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Commodification, labor, abstraction: three key concepts to understand the many-headed hydra of biodiversity offsetting
Get PDFNatural capital approaches to mitigating the impacts of construction projects, in which environmental harms and mitigations are calculated and then traded, have become dominant features of contemporary conservation. They are subject to considerable critique within the political ecology and radical conservation literatures on the grounds that they involve the commodification of nature. In the case of biodiversity offsetting, the commodification process in question is often described as involving forms of abstraction, pictured as a subtractive, reductive, 'lossy' process that reduces messy ecologies to quantitative and exchangeable credits. This article seeks to develop a different understanding of abstraction, pointing towards a more generative and creative account in which it creates a range of niches for different types of value extraction, including rent, labor exploitation and knowledge commodity creation. The aim is to provide a more precise account of when and where knowledge commodities are produced in credit creation, and to understand their relationship to a wider 'many-headed hydra' of value extraction from nature
Antisense oligonucleotide therapy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Get PDFPurpose of review
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder with few treatment options available. The approval of tofersen, an antisense oligonucleotide, for SOD1-ALS by the FDA and EMA may herald a new era of treatment in these patients.
Recent findings
So far, trials against the most common genetic form of ALS, C9orf72, have been unsuccessful, but new preclinical data may show a promising new direction to take. Clinical trials targeting other, more rare genetic mutations associated with familial ALS are currently underway. Other research assessing the use of ASOs to target aberrant splicing associated with sporadic forms of ALS has also produced promising results in preclinical models, using patient-derived induced cellular models and animal models. These therapies are focussed largely on alleviating and reversing TDP-43 pathology, opening up the possibility of not only arresting disease progression, but reversing neurodegeneration.
Summary
ASO therapies have made some promising steps towards treating familial ALS, particularly SOD1. Ongoing early clinical/preclinical phase research is underway to utilise this technology in other genetic mutations linked with ALS, as well as in sporadic cases
Assessment of the added value of a tubeless pump: a time trade-off (TTO) study for utility elicitation of insulin delivery systems in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D)
Get PDFIntroduction
Automated insulin delivery (AID) systems continuously deliver insulin subcutaneously, reducing the burden of managing type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D). However, there are limited data comparing different insulin delivery modalities, particularly regarding their impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to quantify the disutility associated with conventional insulin delivery modalities and utility gains associated with wearable, on-body, AID systems.
Methods
Health state vignettes representing different insulin delivery modalities were developed based on interviews with people with T1D alongside published literature and validated by experts. Utility values were elicited via the time trade-off (TTO) method from the general population in the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 110).
Results
The lowest mean utility values were observed for tubed non-AID systems (0.727), while the highest mean utility value was observed for tubeless systems with AID (0.909). The use of tubeless systems rather than tubed systems was associated with a significant increase in utility between + 0.082 and + 0.086 (p < 0.005), and the use of AID was associated with a significant increase in utility of between +0.096 and +0.100 versus the corresponding alternatives (p < 0.0005). The use of a tubeless and AID system was associated with a significantly increased utility versus all other health states (p < 0.0001), indicating significantly higher HRQoL.
Conclusion
This study elicited utility values for health states representing insulin delivery modalities in T1D. Results suggested that tubeless and AID systems are associated with higher health state utility in T1D, indicating that people with T1D using such systems may experience improved HRQoL
Formative Usability Testing of Artificial Intelligence in Pathology: The Challenge of Assessing Acceptability
Get PDFDigital Pathology has provided a platform to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist pathologists with diagnosis and reporting. An AI tool is being developed that analyzes digital Hematoxylin and Eosin (stained tissue) images associated with a skin cancer case and pre-populates a report with required parameters. The aim of this AI pathology assistant is to save pathologist time and increase reporting efficiency. This study assessed ease of use and acceptability of a first iteration of the AI tool. Twelve pathologists were recruited across seven UK hospitals and participated in a think-aloud evaluation, completing a pathology report using the novel tool, after which they participated in a brief interview. The think-aloud identified several issues that can inform tool development to improve ease of use. AI performance (inaccuracy populating report items) constrained assessment of tool acceptability and added tasks to the reporting process. This finding emphasizes the importance of AI accuracy (1) for assessing if and how such tools can be integrated into clinician’s workflow to increase efficiency, and (2) for cultivating clinician trust in tool performance to support adoption in practice
Psychological drivers of the intention to continue using health apps amongst young users
Get PDFPurpose
This research examines, post adoption, the key psychological mechanisms driving the intention to continue using health and fitness self-tracking apps (health apps, in short) amongst young users (e.g., Generation Z).
Design/methodology/approach
It uses a mixed-method approach, combining structural equation modeling and chain mediation analyses based on survey data with thematic analysis of 21 in-depth interviews.
Findings
The study finds that general goals shape healthism, or one’s orientation towards attaining good health, leading to flow experience with the health app. Flow experience then leads to continued intention to use health apps and user satisfaction. Perceptions of the behavioural change likely to occur through the technology moderate both links. The interviews further clarify how young individuals set general goals that impact healthism; how they ‘live’ the flow experience; and the outcomes of using health apps.
Research limitations/implications
This research significantly advances the understanding of the continued use of health apps, highlighting how to attain user benefits from health apps.
Practical implications
As such, it yields managerial and societal implications, addressing calls by different stakeholders for positive health changes amongst younger people.
Originality/value
By focusing on the post-adoption stage and through the combination of multiple theoretical lenses, this research breaks down the critical drivers of the continued intention to use health apps, revealing vital prerequisites for positive outcomes for young generations
Improving current understanding of cognitive impairment in spinal cord injury: the patient perspective
Get PDFCONTEXT: Emerging research suggests that individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI) may be at a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment. Early detection of cognitive impairment is essential to improving quality of life and tailored rehabilitation. However, the true incidence of cognitive impairment in this group is unclear, largely due to the difficulty in administering cognitive assessment tools which often have elements that are dependent on hand function e.g. drawing and writing.
DESIGN: We conducted three semi-structured focus groups with a total of 9 participants with the aim of gaining a better understanding of patient perspectives on subjective cognitive difficulties following their SCI.
SETTING: Online focus groups.
PARTICIPANTS: 9 participants who have sustained a spinal cord injury.
INTERVENTIONS: Focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. OUTCOME MEASURES: Transcript were coded to identify patterns which were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to produce five overarching themes.
RESULTS: People with SCI reported various levels of cognitive difficulties following their injury, and shared strategies that they have implemented to cope with these challenges. All participants expressed a lack of information or assessments on cognitive impairments, highlighting that the focus of their care has predominantly been about the physical aspects of their SCI. Additionally, they observed a difference in the approach to SCI management across different centers within the UK.
CONCLUSION: Patients with a SCI report cognitive issues following their injury but there is a lack of information or testing by healthcare professionals. Patients advocated for a more consistent and standardized approach, particularly since cognitive impairment can increase care needs and reduce engagement with rehabilitation
Manganese and iron in drinking water in three West-African countries: Implications for health, acceptability, and disinfection
Get PDFManganese and iron decrease aesthetic acceptability and chlorine disinfection performance in drinking water, and can be toxic at high doses. We present the first characterization of manganese and iron occurrence in drinking water relative to concentration benchmarks for these three outcomes. Manganese and iron concentrations were evaluated in 261 drinking water samples obtained from boreholes and small groundwater-fed piped systems across large rural regions of Ghana, Mali and Niger. One or both metals exceeded aesthetic benchmark concentrations in 30% of samples and reached concentrations likely to interfere with chlorine disinfection in 5% of samples. Manganese exceeded 2011 WHO health-based benchmarks for drinking water (400 µg/L) in 2% of samples, and exceeded updated provisional health-based benchmark concentrations (80 µg/L) in 13% of samples. Iron occurred at levels exceeding health-based benchmarks in 5% of samples. These results suggest that manganese and iron contribute directly and indirectly to public health problems in a substantive proportion of drinking water sources in the study setting. Implementation of rural drinking water systems reliant on groundwater sources should account for the occurrence of these metals during siting, design, construction, operation, and monitoring/surveillance. Strengthening these capacities, particularly with respect to sampling and testing water sources for these metals, may support management and regulatory efforts to manage the occurrence of these metals in drinking water and their potential adverse effects. Finally, generating and synthesizing additional evidence on the occurrence and effects of iron and manganese in drinking water will support national efforts to manage both contaminants, inform discussions regarding the suitability of current health-based Mn guidelines for protecting sensitive life stages, and underscore the value of monitoring Mn as a priority chemical contaminant under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.1: “By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
Evaluating collaborative action ethnography as a means of co-constructing ‘pedagogies of vulnerability’ in the post-pandemic music classroom
Get PDFFollowing the lengthy period of isolation enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the imperative for qualitative researchers to re-engage in personal and participatory modes of inquiry has become increasingly important, especially within educational contexts. In this article, I argue that collaborative action ethnography could be a valuable way forward in post-pandemic research in which researchers seek to partner with teachers and pupils in their everyday school contexts. Using examples from the three case-study schools in my ongoing research into experiences of vulnerability in secondary music classrooms, I suggest that the flexibility of collaborative action ethnography has the potential to accommodate shifting degrees of participation from researchers, teachers and pupils. In particular, I highlight opportunities for incremental changes in classroom culture, development of pedagogical practice, and teachers’ professional learning made possible through collaborative action ethnography, and evaluate the extent to which such methodologies could help sustain meaningful personal and participatory research
Establishing a workflow to use digital footprints of food purchases for public good, illustrated using a national policy example
Get PDFIntroduction & Background
Supermarket sales data are an exciting and promising type of digital footprint, or smart, data. Their scale and timeliness offer great potential to understand a variety of wicked problems from obesity to climate change. However, like many digital footprint data they do not come research ready and can require subject matter expertise (nutrition) to prepare.
Objectives & Approach
We outline the data sources and preprocessing stages required to use digital footprint data from 4 large UK retailers to evaluate the impacts of the high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) legislation which came into force in England on 1 October 2022.
To undertake this evaluation, we first needed to establish the HFSS status of all food and drink products that were sold 18 months pre- and 12 months post-introduction of the legislation. To do this, we obtained daily food and drink purchase records from the 4 UK retailers which included a stock keeping unit identifier, product names and quantity of food purchases. We then obtained food and drink product (nutrition) data from several sources, including retailers’ own-brand data and the third-party commercial data provider, Brandbank, which provided both own-brand and branded data. Product data comprised back-of-pack nutrition information, fruit, vegetable and nut %, product weight, HFSS information (if available), packaging type, Nutrient Profile Model scores.
Where available, historic product data from 2020-2024 were obtained to establish any changes to products through reformulation. Data from available sources were aggregated to calculate the HFSS status of all products sold across the 4 retailers. These data were then linked back to sales data to calculate the proportion of HFSS products sold daily in the 4 retailers pre- and post-implementation.
Relevance to Digital Footprints
Our work outlines the data sources and preprocessing stages required to be able to use digital footprints of food purchases to facilitate the evaluation of the legislation.
Conclusions & Implications
There are several critical stages required to use digital footprint data for research purposes. This work highlights the need for universally available product data, including historic product data, to enable timely evaluations of public health legislation.
Funding Statement
This research was funded through the Transforming the UK Food System for Healthy People and a Healthy Environment SPF Programme, delivered by UKRI, in partnership with the Global Food Security Programme, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, Defra, DHSC, OHID, Innovate UK and FSA. The DIO Food project is linked to grant award BB/W018021/1 and additionally funded by IGD
A New Measure for Investors’ Private Information
Get PDFWe develop a new measure for investors’ private information (SDPIN) embedded in a stock price. Unlike existing measures such as PIN and DPIN, it considers both trade order size and trade frequency; we argue that private information can also be revealed through trade order size, thereby applying to a broader range of stock trading scenarios. We test the accuracy of our new private information measure against PIN and DPIN and find it to be more precise. Consequently, it reduces information asymmetries among investors and helps managers better assess the private information reflected in their firms’ stock prices, enabling them to make more informed (optimal) decisions
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