Psychologies of Ageing: Research, policy and practice

A frequent concern of older people and of those who work with older people is that research is often divorced from reality and does not inform everyday practice. For many years, psychology and related disciplines have investigated the social and psychological aspects of ageing from different perspectives. However, the contemporary challenges faced by older people and their carers remain substantial. There is a need to better connect research with policy and practice designed to improve the quality of life of older people. The aim of this special issue is to provide a forum for researchers, policy makers and practitioners to discuss particular initiatives and topics pertinent to people as they age. It is through this dialogue that researchers can gain further insight into the everyday issues faced by older people, and can become more aware of particular challenges faced in developing and implementing changes in policy and practice

Evaluating Catchment Models as Multiple Working Hypotheses: on the Role of Error Metrics, Parameter Sampling, Model Structure, and Data Information Content

To evaluate models as hypotheses, we developed the method of Flux Mapping to construct a hypothesis space based on dominant runoff generating mechanisms. Acceptable model runs, defined as total simulated flow with similar (and minimal) model error, are mapped to the hypothesis space given their simulated runoff components. In each modeling case, the hypothesis space is the result of an interplay of factors: model structure and parameterization, chosen error metric, and data information content. The aim of this study is to disentangle the role of each factor in model evaluation. We used two model structures (SACRAMENTO and SIMHYD), two parameter sampling approaches (Latin Hypercube Sampling of the parameter space and guided-search of the solution space), three widely used error metrics (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency - NSE, Kling-Gupta Efficiency skill score - KGEss, and Willmott refined Index of Agreement - WIA), and hydrological data from a large sample of Australian catchments. First, we characterized how the three error metrics behave under different error types and magnitudes independent of any modeling. We then conducted a series of controlled experiments to unpack the role of each factor in runoff generation hypotheses. We show that KGEss is a more reliable metric compared to NSE and WIA for model evaluation. We further demonstrate that only changing the error metric -- while other factors remain constant -- can change the model solution space and hence vary model performance, parameter sampling sufficiency, and or the flux map. We show how unreliable error metrics and insufficient parameter sampling impair model-based inferences, particularly runoff generation hypotheses

Excluding stock from riverbanks for environmental restoration: The influence of social norms, drought, and off-farm income on landholder behaviour

Governments often use voluntary agreements to encourage landholders to adopt environmental practices, such as excluding stock from grazing riverbanks. In Victoria, Australia, government agencies subsidize the adoption of these projects, while landholders are required to continue maintaining stock exclusion indefinitely. In the absence of further financial or legal enforcement, landholder compliance depends on the motivation and decision-making of individual landholders. Social beliefs about the responsibility of landholders to improve the condition of degraded riverine ecosystems, known as social norms, influence farmers to adopt new environmental practices. The influence of social norms on behaviour weakens when people perceived themselves to be constrained. From late 1996 to mid-2010 landholders in Victoria endured more than ten years of drought that has reduced productivity, and income. Drought conditions may influence whether landholders continue to exclude stock over the long-term, despite holding positive social norms. However, behaviour is influenced by perceptions of constraint; landholder perceptions may not reflect drought severity. Perceived drought affectedness may also be related to the amount of income obtained from farm activities. This study examined the relationship between social factors, (including injunctive and descriptive social norms, and symbolic and instrumental social beliefs, perceived drought affectedness, actual drought severity), and the percentage of overall income that landholders obtain from farm activities. A social survey, and assessment of river restoration projects, was conducted with 93 landholders in rural Victoria, Australia. We found that landholders who continue to graze riverbanks hold weaker social norms about excluding stock in drought conditions. Grazing behaviour was explained by social norms, and perceived drought affectedness together. Perceived drought affectedness was best explained by actual drought severity, but also by the amount of income obtained from farming activities, rather than either factor alone. Policy makers should consider using drought relief funding to subsidize the purchase of additional stock feed during droughts to encourage farmers to continue environmental stock exclusion, particularly when farmers rely on farm activities for most of their income

Modular Assessment of Rainfall-Runoff Models Toolbox (MARRMoT) v1.2:an open-source, extendable framework providing implementations of 46 conceptual hydrologic models as continuous state-space formulations

This paper presents the Modular Assessment of Rainfall-Runoff Models Toolbox (MARRMoT): A modular open-source toolbox containing documentation and model code based on 46 existing conceptual hydrologic models. The toolbox is developed in MATLAB and works with Octave. MARRMoT models are based solely on traceable published material and model documentation, not on already-existing computer code. Models are implemented following several good practices of model development: The definition of model equations (the mathematical model) is kept separate from the numerical methods used to solve these equations (the numerical model) to generate clean code that is easy to adjust and debug; the implicit Euler time-stepping scheme is provided as the default option to numerically approximate each model's ordinary differential equations in a more robust way than (common) explicit schemes would; threshold equations are smoothed to avoid discontinuities in the model's objective function space; and the model equations are solved simultaneously, avoiding the physically unrealistic sequential solving of fluxes. Generalized parameter ranges are provided to assist with model inter-comparison studies. In addition to this paper and its Supplement, a user manual is provided together with several workflow scripts that show basic example applications of the toolbox. The toolbox and user manual are available from span classCombining double low line"uri"https://github.com/wknoben/MARRMoT/span (last access: 30 May 2019; a hrefCombining double low line"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3235664"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3235664). Our main scientific objective in developing this toolbox is to facilitate the inter-comparison of conceptual hydrological model structures which are in widespread use in order to ultimately reduce the uncertainty in model structure selection

Genetic Decomposition of the Heritable Component of Reported Childhood Maltreatment

BACKGROUND: Decades of research have shown that environmental exposures, including self-reports of trauma, are partly heritable. Heritable characteristics may influence exposure to and interpretations of environmental factors. Identifying heritable factors associated with self-reported trauma could improve our understanding of vulnerability to exposure and the interpretation of life events. METHODS: We used genome-wide association study summary statistics of childhood maltreatment, defined as reporting of abuse (emotional, sexual, and physical) and neglect (emotional and physical) (N = 185,414 participants). We calculated genetic correlations (rg) between reported childhood maltreatment and 576 traits to identify phenotypes that might explain the heritability of reported childhood maltreatment, retaining those with |rg| > 0.25. We specified multiple regression models using genomic structural equation modeling to detect residual genetic variance in childhood maltreatment after accounting for genetically correlated traits. RESULTS: In 2 separate models, the shared genetic component of 12 health and behavioral traits and 7 psychiatric disorders accounted for 59% and 56% of heritability due to common genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphism–based heritability [h2SNP]) of childhood maltreatment, respectively. Genetic influences on h2SNP of childhood maltreatment were generally accounted for by a shared genetic component across traits. The exceptions to this were general risk tolerance, subjective well-being, posttraumatic stress disorder, and autism spectrum disorder, identified as independent contributors to h2SNP of childhood maltreatment. These 4 traits alone were sufficient to explain 58% of h2SNP of childhood maltreatment. CONCLUSIONS: We identified putative traits that reflect h2SNP of childhood maltreatment. Elucidating the mechanisms underlying these associations may improve trauma prevention and posttraumatic intervention strategies

Cep152 interacts with Plk4 and is required for centriole duplication

Cep152, the orthologue of Drosophila Asterless, is a Plk4 target that functions with Plk4 in centriole assembly

Preventing or inventing? Understanding the effects of non-prescriptive design briefs

© 2016, The Author(s). This paper discusses observations of an architecture and environmental engineering undergraduate design studio project assigned to 4th year students at a UK university. In the UK, most architecture courses are characterised by a high proportion of design studio teaching supported by varying amount of technical modules that include environmental and construction learning. Recent scholarship on sustainability education in architecture, discusses the necessity for new approaches that enhance transdisciplinarity, autonomy and independent decision-making. However, despite increasing importance to both practice and policy, few empirical or theoretical examples account for the implications or experiences of such an approach. This study presents the experiences of an architecture and environmental engineering design studio whereby studio activities are closely interlinked with technical engineering enquiry and experiment. Specifically, the research examines the challenges and opportunities students face when assigned a design project that attempts to translate independently derived briefs into novel architectural environmentally engineered interpretations. The analysis draws on a series of ethnographic narrative and visual observations carried over a period of 6months. The implications of the findings are threefold. First, the analysis shows the opportunities an integrated cross-disciplinary approach can offer, where the gap between creative and technical domains is narrowed. Second, the study presents some of the challenges faced by increased autonomy and lack of prescription that students encounter. Third, the paper contributes to an emerging agenda of sustainability education in the built environment by offering valuable insights into the benefits and difficulties cross-disciplinary approaches pose to architectural education

Impact of the British Lung Foundation Active Steps service on patient reported outcomes: (i) concurrent cohort study, (ii) process evaluation, (iii) economic evaluation. Presentations at European Respiratory Society International Congress 2021

Background: Active Steps is a remote behaviour change service supporting inactive adults with a lung condition to become physically active. Aim: To determine the efficacy of Active Steps in improving physical activity and quality life

Costs and Consequences: Hepatitis C Seroprevalence in the Military and Its Impact on Potential Screening Strategies

UNLABELLED: Knowledge of the contemporary epidemiology of hepatitis C viral (HCV) infection among military personnel can inform potential Department of Defense screening policy. HCV infection status at the time of accession and following deployment was determined by evaluating reposed serum from 10,000 service members recently deployed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the period 2007-2010. A cost model was developed from the perspective of the Department of Defense for a military applicant screening program. Return on investment was based on comparison between screening program costs and potential treatment costs avoided. The prevalence of HCV antibody-positive and chronic HCV infection at accession among younger recently deployed military personnel born after 1965 was 0.98/1000 (95% confidence interval 0.45-1.85) and 0.43/1000 (95% confidence interval 0.12-1.11), respectively. Among these, service-related incidence was low; 64% of infections were present at the time of accession. With no screening, the cost to the Department of Defense of treating the estimated 93 cases of chronic HCV cases from a single year\u27s accession cohort was $9.3 million. Screening with the HCV antibody test followed by the nucleic acid test for confirmation yielded a net annual savings and a$3.1 million dollar advantage over not screening. CONCLUSIONS: Applicant screening will reduce chronic HCV infection in the force, result in a small system costs savings, and decrease the threat of transfusion-transmitted HCV infection in the battlefield blood supply and may lead to earlier diagnosis and linkage to care; initiation of an applicant screening program will require ongoing evaluation that considers changes in the treatment cost and practice landscape, screening options, and the epidemiology of HCV in the applicant/accession and overall force populations