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Assessing the comparative feasibility, acceptability and equivalence of videoconference interviews and face-to-face interviews using the time trade-off technique
Get PDFThis study examines the comparative equivalence, feasibility and acceptability of video and in-person interviews in generating time trade-off (TTO) values. Sample participants in England were recruited using a blended approach of different methods and sampled based on age, gender, ethnicity, and index of multiple deprivation. Participants were randomly allocated to be interviewed either via video or in-person. Participants completed TTO tasks for the same block of 10 EQ-5D-5L health states using the EQ-VTv2 software. Feasibility, acceptability and equivalence was assessed across mode using: sample representativeness; participant understanding, engagement and feedback; participant preferred mode of interview; data quality; mean utility and distribution of values for each health state; and regression analyses assessing the impact of mode whilst controlling for participant characteristics. The video and in-person samples had statistically significant differences in ethnicity and income but were otherwise broadly similar. Video interviews generated marginally lower quality data across some criteria. Participant understanding and feedback was positive and similar across modes. TTO values were similar across modes; whilst mean in-person TTO values were lower for the more severe states, mode was insignificant in most regression analyses. There was no clear preference of mode across all participants, though the characteristics of participants preferring to be interviewed in-person or by video differs. Video and in-person TTO interviews were feasible, acceptable and generated good-quality data, though video interviews had lower quality data across some criteria. Whilst TTO values differed across modes for the more severe states, mode does not appear to be the cause. The study found that the characteristics of people preferring each mode differed, and this should be taken into account in future valuation studies since sample representativeness for some characteristics, and therefore potentially TTO values, could be affected by the choice of mode.</p
Echoes from the Deep:Inventorising shipwrecks at the national scale by the application of marine geophysics and the historical text
Get PDFIn a process analogous with the impact of aerial photography on landscape archaeology, marine geophysics is locating the remains of thousands of shipwrecks across the seabed of the globe. This research project set out to establish whether all of the shipwrecks in a given geographic region could be identified by name through the mutual study of the 3D models of the shipwrecks, alongside the historic text of shipping losses in the same area.All of the 273 shipwrecks in a 7,500sqm study area in the Irish Sea were surveyed using multibeam echosounder. The methodologies subsequently developed to identify the wrecks enabled names to be given to 80% of the unknown ships, verified by their dimensions, their geographic position, and archival descriptions of the sinking of each ship. In all 87% of the ships in the study are now identified.In historic terms, the newly identified wrecks included myriad vessels from trawlers, cargo vessels, submarines, through to the largest ocean liners and tankers. They include rare ship designs, losses of national importance, and naval graves. Several of the wrecks uncovered have potential environmental concerns. The accurate dating of so many wrecks in one area has a major impact on the study of seabed dynamics and site formation processes, creating better models for the placement of windfarms and tidal generators.This research is important because the seabed of the world is being increasingly mapped in detail, and shipwrecks are being located in large numbers. This research developed a low-cost means of inventorising shipwreck datasets across entire national zones without costly physical interaction with each wreck site. It should be of key interest to marine scientists, environmental agencies, hydrographers, heritage managers, maritime archaeologists, and historians around the world
Microbial Diversity of a Disused Copper Mine Site (Parys Mountain, UK), Dominated by Intensive Eukaryotic Filamentous Growth
Get PDFThe Parys Mountain copper mine (Wales, UK) contains a wide range of discrete environmental microniches with various physicochemical conditions that shape microbial community composition. Our aim was to assess the microbial community in the sediments and overlying water column in an acidic mine drainage (AMD) site containing abundant filamentous biogenic growth via application of a combination of chemical analysis and taxonomic profiling using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Our results were then compared to previously studied sites at Parys Mt. Overall, the sediment microbiome showed a dominance of bacteria over archaea, particularly those belonging to Proteobacteria (genera Acidiphilium and Acidisphaera), Acidobacteriota (subgroup 1), Chloroflexota (AD3 cluster), Nitrospirota (Leptospirillum) and the uncultured Planctomycetota/CPIa-3 termite group. Archaea were only present in the sediment in small quantities, being represented by the Terrestrial Miscellaneous Euryarchaeota Group (TMEG), Thermoplasmatales and Ca. Micrarchaeota (Ca. Micracaldota). Bacteria, mostly of the genera Acidiphilium and Leptospirillum, also dominated within the filamentous streamers while archaea were largely absent. This study found pH and dissolved solutes to be the most important parameters correlating with relative proportions of bacteria to archaea in an AMD environment and revealed the abundance patterns of native acidophilic prokaryotes inhabiting Parys Mt sites and their niche specificitie
Effects of an e-health intervention 'iSupport' for reducing distress of dementia carers:protocol for a randomised controlled trial and feasibility study
Get PDFINTRODUCTION: In the UK, National Health Service (NHS) guidelines recommend that informal carers of people living with dementia should be offered training to help them develop care skills and manage their own physical and mental health. The WHO recommends access to affordable, proven, well-designed, online technologies for education, skills training and support for dementia carers. In response to these recommendations, this multisite randomised controlled trial (RCT) is the first study in the UK to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an online support programme developed by the WHO called 'iSupport for dementia carers'.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 350 informal carers (age 18+ years) living in Britain who self-identify as experiencing stress and depression will be recruited. They will be randomised to receive 'iSupport', or standardised information about caring for someone with dementia (control-comparison). Data will be collected via videoconferencing (eg, Zoom) or telephone interview at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. Intention-to-treat analysis will ascertain effectiveness in the primary outcomes (distress and depression) and combined cost, and quality-adjusted life-year data will be used to assess cost-effectiveness compared with usual care from a public sector and wider societal perspective. A mixed-methods process evaluation with a subgroup of carers in the intervention (~N=50) will explore the barriers and facilitators to implementing 'iSupport'. A non-randomised feasibility study will adapt 'iSupport' for young carers (n=38 participants, age 11-17 years).ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The research plan was scrutinised by National Institute for Health Research reviewers ahead of funding being awarded. Ethical approval was granted by Bangor University's School of Health and Medical Sciences Academic Ethics Committee, reference number 2021-16915. Dissemination plans include delivering events for stakeholders, social media, a project website, developing policy briefings, presenting at conferences and producing articles for open access publications.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN17420703.</p
In a Bilingual Mood: Mood Affects Lexico-Semantic Processing Differently in Native and Non-Native Languages
Get PDFPositive and negative moods tend to have differential effects on lexico-semantic processing in the native language (L1). Though accumulating evidence points to dampened sensitivity to affective stimuli in the non-native language (L2), little is known about the effects of positive and negative moods on L2 processing. Here, we show that lexico-semantic processing is differently affected by positive and negative moods only in L1. Unbalanced Polish–English bilinguals made meaningfulness judgments on L1 and L2 sentences during two EEG recording sessions featuring either positive- or negative-mood-inducing films. We observed a reduced N1 (lexical processing) for negative compared to positive mood in L2 only, a reduced N2 (lexico-semantic processing) in negative compared to positive mood in L1 only, a reduced N400 (lexico-semantic processing) for meaningless compared to meaningful L1 sentences in positive mood only, and an enhanced late positive complex (semantic integration and re-analysis) for L2 compared to L1 meaningful sentence in negative mood only. Altogether, these results suggest that positive and negative moods affect lexical, lexico-semantic, and semantic processing differently in L1 and L2. Our observations are consistent with previous accounts of mood-dependent processing and emotion down-regulation observed in bilinguals
The psychological reality of picture name agreement
Get PDFPicture name agreement is commonly used as both a control variable and independent variable in studies of language production. It describes the proportion of participants who volunteer a picture’s modal name in a norming study—a population-level descriptor—but researchers often assume that name agreement also indexes cognitive processes that occur within individuals.For instance, if norms show that 50% of speakers name a picture as couch, then each time a person tries to name the picture, they might have a 50% chance of selecting couch. An alternative, however, is that name agreement may simply reflect population-level sampling of more stable individual preferences (e.g., 50%of speakers prefer the name couch), continually developed through experience. One way to distinguish between these possibilities – and assess the psychological reality of name agreement – is simply to re-norm pictures with the same individuals. In Experiment 1, we therefore collected timed naming norms for a large set of line drawings from the same 25 native British English speakers twice, 1-2 weeks apart. Results show participants’ name choices in Session 2 are jointly predicted by population-level name agreement, from our previous norms, and individuals’ own productions in Session 1. Experiment 2 replicated this result and further showed that prior selections predicted Session 3 outcomes better than those in Session 2, in line with an incremental learning account. This is the first direct demonstration that picture name agreement has some psychological validity, but also reveals that it does not directly index within participantlexical competition as previously assumed
Widespread introgression across a phylogeny of 155 <i>Drosophila</i> genomes
Get PDFGenome-scale sequence data have invigorated the study of hybridization and introgression, particularly in animals. However, outside of a few notable cases, we lack systematic tests for introgression at a larger phylogenetic scale across entire clades. Here, we leverage 155 genome assemblies from 149 species to generate a fossil-calibrated phylogeny and conduct multilocus tests for introgression across 9 monophyletic radiations within the genus Drosophila. Using complementary phylogenomic approaches, we identify widespread introgression across the evolutionary history of Drosophila. Mapping gene-tree discordance onto the phylogeny revealed that both ancient and recent introgression has occurred across most of the 9 clades that we examined. Our results provide the first evidence of introgression occurring across the evolutionary history of Drosophila and highlight the need to continue to study the evolutionary consequences of hybridization and introgression in this genus and across the tree of life
"Go the Way of Radio"? Public Broadcasting, Media Reform, and the FCC Hearings on Educational Television, 1950-1951
Get PDFAn Opportunistic Assessment of the Impact of Squirrelpox Disease Outbreaks upon a Red Squirrel Population Sympatric with Grey Squirrels in Wales
Get PDFNative red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) persisted in the coastal mainland woodlands of northern Gwynedd whilst sympatric with an invasive grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) population suppressed by culling. Squirrelpox disease in the red squirrel population was recorded in 2017 and 2020/21. An autumn 2020 outbreak was associated with only 17.4% of animals caught and marked in the preceding June known to be present in March 2021. Despite an opportunistic data collection lacking the rigour of empirical experimental design, we observed low local survival rates similar to previously published accounts reported during major squirrelpox outbreaks. The use of a conservation dog to detect red squirrel carcasses resulted in positive detection and confirmation of a temporal and spatial expansion of one disease outbreak. The study is the first in Wales to use conservation dogs and the findings reinforce the vital strategic importance of geographical isolation reducing sympatry of red with grey squirrels in European regions where the introduced congener is a source of the squirrelpox infection