How do value-judgements enter model-based assessments of climate sensitivity?

Philosophers argue that many choices in science are influenced by values or have value-implications, ranging from the preference for some research method’s qualities to ethical estimation of the consequences of error. Based on the argument that awareness of values in the scientific process is a necessary first step to both avoid bias and attune science best to the needs of society, an analysis of the role of values in the physical climate science production process is provided. Model-based assessment of climate sensitivity is taken as an illustrative example; climate sensitivity is useful here because of its key role in climate science and relevance for policy, by having been the subject of several assessments over the past decades including a recent shift in assessment method, and because it enables insights that apply to numerous other aspects of climate science. It is found that value-judgements are relevant at every step of the model-based assessment process, with a differentiated role of non-epistemic values across the steps, impacting the assessment in various ways. Scrutiny of current philosophical norms for value-management highlights the need for those norms to be re-worked for broader applicability to climate science. Recent development in climate science turning away from direct use of models for climate sensitivity assessment also gives the opportunity to start investigating the role of values in alternative assessment methods, highlighting similarities and differences in terms of the role of values that encourage further study

Dairy producer attitudes to pain in cattle in relation to disbudding calves

Pain is an important indicator of poor welfare of livestock. Despite this, pain has largely gone unrecognized in farm animals due to attitudes of producers and veterinarians, although they play a key role in monitoring and managing the perception of animal pain. Producer attitudes toward animal welfare influence livestock management and production. The aim was to quantify dairy producer attitudes to the painfulness of various cattle diseases and disbudding, a painful routine procedure performed on farm to ensure safer handling of cattle. A questionnaire on disbudding-related opinions and practices was sent to 1,000 Finnish dairy producers (response rate: 45%). Attitudes toward disbudding were gauged using a 5-point Likert scale and attitudes to cattle pain scored on an 11-point numerical rating scale. Principal components analysis was used to assess the loadings, which were further tested for differences between producer gender and housing systems with Mann-Whitney U-tests, and between herd milk yield, herd size, and age and work experience of producers with a Kruskal-Wallis test. Four main factors were identified: factor I (“taking disbudding pain seriously”), factor II (“sensitivity to pain caused by cattle diseases”), factor III (“ready to medicate calves myself”), and factor IV (“pro horns”). Female producers took disbudding pain more seriously, were more sensitive to pain caused to cattle by diseases, and were more ready to medicate disbudded calves than male producers. Producers with tie-stalls favored horns over producers with freestalls. Male producers with tie-stalls were sensitive to cattle pain and preferred horns over male producers with freestalls. Female producers with freestalls were more ready to medicate calves, but did not prefer horns more than female producers with tie-stalls. Taking disbudding seriously correlated with sensitivity to pain caused by cattle diseases. Producers with low-milk-yielding herds were less willing to medicate calves and more willing to keep cattle with horns than producers with higher-yielding herds. Older producers were more sensitive to cattle pain than middle-aged and younger producers. No effect was established for taking disbudding pain seriously: the pro-horn factor was associated with work experience, age, and herd size. Women rated pain higher and were more positive toward pain medication for animals than men. Maintaining horns are more important for producers with tie-stalls than for those with freestalls.Peer reviewe

Are team sport games more motivating than individual exercise for middle-aged women? a comparison of levels of motivation associated with participating in floorball and spinning

The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of motivation associated with participation in floorball (indoor hockey) and spinning, and how levels of motivation predicted continuation. A sample of 66 middleaged women participated in a 12-week intervention of either floorball or spinning. They filled out the Sport Motivation Scale in week 2 and week 11 of the intervention, and data on their continuation six and 12 months after the intervention was also collected. A repeated measures MANOVA showed that participants in the floorball group had higher levels of intrinsic and self-determined extrinsic motivation for the activity during the intervention period, suggesting that floorball is a more motivating activity. In addition, extrinsic motivation the introjected regulation increased in both groups during the intervention period. Intrinsic motivation, as well as extrinsic motivation introjected regulation, predicted participants’ continuation six and 12 months after the intervention, suggesting that motivation as viewed in a Self-Determination Theory perspective is important for continuation

The associations between motivational climate, basic psychological needs and dropout in volleyball - a comparison across competitive levels

The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of motivational climate for the satisfaction of psychological needs and dropout in recreational, intermediate and elite volleyball. Seven thousand nine hundred thirty six volleyball players from all 321 volleyball clubs across Denmark were invited to participate in the study. Three thousand three thirty answered the questionnaire and 2150 were included in the analysis. Dropout from Volleyball was measured as the proportion of players that had stopped playing volleyball over the last year. The coach-created motivational climate was measured using the Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sports. The satisfaction of players' psychological needs was measured using an adapted version of the basic psychological needs in exercise scale. The psychometric scales were validated and showed good model fit. For volleyball players of all levels, the degree of mastery climate predicted the satisfaction of the players' basic psychological needs satisfaction during volleyball which was, in turn, associated with lower dropout rates. Performance climate had a weak negative association with the satisfaction of psychological needs on the intermediate level only. When adjusting the models for the negative association between performance climate and mastery climate this negative association became nonsignificant and a weak positive association to needs satisfaction emerged for players at the elite level. Findings confirm that the coach-created mastery climate in volleyball teams is important for the satisfaction of players' basic psychological needs and continuation within the sport across the recreational, intermediate and elite levels. HighlightsCoach-created mastery climate in volleyball teams was positively associated with the satisfaction of the players' basic psychological and negatively associated with dropout.These associations between coach created climate, need satisfaction and dropout were similar across different sporting levels.Performance orientation had little influence and seemed mainly problematic if it was at the expense of mastery climate

The impact of childhood cancer on parents' socio-economic situation-A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Taking care of children diagnosed with cancer may have considerable consequences on parents' socio-economic situation. Our systematic review aimed to evaluate and synthesise the evidence on the impact of childhood cancer on parents' socio-economic situation. METHODS: Systematic literature searches for articles published between January 2000 and January 2019 were performed in PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO. Findings of eligible articles were narratively synthesised and quality appraised. RESULTS: Our systematic review included 35 eligible articles. Childhood cancer had a substantial impact on parents' socio-economic situation across all studies. This impact varied largely by geographical region. We observed a high prevalence of disruptions in parental employment such as job quitting or job loss, particularly among mothers. The associated income losses further contributed to families' perceived financial burden in addition to increased cancer-related expenses. Adverse socio-economic consequences were most pronounced shortly after diagnosis, however, persisted into early survivorship for certain groups of parents. We identified families of children diagnosed with haematological cancers, younger age at diagnosis, and lower parental socio-economic position to be at particular risk for adverse socio-economic consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Following the child's cancer diagnosis, parents experience a broad range of adverse socio-economic consequences. Further effort is needed to systematically implement an assessment of financial hardship in paediatric oncology together with appropriate support services along the cancer trajectory

Emerging Insights into Keratin 16 Expression during Metastatic Progression of Breast Cancer.

Keratins are the main identification markers of circulating tumor cells (CTCs); however, whether their deregulation is associated with the metastatic process is largely unknown. Previously we have shown by in silico analysis that keratin 16 (KRT16) mRNA upregulation might be associated with more aggressive cancer. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the biological role and the clinical relevance of K16 in metastatic breast cancer. By performing RT-qPCR, western blot, and immunocytochemistry, we investigated the expression patterns of K16 in metastatic breast cancer cell lines and evaluated the clinical relevance of K16 expression in CTCs of 20 metastatic breast cancer patients. High K16 protein expression was associated with an intermediate mesenchymal phenotype. Functional studies showed that K16 has a regulatory effect on EMT and overexpression of K16 significantly enhanced cell motility (p < 0.001). In metastatic breast cancer patients, 64.7% of the detected CTCs expressed K16, which was associated with shorter relapse-free survival (p = 0.0042). Our findings imply that K16 is a metastasis-associated protein that promotes EMT and acts as a positive regulator of cellular motility. Furthermore, determining K16 status in CTCs provides prognostic information that helps to identify patients whose tumors are more prone to metastasize

Clonality of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer brain metastasis patients

BACKGROUND: The incidence of brain metastases in breast cancer (BCBM) patients is increasing. These patients have a very poor prognosis, and therefore, identification of blood-based biomarkers, such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and understanding the genomic heterogeneity could help to personalize treatment options. METHODS: Both EpCAM-dependent (CellSearch® System) and EpCAM-independent Ficoll-based density centrifugation methods were used to detect CTCs from 57 BCBM patients. DNA from individual CTCs and corresponding primary tumors and brain metastases were analyzed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) in order to evaluate copy number aberrations and single nucleotide variations (SNVs). RESULTS: CTCs were detected after EpCAM-dependent enrichment in 47.7% of the patients (≥ 5 CTCs/7.5 ml blood in 20.5%). The CTC count was associated with ERBB2 status (p = 0.029) of the primary tumor as well as with the prevalence of bone metastases (p = 0.021). EpCAM-independent enrichment revealed CTCs in 32.6% of the patients, especially among triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients (70.0%). A positive CTC status after enrichment of either method was significantly associated with decreased overall survival time (p < 0.05). Combining the results of both enrichment methods, 63.6% of the patients were classified as CTC positive. In three patients, the matched tumor tissue and single CTCs were analyzed by NGS showing chromosomal aberrations with a high genomic clonality and mutations in pathways potentially important in brain metastasis formation. CONCLUSION: The detection of CTCs, regardless of the enrichment method, is of prognostic relevance in BCBM patients and in combination with molecular analysis of CTCs can help defining patients with higher risk of early relapse and suitability for targeted treatment