Open risk assessment: methods and expertise

Risk analysis and risk governance face a decline in social trust at both the scientific and policy levels. The involvement of society in the process has been proposed as an approach to increasing trust and engagement by making better use of available data and knowledge. In this session, EFSA explored the challenges in building trust and engagement and the latest thinking and methodologies for increasing openness that can help the organisation to move beyond traditional dialogue and towards a more sustainable stakeholder and society interaction. The discussion centred on the needs of EFSA and of target audiences throughout the process, from risk assessment initiation through societal decision-making and communication. The main focus of the session was on methodologies and approaches that would enable EFSA to increase its scientific rigour and build trust from additional inputs gained by opening up its risk assessments at the level of data gathering, data analysis, expertise and innovation. This will require an approach that moves beyond traditional risk assessment practices that rely on a long chain of static information and knowledge such as scientific articles, reviews, expert groups and committees

When Advertisements Improve Television

Though they have trouble predicting it, people adapt to most positive experiences. Consequently, an experience with a marvelous start can have a mild ending. If the experience is disrupted, however, the intensity can be prolonged, making the experience more enjoyable. Four studies found support for the hypothesis that disrupting television programs can make these programs more enjoyable. Although consumers thought that advertising disruptions would be aversive, they actually made the program more enjoyable to watch (Study 1). Subsequent studies showed that this was not due to evaluative contrast effects (Study 2) or the mere presence of advertisements (Study 3), and in fact could emerge with non-advertising disruptions (Study 4)

You’re Having Fun When Time Flies: The Hedonic Consequences of Subjective Time Progression

Seven studies tested the hypothesis that people use subjective time progression in hedonic evaluation. When people believe that time has passed unexpectedly quickly, they rate tasks as more engaging, noises as less irritating, and songs as more enjoyable. We propose that felt time distortion operates as a metacognitive cue that people implicitly attribute to their enjoyment of an experience (i.e., time flew, so the experience must have been fun). Consistent with this attribution account, the effects of felt time distortion on enjoyment ratings were moderated by the need for attribution, the strength of the “time flies” naive theory, and the presence of an alternative attribution. These findings suggest a previously unexplored process through which subjective time progression can influence the hedonic evaluation of experiences

Successful immunization against a parasitic nematode by vaccination with recombinant proteins

AbstractInfection of humans and livestock with parasitic nematodes can have devastating effects on health and production, affecting food security in both developed and developing regions. Despite decades of research, the development of recombinant sub-unit vaccines against these pathogens has been largely unsuccessful. We have developed a strategy to identify protective antigens from Teladorsagia circumcincta, the major pathogen causing parasitic gastroenteritis in small ruminants in temperate regions, by studying IgA responses directed at proteins specific to post-infective larvae. Antigens were also selected on the basis of their potential immunomodulatory role at the host/parasite interface. Recombinant versions of eight molecules identified by immunoproteomics, homology with vaccine candidates in other nematodes and/or with potential immunoregulatory activities, were therefore administered to sheep in a single vaccine formulation. The vaccine was administered three times with Quil A adjuvant and the animals subsequently subjected to a repeated challenge infection designed to mimic field conditions. Levels of protection in the vaccinates were compared to those obtained in sheep administered with Quil A alone. The trial was performed on two occasions. In both trials, vaccinates had significantly lower mean fecal worm egg counts (FWECs) over the sampling period, with a mean reduction in egg output of 70% (Trial 1) and 58% (Trial 2). During the period of peak worm egg shedding, vaccinates shed 92% and 73% fewer eggs than did controls in Trials 1 and 2, respectively. At post mortem, vaccinates had 75% (Trial 1) and 56% (Trial 2) lower adult nematode burdens than the controls. These levels of protection are the highest observed in any system using a nematode recombinant sub-unit vaccine in the definitive ruminant host and indicate that control of parasitic helminths via vaccination with recombinant subunit vaccine cocktails is indeed an alternative option in the face of multi-drug resistance

2011), “Contrast against the Future: The Unexpected Effect of Expectation,” working paper

We demonstrate that, although people do not contrast their enjoyment of a current experience against their enjoyment of a preceding experience, they do contrast it against their enjoyment of an anticipated experience. Classical music becomes more enjoyable when anticipating an irritating noise, but not following an irritating noise. Similarly, an irritating noise becomes more irritating when anticipating pleasant music, but not following pleasant music. This forward-looking hedonic contrast effect occurs across domains, can lead to greater enjoyment of declining rather than improving sequences, but does not obtain when the current experience is ambiguously valenced (in which case assimilation occurs)