Interrupting the social amplification of risk process: a case study in collective emissions reduction

One of the main approaches we have for studying the progressive divergence of understandings around a risk issue is that of social risk amplification. This article describes a case study of a particular environmental contaminant, a chemical flame retardant that could be interpreted as having produced a risk amplifying process. It describes in particular how a group of industrial organizations acted collectively to reduce emissions of this contaminant, in an apparent attempt to avert regulation and boycotts—that is, to intercept the social amplification process and avoid its secondary effects. The aim of the study was to investigate the constitutive qualities of this collective action: the qualities that defined it and made it effective in the eyes of those involved. These include institutionalisation and independence, the ability to confer individual as well as collective benefit, the capacity to attract (rather than avoid) criticism, and the ‘branding’ that helps communicate what otherwise appear to be a set of unconnected, local actions. Although the risk amplification framework has been criticised for implying that there is some externally given risk level that is subsequently amplified, it does appear to capture the mentality of actors involved in issues of this kind. They talk and act as though they believe they are participants in a risk amplification process

Reducing the volume, exposure and negative impacts of advertising for foods high in fat, sugar and salt to children: a systematic review of the evidence from statutory and self-regulatory actions and educational measures

Purpose: To identify and review evidence on 1) the effectiveness of statutory and self-regulatory actions to reduce the volume, exposure or wider impact of advertising for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) to children, and 2) the role of educational measures. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of three databases (Medline, CINAHL and PsycINFO) and grey literature was carried out. Relevant evidence included studies evaluating advertising bans and restrictions, advertising literacy programmes and parental communication styles. Relevant media included TV, internet, radio, magazines and newspaper advertising. No studies were excluded based on language or publication date. Findings: Forty-seven publications were included: 19 provided evidence for the results of statutory regulation, 25 for self-regulation, and six for educational approaches. Outcome measures varied in approach, quality and results. Findings suggested statutory regulation could reduce the volume of and children's exposure to advertising for foods HFSS, and had potential to impact more widely. Self-regulatory approaches showed varied results in reducing children's exposure. There was some limited support for educational measures. Discussion: Consistency in measures from evaluations over time would assist the development and interpretation of the evidence base on successful actions and measures to reduce the volume, exposure and impact of advertising for foods HFSS to children

The properties of highly luminous IRAS galaxies

From a complete sample of 154 galaxies identified with IRAS sources in a 304 sq deg area centered on the South Galactic Pole, a subsample of 58 galaxies with L sub IR/L sub B > 3 was chosen. Low resolution spectra were obtained for 30% of the subsample and redshifts and relative emission line intensities were derived. As a class these galaxies are very luminous with = 2.9 x 10 to the 11th power L sub 0 and (L sub IR) max = 1.3 x 10 to the 12th power L sub 0. CCD images and JHK photometry were obtained for many of the subsample. The galaxies are for the most part newly identified and are optically faint, with a majority showing evidence of a recent interaction. Radio continuum observations of all galaxies of the subsample were recently obtained at 20 cm VLA with about 75% being detected in a typical integration time of about 10 minutes

Adverse effects of routine bovine health treatments containing triclabendazole and synthetic pyrethroids on the abundance of dipteran larvae in bovine faeces

Macrocyclic lactone treatments for livestock can have detrimental effects on the arthropod populations in livestock faeces. For the last twenty years, avoidance of these products has been a standard recommendation on livestock farms that are managed for wildlife by the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB). However, the continued decline in the populations of birds (in particular the red-billed chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) that are dependent on dung invertebrates on islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland prompted us to investigate the effects of livestock treatments that are commonly used on these islands. We conducted a replicated field plot study over two years to quantify the effects of livestock treatments containing copper, deltamethrin and triclabendazole on invertebrate density in pooled, artificial faecal pats on the island of Islay. We found that the density of arthropod larvae was significantly reduced by the triclabendazole and deltamethrin treatments in both years and by as much as 86% when the treatments were combined. Copper-containing boluses did not consistently affect abundance of arthropod larvae. These results suggest that veterinary treatment of livestock might contribute to a reduction in the food supply of chough

Retinal Biomarker Discovery for Dementia in an Elderly Diabetic Population

Dementia is a devastating disease, and has severe implications on affected individuals, their family and wider society. A growing body of literature is studying the association of retinal microvasculature measurement with dementia. We present a pilot study testing the strength of groups of conventional (semantic) and texture-based (non-semantic) measurements extracted from retinal fundus camera images to classify patients with and without dementia. We performed a 500-trial bootstrap analysis with regularized logistic regression on a cohort of 1,742 elderly diabetic individuals (median age 72.2). Age was the strongest predictor for this elderly cohort. Semantic retinal measurements featured in up to 81% of the bootstrap trials, with arterial caliber and optic disk size chosen most often, suggesting that they do complement age when selected together in a classifier. Textural features were able to train classifiers that match the performance of age, suggesting they are potentially a rich source of information for dementia outcome classification

The Edinburgh-Cape Blue Object Survey - III. Zone 2; galactic latitudes -30? > b > -40?

The Edinburgh–Cape Blue Object Survey seeks to identify point sources with an ultraviolet excess. Results for zone 2 of the survey are presented here, covering that part of the South Galactic Cap between 30◦ and 40◦ from the Galactic plane and south of about −12. ◦ 3 of declination. Edinburgh–Cape zone 2 comprises 66 UK Schmidt Telescope fields covering about 1730 deg2, in which we find some 892 blue objects, including 423 hot subdwarfs (∼47 per cent); 128 white dwarfs (∼14 per cent); 25 cataclysmic variables (∼3 per cent); 119 binaries (∼13 per cent), mostly composed of a hot subdwarf and a main-sequence F or G star; 66 horizontal branch stars (∼7 per cent) and 48 ‘star-like’ extragalactic objects (∼5 per cent). A further 362 stars observed in the survey, mainly low-metallicity F- and G-type stars, are also listed. Both low-dispersion spectroscopic classification and UBV photometry are presented for almost all of the hot objects and either spectroscopy or photometry (or both) for the cooler ones.Department of HE and Training approved lis

The construction of systems thinking pedagogy during a professional development institute

The prevalence of systems thinking pedagogy is growing in classrooms because of its inclusion in the Next Generation Science Standards and its potential as a tool for addressing complex, global problems. While most of the research on systems thinking targets the ways students develop system thinking skills, this qualitative study explores teachers' construction of systems thinking as a pedagogy in a professional development context. With this paradigm-shifting pedagogy, teacher learning in professional development is a critical piece of understanding how the practice is taken up. Using social constructionism, discourse analysis, and systems theory, we conducted a holistic case study to analyze how teachers privileged language and ways of knowing during a professional development institute on systems thinking. We found that the teachers considered systems thinking as a catalyst for shifting their thinking, curriculum, and classroom dynamics; imperative to this shift was the implementation of systems mapping as the central activity of the pedagogy. Their model of systems thinking pedagogy respected both teachers and students as capable academics; additionally, it privileged a professional development culture of “becoming” in which the power of the collective was a point of leverage for teachers to disrupt what can be perceived as low expectations for their students and themselves as professionals

Systematic literature review of primary-secondary transitions:International research

This article is accompanied by the following guide: Jindal‐Snape, D., Hannah, E. F. S., Cantali, D., Barlow, W. & Macgillivray, S. (2020) Context and Implications Document for: Systematic Literature Review of Primary‒Secondary Transitions: International Research https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3198 Acknowledgement We would like to acknowledge the contribution of Dr Evelyn Bowes (Scottish Government). Funding This study was funded by the Scottish Government and the paper is partially based on the report written for them.Peer reviewedPostprin

The ESO Key-Programme ``A Homogeneous Bright QSO Survey'' - I The Methods and the ``Deep'' Fields

This is the first paper in a series aimed at defining a statistically significant sample of QSOs in the range $15 < B < 18.75$ and $0.3 < z < 2.2$. The selection is carried out using direct plates obtained at the ESO and UK Schmidt Telescopes, scanned with the COSMOS facility and searched for objects with an ultraviolet excess. Follow-up spectroscopy, carried out at ESO La Silla, is used to classify each candidate. In this initial paper, we describe the scientific objectives of the survey; the selection and observing techniques used. We present the first sample of 285 QSOs ($M_B < -23$) in a 153 deg$^2$ area, covered by the six ``deep'' fields, intended to obtain significant statistics down $B \simeq 18.75$ with unprecedented photometric accuracy. From this database, QSO counts are determined in the magnitude range $17 < B < 18.75$.Comment: 21 pages uuencoded compressed postscript, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplements, 199