Participation in Transition(s):Reconceiving Public Engagements in Energy Transitions as Co-Produced, Emergent and Diverse

This paper brings the transitions literature into conversation with constructivist Science and Technology Studies (STS) perspectives on participation for the first time. In doing so we put forward a conception of public and civil society engagement in sustainability transitions as co-produced, relational, and emergent. Through paying close attention to the ways in which the subjects, objects, and procedural formats of public engagement are constructed through the performance of participatory collectives, our approach offers a framework to open up to and symmetrically compare diverse and interconnected forms of participation that make up wider socio-technical systems. We apply this framework in a comparative analysis of four diverse cases of civil society involvement in UK low carbon energy transitions. This highlights similarities and differences in how these distinct participatory collectives are orchestrated, mediated, and subject to exclusions, as well as their effects in producing particular visions of the issue at stake and implicit models of participation and ‘the public’. In conclusion we reflect on the value of this approach for opening up the politics of societal engagement in transitions, building systemic perspectives of interconnected ‘ecologies of participation’, and better accounting for the emergence, inherent uncertainties, and indeterminacies of all forms of participation in transitions

Unemployment Duration, Schooling and Property Crime

It is well known that there is no consensus with respect to the relationship between unemployment and crime. As well, there is very little research on the linkages between crime and the educational experiences of young people. In this paper we show a very strong positive relationship between criminal activity and the extent of youth male long-term unemployment. We also show that criminal activity is negatively associated high school completions, and positively associated with high school non-completion rates. The analysis suggests that labour market and education policies have the potential to significantly reduce property crime. However, increased high school participation of the targeted group only decreases crime if it results in graduation. This suggests that the effectiveness of education policy is a critical influence on crime activity, a unique finding for the literature

ciliaFA : a research tool for automated, high-throughput measurement of ciliary beat frequency using freely available software

Background: Analysis of ciliary function for assessment of patients suspected of primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and for research studies of respiratory and ependymal cilia requires assessment of both ciliary beat pattern and beat frequency. While direct measurement of beat frequency from high-speed video recordings is the most accurate and reproducible technique it is extremely time consuming. The aim of this study was to develop a freely available automated method of ciliary beat frequency analysis from digital video (AVI) files that runs on open-source software (ImageJ) coupled to Microsoft Excel, and to validate this by comparison to the direct measuring high-speed video recordings of respiratory and ependymal cilia. These models allowed comparison to cilia beating between 3 and 52 Hz. Methods: Digital video files of motile ciliated ependymal (frequency range 34 to 52 Hz) and respiratory epithelial cells (frequency 3 to 18 Hz) were captured using a high-speed digital video recorder. To cover the range above between 18 and 37 Hz the frequency of ependymal cilia were slowed by the addition of the pneumococcal toxin pneumolysin. Measurements made directly by timing a given number of individual ciliary beat cycles were compared with those obtained using the automated ciliaFA system. Results: The overall mean difference (± SD) between the ciliaFA and direct measurement high-speed digital imaging methods was −0.05 ± 1.25 Hz, the correlation coefficient was shown to be 0.991 and the Bland-Altman limits of agreement were from −1.99 to 1.49 Hz for respiratory and from −2.55 to 3.25 Hz for ependymal cilia. Conclusions: A plugin for ImageJ was developed that extracts pixel intensities and performs fast Fourier transformation (FFT) using Microsoft Excel. The ciliaFA software allowed automated, high throughput measurement of respiratory and ependymal ciliary beat frequency (range 3 to 52 Hz) and avoids operator error due to selection bias. We have included free access to the ciliaFA plugin and installation instructions in Additional file 1 accompanying this manuscript that other researchers may use

Ten thousand voices on marine climate change in Europe: different perceptions among demographic groups and nationalities

Over the past few decades, substantial funding has been directed towards improving scientific understanding and management of impacts of climate change in the marine environment. Following concerns that the key messages from these studies were not reaching the public, a comprehensive opinion poll of 10,000 European citizens in 10 countries was conducted to establish levels of awareness, concern, and trust among different demographic groups (by age, gender, proximity to the coast) and nationalities. Citizens exhibited varying levels of self-declared ‘informedness’ and concern. Citizens from Germany, Italy and Spain claimed to be the most informed on marine climate change issues; those from Czech Republic, Netherlands and Estonia claimed to be least informed. Respondents were least aware of ocean acidification and most aware of melting sea ice, pollution and overfishing. Citizens of Italy suggested that they were generally most concerned about marine climate change issues. Respondents from coastal areas claimed to be both more informed and more concerned than those living inland, as did females and older age groups (54-64 years). European citizens obtain information about climate change in the seas and ocean from different sources, particularly television and the internet. Trust in the various media sources varies among countries and demographic groups. Television is trusted most in Estonia, Germany and Ireland and least in France. The internet is trusted most in Italy, Czech Republic and Estonia, but least in France and the United Kingdom. 18-24 year olds are the biggest users of the internet, but trust this source less than older age groups. Academic scientists or those working for environmental NGOs are trusted more than scientists working for government or industry. Citizens from France are more trusting of industry than any other country polled. In terms of policy actions, most respondents highlighted mitigation measures as opposed to local-scale adaptation. Younger participants prioritised actions associated with reducing carbon emissions, whereas older age groups prioritised improving coastal defences. Successful adaptation to the impacts of climate change requires public engagement and support for policy decisions, and the use of different approaches to take account of differences among demographic groups and nationalities

Is copyright blind to the visual?

This article argues that, with respect to the copyright protection of works of visual art, the general uneasiness that has always pervaded the relationship between copyright law and concepts of creativity produces three anomalous results. One of these is that copyright lacks much in the way of a central concept of 'visual art' and, to the extent that it embraces any concept of the 'visual', it is rooted in the rhetorical discourse of the Renaissance. This means that copyright is poorly equipped to deal with modern developments in the visual arts. Secondly, the pervasive effect of rhetorical discourse appears to have made it particularly difficult for copyright law to strike a meaningful balance between protecting creativity and permitting its use in further creative works. Thirdly, just when rhetorical discourse might have been useful in identifying the significance and materiality of the unique one-off work of visual art, copyright law chooses to ignore its implications

Understanding the impact of diet and nutrition on symptoms of Tourette Syndrome: A Scoping Review

This document is the accepted manuscript version. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Journal of Child Health Care, December 2017, published by SAGE Publishing, doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1367493517748373.Anecdotal reports frequently suggest some dietary involvement in the maintenance of tics in children with Tourette syndrome (TS). This scoping review aimed to (1) understand the possible influence of diet as a trigger of tics and (2) map out the existing studies documenting dietary interventions in children with TS. Current evidence suggests no single diet to benefit individuals with TS. However, reports from parents of children with TS suggest that certain allergens in food may exacerbate tic-related symptoms. For example, an increase in tics has been related to the consumption of caffeine and refined sugar. Moreover, oligoantigenic diets and sugar-free diets have been identified as significantly reducing tics. More research is urgently needed to develop more accurate guidance for parents and children with TS, as many have reported using dietary and nutritional supplements, despite the lack of evidence detailing any benefits, side effects and recommended doses.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Pulmonary retention of primed neutrophils: a novel protective host response, which is impaired in the acute respiratory distress syndrome.

RATIONALE: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) affects over 200000 people annually in the USA. Despite causing severe, and often refractory, hypoxaemia, the high mortality and long-term morbidity of ARDS results mainly from extra-pulmonary organ failure; however the mechanism for this organ crosstalk has not been determined. METHODS: Using autologous radiolabelled neutrophils we investigated the pulmonary transit of primed and unprimed neutrophils in humans. Flow cytometry of whole blood samples was used to assess transpulmonary neutrophil priming gradients in patients with ARDS, sepsis and perioperative controls. MAIN RESULTS: Unprimed neutrophils passed through the lungs with a transit time of 14.2 s, only 2.3 s slower than erythrocytes, and with <5% first-pass retention. Over 97% of neutrophils primed ex vivo with granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor were retained on first pass, with 48% still remaining in the lungs at 40 min. Neutrophils exposed to platelet-activating factor were initially retained but subsequently released such that only 14% remained in the lungs at 40 min. Significant transpulmonary gradients of neutrophil CD62L cell surface expression were observed in ARDS compared with perioperative controls and patients with sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated minimal delay and retention of unprimed neutrophils transiting the healthy human pulmonary vasculature, but marked retention of primed neutrophils; these latter cells then 'deprime' and are re-released into the systemic circulation. Further, we show that this physiological depriming mechanism may fail in patients with ARDS, resulting in increased numbers of primed neutrophils within the systemic circulation. This identifies a potential mechanism for the remote organ damage observed in patients with ARDS.This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust, MRC (UK), Papworth Hospital R&D, Intensive Care Society and NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre.This is the final published version, also available from http://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2014/04/04/thoraxjnl-2013-204742.full

Mapping participation: a systematic analysis of diverse public participation in the UK energy system

This paper develops a novel approach to mapping diverse forms of participation and public engagement, using the example of the UK energy system. It builds on emerging systemic accounts of participation, which go beyond a focus on individual instances of participation, to gain an understanding of broader patterns and connections. Our approach, which forms part of an emerging family of methods that seek to map across multiple forms of public involvement in issues and systems, draws on systematic review methodology and a relational co-productionist conception of participation. The findings of a systematic mapping of public participation related to the UK energy system 2010–2015 are presented, comprising 258 cases in total. The mapping analysis reveals patterns as to the what (energy objects and issues), how (procedural formats) and who (publics) of energy participation in the UK, which go far beyond the conventionally assumed forms and sites of public participation around energy. Implications for how the dynamics of ‘whole system’ energy participation are represented and the role of approaches to mapping participation in governing energy transitions are considered

Deliberating stratospheric aerosols for climate geoengineering and the SPICE project

Increasing concerns about the narrowing window for averting dangerous climate change have prompted calls for research into geoengineering, alongside dialogue with the public regarding this as a possible response. We report results of the first public engagement study to explore the ethics and acceptability of stratospheric aerosol technology and a proposed field trial (the Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering (SPICE) ‘pipe and balloon’ test bed) of components for an aerosol deployment mechanism. Although almost all of our participants were willing to allow the field trial to proceed, very few were comfortable with using stratospheric aerosols. This Perspective also discusses how these findings were used in a responsible innovation process for the SPICE project initiated by the UK’s research councils