Are Some Deaths Worse Than Others? The Effect of 'Labelling' on People's Perceptions

This paper sets out to explore the extent to which perceptions regarding the 'badness' of different types of deaths differ according to how those deaths are 'labelled' in the elicitation procedure. In particular, we are interested in whether responses to 'contextual' questions - where the specific context in which the deaths occur is known - differ from 'generic' questions - where the context is unknown. Further, we set out to test whether sensitivity to the numbers of deaths differs across the 'generic' and 'contextual' versions of the questions. We uncover evidence to suggest that both the perceived 'badness' of different types of deaths and sensitivity to the numbers of deaths may differ according to whether 'generic' or 'contextual' descriptions are used. Qualitative data suggested two reasons why responses to 'generic' and 'contextual' questions differed: firstly, some influential variables were omitted from the 'generic' descriptions and secondly, certain variables were interpreted somewhat differently once the context had been identified. The implications of our findings for 'generic' questions, such as those commonly used in health economics (for example, the EQ 5D), are discussed.Preferences, Context effects, Affect heuristic

Do patients who die from an alcohol-related condition ‘drift’ into areas of greater deprivation? Alcohol-related mortality and health selection theory in Scotland

Background: Health selection has been proposed to explain the patterning of alcohol-related mortality by area deprivation. This study investigated whether persons who die from alcohol-related conditions are more likely to experience social drift than those who die from other causes. Methods: Deaths recorded in Scotland (2013, >21 years) were coded as ‘alcohol-related’ or ‘other’ and by deprivation decile of residence at death. Acute hospital admissions data from 1996 to 2012 were used to provide premortality deprivation data. χ² tests estimated the difference between observed and expected alcohol-related deaths by first Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) decile and type of death. Logistic regression models were fitted using type of death as the outcome of interest and change in SIMD decile as the exposure of interest. Results: Of 47 012 deaths, 1458 were alcohol-related. Upward and downward mobility was observed for both types of death. An estimated 31 more deaths than expected were classified ‘alcohol-related’ among cases whose deprivation score decreased, while 204 more deaths than expected were classified ‘alcohol-related’ among cases whose initial deprivation ranking was in the four most deprived deciles. Becoming more deprived and first deprivation category were both associated with increased odds of type of death being alcohol-related after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion: This study suggests that health selection appears to contribute less to the deprivation gradient in alcohol-related mortality in Scotland than an individual’s initial area deprivation category

Lag effects in the impacts of mass coral bleaching on coral reef fish, fisheries, and ecosystems

Recent episodes of coral bleaching have led to wide-scale loss of reef corals and raised concerns over the effectiveness of existing conservation and management efforts. The 1998 bleaching event was most severe in the western Indian Ocean, where coral declined by up to 90% in some locations. Using fisheries-independent data, we assessed the long-term impacts of this event on fishery target species in the Seychelles, the overall size structure of the fish assemblage, and the effectiveness of two marine protected areas (MPAs) in protecting fish communities. The biomass of fished species above the size retained in fish traps changed little between 1994 and 2005, indicating no current effect on fishery yields. Biomass remained higher in MPAs, indicating they were effective in protecting fish stocks. Nevertheless, the size structure of the fish communities, as described with size-spectra analysis, changed in both fished areas and MPAs, with a decline in smaller fish (<30 cm) and an increase in larger fish (>45 cm). We believe this represents a time-lag response to a reduction in reef structural complexity brought about because fishes are being lost through natural mortality and fishing, and are not being replaced by juveniles. This effect is expected to be greater in terms of fisheries productivity and, because congruent patterns are observed for herbivores, suggests that MPAs do not offer coral reefs long-term resilience to bleaching events. Corallivores and planktivores declined strikingly in abundance, particularly in MPAs, and this decline was associated with a similar pattern of decline in their preferred corals. We suggest that climate-mediated disturbances, such as coral bleaching, be at the fore of conservation planning for coral reefs.\u

Automated design analysis, assembly planning and motion study analysis using immersive virtual reality

Previous research work at Heriot-Watt University using immersive virtual reality (VR) for cable harness design showed that VR provided substantial productivity gains over traditional computer-aided design (CAD) systems. This follow-on work was aimed at understanding the degree to which aspects of this technology were contributed to these benefits and to determine if engineering design and planning processes could be analysed in detail by nonintrusively monitoring and logging engineering tasks. This involved using a CAD-equivalent VR system for cable harness routing design, harness assembly and installation planning that can be functionally evaluated using a set of creative design-tasks to measure the system and users' performance. A novel design task categorisation scheme was created and formalised which broke down the cable harness design process and associated activities. The system was also used to demonstrate the automatic generation of usable bulkhead connector, cable harness assembly and cable harness installation plans from non-intrusive user logging. Finally, the data generated from the user-logging allowed the automated activity categorisation of the user actions, automated generation of process flow diagrams and chronocyclegraphs

Serving in silence? Australian LGBT servicemen and women

Most people have heard of the United States' infamous 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, yet few know about Australia's own history of LGBT military service. In Serving in Silence? lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender servicemen and women share their personal stories for the first time. The book explores the emotional stress they experienced hiding their sexuality or gender identity under official bans, as well as the challenges facing those who have served openly in the last 25 years. Tracing the ADF's transformation to the inclusive organisation it is today, Serving in Silence? also highlights the pivotal role of military service in the lives of many LGBT Australians and how they have served their country with distinction

Boom and bust of keystone structure on coral reefs

Repeated bouts of coral bleaching threaten the long-term persistence of coral reefs and associated communities. Here, we document the short- and long-term impacts of heatwave events on coral and fish assemblages, based on regular surveys of 18 reefs of the granitic islands of Seychelles over 23 yr. Extreme heat events in 1998 and 2016 led to bleaching-associated declines in coral cover, whilst between these years there was an interim period of coral recovery on some reefs. Coral decline and recovery were primarily due to changes in the cover of branching coral, particularly those from the families Acroporidae and Pocilloporidae. Surveys during the 2016 bleaching found that 95% of the 468 Acropora and Pocillopora colonies observed were either bleached or recently dead. The extent of bleaching and subsequent mortality were best explained by a priori assessments of community susceptibility to heat stress. One year later (2017), coral cover had fallen by 70% and average coverage across the 18 reefs was at 6%, similar to levels recorded in 2005, 7 yr after the 1998 bleaching. Decline in coral following the 2016 bleaching coincided with reduced abundance of fish < 11 cm TL, particularly corallivores, invertivores and mixed diet feeders. These changes are likely to foreshadow more widespread loss once the habitat structure erodes. Accordingly, 7 yr after the 1998 bleaching, when coral skeletons and reef structure had collapsed on some reefs, abundance of both large- and small-bodied fish had declined. We show that fluctuation in the cover of branching coral is positively associated with changes in the abundance of small-bodied fish which contribute to ecological processes and high diversity, suggesting branching corals are a keystone structure. Increased frequency of bleaching threatens the capacity of branching corals to fully recover after disturbances, reducing the amplitude of boom bust cycles of these corals and the keystone habitat structure they provide reef fish

Perceptions of trends in Seychelles artisanal trap fisheries: comparing catch monitoring, underwater visual census and fishers' knowledge

Fisheries scientists and managers are increasingly engaging with fishers' knowledge (FK) to provide novel information and improve the legitimacy of fisheries governance. Disputes between the perceptions of fishers and scientists can generate conflicts for governance, but can also be a source of new perspectives or understandings. This paper compares artisanal trap fishers' reported current catch rates with landings data and underwater visual census (UVC). Fishers' reports of contemporary 'normal' catch per day tended to be higher than recent median landings records. However, fishers' reports of 'normal' catch per trap were not significantly different from the median CPUE calculated from landings data, and reports of 'good' and 'poor' catch rates were indicative of variability observed in landings data. FK, landings and UVC data all gave different perspectives of trends over a ten-year period. Fishers' perceptions indicated greater declines than statistical models fitted to landings data, while UVC evidence for trends varied between sites and according to the fish assemblage considered. Divergence in trend perceptions may have resulted from differences in the spatial, temporal or taxonomic focus of each dataset. Fishers may have experienced and understood behavioural changes and increased fishing power, which may have obscured declines from landings data. Various psychological factors affect memory and recall, and may have affected these memory-based estimates of trends, while different assumptions underlying the analysis of both interview data and conventional scientific data could also have led to qualitatively different trend perceptions. Differing perspectives from these three data sources illustrate both the potential for 'cognitive conflicts' between stakeholders who do not rely on the same data sources, as well as the importance of multiple information sources to understand dynamics of fisheries. Collaborative investigation of such divergence may facilitate learning and improve fisheries governance