and cancer risk that, if targeted correctly, may assist them in making informed lifestyle choices

New Year, New Economy: The 2001 Economic Report of the President

In 2001, the so-called “New Economy” had emerged as a part of an unprecedented period economic demand-side growth. This temporarily raised Americans’ real wages to record-highs, decreased unemployment to 4.9% (at the time, an all-time low) and created opportunities for groups that had long been left behind, such as ethnic minorities. The name “New Economy” described its new structure and nature, being more high technology-intensive than ever before while yielding higher productivity growth rates than in previous years. The “New Economy” was allowed to arise due to the macroeconomic policies of the prior eight years. This consisted of fiscal and monetary policies as well as government investment in technology and education. While appearing as a flourishing economy, the “New Economy” implied a great deal of issues as well, such as an increase in income inequality between whites and ethnic minority groups, an increase in urban sprawl, and the creation of the conditions for a devastating economic crash due to an overinvestment in risky businesses

Propensity score matched comparison of SBRT versus IMRT for the treatment of localized prostate cancer

OBJECTIVE: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is an attractive option for prostate cancer due to its short treatment duration and cost. In this report, we compare the efficacy and toxicity outcomes of prostate cancer patients treated with SBRT to those who received intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). METHODS: Two hundred sixty-three patients with localized prostate adenocarcinoma were included, ranging from clinically very low- to high-risk groups. We retrospectively compare consecutive patients treated with SBRT with consecutive patients treated with conventionally fractionated IMRT. For most patients, SBRT was delivered to a total dose of 36.25 Gy in five fractions and IMRT to 75.6 Gy in 42 fractions. To minimize selection bias, we perform propensity score analyses. RESULTS: The treatment groups became similar after propensity matching with absolute standard bias reduced to ≤0.19. For the first analysis, 5-year actuarial survival was 90.8 and 88.1 % in SBRT and IMRT groups, respectively (p = 0.7260), while FFBF was 88.7 and 95.5 %, respectively (p = 0.1720). For the second analysis (accounting for risk group), actuarial 5-year survival was 96.7 and 87.1 % in the SBRT and IMRT groups, respectively (p = 0.3025), while FFBF was 89.7 and 90.3 %, respectively (p = 0.6446). Toxicity did not exceed grade 3 in any of the studied patients. The highest recorded genitourinary toxicity at the time of latest follow-up was grade 2. CONCLUSION: Our data support the hypothesis that SBRT has non-inferior efficacy and toxicity rates as IMRT. Given the lower cost and convenience for patients, SBRT may be considered as an alternative treatment for localized prostate cancer

Power V. Threhsold: Near-Channel Morphology Controls Sediment Rating Curve Shape in Coastal Redwood Watersheds

River sediment is one of the most pervasive pollutants in the world. Excess amounts of fine sediment can reduce water quality, damage stream ecosystems, and harm aquatic life. Both natural and human-caused processes can add sediment to a river, such as tectonic uplift, landslides, and timber harvesting. Therefore, it is important to understand how fine sediment enters and moves through a rive system to inform policymakers and land-managers on effective ecosystem management. In this study, we determined how the relationship between river flow and suspended sediment changed among watersheds along the North Coast of California. We found a rise in suspended sediment concentration at median flows following extreme timber harvesting. Additionally, our results indicate that river flow and suspended sediment relationships are influenced by timber harvest activity, tectonic uplift, rainfall patterns, and near-channel environments. These results support previous findings that extreme land disturbance in a watershed, be it natural or human-caused, can change river flow and suspended sediment relationships. Our results suggest that policymakers and land-managers should take into account tectonic uplift when making regulation and should prioritize protecting near-channel environments

The feeding and movement ecology of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) in a primate rich habitat: The Issa Valley of Western Tanzania.

Baboons are a well studied primate, with extensive data from numerous long-term field sites from various ecological contexts across Africa. Underrepresented in this sample, however, are woodland/forest population. In this thesis I investigated the diet and movement ecology in a woodland/forest population of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) at the Issa valley of Ugalla, western Tanzania. I begin by describing the diet of Issa baboons using macroscopic faecal analysis. 1 show they selectively exploited the environment according to the availability of fruits, and unlike for their savannah conspecifics, there appeared to be sufficient food alternatives during periods of low fruit availability. Using day path lengths (DPL) 1 examined what factors are important in determining movement of baboons at a continental scale. Using a mixed modelling approach with data from 39 baboon troops form sub-Saharan Africa, I show factors to be important on a continental scale include plant productivity, anthropogenic influence, primate richness and group size. Next, 1 explored the movement ecology of baboons at a local scale in two ways, using baboons at Issa. First I examined the DPL and Path Trajectories (PTs: speed and tortuosity) where I find they moved slower and over shorter distances on warmer days, and slower and more directly when fruit was more abundant. Second I examined patterns of space use within their home ranges (HR). I find sleep site availability and habitat type significantly influence movement within HRs and that the forest habitat is avoided whilst rocky outcrops are preferred. Additionally, I find PTs were predicted by habitat type, with baboons moving faster and straighter through habitats they tended to avoid. Finally, I explored the potential for competition between baboons at Issa with sympatric chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) by comparing their diet and patterns of habitat use. I show that despite periods of high overlap in fruits consumed, competition between these primates is unlikely to be important due to key dietary differences and differential utilisation of habitat types

Streamlining the Process of Surveying Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in OT

Operativ teknik, OT, är grunden för 2000-talets samhälle då det möjliggör enkel tillgång och hantering av kritisk infrastruktur såsom vatten, transport och energitillförsel. Därför är säkerheten av dessa system av yttersta vikt. För att bistå riskhantering i OT introducerar vi Security Standard MANAGER, en applikation som effektiviserar processen för att uppnå en viss säkerhetsnivå. Security Standard MANAGER uppnår detta genom att tillhandahålla ett intuitivt gränssnitt för att svara på cybersäkerhetsrelaterade frågor och sedan generera en rapport av de angivna svaren. Vi ger en genomgående förklaring av utvecklingen av applikationen, från det grafiska gränssnittet till backendkod och databasdesign. För att underlätta för framtida utvecklare, utöver applikationen, nämner vi de hinder som stöttes på, potentiella förbättringar samt föreslå inriktningar i framtida arbete.Operational Technology, OT, is the backbone of the 21st-century society since it eases access for managing critical infrastructure like water, transportation, and energy supply. Therefore, the security of such systems is of utmost importance. To aid risk management in OT we introduce Security Standard MANAGER, an application to streamline security compliance processes. Security Standard MANAGER achieves this by providing an intuitive interface for answering questions derived from cybersecurity standards and then generating a report based on the answers given. We will give a full stack explanation of the development, from graphical user interface to backend code and database design. To aid future developers, aside from the application, we also enumerate the obstacles faced, potential improvements and suggest avenues for future work

Alternativa finansieringsmodeller vid bostadsrättsförvärv. En kvalitativ fallstudie av olika okonventionella finansieringsmodeller vid bostadsrättsförvärv.

Efter att de första bostadsrättsföreningarna bildades i Sverige på 1930-talet har de gått från att vara ett sätt för invånare i städer att tillsammans äga sitt boende och undvika samtidens höga hyror, till att bli en del av en bostadsrättsmarknad som i stort är dysfunktionell. En bostadsrättsmarknad med höga inträdeströsklar som innebär att en person utan ett stort eget kapital behöver spara många år innan ett bostadsrättsförvärv är möjligt. Många av de klyftor vi ser i samhället idag kan kopplas till diskrepanserna mellan ägt och hyrt boende. Den utförda studien är en sammanställning av undersökningar på de effekter som ägt boende ger, samt hur man genom olika alternativa finansieringsmodeller kan minska tröskeln in på bostadsrättsmarknaden och på så sätt skapa en bostadsrättsmarknad tillgänglig för fler. Syftet med studien är att undersöka möjligheterna till att utveckla en alternativ finansieringsmodell till bostadsrättsförvärv som skulle kunna implementeras i Stena Fastigheters bostadsrättsförsäljning för att sänka tröskeln till bostadsrättsmarknaden för unga och mindre kapitalstarka köpare. Fallstudien är till stor del baserad på kvalitativ-, men även till viss del kvantitativa data, och undersöker redan befintliga alternativa finansieringsmodeller med varandra och mot bakgrund av existerande forskning om effekterna av ägt boende. Analys av offentlig statistik har visat att prisutvecklingen på bostadsrätter i större städer har ökat betydligt mer än prisutvecklingen på löner. Sammanfattningsvis har det utförda arbetet visat att det finns flera utvecklingsmöjligheter för de undersökta modellerna, framför allt när det gäller skalbarhet för att kunna erbjudas till en större mängd människor. Därtill har arbetet visat på vilken typ av finansieringsmodell som Stena Fastigheter bör fokusera på vid utvecklandet och implementeringen av en egen alternativ finansieringsmodell

Genetically modified organisms in agriculture: social and economic implications

This paper argues that whether genetic modification of crops is seen as radically different or simply a further step of ‘traditional’ breeding techniques affects the perception of the associated benefits and risks of their commercialisation and the wider context scrutinised to assess potential consequences. Current risk regulation and GM legislation is narrowly defined, and largely concerned with scientific evidence of harm to human health and the environment. This contrasts with the public disquiet and a greater concern for overarching issues such as institutional and power structures (and the way political decisions are made), the role of science in society and the social and economic impacts of new technologies in the UK and abroad. The paper shows how the debate over GM technology has been framed and reflects the broader tensions within society. First, broadly political factors are discussed, followed by economic considerations to show how socio-economic factors influence and are influenced by novel technologies. Finally, welfare impacts and issues relating to less industrially developed economies are considered

Genetically modified organisms in agriculture: social and economic implications

This paper argues that whether genetic modification of crops is seen as radically different or simply a further step of ‘traditional’ breeding techniques affects the perception of the associated benefits and risks of their commercialisation and the wider context scrutinised to assess potential consequences. Current risk regulation and GM legislation is narrowly defined, and largely concerned with scientific evidence of harm to human health and the environment. This contrasts with the public disquiet and a greater concern for overarching issues such as institutional and power structures (and the way political decisions are made), the role of science in society and the social and economic impacts of new technologies in the UK and abroad. The paper shows how the debate over GM technology has been framed and reflects the broader tensions within society. First, broadly political factors are discussed, followed by economic considerations to show how socio-economic factors influence and are influenced by novel technologies. Finally, welfare impacts and issues relating to less industrially developed economies are considered