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

Attitudes and impressions of participants in a study of the causes of childhood cancer

Researchers and ethics committees are increasingly concerned about the perceived emotional impact on individuals following participation in epidemiologic studies. This attitudinal survey was designed to investigate this issue among 751 of the parents who had already given an interview in the UK Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS), one of the largest case-control studies ever undertaken to investigate the aetiology of cancer in children. Information was collected by postal questionnaire on their reasons for agreeing to take part in the UKCCS, on whether questions had caused distress or difficulty and what their feelings were immediately after the interview and at the time of this survey. Parents were asked if they felt they had benefited in any way by taking part and control parents were asked if they would have taken part without prior consent of their doctor. 90% of both cases and controls felt glad to have taken part immediately after the interview and few reported any anxiety at having done so; 95% of both cases and controls felt satisfied that they had made a worthwhile contribution. Although 18% of cases felt tense and 14% felt unhappy after the interview, over 90% of them felt glad that they had taken part a few weeks later. Of particular interest is that 38% of cases and 24% of controls said they had positively benefited from taking part in the UKCCS and 96% of control mothers did not mind their family doctor giving permission for them to be contacted. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co