Designing Digital Content to Support Science Journalism

Journalists need to become more effective at communicating science and countering post-truth activities that seek to undermine scientific processes and evidence. Digital support for journalists when investigating and writing about sciencerelated topics is one means of improving this science communication. However, little bespoke digital support is available. This paper reports the research and development of one new form of such digital support. During a participatory design process, experienced science journalists and other professionals were interviewed about their challenges experienced and understanding of good practices in science journalism. These challenges and good practices informed the development of a prototype of a new form of digital tool that was evaluated by journalists without specialist science training. A new version of the prototype, called INQUEST, was implemented to automate some parts of good practices in order to augment journalists’ capabilities. These practices included the retrieval of science information from diverse sources, targeting different science audiences, and providing different forms of guidance for explaining science to the target audience. This prototype is presented, and an early evaluation of it is reported

To add or not to add a new treatment arm to a multiarm study: A decision-theoretic framework.

Multiarm clinical trials, which compare several experimental treatments against control, are frequently recommended due to their efficiency gain. In practise, all potential treatments may not be ready to be tested in a phase II/III trial at the same time. It has become appealing to allow new treatment arms to be added into on-going clinical trials using a "platform" trial approach. To the best of our knowledge, many aspects of when to add arms to an existing trial have not been explored in the literature. Most works on adding arm(s) assume that a new arm is opened whenever a new treatment becomes available. This strategy may prolong the overall duration of a study or cause reduction in marginal power for each hypothesis if the adaptation is not well accommodated. Within a two-stage trial setting, we propose a decision-theoretic framework to investigate when to add or not to add a new treatment arm based on the observed stage one treatment responses. To account for different prospect of multiarm studies, we define utility in two different ways; one for a trial that aims to maximise the number of rejected hypotheses; the other for a trial that would declare a success when at least one hypothesis is rejected from the study. Our framework shows that it is not always optimal to add a new treatment arm to an existing trial. We illustrate a case study by considering a completed trial on knee osteoarthritis

School-based intervention to reduce anxiety in children: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (PACES)

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Emotional problems such as anxiety and low mood in children are common, impair everyday functioning and increase the risk of severe mental health disorders in adulthood. Relatively few children with emotional health problems are identified and referred for treatment indicating the need to investigate preventive approaches. METHODS/DESIGN: The study is designed to be a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an efficacious school-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) prevention program (FRIENDS) on symptoms of anxiety and low mood in children 9 to 10 years of age. The unit of allocation is schools which are assigned to one of three conditions: school-led FRIENDS, health-led FRIENDS or treatment as usual. Assessments will be undertaken at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. The primary outcome measure is change on the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale. Secondary outcome measures assess changes in self-esteem, worries, bullying and life satisfaction. An economic evaluation will be undertaken. DISCUSSION: As of September 2011, 41 schools have been recruited and randomized. Final 12-month assessments are scheduled to be completed by May 2013. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN23563048.The project is funded by the NIHR Public Health Research Programme (09/3000/03

The prevention of anxiety in children through school-based interventions: study protocol for a 24-month follow-up of the PACES project

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Anxiety in children is common and incapacitating and increases the risk of mental health disorders in adulthood. Although effective interventions are available, few children are identified and referred for specialist treatment. Alternative approaches in which prevention programmes are delivered in school appear promising. However, comparatively little is known about the best intervention leader (health care-led vs. school-led), long-term effects or the primary preventive value of such programmes. METHODS/DESIGN: Preventing Anxiety in Children through Education in Schools, or PACES, is a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioural therapy prevention programme (FRIENDS) on symptoms of anxiety and low mood in 9- to 10-year-old children. Forty-one schools were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: school-led FRIENDS, health care-led FRIENDS or treatment as usual. Assessments were undertaken at baseline, 6 months and 12 months, with the primary outcome measure being the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale score at 12 months. Secondary outcome measures are changes in self-esteem, worries, bullying and life satisfaction. DISCUSSION: This protocol summarises the procedure for the 24-month follow-up of this cohort. The study will determine the medium-term effectiveness of an anxiety prevention programme delivered in schools. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN23563048.The project is funded by the NIHR Public Health Research Programme (09/3000/03

Socioeconomic risk, parenting during the preschool years and child health age 6 years

Parent–child relationships and parenting processes are emerging as potential life course determinants of health. Parenting is socially patterned and could be one of the factors responsible for the negative effects of social inequalities on health, both in childhood and adulthood. This study tests the hypothesis that some of the effect of socioeconomic risk on health in mid childhood is transmitted via early parenting. Methods: Prospective cohort study in 10 USA communities involving 1041 mother/ child pairs, selected at birth at random with conditional sampling. Exposures: income, maternal education, maternal age, lone parenthood, ethnic status and objective assessments of mother child interaction in the first 4 years of life covering warmth, negativity and positive control. Outcomes: mother’s report of child’s health in general at 6 years. Modelling: multiple regression analyses with statistical testing of mediational processes. Results: All five indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) were correlated with all three measures of parenting, such that low SES was associated with poor parenting. Among the measures of parenting maternal warmth was independently predictive of future health, and among the socioeconomic variables maternal education, partner presence and ‘other ethnic group’ proved predictive. Measures of parenting significantly mediated the impact of measures of SES on child health. Conclusions: Parenting mediates some, but not all of the detectable effects of socioeconomic risk on health in childhood. As part of a package of measures that address other determinants, interventions to support parenting are likely to make a useful contribution to reducing childhood inequalities in health

The initiation and development of metamorphic foliation in the Otago Schist, Part 2: evidence from quartz grain-shape data

Shape, size and orientation measurements of quartz grains sampled along two transects that cross zones of increasing metamorphic grade in the Otago Schist, New Zealand, reveal the role of quartz in the progressive development of metamorphic foliation. Sedimentary compaction and diagenesis contributed little to the formation of a shape-preferred orientation (SPO) within the analysed samples. Metamorphic foliation was initiated at sub-greenschist facies conditions as part of a composite S1-bedding structure parallel to the axial planes of tight to isoclinal F1 folds. An important component of this foliation is a pronounced quartz SPO that formed dominantly by the effect of dissolution?precipitation creep on detrital grains in association with F1 strain. With increasing grade, the following trends are evident from the SPO data: (i) a progressive increase in the aspect ratio of grains in sections parallel to lineation, and the development of blade-shaped grains; (ii) the early development of a strong shape preferred orientation so that blade lengths define the linear aspect of the foliation (lineation) and the intermediate axes of the blades define a partial girdle about the lineation; (iii) a slight thinning and reduction in volume of grains in the one transect; and (iv) an actual increase in thickness and volume in the survivor grains of the second transect. The highest-grade samples, within the chlorite zone of the greenschist facies, record segregation into quartz- and mica-rich layers. This segregation resulted largely from F2 crenulation and marks a key change in the distribution, deformation and SPO of the quartz grains. The contribution of quartz SPO to defining the foliation lessens as the previously discrete and aligned detrital quartz grains are replaced by aggregates and layers of dynamically recrystallized quartz grains of reduced aspect ratio and reduced alignment. Pressure solution now affects the margins of quartz-rich layers rather than individual grains. In higher-grade samples, therefore, the rock structure is characterized increasingly by segregation layering parallel to a foliation defined predominantly by mica SPO

School-based intervention to reduce anxiety in children:Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (PACES)

BACKGROUND: Emotional problems such as anxiety and low mood in children are common, impair everyday functioning and increase the risk of severe mental health disorders in adulthood. Relatively few children with emotional health problems are identified and referred for treatment indicating the need to investigate preventive approaches. METHODS/DESIGN: The study is designed to be a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an efficacious school-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) prevention program (FRIENDS) on symptoms of anxiety and low mood in children 9 to 10 years of age. The unit of allocation is schools which are assigned to one of three conditions: school-led FRIENDS, health-led FRIENDS or treatment as usual. Assessments will be undertaken at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. The primary outcome measure is change on the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale. Secondary outcome measures assess changes in self-esteem, worries, bullying and life satisfaction. An economic evaluation will be undertaken. DISCUSSION: As of September 2011, 41 schools have been recruited and randomized. Final 12-month assessments are scheduled to be completed by May 2013. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN2356304

Cassini observations of ion and electron beams at Saturn and their relationship to infrared auroral arcs

We present Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer observations of infrared auroral emissions from the noon sector of Saturn's ionosphere revealing multiple intense auroral arcs separated by dark regions poleward of the main oval. The arcs are interpreted as the ionospheric signatures of bursts of reconnection occurring at the dayside magnetopause. The auroral arcs were associated with upward field-aligned currents, the magnetic signatures of which were detected by Cassini at high planetary latitudes. Magnetic field and particle observations in the adjacent downward current regions showed upward bursts of 100–360 keV light ions in addition to energetic (hundreds of keV) electrons, which may have been scattered from upward accelerated beams carrying the downward currents. Broadband, upward propagating whistler waves were detected simultaneously with the ion beams. The acceleration of the light ions from low altitudes is attributed to wave-particle interactions in the downward current regions. Energetic (600 keV) oxygen ions were also detected, suggesting the presence of ambient oxygen at altitudes within the acceleration region. These simultaneous in situ and remote observations reveal the highly energetic magnetospheric dynamics driving some of Saturn's unusual auroral features. This is the first in situ identification of transient reconnection events at regions magnetically conjugate to Saturn's magnetopause