Wildfire Risk Management on a Landscape with Public and Private Ownership: Who Pays?

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Spatial Endogenous Fire Risk and Efficient Fuel Management and Timber Harvest

This paper integrates a spatial fire behavior model and a stochastic dynamic optimization model to determine the optimal spatial pattern of fuel management and timber harvest. Each years fire season causes the loss of forest values and lives in the western US. This paper uses a multi-plot analysis and incorporates uncertainty about fire ignition locations and weather conditions to inform policy by examining the role of spatial endogenous risk - where management actions on one stand affect fire risk in that and adjacent stands. The results support two current strategies, but question two other strategies, for managing forests with fire risk.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The illness-disease dynamic:psychological wellbeing in type 2 diabetes: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Distress and depression often go unrecognised in people with diabetes. In this article, I present an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of the lived experience of people with Type 2 diabetes, based on individual in-depth interviews with 10 patients. The purpose of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of these psychological symptoms through a detailed examination of how patients interpret and respond to their experience of the condition. I propose a revised model for the connection between the disease of diabetes and patients’ lived experiences of illness, as one of embodied coexistence rather than relation. Through my analysis, I identify the psychological processes that might need to be addressed in an effective preventative support system

Acute Coronary Syndrome in Pregnancy

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in pregnancy has traditionally been considered to be a rare event, but the combination of normal physiological changes of pregnancy and more prevalent cardiovascular risk factors are increasing its incidence in this population. The present report describes a 39 year-old woman that is seven weeks pregnant presenting with a non ST elevation myocardial infarction. The incidence, risk factors, pathophysiology and management of ACS in pregnancy are discussed

Can compassion be taught? A medical students' compassion discourse

Background: Universities of Brighton, Surrey and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School responded to a regional bid to provide compassion awareness training to the local health care workforce. An appreciative inquiry methodology was used to develop a toolkit which included a number of different activities focused on the following pillars. Appreciate (best of what has been), imagine (what might be), determine (what should be) and finally create (what will be). One of the toolkit resources focused on seeking and celebrating acts of compassion. Methods: Following a cultivating compassion workshop, a group of medical students in their third year decided to use this activity from the Compassion toolkit to observe acts of compassion occurring within their clinical setting and reflected on the impact this activity had on them. Results: Themes deduced from the 34 acts of compassion witnessed included; team compassion, patient-centred compassion, peer to peer compassion and patient to patient compassion. Students’ reflections about undertaking this activity were thematically analysed and emerging themes included self compassion, confidence about talking about compassion, changes in behaviour and finally how could compassion be taught at medical school. Conclusion: This study generated discussions on what was the difference between acts of compassion and normal human behaviour and the “hidden curriculum” of health professionals’ behaviour. Students realised the importance of compassion and yet the absence of that word within their own curriculum. This small pilot study made it possible to consider how compassion can be taught within the undergraduate curriculum, simply by empowering students to open their eyes and witness compassionate acts. The medical students were able to see compassionate behaviour that they wished to model and that would support them once qualified

Portrayals and perceptions of AI and why they matter

How researchers, communicators, policymakers, and publics talk about technology matters. Shared understandings about the nature, promise and risks of new technologies develop through the explicit or implicit stories that different groups tell about technology and its place in our lives. The AI narratives project – a joint endeavour by the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the Royal Society – has been examining which narratives currently influence public debates about AI, and how these portrayals might shape public perceptions of the capabilities, risks, and benefits of AI technologies. Many of the current ideas about AI technologies that are pervasive in public consciousness – typically that AI is an embodied, super-human intelligence – are shaped by hundreds of years of stories that people have told about humans and machines, and our places in the world. This cultural hinterland shapes how AI is portrayed in media, culture, and everyday discussion; it influences what societies find concerning – or exciting – about technological developments; and it affects how different publics relate to AI technologies. Building a well-founded public dialogue about AI technologies will be key to continued public confidence in the systems that deploy AI technologies, and to realising the benefits they promise across sectors. Since the launch of the machine learning project, the Royal Society has been creating spaces for public discussion about AI technologies, and their implications for society. In a series of four workshops, the Royal Society and Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence explored: which narratives around intelligent machines are most prevalent, and their historical roots; what can be learned from how the narrative around other complex, new technologies developed, and the impact of these; how narratives are shaping the development of AI, and the role of arts and media in this process; and the implications of current AI narratives for researchers and communicators. The report brings together the conclusions of these workshops, and is for anyone interested in how AI is portrayed and perceived.Drs Cave, Dihal, and Dillon are funded by a Leverhulme Trust Research Centre Grant awarded to the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence. Dr Singler was funded by a Templeton World Charitable Foundation grant during the course of the AI narratives project, awarded to the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St Edmund's College, Cambridge