An experimental study of attitudes to changing water charges in Scotland. ESRI Working Paper No.654 March 2020

If an aim of a regulatory body is to act on behalf of the views of its citizenry, then it is important to understand what those views are. This paper, in collaboration with the OECD and the Scottish water industry, presents the results of an online (n= 500) and face-to-face laboratory (n= 100) study that utilised experimental behavioural science to explore how the provision and presentation of future price change information influences Scottish citizens’ acceptance of water price changes. Participants were asked to rate different patterns of price rises for their water charges. The pattern, presentation, magnitude of price rises and the provision of additional cost information (designed to simplify the calculations of future costs) was manipulated across tasks and participants. Results from this study suggest that Scottish citizens are generally accepting of price rises in the short and medium terms. However, the patterns of price rises, and the way in which information is presented, can influence these attitudes, suggesting that consumers do not always accurately integrate sequential price rises over time. Findings from this study are designed to inform the regulatory process of the Scottish water industry and highlight the potential role of behavioural science in regulation more generally

The framing of options for retirement: Experimental tests for policy. ESRI WP604, December 2018

We hypothesise and confirm a substantial framing effect in relation to whether people opt for an annuity on retirement. Two laboratory experiments were conducted in collaboration with a national pensions regulator. Individuals demanded a higher annuity rate when pensions were initially conceived of as an accumulated lump sum – a “nest egg” or “pension pot” – than when they were initially conceived of as retirement income. The effect was recorded using both a matching and a choice procedure. Effect sizes implied more than a doubling of demand for annuities at market rates. While mindful of the need for caution in generalising from hypothetical laboratory studies, the findings have potentially strong policy implications. The framing of pension products in marketing materials and disclosures may have substantial effects on financial risks borne in later life

A comparison of the effectiveness of TiO2 photocatalysis and UVA photolysis for the destruction of three pathogenic micro-organisms.

TiO2 photocatalysis has demonstrated efficacy as a treatment process for water contaminated with chemical pollutants. When exposed to UVA light TiO2 also demonstrates an effective bactericidal activity. The mechanism of this process has been reported to involve attack by valence band generated hydroxyl radicals. In this study when three common bacterial pathogens, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were exposed to TiO2 and UVA light a substantial decrease in bacterial numbers was observed. Control experiments in which all three pathogens were exposed to UVA light only resulted in a similar reduction in bacterial numbers. Moreover, exposure to UVA light alone resulted in the production of a smaller than average colony phenotype among the surviving bacteria, for all three pathogens examined, a finding which was not observed following treatment with UVA and TiO2. Small slow growing colonies have been described for several pathogenic bacteria and are referred to as small colony variants. Several studies have demonstrated an association between small colony variants and persistent, recurrent and antibiotic resistant infections. We propose that the production of small colony variants of pathogenic bacteria following UVA treatment of drinking water may represent a health hazard. As these small colony variants were not observed with the UVA/TiO2 system this potential hazard is not a risk when using this technology. It would also appear that the bactericidal mechanism is different with the UVA/TiO2 process compared to when UVA light is used alone

Loss of heather moorland in the Scottish uplands: the role of red grouse management

Scottish upland moorland dominated by heather Calluna vulgaris is the primary habitat for red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus, and has been declining since the 1940s. At the same time red grouse numbers have also fallen. We compared land cover change on sites managed for grouse shooting (1945-1990), and on sites which were managed for grouse in the 1940s but on which management had stopped by the 1980s. Land cover type for sites (N = 229) containing >10% heather cover in the 1940s were examined during the 1940s, 1970s, and 1980s. Grouse management existed on 49% of sites in the 1940s, a number which had fallen to 20% by the 1980s. In the 1940s there were no significant differences in land cover type between areas that were managed for grouse, and areas that were not. However, differences emerged during the 1970s and 1980s; areas where grouse management had ceased by the 1980s showed an expansion in woodland cover from 6% in the 1940s to 30% in the 1980s, and a reduction in heather cover from 53% to 29%. In areas where active grouse management had been maintained, woodland increased from 3% to 10% and heather decreased from 51% to 41% during the same period. These changes may be, in part, a consequence of government agricultural and forestry policy. When profitable, grouse management reduces the attractiveness of such subsidies and thereby results in a slower loss of heathe

A low cost scheme for high precision dual-wavelength laser metrology

A novel method capable of delivering relative optical path length metrology with nanometer precision is demonstrated. Unlike conventional dual-wavelength metrology which employs heterodyne detection, the method developed in this work utilizes direct detection of interference fringes of two He-Ne lasers as well as a less precise stepper motor open-loop position control system to perform its measurement. Although the method may be applicable to a variety of circumstances, the specific application where this metrology is essential is in an astrometric optical long baseline stellar interferometer dedicated to precise measurement of stellar positions. In our example application of this metrology to a narrow-angle astrometric interferometer, measurement of nanometer precision could be achieved without frequency-stabilized lasers although the use of such lasers would extend the range of optical path length the metrology can accurately measure. Implementation of the method requires very little additional optics or electronics, thus minimizing cost and effort of implementation. Furthermore, the optical path traversed by the metrology lasers is identical with that of the starlight or science beams, even down to using the same photodetectors, thereby minimizing the non-common-path between metrology and science channels.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Applied Optic

Manipulating Pesticide Use to Increase the Production of Wild Game Birds in Britain

We describe a management technique whereby the adverse effects of pesticides on game-bird chick production were alleviated following selective use or selective avoidance of pesticides on the edges of cereal crops. This technique (known as Conservation Headlands) provided increased amounts of food resources necessary for young gray partridge (Perdix perdix) and ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) chicks. The use of Conservation Headlands has consistently increased average numbers of chicks per brood of both species via increases in the densities of arthropods and weed plants. These findings are discussed in the context of the other prerequisites of wild game-bird production in the UK and how these may be altered by recent Government policies to reduce cereal surpluses

Removal of microcystins from a waste stabilisation lagoon: evaluation of a packed-bed continuous flow TiO2 reactor.

Photocatalysis has been shown to successfully remove microcystins (MC) in laboratory experiments. Most research to date has been performed under ideal conditions in pure or ultrapure water. In this investigation the efficiency of photocatalysis using titanium dioxide was examined in a complex matrix (waste stabilisation lagoon water). A flow-through photocatalytic reactor was used for the photocatalytic removal of four commonly-occurring microcystin analogues (MC-YR, MC-RR, MC-LR, and MC-LA). Up to 51% removal for single MC analogues in waste lagoon water was observed. Similar removal rates were observed when a mixture of all four MC analogues was treated. Although treatment of MC-containing cyanobacterial cells of Microcystis aeruginosa resulted in no decline in cell numbers, or viability with the current reactor design and treatment regime, the photocatalytic treatment did improve the overall quality of waste lagoon water. This study demonstrates that, despite the presence of natural organic matter, the microcystins could be successfully degraded in a complex environmental matrix

Destruction of cyanobacterial toxins by semiconductor photocatalysis.

The rapid destruction of microcystin, a cyanobacterial toxin, using a titanium dioxide photocatalyst is observed; the process is extremely efficient with high concentrations of toxin completely undetectable within 10-40 min, depending on the initial concentration

A study of the kinetic solvent isotope effect on the destruction of microcystin-LR and geosmin using TiO2 photocatalysis.

We have previously reported the effectiveness of TiO2 photocatalysis in the destruction of species generated by cyanobacteria, specifically geosmin and microcystin-LR. In this paper we report an investigation of factors which influence the rate of the toxin destruction at the catalyst surface. A primary kinetic solvent isotope effect of approximately 1.5 was observed when the destruction was performed in a heavy water solvent. This is in contrast to previous reports of a solvent isotope effect of approximately 3, however, these studies were undertaken with a different photocatalyst material. The solvent isotope effect therefore appears to be dependent on the photocatalyst material used. The results of the study support the theory that the photocatalytic decomposition occurs on the catalyst surface rather than in the bulk of the solution. Furthermore it appears that the rate determining step is not oxygen reduction as previously reported