Technological Threat Attribution, Trust and Confidence, and the Contestability of National Security Policy

The world has been asked to believe that China is a source of cyberthreat and that Russia is meddling in U.S. elections. Western populations are being asked to trust the words of intelligence agencies and world leaders that these unspecified technological threats are real. The oftenclassified nature of the threat results in governments not being able to provide the public with an evidence base for the threat attribution. This presents a social scientific crisis where without substantive evidence the public is asked to trust and have confidence in a particular technological threat attribution claim without any further assurance. It is sensible for the public to ask whose security claim should be believed and why? Likewise, it seems a critical social responsibility for security policy makers and academia to first acknowledge this conundrum and then strive to develop frameworks to better understand the trust and confidence challenges around technological threat attribution. This talk draws on New Zealand as a sociological case study to illustrate where and if a technological threat attribution and trust and confidence challenge might be evident in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s 2018 National Cyber Strategy refresh and the New Zealand Defence Force’s 2018 Strategic Defense Policy Statement. This case study is used to sketch out a broader project focusing on how the contestability of national security strategy and government security discourse can present specific trust and confidence challenges for both the public and government, and how we might begin to address these challengesfals

EvoMachina : a novel evolutionary algorithm inspired by bacterial genome reorganisation

EvoMachina is a novel natural computation algorithm, inspired by recent understandings of the processes of genome reorganisation in bacteria and viruses. It has been developed as part of the EU FP7 project EvoEvo, taking inspiration from its biological experiments, and developed to support Living Technology applications. This abstract outlines the conceptual model underlying EvoMachina, its implementation, and a reference application

Religion, deprivation and subjective wellbeing: Testing a religious buffering hypothesis

The buffering effect of religion upon wellbeing has been well demonstrated; however, the question of whether this buffering effect also extends to protecting the religious against material hardship still requires investigation. We present a Bayesian linear regression model showing that religious affiliation provides a protective buffer against the corrosive effects on subjective wellbeing of living in impoverished conditions. Results from a national probability sample tested with an objective indicator of the deprivation of participants’ local neighbourhood, derived from census data, indicated that religious people living in deprived neighbourhoods were higher in subjective wellbeing than their non-religious counterparts living in those same neighbourhoods (N = 5,984 New Zealanders). It was in impoverished conditions that the difference in wellbeing between religious and non-religious people was apparent; those living in affluent neighbourhoods showed comparably high levels of subjective wellbeing regardless of whether or not they were religious. Our results explore new ground by showing for the first time that the buffering effect of religion is readily apparent within New Zealand

Gluttony & Sloth: The Moral Politics of Obesity Discourse

In this dissertation, I investigate why 'official obesity discourse' discusses obesity in terms of the sins of gluttony and sloth. This question leads me to survey the moral politics of 'official obesity discourse' in New Zealand between 1997 and 2009. I claim that 'official obesity discourse' is not neutral, and contains various ideological biases. I map the overall range of these ideologies onto a schema of three models of obesity causality. I demonstrate that each of these three models corresponds to certain general policy positions of respective governments; to certain specific health policies (issued by the Ministry of Health); and to certain medical understandings of causality. I further show how each ideological model moralises obesity, in a manner that casts various groups and forces in the role of scapegoat. Finally, I argue that the three models of obesity causality I have identified discriminate against people on low incomes and in certain ethnic groups. My study concludes with a research model which can be used by other researchers to reveal the ideological and moral dimensions of obesity discourse in their own contexts

A Transactional Architecture for Simulation

Abstract-We are developing a concurrent, agent-based approach to complex systems simulation as part of the CoSMoS project. In such simulations an agent's behaviour can typically be characterised as a series of queries and updates to its environment-a "transactional" pattern of interaction familiar to programmers of database systems. We explore how ideas from the field of databases, such as optimistic approaches to consistency and replication, may profitably be applied to the field of simulation, and how the constraints of modern databases can be relaxed to yield better performance while maintaining simulation validity

Response to letter ‘New Zealand’s shocking diabetes rates can be reduced—9 urgently needed actions’

We are writing in response to the letter published in the 12 August 2011 issue of the New Zealand Medical Journal by Signal et al: http://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal/124- 1340/482

Editorial:Developing research potential in the primary and community-nursing workforce

the impact of a community of practic

Understanding the inclusion and participation of adults from Black African Diaspora Communities (BAFDC) in health and care research in the UK:a realist review protocol

Introduction: People from Black African Diaspora Communities (BAFDC) experience poorer health outcomes, have many long-term conditions and are persistently under-represented in health and care research. There is limited focus on programmes, or interventions that support inclusion and participation of people from BAFDC in research. Through coproduction, this realist review seeks to provide a programme theory explaining what context and mechanisms may be required, to produce outcomes that facilitate inclusion and participation for people from BAFDC in health and care research, in the UK.Methods and analysis: A group of people from BAFDC with lived and professional experience, representing all levels of the health and care research system, will coproduce a realist review with a team of African-Caribbean, white British and white British of Polish origin health and care researchers. They will follow Pawson’s five steps: (1) shaping the scope of the review; (2) searching for evidence; (3) document selection and appraisal; (4) data extraction and (5) data synthesis. The coproduction group will help to map the current landscape, identifying key issues that may inhibit or facilitate inclusion. Data will be extracted, analysed and synthesised following realist logic analysis, identifying and explaining how context and mechanisms are conceptualised in the literature and the types of contextual factors that exist and impact on inclusion and participation. Findings will be reported in accordance with Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis Evolving Standards .Ethics and dissemination: The coproduction group will agree an ethical approach considering accountability, responsibility and power dynamics, by establishing a terms of reference, taking a reflexive approach and coproducing an ethical framework. Findings will be disseminated to BAFDC and the research community through arts-based methods, peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations, agreeing a coproduced strategy for dissemination. Ethical review is not required.PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024517124

Development and validation of a telephone classification interview for common chronic headache disorders.

Background For a trial of supportive self-management for people with chronic headache we needed to develop and validate a telephone classification interview that can be used by a non-headache specialist to classify common chronic headache types in primary care. We aimed to specifically: exclude secondary headaches other than medication overuse, exclude primary headache disorders other than migraine and tension type headache (TTH), distinguish between chronic migraine and chronic TTH, and identify medication overuse headache. Methods We held a headache classification consensus conference to draw on evidence and expertise to inform the content of a logic model underpinning the classification interview. Nurses trained to use the logic model did telephone classification interviews with participants recruited from primary care. Doctors specialising in headache did a second validation interview. Results Twenty-six delegates attended the headache classification conference including headache specialist doctors, nurses and lay representatives (with chronic headache). We trained six nurses to do the classification interviews and completed 107 paired interviews, median days between interviews was 32 days (interquartile range 21–48 days). We measured level of agreement between the nurse and doctor interviews using proportion of concordance, simple kappa and prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa (PABAK). Proportion of concordance of agreement between nurse and doctor interviews was 0.76, simple kappa coefficient κ 0.31 (95% CI, 0.09 to 0.52), and PABAK 0.51 (95% CI, 0.35 to 0.68), a moderate agreement. In a sensitivity test following review of headache characteristics recorded, concordance was 0.91, κ = 0.53 (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.79), and PABAK = 0.81 (95% CI, 0.70 to 0.92), a very good agreement. Conclusion We developed and validated a new evidence-based telephone classification interview that can be used by a non-headache specialist to classify common chronic headache types in primary care

Co-producing an online patient public community research hub : a qualitative study exploring the perspectives of national institute for health research (NIHR) research champions in England

Background: Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) should be embedded as part of researchers’ everyday practice. However, this can be challenging. Creating a digital presence for PPIE as part of Higher Education Institutes’ (HEIs) infrastructure may be one way of supporting this. This can support how information is made available to patients and members of the public, but relatively little is known about how HEIs can best do this. Our aim was to develop a university website for patients and members of the public to learn about ways to get actively involved in research and be able to access the results of health and social care research. Methods: This project involved working as partners with five National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Research Champions. NIHR Research Champions are volunteers who raise awareness and share experiences about health and social care research. Content of a prototype Patient Public Community Research Hub website was co-produced with the Research Champions, and then 15 NIHR Research Champions from across England were asked for their views about the website. Findings: The information collected told us that the Patient Public Community Research Hub was viewed as being beneficial for increasing visibility of PPIE opportunities and sharing the findings of studies though needs further work: to make the information more user-friendly; to improve the methods for directing people to the site and to create new ways of connecting with people. It provides a foundation for further co-development and evaluation. A set of recommendations has been developed that may be of benefit to other HEIs and organisations who are committed to working with patients and members of the public