Reflecting on the Use of Photo-elicitation Methods in IPA Research. Enhancing the Interpretative Lens and Re-balancing Power Back to the Participant. A Review of Published Studies

The use of visual and creative methods, specifically photo-elicitation in qualitative research has seen an increase in popularity in applied social science research, particularly in studies of psychology. This paper considers the evolution of the photograph as a research tool, particularly when combined with one-to-one interviewing. This paper situates the use of the photograph within historical and disciplinary contexts whilst offering new perspectives on its application to psychological fields of study. We argue that there are interesting benefits associated with supplementing qualitative methods such as one-to-one interviews with photographic stimuli. We present a recent systematic review of photo-elicitation used in research which identifies as being informed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Interpretative phenomenological Analysis is a particular qualitative approach which aims produce an account of lived experience. It is often unconcerned by adhering to the application of pre-existing theoretical preconceptions and instead offers an inductive, iterative and highly idiographic account of a phenomena of which the participant has direct experience of. This may be phenomena linked to personal changes in health and illness, or even adapting to new learning environments. Central to the purpose of IPA is the recognition that this account of lived experience is an interpretative endeavor between both participant and analyst. We argue that this need for interpretation and co-construction offers space for creative methods to ‘bridge the gap’ between simply describing a phenomena and entering into the symbolic, metaphorical interpretative world of meaning making which pushes IPA research from mediocrity to excellence. In this review we aimed to capture information related to the use of photographic methods in IPA research with particular interest in exploring the body of published work across the following protocols; 1) sample for inclusion, 2) domain of study, 3) orientation of research questions, 4) design features, 5) variation of photo-method, 6) outcomes of research and 7) critical appraisal of study. There are 14 published articles utilising photographs in IPA from 2010-2018. These studies were conducted internationally and reach across different topic domains including health, developmental, education and occupational research. The reviewed studies extend across the age span and there was notable younger age participants involved. Using photographs offered particular advantages in comparison to interview alone. These include; (a) to empower marginalized, ‘hard to reach’ groups (b) to facilitate in-depth interpretative discussions of abstract, ‘metaphorical’ concepts, sensitive issues (c) to synthesise data with other methods to strengthen and d) enhance trustworthiness of findings. There was considerable variation in how photographs were ‘produced’ ranging from photos, ‘elicited’ by participants or as a secondary artefact produced by researcher as a stimulus for discussion. Visual methods using photographs vary, and include photo-narratives, photo-journals, photo-montage, photo-questionnaires. We situation our review within fast moving changes and opportunities for this method within a wider ‘open science’ framework and also pay particular attention to exploring ethical issues to ensure confidentiality, consent, privacy and wider 2018 General Data Protection Regulation adherence

The effect of heavy handrail support on blood pressure response in normotensive adults during treadmill walking

Physiological and hemodynamic responses to handrail support during treadmill walking have shown a blunted response when compared to non-handrail support. The effects of treadmill walking, with the inclusion of “heavy” upper limb and torso activation through handrail support is yet unreported. The effect of “heavy” support through side handrail support (SHRS) and front console support (C) versus no handrail support (NHRS) treadmill walking was studied utilizing both slow/low (2.5 mph & 3% elevation) and high/fast (3.5 mph & 11% elevation) energy expenditure levels. Seventeen healthy adults (43.89 +/- 6.07 years) completed trials at both energy expenditure levels incorporating all three handrail support conditions within 1 week, separated by at least 1 day. SBP, DBP, HR, and RPE were measured. SBP was 8.6% and 5.9% lower during C compared to NHRS (p\u3c0.001) and SHRS (p=0.006), respectively, during the fast/high trials. No gender effect was noted. The amount of decrease in each variable was intensity dependent, which may be practically significant when prescribing exercise to a participant who relies on handrail support. Likewise, the removal of handrail support during treadmill walking in the healthy exerciser is no contraindicated

Enhancing Capacity and Managing Demand to Increase Short-Term Throughput on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

While there are many proposals for fixing congestion between San Francisco and Oakland in California by adding a new bridge or tube, these solutions will take decades to implement even though a solution is needed now. This thesis assesses sixteen different strategies for reducing congestion in the short-term in the four categories of improving transit, promoting carpooling, implementing intelligent transportation systems practices, and incentivizing alternatives to using the Bay Bridge. Top priorities include HOV improvements on the West Grand Avenue and Powell Street onramps, altering WestCAT Lynx and BART transit services, partnering with rideshare apps to increase transit station accessibility (last mile problem), partnering with vanpool/minibus apps, promoting carpooling and implementing a citizen report system for carpool violators, shifting corporate cultures away from requiring employees to drive and drive alone, and lastly, altering land-use planning practices. To reach this conclusion, an inventory of current proposals and relevant research was compiled. Ridership and capacity data for the various modes of transportation across the bay were assessed for shortfalls and opportunities. Through this research and its resultant conclusions, focus can be placed on the best strategies to pursue in the near-term, while the Bay Area waits on a second bridge or tube in the long-term

Incorporación de la incertidumbre en el diseño y aplicación de reglas de control de producción

Harvest control rules are widely used by management agencies for decision-making and for promoting public awareness of the status of marine and freshwater fisheries. Many current control rules combine fishing mortality and biomass-based biological reference points. Control rules were introduced as a precaution against the influence of uncertainty and to decrease the risk of overfishing, but are compromised if the uncertainties of the biological reference points are not explicitly considered. Uncertainty has been widely acknowledged but has not been incorporated into control rule design and application. In this paper, we used a Bayesian statistical catch-at-age model to estimate uncertainties in the indicators of fishing mortality, population size, and biological reference points. We apply this model to the Lake Erie walleye (Sander vitreus) fishery, and by fully considering the uncertainty of the indicators, the risk of overfishing and the risk of the population being overfished can be explicitly estimated in the control rules. We suggest short and long-term approaches to incorporate uncertainty in the design of control rules. We also suggest that control rules for specific fisheries should be designed with explicit consideration of the uncertainty of the biological reference points, based on a risk level that the management agency and stakeholders agree upon.Las reglas de control de producción se usan generalmente por los organismos de gestión de recursos pesqueros para tomar decisiones y para promover la concienciación pública sobre el estado de conservación de pesquerías marinas y de aguas dulces. Muchas de las reglas de control actuales combinan puntos de referencia biológicos basados en los indicadores mortalidad por pesca y biomasa. Las reglas de control fueron introducidas como precaución contra la influencia de la incertidumbre en las evaluaciones y para reducir el riesgo de sobrepesca, pero se ven comprometidas si la incertidumbre en los puntos de referencia biológicos no se consideran explícitamente. El papel de la incertidumbre se reconoce ampliamente, pero no ha sido incorporado hasta ahora en el diseño y aplicación de reglas de control. En la presente contribución se aplica un modelo bayesiano de capturas por edad para estimar la incertidumbre en los indicadores de mortalidad por pesca, tamaño de la población y puntos de referencia biológicos. Se aplica este modelo a la pesquería de Sander vitreus del Lago Erie, y, mediante la completa incorporación de la incertidumbre de los indicadores, el riesgo de sobrepesca puede ser estimado explícitamente en las reglas de control. Se sugieren aproximaciones a corto y largo plazo para la incorporación de la incertidumbre en el diseño de reglas de control. Se sugiere también que las reglas para pesquerías particulares deben diseñarse incorporando explícitamente la incertidumbre en los puntos de referencia biológicos, en base al nivel de riesgo que se acuerde entre el organismo encargado de la gestión del recurso y sus usuarios

Fixed-bed column recirculation system for investigation of sorption and biodegradation of organic pollutants in saturated sediment: a detailed design and development

Background: Sorption and biodegradation are the primary processes of organic pollution remediation in aquatic and soil/sediment environments. While researchers have substantially reported their findings regarding these processes, little attention has been given to description of experimental apparatus. This technical paper aims to present the development and detailed design of a fixed-bed column recirculation (FBCR) system which has been widely applied to investigate sorption and biodegradation of organic pollutants in aquatic and/or sediment environments. Findings: The FBCR system was developed and tested by three experiments investigating sorption and biodegradation of two herbicides (isoproturon and mecoprop) in different saturated materials (hydrofilt and river sediment). Efficiency of the FBCR system was assessed according to criteria i.e. reliability, leaking inhibition, reproducibility, practical of use and cost. The results indicated that the latest version (Version 4) of the FBCR system has been significantly improved and ready to extend to similar studies. Conclusions: This system is therefore recommended to researchers who intend to investigate the remediation of organic pollutants in aquatic, soil and sediment environments

Statistical variable selection: an alternative prioritization strategy during the nontarget analysis of LC-HR-MS data

Liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS) has been one of the main analytical tools for the analysis of small polar organic pollutants in the environment. LC-HR-MS typically produces a large amount of data for a single chromatogram. The analyst is therefore required to perform prioritization prior to nontarget structural elucidation. In the present study, we have combined the F-ratio statistical variable selection and the apex detection algorithms in order to perform prioritization in data sets produced via LC-HR-MS. The approach was validated through the use of semisynthetic data, which was a combination of real environmental data and the artificially added signal of 31 alkanes in that sample. We evaluated the performance of this method as a function of four false detection probabilities, namely: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, and 0.1%. We generated 100 different semisynthetic data sets for each F-ratio and evaluated that data set using this method. This design of experiment created a population of 30 000 true positives and 32 000 true negatives for each F-ratio, which was considered sufficiently large enough in order to fully validate this method for analysis of LC-HR-MS data. The effect of both the F-ratio and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) on the performance of the suggested approach were evaluated through normalized statistical tests. We also compared this method to the pixel-by-pixel as well as peak list approaches. More than 92% of features present in the final feature list via the F-ratio method were also present in the conventional peak list generated by MZmine. However, this method was the only approach successful in the classification of samples, and thus prioritization, when compared to the other evaluated approaches. The application potential and limitations of the suggested method are discussed.acceptedVersio

Adapting the Own Children Method to allow comparison of fertility between populations with different marriage regimes.

The Own Children Method (OCM) is an indirect procedure for deriving age-specific fertility rates and total fertility from children living with their mothers at a census or survey. The method was designed primarily for the calculation of overall fertility, although there are variants that allow the calculation of marital fertility. In this paper we argue that the standard variants for calculating marital fertility can produce misleading results and require strong assumptions, particularly when applied to social or spatial subgroups. We present two new variants of the method for calculating marital fertility: the first of these allows for the presence of non-marital fertility and the second also permits the more robust calculation of rates for social subgroups of the population. We illustrate and test these using full-count census data for England and Wales in 1911