How is cervical cancer screening information communicated in UK websites? A cross-sectional analysis of content and quantitative presentation formats

Objectives: To investigate whether UK websites about cervical cancer screening targeted to the public include (1) information about benefits and risks of screening, possible screening results and cervical cancer statistics, (2) quantitative presentation formats recommended in the risk communication literature and (3) appeals for participation and/or informed decision-making. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of websites using a comprehensive checklist of information items on screening benefits, risks, possible results and cervical cancer statistics. Outcome measures: We recorded the number of websites that contained each of the information items, and the presentation format used for probabilistic information (no quantification provided, verbal quantifiers only, different types of numerical formats and/or graphs). We also recorded the number of websites containing appeals for participation and/or informed decision-making. Setting: Websites were identified through the most common Google search terms used in the UK to find information on cervical screening, according to GoogleTrends and a commercial internet-monitoring programme. Two additional websites were identified by the authors as relevant. Results: After applying exclusion criteria, 14 websites were evaluated, including websites of public and private health service providers, charities, a medical society and a pharmacy. The websites mentioned different benefits, risks of screening and possible results. However, specific content varied between websites. Probabilistic information was often presented using non-recommended formats, including relative risk reductions to express screening benefits, and verbal quantifiers without numbers to express risks. Appeals for participation were present in most websites, with almost half also mentioning informed decision-making. Conclusions: UK websites about cervical cancer screening were generally balanced. However, benefits and risks were presented using different formats, potentially hindering comparisons. Additionally, recommendations from the literature to facilitate understanding of quantitative information and facilitate informed decisions were often not followed. Designing websites that adhere to existing recommendations may support informed screening uptake

Counting molecules with a mobile phone camera using plasmonic enhancement

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Plasmonic field enhancement enables the acquisition of Raman spectra at a single molecule level. Here we investigate the detection of surface enhanced Raman signal using the unmodified image sensor of a smart phone, integrated onto a confocal Raman system. The sensitivity of a contemporary smart phone camera is compared to a photomultiplier and a cooled charge-coupled device. The camera displays a remarkably high sensitivity, enabling the observation of the weak unenhanced Raman scattering signal from a silicon surface, as well as from liquids, such as ethanol. Using high performance wide area plasmonic substrates that enhance the Raman signal 10(6) to 10(7) times, blink events typically associated with single molecule motion, are observed on the smart phone camera. Raman spectra can also be collected on the smart phone by converting the camera into a low resolution spectrometer with the inclusion of a collimator and a dispersive optical element in front of the camera. In this way, spectral content of the blink events can be observed on the plasmonic substrate, in real time, at 30 frames per second

The green location-routing problem

This paper introduces the Green Location-Routing Problem (GLRP), a combination of the classical Location-Routing Problem (LRP) and the Pollution-Routing Problem (PRP). The GLRP consists of (i) locating depots on a subset of a discrete set of points, from where vehicles of limited capacity will be dispatched to serve a number of customers with service requirements, (ii) routing the vehicles by determining the order of customers served by each vehicle and (iii) setting the speed on each leg of the journey such that customers are served within their respective time windows. The objective of the GLRP is to minimize a cost function comprising the fixed cost of operating depots, as well as the costs of the fuel and CO2 emissions. The amount of fuel consumption and emissions is measured by a widely used comprehensive modal emission model. The paper presents a mixed integer programming formulation and a set of preprocessing rules and valid inequalities to strengthen the formulation. Two solution approaches; an integer programming based algorithm and an iterated local search algorithm are also presented. Computational analyses are carried out using adaptations of literature instances to the GLRP in order to analyze the effects of a number parameters on location and routing decisions in terms of cost, fuel consumption and emission. The performance of the heuristic algorithms are also evaluated

The role of personal experience and prior beliefs in shaping climate change perceptions: A narrative review

Global climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, and flooding. This is the primary way many individuals experience climate change, which has led researchers to investigate the influence of personal experience on climate change concern and action. However, existing evidence is still limited and in some cases contradictory. At the same time, behavioral decision research has highlighted the importance of pre-existing values and beliefs in shaping how individuals experience changes in environmental conditions. This is in line with theories of motivated reasoning, which suggest that people interpret and process information in a biased manner to maintain their prior beliefs. Yet, the evidence for directional motivated reasoning in the context of climate change beliefs has recently been questioned. In the current paper, we critically review the literature on the interrelationships between personal experience of local weather anomalies, extreme weather events and climate change beliefs. Overall, our review shows that there is some evidence that local warming can generate climate change concern, but the capacity for personal experience to promote action may rely upon the experience first being attributed to climate change. Rare extreme weather events will likely have limited impact on judgments and decisions unless they have occurred recently. However, even recent events may have limited impact among individuals who hold strong pre-existing beliefs rejecting the reality of climate change. We identify limitations of existing research and suggest directions for future work

Papers please: Predictive factors of national and international attitudes toward immunity and vaccination passports. Online representative surveys

BACKGROUND: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are introducing digital passports that allow citizens to return to normal activities if they were previously infected with (immunity passport) or vaccinated against (vaccination passport) SARS-CoV-2. To be effective, policy decision-makers must know whether these passports will be widely accepted by the public and under what conditions. This study focuses attention on immunity passports, as these may prove useful in countries both with and without an existing COVID-19 vaccination program; however, our general findings also extend to vaccination passports. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess attitudes toward the introduction of immunity passports in six countries, and determine what social, personal, and contextual factors predicted their support. METHODS: We collected 13,678 participants through online representative sampling across six countries—Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom—during April to May of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and assessed attitudes and support for the introduction of immunity passports. RESULTS: Immunity passport support was moderate to low, being the highest in Germany (775/1507 participants, 51.43%) and the United Kingdom (759/1484, 51.15%); followed by Taiwan (2841/5989, 47.44%), Australia (963/2086, 46.16%), and Spain (693/1491, 46.48%); and was the lowest in Japan (241/1081, 22.94%). Bayesian generalized linear mixed effects modeling was used to assess predictive factors for immunity passport support across countries. International results showed neoliberal worldviews (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% CI 1.13-1.22), personal concern (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.00-1.16), perceived virus severity (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.14), the fairness of immunity passports (OR 2.51, 95% CI 2.36-2.66), liking immunity passports (OR 2.77, 95% CI 2.61-2.94), and a willingness to become infected to gain an immunity passport (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.51-1.68) were all predictive factors of immunity passport support. By contrast, gender (woman; OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.82-0.98), immunity passport concern (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.57-0.65), and risk of harm to society (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.67-0.76) predicted a decrease in support for immunity passports. Minor differences in predictive factors were found between countries and results were modeled separately to provide national accounts of these data. CONCLUSIONS: Our research suggests that support for immunity passports is predicted by the personal benefits and societal risks they confer. These findings generalized across six countries and may also prove informative for the introduction of vaccination passports, helping policymakers to introduce effective COVID-19 passport policies in these six countries and around the world

A STUDY ON THE ADVANTAGES OF SHORT SEA SHIPPING AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN COMBINED TRANSPORT

Ulaştırma sistemlerinin gelişim süreci içerisinde karayolları, altyapısı kısa zamanda tamamlanan ve bu nedenle en çok tercih edilen taşımacılık şekli olurken, günümüzde bu taşımacılık şekli; ulaştırma kaynaklı hava kirliliği, ses ve görüntü kirliliği, ölümlü ve yaralanmalı kaza istatistikleri içerisinde en büyük paya sahiptir. Bu ulaştırma modunun sebep olduğu olumsuz etkileri en aza indirmek çoğu gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerin ulaştırma stratejilerinde yer almaktadır. Yapılan çalışmalarda, karayolundaki taşımacılık hacminin ve sebep olduğu olumsuz etkilerin, mevcut talebin diğer taşıma modlarına kaydırılarak azaltılabileceği konusunda görüş birliğine varılmıştır. Kombine taşımacılık, içinde bulunulan coğrafi koşullar da göz önünde bulundurularak, taşıma zincirinin büyük kısmı denizyolu ve demiryolunu içerdiği için modlar arası taşıma talebi aktarımında optimum çözüm şeklidir. Türkiye, yarımadaya benzer coğrafi yapısı ile kombine taşımacılık açısından avantajlı bir ülke konumundadır. Yatay taşıma rotalarında direkt olarak karayolu yerine deniz yolunu tercih edilebilir veya denizyolu ve demiryolu ağırlıklı kombine taşımacılık yapılması sağlanabilir. Türkiye'de kombine taşımacılık yeterince gelişememiş ve bahsi geçen avantajları iyi değerlendirilememiştir. Bu çalışmada, karayolu taşıma moduna alternatif olan kısa mesafe deniz taşıması ve kombine taşımacılık modu; emisyon, yakıt tüketimi, taşıma maliyetleri ve taşıma zamanı değişkenleri bazında karayolu taşıması ile karşılaştırılmış ve kombine taşımacılığın avantajlarının gösterilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Among the transportation modes, road has always been the most preferred form of transport mode due to having advantage of the time required for the infrastructure. However, it has the highest share in the percentage of transportation-related emissions, noise and visual pollution, fatalities and accidents with injuries. Minimizing the adverse effects that caused by the road is always on the transport strategy of most of the developed and developing countries. It was agreed in the studies that the current demand and the adverse effects caused by the volume of road transport can be reduced by shifting demands to the other modes of transportation. Combined transportation taking into consideration the geographical conditions that contains a large part of the sea and railway in transport chain is the optimum solution for the transfer of road transport demand to greener mode. Turkey is in an advantageous position with its peninsular structure in terms of combined transport. Combined transportation with sea, rail and road could be utilized even for parallel transportation of goods. Although it has potential in Turkey, combined transportation has not developed much yet. In this study, short haul sea transport and combined transport mode as an alternative to highway transport mode, is compared with road transportation in terms of emissions, fuel consumption, transportation time, transportation costs and the advantages of combined transport are highlighte

Biasing and debiasing health decisions with bar graphs: Costs and benefits of graph literacy

Bar graphs can improve risk communication in medicine and health. Unfortunately, recent research has revealed that bar graphs are associated with a robust bias that can lead to systematic judgement and decision-making errors. When people view bar graphs representing means, they tend to believe that data points located within bars are more likely to be part of the underlying distributions than equidistant points outside bars. In three experiments, we investigated potential consequences, key cognitive mechanisms, and generalisability of the within-the-bar bias in the medical domain. We also investigated the effectiveness of different interventions to reduce the effect of this bias and protect people from errors. Results revealed that the within-the-bar bias systematically affected participants’ judgements and decisions concerning treatments for controlling blood glucose, as well as their interpretations of ecological graphs designed to guide health policy decisions. Interestingly, individuals with higher graph literacy showed the largest biases. However, the use of dot plots to replace bars improved the accuracy of interpretations. Perceptual mechanisms underlying the within-the-bar bias and prescriptive implications for graph design are discussed

When IPCC graphs can foster or bias understanding: evidence among decision-makers from governmental and non-governmental institutions

To develop effective climate change policy, decision-makers need to have the best possible understanding of the available climate science. The IPCC Assessment Reports therefore aim to lay the foundation for informed political decision-making by providing policy-relevant information. But how successful are IPCC reports at communicating key findings? Although IPCC reports display key information in graphs, the interpretation of such graphs has received little attention. Here we provide an empirical evaluation of IPCC graph comprehension among IPCC target audience (N = 110), (political) decision-makers from climate-related (non-)governmental organizations from 54 countries, and a comparative sample of German junior diplomats, representing future international decision-makers (N = 33). We assess comprehension of current climate change risk visualizations using two IPCC graphs, one that employs principles of intuitive design, and one that violates principles of intuitive design. Results showed that (i) while a minority of IPCC target audience misinterpreted the intuitive graph, (ii) the majority of participants systematically misinterpreted the counter-intuitive graph, drawing the opposite conclusion from what was meant to be conveyed by the graph, despite (iii) having high confidence in the accuracy of their interpretation. Since misinterpretation of IPCC graphs does not allow for optimal use of the scientific information for policy-making, the results emphasize the importance of IPCC graphs that follow the principles of intuitive design

Psychological factors related to time to help-seeking for cancer symptoms: A meta-analysis across cancer sites.

The time patients wait before seeking help for cancer symptoms is among the most important factors contributing to diagnostic delays in cancer. We reviewed the association between time to help-seeking and three psychological factors: symptom knowledge, symptom interpretation, and beliefs about cancer (Prospero review protocol CRD42018088944). Forty-seven studies published between 1990 and 2019 met the inclusion criteria, providing data on 44,961 participants from 22 countries concerning seven cancer sites. A series of random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions were conducted. Better symptom knowledge was related to lower odds of a long help-seeking interval in both studies with healthy populations (OR = .73, 95% CI [.63, .84], k = 19) and with patients (OR = .40, 95% CI [.23, .69], k = 12), and so was interpreting experienced symptoms as cancer-related (OR = .52, 95% CI [.36, .75], k = 13 studies with patients). More positive beliefs about cancer (i.e., that cancer is treatable) were associated with lower odds of a long help-seeking interval in both studies with healthy populations (OR = .70, 95% CI [.52, .92], k = 11) and with patients (OR = .51, 95% CI [.32, .82], k = 7). Symptom knowledge, interpretation, and beliefs about cancer are likely to be universal predictors of help-seeking. Theoretical models of patient help-seeking and interventions aiming to reduce delays should incorporate these factors